Hi everyone! I was more of a lurker on this board, but I really appreciated everyones posts about vendors and it really helped me a lot with my planning. Our wedding was 9-17-11. Hope this helps all you future brides out there! If anyone wants me to send a link of my pics to get some ideas/or see more specifics - just send me a message and I will get them to you.
CEREMONY/RECEPTION - HILTON GARDEN INN PIER HOUSE. I can't give this place higher reviews. Absolutely amazing. Emily was our coordinator there and she was awesome, so easy to work with. They were very accomodating there. One of our groomsmen forgot to book his room early and waited until a few weeks before and Emily was still able to get a room for him. The setting inside the pier house is absolutely perfect. Our wedding day was bad weather and everything was moved inside last minute and it still turned out beautiful.
CAKE - MELINDA GREGORY: She was amazing. Her cakes were reasonably priced and delicious. She made us a poker themed groomscake for the rehearsal dinner (as a surprise for my husband) and it was better than I could have imagined. Our actual wedding cake was beautiful and so yummy. I highly rec. the key lime flavor (i was skeptical at first but was sold after one bite at the tasting.). Very easy to work with.
FLOWERS - RENEE LANDRY: Her flowers were really pretty, but I think a bit overpriced. She was a bit slow gettnig back on e-mails. Wasn't always so flexible in using our ideas. Still - very nice flowers.
PHOTOGRAPHY - JULIE DREELIN: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her! From the engagement pics to our wedding day pics to our family beach portraits with our dogs the day after the wedding, she was perfection. We have gotten so many compliments on our pictures. She was so fun to work with and super sweet. Well worth the money.
BAND - STONE AGE ROMEOS. They were awesome as well. A bit expensive - they traveled from Raleigh, but worth it. They kept everyone up dancing all night - and our reception went until midnight. They even broke out into an impromptu lady gaga song when people kept requesting it. I found them on gigmasters.com - great site to look for bands for any occasion.
CEREMONY MUSIC - SCOTT FRANSON. We only used him for the ceremony, but he was good. He learned a song that we asked him to. Very friendly. Didn't have much interaction with him because it was a bit of a last minute addition, but I think having a guitarist made things a little nicer rather than the ipod than we were origianlly planning. It was a bit of a splurge, but I was happy with the decision.
REHEARSAL DINNER - SOOEY'S BBQ. We used them for catering. We had the dinner at the beach house we rented. They showed up almost 45 min late and then had to call and ask us for directions on how to get to our house (which was literally 5 minutes down the same road that they are on). They did mix our order up a bit, but did show back up with more food after we called them. The food was good, but I think it was a bit overpriced and the service was not ideal. It worked out ok -but things seemed a bit unorganized there.
HAIR/MAKE-UP: HAIROICS. Loved them. They did an amazing job with all of our hair, make-up, and nails. You can bring food and alcohol too, which was great - made it really relaxing. They even squeezed in an eyebrow wax for one of my girls last minute and make-up on one girl who originally didn't want it, but changed her mind on the day of the wedding. So accomodating and everyone was so friendly. The price was reasonable.
I think those are the big ones. Let me know if anyone has any specific questions - I'd love to help. I also highly recommend checking out etsy.com - i bought a bunch of stuff on there and am still using it like crazy. Also, i think making my own invitations saved me a ton of money (and i'm really not that crafty - so anyone can do it!) I used cards and pockets for that.
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!!
