1315 Jones - Ceremony/Reception: C- - This place is really beautiful and I loved the Old Market location and all of the exposed brick. Plus, the price was really reasonable. I worked with Chad and actually had nothing but good things to say about him until the day of the wedding. First of all, we requested two reserved tables for the family. They didn't do this because "it was our responsibility." Apparently, they don't have reserved signs and we never told them which tables to reserve. I have never heard of a couple having to print their own reserve signs and I just assumed they were smart enough to pick two random tables to reserve. Anyways, my family ended up scattered all over the place and some didn't even get to go through the buffet until the end.
We had also requested a case of Coors Light for my husband and his dad ONLY. They ended up passing it out to everyone, so they had to go purchase more (they later changed their story and said they had a bunch of leftover cases from a previous party). We had also requested extra champagne to be put on the family tables. They forgot about those, but since we didn't end up with family tables, oh well.
The biggest thing that bothered me was that they forgot the three vegetarian meals I requested. Two of my BMs and a GM's girlfriend are vegetarians. When I asked about it they got a little snotty and asked what were they supposed to do. My husband told them to go to a restaurant and get them something. They also kept passing the blame and said we must not have notified them. Well, in my e-mail to Chad the week before the wedding I mention the 3 special meals TWICE. On multiple issues it seemed like they kept putting the blame on us and then Chad basically told us to get over it, it wasn't a big deal, and not to let it ruin our day. Poor customer service, dude!
Anyways, the only reason it gets a C instead of something lower is because it's a beautiful building in a great location and was reasonably priced.
Abraham Catering - reception - B: You have to use them when booking with Jones, but the food was absolutely amazing. Everyone loved it. I even have cravings of their potatoes and lemon chicken. For the most part, I worked with Rita, who was lovely. The only downside was the previously mentioned vegetarian fiasco (which was mostly on Chad, but the staff could have handled it better).
DJ - In Stereo: A: Spencer Williamson is absolutely amazing to work with. He's very friendly and professional. He also has a great song collection. When he didn't have some of our music (we used Richard Cheese for our dinner music) he was able to download it. He kept everything moving smoothly, read the guests well, and was always very low-key (no games or forcing people to dance).
Photographer - K. Fogle Photography - A+: Kim was recommended by a friend and I'm so glad we chose her. She's just starting up her business and is based out of Lincoln. She does a lot of beautiful candids and very artistic shots, which is what I loved. Obviously, she does the usual posed photos which also turned out really well. She took time to get to know what I was looking for, shots I wanted or didn't want, posed photo combinations I wanted, etc. Also, she's really reasonably prices at only $100/hour.
Premiere Suites - hotel - A+: I never knew about this place while I was living in Omaha, but I'm glad I found it. The rooms are really nice, clean, and pretty good sized for the price. They also have a free warm breakfast every morning. There was a screw up in our reservations in the beginning that had us paying more then we were told (we were told we could get a Hotels.com deal without booking through hotels.com, then they told us they couldn't after the deal had expired online). They remedied this by not only giving us the discount but all of our guests that booked with the hotel.
They also have a jacuzzi suite, which we upgraded to for the night of the wedding and the rest of the stay. The customer service was awesome, especially Allison at the front desk.
Men's Wearhouse - B-: Good customer service, prices, and selection. The only issue is that almost all of the tuxes for the men came back with something fitting wrong. They were able to get everything fixed up in time for the wedding though.
Hair - Styles Salon - A: My hair gal, Maggie, works here. I've been going to her for years. She did a beautiful job with everyone's hair. She even came in her day off (she had to fly out to Chicago that night) just so she could do everyone's hair, which I thought was really sweet of her. Our hair held the whole night with no touch ups needed.
Make-up: Sirens Salon - A: I had the airbrush make-up put on. I was a little nervous because I was worried about actually looking airbrushed, but it turned out great. I don't wear a lot of make-up so Amy made sure it looked really natural. Nothing smeared or faded the whole night.
I think that's most of it. My grandma did the cake and she's retired now, but I of course give her an A+. It was exciting to finally have one of her tasty wedding cakes made for my wedding.
I went to Bridal Traditions in Ralston. I know it doesn't have the best reviews. The woman was a little aggressive, but she had an amazing sale going on and I found a dress that fit me like a glove, so I don't have an opinion either way.
It was a lot of fun, but I have to say I'm glad the wedding part is done. I have a ton of fabulous pictures whenever I want to look back.
