Vendor Reviews and LOTS of PIP

So I'm finally back to reality. 2 weeks for the honeymoon was more than worth it. We are so relaxed and rejuvinated. The wedding was so amazing! It was like a dream going through everything that day. My major and only complaint about the wedding was that I was my own coordinator. This proved to be a big problem when I had to coordinate where the entire wedding party needed to be at all times, even though I gave everyone a schedule. Then I had to coordinate the entire reception from telling them when to serve dinner, toasts, when we were doing first dance, when to cut the cake, when to open the dance floor, when to do the garter toss...you get the point. It just became very taxing to find everyone to tell them what to do. I feel like the photographer and both venue coordinators and DJ should have taken that burden away especially when it was obvious when things needed to flow. Even still I was so happy at everything. So here are my reviews and pictures that others took of the day.

Petals and Stems- Flowers A—

I can’t really justify giving them a B when the flowers did look very beautiful especially when I came into their studio with no clue what I wanted to do. They were extraordinary at helping me go from having no idea what I want to a full wedding full of flowers. Here’s where they dropped the ball. They put the wrong colors for the wrong bouquets, as mine was supposed to be all cream and pink while the bridesmaids were supposed to have purple. Also the MOH was supposed to have feathers in her bouquet, which didn’t happen. And lastly I asked for my bouquet to be wrapped in lace, and they put some ribbon with what looked like birdseed attached to it, sadly and luckily for that they didn’t cover the ends so I had dry ends but without that weird birdseed look. I worked with Sonya and she was very helpful!

Sugar Robot (ETSY)- Sugar Butterflies for Cake A+

I had no idea how hard finding butterflies would be, but when I found this vender I e-mailed with quite a few questions. She e-mailed me back twice with lots of answers to help me, and made me a customized order that shipped very quickly. It was gorgeous on my cake.

Stacy at Wiremajigs (ETSY)- bracelets for bridesmaids A

This was such a hit with my bridesmaids. My MOH had seen it on pinterest and I kept note of it for when the time came. The lady was such a help in ordering and I think they are the cutest bracelets ever! At least my girls were very excited.

There are a few things that made this stay perfect and easy. We were upgraded to a WOW suite which was perfect for our breakfast in the morning that I catered for my girls. The best part about the breakfast was I gave my girls the menu and had them tell me what they wanted ahead of time, and the hotel sent me a link where I could place the order weeks in advance so I wouldn’t be stressed the day of. The food was delicious, and we were very happy! The only problem came on checkout when it took us 30 minutes to get a bellmen then another 20 minutes to get our car from valet.



Joule Hotel- night of hotel A++

Ok I’m biased about this place, but they truly are the best. We had a superior suite, and I checked in with my girls before the wedding. We were all given glasses of champagne in the lobby and another bottle sent to the room a while later. The night we came back to rose petals EVERYWHERE…They told me they used 6 boxes to cover the room. We had more champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. It was absolutely perfect!

W Vieques- honeymoon hotel A+

I have to brag on this place. It was such a retreat. It’s on a small island next to the mainland of Puerto Rico. It’s underdeveloped and had the nicest staff and the most quiet secluded beaches. The food and drinks were supurb, and I’m already ready to be back J

Nordstrom- Bridesmaids dresses/ wedding necklace A+

I really didn’t think that I would find a dress that was in a reasonable price range I liked. Luckily I found a dress by Jessica Simpson at Nordstrom for $90 that was so perfect!

The tuxes looked awesome. We wanted grey and they had the least expensive ones for around $150 (mind you I got the discount from going to the Dallas Bridal Expo). We also got a tux for my father and brother for $85 for their basic design. The problem with them was they gave us the suit for DH without pressing it so had to bring it back. Then we had problems with my brother’s tux because he is very large and their largest tux ended up not fitting him, and he was not able to button his jacket.

Taylor Carpenter is the planner at the church. She was the most lovely to work with! Any questions that I had I would just send her an e-mail or call or come by. They have two and soon to be 3 areas to have the ceremony, and we decided for the smaller chapel with the stained glass windows. The bridal room was so pretty and had me coming down from a long staircase right into the chapel. They have some requirements to get married here but it was worth it! The day of we had Katherine Couch as our DOC and she was very helpful as well even with my last minute changes.

Avanti Fountain Place- Reception Location A++

This is truly my favorite place in Dallas. I was so happy when I met with Amy and found that everything would be within my budget. I came by to visit many times and had so many last minute changes with the food and tables that I thought Amy was going to go crazy, but she just remained calm and helpful through everything. The food was OH so good! People wouldn’t stop talking about it. Even when the ceremony let out 30 minutes earlier than we thought, they had the ball rolling to get everything sent out earlier than planned. The servers even were so nice that my guests were commenting. That place truly made my night magical.

Tabitha Ballard- Brides and Grooms Cake B+

If I had to go on the Brides cake alone I would be giving highest honors! We had champagne cake with buttercream frosting. I went to my mom’s the next day and couldn’t stop eating it. YUM. The problems came with the grooms cake being very dry and my FI didn’t feel like she made the cake the way he wanted. She was really easy to work with and VERY budget friendly. We paid $400 for everything.

The Violin Guy- Musician for ceremony, dinner hour, and DJ A++++++

People will not stop talking about this guy. My friends on facebook have all added him as a friend. People were saying “I don’t know how much you paid him but it wasn’t enough.” And this was before the reception even happened. He sang The Prayer during our unity ceremony and my very stoic pastor cried…that was a first. Then during dinner hour he went around with the violin to serenade all of my guests and then spent the night as our awesome DJ. Radu is slightly scatterbrained, but he does a lot. He sings in 9 languages, plays 6 instruments and is just so talented! He also did our videography, which I will be editing myself since I do that stuff. He was the best part of our wedding hands down.

Hobby Lobby- Invitations, décor A+

I decided after my lack of interest in vistaprint invites to check hobby lobby. They ended up being the best decision! It was more than easy to print from my own computer and we made it look better than any actual formal invites we saw. It was $15 a box when it’s wedding week which is every other week. We also got all of our décor there for 50% during those weeks as well.

Vistaprint- STD, address labels, escort cards A+

I created STD’s, lables, and used a sharpie to write the escort cards on their templates. I also received free business cards I used for the escort cards for the tables. For someone not creative I feel like I used them for a lot of DIY things.

Campisis Downtown Dallas- Rehearsal Dinner A+

$375 to feed 20 people? YES! The food was great. They didn’t charge to use the private dining space which made us have a great private room. We decided on dinner buffet with grilled chicken with penne and lasagna. It was such a hit and a great time to hang with the family and friends.

Landmark Limo- Transportation from reception to hotel A++

Dominic is seriously the best. He needed very little info from me and was early, which was perfect since we ended up leaving earlier than we thought. They also made sure we had cake and drinks to take with us to the hotel. They are the only transportation that I use for my company.  

I haven’t received any photos back so I am going based off of the actual day of. I didn’t feel like we received enough pictures of me with my girls, or me alone. I had given them a list of who needed to be photographed when, and still I was the one directing and coordinating everyone of where to go and who was taking pictures now and when. Based on what I’ve seen them do for others I’m sure I will love the photos, and they were the nicest couple. I guess I was tired of having to direct everyone around that day.

Shutterfly.com- MOH photobook gift A+

I was lucky enough to have someone who had a free book coupon give it to me to use. I made a scrapbook of the past few years with my MOH and I, which was perfect as she is leaving to San Diego with her navy husband. It was so special for her and myself.

Sheraton Dallas/Sheraton Suites Market Center/Sheraton Dallas North- Friends/Family hotels- A

I used the Sheraton brand for my family and guests based on the rates. I had a few problems upon checkin that I had to attend to myself that I thought I had taken care ahead of time, but in the end it worked out.

Young B Photography- Engagement photos A++

He is such a talented photographer. I would have used him for our wedding photos but he was not available. LOVED our engagement photos and the way he was able to edit them all.

A Bridal Blossom/Gowns of Grace- Wedding dress/headpiece/alterations A+++

Nancy at what is now Gowns of Grace was my favorite vendor outside of day of. When I came to the small boutique I wasn’t planning on finding anything so I went there first. That ended up being the only place I found a dress I liked and I had many to choose from. She handpicks them and they are around $700-1200. She also did the alterations which took my dress from spaghetti straps to strapless. I got so many compliments on my dress because it is so unique. I could not have been more pleased with this place and the service I received.

And some more pictures!

Our Entrance


Decor, Amanda recognize the wine bottles?


The guys were crazy...


Toasts


married!


Honeymoon!