Here are my vendor reviews from our wedding. Thank you to all the ladies who offered advice during my planning process. Our day was perfect!! Here are some preview pics from our photographer (
www.amandadonaho.com/blog Scroll down to ADRIENNE & RAOUL)
Church: Saint Agnes Catholic Church, Ft Wright, KY. We’re not members because we live out of town, so it took a LOT of coordination and it definitely wasn’t an easy process. This was the church my parents were married in, and the church I used to go to with my grandparents when I was little, so it was very important for me to get married here- otherwise I would have given up and gone with a church that was more accommodating.
Reception: The Gardens of Park Hills (Arbor Room), Park Hills, KY (by McHale’s). I’ll be the first to tell you that this venue isn’t talked about much on here, but I had a vision and I knew this room would be the perfect base for the look I wanted to achieve. It was much less expensive than most of the other venues I looked at, which enabled us to allocate more money towards décor. Just to give you an idea of how great the price was, a full open bar was only $5.50/person. Cassie Dean was my event manager, and she was wonderful! She accommodated all of our requests and executed every single detail exactly how it was given. She kept in touch with me constantly throughout the planning process and regularly contacted me with creative ideas that she thought would fit my vision. I cannot say enough great things about her and the McHale’s company in general. The food was amazing. We served our meal “family style” and everyone raved about how great the food was. The staff was so helpful and attentive throughout the entire night. Every time I turned around, someone was at my side asking me if I needed anything. McHale’s is definitely worth looking into when looking for venues. http://www.kycater.com/
Photographer: Amanda Donaho. WOW. I don’t think I can write a review that would do her justice. Amanda is absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen pictures of myself that could incite such strong emotion. Her pictures tell a story that brings me back to the exact feeling and thought that I had when the pic was being taken. And I’d say about 80% of the time, I had no idea she was even there taking my picture. She’s so sweet and so much fun to work with. She’ll make you feel like a super model. http://www.amandadonaho.com/
Videographer: Lifetime Films. Matt Pine was a lot of fun to work with. He was recommended to me by my coordinator, and we chose him after watching all his previews on his blog. I spent 13 years in the media production field, so I can be pretty picky when it comes to this kind of stuff. I absolutely didn’t want anything cheesy or anything that looked like a mass-produced “cookie cutter” video. You know, the kind that are pretty much all the same, just drop in the new couple’s video clips. I haven’t seen our video yet, but I was very impressed by Matt’s work and his professionalism. http://thelifecastingblog.com/
Coordinator: Julie Schmidt of Cincy Event Planning. OK, hands down, the best money we spent. We live in NC, so hiring a coordinator was pretty much a necessity. I had my dream wedding and Julie was the one who made that possible. She was so creative throughout the whole planning process. She helped me pull together my scatterbrained vision and kept me calm the whole way. I told her basically what I wanted, and she ran with it. She picked out our table linens and designed our entire reception. She was took charge and ran the rehearsal. She was even able to wrangle in my husband’s crazy Filipino family- which I’ve never seen anyone accomplish. It was like she had this sixth sense and could detect the exact second I started to get stressed (which almost always involved questions by my MIL), and IMMEDIATELY ran interference. She’s a genius! The day of my wedding was so relaxing and stress free. I was able to enjoy the day with my girls and my family and not worry about a thing. Her team set up everything for the reception and Julie was right there with me the entire day. She’s amazing at giving pep talks, she’s great with kids (we had 2yr old flower girl and ring bearer, so you can imagine), and if anything went wrong on my wedding day, I never heard a word about it. She was consistently checking on us the entire evening, and always right there asking what we needed. I never had a single worry the entire day. Julie and CEP were perfect. http://www.cincyeventplanning.com/
Cake: Jerry’s Cheesecake, Milton, OH. Best cheesecake I’ve ever had. We chose cheesecake because it’s DH’s favorite dessert. They even have a signature yellow cake (which we had for one of our layers in case a guest wanted regular cake) that actually went faster than the cheesecake! We had our own design for our cake, and they did a great job of creating it. They’re a small “mom and pop” place that’s definitely worth your business. They do cheesecakes for any occasion (not just weddings), so check them out. You won’t be disappointed. http://www.jerryscheesecakes.com/
Favors: Spoon Fulla Sugar, Cincinnati, OH. We went with their 3-D 3 tiered “wedding cake” cookies. Not only are they super cute, but they taste great and stay fresh for over a week! This is actually what sold me on them. I did a cake tasting with them over the summer and they gave me one of these favors to take home. I brought it back to NC with me and when my friend’s daughter was eating it over a week later, we tasted it and were completely surprised that it wasn’t a bit stale! http://www.aspoonfullasugar.com/
Filipino desserts: Pinoy Klsik Asian Mart, West Chester, OH. DH is from the Philippines, so we wanted to have one of his favorite desserts from home. It’s called Turon and it’s basically a banana egg roll that is served with vanilla ice cream and caramel or chocolate syrup. We found this little “mom and pop” Filipino restaurant/store that catered these for us. They were so sweet. They made us way more than we paid for, and even made us a traditional Filipino cake as a wedding gift. Stop in and try them if you want to try authentic Filipino food.
DJ: Brian Childs. Brian was recommended by my wedding coordinator. He doesn’t advertise and basically DJs on the weekends for fun. He was great! He played exactly what we wanted and respected our “do not play” list. He kept the dance floor going all night and we got rave reviews on the music. He consistently gets high reviews here on TK.
Florist: Katie Elfers with Inspired Floral Designs. When I first started my planning, I chose Katie Elfers based on her reviews here on TK. At the time she was notorious for being hard (sometimes impossible) to reach. I ended up having to have my coordinator Julie arrange everything with her. She has since moved her workspace into a shop on 6th St in Covington (she shares it with TM Photography), so she may be easier to reach now. I had one face-to-face meeting with her, and then exchanged maybe 2 emails. I pretty much told her what I did and did not like, then let her have free reign. Her work and prices are phenomenal! We had a pretty large floral budget, but she was able to do exactly what I wanted for about 20% less than our max. AND most people assumed we paid double what we actually did. (That’s how many flowers we got!) http://www.inspiredfloral.com/
Hair: Sara at Sableux Salon in Crestview Hills, KY. Sara was great. She listened to exactly what I wanted and adjusted my hair based on concerns I had from my trial a few months before. It was extremely windy on my wedding day and we had pics outside at Devou Park before the ceremony, but my hair stayed perfect throughout. http://www.sableux.com/
Make-up: Nancy with Brideface. She did an amazing job. All the girls and my mom got airbrushed makeup and fake lashes. All looked beautiful and natural. My dad hates make-up on my mom and even he kept saying how beautiful she looked. Nancy really listens to what each girl wanted. Some wanted more dramatic eyes, while some wanted a more natural look. All were happy! http://brideface.com/
Lighting: Goodwin Lighting. I know Goodwin gets mixed reviews here on TK. I guess it just boils down to what you’re looking for. I have a lot of experience with studios and lighting, so I was pretty picky on the quality I was getting. Some don’t like that they charge for face-to-face meetings. Even though they waived that fee for us (as a military discount), I was completely comfortable with explaining what I wanted over the phone and email. They gave us exactly what we wanted and everything looked perfect. They were very professional and we were pleasantly surprised that the quote was a lot less than what we were prepared to pay. Here is a link that compares their quality with their competitors. http://web.me.com/goodwinltg/GLS_Web_Site/Comparison_Shopping.html
Ceremony Music: Rose Trio. Their music was beautiful and they were extremely professional. They made everything so easy and gave us exactly what we wanted. We received so many compliments on them. http://www.rose-trio.net/
Linens: Party Time Rentals, Columbus, OH. My coordinator Julie arranged everything with them, so the only contact I had with them was when I called them to pay. They were very friendly and professional.
Dress: Fabulous Bridal, Covington, KY. I had a great experience with them. They were professional and my dress and veil arrived in the time they said it would. They even mailed it to me out of state and I had no issues with them.
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Bill Levkoff design (color: camel). Got them at the Bridal Boutique of Raleigh (in NC).
Hair accessory: Etsy.com (Percy Handmade)
Cake topper: Etsy.com (RedLightStudio)
Announcement poster: Etsy.com (LoveInLetters)
My “Something Blue”: Etsy.com (SheriAngellCreations)
Stationary: Emily Jansen Designs, San Diego, CA (my cousin)