In the blink of an eye, it's all over. It's amazing how fast it all happened. When you look back at your wedding I hope you feel as I do -- the day certainly didn't go perfectly, but it was full of love and more laughter than I ever imagined. I guess it was more perfectly "us" in the end. (There's a link below if you want to check out some of the pics. The password is miller. ) Thank you to all of you for your help. I wish you the very best - marriages full of giggles and happy tears. In the times of challenge I wish you strength... and a dab more of laughter.
Not everything in the future will go according to plan, but it will all become the story of you.
Welcome to the beginning of the rest of your life<3
Wedding Location: E Bonnet Street Public Beach Access, Nags Head MP 11
Rating: A+
It was hotter than Hades on the day of the wedding - WELL into the 100's with the heat index. The OBX was on heat advisory. We had to set up a tent and about 15 coolers for everyone filled with water so no one would pass out. Thank goodness no one did! This access was a perfect spot if you needed a lot of parking for people. Even with it being the week of July 4th, there was still room for everyone to park in the lot.
Ceremony Chair Rentals: Ocean Atlantic Rentals
Rating: A -
I give this a mixed review - an A for the day of. There was absolutely no trouble with set up/tear down. They came and did everything, managing to find a spot on the beach, even on this very busy week. I give them an A- for some of the communication. While the girl I spoke with was excellent about getting back to me, there were some moments that seemed a bit ditsy - things such as the delivery date being the day AFTER the wedding or confusion over what the E Bonnet St beach access was. With that said, I would still highly recommend them.
Reception: 108 Budleigh
Rating: A
Bonnie was amazing! Fantastic communication and she was able to answer any/all questions I had. The venue itself was gorgeous! We even had the patio decorated with hanging mason jars, but it was too hot for anyone to go out. I was somewhat disappointed with the decorating, but it had nothing to do with the venue - it had to do with that floral crisis I had a week before the wedding. Anyhoo - We had so many compliments on the venue. Everyone said it was charming and romantic. We loved it.
Linen Rentals/Glassware .. and yes, even Flowers!: Shindigs
Rating: A +++++++++
I don't know that I even have words to say how amazing Allison was! Even with having a baby and surgery shortly before the wedding, she was fantastic with communication. She worked with me on every detail. But what made her even better? She volunteered to help with my flowers!! Due to the flower crisis that you all know about, I still had NO idea what to do about flowers for my wedding, even just 4 days before the wedding!!! (I tried your ideas, but other florists said they wouldn't be able to do it on that tight notice, and wholesale flowers wouldn't be able to make it due to the 4th of July holiday in the middle of the week.) I was asking Allison if she knew of anyone that might be able to help. She told me to hold on a second. A few minutes later her mom, Susan, was standing in front of me asking me how she could help. Susan ended up making my bouquet and my sister's! They were beautiful! She even picked certain colors and flowers for their meaning. It meant so much to me, I almost cried when she handed me my bouquet on the day of the wedding. There are no words to say how amazing these two were.
Catering: Ortega'z
Rating: A+++++
Lisa Ortega is phenomenal! God bless her, I had a million questions, and she happily answered all of them! She was more of a wedding planner than a caterer.
The grilled fresh local catch just melted in your mouth. We had tons of compliments on all the food. Also, their service was fantastic. I have no idea how it happened - someone lost our wedding cake knife set the day of the wedding. I'm not sure if my sister mentioned it to the servers or if they noticed it on their own, but when I looked down while cutting the cake, I saw the knife was engraved with Lisa and her hubs name on it. They slipped it onto the cake table without anyone being the wiser and we used it to cut the cake. Then at the end of the night, we were looking for the cupcake tower because I had to return it to Carolina Cupcakery. We couldn't find it. When we called Lisa, she mentioned the servers took it to the restaurant and Ortega'z returned the tower to the cupcake place for us. Can't say enough great things!
Disc Jockey: Matt Cooper
Rating: A+
We just loved Matt! He was so easy to talk to. We sent him some songs we wanted and during the course of the night, we would hear them. We had many family members that had to leave SUPER early the next morning, but Matt's music kept them at the wedding much later than they intended. He did a wonderful job. He watched the group and knew just what to play to get people moving.
Cake/Cupcakes: Carolina Cupcakery
Rating: A-
The cake and cupcakes were TO.DIE.FOR!! We had some of the "Nerd" flavored ones that even the adults couldn't keep their hands off of. Our wedding cake flavor was "Almond I Do" - it tasted so delicious. I'm craving it right now as I'm writing this. So, why the minus, you may ask? The presentation. I expected it to look a little different on the tower. I asked for ribbon to be around it, and I don't remember any ribbon being on it at all. Hmm... I'm gonna have to go back and look at those pictures. At any rate, the taste of the cake and cupcakes made up for it!
Photography: Lucian Capellaro (friend)
Rating: A+
As if I'd give him any other rating! haha. Seriously, though, I would still give him this rating even if he wasn't a friend. I told him I wanted more natural poses - nothing too mechanical, and that's what he gave me. He used his regular camera, and also a vintage camera. Once he photoshops out my tan lines, I'll be all set. For a family that hates having pictures taken and can't stop laughing long enough to get serious pictures, he did an amazing job! I love the softness of the pictures, especially the ones he took of us walking from the car in Manteo. Love you, Lucian!!
Hair/Makeup: Glimmer
Rating: A+
Loved Bridgette! Mollie was away, so Bridgette took care of me. I wanted a vintage/somewhat pinup hair look - complete with victory rolls... and Bridgette delivered! She was kinda nervous because she had never done the victory rolls, but she did a wonderful job. In the end, I think she was kinda bummed because my birdcage veil went over them, but everyone at the wedding noticed them. They thought she did a terrific job. And, let me just say, I'd be more than happy to travel eight hours for her to practice more victory rolls on me. I do them at home sometimes, but I'd love to hang out in their gorgeous salon more!
I swear one day I'd love to have a dressing area that looks like that salon!! As for the makeup, she did a great job of playing up my eyes.
Nails: Klassy Nails
Rating: Mostly A+, but C for one person
They did a fantastic job on my nails, almost 2 weeks later, these puppies still look great and let me tell you - they're really stuck on there. I had a younger girl that was super sweet, but I was really impressed with the lady that worked on my mom's nails. My mom gets easily nervous doing things like this. She never takes time for herself and so she's only had a manicure one other time in her life. She didn't really know what to do, but the lady that did her nails really took her time and explained things to my mom. That meant a lot to me. So why the C? The older lady that worked there (she was usually the one the scrubbed out the pedicure tubs) kept rolling her eyes us and sighing really loudly at us. I pretty much laughed it off, until she did it to my mom. My mom didn't understand where the lady was telling her to sit, and she did it right in front of my mom. Very disappointing. However, the quality of a shop is not based on one person. I would recommend them - especially the girl that did my nails and the woman that worked on my mom's. (I wish I would have caught their names.)
Welp, that's about it.. now that I've blabbed your ears off. haha. Here's the link for the pics
Happy Monday!