I just got married this past weekend and would like to share some feedback I had with the companies/organizations that I had worked with!
First off, my theme was vintage/country with the colors of sage green and buttercup yellow. I did a lot of my projects DIY to keep the cots down low. I kept the vintage/country theme on a budget and had a lot of different unique touches that everybody loved. It was also a morning wedding with a afternoon lunch buffet to keep costs down.
Church: Immanuel Lutheran Church - Marshfield, WI. This was my home church, so it was a no brainer on where to have the ceremony. Had some problems with the pastor (because church pastor would be gone), but that was resolved with a childhood pastor. We didn't decorate the church because Easter was the weekend before and we still had Easter Lillies still up.
Reception: West 14th Restaurant - Marshfield, WI. The food was amazing and loved by all of the guests! The bones is a converted milking parlor and has great arcitecture - perfect for our vintage/country theme. They are very easy going and willing to work with your budget. We did a cash bar for those who wanted beverages that we didn't supply. The only drawback I had with them is that I wasn't able to decorate the hall until 7:30AM the morning of the wedding. With all of the help (and little decoration), we were able to get it done in 2 hours.
Flowers: designedbystephanie -
www.etsy.com I wanted something unique for wedding flowers - and I found them! I went the route of paper flowers with a seller through Etsy. The flowers turned out amazing and everyone loved them because they were so unique. Everybody is able to keep their flowers forever now! Highly recommend designedbystephanie on Etsy if you would like to go a dfifferent route other than real or silk flowers. Check her out!
Dresses: Elegant Occasions - Wausau, WI The process of getting my dress and picking out the bridesmaid dresses went pretty smooth. I bought my dress right off of the rack one sale before they moved into their new location. The biggest problem we had was getting my girls to call their measurements in! I got my shoes from DSW and they were sneakers - because i needed comfort (and because I really have flat feet!)
Tuxes: Magic Moments - Marshfield, WI The process of picking out the tuxes went pretty smooth as well. We did split colors (so bridal party in green vests/ties and ushers, father, and grandfather in yellow vests/ties) was accomodated. There was a sizing issue for one of the ushers but a new vest was shipped the next day at no cost to us.
Alternations: Magic Moments - Marshfield, WI Very quick turn-around on the alterations. She altered my dress, a bridesmaid dress, and my junior bridesmaid dress. Willing to work with a payment plan if the alterations amount is too high and you cant pay all at once. The only drawback with this place is that the person who does alterations is only in on certain days at certain times - so you have to plan accordinly.
Photorgraphy: R.Buckley Photography - Appleton, WI We wanted a photographer who did photojournalistic style and capture those raw emotions, details, and excitement of the day. Even though her email communication is a little on the slow side, she really enjoys what she does. She captures photos at different angles and you wouldn't even notice that she is there taking pictures during the wedding ceremony. She also has really good business ethic and is willing to work with each indivdual couple with their budget. Highly recommend her so go and check out her new website!! (
www.rbuckleyphotography.com)Hair: JCPenney Styling Salon - Marshfield, WI I have a regular hair stylist from this salon that always does my hair. We were able to get my hair plus the 4 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid, and mother of the bride done in about 1.5 hours. Everyone at the salon came together and divided and conquered.
There was no dance, so no DJ was needed. We wanted a relaxed and comfortable vibe, so we didn't have any table numbers so our guests could sit wherever they wanted and mingle with people that they didnt know.
Pretty much everything else was done DIY. What we did was:
-Made our own invitations. Wanted a vintage/country themed, so I made them myself. I used a "scrapbook" style and created all of the invitations (plus RSVP, and wedding information) by myself using old world cardstock. I will be posting these to my Etsy site soon.
-Made our own programs. We wanted to keep with the vintage theme, so we made our programs from scrapbook paper again with a newspaper feel. They turned out great too and these will also be on my Etsy site soon.
-Guest favors. We wanted to pay omage to the farming community that my husbands side had been producing. Since this, we we made a "WI" themed buffet for people to take things from and take home. There was cheese, sausage, carmels, popcorn, and old fashioned candy. People picked what they wanted and put it in ziplock bags and then put those bags into a brown paper bag labeled with a catchy phrase.
-Reception decorations. The bones of our reception site was a converted old milking parlor - so keeping within that vintage/country feel. We didn't want to take away from this, so we simply put old glass milk bottles on each table and put daisies in them. They played off of the rich dark woods and vintage surroundings really well.
-Guestbook. We DIY'd this too. We wanted a different guestbook than everybody else. So we took the game of Jenga and had guests write their name and well-wishes on the blocks. The blocks that were left over and black we found clear stickers with inspiration quotes about love. We have glued thse blocks to a shadow box and framed it out.
-Cake. My mother in law did cupcakes for our wedding along with a little cake just for my husband and I. She does cake decorating on the side as a hobby, so the cakes turned out great. We had big ones for the adult guests and little ones for the kids.
i think that is about it. If you have any questions - please let me know! We had a great wedding and it was enjoyed by all!