Feels like I've been away from here for a while! I'm back and armed with all my reviews.
FIRST and foremost: for fellow DIY brides....my 1 piece of STRONG advice: for your sanity and your family's: keep it to a MINIMAL! My mom was stressed which was stressing me out- I told her all along we shouldn't do so much DIY, but she insisted..and regretted. We had the receptoin at the house we rented and our WP kicked BUTT in getting everything set up and broken down, and it looked BEAUTIFUL, but the worst part was by far table set up and break down. For that alone I wish we had it at a venue so we could have brought our little DIY projects (which were fun- centerpieces, photos, etc) and then showed up and had it all taken care of. Not to mention, been able to wake up the next day and not spend 2 hours breaking things down...
ANYWAY on to the reviews:
Ceremony was supposed to be on the public beach access in Corolla (free) but ti downpoured right after everyone but the BMs and I were set up- so we booked it to our back-up which was a friend's ocean-front rental and it went beautifully. We used
Rev Tanya Young and hubby&I loved her, as did my entire family. She waited out the rain with us, was armed and ready to shorten it since we were delayed but didn't lose any integrity. She was personable, loud and clear, which family loved :-)
Photographers:
Matt Lusk & Wife. LOVED LOVED LOVED. We also did a TTD session on Tuesday at Jockeys Ridge & Nags Head beach (thank god since it rained on Friday) and we loved workign together. They also go rained on and were such troopers. He texted me after the TTD and said they came out great and can't wait to share. I'll definitely share a link when I get them (can't wait!)
Reception: Event rental home through
Twiddy.com. Loved Twiddy; website was user friendly, staff was great before, during and after stay. HOWEVER, a little too much DIY for the reception itself...Highly recommend them for your rental homes though.
Caterer:
Gwen Hart with Enchanted Cuisine. Had a few bumps in the road/ misunderstanding, as she is currently navigating her way through the business on her own, whereas before it was her & her husband, so I think she was a tiny bit stressed, BUT everything came togetehr SOOOOOO nicely and was delicious. She was GREAT- she got to the house and lit all my votives, added more and rearranged some to look better. She decorated her table and it looked beautiful, and she even added a green salad for us (no charge b/c of previous complications and a good relationship developed) even though we had cut it out for budget reasons. She was great with working in our budget as well. My mom was raving about her after ward and we I was very happy with the results. (ps she has some GREAT prices. We ended up between $25-$30/person.) Oh and her bartender had a heavy hand, which our friends loved!
DJ:
Matt Cooper with Music Masters. VERY HAPPY!! He played all of our Must Plays, was great with the announcements we wanted him to make, played amazing music for the earlier part of the night with dinner, etc, and kept everyone on the dance floor ALL NIGHT. We were all bummed to have him leave and I was really tempted to pay him then to stay another hour. He was great- even met with us at the house on Monday to check out set-up etc. I HIGHLY recommend him!
Photobooth-
Shutterbooth. I worked with Jacqueline during planning and her and another woman came for the event. They were great- poor girls were a little bored at first, because it was out of the way, but we all had a great time and loved each other by the end and once everyone got into it. I HIGHHHHLY recommend a photo booth (and Shutterbooth b/c of the service and quality of product) because it's not only SO fun for everyone at the time, but you can walk away from your wedding reception with printed pictures in hand. I loved reading everything people wrote too- great guest book!
*shew* I think that's it...sorry I'm wordy!! All in all, OBX is such an amazing wedding location, even though my day got rained out, it was picture perfect. I LOVED having the entire week beforehand to relax and celebrate (maybe would have liked it in the middle of the week so there was prep time, but more down time) and be wary of who/how many you invite to come too far in advance- had one breakdown from being overwhelmed on Tuesday! But I don't know how other brides&grooms do ALL that planning & prep for ONE NIGHT and then it's just over! The week in OBX was everything I dreamed of!!!!!!!!!!!!!
feel free to contact me if you have more questions! my sn is my email, which works well!
