I really don't feel like doing work, so here are my reviews from the wedding!
All in all everything went very well. It certainly did fly by which I was expecting, but still suprised by how quickly it all went.
Ok...
All things paper- Nota Bene, Aspinwall, PA- A++++ I loved them! I worked with Amy for my invitations, escort cards and programs. I was on a limited budget with my invitations, so Amy helped me find ones that I liked within my price range. She set up my programs for $50 and after a lot of tweaking we finally got it right. I also gave her a spreadsheet and she printed my escort cards for pretty cheap. All in all it was 100 percent worth outsourcing all these items. NOTE: I originally was going to use Wedding Paper Divas, but after ordering samples, their paper quality is really low and their prices are high. Not worth it.
Favors- McCutcheon's Frederick, MD- A+++++++We ordered hot sauce and jam from McCutcheon's in Frederick. It was easy, perfect and cheap. We got 120 items for $200 with custom labels. I highly recommend.
Hair- Burtners Hair Salon, Lower Burrell, PA- A+++++++ LOVE THEM!
I've been going to Burtner's since I had to sit on a box. I love the girls there and I still go back to Pittsburgh to get my hair done. They were fantastic.
Dress- Babe's Bridal, New Kensington, PA A+++++++++++++++ I cannot speak highly for this bridal salon. They had a great selection (although it is smaller than other places) and the prices were fantastic. The ladies make you feel like family and I loved it there. They have an outside woman, Lorraine do alterations and she is a genious. Highly recommend. My Mom and my bridesmaids got their dresses here and it was all perfect and reasonably priced.
Florist- By George Floral and Antiques, Sharpsburg, PA- A+++++++++++++++ My cousin is good friends with George and his partner Michael and they listened to me and did everything exactly how I wanted it. Their prices were outstanding. I first met with Springdale Floral (awful) and they quoted me at $5,000 (CRAZY!) so I went and met with George and Mike and they told me not to tell them my budget, they would just write down everything I wanted, then price it out and come back with numbers and then we could go from there. Their estimate was $200 over my budget ($1500) and everything was perfect. I was so pleased!
Cake- Paddy Cake, Bloomfield, PA- C- We decided to go with Paddy Cake b/c their cake tasted delicous and their prices were low. Well, they didn't show up at 1:00 like they were supposed to and they never contacted our wedding coordinator at the venue to say when they were coming. By the time they got there, the florists were gone, so they just dropped off the cake and left. There were flowers sitting on the cake table and they didn't put them on. Thank goodness MIL saved the day and added the flowers. I was not happy with how the cake process went. however, the cake was delicious and looked (minus the flowers) exactly how I wanted it to.
DJ- Andy Booth- A- I really like Andy, and we booked him because he has amazing reviews. He did a great job, however, he did not play our cutting the cake song that we chose and I felt like he asked me a few questions throughout the night. Regardless, our dance floor was packed and I would definitely recommend him to anyone.
Make-up- Ciel Cosmetics- A +++++++++ Clare is amazing, absolutely amazing and my make-up looked stellar. I LOVE it! She did the entire bridal party and both Moms for a great price. I also bought a MAC powder (which I used a lot in the night) and a lip gloss. She's fantastic. Highly recommend.
Spanish Guitarist- Matthew Korbanic- B- We had Matt play during our cocktail hour. I heard he was good, but no one seemed to notice him, which I suppose is okay, although we paid a decent amount of money for him. One thing that still urks me is his email style it SUCKS. He cannot communicate worth a darn. If he wasn't highly recommended, I wouldn't have used him. He did show up, and he played, so I'm happy enough about that. He just needs to work on his communication.
Officiant- A Simple Vow-
A +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There are not enough pluses in this world. They are amazing and truly a gift. When DH and I first met Rev. Mark and Jeanie we ended up talking for 4 hours! We just clicked. Jeanie organized my ceremony to perfection and Mark was perfect. We laughed, we cried it was uniquely us. It was remarkable and perfect. There are not enough words to express how wonderful they are.
Photograpther- Joanna Fassinger A++++++++++ I adore Joanna and I had her blog bookmarked before we were engaged.
I haven't gotten my photos yet, so I can't review those, but she was a joy to work with. She's fun and youthful with great ideas. We felt comfortable and really enjoyed ourselves. We didn't have a lot of time between the ceremony and reception so at the end of the night DH and I did our own private photo shoot with Joanna in parking garages, porches, benches, etc. It was so much fun. I highly recommend.
Venue- Twentieth Century Club- A- Let me say that overall, everything went well. there were no huge issues, only little things that still kind of annoy me. We had our ceremony and reception here and worked with Gayle. One big plus was the pricing was exactly what we anticipated it to be from the beginning and everything was itomized, so that was great. Okay, things that bothered me... the cake (you all remember this) the cake was awful. We hated it. So we went elsewhere. which was fine. The food- The food was pretty good, but not amazing. What was amazing were the hor d'evours those were AMAZING. We gave the chef recipes and he created spanish bites that were fantastic! The prime rib was also stellar! Gayle was very easy to communicate over email and all of the big stuff went super smoothly. At times she was a little brash, but at times she had to be.
Some nit-picky items. We were on our way back from taking pictures and were running about 5 minutes late. Gayle was very angry and yelled at our photog. b/c the food was late getting out. I felt that she should've rolled with the punches more. We had asked for our flowers in the ceremony to be moved to the fireplace for a backdrop and they were not. I asked for champagne after pictures, and champage at the head table for toasts. There was none. We had to toast with water. We were not offered drinks. That was just weird. The dining room gets very hot, but windows were open, so that helped some. All in all, I would recommend this venue (Not in the summer b/c of the heat) because it is full of character and absolutely beautiful. The pricing is reasonable for how gorgeous it is. I'm 100 percet happy that we picked this place.
Honeymoon- Isla Mujeres, Mexico- A+++++++++++++ I want to move there right now, this tiny island off the coast from Cancun is gorgeous, safe and fun. It was perfect.
Phew- I think that's it! All in all the day was perfect but went by way too quickly. I will be adding these reviews to wedding wire.