Wow, I may have written too much. Tygirl - i know you won't be able to put these up until the wedding craziness is over, so no worries!
If any of you guys have any questions about any of my vendors, feel free to PM me! As you can tell, I have had, for the most part, great experiences with our vendors. I was a very happy bride!
Ceremony Site:
Holy Names Academy: A+
I went to high school at Holy Names so I am totally biased, but the chapel is beautiful. Carol Thomas, the wedding coordinator, was very sweet and answered all of my questions very timely. The chapel was strict about certain things, (no flower petals, etc.) - but I was forewarned about everything so it wasn't a surprise.
Reception Site:
Lake Union Cafe: A+
I am so happy that I chose the Lake Union Cafe as our reception site.
Victoria and Dann were so easy to work with. I was emailing Victoria up to a day or so before the wedding - and she would always respond within minutes. She always put me at ease.
On the day of our wedding, Dann took complete care of us. He organized our entrance (as well as the bridal party's entrance) - and before that, he personally made sure that we had some appetizers and something to drink. During the reception, he continued to make sure we ate and drink, even assigning a waitress to us who made us a plate of food and made sure we had enough to eat and drink all night!
Throughout the reception, quite a few people came up to me and told me that the food was the best food that they have had at any reception. And I (as I have already mentioned) ate a ton of food so I can vouch for how good it is!
Also, Lake Union Cafe let us bring in our decorations and other items throughout the week prior to the wedding, and also let my sister pick up items a few days after the wedding. They were so accomodating - and also, they will help you with decorating and making sure your reception runs according to plan!
Day of Coordinators:
Happily Ever After: A+
The best thing any bride to be can do is to get a day of coordinator,. The best decision I made in this entire process was to get Teasha and Shannon. I will never, ever be able to thank them for all of their help. I have told them that they seriously need to start charging more for all of the work they do. They are ridiculously affordable and do so much work!
To start, they saved the day at our rehearsal. Our priest had us do a quick run through and we really weren't given clear direction at all. Teasha and Shannon had us do a second run through - and seriously saved me from having a panic attack!
On the day of the wedding, they decorated everything beautifully and made sure everything ran smoothly and went according to plan. I had several people mention to me that my "two friends" were so helpful with everything. They blended in so well, and were so NOT pushy, guests thought they were just nice friends who were helping out!
I love, love, love Shannon and Teasha. If you are looking for a planner or day of coordinator, get them now!
Alcohol:
Pete's Wine Shop: A+
We basically used Pete's because we're totally lazy. We didn't want to deal with picking up kegs and returning them. Pete's delivered our beer, wine and champagne to our reception site - and they've got great rates. They will either let you keep the remaining alcohol or they will buy it back at a slightly lower rate. They made it totally easy - the only thing I've heard is that they may actually underestimate the amount of alcohol you need. We went with what our reception site recommended and we were fine - we actually had them buy some beer and wine back.
Cake:
Madison Park Bakery: A+
We have gone to Madison Park Bakery for our normal birthday cakes and other dessert needs.....and so we had no worries about how the cake was going to turn out. I loved the way the cake looked (they totally were able to use a bad picture that i gave them - a camera phone picture of a picture in a magazine!) and I loved the way the cake tasted.
DJ:
Bamboo Beats: A+
We decided to splurge when it came to our DJ and i'm so glad I did. Bamboo Beats is one of the best investments we made! DJ Tecumseh has an acutal turn table and was grooving to the music. He is definitely not your typical cheesy wedding DJ. He totally listened to all of our requests (I had some strange requests - such as how I wanted Jack Johnson/Jason Mraz/beachy music during dinner as well as rat pack music) and they made it work! People were dancing all night and we actually received compliments about him and the music!
I have to mention that they were great not only on the day of the wedding, but also during the planning process. DJ Tecumseh's wife, Jojo, answered a lot of questions for us and gave us many great recommendations along the way!
Florist:
Miki Maxey: A+
We found out about Miki from our DJ. She is one of the sweetest (and prettiest - so unfair!) people I have ever met. Not only that - she's incredibly talented. I had a hard time expressing exactly what I wanted since I know pretty much nothing about flowers - but she was able to figure everything out and make everything look gorgeus. We were so happy with all of her work and how beautiful everything turned out.
Limo:
British Motor Coach A+
Everything was way too easy when I dealed with British Motor Coach. I emailed them pretty early on to reserve the car - and didn't have to deal with them again until a week or so before the wedding when they confirmed the times/locations and when I made the final payment. The drivers were on time (we used them after the ceremony and then again after the reception) and were super nice! The cars were totally classic and comfortable. They had water and champagne and some snacks in the car waiting for us. I'm so glad we went with them - it made for some great pictures!
Makeup:
Offwhite A+
I used Offwhite for my bridal party and I'm so glad I did this for my friends. It was fun watching my friends get primped and the Offwhite girls listened to each of my bridesmaids' requetss and made them look gorgeous! My sister wants to go back to them for makeup lessons! They also did the hair of my flowergirls and did notmake them look pageant-ish (you guys know what I'm talking about!) These girls were great and affordable. Love them!
I Love Blush: A+
I met with Shannon a few days before the wedding for my trial makeup run (I highly recommend doing this - it makes it go way quicker on your wedding day) and for my eyelash extension. She is the sweetest thing and so good at her job!
So first off, I freaking love the eyelash extensions I got from her. It sounded crazy at first, but i am so glad i got it done. I think i amy actually keep them for a while ( I actually don't have to use eyeliner and mascara with these extensions!)
The makeup was great. I didn't know what I wanted and didn't have any pictures. I let Shannon make the decisions and am so glad I did. She had great ideas and I didn't look overdone (which was my biggest fear). She made me feel pretty! Another plus - she was able to somehow waterproof my makeup, so even though I did cry - my makeup stayed on all night!
And.....my hair came out exactly how I wanted it! I had forgotten to print off the picture so all I had was a tiny picture saved on my computer, and Karen managed to have my hair come out perfectly! It stayed put all day and still looked soft - which I thought was amazing, even after my veil change. I was tempted to not wash my hair the next day because it stilll looked good a day later!
Organist:
David Lepse: A+
I found David Lepse through the American Guild of Organists (no joke!). Sadly, I was only able to met him for a few seconds after the ceremony. He was very professional, nice and perfect! He knew all of the classical music we chose as well as the Catholic music we used. I would highly recommend him to anyone who needs an organist for their wedding.
Photographer:
Lifebox Studio: A+
These guys are seriously the best. I think they are the most creative, unique and fun photographers around! They are very cool and easy going, and totally easy to email/call/harass with questions. They made us look good which is not the easisest thing to do. I will force all of my friends who get married after me to use them!
Photobooth Services: A-
I wanted to get a photobooth after seeing Photobooth Services at The Knot's Hawaii event. I'm so glad I splurged! My husband was not originally hapy about my decision to get a photobooth, but told me after the wedding he was glad I made this decision. Not only did the photobooth entertain the kids for hours (the kids hogged the photobooth for quite a while!) but it entertained the adults as well! What's cool is that you get a cd with all of the pictures taken - but I'm not sure if everyone who walked into the photbooth knew about that!
I had a few issues with not receiving responses to emails as we got closer to the wedding, but that was all remedied by a phone call.
Tuxes:
Men's Wearhouse (at Southcenter mall): D+
We actually received great service while my husband and I were looking for his tuxedo for our wedding. Unfortunately, what the sales rep. told us was COMPLETELY WRONG! He told us that my husband and his groomsmen needed to be fitted two weeks before the wedding since that would give them the most accurate measurements - in two weeks, supposedly, they wouldn't be gaining/losing too much weight in that time. We received a call from their national salescenter, asking us why no one had been measured. We were then told that they should have been fitted TWO MONTHS, not TWO WEEKS, before the wedding, and if we would have waited until the two week mark, we would have been charged a rush fee. So, the sales rep was nice - but completely did not know anything!
We had a few other issues, such as they listed our wedding date incorrectly which thankfully we found out about and were able to fix. Also, the best man's tux had a few issues (a button fell of a vest, something on the pants broke) and more disturbingly, when my husband went in two days before the wedding when the tux came in - his jacket was too tight and his pants were too big! The salesperson then asked him where he got fitted, and when he told her who had measured him, she goes on to say "yeah, she's not very good." What the.....? Thankfully, they were able to get a new tux for my husband the next day and it fit fine.
Videographer:
Edit One Media: A+
I haven't seen the final product yet, but from what Edit One did with the same day edit video - I have nothing but raves, raves, raves for them! Laura is freaking awesome. One of my friends who used her for her wedding is still in contact with Laura - years later! Laura and her crew are not just great videographers - they're seriously good people.
Side note -I didn't plan my arrival to the ceremony site at all and I almost had to drive myself to the location, in my wedding dress. Edit One absolutely would not let me do this and drove me in their company van. They seriously are the best!
Wedding Dress:
Amanda's Bridal: A+
I love, love, love this place. Everyone that works there is so sweet and helfpul. I told them what kind of dresses I was interested in and they came back with a big selection to choose from. It felt like they knew what I was looking for more than I did! They were so attentive and were very patient with my mother, who had some strange demands. The alterations came out pefectly and I was also able to get a customized veil from them.
The store is a bit tiny, but they've got a great selection. The staff was so helpful, nice and not pushy. I totally would recommend Amandas to anyone - and plan on recommending them to whichever friend gets married next!
Bellevue Bridal: F
I have never had such awful service....EVER! I had an appointment and when my best friend and I arrived, they introduced me to the person who was assigned to me, and told us to look around. My friend and I did look around and grabbed some dresses, and when we went to find our salesperson - she was no where to be found. I kept on looking and eventually found her with another salesperson, helping another party of people.
I had no issue with her helping the other party, I understand that her co-worker may have had her hands full. So, I continued to look and later, went to find our sales assistant again. Found her - but she did not offer to help. We were there for over 45 minutes without being spoken to after our initial greeting - even after trying to politely wave at our sales rep. I have never felt so dismissed
Honeymoon: Pleasant Holidays A+
If you plan on going to Hawaii - check out Pleasant Holidays! We were able to get cheaper rates than us using travel websites and AAA.
Turtle Bay, North Shore, Oahu: A+
This is a pefect place for a honeymoon. It's secluded and beautiful, plus they will hook you up if you let them know you're on your honeymoon!
Outrigger Waikiki ono the Beach, Waikiki, Oahu: A+
I l ove this hotel - it is in the center of evertyhing. It has Duke's, one of the best beach bars in Waikiki!