Hi all! Wow, the boards have changed since I left! I got married Nov 7 and everything went so well. We returned from our honeymoon, and I figured that I should go ahead and do some reviews, since all of you helped me so much in my planning.
Also, I will soon post some photos of for-sale items. I am totally jet-lagged right now, so it may take me some time to get around to it. Here's a list of items, however: candy buffet items (scoops, tongs, apothecary jars, unused take-out boxes), birch twigs, hanging votives, green votives, clear votives, some unused votive candles, cake cutting set, 14inch cake plateau/holder, hanging green and clear crystals, river rocks, lots of vases, etc, etc. My centerpieces turned out fantastic, so I will post photos and can sell them as a set, maybe. I have enough for 11-15 of them.
Please excuse my poor grammar and brevity, I am so flipping jet-lagged right now, but it is 1am and I can't sleep, so I will go ahead and post! If you have any questions, please email me at nov7wed at yahoo dot com
Vendors:
Dress- Bridal and Formal (in Cincinnati, OH)
A: I know none of you will be going to Cincy for dress shopping, but it was AMAZING!
Dress Alterations- The Wedding Seamstress (Arvada)
A: I had to have the dress taken in, shortened, bustled, and pressed. I think I lost a few pounds the final week of the wedding (after my final fitting), therefore my chest was not filling the dress out right. However, she did a great job and was very patient. She solved problems very well and her prices are great. I loved my bustle!
Cake-Amy Bruntz (Amy's Unique Cakes)
A: The cake was beautiful and tasted delicious. I received several complements on the cake- even by our venue staff. It was very close to perfect!
Photography- Melissa Beck Photography (assisted by Lisa from Story Lens)
I can't rate her yet, but I am confident that she did fantastic! She handled our rowdy groomsmen so well! She did send me one photo- see the final photo down below (we're sitting in the benches at Red Rocks). That was taken by Melissa Beck! She's awesome!
DJ- Damian Solarzano- Sweet Sounds Entertainment
A: I highly recommend him. He is fantastic. His preparation software is great and super easy to use. Our dance floor was packed all night! His prices are about average. As far as I know, I am the only knottie to have used him, and he is great! He has even been on "Rock the Reception" the TV show.
Reception Venue- Red Rocks
B: The venue is beautiful. I got several compliments on it. The only reason I can't give them an A is because they really limited the amount of time that we could decorate and they also messed-up our open bar requests (draft beer vs bottled). Consequently, we got lots of free beer, however!
Caterer- Aramark at Red Rocks
B: I heard that the cocktail appetizers were delicious, but I didn't get to try them. I found the food to be just above average. I got no complaints or compliments. We had a plated meal; I noticed that a lot of my guests had to wait a long while before getting served their meals. They did a good job at finding which guests ordered what. I wasn't happy with how they "preserved" the top of my wedding cake, considering that it cost $75 for them to cut the cake.
DOC- Melissa Andrews
A: She did so great that my guests and family were complimenting her. She had to work a very long day for us and did such a fantastic job. I can't sing her praise enough. Word to the wise: save your sanity and hire a DOC!!!!
Make Up- Danica Jaerdin from Make-Up Envy
A: Absolutely amazing. I LOVED my make-up and so did my bridesmaids! She made us all so beautiful! She came to my hotel promptly at 7:30am and was very professional.
Hair- Sonia from the Retro Room
I must say that my hair looked amazingly fantastic. However, her professionalism was not good. She was over an hour late. My MOH actually called her and woke her up! When she arrived, she looked very hung-over, and was wearing sweats. She did not bring all of her supplies (no comb, etc) and did not have time to do the MOG and a couple of my other BM's hair. I was very disappointed in her.
Flowers- Erin at Plum Sage
A: My flowers looked better than I ever imagined! I was so pleased! She also created my toss bouquet to be "exploding" and tied lotto tickets to each stem. She has very good taste, and embraced my fun and eclectic choices. She was also well within my strict budget.
Rehearsal Dinner- Abe's Cafe in Littleton
B: The food was AMAZING, very tasty, very affordable. The ambiance is not so good, and they served everything on paper plates. Oh well, at least it was good!
Honeymoon- Wyndham Resort in Fiji
AAAA!!! This was so fun! And the American dollar is worth so much in Fiji right now. We had a great time. However, layovers in LAX get a F, as do dealing with Frontier Airlines is a F, too. South Pacific airlines was great from LAX to Fiji.