Vendor review and Pro Pictures from my May 26 wedding

tdmaus · June 2012

Hi ladies, I’m back from our 2 week honeymoon (Oahu and Big Island)…it was amazing. I did not feel like coming home and work. Here are some vendor reviews and the grade I gave them for my May 26^th wedding:

Venue: Drexelbrook
Grade: A-We loved the venue when we looked around during our venue search and it also fit our budget. We paid about $120pp. We booked the venue about 14 months before our wedding and they only had 2 Saturdays available for a May 2012 wedding. So we picked May 26. I mostly communicated with them via email during the planning process, they usually respond quickly or within a few hours via email. The waiting staff and service was excellent for our reception. Our guests were happy and impressed with the décor and service. I would have given them an A for everything, however the planning process with them was ok – they seem not to be familiar and open to new ideas, e.g. I wanted paper lanterns hanging in the ballroom and took a lot of emails and demonstration for them to get the concept. Another example was: I wanted the dessert bar in the same room as the ballroom, since I had small wedding. They tried to convince me that it’s better if dessert and cake were in a separate room. However, I insisted on having cake and dessert bar in the same room and it was totally fine during our wedding. We had a big ballroom, but only 85 guests, so plenty of room for us. Fyi: They have a bridal showcase twice a year and you are treated to one of them. They also allow you to bring your parents, so it was a great experience for us and our parents. We tasted the food, and our parents got a sneak peak of our venue and their service.

Photography: Perfect Day Photography
Grade: A
We found about this company due to an online deal with Wedding channel. After reading great reviews on other wedding forums, we decided to book them. We met with the manager at their office in NJ, she asked us what style we were looking for, etc… after the consultation, she gave us a portfolio of our photographer and asked us if that’s what we were looking for, if his style fit us, etc. Our photographer was Tony and he was great! He called in April and we talked about what shots we wanted to include, what the timeline was, etc… In May he called again to confirm everything and he showed up on time for our wedding. He was friendly and professional. He even helped me carrying my dress, holding up my dress while we were looking for spots to take photos, etc… According to the contract, he would stay til the cake cutting, but he ended up staying til almost 11pm (almost the end of the reception!!). I was definitely surprised he stayed that long, but he said, he liked us, so was happy to take candid shots of us and our guests. We just got an online proof of our pictures and love it! I’m glad we didn’t spend a lot of $$$ , but got great pictures and an awesome photographer.

Make up: Dylan Michael Cosmetics
Grade: A
After reading a bunch of great reviews, I decided to go with Dylan Michael Cosmetics. Cindy (owner) took care of us. My mom and I drove to their Jenkintown location for the trial (you get a free trial as the bride, so only needed to pay for my mom). I loved my make up. I received a lot of compliments for it and it stayed on the whole night!! My wedding day was hot and humid, but my make up stayed on. I was soooo happy! Would book her again in a heartbeat!

Hair: Up my Do
Grade: B-
I went with Up my Do/ Jill for my hair, since Jill works in the same salon like Cindy. Therefore, I got make up and hair all done at the same location. Jill is nice and friendly, and we also had a trial with her before my wedding day. I had an easy updo, so didn’t take her too long to do mine (20 min. or so?). The reason why I’m giving her a B- is, because she also did my mom’s hair and her hair fell flat after the ceremony (about 3-4 hours after we got our hair done). So her friend redid my mom’s hair before the reception. I also thought Jill was a bit more pricey.

DJ: Schaffer Sound
Grade: B
We went with a DJ, since we couldn’t afford a band and I didnt really care about the music part that much. I would have been fine with an ipod too, but FI wanted a DJ, so we don’t have to worry about the music and announcements, etc…funny thing is: DJ mispronounced Fi’s name during our grand entrance. Fi’s first name is just a simple american name “Tim”, but DJ said “Trim” when he announced him. DJ corrected himself right away, but whenever we watch our intro video now, we always hear “Trim” instead of “Tim”. LOL

Alteration: Fashion Stitch
Grade: A
After reading some great reviews about this small shop in Cherry Hill, I decided to take my dress there. She charged me $285 for steaming, hemming, bustleing and taking the dress in (3 in). Seems like it's a decent price and the work was great.

I hope this vendor review will help future brides to make their decision… and here are some pictures from our photographer. Enjoy!

neongreenbox · June 2012

Congrats and how was Oahu? We are heading there next week!

tdmaus · June 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_vendor-review-and-pro-pictures-from-my-may-26-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:105Discussion:97cd7d21-a451-4035-8cb3-89d5c3915e1fPost:0cb839aa-a95f-4ee1-bad1-5b3c9f74cf47">Re: Vendor review and Pro Pictures from my May 26 wedding</a>:
[QUOTE]Congrats and how was Oahu? We are heading there next week!
Posted by neongreenbox[/QUOTE]

Oahu was great! Great for shopping and souvenirs. Make sure to do the Grand Circle Tour if you can. North shore is beautiful with many beaches. I also loved the Byodo-In Temple. Have fun!

BlissPhilly · June 2012

Great recap and Pics! Congrats!!!

Teep · June 2012

Congrats! You were a beautiful bride!

sanaylor01 · June 2012

what great pics and thorough reviews!

melisrodis · June 2012

Congrats! Thanks for the reviews, so helpful

amr623 · June 2012

For your photographer what kind of package did you get if you don't mind me asking. I saw the options and was really confused about hours and pricing and the editing thing. Everything looks beautiful! Congrats!!!!

Vendor review and Pro Pictures from my May 26 wedding

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