So I am a bit behind with posting these, but none the less here you go!! They are a bit long so forgive me! I included a link at the bottom to some pictures as well.
Lillian's Fashion Bridal Norwell MA, A+
Exceed Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
I went there after going to a couple other bridal shops with my MOH and Mom and Loved my experience there! I worked with Karen the owner and she is fabulous! She does not pressure you and I felt very comfortable there. She was more than nice to use and was very honest in regards to how dresses looked, was not just trying to sell me something. I think the shop is perfect for the intimate feel and personal touch that every bride should have.
www.lilliansfashionsandbridals.com/Alterations:
Lillians Fashion Bridal Norwell MA A
Met Expectations
I had my alterations done at the Bridal shop as I was nervous to bring it anywhere else. There was a tremendous amount of detail and after talking with the seamstress on site I decided to use her. It was a lot more than I was going to pay going to another seamstress I knew however having them do it and knowing if something happened they would fix it and or get me a new one made all the difference in my piece of mind. My dress came out perfect although halfway through the wedding my hem came down although not sure if it was due to it being stepped on or not. The bustle...so amazing, I loved it.
Tuxedos by Merian Brockton , MA A
Exceeded Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
FI used them when we were in HS for his Prom tuxedos and they were amazing then. They are family owned and were great to work with. They came to our house where we had all the GM and brought a customized coach bus and had all the guys fitted on it and then dropped all the tuxes off to DH 2 days before the wedding and everything was perfect, there were no problems with any of the guys stuff. We then left the tuxes at the hotel and they picked them up for us the day after the wedding. They were about $20 more than Mr. Tux however I feel the personalized customer service as well as the drop off and pick up service was well worth it as did the guys. My Father flew in from Australia the week before the wedding and we were not able to get there till about 15 min before they closed, they stayed an additional 45minutes and chatted with us and my Dad. My Dad left there loving them. Highly recommend them!
www.tuxedosbymerian.com/BM Dresses / MOB & MOG Chryssies Bridal Canton, MA A
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
We enjoyed our experience here as the owner (man with accent) was great to work with and would work to get you a good price as we had seen some other prices elsewhere for the dresses we were considering. We had no trouble going there with out an appointment one day to try on a few additional dresses that I found (MOH and BM) and once I made a decision we all went and got measured. There were not to many issues with the sizes that the girls ordered as I have heard horror stories about some places ordering dresses for pp insanely to big. Overall a good experience and BM/MOB/MOG were happy.
Custom Wedding Cakes by Paula: Halifax MA A
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
Paula was great to work with and the cake from what I heard (didn't get a chance to eat any!!) was great. It looked almost exactly as we had discussed with her and she even sketched it the day we met with her, however one minor detail of the ribbon not being as it should have been (layered over each other). Her price is extremely reasonable for wedding cake.
http://www.customcakesbypaula.comTangled Web Jen Cahill A+
Exceeded Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
Everyone that has asked about flowers has always received positive info on the Tangled Web and Jen Cahill, well they were all correct! She is amazing! She is great to work with, has great ideas and gives you a detailed quote with prices and is extremely reasonable for what you are receiving! I changed some of the items about 4 times and each time Jen was there with feedback and an updated quote. The flowers were amazing, everyone commented from my bouquet to the BM bouquets and centerpieces, card table boutonnieres. Everything was better than I could have imagined she has such a great talent!
http://www.the-tangled-web.net/Special Event Beauty, Bridgewater, MA A-
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
Kim from Special Event was so good to work with. I read a few other pp posts on their experience with her and it was exactly as they all had said. I did my trial and when I noticed I was a bit shiny when I went home that night I told her and I thought it was possibly do to her moisturizer as I had already moisturized prior to going, so she had me pop in to have another airbrush application done to see (no charge) and it was exactly that. The airbrush was great, just about all of my BM and my Flower girl used her and were very happy, although a few girls were shiny however not sure if it was a similar issue to what I had with my trial. The day of I asked for more lashes to be applied and it came out perfect. She is very nice and takes pride in what she is doing.
http://www.specialeventbeauty.com/Brewster Coach ( Trolley) A
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
We booked Brewster after meeting with a few other companies about their trolley's and they were much better to work with. Very responsive and nice when I spoke with them on the phone, they also worked with us on a price. The driver was in a Tux, very nice had champagne and a red carpet. The trolley was very clean, however there was no AC...but depending on your date may not be an issue. It seemed a bit smaller than I remember but again it was just the two of us when we went to look at it.
Indian Pond Country Club (Blackstones Room), Kingston MA A
Exceeded Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
Where do I start, the venue is amazing, the room where our reception was is amazing. The first day I went there I knew that that was where I had to have my reception. I made some concessions to have it there but there is no other place I would have wanted it. From Day 1 we worked with Ashley Gruipilian, there are not enough kind words for her, she was absolutely amazing to work with, whether I was calling with a question, or if I was panicking about something she was always so calm and nice to talk to. I met with quite a few other vendors for the reception as I was told to still look even though I knew what I wanted, and some of the people I encountered were either beyond rude, pushy or just not processional. Ashley Was none of those things. I had some special requests that had not been done before there and they were completely accommodating. The day of, that went so smooth. They made sure that we ate and continued to check on us to ensure everything was going as we wanted it. The day of the wedding my Father in Law decided he wanted to do open bar for cocktail hour, that was no problem. Everyone that attended the wedding can not say enough nice things about IPCC and loved their time at the wedding.
My only downfall, was that our ceremony including a receiving line still had us there approximately 40 min earlier than cocktail hour start time (Reverand said it would be a solid 45min, def was not, so did an impromptu receiving line to kill time but still didn't work) however we did plan on and had the ok to arrive around 5:30, however since the bartenders clocked in at 5:13 even though our guests said that they did not get served until 5:30 so we were charged the fee (which they never verified with us prior to charging and we had 2 cards on file). To me it was more of the principal of not verifying with my husband and I which card to choose and letting us know that this was the case, as we did not find out till after the HM when we checked our accounts.
Rehearsal Dinner: Pilgrim Belle Cruise, Plymouth, MA A
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
The boat was a great touch and very "us". It was clean and had an ipod hookup so we could supply our own music. It came with a bartender and people on the boat to serve our buffet dinner as well (included int he fee). I worked mainly with Gwen and she was great to work with. They allowed us to come on early to do the decorations as well.
Rehearsal Dinner Food: Mama Mia's Plymouth, MA B+
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
Everyone loved the food, in fact people were going up for 3rds! My only complaint is 2 things, when I told them how many people I had that I was looking for catering for they talked me out of getting more and honestly think I should have done just a bit more. I also ordered a single vegetarian dinner and it never came. They delivered it and set up so that was a bonus.
Grooms Cake: Frantelli's Quincy MA B+
Met Expectations:
First off, my husband is a big fisherman (for recreation) and I thought it would be great to get him something for him since there is a lot going on for the bride. what better than a fish cake, well after reading reviews about their cakes it seemed apparent that they were the ones to go with. After talking with them on the phone and leaving a photo of the cake that I would like, they said that they could do it and make it look like a striped bass. Well, it did not really look at all like the picture that I gave to them and not much like I pictured, however people though it was great, and honestly the taste did make up for it. The cake tasted very good. I gave a B+ since the look was not on point.
DJ: New England DJ'
s.com Dave Abbott A+
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
Dave was perfect to work with! Having a great DJ was very important to us (as most pp) and he came highly recommended. His energy level even during our first meeting was great! We had some reservations on the equipment he uses (not sure what really it is but not lab tops like most now do) however that was NO issue day of. The music was dead on. He hit our style and gave us exactly what we wanted for our reception. He checked in with us during the planning process and has a website where you can make your play and do not play lists and then on the final meeting goes over more of the final details and confirming the big songs. I was changing things up until the day before and Dave was a great sport about that! He checked in on us through out the reception as well to ensure everthing was going as we wanted and if there was anything additiona we needed. The dance floor was packed all night, and everyone raved on how great the music was.
Hair: A+
Michellet Doucette from Louis Anthony in Quincy
Kerri Madar from La Novita In Randolph
Exceeded Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
We had both MIchelle and Kerri to do all the BM's as well as FG, MOB, SMOB and Bride. Hair is a huge part of the day and you need to have trust in your stylists. I will say I never had a doubt that they would do a great job and they did a great job! Everyone's hair came out exactly how they wanted it and they were amazing to work with. They traveled to us which was perfect so we can have everyone in one location and not worry about driving around. They gave each of the girls a little touch up as well if they needed it before they left. I did a trial with Michelle and we nailed it on the first try and it came out exactly as planned on day of. My hair lasted all the way until the next morning, so no worry about it not making it through the wedding day. All the girls mostly did as well, some due to their hair and style of it that day had some fallen curls but it was a damp day as well and we were running in and out of the weather.
Photography A
Cole Bellemy
Mark Wilson
Met Expectations
I have a unique situation where my Father is a wedding/event photographer so we had two of his colleges shoot the wedding in which he is processing the images and creating the wedding album. I had Cole do our engagement pictures which came out so great, and we had a lot of fun with him. He spent a lot of time with us that day as it was very windy and we had our dog with us, who lets say is not extremely cooperative at times. Cole and I talked a few times prior to the wedding to go over thoughts and style. I emailed with Mark who, at times was not as attentive and responsive as I thought a wedding photographer should be regardless how he booked the client. All and all the pictures came out great, the shot list got wet and there were some missed, however at the end of the day I have some great pictures. I do wish they were a bit more, type A as they both are a bit laid back, and when doing weddings I think you need to be a bit more directive.
Wedding Planner and Event Design (
cmdeventdesign.com)
CMD Event Design A+
Exceeded Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
I used Christina for not only as a wedding planner, but used her (has an etsy shop as well) for a lot of the details that I needed. The process started looking at venues, she set up all the appointments and had all the questions prepared and discussed with me and my FI what we wanted and got the feel of what we were looking for as well as our budget. She helped us to stay on budget and found great alternatives to things that were going to put us over our budget. She vistied the budget often as well as checked in on the To Do list she gave me that had deadlines and due dates. She is highly organized and knowledgeable. The communication was great, she was available and responded to emails with in the day and if warranted a phone call she would call to discuss. For someone like me who is so indecisive she helped tremendously in the decision making process which to me was huge. From decor to vendors. The items she helped in creating for us were as follows:
Table Numbers
Monogram
Custom Photo Sharing Cards (designed them and then placed order through vista)
Ribbon Wrapped Vases for Mantel for the BM bouquets
Unity Candle
Insert for Wedding Program
Guest Book A
Blurb.com
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
I created this with the e-pics we had done. It came out great and the softwear is so easy to use and manuevor through. The price and customer service was great, as I had a querstion about paper and pens and they got back to me with in a few hours. I also used them for a mini book with my boudoir photos.
Boudoir Photos A+
Molly Ann Photography (
http://mollyannesphotos.net/)
Exceeded Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
Molly was absolutely amazing to work with. She is so energenic and sweet. I am pretty reserved so when it came to these I knew I wanted to do them as it would surprise FI however I was extremely nervous. Molly made all that dissolved with in minutes of starting. Her creativity was great, things I would not have even thought of doing she could visualize and they came out great, and has an amazing eye. Unfortunately she was not available for our wedding, but will use her for the TTD. She was quick with the photo turn around and gave me the rights to the pictures and gave them to me on a CD so I could create the album. I got 40 pictures which was plenty!
Descenza's Jewelers Hingham A+
Exceeded Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
My DH worked with Mike Malloy to pick out my E ring and we continued to work with Mike for my wedding band. He was great to work with and was very patient. I could not make up my mind for a whie but was honest and not pushy at all. Everyone there is so nice. DH bought my wedding gift there as well and again had a great experiance with them. I recommended them to a neighbor who was getting a new ering and wedding band for her 10th anniversary and we (her husband didn't want to go again) worked with Mike and she thouroughly enjoyed her experiance as well.
Favors - Candy buffet A
Candy.com
Met expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
I worked with Vinh from
candy.com and was very happy with them. They were able to get some candy that was not on their website and he was great to work with and had great ideas.
Honeymoon-Excellence Punt* Cana A
Met expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
We went to the Excellence resort for 7 days. The food was amazing, the staff fantastic and the location great! The one and only complaint we had, ok two was we could not get a direct flight from Boston and two (which we read about online) was that the rooms were a bit musty. We came home and all of our stuff was SO musty. We were upgraded to the Excellence club and had a full bar (vodka etc) in our room and access to their excellence club which was a private lounge with appetizers out throughout the day, interet, bar etc. We also had access to the private section of beach for the excellence club which you also get appetizers passed to you through out the day. The massage on the beach was nice, not as good as at home, but relaxing none the less. My DH is pretty picky about food, and he liked 99% of the food. There was plenty to do within the resort and we did not leave the resort as we just wanted to relax and the nightly shows and daily activities were enough for us. We even got to watch the Celts in the sports bar one night.
Hampton Inn and Suites Plymouth MA B- and A
Exceeded expectations ONLY day of
Would I use or recommend this vendor: possibly
So, this was my only huge stress throughout the process. We did a room block a little under a year out as we knew we would have OOT and a lot of people not from the area. We started with 10, which she said we could increase as I told her we would need approx 30. Well well over a month out I called the women in charge of booking large groups there (incredibly flaky) and wanted to add my parents room and FIL and at this time had 9 rooms booked. She then proceeded to tell me there were no more available! Well I had technically one left as well. I proceeded to tell her this was unacceptable as I did have 10 blocked so why was I missing 1 of those, she then said she would see what she could do, I then logged into the online manager that I was set up with, well there is a tool to book multiple reservations, so I decided to do this. Well I ended up booking 15 rooms under the pp that I knew would be staying and put them on my card. I called her later that day to tell her, she said oh I don't know how you could have done that. Then was able to book 5 more for me over the phone! So after a panic attack and stressing over this it worked out. Once I arrived on Friday I will say the front desk Staff Julie was amazing. She left the pool open late for my younger family members (since we did a girls dinner) and gave us a conference room for hair and makeup as well as one for the after party at no charge. If I did not have the experience with the booking manager I would highly recommend this hotel, however working with her was painful! Hotel was very clean and nice, great location too (for us).
Local Motion-Guest transportaion A
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
We booked them 1.5 weeks before the wedding as a last minute thing my FIL wanted to do for us and the guests. They had a great price were prompt and very nice. I know someone who had a horrible experiance with anohter company, they left the bride and groom at the venue bc it was time for the bus to leave and they would not turn around to get them (as well as 8 member of the WP).
Etsy Vendors:Invitations/Thanks you's and Programs - My Blue Tulip Design A+
Exceeded Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
Martha was absolutely perfect to work with. She was extremely responsive during the process of finalizing the exact designs and sent proofs through the entire process and even when I realized there was somthing slightly off right before print she fixed it immediately (within the day) and had it to me ready to go. She created a custom program cover for us based on a photo I had seen and it was exactly what I was looking for. She was prompt to work with and has great quality stuff as well as very reasonable in price.
Jewlery- K.Y.M. Jewelry A
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
Working with Kim was perfect. I am the type of person that tends to need to see things in person to ensure that I like them and was leery about ordering things on etsy, however I have no regrets about doing so. I found out through email exchanges that Kim actually grew up right near where I currently live which is such a small world since she lives much further away now. I had my jewelry (custom earrings and necklace from her collection) which came out perfect with the pear color and all. The earrings were exactly what I wanted as well and were custom created by Kim. I had my BM jewelry made by Kim as well and they were custom made and came out perfect. The girls loved them and they looked great. She sent me pictures along the way while making them and very quick turn around.
Family Attic - Thank you / Mr & Mrs sign A
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
We had these made just a month out from the wedding and they came out perfect and worked perfectly for our thank you card photos. Quick shipping and great quality.
Classy Wedding - Hair Flower
Met Expectations
Would I use or recommend this vendor: Yes
I ordered this just via the etsy site, not communication in regards to the order and came quickly. Good quality and size.
Pics:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AauGjNu5bM2bjQ