Wisconsin

Vendor Reviews- SE WI - All GREAT

Dresses - NetbrideA: After doing much research on reputable online bridal companies, I narrowed my options to three and found that Netbride had the lowest price.  This was after many requests for prices that were always promptly answered.  I placed my order for my gown (a white bridesmaid dress), my six bridesmaid dresses, and six matching ties for the men.  The items arrived before the stated deadline by weeks.  There were very minor spots on two of the ties and Netbride said to mail them back and two weeks later I had new ones!  I would highly recommend as these dresses are the real deal for WAY less $$ than the shops!

 

Ceremony - Lapham Peak – Kettle Moraine Forest – Delafield, WI – A-: I knew I wanted my ceremony here as this park has personal meaning to me.  I got in contact, held the date and paid the inexpensive rental fee.  They worked with me on payment options for my guests (to enter the park) – I did a tally.  And, they removed items from the lodge I did not want in there and added some additional chairs upon request.  The only slight negative was it always took time to hear back from my contact, granted I only relied on email.  It was usually 7-21 days for a response, though I never tried calling which may have been speedier.

 

Reception – The Preserve at Deer Creek – New Berlin, WI – A: This place was inexpensive, nicer looking than most halls with large windows, and I had used it for my sister’s shower and knew the facility.  The bartenders were fantastic and TJ was super to work with in planning.  They allowed me to set up for the most part early Friday for my Saturday event.  They needed some tables clear for golfers, but decorated those for me on Saturday afternoon.  SUPER experience at a great price!  The only snag why this doesn’t get an A+ is that we had started with a different manager who they replaced about halfway through and he had given us some different guidelines on exit time.  We thought midnight, but learned down the road it was 11:00 when they had new management – we didn’t really care though.  Now that transition is complete, I can only imagine everyone will receive A+ service all the way.

 

Cake – Cakes by Stephanie – Menomonee Falls, WI – A: I originally wanted to make my own cake, but upon practicing, decided it was too much work.  Only a couple months before my wedding I contacted Stephanie who had very reasonable rates.  We met with her and she had many pictures to look through as well as displays.  She works out of her home & has you come over and provides some samples.  Our almond cake with raspberry filling was delicious, as was our top layer of French vanilla with Bavarian crème filling (yes, we are currently eating the top layer!)  We had a simple design well executed and no worries as she arrived and setup by the time we arrived to see it!

 

Flowers – Pick ‘n Save – New Berlin, WI – A: I made my own bouquets, and tissue paper bouts for the wedding party.  However, I wanted my husband and dad to have different, real flowers. I ordered simple white carnation bouts for each of them at the reasonable price of $5.  They were ready on time and looked great.

 

Alterations – Lucy Olszewski – New Berlin, WI – A+: I had used Lucy for a bridesmaid dress a couple years ago so I didn’t hesitate to take my dress to her.  She works out of her home and has fast turn-around.  She was usually calling me 2 days after the fittings to say it was ready.  We did have a bit of taking it in, taking it out, and then in again, but I was being quite picky!  Very reasonable prices and easy to contact!

 

Officiant – Rev Nichole Baird – Brookfield, WI – A: We liked the ceremony Nichole prepared for us and she was on time for both the wedding & rehearsal and even contacted me when she thought she might run slightly late for a reason outside her control, though she didn’t (at the rehearsal).  She sent us our ceremony ahead of time to review and met us in person to explain what she does before we “hired” her.  The only funny snafu was that she scheduled us at the same time as another couple for that initial meeting as we both had the same first name (a not-so-common name) and she didn’t realize it.  It worked itself out though and we liked her enough to go with her and we were happy we did.

 

Photographer – Clint Wolf, Weddings by Wolf – A+: Well, this rating isn’t set yet because we haven’t seen pictures, but I feel confident giving this rating.  We met Clint to ask him questions last year when he was in town for a wedding and thought he had an amazing personality that would work with our party.  We hired him on the spot and communication was easy ever since.  Nice emails like Happy Thanksgiving would pop up throughout the year from him and he was so genuine.  On the day he arrived super early (so early that I was still home when he was at the venue!) and was great with the party.  His work online was superb quality – he knows his photography and I am excited to see mine.  His rates are reasonable and he gives you the digital copy.  He was willing to drive as many places as we wanted and gave us 8 hours of time – simply a great guy!

 

Caterer – Bunzel’s – Milwaukee, WI – A: Bunzel’s was great to work with which I did via email exclusively.  They were reasonably priced and had any menu option.  My only tiny complaint was that we wanted 3 servers and they could only commit to 2 for the amount of guests we had.  We were willing to pay for a 3rd, but they simply didn’t have the staff to provide for this.  We hired my brother-in-law’s siblings to lend an additional hand since we needed tables cleared & cake served (along with dishes packed up since we bought & brought dishes).  They coordinated great with the Bunzel’s staff and I must say the 2 staff members we had were experts, friendly and over-the-top helpful!  Because this was so DIY with the plates/glasses, their 2 servers would likely have been sufficient in most any other venue, but we wanted extra hands on deck to pack up all the dinnerware.

 

Hair – ViCi Beauty School – Greenfield, WI – A: I wasn’t even going to have a trial until I booked my wedding party and found out I could pay for the trial and have a free ‘do on my wedding day because I was booking 6 others too.  We went with students since they have lower prices and I’ve had my hair cut here with no complaints.  My first trial didn’t go so well and they wanted me to come back for a 2nd at no charge which I did.  I wasn’t completely impressed with the 2nd, but the hairdresser knew what to change for my big day and seemed confident.  On the day, she went to work, and with a bit of me speaking up halfway through to make sure we were on the same page, I ended up with something that completely impressed me.  I think I was striving for perfection after staring at pictures online and expecting my hair texture and type to suddenly transform setting unrealistic expectations.  I must say, I was 100% pleased and excited when I left.  All my girls looked great as well!

 

Additionally, I used Michael’s for cardstock & flowers for bouquets.  They were great with all the returns I did when I bought just about every flower before deciding which to use.  I purchased cardstock here for thank-you’s, invites, and table cards/names.  Craigslist was great to find glasses for the event and my dinner plates were ordered from Dollar tree and were good quality along with centerpiece vases (I made tissue flowers for them).  Sam’s Club was great for M&M’s for favor bags, and ebay was great for odds ‘n ends like favor bags & hair spins.  I purchased snacks for cocktail hour at GFS Marketplace for reasonable prices.  My bridesmaid did my make-up and used Mary Kay products which held up great.  I don’t know make-up at all, but we only applied once and I sweated in the August heat, and still looked great later!  We used an iPod for music, our own cars for transportation, and my brother-in-law for ceremony music which all worked great!

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Re: Vendor Reviews- SE WI - All GREAT

  • I also used the VICI school with great success. Hair and makeup for 7 of us was only $300 total. The best part, I thought, was that each of us had our own stylist...no waiting around!

    Congrats on everything!
  • I was looking into netbride as well! I am glad that someone in town finally used them and had a great expirience. 
    Did you try on the dress at a store and then order it from netbride?
    do you have any suggestions when using that website? 
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_wisconsin_vendor-reviews-se-wi-all-great?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:118Discussion:55b96c74-0739-4ca1-9bf6-a6293de53be1Post:55e408cb-ae87-4888-9e1e-ec775cf8dbb9">Re: Vendor Reviews- SE WI - All GREAT</a>:
    [QUOTE]I was looking into netbride as well! I am glad that someone in town finally used them and had a great expirience.  Did you try on the dress at a store and then order it from netbride? do you have any suggestions when using that website? 
    Posted by akduran07[/QUOTE]<div>
    </div><div>Yes, I shopped the local stores to find the dress I wanted.  The website is pretty easy to use - they list all the designers & styles they carry.  If you want pricing, you do need to fill out a quote request form and send it and I always received a response within 48 hours (I submitted several).  When it came to placing the order, I printed the order form, filled it out, and faxed it in.  I received an email verification of receipt of the fax order.

    </div>
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