**For some reason, I wrote this post the other day, and now I don't see it at all. Strange! But I'm reposting for all to see.
One of the helpful things about this board is being able to get information and support from others that are planning their special day too. This forum helped me in deciding my venue, my florist, my cake, and where to purchase my dress. Because of great reviews, I booked vendors that delivered on my day. I can honestly say my wedding day was perfect. I had a vintage wedding with a garden feel, and all of my vendors helped with making my vision come true. So its only proper and fair to share my reviews with you all to help your day special too!
VENUE- COURTYARD ON ST. JAMES, HOUSTON, TX (A+++)Lori was an absolute pleasure to work with from beginning to end. I currently live in Austin and planned my wedding from afar, and when I tell you how responsive Lori is, I MEAN it. I could email her 3x a day, and I ALWAYS got a fast response from her. She was very good at being flexible for the days that I would come into Houston to meet with her. It was never a time that she was not available for me, and I got married a year after we got engaged. On the day of my wedding, she remembered the little things that I asked like asking her to put candles around my parents and grandparents wedding photos, and I had left that message on her voicemail the night before. She made sure EVERYTHING was on time and everything flowed so smoothly. She even bustled my train for me twice. I always thought that something would go wrong, but nothing went wrong. Nothing. The staff was very accommodating and we received many compliments on the food. I loved how the staff serves you so it was definitely easier for us to talk and meet with our guests. Lori packed a hefty doggy bag for us in our getaway car with a bottle of champagne. She was wonderful.
PHOTOGRAPHY- DCSMITH PHOTOGRAPHY, DUANE SMITH (B+)First and foremost, let me say, Duane is good. He is very flexible and easy to work with. Anything that I asked for or wanted to change, he accommodated with no problem. The only reason that he is getting a B+ is because I asked him to bring our engagement photo to our bridal session so that I could see it, and he didn’t have it ready. I didn’t see it until the day of my wedding. He also left my bridal picture in his car, so by the time I realized it wasn’t on display, it was too late. However, he did go above and beyond. He asked us to do another engagement session and didn’t charge us. He also followed us from our venue to an area by our hotel so that we could get pictures with Rolls Royce, and he didn’t charge us. He also came to our rehearsal so that he could get familiar with the venue and asked my coordinator questions about different areas. So when you need him to be there, he is THERE.
FLORIST- ALWAYS FLORAL (A++)Sabrina is an absolute pleasure to work with. On our very first meeting, we spent hours talking, and she was very attentive and listened to what I want. I brought an inspiration picture of a bouquet that I fell in love with, and she was able to identify the flowers immediately and we came up with flowers to mimick the bouquet that was in budget. She is very good at staying within your range. She also gave me a discount because my husband is a teacher. Yay! On the day of my wedding, she and her assistant beat ME to the venue, and they went right to work.
VIDEOGRAPHER- JCHRISTOPHER FILMS, JEFFERY COOMBES (A++++)Jeffery and his wife, Amanda were a great duo. I could rave about them all day. At the time, he was just breaking into the wedding industry even though he has much experience in film. I heard of him by reading a post from another fellow knotty and reached out to him as soon as possible when I saw his work and prices. They filmed our rehearsal dinner just because, and also followed us to the area with our car because they wanted great footage. They didn’t charge extra for driving to a different location, they just really love doing what they do. One thing that I absolutely love is their attention to DETAILS, and their professionalism. They captured everything that was important to us. I didn’t think I was going to have a videographer due to it not being in my budget, but they were a Godsend and affordable.
CAKE- EDIBLE DESIGNS BY JESSIE (A)Very simple and easy to work with. We had a tasting, and it went great. My mister chose red velvet with a cream cheese buttercream frosting. No complaints.
BEVERAGES- OLD 52 GENERAL STORE (A+++)Since we don’t drink, we had a cocktail portion where our butlers served vintage sodas with the retro straws. Went completely in theme since we had a vintage wedding. Jessica was very easy to work with. Since I ordered in bulk, she gave me a discount on the sodas, but the shipment cost was going to be $500! She was able to have her staff load the sodas for me at a significantly reduced cost. I was nervous about ordering glass bottles long distance, but she was a pleasure to work with, and the bottles were packaged very good.
DRESS- VENTURA’S BRIDAL (A+)Brenda was my consultant, and I loved her. I fell in love with Enzoani, and it was a close run between the Enzoani Erin and the Enzoani Farlow. She was able to help me decide in the end. I put a poll up on The Knot too, and the ladies were helpful as well. In the end, my dress came in early, my alterations went perfectly. I picked up my dress cleaned and pressed the week of my wedding.
HAIR/MAKE-UP – A LANE AFFAIR, SHAKA LANE-SMITH (A+++)I actually met Shaka through my mister because they had been friends a long time. She is just breaking into the wedding industry for makeup, but she is awesome. I am not a big fan of caked on makeup, I’m a fan of natural beauty, and she was able to give me a look that enhanced my facial features and make me look flawless. We had four trials that involved my makeup and hair, and the final trial combined both. On the day of my wedding, we were together at 7am, and she refreshed my lipstick and check to see if my makeup was still in place before being introduced to everyone for the reception. I got her a custom-made clutch purse like my bridesmaids as a gift. She was awesome.
DJ- BENJAMIN SOLOMON (A)Ben is very versatile and easy to work with. He is a close friend of my mister’s but does DJing on the side. He’s been doing it for years. The mister and I wanted to break out into a surprised choreographed dance as our slow song played. He put together the cd of music we wanted for the dance, and everything was on cue. The crowd was estatic.
TRANSPORTATION- MONARCH LIMOUSINES (A+)It was a 1937 Phantom Rolls Royce! The driver was very professional. He arrived a little early to be on time. Always got our door and served us champagne. He let us have a photo session with the car and made sure things weren’t on the car while we were posing. We kind of went over our time, but he didn’t charge us, which was awesome.
INVITATION/STATIONARY- AL’S FORMALWEAR (D)*sigh*, My suggestion for any couple is if you are going with a chain store for the guys’ suits, PLEASE do it early to prevent ANY problems. We planned our wedding a year out, but we decided to get started early. Luckily we did. We had a series of problems, from getting the word spacing wrong on the invitation to our best man’s suit being in the wrong city. Luckily, one of our other groomsman that lives in that city was able to pick it up for the best man. The big one was the night before our wedding, my mister went to pick up his suit, and his tie was PURPLE. It was supposed to be cream. The whole process was frustrating, and I was surprised to have so many problems considering that the woman knew me by first name and my voice on the phone. I always checked the paperwork I signed, AND followed up with phone calls to make sure everyone’s measurements were correct, being delivered at the right store, etc. I was a very anal bride and wrote everything down, so I know it wasn’t mistakes being made by me. We received numerous discounts, and at first, we didn’t complain because we had so much time before the wedding to fix it. But as the wedding got closer, my nerves got BAD with this store.
ETSY VENDORS:CordesCreations- (A) Custom made clutch purses as gifts for my bridesmaids. Very easy to work with!
Myrubberstamp- (A) They customized our logo exactly how I wanted. My handkerchiefs came out lovely.
EmiciBridal- (A) Fell in love with her fascinators. I chose a blush color since I was a blushing bride. I received it in a cute box!MysteriousMannequin- (A) She designed a blush tulle wedge veil for me and worked with me by sending pictures on her head. She even offered to have me send it back in case it didn’t fit to my liking. It was perfect the first time.
You can look at our highlight film to get a gist of our day: