Hi Knotties:I didn't post much, but I got a lot of help from local reviews in finding my vendors and generally planning, so I wanted to return the favor and provide detailed reviews of each of my vendors. I am including the cost for each service so all you brides-to-be out there can see EXACTLY what you get for the price. Overall, my vendors were great, and the wedding was absolutely a magical day and night -- exactly as I envisioned it! Ceremony and Reception Venue: Ceresville Mansion, Frederick, MD (A+++. Highly Recommend) I am so glad we chose to have our wedding here. Ceresville Mansion is a Victorian mansion located in the Maryland countryside. The place has been wonderfully maintained. It is elegant, beautiful, and warm, and the staff is very friendly. They provide an event coordinator, so you don’t need to hire your own. We worked with Alison, and she was great. We felt like she genuinely enjoyed seeing us. The actual wedding exceeded our expectations. The mansion has a large and beautifully-appointed bridal suite where the ladies get ready (and a room for the guys). They set out refreshments and drinks in the hall for us to share. They assign a personal “bridal stocker” who is responsible for pretty much anything you need. Ours was Angela, and she seriously rocked. She kept the champagne flowing, and even quickly hemmed a bridesmaid’s dress that was too long. All night she brought drinks and food to the entire wedding party. The ceremony was on the stone terrace behind the mansion, and it was breathtaking. Right in the middle of the terrace is a reflecting pool with koi fish, floating lilies, and fountains. We added floating candles and the mansion staff lined the pool with votives and rose petals. The reception was in the ballroom. The tables (10 for guests, head table for 13) looked awesome. They provide the chairs, linens, stemware, glassware, votives, and a hurricane candle and mirror for the centerpiece. We decided to add a floral wreath to the hurricanes, but that was all we did. The mansion has its own chef and kitchen, which meant we didn’t have to hire a caterer. And the food was great! We got great reviews from our guests on everything: the setting, the staff, the food, the decor...I was extremely pleased with everything. Cost: Rental fee: $2000. Ceremony fee: $500. Reception package for 105 guests on a Friday night: about $11,000. Package included the following: premium open bar for 4.5 hours, passed and stationary hor d’ouevres, champagne toast, plated dinner (caprese salad; choice of rib eye steak, chicken oscar, or vegetarian entrée; and chocolate-dipped strawberries), cake cutting and serving, full use of the mansion, and on-site coordinator. Photographer: Allison Britton, A. Britton Photography, Woodbridge, VA (A+++. Highly Recommend) I stumbled across Allison’s work online and was very impressed. Allison’s style is candid (photojournalism style) interspersed with posed shots (or formals), but the formals are never stuffy or awkward. We met her in person and discovered she has an awesome personality: laidback, a bit goofy, and very comfortable to be around. We booked her right then. Our engagement session was great. She quickly put us at ease, and we laughed a lot. She was always responsive when we had questions, and she works quickly. I’ve already had TONS of compliments on the pictures. I LOVE how they turned out. They totally capture the emotion of the day. I can't wait to pick my faves for the album. Allison’s second shooter is her husband Chris, who is just as sweet and funny as she is (and a lot of the girls totally had crushes on him). Her prices are extremely reasonable when you consider what's included in the package, the high quality of her work, and the going rates for other photographers in the DC area. Plus the guests digged her. Cost: $3,000. Package included the following: engagement session; primary and associate photographer coverage for up to 8 hours; online wedding slideshow of highlights; online proofing of all images for 6 months; high resolution DVD of all edited wedding pictures with print release; spiral-bound proof book; choice of photographs in B&W, sepia, and/or color and IR images; thank-you card inserts; and coffee-table photobook. Florist: Tonya Evans, Occasional Flowers, Herndon, VA (A+++. Highly Recommend) Tonya is such a sweet person! She was very flexible, easily incorporating any changes I requested (and I made several). She was always very willing to work with my budget so that I could still achieve the look I wanted without spending more than I could afford. Her prices are reasonable and she delivered exactly what I was envisioning. In fact, my bouquet was so beautiful I wished I didn’t have to part with it. 5 months before the wedding I was laid off from my job, like many people in our area. Although I found a new job 3 months later, our wedding budget had taken a serious blow. We still owed almost a third of the balance to Tonya, and I asked her if we could develop a payment plan so we could defer the balance until after the wedding. She readily agreed, which was awesome. Then the day of my wedding she gave me a beautiful hand-written card. I opened it up and, to my surprise, read that no more payment was needed, and she considered our balance paid in full! It was so unexpected and such a sweet gesture on her part that I cried when I read it. Not many vendors would do this out of the kindness of their heart. The fact that Tonya did this for us, unasked...well she is truly one of a kind. Cost: $900. Included the following: 1 brides’ bouquet, 5 bridesmaids’ bouquets, 10 boutonierres, 3 pin-on corsages, rose petals for reflecting pool and cake table, and 10 floral wreath centerpieces. Flowers used were roses, spray roses, hydrangeas, and ranunculus. Cake: Margie Florimbio, Artistic Cake Creations, Charles Town, WV (B. Recommend for those on a budget) Margie is very popular with Knotties. She is very friendly, her prices are sensational, and her cakes are delicious. We enjoyed the cake tasting at her home in WV and booked her immediately, even though she lives quite far away (fortunately she is just 20 minutes from our venue). We chose a 3 tier cake, each with a different flavor: white chocolate cake with Godiva raspberry liqueur mousse filling; cherry chocolate chip cake with Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur mousse filling; and strawberry cake with cream cheese mousse filling. I asked for smooth champagne-colored buttercream frosting, with white piping and pearls and a big fondant bow with pearl brooch on the middle tier. The actual cake tasted delicious and was pretty. The reason I can’t rate Margie higher is because the cake was the wrong color. I asked for champagne, to coordinate with my wedding colors of pink and champagne. However, it was not champagne, but some weird orangeish-gold color. It still looked fine, and no one else knew it was the wrong color, but I was disappointed. I wish it could have been the color I asked for. However, Margie’s prices are much less expensive than most, if not all, bakeries, so I guess that’s the chance you take. Also, the cake was delivered on a flat square covered in gold foil, and she neglected to remove it before placing the cake on the mansion’s beautiful antique silver cake stand. Since the tiers and the cake stand were both round, it just looked weird. Cost: $225. Included 3 tiers with different fillings, piping, and fondant bow. DJ: Kirk Rubley, Kirkabee Deejays, Vienna, VA (A+++. Highly Recommend) Kirk is also very popular with Knotties, and for good reason. He is very friendly, very funny, and knows what he is doing. He was all the things we were looking for in a DJ: non-cheesy, great personality, professional, and contemporary. He announced everyone correctly and kept the whole reception going smoothly and everyone dancing. He easily handled our special requests, and happily stuck to the do-not play list (he’s not a fan of line dances either). Throughout the reception he made sure everyone was where they were supposed to be, so I didn’t have to do a thing. The weekend before our wedding he actually separated his shoulder in a “tailgating” accident, and he arrived at our wedding with his arm in a sling. He quickly reassured us that he could still perform his DJ duties just fine (which he did). After making sure he was ok, we teased him all night about being the “1-armed DJ,” and he was a good sport about it. Cost: $775 for 3.5 hours. Officiant: Deborah Cathers, Frederick, MD (A+++. Highly Recommend) Neither myself or DH is religious, so we wanted a short and simple civil ceremony that was still meaningful. No readings, no unity candle, no sand pouring, no hand-fasting, etc. (those things are perfectly fine, but I believe you should only do them if they have actual meaning for you). Deb fit the bill perfectly. She specializes in civil wedding ceremonies, but she can do whatever you want. She made the whole process super easy. She provided the language for us to choose from, and incorporated our one personal touch: the poem “i carry your heart” by ee cummings. At the rehearsal she was patient and calm while we got our act together. During the actual ceremony she read the poem so eloquently that I teared up. She was composed, articulate, prepared, and very sweet. Booking her was a great decision. Cost: $500. Included ceremony guidance, rehearsal direction, and handling of the marriage license. Hair and Makeup: Mindy and Lori, Up-Do’s for I Do’s, Catonsville, MD (A+++. Highly Recommend) Hiring professionals for hair and makeup was one of the best choices I made. I have very limited skills when it comes to doing my own makeup and hair. I wanted to look and feel truly special on my wedding day, so I knew I would have to turn to the pros to make it happen. I didn’t know the quality of any of the salons in Frederick, so I was extremely hesitant to trust them with the task. Up-do’s for I Do’s was perfect because they come to you and take all the stress out of getting ready. Lori (makeup) and Mindy (hair) were our team and they did an absolutely fantastic job. They styled me, 5 bms, and the MOG. They are very sweet and friendly, and cheerfully chatted with us while they worked. My girls were very happy with the results, as was I. I know it’s clichéd, but I felt like a princess, and I got SO many compliments from my guests. It was a great experience. A bit pricey, but well worth it. Also, if you have sparse eyelashes like I do, I highly recommend doing the false eyelashes (which were expertly applied, and did not look phony at all). Cost: $310. Included bride’s hair and makeup, false eyelashes, and travel. Ceremony/Cocktail Hour Music: Eric Waters, Guitarist, Annandale, VA (A+++. Highly Recommend) Eric actually performed at my best friend’s wedding in 2008. At her request, he learned and played the theme from “The Princess Bride” for her procession, and I was in LOVE. I hired him for my own wedding and 15 months later walked down the aisle to that exact same song, which has to be one of the most beautiful songs EVER on the acoustic guitar. I cried the whole way :-) Eric plays beautifully and is quite an accomplished guitarist. He can provide other musicians; has a large and varied list of songs to choose from, and he will learn a song for you at no extra cost, provided enough advance time. Cost: $600. Included 2 hours of music with guitar/violin duo. Hotel Accommodations: Hampton Inn & Suites, Fort Detrick, MD (F. Do Not Recommend) Where to start? We chose this hotel because it was 3 miles from the venue, fairly new, and offered a free shuttle for guests. We set up our hotel block almost a year in advance. Then when we tried to reserve the “shuttle,” we discovered it was actually a 9-passenger van, NOT the mini-bus we had been led to believe. Obviously we needed something bigger, so we had to find and pay an outside vendor for transportation. Then our guests began trying to reserve rooms in our block, and the real problems started. Many guests called us and said they were being informed there were no rooms left in the block and, without consulting us, the hotel was booking them in the other, older, crappier Hampton Inn on the other side of town. This was unacceptable. First of all, our room block was nowhere near being full. The staff blamed the error on their “central reservation system,” which was crap. Second, if the room block WAS full (which it WASN’T), they should have notified us, as we would have told guests to stay at the nicer nearby Hilton or Marriott. They should NOT have booked guests at another location without our permission. Third, we brought all this to their attention, and it KEPT happening. We ended up spending several stressful nights trying to fix their mistakes. So frustrating. The kicker: they refused to compensate us in any way for the trouble. They didn’t even comp our suite, which I thought was standard practice at most places. I mean, we did end up booking 50 of their rooms for 2 nights, and spent a considerable amount on the rehearsal dinner in one of their private rooms, it was the very least they could do. What a horrible place. Cost: $300 for two-night stay in King Suite. Transportation: Sunny’s Limo (C. Do Not Recommend) Since the hotel misrepresented their “shuttle” service, we hired a 32-passenger mini-bus for our guests through Sunny’s Limo. I chose them because they quoted the lowest price for 6 hours of service. I booked the bus on the phone with Lucy, who was very friendly and helpful. On the day of the wedding I assume the pick-ups from the hotel went well, since I didn’t hear any complaints. The problems came after that. The contract instructed the driver to wait until later in the night for return passengers. We only needed the bus at the beginning and the end, but most places won’t let you book it like that. So we paid for 6 hours of service, when really we only needed 2 (but we expected this). Pretty standard for weddings, right? Well, the driver acted like he’d never done a wedding before, because he kept calling our friend (the contact person) EVERY 30 minutes, asking what he should do. Our poor friend was like “You figure it out man, I’m BUSY being at a wedding!” Then the reception ran late by 15 minutes and the driver threatened to leave people (including me, DH, and the whole wedding party) behind. He ended up making one extra trip (gee, thanks buddy), which they charged us for by the hour. So in the end it wasn’t even the cheapest place. Cost: $705 (Originally quoted $560). Wedding Dress and Tiara: Blush Bridal Boutique, Gainesville, VA (A. Recommend) The staff at Blush (except for the owner and seamstress) is mostly young girls, and although they are quite sweet and have good intentions, they lack a bit of experience and knowledge. They can also be hard to get a hold of. They never responded to email and I usually had to call them a few times to get answers. However, this is where I found “the” dress. I had my mind set on a ballgown, so I was quite surprised when I fell in love with my dress, which I tried on a whim. The dress is not a ballgown, and it is made by Sarah Danielle, a designer I had never heard of. Yet it was perfect. The style has actually been discontinued, but Blush contacted Sarah Danielle to see if they had an already-made dress in my size. They checked the inventory and said they had one left! So we ordered it, but when the designer went to pull the dress, they couldn’t find it. Turns out there had been an error in the computer. However, they decided to honor the commitment and made a whole new dress, just for me. The dress required quite a lot of alterations because of its construction and because I am plus size, which I kind of wish they would have told me before ordering. I wasn’t 100% thrilled with how the sleeves came out (they had to be totally redone and sort of pulled weird, plus I couldn’t lift my arms), but in the end I did have a beautiful, unique, old-fashioned princess dress that everyone loved. Cost: Dress: $900. Alterations: $240. Tiara: $175. Veils: Occansey Designs, online (B. Recommend for those on a budget) To save money I decided to order my veil online instead of in a salon. I saved so much money that I actually bought two: one for the ceremony (extra full, one-tier, cathedral length veil with cut edge) and one for the reception (extra full, one-tier, fingertip length veil with pencil edge). The post office lost the first shipment so the company promptly sent me a rush second order, which I received 3 days later. However, the veils were not as “poufy” on the top as I wanted them to be, and I don’t know if this is because of the comb I chose (which would not stay in my hair) or because I didn’t properly fluff it or because I should have order two tiers? If I could do it again I would probably buy it from a salon, where I could try it on and see exactly how it looked. Cost: $166 for two veils and express shipping. Tuxes: Men’s Wearhouse, Alexandria, VA (A. Recommend) We picked out tuxes at the Alexandria location, and the groomsmen picked them up at locations convenient for them. The BM’s tux was the wrong size, which I guess happens a lot with MW. However, they located what we needed and fixed it up without much problem. They looked great and the groom’s tux came free with 5 rentals, which you just can’t beat! Cost: Free. Invitations: WeddingPaperDivas, online (A. Recommend) WPD offers a large selection of very cute designs at reasonable prices, plus they regularly offer discounts. I loved the elegant design of our invitation and got a great discount because of a sale. The quality is great, except for one thing: I noticed stray black dots on a bunch of the the envelopes, about the width of a pen tip. They obviously weren’t supposed to be there. Unfortunately I just glanced at a few right when I got them and didn’t open all of the invitations until a couple months later, so I had no recourse. Luckily they weren’t glaringly obvious. Just make sure if you order from here that you check everything, right away. Cost: $352 for 75 invitations, response cards, and enclosures (for hotel info) with corresponding envelopes preprinted with return address. Honeymoon: Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort, Cancun, Mexico (A+++. Highly Recommend) We booked a week at this resort through a timeshare company that DH’s parents belong to, so we got an incredible deal. The resort is absolutely beautiful. It looks even better than the pictures. Our favorite was the infiniti pool overlooking the ocean. When we checked in they wouldn’t upgrade us to a one bedroom, even though we were willing to pay more (and we were newlyweds!). The studio room was still nice, and included a washer/dryer, kitchenette, queen bed, jacuzzi tub, flat screen TV, and balcony. The bed was super comfy, and the washer/dryer was quite handy. This is a timeshare resort though, so they will ask if you want a timeshare presentation. We politely declined, and they were fine with that. All the staff was extremely friendly and very helpful. We would definitely go back. Cost: $300 for one-week stay in a studio room. You can see wedding pictures on the photographer’s blog (
http://abrittonphotography.com/blog/) under Lisa and Tony, Ceresville Mansion.