Hi everyone!
When I was planning my wedding, your vendor reviews were incredibly helpful in the decision making process. So, I wanted to pass on my recommendations...hopefully these will help other future brides to be!
I should also say that my fiancé and I live in Portland, OR where we did a lot our planning from. We came back to Ohio 3x during the planning process and all of these vendors were very accommodating with our limited schedules. We relied heavily on email and phone calls with everyone, so good communication was key for us. My fiancé and I love the outdoors and nature and really tried to incorporate this love on our wedding day. We tried our best to have as many vendors as we could that used environmentally friendly and sustainable practices. We feel very fortunate that our entire wedding day went so smoothly without any major issues.
Rehearsal Dinner: Graystone Wine Cellar: A
Awesome venue for a RD! Beautiful, unique, intimate, and great location downtown. The food was outstanding!! We are still getting compliments from our guests on the food. A great wine selection. Our contact there, Brian, was very easy to work with, professional, with good communication. Service was good. Only issue was they closed the bar down early (30 minutes) without asking us first. When we still had a few guests who wanted a drink, they gladly served them after we talked to them. But still a bit awkward. This space could also work for a reception---but would be for a very small one (we had 40-ish guests and fit comfortably). They also included access to AV equipment at no extra cost for our slideshow.
Ceremony/Venue: Grange Insurance Audubon Center: A++
We couldn't be happier with using GIAC for our outdoor ceremony and reception venue. ABSOLUTELY GOREGOUS! We got married under a massive mulberry tree (no berries on it), had our cocktail hour outside on the deck, and our reception inside. This place just rocks for several reasons: It is close to downtown so is convenient to hotels, etc. yet it still feels far removed from urban life and is in the great outdoors; options for indoor and outdoor ceremonies; its bring your own alcohol!!! (BIG HUGE savings); its absolutely beautiful inside and out; great and easy parking for guests; its a unique venue; it supports the environment and nature education for public school system. You basically get a wedding coordinator too there, Sarah Selhorst, who was awesome to work with and knows her stuff. We felt like we could really trust her and she helped to make sure our day ran without a hitch! I cannot recommend this venue enough--if you are looking for an outdoor type venue that isn't far from the city, this is for you!
Photographer: Ben Barnes Photography: A+++++++++
BEST. PHOTOGRAPHER. EVER. I cannot write enough positive comments about Ben. He is an incredibly gifted photographer who really specializes in creative candid, artful photography. Our pictures are an artistic documentary to the day. He also is able to totally nail posed pictures too. Ben was with us from 9am at the salon until the END of the reception (at 11pm)--that did not cost anything extra. He also came to our rehearsal to see how the ceremony would flow so he could be even better prepared on the big day--that also did not cost extra. We just got our pictures back this week and are speechless with what he was able to capture without us even knowing he was there! Its like he would blend in and we didn't even know where he was--but seriously, he captured every moment. He got incredibly poignant expressions and interactions between my fiancé and I, our wedding party, and guests. On top of all this, Ben is down to earth, and very easy and comfortable to talk to and get along with. He seriously helped to keep the stress low on the wedding day and had a very calm presence. He even gave one of my bridesmaids a ride to the church from the salon so she could have extra time to do her make-up. Great communication, highly professional. This guy has it all and was reasonably priced given the time, talent, and work he put into our day.
Florist: EcoFlora: A+++
Eva at EcoFlora was a dream to work with. She did our flowers for the wedding party, centerpieces at the reception (which included various natural wood pieces with moss, ferns, floating candles). I had a vision of bringing Oregon and the beautiful NW outdoors to Ohio for the reception, but had no idea how to do this. I swear I talked to her for 2 minutes about what I was looking for and showed a few pictures and she nailed it and perfectly captured the look I was going for. I was able to rent all the items for the centerpieces from her which was awesome--saved on costs, less waste, and less stuff we have to keep at the end of this. She delivered, set up all the decorations, and then came back at the end of the reception to pick everything up.She even brought extra moss, ferns, and wood to compliment our pie table, guestbook table, and seating chart. The flowers were gorgeous and really played a big part in the look and feel for the day. She included lots of local flowers and herbs. Plus, Eva is super fun to work with, down to earth, and her prices were very reasonable I thought.
Caterer: Mass Appeal: A++
Delish. Delish. Mass Appeal was very easy to work with (their contact is also Sarah Selhorst from GIAC--which was awesome and helped make everything seamless). Outstanding service. Our bartender and servers were incredibly professional, attentive, and kind. The food was DELISH. Lots to choose from too. Able to easily accommodate vegetarian diets. We received a lot of compliments from our guests on the service and food...Mass Appeal definitely delivered and we were very very happy with them.
Pies: Melissa's Incredible Edibles: A++
My fiancé and I are not cake people and love to bake and eat pies 
So it was a no brainer that we would forgo a cake and have pies instead! We ended up buying 13 pies total (6 different varieties) and let our guests pick which pie they wanted. I will sadly say that Columbus had limited options for pie vendors, but I am so glad we discovered Melissa's in Clintonville! Her pies taste (and look) just like pies your grandmother would make (she uses her grandmother's recipe for her crust). She has a good variety of options. Great communication. She delivered all the pies to GIAC and they arrived very well packaged. Would highly recommend her.
Band: Custom Red Bluegrass Band: A
Awesome new local bluegrass band we discovered after placing Craigslist ad for a bluegrass band. My fiancé and I love bluegrass (he bought me a banjo for our first Christmas), so we knew we wanted to incorporate this into our wedding. We had the band play for our outdoor ceremony and for cocktail hour outside on the deck. They are the real deal--authentic bluegrass. Awesome awesome music and our guests LOVED them!! I just wish we could've had them play longer. Communication was challenging at times with delayed responses to phonecalls and emails. On the actual day, they took a little longer than I would have wanted to start playing for the cocktail hour, but overall they still helped to make our day special.
DJ: Elite Signature DJ: B+
We had a DJ for our reception and to supply audio for our outdoor reception. Communication with Elite was good throughout the process and there online profile was pretty easy to use. The DJ we were assigned to was great to talk to before the day. He met with us a few days before the wedding to talk about our music preferences and get to know the plan for the day. He did a great job announcing and keeping the night moving. The clip on mic that our officiant used was not great and cut out a lot and was not very loud. Not sure whose fault it was, but our DJ didn't seem to make much of an attempt during the ceremony to amend the situation (though in all fairness, maybe there wasn't much he could do). The main thing that bothered us, was our DJ disappeared later in night when every one was dancing for like 30 minutes. We had no idea where he went and had several guests who wanted to make requests, but couldn't do so because no one was at our DJ booth. My BIL, ended up briefly taking over the music when our DJ was MIA, which I don't think the DJ was very happy about. But, 30 minutes was way too long to step away, especially without saying anything to anyone.
Hair/Makeup: Charles Penzone (Max Salon in GV): A+
Stellar. Had my make-up done by Jade (who usually works at Max in Short North)--she is fantastic! My makeup looked awesome, but I still looked like myself. Everyone in my bridal party that used her were very happy. Highly recommend her. My hair was done by Tim S. in GV. He used to be my hair stylist when I lived in Cbus, so it was awesome to have him do my wedding hair. I loved my updo and could not have been happier! Nothing fell out and it all stayed in place the entire day/night. Max Salon in GV was very accommodating and welcoming for all our bridal party peeps the morning of. Charles Penzone bridal department was awesome and super easy to work with--they made the scheduling of everyone flawless and coordinated everything so that Jade and Tim would be at the same salon. Very prompt responses to emails...usually same day.
Dress: Lena Meydoheff (Portland, OR): A +
So, I figure on the Columbus board most people will not be getting their bridal gown in Portland, but still had to give this designer the attention she deserves for creating such exquisite dresses. If you are ever in Portland, check out her store on NW 23rd ave.
Bridesmaid Dresses: Picked their own
Suits: Joseph A. Bank: B+
Our groomsmen bought grey suits instead of renting tuxes. It actually ended up being close to the same price with all the deals that Joseph A. Bank (similar deals at other big name suit stores). The suits looked great, were decent, and not expensive. So, all in all we were happy. Their online system does not match the system they used in their stores, which made it frustrating to find a particular suit. Several times we visited one of their stores to see a suit in person and the salesstaff couldn't find one of the suits we had found on their website and really wasn't able to track find it in the system at all. My husband is very tall (6'5)--they had very limited grey suits for his size. It ended up all working out in the end--would recommend using them for suits, but you may need to be patient at times
Veil: Simplebeautyveils (etsy): A+
Discovered this vendor on Etsy during one of my many searches. Bought a long (90") ivory veil with fine ribbon piping on border. It was beautiful and exactly what I was looking for. Price very reasonable (less than 70$ I believe) and shipped quickly.
Invitations: Twisted Limb Paperworks: A+
Discovered her online--based out of Indiana. She makes stunning handmade paper invitations using eco-friendly materials and methods. Have option of her addressing all of them for extra cost. Has several option to assemble the invitations yourself or she can do it (which can be a cost saver if have time and are willing). We received so many compliments on our invitations and how unique they were. Highly recommended.
Hotel Block: The Westin: A
Great location downtown! Very nice, historic hotel. Easy to communicate with. Limited parking--ran out of valet spots during our stay and had to park garage across street, which wasn't a big deal. Ended up having enough rooms booked to have a complimentary shuttle for our guests to/from GIAC--which was so nice to have and I think our guests really appreciated this service! The bar in the hotel lobby was open late the night of our wedding and was a great place to continue the party!
Officiant: Had family member officiate