Hi Knotties! I got married last weekend and I want to review some vendors.
Wedding coordinator - Stephanie Vaughn, Vaughn Events: A+++++
I can't recommend Stephanie enough. She was AMAZING. She coordinated all the setup and everything with my other vendors, made sure everything went perfectly, and just did a fantastic job on the wedding day.
Photography - By Asa Photography: A+++++
We were looking for a more photojournalistic, candid style of photography and I searched for months to find someone we liked in our price range. Asa fit that bill perfectly. His photos are INCREDIBLE, his professionalism top notch, and he had previews up on his facebook page (By Asa Photography, check them out!) by the time we did brunch the day after. I adore this man and his talent for photography.
Limo - Pech Limo: A-
Pech was great. Everything was on time and very professional. The only reason they're getting an A- is because the limo driver had a hard time maneuvering the 20-person stretch Excursion and nearly ran over Asa's car several times. For the record we didn't order the stretch Excursion; we had ordered a 14-passenger stretch Lincoln, but they sold that car and upgraded us to the Excursion for no additional charge, so that was pretty cool.
DJ - DJ Connection: A
DJ Connection out of Tulsa did a great job. They were so incredibly funny to work with. While we found Asa on craigslist and were able to get an idea of his work with our engagement shoot, hiring a DJ freaked me the hell out. Any high school kid with an iPod can call himself a DJ, so going with an actual, reputable company of DJs was important to us. That said, we weren't able to meet our DJ before the event, which worried me a little at the time, but it didn't end up mattering that much in the long run.
Cake - A Simple Twist of Cake: A+
Laura and I were in choir together and when she brought in lemon cupcakes with homemade lemon curd filling and homemade buttercream icing I knew we had found our baker. Her cake was SO delicious, and we got so many compliments on it. She also worked with me to create vegan desserts for 2 of our guests, and a citrus free / gluten free option for 2 other guests. They also loved their desserts. Totally gorgeous, totally delicious cake.
Hair - Jessica at Blo Salon in Westport: A+
Not only is she a freaking wizard with highlights, but she held my hair in place all night with only twelve bobby pins and a layer of hairspray that didn't evoke bad memories of washing my hair 4 times to get all the hairspray from my prom style out of it. She did many of my girls' hair, and whoever the guy is there that does makeup is pretty much the god of my idolatry. Everybody looked positively gorgeous.
Ceremony - Pilgrim Chapel: A+
Gorgeous little venue, perfect for a small (less than 70 people) wedding. Ivy covered stone walls on the outside, simple pews and stained glass inside that need no additional decoration. The pastor, Roger, was fantastic to work with and officiated a great ceremony. We really enjoyed him.
Reception - 1617 Event Space: A / D
I have such mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, the venue is GORGEOUS - hardwood floors, exposed brick walls and duct work, incredible view of the skyline. But that's really more the building that they lucked into rather than anything of their doing. The food was also amazing - we got so many compliments on the beef tenderloin and they also worked with us to create a vegan option for two of our guests and a citrus free / gluten free option for two of our other guests, who really enjoyed their food. And that's the chef's doing more than anything else.
That said, their coordinator, Raquel, was a huge bitch to my DJ. Made sure he knew, and not in a polite way, that he wouldn't be partaking of the open bar, and at 3 minutes past our stop time threatened to unplug his equipment as he was still playing a song. Also the space was INCREDIBLY FREAKING HOT and they wouldn't lower the A/C anymore. And by INCREDIBLY FREAKING HOT, I mean there are pictures of me with my best friend hiking up my dress to position the fan underneath it and the DJ bringing me ice water (it was too hot to even drink at my own wedding reception). To be fair, we did have a lot of candles, but we blew them out about halfway through because of the heat and that barely even helped. I'm pretty sure that night I consummated my marriage by dry humping a fan at my reception, and I can't even get the fan to call me back.
So there you go. If you guys have questions or want more info, feel free to ask!
-Kellie