I was married September 10, 2011 in Clemmons, NC... here are my reviews
If you have any questions, want photos from any of it, etc. please e-mail me at casey.everhart @ gmail.com Thanks
Reviews:
Catering - BLL Rotessierie Factory (Winston Salem, NC) - A+ - I LOVE eating dinner at BLL so when they catered my wedding it was a dream. Working with Simone and Anotonio was a pleasure. Anytime I needed anything they were there to help and anytime I had some silly question they were there to answer it. The food was delicious and plentiful. I highly reccomend BLL to anyone (dinner or catering)!
Cake - Buttercream by Barbara Chandler (Kernersville, NC) - A+ - Barb was reccomended to us by a family friend. I wasn't interested in spending $500 for a wedding cake from a well known bakery and my main concern was it being delicious. When I walked down the stairs at my venue and saw my cake it was absolutely perfect. I had given her a picture to go by and she nailed it on the head. She even made my husband a "special layer" of cake that he would like - peanut butter and chocolate ganache (tasted like a resee's cup!). Probably the best carrot cake I have ever had also. I would highly reccomend Barb to anyone. She was an absolute pleasure to work with and I really couldn't have asked for more.
Photography - Jennifer Farris Photoraphy, Kernersville, NC - A+ -I loved Jennifer from the day I met her! I loved her photography and I loved her personality. She's laid back, up beat and super easy to get along with! My schedule is an absolute mess (I work 2 jobs and go to school) yet she worked with me through all of the crazyness. My photos came out beautiful and I got my DVD quickly. If you'd like to see my photos let me know! ..she was AMAZING!
Flowers - Sam's Club - F- I knew going into the wedding I wasn't interested in spending $350 for my bouquet (how much a florist quoted me). I found some flowers on Sam's Club (the green and white 17 piece wedding collection) that I thought were beautiful and much like what I was looking for. It had good reviews so I went with it. My original flowers arrived Wednesday (late thanks to Fedex) and they were horrible looking, half of them were brown. After sending pics to Sam'sClub representative she overnighted a new shipment of flowers to me that arrived on Friday (the day before my wedding). They were much much better...but still really not up to expectations....long story short...Sam's club would NOT give me my money back and would only give us 20% back (main reasons: I didn't call on my wedding day to tell them about it and I couldn't get them a receipt from my flowers we got from the farmer's market). They are absolutely horrendous to deal with if anythign goes wrong and I would not reccomend them to anyone. They do not stand by their "satisfaction guarantee" even if you have pictures. My favorite quote from the representative "the pictures of the flowers you sent us do not even look like the ones on the website" ...EXACTLY..That's my problem *ugh* If you'd like to see photos of Sam's Club flowers please let me know!
Flowers - Yang's Fresh Cut Flowers (Katie Yang) at the Greensbor Farmer's Market in Colfax - A+ - After the issues with Sam's Club my Mom and I went to the Farmer's market the morning of my wedding. One of the ladies that sells fresh flowers made a bouquet for myself, my bridesmaids, a toss, and then extra flowers for my cake. They were the most beautiful flowers and were perfect for my "rustic" wedding. The price was also VERY reasonable. We paid $45 for all the flowers which included a nice tip. They were great to work with and I LOVED my flowers. I should have went this route to begin with! If you'd like pictures of this let me know
DJ - All the Right Grooves - Charlotte, NC - A+ - I can't say enough wonderful things! They were an absolute pleasure to work with! Jill was our DJ and was amazing! She kept my reception in line and on time. She would even give me reminders of things that needed to be done...which was perfect! Bethany was even able to make me a special dance mix for my Daddy Daughter dance. Just like everyone else says they are the best to work with!!
David's Bridal - Greensboro (Wendover), NC - C - My first dress shopping experience was on a Friday afternoon at 1:30 (we had an appt). I was really excited and had a specific list of dresses I wanted to try on. When we got there I was told that appointments were only 90 minutes (I believe) long and that's all the time I woudl have. My consultant also was workign with another bride at the same time. Of the dresses that I had printed off I was told I would only be able to try try on a couple of them because I was "plus sized" (size 16). I had to fight to try on certain dresses that were my favorites. I was not impressed!
My girl's got there dresses at David's Bridal also. I gave them a color (Lapis) and they were able to choose their dress. We had an appointment one evening and again were not given much help. My 3 bridesmaids were told they would have to share 1 fitting room. All 3 girls ended up purchasing dresses from DB just to make things simple but it wasn't an amazing experience by any means!
Burlington Bridal Mart - Burlington, NC - A - I almost never went because I had heard mixed reviews. I didn't have an appointment and got there at about 10:30am on a Friday morning, we worked with Sharon. It was just my Mom and I and we had a BLAST! They let me try on as many dresses that I wanted to and let us take our time. There was never a super amount of pressure or rushing (which was nice). They never told me I "couldn't" try on non-plus size dresses either (which I was really bothered by at DB). I ended up trying on a dress I saw another girl in and fell in LOVE! It was a ball gown and it was perfect! The only reason that I didn't put A+ was between the time I first tried on my dress and when I actually bought it the price had changed dramatically. Without the price change it would have been an A+!
Angelos Alterations and Menswear- Winston Salem, N - F - My mom made an alternations appointment after being reccomended to them. When she talked to them she told them I had a wedding dress that mainly needed hemming and a one point bustle. They assured her that was fine and they could do that. I went in there and they had me put on my dress inside a little 4x4 closet type room. My dress was a corset (and was tighter - which is how I bought it) and when I came out my Mom was lacing up the back. The first thing the lady said was "your dress too small, you need bigger size". I had lost 10 lbs since I had actually bought the dress and knew it fit (I had tried it on 2 days before when I picked it up). She wouldn't quit telling me my dress was too small and it didn't fit. As I'm sure everyone can feel, being told this a month before your weddnig is not the most comforting thing and really knocked my confidicence down. We finally told her we would just go elsewear. This was the most horrible experience throughout my whole wedding planning and in no way will I ever reccomend this shop for anything!
Nitsa's Alternations - Winston Salem, NC - A+ - AMAZING! We went straight tehre after the nightmare prior without an appointment. They assured me my dress was fine and it fit and did all the alternations neccessary. We worked mainly with Keke their seamstress and it was AMAZING! I can not speak highly enough of this store. If I had enough money to shop there on a daily basis I would..the customer service is amazing as is the final product!
Venue - Tanglewood - B+ - Tanglewood was an important place for me. My parent's had gotten married there 36 years ago and I had always wanted to get married in the same church. Our ceremony was in the little chapel and our reception was in the barn. We worked mainly with John Whipple in the marketing and event's office. John was not as hand's on as I would have hoped but we still were able to get everything done. I would have liked a more personalbe approach and felt like I had to ask for everything (weird things like the church to be cleaned before my ceremony). I would still not change where I got married - but be warned it's mainly on you