We recently got married in Charleston and just wanted to share some of our thoughts on a few different vendors.
Venue/Catering- The Rice Mill and Good Food Catering: If you book the rice mill you have to use good food catering (they are located in the building) which is not a problem because the food is AMAZING. We had a cocktail hour with 3 passed hors devours and then a buffet for dinner. Everyone said it was the best wedding food they have ever had. My husband is a chef and he was very pleased with the food. The venue is absolutely beautiful!! The outside patio were the ceremony was held is right on the water and has awesome views of the harbor. The inside area has exposed brick and a very antique feel to it. We really didn't do much to the reception area...just put a bunch of candles and a few little things and it looked great!! There is also a porch out back right on the water that you can decorate and put tables out there for guests to enjoy the sunset
We worked with Emily and she was great!
Flowers- Tiger Lily: We didn't do alot of flowers through Tiger Lily but the ones we did were great. The prices are pretty much right where most other florists are. We worked with Gayla and she knew the Rice Mill very well and made suggestions based on our budget and the feel we wanted for the wedding.
Flowers- Costco/Sams Club- We made our own bridesmaid bouquets and a few arrangements using bulk flowers from sams and costco. We used all cala lillies so it was pretty simple to make everything. Out of 200 some flowers only one arrived dead and they have a great return policy if things aren't what you expect. They also deliver them right to your house for free!
Photography- James Westbrook: Haven't seen the pictures yet because we just got married 2 weeks ago but I'm sure they are awesome
DJ- Lee Edwards: Reasonably priced. Easy to work with. Came out and lined everyone up and made sure he was saying everyones name right before we were all announced into the reception. Don't spend too much time filling out the music book with individual songs you want...just give them a general type you want and they will do a great job of picking out songs....there were alot of songs that i wanted played but obviously there wasn't enough time but a few that were on my definite list were not played....to me it wasn't a big deal because they were so great with everything else
Invites-weddingpaperdivas.com cheap and easy!!
hotel- holiday inn riverview....worked with erin...she was great and made sure our guests got there welcome bags....great location because it's not in the middle of downtown and therefore you can get a better rate
hair/makeup- bellezza in west ashley: i worked with brittany and she was awesome. I really wanted someone to come to the house because there were 6 of us getting our hair done and i didn't want to have to load up a few cars. They were ALOT cheaper than anywhere else. stil have to pay an extra fee for them to come to you but definitely worth it
honeymoon-Sandals: horrible and will never go back....toooo much stuff to write here so if you want more info send me a message!
Hope this helps and if anyone has any questions please let me know