I cannot believe how quickly the last 2 weeks have slipped by! I know people have said that your wedding day goes by so quickly, but I don't think it's something you can fully appreciate until you experience it. I only had a bad experience w/ 1 of my vendors so I am very blessed that everything went so well! Sorry this is long..I don't know why, but I always have such a business mindset when making decisions & then form personal relationships or rapport afterwards..strange.
Florist: Z's Florist, A++
972-392-3020
www.flowermenu.com
This was a hard decision because everyone was awesome, but I would label them my favorite vendor! Madalyn is absolutely amazing. I went into their shop not having a clue for what I wanted other than my bouquet & she took her time and was willing to help me figure out what worked. I know florists do this all of the time & have so much experience with weddings, but she had a wonderful way of combining my thoughts without pushing her own opinion onto me. I know it sounds silly, but I loved EVERY flower at the wedding & reception! I cannot recommend her enough!
Cakes: Panini Bakery & Cakes, A++
214-363-1225
www.paninicakes.com
This is very much a mom & pop business, and their niece works there, too.
Sophia is the main person that handles the weddings & such - she's great! Our consultation couldn't have gone better & we left there feeling so confident that she knew exactly what we wanted. Their cake flavors are are not as fancy as some places, but I am not a cake person & I thought they were amazing. My now SIL had been trying to force us into going to Delicious Cakes in Addison since that's who they used, but we didn't care for the way their cakes tasted. Three days after the wedding, the same SIL sent me a text asking what bakery we used because she was blown away & she wanted to recommend them to her engaged friend. Our main cake was pretty simple, but delicious - the groom's cake, that's where we had fun. They made a cake in the shape of a stack of pancakes - complete w/ syrup & butter on top.
We received so many comments asking if it was real or fake - and tons of comments that people ate several pieces of both. There were about 220 RSVPs, about 350 cake "servings" and there was not one piece left. YUM!
DJ: Robbie Hazelbaker, A+
972-978-1104
Robbie has known my hubby (woohoo!) for years through our church. We had been to a few other weddings that he DJ'd for & we always had so much fun. He put together a timeline for the reception based on what we wanted & really helped us stay on pace for the whole reception. He played most of the music that we had requested and improvised for a few songs. He had people dancing almost the whole night which was what we wanted. I know this is petty, but the only thing I didn't like was that he mispronounced my mom's last name. I know it's a small thing & he apologized profusely to her, but it did bother me. Seriously, other than that he was PERFECT!
Photographers: Randy & April, A++
www.randyandapril.com
I would put their number on here, but I think it's April's cell # & I don't feel comfortable posting it on the internet. She is very quick to respond through the website though! I got to the church later than I had anticipated & only had 40 minutes to get dressed & skip down the carpet so my half of the pictures were delayed until after the ceremony was over. However, I was touched that throughout the chaotic 40 minutes April took some amazing pictures & I had no idea that she had captured those at the time. Her & Randy were so easy to work with and she had already emailed me the link to ALL of the pictures through their website about 5 days after the wedding - AMAZING. They are in the process of putting together our wedding album, but the disc of all of our pictures are ready for us to pick up. I received a lot of compliments on how great these 2 people are & how they were not in the way at all - people forgot that they were there. They have some sneak pictures of our wedding on their blog, but I don't think it was working due to the electrical outages today..could be wrong.
Hair: Dear Clark Hair Studio, Kaycee, A+
214-397-0700
www.dearclarkhairstudio.com/">http://www.dearclarkhairstudio.com/
I really felt comfortable with Kaycee from day 1. We went through my hair trial, I showed her what I wanted, & she tested my hair to see how well it would hold the style. I was actually surprised because the test run & the real deal lasted several hours. When she first finished my hair on the day of the wedding, it looked a little different than the trial & I didn't think she was finished. When she came back for the final hairspray attack, I mentioned I wasn't happy w/ one of the sides & she whipped out her curling iron & w/ a few twists she made it look beautiful! I am switching to her to cut my hair & am going back next weekend - I can't wait to chop this stuff off since I was growing it for the wedding.
Make-up: also DCHS, Fiona Lee, B
The trial run seriously took almost 3 hours, but she assured me that this was because we were testing different colors & the false lashes. I was so worried that 1 hour wouldn't be enough for the wedding day & told them several times that I wanted to leave by 3, but they insisted it was fine. She started on me at 2:15..we left at 4:35. AN HOUR & A HALF LATE..I am so thankful that we had some wiggle room w/ moving the pictures. I wasn't even upset with her until 4:00 came & went. The whole frustration was because she was putting different false lashes on vs using the ones from the trial run. As she was finishing my left eye, she scratched the inside of my eye so my eye really starts watering & turning red - GREAT. I'll skip all the details, but after my eye was scratched, we also proceeded to get some black glue in it & then get frustrated because my eye won't stop watering. I didn't like the she kept trying to blame it on how watery my eyes were when my right eye was completely fine & my left was scratched, glued, & red. GRR. After all that though, I loved my airbrushed make-up & it all lasted throughout the night. I feel bad for just remembering the bad, but so thankful that this small thing was the only thing that really went wrong that day.
Reception Venue: Addison Event Center, A++++
972-934-9911
www.addisoneventcenterinc.com/">http://www.addisoneventcenterinc.com/
This was our first major check off of our list & we couldn't have been happier w/ our decision. Henry & Suzan know exactly what they are doing, are so quick to respond & give helpful suggestions, & their entire staff was very attentive! They let us in the evening before to set up, helped our families w/ the clean up, and had everything set up the way we wanted it.
Videographer: Marc Roberts, ?
972-217-5722
www.marcrobertsvideography.com/">http://www.marcrobertsvideography.com/
We haven't seen the video yet since it's been less than 2 weeks so I'm not sure how to rate this yet. As far as contact, price, & ease to work with him though I would rate him A++ so far. Everything was so simple & his style fit ours so we're confident in what we'll get. Him & his assistant were out of the way of everything for the ceremony & reception, but still made me smile when they cracked a joke while we were waiting around after the ceremony. I feel bad - we were supposed to pay him the remaining balance the day of the wedding, but forgot w/ all of the mahem from me getting to the church late. He has been very understanding about it & I mailed him a check so hopefully we'll get our video soon.
Rehearsal Dinner: Picasso's Pizza & Grill, Manager - Terry, A++
972-248-0011
http://picassospizza.com/I don't know if most people rate the RD location or not, but I have to w/ how wonderful Terry & his staff were to us. Terry was so flexible with the menu & helped us out quite a bit on the costs w/ offering more for the same prices. Everything was ready when we got there, always fresh (pizza, pasta & salad buffet), and never rushed us. I don't think we ended up leaving until around 10. We are regulars here & I can't wait to tell him how great everything was for us! HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM!
I don't really feel I should bore you w/ more reviews - the dresses were all from Alfred Angelo in Garland. I dealt w/ Parry & she was great, but some of my girls had bad experiences w/ some of the other women. I'm not sure what went down w/ each situation so I can't give specifics..just that out of 6 bridesmaids - 1 was happy w/ them. My alterations were done by Becky, aka most amazing, sweetest woman ever, but you all knew that. I think that about does it..I wish we were still back on our Honeymoooon in California! I miss the 60-70 degree weather, sandy beaches, & tasty seafood.
Happy Wednesday! Not gonna lie..I can't wait to go home to my hubby.
