so the wedding was awesome. some people say things like "a few things went wrong or weren't quite right, but only i knew about it". well that wasn't even the case, everything was perfect!!! RD - Red Star - B+ - it was really loud, i thought the food was just okay, but other people seemed to like it. i do like the "baltimoreness" of it allMick O'Sheas for after RD partying - A+- since all my guests were staying in the Tremont, I called to just let the bar know we might have a large group and see if there was a quieter area away from the band- they set us up with a private room and a waitress and it was perfect! had so much fun with all of my out of towners!Tremont Plaza Hotel- B - this is where myself and all of my guests stayed since we had the wedding at the Tremont Grand. I met my bridesmaids there on Friday, and even though I called to make sure we would have no problem checking in, of course we waited for a long time and couldn't check in so we just left our stuff (thank god for my wedding coordinator who came and took my dress & accessories and kept them safe locked up in her office!!) while i took my bridesmaids out to lunch and for mani's/pedi's. they set us up with a 2 bedroom suite which was perfect, even though we had the difficulties with checking in. from what i hear from my guests, a few people also had to wait to check in, but the rooms were great and the workers at the hotel tried to be accomodating. I thought the rates were really good for my guests too ($119 was the cheapest for a suite). oh, and the champagne and strawberries were a nice touch for DH and i after the wedding :-)Red Door Spa - A - such a nice, relaxing place. if you don't want to spend a lot of money you may way to think twice, but i liked everyone also being able to sit together.Regi's- A+ - for bridesmaid luncheon. i just love this place and had to shout it out :-)angeew - etsy seller- bridesmaid handbags - A+++ - she customized the bags perfectly, the girls LOVED them and that they each got individual styles, she did them quickly, gave me a discount because i was buying multiple bags, just loved her.venue- Tremont Grand- A - my coordinator lauren was the BEST. i sent her millions of emails with millions of questions all throughout the process, and during the rehearsal and day of, she took care of everything. food was really good, everyone raved about it, the setting is the most gorgeous, i just loved it. it was just really expensive and thought i'd be able to bargain a bit more, but it was worth it :-)ceremony- my brother did a great job officiating- the only little snafu, which DH (yay!) and i didn't even realize was that he never told everyone to sit, so everyone was standing throughout the ceremony. it didn't really matter thouh, because it was short and sweet! i highly recommend people finding unique wedding readings- we had my other brother read "the lovely love story" by edward monkton about two dinosaurs falling in love and everyone loved it- it was sooo DH and me! florist- Colleen Reed, Divine Designs- A++++++ - seriously the most beautiful wedding flowers i have ever seen. she's amazing. she took my vision and ran with it. she was also totally understanding with some goof-ups on my part like not senidng in a payment on time and a mixup with dropping off some of the rental stuff. she lined the aisle with chocolate fabric, put pedestals with choc fabric on the "altar" and put two of our branchy centerpieces up there for the ceremony and then we moved them to the other room. totally reasonably priced too. just can't say enough about how my flowers worked out! dj - david orlando from orlando entertainment- A++ - so responsive throughout the process, really wanted to customize the music to us, kept the entire dance floor (and the surrounding carpet!!) packed with everyone dancing the entire night! only bad thing was that a while after the music started, i couldn't help but get out there and dance, and ended up missing a few of DH's extended relatives/family friends because they left early. woops!!photog - mary kate mckenna - A+++ - only have a few prof pics up, but she has been so sweet, willing to work with me, and i loved our engagement pics she did. here's her blog, where she posted a few pics and a slideshow already (actually the night after our wedding she posted it so we could see a few before the honeymoon):
http://mk2weddings.blogspot.com/we also wanted a second photog, so she got maria vicencio (
http://mariavicenciophoto.squarespace.com/) who was also so sweet- can't wait to see what she captured from our day! i also loved that it was like they weren't even there :-)after party - tugs bar in the tremont- B - it was pretty crowded and since my guests are animals, the bar tender was pretty backed up. but it didn't really matter, because everyone was just so happy and had a great time :-)morning after brunch- McCormick & Shcmick's - A+ - they set us up in a roped off area on the side of the building overlooking the harbor with some seats in the shade. we had a buffet and an omlette and waffle station, food was so good, service was great as well. perfect ending :-)other stuff:tuxes- bridals by niko - B+ - nothing went wrong, it was just they didn't have anything there for fi to try on or to see what he was ordering before he did so, but everything worked out fine, even though we had all of our groomsmen from way out of state (st. louis, hawaii, delaware, penn) and they just sent their measurements. no problems with the suits themselves or pickup, DH's pants were just a teeny tad too long.all of my bridal stuff was from NJ/NY and info is in my bio, but if you're interested in making the trip, go to the Bridal Garden in NYC to buy a designer gown off the rack with the proceeds going to charity!honeymoon- villagio in napa valley - A+++. it was just gorgeous. loved the spa too. but really how could you go wrong in napa valley? the westin st. francis in san fran - A - very nice hotel as well :-)thanks for reading if you managed to get all the way through that!!! ;-)