I thought I would take some time and recap all of the great vendors we worked with. Our wedding was this past weekend on the 18th and everything went wonderfully! I can't rave enough about everyone we chose and I was happy with everyone we worked with! I don't have a bad thing to say about anyone we chose to use!
Ceremony venue: Gray's Lake Overlook Terrace - was absolutely beautiful!
Rental company for chairs: Classic Events & Tents - we paid for them to set up and tear down the chairs for an additional cost which was well worth the price. They arrived on time for both set up and tear down and Robin who was the contact person was very prompt and easy to work with when arranging things and confirmed everything ahead of time. She was great to work with! We also rented silverware from them for the reception as I didn't care for the silverware option at the reception venue.
Florist: Boesens on Ingersoll. Beautiful work! We had hydrandea and rose urns with curly willow branches for an alter - they delivered to ceremony site and then came back and brought them to the reception site for us. They were awesome! We also got a mantel piece for the fireplace at reception and 11 centerpieces. They were on time for everything and they seemed reasonable on their prices as well. We had to return the vases on Monday which wasn't a big deal to us.
Linen rental: Beyond Elegance - we paid to have them set up and tear down. We rented table cloths, overlays, char covers and two colors of sashes and cloth napkins. They came that morning to set everything up and they came before the end of the night and took everything down before we had to be out by midnight. They were also awesome to work wiht. We also rented the crystal candle holders we had on the other tables that didn't have flowers. Also rented from them was some pipe and draping for behind the cake table.
Reception venue: Des Moines Izaak Walton League - My husband is a member here and it was a no brainer for the size. Beautiful ceilings. Food is great price! We had three entree choices for only $18 per person. We had meat and cheese trays before dinner and then we also did hot appetizers after dinner at about 8:30 for everyone which was a big hit! Everyone raved about how we had food all night! We had buffet style dinner of chicken supreme, roast pork tenderloin and roast beef. There are other choices as well. They have a seperate bar area off the main hall - they ordered in teh wine we wanted - we had relax riesling and menage a trois. We also did an open bar with well drinks, bud light keg in addition to the wine.
DJ and Photo booth / Uplighting / ceremony sound: Steve's Mobile Music - he kept the party going and was a great emcee! He knew my husband back in college and was great to work with. I met with him a couple of times before the wedding to knock out details. The lighting looked great around the reception and he had lots of different choices to pick from on that. Very reasonable pricing on that! My mom asked others in her office what they were paying for photo booths and I guess Steve is a bargain compared to others! Definitely check him out! People loved out photo booth and we have a great guest book and people had a great souvenier! He did trivia questions to release people from their tables for dinner which people thought was great too!
Photographer: Moonwell Photography - He is awesome! I love our engagement photos. We don't have any of our wedding photos back yet, but I have heard other people on here rave about him who have used him for their weddings. When I get some of our pictures back I will have to give some more details and maybe post a couple recap photos.
Dresses: My dress was purchased from Oskaloosa Bridal Dreams - the alterations lady was not the greatest to work with, in hindsight I would have brought my dress to a different place for alterations because I had to go back 3 times for what should have been simple because I only needed to have a button added and a bustle put in and I shouldn't have needed to keep going back, and they didn't press my dress very well and we had to ask them to do it again when I picked up my dress the week before the wedding. The bridesmaid dresses were Alfred Angelo and I let the girls pick their own style all in the same color and fabric. One girls dress was sewn so badly she is getting a refund and it is being returned to the manufacturer. I wouldn't pick that designer - it seemed like they were cheaply made for a $170 dress. Not to mention she ordered her dress 8 months in advance and it came only 2 weeks before the wedding. It was very stressful.
Salon: Salge Tree in Johnston - this is my normal Salon - Melissa is my stylist and she did an amazing job!
Other flowers: I made a lot of other things for the wedding so I give myself an A+ for being an aweosme florist at making bouquets and being an amazing stationer and jewelery maker! I got a ton of compliments on them as well!
I will post more pictures when I have them!
Jodie