South Carolina-Charleston

I'm married!! - VERY long

Well now that we're back in to the swing of things, it's time to write my reviews.

We got married March 28 and even though it rained it was a wonderful day!  You always here that something will go wrong, and it's true!  Several things went wrong, but at the end of the day we were married and that's what matters.  We rolled with the punches and our guests had good laughs and a great time.

Venue - Alhambra Hall 
Honestly, I was kind of disappointed in them.  It's a beautiful location and the price was good, but 2 tables had legs that were broken.  Thank goodness we trimmed our guest list way down.  We also rented another table for cocktail hour (that we ended up not using thanks to the rain) so we had it for seating.  And the woman was quite rude about us not being able to use that big room downstairs to get ready in.  I've seen many pictures of  brides getting ready in there (I know because I see the curtains in the background).  But she was saying that it's not included and maybe it will be one day an extra $600 or whatever.  So my MOH and I were taping up paper to the windows in the one hallway that morning.

Day of coordinator - Amanda Lewis with Southern Chic Weddings
Amanda and her assistant, Bruce were wonderful!  I don't know how we could have done it without them!  The only problem was that they forgot to set out the funnel I brought for the sand ceremony.  We were pouring the sand into a wine bottle, so it was very messy.  But it became one of those funny moments because I ended up just saying, "well that's how we roll" when it just wasn't working.  Other than that they were excellent.

Rentals - Snyders
They showed up very early and everything was in working order.  I didn't like that you could only rent champagne flutes in racks of 36, because we ended up paying for about 15 that we never even touched. 

Caterer - JBs Smokeshack
They are wonderful!  There was a little bit of confusion with the date.  When I first contacted them for a quote we hadn't booked Alhambra so I told them the 27th and the week of they still thought it was Saturday.  Luckily Amanda and Billy worked it out, but boy... that would have been bad.  But the food was excellent and everyone loved it.  They also loved that we had real food.

Baker Michelle Purser with Peacock Feather Cakes
Michelle left Piggly Wiggly sometime in February. When I found out I called and asked what I should do because it was her I wanted to do our cake, not some random person.  She said that she's taking her brides with her and keeping the same contract stuff.  So the Pig kept the deposit and she still didn't charge us delivery (she didn't originally since the Pig is a mile away).  I thought that was so nice of her since we had a tight budget.  Our cake was delicious and so cool looking.  Our guests kept commenting on how beautiful it looked.

Bar - Snyder, Total Wine, and Walmart
We hired 2 bartenders through Snyder.  They were fabulous and there was never a line.  But it was beer & wine only, so I guess there wouldn't be time to form a line.  We bought all the beer, champagne, and white zin at Total Wine.  We bought the wine and red at Walmart.  And here's the best kept secret in wine... Oakleaf at Walmart is really really good!  It's only $2.97 too!  We had the cabernet and the pinot grigio/chenin blanc blend.  But all the whites are good and the cab and shiraz are good (we haven't tried their merlot).  Seriously, if you're on a budget and doing a DIY bar... at least try it.

Florist - Beth LeonGuerrero with Wildflowers
Beth is wonderful too!  I just gave her some pictures and told her that I liked spring flowers and basically left the rest up to her.  I loved the results.  Every centerpiece had a tall, medium, and short vase but were all different.  But she used the same flowers so it still flowed.  Our bouquets were simple, yet beautiful.  Beth is so sweet and I really liked her a lot.

Photographers - Phyllis and Hillary Floyd with Bee Happy Photography
I found them on Craig's List and while looking through their photos I saw my friend whose wedding I went to.  I called her and asked what she thought (after calling their references) and she loved them!  They were all over the place and took a lot of pictures without taking a lot of time.  I always hate waiting for the bride and groom to do their photos right after the ceremony and I wasn't looking forward to that myself.  I wanted to get to the party!  But they didn't take long at all!  I was quite impressed.  They posted some teasers which I love.  I can't wait to see the rest!

DJ - Rhett with Jay Maxwell's Music by Request
Rhett was amazing!  He kept the party going!  It was so cool - my dad and I talked about doing a Bob Marley song for a while since he doesn't really like to dance.  I decided that instead we'd do the same song for our dance and DH & MIL's.  As they came up on the dance floor my dad goes up to Rhett and jokingly says, "so this is Bob Marley right?"  Rhett laughed and played the regular song.  After it was over he said, "and here's a very special request" and played "Everything is Gonna Be Alright".  We laughed and thus the awesome party began!

Hair - Tracy Wray with Beauty Mastery by Design
Tracy was a life saver!  I can't believe how much salons pay for bridal hair, it's like double the amount!  I didn't want anything over the top so I couldn't justify paying those prices; yet, I wanted my hair to look good because I'll have these pictures forever.  So the week of the wedding I was searching and while some were either booked or don't work on Sundays Tracy was available and with an excellent price.  My hair was a soft curly look which stayed all night.  My mom had an updo too and her's stayed put as well.  We were very happy.

My gown - Bridals by Jodi 
I really like the girls there.  They'll leave you alone if you just want to browse, but will also help when you need it.  I'm very happy with my experience and will go again!

My alterations - A Stitch Witch
The woman from there comes in to BBJ to do the alterations.  She was nice and did a good job.  Her prices were good too.  However, a couple of my bridesmaids and MOH went there and she was very nasty to them.  So I'm torn on whether to recommend them or not.  I had a great experience, but my girls did not.

Bridesmaids dresses - Davids Bridal
The main reason we went there was because my sister lives in Oklahoma and it'd be easier for her.  We found a dress that we loved, which was the 3rd dress they tried on.  But it was way early so no one ordered it.  When it came time to start ordering though we found out it had been discontinued!  Now they MAY have called me, if they had my date right.  We went in there in April 2009, I told them I was getting married March 2010, but for some reason they entered it as March 2009.  When we first discovered it a few weeks later I said, "no biggie, that's what happens when you have humans working.  I've made plenty of mistakes at work too".  But they never changed it!  Anyway, we started the process again and found another dress which they ordered that week.  The dresses all came in quickly and really, I think I liked them better than the first one.

Bridesmaids alterations - Island Alterations
Two of the girls (and my mom) went to Island Alterations on James Island.  They were able to alter the dresses in 1 week (well that was with a rush, otherwise I think it may be 2 weeks).  They did a wonderful job and it was pretty cheap too.  Another BM took hers somewhere in Summerville and they did a good job and it was under $50.  I can't remember the name, but I'll find it if anyone is interested.

Tuxes - Savvi
We went here based on the recommendation by the girls at Jodis.  The owner is really nice and personable.  The tuxes were affordable too.  But I'm afraid I can't recommend them.  When one of our GM tried on his pants there was a stain (ala Monica Lewinski, blergh).  The guy was quick to change out the pants and apologize, but we were still grossed out.  THEN at the wedding my FIL's shoes came apart.  Both of them.  Completely.  The soles came off from both.  Luckily he lives around the corner and was able to change after the photos but yeesh.  Good thing we didn't get married in Summerville!


Please let me know if you have any questions!!  We have several vases, candle holders, etc for sale and I'll be making a for sale page soon.

And now for some photos...

 






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Re: I'm married!! - VERY long

  • edited December 2011
    Congratulations! Looks like you had a really good time!
  • cougarettecougarette member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you!  We definitely had a blast!  Well except for his drunk aunt's weird rambling toast. Embarassed Oh well, it makes a good story, haha.
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  • edited December 2011
    Congrats on your wedding, love your pictures!
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  • shannjeffshannjeff member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    very good detailed list...i'm using snyders for rentals through my catering regal catering so i hope that works out ok...we are also using jay maxwell dj(well not actually jay maxwell but they havent told us our dj yet) but glad you gave rave reviews on your dj..

    congratulations!
  • cougarettecougarette member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you!  I'd definitely recommend calling and requesting Rhett. He truly was awesome (though you can't go wrong with any of their DJs I'm sure).
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  • kje120kje120 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats on your wedding!

    That's really weird about them not letting you use that room to get ready at Alhambra Hall.  I guess we didn't ask if we could go in there, we just went in to change and hang out before and after the pictures, but they didn't say anything.

    It sounds like you had a wonderful day regardless and your pictures look lovely. Congratulations again!
  • cougarettecougarette member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks kestock!  It was weird, but it all worked out.

    Oh and when we get more photos back you'll see your old vases put to use!  Sage was one of our colors so we ended up keeping the ribbon on them. Smile
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  • edited December 2011
    Thanks for the post!  I'm soo glad you gave me the heads up about the tables.. I will definitely have to order a few more now! How many people attended your wedding?  I'm planning on having 15 round tables and a head table.  Do you thing Alhambra will accomodate that?  Thanks!
  • cougarettecougarette member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I think we had around 115 or so.

    I think there should be enough room.  I think we had about 15 tables or so too (though I'm not sure since the DOCs set up), but we used the rectangle tables too which tend to take up more room than round ones.  We had the food set up along that half wall, the dance floor was about 20 x 20 in the far corner, and the cake was in front of a fireplace; and there was plenty of room to move around.  We set up the bar on the porch to save room inside - I'd highly recommend that!
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  • ScMOBScMOB member
    First Anniversary First Comment Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011

    Did you have fun on your honeymoon with all the old folks!?!?!?   I'm the MOB from SC that was sitting at the table next to yours!   My daughter got married this past Sunday at the Summerall Chapel and had her reception at Alhambra Hall.  Everything was beautiful!    Congratulations on your wedding and have a wonderful future together!!

  • cougarettecougarette member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Oh hey there!!  We did have a good time, it was nice and relaxing.  I miss people bringing me drinks at 10 am though. Tongue out  I hope yall had fun too, it sure looked like it!

    I'm so glad to hear everything went well!  I'm sure it was beautiful.  Come back and post some photos when you get a chance!
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