Hey ladies! The reviews posted have been so helpful to me, I want to help the rest of you ladies out and warn you of some not-so-reputable people.
Ceremony: University of Houston AD Bruce Chapel: A
H and I met at UH, so we knew that our ceremony would be held here, on campus. It was absolutely lovely and the staff were very helpful, until the rehearsal and day of. I was running late (nail ppl took 2.5 hours wtf), and I got a call from Kiim, the coordinator at 5:15 (our rehearsal started at 6) stressing the importance of my punctuatlity. My family and my IL's arrived an hour early and apparently stressed her out. Instead of remaining cool and calm, she flipped and stressed me out even more. I ended up being a whopping 8 minutes late to the rehearsal. On the day of the ceremony, she got an attitude with my coodinator and got in her face about a few things. I didn't hear about that until later.
Reception: Hilton, Univerisity of Houston: A-
Our reception was wonderful and a spectacular price! I wouldn't recommend them for the faint of heart, though. Working with the staff required a hard-headed attitude and determination. The university fired my original coordinator two months before our wedding and didn't tell me. The new coordinator was pulled from another department and put on our event and didn't have a great handle on everything. Our cocktail hour ended up in the wrong spot and she tried to rush me at the actual reception, but I remained firm and didn't let her push me around. During the actual reception, the staff were very helpful and flexible.
If you do use the Hilton at UH, please note that their bartenders ID every. single. person. and will refuse service to those underage and those serving to the underage. They did however, wisely cut off my MOH and one of our GM when they got intoxicated early on in the reception.
Photographer: Emily at Fleurish Imagery: A++
Love. Her. I cannot say enough amazing things about Emily. She helped me keep my cool when my MOH was trashed and yelling in my face, when my BM had a miscarriage scare, and when our coordinator was being an asshat. She also took AMAZING pictures and was right there in the thick of things, taking control when it was most necessary. She's already posted 4 pictures for us to see and I'm in love with each of them. She is so phenominal. I can't recommend her enough!
Florist: A Day to Remember: D
She showed up 15 minutes before our ceremony started and my BM's boquet had two broken flowers before we even walked down the aisle. I was furious. My photog had worked with her before and also had negative expereinces with her as a florist and as a wedding planner. Her work was done at a great price, but being an hour and forty five minutes late will make me write a horrible review every single time.
DJ: Signature Events: A++
These guys are amazing!! They send two people, one to run the music, and the other to hang out on the dance floor. I don't know what I would have done without Edrick and Reggie. They were absolutely incredible. They got my mom on the dance floor and taught her how to pop, lock, and drop it. I was scared, but she had a blast! We doubled our DJ budget to get them, but they were worth every penny. I got so many comments on how great the music was. Love them!
Cake: Tiffani at Cake Couture: B-
She was incredibly unprofessional during the planning process. She was included in our venue package and we couldn't go anywhere else or we would have! It took four months to get a contract from her, and then she wanted to charge $4/silce for fondant. Working with Tiffani was very stressful and incredibly frustrating, but damn, the cake was good. If you have a high tollerance for BS, then she is worth it.
Hair: Neri Hair Studio: A++
Luke Neri did my hair and I loved it! He knew exactly what looked good, even though I had no idea what I wanted. One of my BM's came in to keep me company and he did her hair on the house! It looked fantastic! He was VERY reasonably priced, giving me a bridal updo for $75.
Make up: Sephora, Rice Village: A++
I can't remember the name of the girl who did my make up, but I was really nervous and she did a spectacular job! I loved her so much and she really put me at ease and knew what would look good, even though (again) I wasn't really sure what I wanted. She put the cherry on top of a perfect wedding day experience!
Dress: David's Bridal: A-
I went to the DB in the Galleria area and was pleased. I felt a little pushed the second time I came in to pick a dress, but I loved the one I got. The only caution I will give here is this: they told me to order 1 size lower than the sample I tried on, saying I would lose some weight and that the sample was a little too big for me. I wish I had ordered the sample size because the smaller size was waaaay too small and led to some bust issues the weeks leading up to my wedding. And, gasp, I didn't lose any weight! I tried, but my dad's death two weeks before my wedding threw off the whole diet thing.
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"You're our early 20's BSC scarecrow.
They cower at your maturity." - lennonkdc
