Charlotte Wedding - Hey Knotties :)

miss_jsg

Just wanted to say hello We are getting married at the Holiday Inn in uptown next September and I am excited.I look forward to to sharing vendors and ideas with you. Julia

trinnyface

Welcome!! I am a Charlotte bride as well! I'm getting married uptown too - this November. I would be happy to share vendors with you if you want. I seriously must have visited nearly every vendor in Charlotte!! haha  I saw several wedding planners, florists, bakers, venues, DJs, photograpers, etc. If I can help save you time and $$, I would be happy to!! Congrats!!

dontworrylover

Welcome to the board! The best place to start is the NC Bride Bio for all your vendors. [URL]<a href="http://ncbride.blogspot.com" rel='nofollow'>http://ncbride.blogspot.com</a>[/URL]

ecuchika

Hey! I am from the Charlotte area too but unfortunately don't live there right now !  Depending on your budget I have a cake baker you could check out.  She did my cousin's cake for her wedding in May and it was to die for!  I am going to have her do my cake for my wedding because she is good and not very costly! Here is her link her name is Christy and the name of her business is Kristy Kakes.  Here is her website <www.KrispyKakes.net&gt;. Everything is so expensive for a wedding, I have found out as I started planning!  Christy lives near Concord, NC right up the street from Charlotte so she is local!  If you need any more contact info just let me know I will get her business phone number to you--dont have it with me right now!

miss_jsg

Thanks for your friendly replies and recommendations!!I also don't live in Charlotte, so that makes it all more challenging. I need to do most of my detail planning end of this September, as I am going over to CLT for two weeks to see my FI. We got a pretty good deal with the Holiday Inn, the cake is included in the price and we get to chose the design and flavour. It's not a dream location though, because as a small group (we will only be 30 people), you just don't get the "nice" locations unless you pay 15k to make up for the small group. But it's not terrible either and you can do a lot with deco, flowers and lighting/ candles. Also, we could only get a day time wedding, we get married at 11:30am and then have the reception until 4pm. We are having a rooftop ceremony surrounded by the Charlotte skyline and we both love this modern idea. But we cannot celebrate up there and have to go to a banquet room on floor below. After the lunch we plan a scavenger hunt across uptown wit all our guests and they can wear the specially designed T-shirts, which they will get as favours. We still need to find a few basic things to be able to start the detailled planning - a florist for example. Do any of you know any good florists? I am stunned how expensive flowers are in the US, over here you pay 40 dollars for a bridal bouquet made from roses - not 180! It's not that we don't have the money, but I just think it's a total rip off! Same with photographers - 2k for 4 hours? Wow! We are thinking of posting on a message board for artsy students in CLT and have them take the pictures and pay them a fraction of what a professional one gets. The kids have great pocs for their portfolio and we don't have to pay that much. We are both semi professional photographers, so it just seem ridiculous to us to pay that much money because we know how it's done!We are also still looking for an officiant. We want a non religious ceremony and we would like a man to wed us. So far I haven't found many male officiants online, so maybe you guys have an idea. :)We decided on Save the date & invitations today! :)Lets see if I can manage to link it:[url="<a href="http://www.papeteriestore.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_40_12&products_id=394/"" rel='nofollow'>http://www.papeteriestore.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_40_12&products_id=394/"</a>]Invites[/url]

miss_jsg

Just wanted to add - I may have sounded a bit cranky on the prices LOLI am not like that, I was just a bit baffled, that's all. I love american weddings and they in no way compare to how Germans get married. And of course quality doesn't come for cheap. ;)And I would buy a $180 bouquet if I fall in love with it

trinnyface

The most reasonable florist I met with was Lorie at Party Blooms. www.partyblooms.com She wanted LESS THAN HALF what the other 4 florists I saw wanted - for the SAME thing!!In terms of photography, it was one of the most important things for me (since it is the only documented memory I will have of the wedding) so I splurged on that. A student might not be very reliable, or know how to work with a group of people, so just think about that when you choose a photographer. It was important to me that my guests not be disturbed in order to "get the shot" or herded like cattle. I wanted them to not even notice the presence of photographers so they could relax, have fun, and I would get more candid/natural photos. I am not sure how much you are willing to spend, but Jen Hunt is really good and cheaper than most photographers of her caliber. http://www.jenhuntphotography.com/Good luck with planning!!

miss_jsg

Thanks about the florist info, I'll keep that in mind!I am so stressed at the moment - I am coming to Charlotte for 2 weeks on Sept 19th and it might be the last time I go before the wedding. So I have to squeeze all the detailling into this visit!Cake, flowers, photographer, officiant, hair, deco, venue rehearsal dinner, venue brunch etc. The venue for the ceremony and reception is booked, but I am yet to see it because FI made the decision. I am excited and anxious, worried that i will forget about organising something while I am there. For days I have done nothing but researching (currently at home after a shoulder surgery).