Invites- Land of Oz: I liked that we could look through TONS of different styles and price points. It was kinda busy there. It saved us a lot of money to use them for invites. My only complaint is that we ordered 100 invites, but were shorted a couple and we actually did need them. We called them to tell them but never heard back.
Church- Christ's Church at Mason (chapel): Loved it. Great price is you or your fiance's family are members. They have a lot of decorations there to use (candlabras, bows, tableclothes, unity candle holders, flower girl baskets & petals). The church is huge (which meant that my bridesmaids and I could get ready in one dressing room, and the guys in another in a different wing of the church without running into each other!) but the chapel is small and intimate. It looked great. The wedding planner here is very helpful. They also provided a piano and a sound tech (add. fee for that).
Reception- Maketewah Country Club: Absolutely beautiful!!! I highly recommend it. Peg, the planner here, is great and very helpful. They also had decorations here provided, like tableclothes, table numbers, vases, etc. They have a person who decorated our cake table with ribbon in the shape of a heart. IDK how else to explain it lol but it was very pretty!
Flowers- The Flowerman in Centerville: We did partial DIY with the help of a worker. Didn't take a class and it was very fun and easy!!! We (6 of us) spent 2 or so hours making all the bouquets, table flowers, others, boutineers, coursages... We did it the day before the wedding in the morning and then stored them in our basement overnight. They looked beautiful!!! We saved so much doing this. Final cost was around $350 for 7 bouquets, 12 or so boutineers, 5 coursages, 2 large vase arrangements and 18 tables of flowers (2 or 3 stems each). Flowerman had tons to choose from, I just told them our budget, got to look through colors, and picked! Very easy to work with and make changes throughout the process.
Dress- Kotsovos in Montgomery. They had a moving sale (moved Bridal Designs over) so I got my dress 50% off! Not sure how often they do sales, but they were nice to work with.
Alterations- Lori Schurr in Fairfield...couldn't say enough great things about her!!! While other seamstresses were quoting me $200-300 for my alterations needed, she gave me one quote that would be final: $75. She did a TON of work. My dress was a ton of lace, layers and detailing... and it was a size 8 needing to be a size 2 & needed hemmed! She must have spent so much time on my dress and it fit like a glove. She is super nice and I will always be using her in the future for alterations!!
Lori also did some of my bridesmaids dresses (pretty much they needed hemmed and taken in around the bust and waist for my girls) and I think she charged about $30 for them.
Bridesmaids dresses- David's Bridal: I think they're overpriced! If I could go back and use another store, I probably would. The dresses are beautiful and ones that my girls can actually rewear if they want, but were pricey. The staff wasn't that great, kinda moody. I did like that they had so many choices in the store and that my girls in other states could use their local DB.
Tuxes- Men's Warehouse: They guys looked great. Possibly could have gone somewhere else for a better deal, but IDK. Only issue with them is they try to make some of the groomsmen pay this security charge for the tux, which they didn't have to pay for, but MW made them think they did.
Cake- Alfa Chalk: She did a beautiful job and the cake was very good! She bakes them out of her home in West Chester (has a huge oven). Her prices are a lot better than others. $1.75/slice. She let us borrow her cake stand and maybe some other things we needed. Only issue here was that she didn't want to drive far from her home to deliver or set up the cake, & our reception is about 20 miles from her house. so F's dad delivered it & the country club staff set it up. It was no problem though, very easy for them to do.
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For sale:Off of the top of my head....
1. faux fur wrap (white) & sparkly brooch (
http://cgi.ebay.com/IVORY-BRIDAL-MINKY-FAUX-FUR-WRAP-SHRUG-STOLE-SHAWL-NEW-/360187463588?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53dcd887a4 )
2. size 6 ivory heels 1.5 in
3. 4 bright blue and 2 silver picture frames (4x6)
4. 15-20 Ikea photo frames (two-sided, 4x6) we used these for table decorations w/engagement pics in them
5. veil by DB. I think it's this one, but shorter:
http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Elbow-Length-Veil-1-Tier-with-Beaded-Scalloped-Edge-and-Beaded-F_Accessories-Veils-Mid-Length6. hair accessory- sparkly barette
Will eventually put up pics if anyone is interested. Also will be selling my dress!
Anything else just ask or PM
