We had our wedding on Saturday, and it was PERFECT! I wanted to share reviews of vendors, especially because some of them I don't see pop up here very often and they should!
Beauty: My bridesmaids and I went to Peace Love and Nails on Mesa Drive for mani/pedis Friday morning. It's a new salon, and they aim for natural products, which is great. The whole salon is really cozy (inspired by the beach without being "beachy"). They opened the salon an hour early for us since we had a full schedule that day, and they were super sweet. They even put on "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" to get us in the mood! Nice comfy chairs and copper basins. They were really great. And my nails still looks perfect.
For hair and make-up on the day of (and my trial and my normal hair place) we went to Innu on Hancock near 45th Street. They did an incredible job, even got us out a little early. They do mineral make-up and it's a Bumble&bumble concept salon. Everyone looked great. They average the prices of all the services so everyone pays the same amount regardless of stylist, and it was reasonable (I believe the 'maids paid $55 for an updo and $40 for makeup - mine was a little more, but not much).
Venue: The Allan House. First of all, we couldn't have had better weather, so that helped of course! Whitney and her crew at the Allan House are incredible - and have been through the whole process. Very responsive, always cheerful and helpful. The venue was gorgeous, plenty of space for our 115 or so guests. The bridal suite was plenty big. It was just perfect.
Catering: Austin Catering. I can't say enough good things about Susan Harris at Austin Catering. They acted as our reception coordinators and were really on the ball - very flexible, efficient, friendly. They also did our cocktail party (in lieu of a rehearsal dinner) on Friday and both events had RAVE reviews on the food. I don't know how I could've pulled it off without them. Susan was always willing to make any changes to the menu or plan and always came back with creative ideas. Delicious food, efficient service - just a very well run, delicious operation!
Flowers: Ben White Florist. Debra McAdoo of Sweet Pea operates out of the BW Florist shop. I connected with her right away, and she didn't disappoint. She used flowers from the Arnosky Farm in Wimberley. I wanted a wildflower look and they were gorgeous. The bouquets, bouts, corsages, arrangements - everything was beautiful and very reasonably priced. I stil have my bouquet in a vase and it looks great. No wilting at all on the day.
Ceremony music: Musical Discovery. Jill Dalley is the head of this group and they played beautifully. She worked with me during the process to figure out what would work best. We had a violin, viola and trumpet and it was great. They sounded fantastic, were reasonably priced and she is very organized about the whole process.
DJ: Greenbelt DJ. Joel Giorgio was fantastic. We had a daytime wedding and so wanted Rat Pack style music instead of dance party music. He was incredibly flexible, bought the songs I wanted that he didn't have, did a GREAT job of keeping the day on track and making announcements without ever being intrusive. I had a lot of compliments on the music, and he has a great personality to work with.
Photography: Daniel C Photography. I can't tell you how much I adore Danny. He worked with me on budget and was accomodating to our ideas. He did our Friday cocktail party too. Everyone loved him. He never felt in the way but was miraculously there whenever you needed him. He showed me some of his images and I can't wait to see the final results. He's a dream to work with, great personality and very much a professional. He was a lot of fun in the bridal suite and really goes with the flow.
Cake: Whole Foods. I didn't want a "wedding" cake, so we had the berry chantilly half sheet with a quarter sheet on top, decorated with tons of fresh berries. I had more compliments on the cake than I think on anything else - including compliments from other vendors! It was light, moist, delicious, beautiful.
Dress and accessories: J. Crew dress - the Cecilia. I had lots of compliments on it. Clean lines and very simple, but pretty. I wore vintage amethyst jewelry and a birdcage veil from Etsy.
Jeweler: We used family rings, but had work done on them at Benolds. They were wonderful. They also made some adjustments to my vintage necklace for the wedding. They took time with us and every time we came in, they offered to clean my engagement ring for free, including a couple of days before the wedding so it'd shine.
Officiant: Judge Jon Wisser. I'm not sure we would have made it through the ceremony without his organization. He's done thousands of weddings and sent us several samples to help us write our ceremony and vows. He offered advice on length, etc. He printed out cards of our vows and our reading for our reader. He quietly directed us during the ceremony (pointing to the correct finger for the ring for example - you don't realize how dazed you are until you're up there!) and he was great at orchestrating the rehearsal as well.
I think that's it... if I remember anything else, I'll post it. But it was perfect. The key was really to hire good people and you don't have to sweat the details on the day. Also, I really encourage you to follow your heart and your gut about who you choose for your wedding party. We had a couple of bumps early on with people who ended up not being part of the wedding. The people we had around us were PHENOMENAL. Supportive, willing to go the extra mile, loving... just amazing. I think the incredibly positive energy around us from every direction made everything even better. I wish the same for everyone else's upcoming weddings! Let me know if you have questions!