Hello! I had my wedding on 10/5/13 and wanted to share feedback on my various vendors. Hopefully it helps someone!
Hampton Inn Grafton - A+
We had a room block, and we stayed at this hotel. They were very responsive and helpful when I was looking for updates on people who had booked in our block, and the beds are SUPER comfortable!
Baymont Inn and Suites Grafton - D
We tried to have a block with this hotel, but it ended up being a messy situation. I had set up what I thought was a block, but it was actually a bunch of rooms booked under my name, that still had a release date. The front desk staff did not know how to handle this when my guests called and it caused a lot of confusion. Many of my guests encountered rude service, and some even had major mistakes made on their reservations - including a bridesmaid who's reservation was made for the wrong night. They were never able to email me confirmations on the block itself, and I had to call to see if anyone had reserved a room. The week before I actually went into the hotel, and they weren't able to generate a list for me for just our block, but instead gave me a full rooming list for the weekend. There were two groups that were part of our group that didn't get the rate they were supposed to - I am glad I checked.
The Arts Mill - B
This was our ceremony space. I loved the space, it was beautiful, with the rain were were able to still take interesting pictures inside because of how unique the space is. The coordinator is not a full time event planner but one of the artists that works out of the mill. She is very friendly and nice to work with, but wasn't completely available. We were supposed to have someone to help run the elevator (the space is on the third floor), and it was fine when people were arriving - but we had no one when people were exiting - so people who shouldn't have ended up taking the stairs. Otherwise she was very flexible, and for the cost to rent this is a great value.
The Black Swan - A+
Bill is amazing to work with and I absolutely loved the space. I wouldn't put more than 150 in there, it would get tight, but it was just perfect. Even my vendors commented on how much they liked working with him. We were able to set up the Friday before our reception which was a huge help.
Canopies - A
We rented chairs for our ceremony through Canopies. They were prompt on delivery, quick with setup and even wiped them all down before they left. Didn't have a lot of interaction with any coordinators but they showed up and got the job done which is what mattered to me.
Aggie's Cakes and Pastries - A+
We love Aggie's. Our cake was delicious - they even special made a salted caramel filling for me for one of our layers. I also worked with them on a surprise zombie grooms cake made out of rice krispie treats because DH doesn't like cake, and I pretty much left it up to their discretion. It turned out AWESOME! He loved it, and so did everyone else. They also did the desserts for my shower. I would highly highly highly recommend them!
Muzic in Motion - A+
Dan and Nikko did an awesome job with the music at the reception, and the lighting looked absolutely perfect. I would definitely recommend them. We had people on the dance floor all night - from every age range. They did a great job of playing the universal music early then as the older guests left they brought in more current stuff. There was a minor sound glitch during our first dance but it was fixed immediately. I was so happy with everything that they did. Another vendor I would highly recommend.
Fretless String Trio - A+
Stephanie was great to work with and had awesome suggestions for our processional songs. She was very flexible and worked around my schedule to talk. And they played beautifully!
Belle Fiori - A+
Emily at Belle Fiori was a pleasure to work with. She understood our budget and made suggestions for how to stay within. They had a program where they prep bulk ordered flowers for you and then you can take them and put them together yourself - which is what I did for my carnation centerpieces - and that was a big cost savings and very convenient. We had some last minute changes and she just rolled with it and was very understanding. I would definitely work with her again!
Amelishan Bridal - B+
I loved my dress, it was gorgeous. The shopping experience for that went smoothly and I had no complaints. However, I was very underwhelmed by their service for the bridesmaid dress shopping which we did on the same day as my dress because people were in from out of town. The girls had to share a dressing room, and the person helping us kept disappearing. We did not get BM dresses there. I also worked with their in-house seamstress and we had no problems there.