Hi all,
It has now been almost two months since my wedding, so I thought I should go ahead and provide some vendor reviews in case they are helpful to others.
Ceremony - Calvary Lutheran Church at 7500 Oak Street -- A -- I was certain I wanted to be married in a Lutheran Church, but I was having trouble finding one near downtown Kansas City (I grew up about an hour outside of KC, so I didn't have a home church near downtown). I had some extended family who belong here. It is a really pretty church, and working with Pastor B was great. He was really nice and accommodating since we had to travel from New York to do our pre-wedding meetings/planning/counseling/etc. I am really happy with the ceremony overall.
Reception -- Feasts of Fancy at the Hobbs Building -- A+ -- The venue was exactly what we wanted -- gorgeous and elegant but also comfortable and hip. The food was amazing. I'm still getting compliments on it from my guests. Jacque (and everyone else there, actually) was really great to work with. More than willing to tackle the borage of emails I was shooting their way in the lead up to the wedding. Also very accommodating for out-of-town wedding planners. The venue looked amazing. Very happy. Originally we considered it to be out of our price range, but I'm glad we decided to spend a little more. Definitely worth it for us.
Day-Of Coordinator -- Danielle at Soiree Event Design -- A+ -- I knew I was going to need day-of help because of the distance between the ceremony and the reception and the time of the event, etc. Not only did Danielle and her team set up everything at the reception just right and keep everything organized that day, she provided very helpful advice and recommendations in the months and weeks leading up to the wedding. She definitely understood our vision for the event, and she made sure everything went off without a hitch. She also works with Jacque and Feasts of Fancy alot, so they coordinated everything together well. I enjoyed working with her a lot.
Flowers -- Clara's Flowers -- A- -- Overall, Clara did a good job considering the relatively little guidance I provided to her. I had very few ideas of what I wanted for flowers, and honestly my focus was on my bouquet (mango calla lilies) since that was where the color scheme originated from. My bouquet was beautiful -- just what I asked for. The bridesmaid's bouquets weren't exactly what I had pictured, but I think that was mostly because I didn't exert a ton of influence on them. I left them to her, and the colors, etc, were great, I just thought the shape would be a little different. The alter arrangements were exactly as expected. I didn't have too much floral at the reception, but Clara made some good recommendations of what to do to complement my lantern centerpieces, and it all came together really well. She was lovely to work with, and I think her prices are very reasonable.
Cake -- Phyllis Hildebrandt -- A+ -- The cake was delicious and Phyllis decorated exactly how we discussed -- simply. Phyllis is a pro -- she doesn't need much guidance. The cake turned out elegantly pretty and tasty. Perfect.
DJ -- Professional Sound Services -- B+ -- I tend to be a little bit of a control freak, in that I like to know that things are under control (not necessarily that I need to be controlling them). Rusty was a very laid back vendor, and I wished there was a little more effort to be in communication, etc. I'm not even sure about the name of the DJ that actually did our wedding, other than I'm pretty sure it wasn't Rusty. We were very emphatic that we did not want DJ lights at the wedding (we decorated the dance floor with paper lanterns), yet they were set up when we showed up to the wedding. Luckily, we noticed and got word to Danielle, who made sure they did not come on all night. (This is a relatively small thing in the grand scheme, I realize, but it was one of the few things that wasn't as we discussed/expected from the entire day. We were lucky!) The music I think was pretty good. I enjoyed getting out on the dance floor a few times. I found out after that they played like line dances and things, which also weren't on the list, but if my guests enjoyed it, I guess I don't care. Overall, solid performance but there were some things that could have been better.
Alcohol -- Gomer's -- A -- Not much to say except they did a good job estimating the amount of alcohol we needed (and of course took back our leftovers, which is great!). There was some confusion finalizing the order, which was a bit annoying, but everything was fixed pretty quickly.
Photobooth -- KC Photobooth -- A+ -- All of our guests enjoyed taking pictures and were delighted to keep copies of theirs. They provide people to put the guestbook together and run the machine, etc, and I think that was a great benefit. They were able to make sure that everyone who was in a picture got an extra copy. They made sure everyone contributed to our guestbook. This was sort of a splurge for us, but definitely worth it! Many of my friends are now telling their friends who are getting married to get photobooths. KC Photobooth was really great to work with -- responsive and accommodating.
Transportation -- Pech Limo -- A -- We didn't do much for transportation, but did splurge on a vintage Bentley to get us from the church to the reception. I really wanted the classic car in our pictures. It was a great way to get some alone time with the new hubby. They also provided champagne, which was a nice touch. They had the best prices based on my research. They were great to work with, and the driver was really nice and willing to move the car around for pictures, etc. Good experience.
Photography -- Monika at MonPhotography -- A -- Two aspects of photography were important to me -- being able to put together the right package for a good price, and finding someone who had an artistic eye and took the type of pictures I wanted. Monika is willing to work with a budget and amend her packages to fit your needs. She provides a disk with all pictures at the end of the day, and she edits 100 of your choice as well. I got a package that had a second shooter. The second shooter was pretty good, but she wasn't there for the full day like Monika. More of Monika's pictures were keepers, however the second shooter got more detail shots, which I am happy about. Monika was willing to work with me on figuring out what kind of photos to take -- I sent her many, many inspiration pictures, and she worked them in where possible. There were only two things that weren't what I expected -- Monika left before the end of the reception, and there weren't as many detail shots as I would have liked. To be fair, I didn't think to tell her that I would want detail shots, and she touched base with me before leaving and I told her to go. They are just things I wish I would have discussed with her in advance. Also, there were some times where I wished she was a bit more responsive to my emails (like the DJ, above). However, we just got the photos over the weekend and I really love most of them. They have the artistic flair I wanted. I would highly recommend Monika -- her images are awesome, she is pretty easy to work with, and her prices are very, very reasonable.
I think that is it. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions, and good luck with planning!