We're sitting in the lounge waiting to return to CT from Jamaica! Vendor reviews were so helpful to me in the planning process that I wanted to share my experience!
Venue- Branford House- Groton, CT, A
This was a beautiful place! I'd had it in mind for years and it worked out perfectly. Katherine, the house manager was no trouble to work with. The only issue we had was that originally we were told we could do sparklers during our first dance, and the day of, we were told it was no longer allowed related to an incident the week before. Oh well, I just feel bad for my sister who tied all the sparklers and matches with ribbons! We were allowed to hand pick our vendors to come into the house, and the bridal suite was huge and allowed us all to just hang out and get ready that day.
Caterer- David Alan Catering/Hospitality- Watertown, CT A
I Looooove David and his team. I was a little nervous during planning because they seemed newish, and didn't have a lot of pictures of their food presented, but I was reassured every single time we met with David. He is calm and accomadating and really does a great job. Everyone loved the food, the presentation, and the little things that were original and not typical of every other wedding people had been to. David was also very willing to work with our limited budget and his prices were all inclusive. I didn't have to worry about how many forks to rent, or table cloths, or anything. I feel like we got top of the line stuff without being upcharged. We basically sent him our ideas and inspirations and what we wanted, and then our budget, and he came up with something that became our wedding! All other estimates were at least a couple thousand over what we said we could afford. Nowhere along the line did it seem like any corners were cut.
Photographer- Amanda Rose Photography- Wallingford, CT- A
Amanda is fantastic. We did our engagement pics, my boudoir shoot, and our wedding with her. She always went above and beyond! My camera shy husband never felt uncomfortable, my boudoir shoot was a blast, and I can't wait to see the wedding pics! She was able to combine the traditional with photojournalistic and really make you feel like a million bucks! Plus her personality is amazing, you just want to be her best friend!
Vidiographer-Vividography (Don)- A
I haven't seen our video yet, but I have loved every single thing Don has produced and put on facebook. Our final payment isn't even due until we receive the product from him. I cry at his videos of people I don't even know, so I can't wait to see ours! He was not intrusive at all at the wedding and you barely notice him and his assistant around.
Flowers- Blossoming Blessings- Wallingford, CT- A-
Rose at Blossoming Blessing was always pleasant. The flowers came out great. Flowers were not something that were hugely important to me for the wedding but I did need some basic centerpieces and bouquets. She worked with me and our budget to figure out how to get the most bang for our buck. It was a little challenging to get in touch with her once wedding season kicked in, but everything ended up coming out great! She did misquote one thing, but it only led to a $40 price difference so it wasn't a huge deal. She traveled all the way to the venue herself to set up centerpieces and everything and the overall look was great!
Day of Coordinator- Jen Strunk- Stonington, CT, A-
Jen was a life saver. Hiring a DOC was probably the best decision I made the whole planning process. Jen came all the way to our rehearsal the day before the wedding even though it was nowhere near our venue. She packed a ton of our stuff in her car so we wouldn't have to worry about it. She was there before me the day of, which was very early. She really earned every penny! She did so much, from arranging our hundreds of candles climbing on a ladder, to running to get me a water when I needed it, to making sure we stayed on a timeline. I'm usually a person that likes to know everything that's going on, but I kind of wished she had kept a couple bumps from me because it made me feel bad that I couldn't make things better! But I really can't say I'd do anything differently! Jen was very responsive by email whether the wedding was a year away or 2 days away.
Justice of the Peace- Renee Terry Carle- A
Renee was great to work with. We basically just needed someone to run the ceremony. We told her she didn't have to pretend like she knew us since she really only got to meet us twice. We're not religious and she was fine with doing whatever we wanted for a ceremony. We wanted to keep it short, so she just did a short welcome in the beginning and then went right along with our readings etc. She even drove back to the venue after forgetting to give us a copy of the marriage license for our honeymoon!
DJ- DJ Melee- Jae Palermo- B+
Let me start by saying, everything ended up coming out great. The ride there wasn't 100% easy. Communication wasn't the easiest. It seemed that Jae had a bunch of technical issues with email, phone, etc, throughout the 1.5yrs we were planning. We probably booked him over a year out from our wedding and really didn't hear from him much. I started emailing/facebooking/contact paging him about 2 months before the wedding to talk about a couple specific things I needed for the ceremony. I heard back from him about a week and a half before the wedding. But that must have been all the time he needed because as far as I can tell, all the music came out exactly how I wanted! So basically I guess I'd give communication a C- and the day of performance an A!
Hair/Makeup- Professional Make up by Dilieto- A
I originally had a different MUA, but I loved what Andrea did for my boudoir shoot so much, that I booked her. Her prices are very fair compared to a lot of what I've seen out there for weddings. She traveled to the venue, and she had Janessa, a talented hair stylist with her. I had a trial, and then changed my mind, and the day of hair came out great. Most of my bridal party and the moms got their hair/make up done too! Janessa even touched up my mom's hair that she got done somewhere else and needed a little help!
Stationary- Jen Strunk Designs- A
Jen, our DOC, also did our invitations. They came out great, prices were good, and she worked with me with proofs to make sure I was 100% happy with how they came out. She also ended up doing our menus at the last minute and those came out perfectly!
Rehearsal Dinner- Naples Pizza Truck- Guilford, CT- A++
The truck was everything and more! Our guests were thrilled, it was a novel idea, and it was all inclusive of plates, plasticware,. all the pizza we could eat and more, and dessert. We were thrilled with the outcome and it was completely easy to communicate with this vendor!
8/12 March Siggy- reception venue!
