Church: St. Paul Catholic Church (downtown)Grade: B-The church is where we belong so it was the logical place to get married. It is pretty but not gorgeous. They were really accommodating about letting us get in to look at it on weekdays for planning purposes and they were fine with us using a different priest. However, the wedding "coordinator" there is not very useful. They switched people half way through my planning and never told me. I had to hunt the info down for the new coordinator on their website after 3 weeks of unreturned emails and phone calls. It worked out fine but do not count on any help the day of or in planning from that person. Also, there really isn't a space for you to get ready. They let us use a tiny little room that connects to the ladies which meant that until we got the message out about everyone using the men's, guests were stopping in to go to the bathroom and seeing me before the ceremony started. Not the end of the world but it was one of the few things that almost made me mad on my wedding day. Reception site: Hilary J Boone Center (UK's Faculty Club)Grade: A+++Ginny at the Boone Center saved my life during the planning!! She knew every question to ask and understood that we were on a budget. It can get expensive there but we did a lunch and it was lovely. The executive chef there is AMAZING and met with us two weeks before the wedding to finalize the menu. We had decided on a certain pork dish with a certain side dish and he offered to do a different vegetable as a side because of the way it would be served...basically just very intuitive and helpful. He wanted it to be as delicious and pretty as we wanted it to be. Back to Ginny, she was so helpful and available and she really knows what she is doing. When she gave a suggestion I followed it and she never led me wrong! She was there the day of and kept everything on schedule and made sure DH and I were happy and was an overall lifesaver! I can't say enough about her. Florist: She is a friend of a friend and was horrible and made my bouquet smaller than my bridesmaids and if she had a "real" business I would certainly properly "review" her and give her a C-. But she did my wedding as a "special favor" (ugh) so I don't think anyone else is at risk! The flowers were pretty, she was just a pain and did not/was not capable of listening to my wishes.Cake: Sugar Forest, Brenda RennerGrade: A+++ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I can't tell you how many people have said "I normally hate wedding cake but I wanted three pieces of yours". Thank goodness I upped the number of servings so DH and I could eat some left over
We had a 3 tier white cake with ivory pearls and ivory fondant accents (very simple). Top two tiers were lemon cake with raspberry filling (didn't get to taste this but I heard it was amazing) and the bottom tier was champagne cake with hazelnut filling. This was the best thing I've ever eaten (except maybe the lunch at the Boone Center
) She was way more reasonably priced than the bakers I found in Lexington and she was extremely professional. After our initial consultation and I paid the deposit we talked once when I called her to up the number of servings and once when she called the day before (as she was decorating it) to suggest that instead of white on white we did ivory on white (but that it was totally my call) because the white wasn't showing up as well. Best money I spent!!Cantor: Christie Pabin (kind of through St. Paul...they recommended her)Grade: AShe was no fuss. I called her, we exchanged a couple of emails, I mailed her the check, she showed up, sang, and that was that. She did exactly what she needed to for the mass and that was perfect.Photography: Mike Horyn PhotographyGrade: BBasically I didn't budget enough money for photography initially and ended up spending way less than I am thinking is average. I got what I paid for. The pictures are good but they don't look nearly as good as I felt like I looked! haha He and his wife Linda were very easy to work with and I enjoyed them but I think they are people that decided to make photography a second career and it is more like a hobby for them than a professionally trained and educated job. They were nice, the pictures are good, they were easy to work with. I also think part of the problem was that we were in a rush after the ceremony to get to the reception. It would have been much easier and we would have gotten more of the pictures we wanted if I could have convinced DH that doing the pictures beforehand was the better way. Oh well! We still have some great shots and I remember the day perfectly anyway!Dress: Bridal and Formal (Cincinnati)Grade: AThey were lovely to work with and had a huge selection in all price ranges. We (MOH, my mom, and I) went on a weekday and I think that is the way to do it. I think they would have let me try on every dress in the store if I wanted. They did give me a deal on the dress (which they do for everyone) and I got my shoes and veil there, but the jewelry and hair accessories (which are grossly overpriced...definitely Etsy things like that) they made a huge push for the sale on and it was kind of overwhelming. Didn't taint my view of them though! I would still highly recommend starting and ending your dress shopping there!Tuxes: Men's WearhouseGrade: ANothing happened to make me take off points but they are a big box chain so I wasn't expecting a highly personal interaction haha. We got everything exactly as we ordered it. The men looked great!Bridesmaid Dresses: Ruth's BridalGrade: BThey were not overly helpful sales ladies. We hunted through the racks ourselves and had no help from anyone. It was fine but nothing special. Not a huge selection either but we found something that everyone agreed on and looked beautiful in!Alterations: Sew FineGrade: AShe was very skilled and helpful! Obviously a wedding dress alteration is going to be expensive but I had heard horror stories about the price. Mine was less than $200 for a 6 point French bustle (it was a double bustle) and lace alterations on the shoulder straps. Which I didn't think was as outrageous as I had been anticipating but since I didn't really shop around for price, I just went with what I had heard a lot of brides doing. I probably will go back to The Button Hole to get my jeans hemmed still :)Invitations: The Land of Oz, CincinnatiGrade: A-The people that run this place are very nice but we heard them giving another bride bad advice about addressing the invites...so take everything they say with a grain of salt. They did have a HUGE selection of invites from a bunch of different brands and lots of styles and price ranges. The best part?? They give you a 30% discount on your invites! I couldn't justify spending a lot of time, energy, or money on a piece of paper that I knew most guests would bury in a mail pile. and then throw away..so this place was a miracle for me! Reception Music: Courtney AllenGrade: A+He was amazing! Courtney is a piano player and singer. He plays all over Lexington in places like the Merrick, The Summit, he used to play at Oscars (by Malones) ALL the time (that's where I first heard him). He was actually recommended by Ginny at the Boone Center. He was $500 for 3 hours of playing and he used the baby grand at the Boone Center but he has his own equipment. He also has a band that could have played too. He sounds like Louis Armstrong and everyone loved him! He seemed kind of forgetful (he called me once in July after I had already spoken with him twice about playing our reception and asked me if I still wanted him to play......not sure what was going on there!) but he ended up being perfect. My stepdad tipped him extra because he liked him so much! Ceremony music: Linden Walk Five, brass quintet and Micheal Rintamaa, organist/pianist and my MOH, vocalistGrade: A++These guys were amazing! My mom works with one of the members of Linden Walk Five and Micheal is the music director at Central Christian Church. Micheal was so low stress, I just felt so confident in him and never once stressed about the music. He worked with my sister/MOH for her two solos (one during the prelude and one during communion, Ave Maria!) and they were great together. They and the brass guys got together on their own time and I didn't need to do anything more than choose the songs and give them each others email. I've gotten so many compliments on how the brass and the music and Lucy's voice just set the stage for a beautiful and spiritual ceremony. It was awesome! Hair: Tony at Super Hair and Nails on EuclidGrade: BI did 2 trail runs with Tony and each time my hair looked really good but not how I was describing it. My hair on my wedding day was amazing and much closer to how I had it in my mind. My ONLY complaint is that I just don't think he used enough bobby pins/hair spray because halfway through the reception my hair started coming loose. I didn't care a bit then but looking at the pictures it would have been nice if that $50 updo had stayed put! Honeymoon: Maui, Hawaii through Apple VacationsGrade: A++++++++AMAZING! We stayed at the Aston Kaanapali Shores which was incredible for the price. It wasn't so much a hotel room as a condo with a full kitchen, dining and living area that opened up to an ocean view balcony (or lanai, in HI), and a bedroom with wonderful bedding. The kitchen made our trip much more cost effective because we could eat some breakfast and some lunch without paying restaurant prices. If you go to Maui/Hawaii you MUST rent a soft top Jeep Wrangler. I swear that was the best part
We are definitely going back for our 5 year anniversary before we start having kids.Hope this helps someone!! If you have questions just ask! I don't get on the Knot very much any more but I check back to offer my wise married advice every now and then
j/k...I'm not that wise haha