*Location: The Venue & Loft at Smith Bros: A-: We had our ceremony in the Venue and our reception in the Loft. We love both facilities and received numerous compliments. Honestly, I can’t imagine had having our wedding at any different location – Smith Bros is very “us.” Although the facility itself is wonderful, I was not as pleased with the management staff. In the end everything was taken care of, but during the planning process it was typically difficult to get in touch with them.
*Caterer: Cameron Mitchell: B+: As can be expected from Cameron Mitchell, our food was exceptional. The menu that was compiled for us was creative, eclectic, and delicious. However, thank goodness the food was exceptional, because the service was lacking. The service staff and bartenders who worked our event were wonderful – very friendly and attentive. My major complaint would be with the catering manager (I think that’s the correct title). Examples of the lack of organization were that 22 bottles of champagne were “misplaced” (Ana, the wedding planner, found them), the labels we had made for the cookie table were lost (never found), a gift we had for our youngest guest was not given to him until I approached someone, coffee was not made until my dad specifically asked (we had a coffee station… with no coffee)… with as much experience as they have in event planning, the lack of organization was unexpected.
*Linens: Event Source: A+: Cameron Mitchell gets their linens, etc. through Event Source. I wanted to write a short review for them separately because my mom and I did go to the showroom to pick out our linens and napkins. The two people we worked with during our visit were great – very patient and willing to continue resetting the table until we got it exactly right. Even if I had not gone with Cameron Mitchell, I still would likely have gone with Event Source for rentals.
*Cupcakes: Scrumptious Crumbs: A++: We found Scrumptious Crumbs at the bridal show at the Aladdin Shrine Temple. By the time we got to their table they had completely run out of business cards and were passing out their contact information on slips of paper – already a testament to their talent. To match the “Margaritaville” feel for our wedding, our cupcakes were “cheeseburgers in paradise.” The bun was yellow cake, the "burger" was a brownies, cheese was yellow fondant, "ketchup & mustard" were buttercream frosting, and the shredded lettuce was coconut colored green. We did not have the cheeseburgers on display, but brought out to Jimmy Buffett’s song after dinner. Guests’ reactions were priceless! More than just the cute-factor, the cupcakes were delicious! The best story we have about them is that one guest ate her cupcake, prohibited her husband from eating his, wrapped it up, put it in her purse, and took it to work on Monday to show everyone. We saw her the following weekend and she said that two days later, it was still just as moist J
*Wine: Trader Joe’s: A+: We got our wine at Trader Joe’s. We took advantage of “$3 Chuck” (which I believe used to be $2 Chuck) and it was great – we got a ton for our money and as a result we were able to offer more of a selection, and guests were pleased J We also got our champagne at Trader Joe’s and were told that “it was better than the champagne people have had at other weddings” – and I guarantee it was cheaper!
*Liquor: Party Source: A+: My husband drove to Northern Kentucky to get our wedding liquor. We had a HUGE variety at the wedding and, besides the gas money to get there and back, it was a lot cheaper than had we gone through some other providers.
*Margarita Man: A: My husband took care of our booking with Margarita Man. Day of, it was great – we had two frozen margarita machines behind the bar which the bartenders took care of dispensing for guests. We had one traditional margarita, and one strawberry which we kept virgin for our under-age guests. I have to say, they were delicious and affordable. My husband’s only complaint was it was difficult to get in touch with them before the event, but everything went off without a hitch day of!