H is busy playing video games and the dog is eating dinner, so I've got some tme to post some vendor reviews.
Upon further thought, I'm changing a couple of my reviews. Updates marked in red.
Linens: Deckci Decor
Grade: B
I only needed to rent a cake stand and some table runners, and their selection and prices can't be beat. Not the most professional ever, and kind of a PITA to coordinate times I could go to look at stuff and pick up, but I was happy with the quality of the stuff we got and what we paid for it. I'm giving them a B because it was inconvenient for me to have to work with their schedules. It should be the other way around.
Ceremony Venue: Cowles Conservatory
Grade: B
It's a beautiful, unique space, but you have to be creative with your configurations, which I knew going into it. Didn't like how everyone in the world could look in on the ceremony even though we had the permit for the space because it's a glass building. They wouldn't let us rent chairs so everyone could sit for the ceremony because we had a daytime block. They only let you do that for evening receptions. Since it's a public space, we couldn't get in to decorate before the permit time and had to have everything cleared out when our permit expired. In the end, though, it was a beautiful space and it's beauty spoke for itself.
Dress: The Glass Slipper
Grade: A+
Pat, the owner, really went above and beyond for me. She and her staff were so incredibly helpful with everything. I couldn't have asked for a better dress-buying experience. If you're a plus-sized bride, you owe it to yourself to check this place out.
Alterations: Amazing Alterations
Grade: A
Brenda was so fun to work with, and she did so much work on my dress. The hem was absolutely flawless, which is hard to do with a scalloped lace overlay. Even up close, I couldn't tell where she hemmed it up since she was able to do it without a break in the lace pattern. She also created straps, made it so I could wear my own bra, made a bustle, and made a jacket which she made alterations to. She was so much fun to work with, I'm sad it's over. If the bustle hadn't fallen out at the end of the reception and if my jacket didn't keep flying open, I'd have given her an A+.
Reception Venue: St. Paul College Club
Grade: A
Wendie did everything to make our reception come off without a hitch. There was a debate about plated salad, but we eventually came to a compromise I was happy with. The food at the tasting was better than what was served at the reception, although our guests raved about the food. I'd have given them an A+ if we didn't have such a hard time scheduling meetings. We had to reschedule more than one meeting, which I am less than pleased about. For the same price as other mansions where you only get use of a couple rooms, you get the entire place with SPCC. It's also the only mansion we saw that had a mainfloor ballroom that could seat all of our guests together, and it even has windows. It's historic, but it doesn't feel old. Their decorating package is beautiful and far cheaper than the same thing from a decor company. I loved how we had use of all the rooms and people could scatter around and mingle instead of being stuck in one room for the duration of the reception. Their bridal suite also cannot be beat. The purple bathtub alone is worth the cost of having pictures there. They're elegant, but not stuffy, and worked well with all our vendors and Wendie coordinated everything to make sure everything happened on time. They weren't cheap, but they were worth it.
Ceremony Music: Macken Music / Erin Schwab and Jay Fuchs
Grade: Macken Music: C / Erin and Jay: A+
For a unique musical experience at a wedding ceremony, you can't beat Erin Schwab. I've known her for 10 years, from back when I coordinated all the entertainment for the Gay Pride festival. I wish I hadn't had to deal with their manager, Macken Music, but we got the goods for the ceremony. The selections Erin and Jay chose for before/after the ceremony were perfect, and they did all the rest of the songs as only they can. If you ever saw them at Jitters before it closed, you have an idea what I mean. It was different, but appropriate and completely unique.
DJ: Neon Express
Grade: C
We got what we paid for. They weren't bad, but not worth any more than we paid them. Dave basically played my request list from start to finish, except for the songs I requested later in the night. He didn't really blend them in with everything, just went through them like a To Do list. The dinner music (Sinatra-style) started out good, but at the end of dinner, it got really slow, nursing-home-style, that I was so bored I wanted to leave my own party. I had banned country music except for one song for my nephew ("Boy Named Sue"), but let him play it when I was out of the room. He called me at 9:00 pm the Thursday before the wedding with questions, which didn't sit too well with me. It wasn't terrible, but I won't give them a rave review. I just remembered, Dave screwed up two of the names of our wedding party. Our Jr. BM's name was completely wrong. "Alyssa" is not the same as "Allison." Also, just 2 minutes after asking one of the GMs how to pronounce his name, he still screwed it up. I'm not too happy about that.
Etsy Sellers
Necklace: Elnara Niall
Grade: A
Elnara made my torq necklace, and I adore it. She really worked with me to keep it within budget and tailor it to my tastes exactly. I'm really, really pleased with how it turned out.
Guest Book Tree: Fancy Prints
Grade: A
Printing was clean and accurate, shipping was fast. Came with a little sign saying what to do with it. A little overpriced, but the product was good.
Cake Topper: Peanut Butter Bandit
Grade: B
We got a 3-piece cake topper with a Star Wars theme made out of wood. One was Han Solo, another Princess Leia, and the other was our dog, Wesley, reconfigured as R2D2. The product was good, but she shipped it before I really had much time to comment, was over 2 weeks late with it, and I wish she'd put more detail on the Wesley piece. They're cute, but not exactly what I was looking for.
Cake: Jessica's Cakes
Grade: B-
Jessica was a lot of fun to work with and she really seemed to "get" our cooky mosaic theme. When we got the cake, the colors were off. I don't know if the color on the fondant deepened as it dried and that's why they ended up way dark, but I could've been much happier with the mosaic work. Our colors are plum and aqua and we ended up with Viking purple and nearly primary blue. Fortunately, it tasted fantastic. I don't care for her buttercream (too buttery, coats my mouth), or buttercream in general, so I was really happy at how generous she was with the fillings. She did make us an extra top tier to bring home, though. Had the colors been correct and the mosaic work a little neater, I'd have given her a higher grade. At least it tasted fantastic. I'm waiting to see if it looks better in photos than in person. On second thought, I'm actually pretty disappointed. The cake itself tasted great, but there were pounds upon pounds of "butter"cream on it, which turned solid after being in the fridge. Serioiusly, it was nearly half an inch thick on the sides. Frosting isn't supposed to be like that. And with the embellishment flowers she made from fondant that she put on as accent, I distinctly remember discussing how the shape of the petals was more important than the number of them, but she somehow got the opposite and I ended up with these hippie flowers instead of the cooler ones with pointed petals that I had told her I wanted, and they looked tacked on, nothing near as neat as on her display cakes in her shop. Had I known this is how it would've turned out, I'd have ponied up and gone with Penny Steele.
Hair/Makeup/Tattoo Cover: Brett Dorrian Artistry
Grade: A++++++++
I can't say enough great things about Brett. She's not cheap, but you can see the quality in her work. I looked just as good when she finished at 11:00 am as I did at 11:00 pm. The hairstyle stayed in place the entire time. The makeup didn't budge and the tattoo cover stayed on into the next day when I had H remove it with acetone. She worked with my schedule and was really flexible about tweaking my hairstyle after the trial. She's really fantastic and I'd recommend her to everyone I know in a heartbeat. Easily my favorite vendor of this whole thing.
Flowers: Simply Stated Elegance
Grade: A
Flowers really aren't my thing, so beyond picking out what kind of flowers to get, I let her have pretty much free reign with all of it. She got my vision pretty well (helped that it wasn't fussy, more like a spring garden in small bottles and vases) and made a lot of suggestions. I didn't take a lot of them, but she steered me to some good choices. Her rates are incredibly reasonable and she cut us a deal on delivery. She also included an extra bout, which came in handy when my nephew destroyed his.
Limo: Cities Transportation
Grade: A+
They let us split their minimum so we didn't end up having to pay the driver to sit and wait for us to do our ceremony and pictures. The limo they sent was true to the description, fit everyone well, and was everything we were hoping for. They were on time and no major mishaps.
Men's Attire: Men's Warehouse
Grade: A
They didn't have the biggest selection, but they have a better deal than Savvi if you're not renting that many tuxes. We got black pinstripe tuxes with plum vests and ties and ivory shirts. There were last-minute alterations that needed to be done to some of the tuxes (H's was too short in the arms and legs - maybe they didn't believe the measurements since he's 6'5" and has long skinny limbs), but they fixed them on the spot and everyone looked great for the ceremony. H complained that his shoes hurt, though, and he had some nasty blisters. Otherwises, everyone got what they ordered and they coordinated our order to have 3 pickup sites, and it all worked out perfectly.
Weather: Mother Nature
Grade: A+++++
We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for the wedding. We got this pocket of perfect weather. It wasn't too cold, no rain or snow, and overcast which made for better pictures. Had we done it the weekend before or after, things woud have been much worse.
Photography: Jade Staus Photo
Grade: A+ so far, still waiting for our pictures back.
Jade is a friend of H's, so we got a pretty sweet deal. He was there from before we started getting ready until well after dinner was finished. He's great to work with and was even nice to my nephew, who followed me around all day. We don't have any of our pictures yet, but will in a few weeks, so I can't really give him a proper review right now.