We got married June 11, and thanks to lots of planning and great vendors, the day went off perfectly! Happy planning!
Venue: Central Christian Church - A. We go to church here and I think it is one of the most gorgeous churches in Lexington. They have their own wedding coordinator to help you out with the service.
Venue: Art's Place - B. We had our reception here. We love the location and that it's an art gallery. They had a change of staff just before our wedding, and the new event coordinator was still trying to get her act together. We opted for the tobacco netting in the performance hall (it's SOOOO pretty), but I think it affected the air flow, and it was extremely hot in there once we got 120 guests in there. Also, the way their pricing was, you are charged individually for every chair, table, room, etc which was annoying. The new coordinator told us they now have packages, so maybe it's better.
Caterer: South Van Events: A. The food was great! We had a pasta bar, mini hot browns, mini country ham and biscuits, and some other things. The staff was incredibly nice and helpful to work with, and checked with me a couple of times throughout the night of to make sure that I thought everything was going well. They also do not charge a cake cutting fee (even though they didn't do the cake)
Cake: Donut Days: A. I did not want fondant or to spend a fortune on the cake. Donut Days did a great job and provided me with a delicious butter-cream frosted cake! My only complaint is that they did not put the cake topper in, but that was an easy fix.
DJ: Mike Graves: A. I found Mike on a knot.com. He doesn't really advertise, but he was very thorough and did a great job. He takes charge (he actually put the cake topper in when the caterer didn't), and checks every detail with you. He's also less frills than a lot of DJ's (no lights, smoke, etc), and not cheesey.
Photographer: Honey Heart Photography: A+++. Mary and Gabe do an incredible job. I never felt they were in the way (as I have with other friend's photographers) and they give great direction. They did our engagement pictures too and I cannot wait to see the final wedding product. They even set up a slide show of some of the pictures they took at the reception, which was great for us and the guests
Dresses: Wedding Wonderland: A. I got my dress, the bridesmaid dresses, and my veil here. The girls there have wonderful custormer service. They even called me before I got the bridesmaid dresses to tell me that the prices were going up and I needed to get them before it was too late! Also, if you buy your dress from them, they will steam it the week of for you, so that was an additional bonus!
Alterations: Needle's Eye: C. Although she had a lot of work to do, I was told I would only need two fittings, and needed three. At the first fitting, I was told I needed to bring someone to the next fitting to learn how to bussle the dress. When we got there for the second fitting (my mom took off work to come), I was told that she wasn't going to show us, and I would need someone to come to a third fitting. I also had to ask her repeatedly to fix beading (that still wasn't fixed on the third fitting!). She is nice, but you can tell she's extremely busy, and I'm afraid doesn't always listen to what you are saying.
Flowers: Thomas Ripley Florist, Nicholasville - A+. Darcy, who is in charge of the wedding flowers, is a close friend of ours. So, I might be a little biased in my rating, and I'm sure had a little different experience in planning than most. Regardless, the flowers were gorgeous! I did mainly hydrangeas, which I think are cheaper than a lot of other flowers (I just like the look and simplicity of them, which is why I picked them).
