Ok ladies I know it has been a long time coming but here they are. I hope I didn't leave anything out.
Village Country Club: A+ We really enjoyed having our wedding here. The venue is nice and is a good neutral slate to decorate as you wish. We set up our ceremony in the round out on the lawn and it was a perfect setup and looked very beautiful under the large tree.
The restaurant closed to the public at 3pm which allowed my SIL and helpers along with the venue coordinator Chante and her assistants to get in there with enough time to get the entire reception space set up. The space looked so good setup along with the uplighting the DJ provided.
The setup for the food and the chocolate/champagne fountains was very nice. Everyone we have heard from has raved about the food at the reception. During our tasting the food was good, but the day of it was even better and everyone seemed to love it. The outside was gorgeous and the trees were wrapped with lights so the whole outside patio sparkled at night.
Chante was a great help that day and helped with all the setup and flow of events. She was also always available via email or phone during the entire planning.
The only thing that I wished could have been handled better was the ushering of guests out to the ceremony space. My husband and I did a reveal beforehand out in the front side of the Village, and some guests came out to start taking their own pics. Then, when it was time for us to go back in the guests were all in the lobby instead of at the ceremony space so we had to walk through them to get to the dressing rooms. I wish the guests would have been ushered outside to the ceremony space instead of being allowed to hang around in the lobby.
Other than that, we really love the value we got at the Village and I would definitely recommend it to any budget bride that would like a great venue at a great price.
Sixfourteen Photography: A+++ I have said it plenty of times, Colton was my absolute favorite vendor to work with. We used him for engagements, bridals, and day of and have been amazed with every picture he has done. He is so blessed with such an amazing talent, and just an all-around great guy. His wife, whom he brings as his assistant, was also a big help to me on the wedding day.
I am really excited to see the rest of the wedding pics because I just know they will be stunning. We are also both thrilled to get our wedding album made from him because that’s what sealed the deal at our first meeting. His albums are awesome and beautiful and I can’t wait to proudly show it off.
I know his prices recently increased a little, but I still feel like he is a great value and his pics are worth far more than he charges. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for great photography.
Here is Colton's preview blog of our pics for anyone they may have missed them:
http://www.sixfourteenphotography.com/?p=3349
Jeff Burris, Leforce Entertainment: A- Jeff was always in touch throughout the planning and willing to meet when we needed. The day of the wedding, he was there for the ceremony and played music for the seating, processionals, etc. Following the family pictures, we were in the lobby while the guests were enjoying cocktail hour and we noticed a slow jazz mix playing which we did not request. Jeff came out and told us that the entire playlist he made for us was lost because his hard drive had crashed and that he was working on recovering it. It took awhile to recover, but he was able to get most of it back and our intros and first dance were delayed but went off without any other problems. Also the slower jazz music kinda dragged down the mood and some guests left during dinner. I wished he would have had proper backup.
After dinner, he opened the dance floor and from then on the party was in full swing. The dance floor was packed from then on. He played most of what was on our playlist, but some may have not gotten recovered. He did great on song choices though and even the older crowd was out there dancing. We even side-stepped a do not play and allowed the Cupid Shuffle because everyone was asking for it and it was really fun. Some of the funniest pics of the night have come from us on the dance floor.
Even though he had a rough start that I’m sure really shook him up, he recovered nicely and was able to provide a fun evening for everyone.
Expressions of Décor: A+ Shantay did a fantastic job on the flowers and I received so many great compliments on them. She delivered them the day of and even drove all the way back from another wedding when she realized she forgot to give us the bouts and corsages. She was very willing to add on to my order about 3-4 weeks before the wedding when I realized I needed some aisle flowers. She was very affordable and has a great eye for design. I would highly recommend her for affordable, beautiful designs.
Icing on the Cake Denton: A Katie works with my husband and does this as her side job/hobby. We were her first wedding cake and were very pleased with the outcome. After meeting with a big name area bakery we felt we could get a much better tasting cake for less so we set up a tasting with Katie. She impressed us. Her flavors were by far, much better than the other place and it was so moist. She even came up with a few flavors we requested and they were very good. Her prices were right so we signed a contract and I sent her an inspiration pic and told her to do as she wanted as long as the top had peacock feathers and our monogram. The finished product looked good and tasted great. The wedding day we only got the pieces we shoved in each other’s face, but the next day we picked up the leftovers from the venue. It was very good, but I didn’t get to try any of the second tier.
So she was a gamble that paid off in the end and the cake looked good and was delicious and affordable. She did a good job on delivering and now that she has a wedding cake under her belt I think she may do well making more.
Lewisville Bridal Boutique: A+ I loved my experience dress shopping at the Bridal Boutique. My consultant Dee was very helpful and friendly and I really loved their selection. I liked that their dresses were out in the open and not in those awful dress bags. It really made looking through their selection so much easier. I bought my dress, veil, and custom sash there and loved the look of all three. I would definitely recommend adding them to your list of dress shops to visit.
Becky Fowler: A+++ What can I say about Becky that hasn’t been said already? She is amazing at what she does and does it with upmost quality and value. She gives you pointers on everything related to wedding day beauty and makes you feel like you are the most gorgeous bride she has ever seen. She is the sweetest person and I would highly recommend her for any important alterations.
Jessica Mills: A+ She is my regular hair girl and did not disappoint for bridals or wedding day hair. She did it exactly like I wanted and it stayed all night long.
MAC: A+ I had a private appointment for the day of and the girl did an excellent job. The makeup looked great and stayed the entire night with no need for touch ups. I was going to be late for my appointment due to traffic from getting my hair done. They worked with me and were able to change my time to a later appointment.
BJ’s Brewhouse: A We had our rehearsal dinner at the BJ’s in Addison and had a great setup of a buffet of unlimited appetizers, salad, pizzas, and pasta. We were in a larger room shared with others , but separated from the main dining area. The manager was great and he made sure we were happy and well fed.
Aloft Las Colinas: A+ We were so tired by the time we made it to the hotel that night, but it was very nice and they gave us a complimentary piece of cheesecake. The room was very modern and nice and the bed was nice and cozy. We originally wanted to stay at the Aloft downtown Dallas but it was almost twice the price.
Qantas Vacations: A+ We fully enjoyed our trip thanks to Qantas. Every part of the trip was taken care of and we didn’t have to worry about transfers or anything because they took care of it all and made sure the trip flowed well with little wait between places. The meals on the flights were all excellent and way beyond what I expected from an airline. I would fully recommend to anyone traveling in that area of the world.
Heron Island Resort: A+ We loooved our stay on Heron Island. They upgraded our room for free to a suite on the private end of the beach and it was gorgeous. We had a bottle of champagne waiting for us in our room when we got there as well. The food was mostly buffet style, except for most dinners, and it was all very good. The staff were all very friendly and were willing to answer any questions. During our stay it was during school holiday so there were a lot of kids on the island, but with the private suite and gorgeous beaches we hardly could tell.
Holiday Inn Old Sydney: B This hotel looked nice on the outside and in the lobby and atrium, but the guest rooms were dated and small. The location of the hotel is just perfect though, so with a little updating it could really be a great place to stay. The staff was friendly and helpful.
I will post HM pics as soon as we finish organizing and uploading them.