It was a gorgeous day in sunny Jacksonville last weekend! I got to marry the man of my dreams and had an amazing time doing it! Here are my vendor reviews!
Venue - Deercreek Country Club (A-)
Julie Bennett was an angel to work with and made the wedding of my dreams come true! I gave her a pretty tall order, with all the various details that I DIYed myself and she and her team pulled it off amazingly! The food was excellent (several people went back for 2nd helpings) and the service was superb! The only thing that I wish would have gone just a tad nicer was the switching between events. My reception was scheduled to end at 3pm. Next party arriving at 3:30. Well, DJs and florists started arriving at 2:30. And the venue's cleaning crew started trying to discretely start cleaning up around this time as well. As a result of the afternoon wedding vendors invading the space early, people started leaving before the reception was over and we did not get our grand exit. We ended up being the last ones (with the exception of my parents) to leave at 3:10pm. I guess you could say that this is to be expected with a mid-day wedding, but it did not take away from my day, it was still an amazing experience.
Cake - Publix (B+)
The cake looked beautiful and they pulled off the design based on the inspiration I provided them perfectly. It was a very small but simple cake and it looked stunning. The price was verrrrry reasonable and fair. Cake was on-time and communication with the vendor was perfect during the entire process. The only downside is that they do not bake their cakes fresh. They come in frozen and it is thawed. DH and I noticed it when we were eating the cake, that the edges were a little hard. But the rest of the cake was very tastey and the filling definitely made up for it. And for the record, my husband and I were the only ones to notice / comment on it. (And thats probably because we were "four weddings obsessed" and tried to analyze our entire wedding 
We still are happy with the end result and if we had a second chance, we would do it all over again. We're going to be enjoying our top tier this weekend as we begin our honeymoon. Next year, I'll pay them to "re-create" my top tier for nostalgia.
Music - The Party Express DJ, Scott Murphy (B+)
We met him at a bridal show and loved his energy so we booked him right away. His pricing was very reasonable and he worked with me the entire time of the planning process. Communication was perfect with Scott all along the way. We met with him about a month before our wedding and went over the details. He took notes and even got the timing of my music (as per my request) perfect! The only downside is that, since we were a daytime wedding, we knew that our wedding would not have the same "party goer" atmosphere and we were ok with that. I told him not to "force" things and to just feel the crowd. He tried really hard to get everyone excited and dancing. Almost to a fault. I was not a fan of the "hey, walk around a meet a stranger" routine and the volume was just too loud for 2pm. When I told him during the reception that it was ok to tone it down (I had to veto the conga line - it just went too far), he apologized, bounced right back and the rest of the reception was perfect. He really was just trying to please us and keep people active on the dance floor, but we just weren't "that type" of crowd.
Photography - Crystal Howes (A-)
Crystal is a sweetheart and I enjoyed very much working with her - to the point that I can now call her a good friend. Communication was great, pricing was great and she was prompt and professional. She was open to any ideas I have (which is good, because I can be a little OCD sometimes). So far, the images I have seen have been amazing and she worked with some pretty tough scenarios at my wedding (including harsh sunlight + a mother in law with a monstrosity of an iPad). The only constructive comment I can relate would be that there were a couple key moments that I think were missed because she couldnt be at two places at one time. I think we missed photos of the parents / bridal party walking down the aisle as well as when the ceremony was over and everyone was walking out. I only attribute this to not having a 2nd shooter there. I can't wait to see the rest of the pics!!!
Men's Attire - Men's Wearhouse (B-)
It's a shame there aren't lots of options when it comes to tux / suit rentals. I probably should have gone with Michaels. Though initially all was great, they lost our initial deposit payment and had to then cancel our group and make a new one. This made things complicated later. They misspelled my son's name in the system causing me to have a minor heart attack 1 week before the wedding when they couldn't find his reservation. They promise the rentals 2 days prior to the event, which in my opinion, leaves a bride nervous because there is little to no time to fix anything that may go wrong. They did alterations on-site as needed which was helpful. The Grey Vera Wang tux my DH wore was stunning and the boy's grey suit looked a little silly on my son because the shoulder pads in the jacket made my son look like a linebacker. But all in all, it was a simply OK experience.
Hotel - Hotel Indigo (A)
Amazing pricing, amazing communication, amazing accomodations. Simply amazing. Even willing to honor the block rate for a late room reservation after it expired. And during TPC weekend nonetheless! Did they go above and beyond during our stay, since we were the bride & groom? No. But did they need to? Nah. Loved staying here!
Rehearsal Dinner - Sonnys Catering (A+)
We did a rehearsal dinner BBQ at home and the catering was perfect. Got exactly what I asked for, when I wanted it. Food was hot, fresh and tasted wonderful. Everyone loved it! The pricing couldn't be better an communication with Gloria was a breeze the entire time! I previously first contacted Bono's for pricing and the lack of communication and minimal information I got really turned me off from working with them. I then reached out to Sonny's and never looked back!
Rental Furniture - Kirby's Rentals (A+)
The venue provided all my furniture for the wedding. But I rented a few tables and chairs for my Rehearsal Dinner at home. They were also perfect to work with. Pricing was very reasonable, communication was perfect. They showed up when they said they would and same for pickup. I even ended up having the furniture for longer because of how their pickup / dropoff works and that was fine by me.
And that's it for vendors. I did not do flowers because I just didn't have the budget for it so used glass with candles for centerpieces and we didn't have a car service take us away (and that would have been a waste because everyone left anyway). My wedding was fantastic and I wouldn't do anything different!!!
May 2013 Brides Siggy Challenge January- Let Them Eat Cake!
My cake is a 2-tier ivory cake with silver dotted scallops, ribbon and pearl brooch.
