Like previous brides before me, I would like to give my assessment of the various vendors I used for my 27 March wedding. In short I recommend all my vendors!
Graceful Weddings (Wedding Coordinator): If you are looking for amazing wedding coordinators (not planners) who are thoughtful, extremely responsive, fun and knowledgeable, you must contact Anne and Anna of Graceful Weddings. Our first impression of them was spot on--they were perfect. We hired GW for the 3 month package and it was so worth it. Due to the complexity of our wedding in three locations we truly needed the extra assistance. What we liked the best--besides their wonderful personalities--was that planning was a true partnership. We sought out their advice often to help make our day wonderful. But when we were set on a particular aspect of the wedding, they didn't try to change our minds.
Fluffy Thoughts Cakes (Cake): What is more Washington DC than having a cake with cherry blossoms on it, especially on the first day of the cherry blossom festival. Fluffy Thoughts Cake was very flexible with our request--plain vanilla cake with sugar cherry blossoms, but not too many. The week before the wedding, the bakery called my coordinators to say they could not accommodate our contract which happened to be a 100 person cake with 4 tiers. My fiance had his heart set on a big cake. Fluffy Thoughts was so wonderful. They made a 4 tier cake that could feed 150 people for the price of the original 100 people. We are so grateful for their flexibility. The cake was the most amazing cake we had ever seen. And, as someone who hates wedding cake, this cake was the tastiest, moistest, most flavorful cake we had ever had. BRAVA to Fluffy Thoughts Cake
DaVinci Florist (Flowers, lighting, linens, chargers): There were two things that struck my parents and me when we were planning my wedding. First was that DaVinci's was a one-stop-shop for all wedding decorations. We were so happy to use them for lighting, chargers, table clothes and of course flowers. On the flowers, I wanted something light, topiary-esque, and not fancy. Sharone showed me a photo and I said "perfect." That took a whole 5 minutes. When it came to selecting flowers for the centerpieces, he suggested cherry blossoms as it is one of 2 weeks where they could get them. We jumped at the chance! Needless to say, the end result was more than we had dreamed. In addition, it was important to me to have quality lighting to help enhance the mood. Sharone helped us by suggesting an amber lighting (which looks like candle light). I highly suggest adding lighting to any event. Although DaVinci's was wonderfully flexible with the few changes I asked for, their responsiveness could have been better. Also, it was hard to figure out who to deal with when I had questions. For every question, I dealt with someone else. Still, I wouldn't look at any other floral designer. They were sheer perfection.
Palladio Strings Quartet (Musicians at ceremony): I founds this foursome listed by another bride on this forum. Palladio rocked! They were very interested in expanding their Jewish music catalog so they learned many new pieces for our ceremony. I also had one particular piece of music that I wanted played as I walked down the aisle so for a nominal fee they learned it. What was great when I met with Dave of Palladio was that I was very open to have them play a variety of their catalog while guests were walking in. I wasn't specific. Dave was so excited as it gave the group an opportunity to play things they hadn't played in a while. They were amazingly responsive and a great price.
Dream Day DJ (Music): We loved how Jake of Dream Day DJs was able to understand who my fiance (now husband) and I were as a couple. We had a number of must play songs, which Jake sent us via email to ensure they were the correct ones; this we were happily surprised. We explained our very eclectic tastes in music which I think threw his for a loop. Jake said he could "sense" from the wedding attendees what music would work best. This strategy worked perfectly!!!! We also gave Jake a CD of Jewish/klezmer music to play and he was more than happy to do so. We are so happy we went with Dream Day DJs.
Paper in the Park (Invitations, place cards, table numbers, menus): Paper in the Park was one of my two favorite vendors to work with. They were fun and flexible--two qualities that are very hard to find. I very much appreciated their guidance in creating a formal but not too formal of invitations, with a Hebrew logo, that kept myself and my fiance as well as my parents happy. We loved--and so did our friends and family--their RSVP cards that had pictures for dinner choices instead of words. What a fantastic idea. As a result of their amazing work on the invitations, we hired Paper in the Park to design our menus, place cards and table numbers. They were able to change the graphic design on the place cards to correspond with the dinner selection. How amazing!
Ana Merces (Make-up): Ana was amazing. There are no other words for it. She listens to her clients to determine their needs; listening is such a huge part for any client relationship and Ana goes the extra mile. What I appreciated the most was how she talked about all the make-up she used before she applied it. She helped me understand why one product may be better than another. I really like that. If I ever have another time where I need make up applied, I would not hesitate to contact Ana!
I Do I Do Bridal (Dress): I was determined to get a consignment dress as I didn't want to spent alot of money on dress I would wear once. However, I loved I Do I Do for tons of reasons. First their dress prices are amazingly reasonable (my sister, me, best friend and 2 other friends all got Casablanca dresses). Second, they is no pressure to buy. The women there were fun, honest and low-key. I did not find that from the other dress shops I went to.
Sixth and I Synagogue (Ceremony): Not much to say on this. $1500 to rent the synagogue for the ceremony, kettubah signing and bedekin.
Freed (Photographer): The photographer was the one vendor we were most interested in and price was not an issue. For us, the only thing we'd have after the wedding are photographs. (We did not get a videographer) We looked for a photographer who did more candid, stylized and non-traditional photos. Friends of ours used Freed and spoke very highly of them. My fiance and I met with Bryan and he was fantastic; he made us laugh so hard and he got a sense of us at a couple. On our wedding day, he made us feel so comfortable as a couple and in front of the camera. We can't wait to see the proofs.
National Press Club (Cocktails, reception): I left this review last as the National Press Club (NPC) is a crown jewel in DC. My husband and I feel so fortunate to have had our at the NPC and would highly recommend it as the perfect venue for a wedding and reception. It was important to us to have our reception at a DC museum-type place and maybe a place that out-of-towners--and certainly not DCers would ever think of. The Press Club is so experienced in planning detailed, top-notch events, that we--my now husband, my parents and I--had 100% confidence in them creating a perfect event. We dealt with George Arfkin in catering, who had great advice on how to schedule the reception, the amount of food neededs (we ended up ordering more than he thought necessary for the cocktail reception and all the food was still eaten) and anticipated anything that might come up that day. George is a constant professional in all he does. The care he takes in even the most small tasks are just perfection. We can't say enough about the food at the Press Club--go to their restaurant called Fourth Estate--and you will see why we choose them. We were blown away by the end cost of the event. We expected a much higher cost for all that went into event. Thank you George for making the day perfect!