Here are my vendor reviews from my July 10 wedding… I apologize in advance for it being lengthy:
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Hair: Beauty Bar (Sarah J.) ( A+ ) I have to say, my bridal hair was AMAZING. Sarah did a great job creating a 1940s/1950s updo with pin curls and chignons. The price was very reasonable ($60 without wash) and she took her time making sure everything looked perfect.
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Flowers: Pollyn Flowers ( A+ ) I took everyone’s advice and hired Lynn to do my flowers and centerpieces. They all turned out amazing. I asked for all green, multi-textured flowers and she pulled it off beautifully. Her prices were great and she worked well with a very tight budget.
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Dress: Fantastic Finds (Lansing, MI) ( A ) As a plus sized bride, I visited nearly every store within 2 hours of Toledo in an attempt to find dresses that I could actually try on. In my last attempt to find a beautiful dress, I ventured to Lansing. While FF did not have too many plus sized dresses, the ones they had were absolutely beautiful. My consultant, Kim, was great. She was one of the only bridal consultants I worked with that made me feel beautiful instead of bad or ashamed about my weight. Anyone looking for an amazing dress consultant should go to her.
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Seamstress: Fantastic Finds ( C ) The seamstress I worked with at FF was extremely rude. Not only did she make me feel extremely self conscious, but she also marked my dress with pen, did not listen to some of my concerns, and said I could not re-try my dress on when I picked it up (my mom lives across the country and hadn’t seen it). It’s a good thing Kim stepped in and let me try it on, because the day I arrived to pick up my dress, I noticed that the seamstress had not got the pen stain out, left strings of thread hanging out of the bust, and my dress had been pressed wrong. However, Kim came to my rescue yet again and worked on the stain and pressing for two hours before sending me home with a great looking dress.
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Ceremony: Space 237 ( A+ ) I really could not ask for a better place to get married. Space is beautiful and could comfortably fit 150+ for a wedding ceremony. Their prices were fair --- a little high, but well worth the experience.
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Chairs: Meredith Party Rentals (B+) We rented black chairs for our wedding (they look so good in Space!). My husband picked the chairs up and brought them to Space. When setting them up, we noticed they were filthy! We had to clean every chair before the ceremony. Luckily, when we returned the chairs we got a bit of a discount.
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Officiant: My Brother ( A+ ) If you are having trouble deciding who you want to marry you, I would highly suggest having someone you love and knows you and your significant other as a couple get ordained online. Getting my brother ordained and licensed in Ohio was simple and cost a total of $10.
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Limo: A1 Accurate Limo ( A+ ) We had no intention of renting transportation, but someone anonymously purchased a limo for our wedding day --- so, I can’t comment on price. The 16 person limo bus was nice and well air conditioned. The driver was nice as well.
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Reception: Park Inn ( B ) My husband and I had a low budget wedding and searched everywhere in town to find a place we could afford. We were excited when we found the Park Inn which allowed us to have a cash bar and serve only hors d’ oeuvres. Everything was great up until the week of the wedding. At our tasting we were told we would get a free salad bar (salad and rolls). We had not been told this previously, but she brought it for us to taste and told us they were going to include it. Upon meeting with her 3 days before the wedding, she told us salad would be $1.75/pp and that the budget we were previously paying on did not include the linens we had discussed. We nixed the salad, included the linens and gave the PI our final payment. The night before the wedding I stayed at the PI with my MOH and it was a nightmare. We got a VERY smelly smoking room (we had requested non-smoking) which smelled like a mix between smoke and stale water. We called the front desk and they sent up an air purifier. By this time it was 11 pm and we were told we would have to leave the room for at least 30 minutes for the machine to work. We left, came back when the hotel bar closed, and the smell was worse --- the machine smell was making us light headed. My MOH called the front desk and was hung up on. She went down there and was greeted with huffs and people rolling their eyes before getting switched to a non-smoking room. The next morning, my family was told they could not check in early (which we were told 3 days prior they could). In fact, my MIL was not assigned a room until 4 or 5 pm. When she got up there, they had not even cleaned it! Things only got worse at the reception itself. The staff (mainly the bartenders) was rude. They were snapping at my family and friends. When I confronted the woman in charge, she told me that while that shouldn’t be happening, I should consider the kind of day the staff has had (there was a conference at the PI/SeaGate Center). This went on all night. A few guests were making complaints to me and the front desk! While the experience was less than ideal, I do have to say that the grand ball room was absolutely beautiful, the food was great, and the majority of guests had a great time. Perhaps the PI was overwhelmed with the hotel being completely booked (which I understand), so I would just check if there are any major events happening in the hotel if and when you book your wedding. If there are no other events, I would suggest the PI.
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DJ: Alliance Entertainment ( A+ ) Chris is great. He is very personable and kept things moving. I would definitely suggest him.
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Cake: Estons ( A+ ) Delicious. The guests LOVED the cake. We got tiramisu and white silk chocolate. Great and priced fair.
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Photography: Beth Herren ( A+ ) Amazing to work with. She took us to several locations and got tons of great shots.
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In all, I loved my day. While we hit some bumps, it was well worth it. I will post pictures of end results (hair, ceremony, dress, reception, etc) when I get them back.