Hey ladies! Here are my vendor reviews from my June wedding. Hope this helps you with your big day.
Venue: OKC Farmer’s Market (A-)
No problems. The place speaks for itself, it is gorgeous. You can do anything you want with it. My guests were amazed and it totally made my wedding. Heather does the wedding stuff, but Jody is the owner. They were both great to work with.
We got married on a Friday evening, and there were no other events on Thursday before the wedding. I was very upset they wouldn’t let us come in before noon to setup on Thursday. I know this sounds crazy, but I did all my own tablecloths, chair covers, table runners, vases, and candles. I knew I had A LOT to steam and set up. This was just their “policy” which I thought was bogus, and because of it ended up not getting everything setup before the rehearsal dinner, forcing me to have my MIL come in early on the day of the wedding to steam the linens.
In case you’re wondering about the A/C, it was perfect on the day of the wedding. It was in the 90s on our wedding day but the place stayed cool inside.
www.okcfarmersmarket.com">www.okcfarmersmarket.com
Videographer: Industry 405 (A+++)
Ryan and Jonathan are amazing. There prices are the best I’ve seen for the quality of work they do. They are young, fresh, and inventive.
Ryan took the extra step of coming to our rehearsal to visualize the ceremony and flow of the day. On the day of the wedding they were there from start to finish and I didn’t have to pay them by the hour. When I was there, they were there. While I barely noticed them, everyone told me they seemed to be everywhere capturing every moment. We found them to be timely, respectful, and fun. I could not ask for anything better.
You can find sample videos here: www.405industry.com">www.405industry.com
Photography: Abby Coyle (A)
Abby did a great job with our engagement pictures. She also did our wedding but we have not gotten the pictures back. Note – she no longer does weddings; she only does portraits (engagements included).
Abby does this as a part time gig, but she is amazingly talented. The benefit of this is that she has great prices. However, the downside is that there is a longer turn around for pictures.
She is young, fresh and has great taste. No two sessions look the same.
http://abbycoyle.com/blog/
www.abbycoyle.com">www.abbycoyle.com
JJ Kelley (D)
Although JJ Kelley has a decent selection of dresses I would not recommend purchasing from them. When I told the sales person I had found the same dress some where else for $600 less, she told me I would be stupid to buy it. Of course she was wrong and my dress was perfect.
After this they called me a few days later to come down on the dress price by $200. I would recommend trying on dresses at the store if you are interested, and then looking for a better deal somewhere else.
I did however purchase my veil from their store because it was tax free weekend. Five months later I had not heard a word on my order, when I called my order had arrived at the store several weeks prior to this. I asked if they were ever going to call and let me know and they said "well, I guess it just slipped through the cracks." I wasn't offered an apology or discount and I had to beg for them to ship it to me because I live out of town.
New Leaf (C+)
I recently used New Leaf for my wedding. I worked solely with Lynn, the owner, and found her to to be cold and unwelcoming.
For example, 1 week before my wedding Lynn called to ask for my final payment, I told her I was at work and asked if I could call back during my lunch hour. Instead of saying, "Ok, talk to you then, " she just hung up the phone without saying a word.
On the day of my wedding my bridal bouquet was horrible. Not only did it not include the correct flowers, she included these hideous beaded swirls that spiked out of the bouquet. We never, ever talked about these and I couldn't take them out because they were wired in. As for having different flowers than we talked about, I would have been completely accepting if she would have called to tell the flowers we had agreed on would not work.
It was a horrible experience and the worst vendor I dealt with for my wedding.
DJ: Kent Jones Productions (Mark Burney) (B+/A-)
I never met with Mark, so this is probably a part of the problem. I was very explicit about my play list and thankfully he stuck to my Do Not Play list. But I I didn’t really like the order of songs he played. For example, on my information to him I had a “Late Night Dance Songs” section from which he played Usher’s Yeah reallllyyy early in the night when there were still older people dancing, which obviously cleared them off the floor. But, he did stick to my list, which is a definite bonus.
The only other problem is that he was planning on setting up colored lights to shine on the dance floor, which we did not talk about via email. As well as a flat screen TV to play who knows what. Fortunately, one of my bridesmaids noticed him doing all of this. He was fine with not setting it up, but just make sure you talk to him before hand.
His rate was really great, I think we paid $500. Overall, he stuck to the list! I just think we needed better communication.
www.kent-jones.com/">http://www.kent-jones.com/