I have never really been active on the boards here but I did find the vendor reviews helpful and thought I would share my vendor reviews as well.
Florist: Jaimer's Floral--Probably my favorite vendor to work with. Jamie provided very personalized service and was willing to work within my budget. We wanted something unique and different for our January wedding and my bouquet was all pinecones and evergreens. We received a lot of compliments on the floral and centerpieces. Would highly recommend Jamier's! Grade: A++
Venue: Lakefront Brewery Palm Garden--Lakefront was perfect for our casual, laid back wedding. The cream city brick created a warm and inviting atmosphere and the food was wonderful. We received A LOT of compliments on the food. We were even able to have a late night nacho bar and hot pretzel station which was a hit with all of our guests. For all of the beer drinkers, 5 Lakefront beers were on tap all night with all of the packages. There was a $$ minimum that needed to be met but I would definately recommend Lakefront. Grade: A+
Cake: Aggie's Cakes and Pastries--Although we didn't get to eat any cake at the wedding (too busy talking to guests) the cake was beautiful and tasted great according to all of our guests. Prices were reasonable and the ladies at Aggie's were nice to work with. I recommend the red velvet cake with cream cheese filling! Grade: A+
DJ: Midwest Sound--Although we didn't get to talk to our DJ until the Monday before our wedding, we were pleasantly suprised with how well everything turned out. The DJ played all of the songs that were requested upfront and kept everyone dancing. For the money and discounts received due to the off season, I have no complaints. Grade: A
Limo: Big City Limos--We received a really good deal for our transportation. The limo was clean and stocked with the drinks that we have provided the company earlier in the week. Driver was nice and courteous. Grade: B
Dress: Stone Manor Bridal--The team at Stone Manor was great to work with. Very responsive and helped me to find the perfect dress after what seemed to be hours of looking. Easy to deal with, fast alterations, and great service. Grade: A
Bridesmaids Dresses: Eva's Bridal--I wasn't as impressed with Eva's Bridal. Finding the bridesmaid's dresses wasn't difficult but tracking them down became a chore. We purchased the dresses in late July and they did not come in until late-December..and there were only 3 bridesmaids. Everytime you called you seemed to talk to a teenager who didn't quite have the answers. When I asked about the status of the dresses several times I was told that they would put a trace on them if they didn't have them by early January. When they finally did come in, one of my bridesmaids was told that she would be charged a rush fee for alterations even though she would have made the alterations appointment at the same time the dresses came in. Overall, not very impressed. Grade: C
Photography: Edward Fox Photography--We saw Edward Fox at one of the bridal shows and liked that they had a lot of winter specials. At first I was worried because you hear all of the reviews talking about how not to go with a large photography house and how you do not receive the personalized attention. On the day of our wedding we had 2 photographers (one was no charge due to the off season). Both very constantly taking photographs throughout the day and the photos that we have seen already look great. Todd Ganek was our main photographer and a lot of the photos we took were photojournalistic,plays on lighting, etc. Todd showed us some of the photos after he took them and posted a preview on his own site less than 24 hours after the wedding. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos. Grade: A