Ceremony and Reception Location - Val Vista Lakes Gilbert, AZ A-http://www.valvistalakes.org/hoa/assn11015/ValVista-Banquet.htmlI really loved having my ceremony and reception at Val Vista Lakes. Janet (the banquet manager) is really kind, and she knows a lot about the industry. She was the best part about VVL. I was not so impressed with her assistant Laura who worked my wedding. My vendors needed to find her before the wedding, and she couldn't be located. She showed up to coordinate the ceremony and then disappeared again. Aside from that, my guests gave me so many complements on how beautiful the place was. It's really a great value for a Sunday through Thursday wedding.
Photography and Videography - Memories Through Time A+http://memoriesthrutime.com/Mike and Amanda were my favorite vendors. They were awesome!
Amanda and Mike were the best value for Phoenix photography and videography. They are a great team, and they capture every moment of your big day. They were so flexible and accommodating to my needs, and they never left me wishing I had booked a different vendor.
Amanda did a great trash the dress session for us, and she really captured our personalities in the shoot. She knew that I didn't really want to "trash" my dress, but she still provided an awesome set up.
Mike was great at shooting the video for the wedding. He shot the whole time, but never seemed to be in the way. He was great at helping me voice what I wanted in the video, and had a few lengthy conversations to make sure that it would be exactly what we wanted.
Overall Mike and Amanda offer great packages and even better service. They are a great investment for your lifelong wedding memories.
Flowers - Sam's Club Dsamsclub.comWe purchased our flowers from Sam's Club, and it was a catastrophe. They "lost" our order, so we didn't have our flowers ordered until a week before the wedding. They only delivered half of the flowers we needed forcing us to find other flowers around the valley at high costs. The manager was incompetent at helping and could only apologize. The flowers were nice, but I would recommend going with a professional florist. Sam's Club was unprofessional and provided no resolution for their mistake. What had originally been a way to save cost us much more.
Dress - David's Bridal CDavidsbridal.comOh David's. They were absolutely terrible to work with. Your typical salespeople, brought dresses that were out of my budget, tried to get me to buy that day, then were really rude when they found out that I was just looking. Based off of their salespeople, I would have failed them, but I can't deny that the quality of the dress I bought was really nice. I ended up buying the dress from a bride who no longer needed it, so I didn't have to deal with the salespeople anymore.
Alterations - Janet Kirkman Ahttp://janetkirkman.com/I cannot rave enough about her service. She was able to schedule me promptly, was extremely kind, and did fantastic work! I wanted her to redesign my dress from an A line to a more fitted, semi-mermaid style. The finished product was phenomenal. Wedding dresses are her specialty, but she also does other garments. Other services she offers are dress storage, steaming, garters, veils, shawls, and turning the dress into baby blankets, pillows, or a new dress.
Ceremony Music - Allegro Quartet Ahttp://www.allegroquartet.com/The quartet was a really special touch during the ceremony. They played a piece that my mother in law arranged for us for our recessional. They provide a wide variety of arrangements to suit many tastes.
Cocktail Music - Anna Chepikova Awww.annaspiano.com/Anna provided piano and vocal accompaniment for our cocktail hour and during dinner. She did a phenomenal job, and my guests loved her. She can play anything from classical pieces to modern ballads. She provided a perfect ambiance.
Bartender - Pour Masters C-pourmasters.comI was deeply saddened by the bartender at our wedding. The owner was great, but I'm afraid the bartenders are sub par. The bartender called me on the day of my wedding to discuss her gratuity. It was inconsiderate and rude. I can understand if you want to discuss tip jar vs. host tip, but not on the day of.
During the reception she was surly and rude to all of my guests. Even the vendors mentioned that she seemed to be "off." She decided to put a tip jar out, which was against her contract. She would remove it any time someone from the wedding party would come near. She then solicited all of my family members for tips after the reception. I couldn't believe it when I heard about it the next day. She refused to leave and harassed my mother in law to write her a check. In the end she got tipped by me, the jar and my mother in law. Excellent tip for terrible service. We even discussed canceling the check my mother in law wrote her.
I'm torn, because I don't want to write a bad review for the owner. After the honeymoon, I called the owner and discussed my concerns. He did mention that she would be written up and HR would discuss her behavior with her. Overall he was apologetic about it, and he was really surprised that she had behaved that way. I guess I would recommend his business, but stay away from the bartender Kristy or Kristen...
Photobooth - Memory Makers AZ AMemorymakeraz.comThe photobooth was awesome! It was larger than a traditional booth, so lots of people could crowd inside. We had both pictures and videos of our guests, which was a really special treat after the wedding. I wish that I had hopped in it more!