We were married at an event home in a wonderful outside ceremony with perfect weather – what luck!
Family Ties (Twiddy Event Home) – This was a wonderful venue for our 100 guest wedding. It has plenty of outside space that is landscaped beautifully. We got married on the lawn on one side of the house, had cocktails poolside, dinner in a tent (Ocean Atlantic) on the other side of the house, and dancing back at the pool! The inside of the house is beautiful as well, and we really enjoyed our week there after the wedding. There were some problems with flies, especially during our Welcome Dinner, but I don’t think there is any way to avoid this!
Ocean Boulevard Bistro – Outstanding from day one. Annette worked with us to accommodate our budget and come up with a menu that included fresh fish based on what they were catching at the time of the wedding, and lots of other delicious choices. The food was incredible – both the appetizers and dinner. So many people commented on how good the food was – we are still hearing from guests! They also did an excellent job throughout the evening keeping things moving smoothly from appetizers to dinner to dessert – Annette was a beacon of calm, making the whole evening unfold flawlessly. I felt confident both before and during the wedding that we were in very good hands. I still am amazed they created such a fabulous dinner from the small kitchen of our event home!
Ron Dressel Photography (Virginia) – we are friends with Ron and were thrilled when he was able to be our photographer. He had never visited our venue but immediately sized it up and took some amazing photographs utilizing the beautiful landscaping around the house. We were really touched when he posted a preview picture the day after the wedding – it was so fun to see a pro picture so soon!
Dimensions Salon (Ashley Dashiell) – Ashley was great! She immediately inspired confidence at my trial before the wedding. She travelled to the house, which was key for me. She was able to work wonders with my short, thin hair – I loved it for the wedding – it looked great but still felt like me.
Shirley @ SugarSnaps – Superb! I was going to go the grocery store route for flowers but panicked with little time to go before the wedding, and found Shirley. Shirley was willing to work with me to create my dream bouquet. I loved the fact that she gave me options at different pricing so I felt like I had control over what we ended up with. I was so wishy washy about some of the decisions about the flowers and she was so patient in working with me.
Officiant Tanya Barkley-Graham – Tanya was great. Her mother Tanya Young provided a number of beautiful ceremonies for us to choose from. We crafted together a ceremony that Tanya delivered flawlessly. She was such a calm and inspiring presence before and during the ceremony that it really helped our nerves!
DJ Bruce Jones – Bruce was excellent. He stayed true to our playlist, but mixed it up in a way that kept everyone dancing. We told him we didn’t want any cheesy emcee action and he provided just the right amount of music/talking. When it looked like it might rain during our reception he was calm and confident and told us to keep going, and if it started, he could move inside.
Ocean Atlantic Rentals – Everything went very smoothly. Joe was the most helpful during the planning process in terms of advice on what we would need. During the months of planning I called several times to change our order and they were always very accommodating. The only thing I wish we had done was hired someone to put up the tables and chairs – hard work for our family members before the wedding! And I didn’t do a very good job lighting the tent – I got cheap globe lights and almost didn’t put them up – that would have been a huge mistake as it already was almost too dark to see the food.
Beer Nanny – we saw their portable keg coolers at the Wedding Expo in Jan, and thought it would be a good idea to use them, since we were having kegs for beer over two days. Super convenient! They were very accommodating in delivering them early so we could have the beer chilled in plenty of time for the Welcome Dinner.
High Cotton Barbeque – we had High Cotton for our Welcoem Dinner - everyone enjoyed the food – I was so nervous I don’t think I had much! One thing that was annoying was they delivered the dishes with no serving spoons? We had to run up to the event home to scrounge up some from there. I was shocked they wouldn’t be provided with the meal and still wonder if this was an oversight.
Mike Dianna's Grillroom - my Mom arranged a lovely bridal luncheon here and Meghann and the staff were so accommodating - Mom basically gave them the exact recipe for what she wanted for the lunch and they re-created it to perfection!
Harris Teeter Corolla – We got trays of bagels, danish, and fruit for our Farewell Breakfast from Harris Teeter and it was excellent. Some of those pastries – yum! My only advice would be to buy additional cream cheese, as what they provide with the platter is not enough.
Special thanks to the Harris Teeter manager, too. Hours before the wedding we realized we were missing the tonic and club soda we had bought the day before! The guys raced to the HT to see if anyone had turned in our purchases. They hadn’t, so they scrambled to buy more. When the manager heard what was going on, he told the guys to get what they needed and go – the purchase was on him. Lifesaver!
This board was such a great help in our planning! Thanks to everyone on here who have been so kind and informative!