Wimberley Wedding Vendor Review
The Cliff Notes: every vendor we had was awesome. I did tons of research on the Knot, Wedding Wire, Yelp, and friends. These were the best I could find, and all were reasonably-priced!
Pictures:
http://weddings.alcollective.com/courtney-and-andrew-at-red-corral-ranch/Wedding Venue: Red Corral Ranch
We had an amazing weekend staying with our families at RCR. The guys played croquet on the lawn during the day, and our ceremony was under the oak trees on the front step of the pavilion. The reception was up at the barn, which looked gorgeous with little twinkle lights.
I loved the staff at RCR, and they helped so much when I had questions during the planning phase. This is the venue to choose if you want more flexibility of vendors, longer hours, and the freedom to do what you want (within certain rules, of course!) You have to have everything brought in, they don't provide tables or chairs - which I liked since I rented exactly what I wanted.
Rehearsal Dinner: Old Glory Ranch
Gorgeous, great staff, and gave our out of state side of the family a wonderful first impression of Texas. The miniature donkeys were a huge hit! This venue was great for my mother in law, who didn't need as much flexibility, and liked that you used their tables, linens and staff.
Caterer: Gourmet Gals Catering
We used them for the RD, the wedding, and the brunch on Sunday. They worked with our budget, and listened to what we asked for. The food was AMAZING. The staff and bartenders were great - helpful, professional, and fast. They got everything right, and everything was exactly as we had hoped. I am betting people thought we paid twice as much as we did. We are still hearing compliments 6 months later about how delicious the food was (people expect catered food to suck I guess), how attentive the staff was, and how well they decorated the buffet. I could not more highly recommend them.
Wedding Coordinator: Kristi Treadwell, Joyful Details
I am a former event planner, and here is my free professional advice - hire a wedding coordinator. Better yet, hire Kristi. I did a ton of research, and she was the right choice. (Our photographers recommended her - a very very good sign! I'm sure they've seen some terrible coordinators.) If you have a limited budget, hire a coordinator who can handle the "day of" details. Honestly, this was the best investment I made. Kristi planned the RD for my MIL, and did "day of" coordination for me (meaning I hired the vendors, and she picked up the week of the wedding.) She gave me the greatest gift, in that she took care of all the little problems that came up while I had a blissful weekend without a second of stress. Not only that, but she did more than I expected. For example: one weekend we were in Austin going to appointments with caterers. It was Sunday at about 11am, and Kristi called to tell us about the wedding she'd done the night before. She remembered that the caterers doing the wedding were on our short list as well, so she called to give us a heads up that they had not lived up to their promises. That was not in her contract, as I said I would hire vendors, so this was her going above and beyond. We went with Gourmet Gals instead and they knocked it out of the park!
Flowers: Stacey, Petal Pushers
Stacey rocks. She's fun to talk to, so friendly, and made me feel comfortable leaving the flowers in her hands. I don't have strong opinions on flowers, and the RCR doesn't need a ton of extra decor, so I just asked for white flowers, with greenery, and sort of natural look. Stacey asked me to make a Pinterest board with what I wanted, and that was that. She totally got it right, and I heard tons of compliments on the flowers.
Photographers: A L Collective
They are no longer doing weddings, I am sorry to say. They were great!
DJ: Kit Ketterman
Great DJ. I like indie rock, my husband likes country, and my family and friends like to dance at weddings like it's a frat house on Saturday night. Kit gave us a worksheet to fill out with must plays, don't plays, types of music. I requested a "crazy hour" or "la hora loca" where the lights go down, the music gets faster and louder (and cheesier), and everyone puts on masks and props. Kit got what I wanted, and made it so fun! Also, he looks like Ryan Gosling. Seriously.
Other vendors, all highly recommended:
Musical Discovery Chamber Players - ceremony music
This Is The One Photobooth
Moeller's Bakery (Houston) - wedding cake
Sugar Shack - groom's cake
Hair/Makeup - Mandy Silver
Mike's Luxury Transportation
Leinnewebber - comfort trailer
Bagpiper - David Breeding
Father Ned Bowersox - officiant