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Vendor Reviews, 5/21/11 (long, sorry!)

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in Texas-Austin
These are very long, but I hope they are helpful! A few pictures are at the bottom...


Wedding Planner: BZ Events, Kerry Duggan, A+
I hired Kerry for 2 months prior to the wedding planning, and she was fantastic. We started working together right after we were engaged, and we never stopped communicating, even though I only paid for 2 months of planning. The wedding weekend schedule that Kerry made was the best and most comprehensive I’ve ever seen. Hiring a wedding planner was probably the best decision we made, and Kerry was a fantastic choice. The only complaint I have isn’t about Kerry, but the interns that came with her to our wedding. They didn’t seem very comfortable or sure of themselves, and there were a few times that someone (primarily the photog) would ask for something, and the interns would just stand there and had to be asked again. My only complaint, BZ was phenomenal.
Venue: Thurman’s Mansion, The Salt Lick, B
Thurman’s Mansion was an amazing place to get married. It is a big stone house out in the country that is located next to and owned by the Salt Lick. The food, Salt Lick BBQ, can’t be beat, and the entire property is just gorgeous. Everything ended up working out perfectly for our wedding, but there were a few problems during the planning phase that made me give them a B. Kerry and I worked very closely with the Salt Lick event planner, Lisa Elliot. Lisa was great to work with but unfortunately had a death in the family that caused her to be out of the office for a week or two before our wedding. Totally understandable situation, but where the Salt Lick failed is they didn’t have anyone to cover for Lisa while she was away. I was supposed to pay our final bill 10 days before the wedding, and didn’t end up paying until 3 days before the wedding because Lisa was out and no one could tell me how much I owed. This added a ton of stress the week of the wedding.

Band: Chad Reilly and the Wild Horse Band, A
If you are looking for a cheap and authentic country cover band, Chad Reilly is a great choice. They are from Fredricksburg and just fantastic, and SO cheap. I wanted live music and Chad’s 5 piece country band was 75% less than other bands we looked at. They were sometimes had to get a hold of, and we communicated mostly via phone, but the music is fantastic. Highly recommend.

Transportation: Transportation Consultants, A
We had a town car pick us up at Thurman’s Mansion and drive us to the Hilton Downtown. They arrived on time and were very professional and easy to work with.    Bartenders: Hill Country Events, Amy Mullins, A+
Amy was by far the easiest vendor I worked with. We served beer, wine and a signature cocktail and bought everything ourselves since the Salt Lick is BYOB, so we used Amy’s company for the bartending service. She was the one vendor I worked with that didn’t immediately want a deposit and a contract. I told her what we needed and she said “Great! I’ll call you a few weeks before the wedding once you have your guest count and we can do everything then.” So refreshing and unexpected to not have to sign a contract just to book someone. The bartenders were great, and Hill Country events was dirt cheap compared to other companies we looked at.
Photo Booth: Magnolia Photo Booth, A+
This was the hit of the wedding! I bought a Groupon so it was a great deal, and the company was just fantastic. The photo booth was very professional, and they had a trunk full of props for people to use.  They had our pictures up on their site in 3 or 4 days for everyone to view. Highly, highly recommend.

Flowers: Wow Factor Floral (Part of Wimberley Flower Shop), A
Wow Factor is the preferred floral vendor for the Salt Lick, and I am so glad we chose to work with them. Kari was very easy to work with, and took my vague instructions and wishes and made incredible floral arrangements.  I collect milk glass, and she perfectly incorporated my collection into her design.

Bridesmaid and Wedding Dresses: J. Crew, A+
Obviously buying a dress online isn’t for everyone, but I loved our dresses from J. Crew. My wedding dress was the Silk Rose Dupoini, and the bridesmaids wore the Silk Chiffon dresses in Navy, and everyone chose a different style. Sales and free shipping make the dresses more affordable.  Tuxes: Jos. A Bank, C
We had a horrible time working with Men’s Warehouse so we moved on to Jos. A Bank, but they weren’t any better. The tuxes looked great, but they were very expensive, and they shipped the ring bearer’s tux to the wrong city! The whole situation was a nightmare, we ended up having to drive from Austin to Houston to pick up the ring bearer’s tux.

Photographer/Videographer: Studio 563, Lisa Hause, A++++   Lisa was a tie for my favorite person to work with. She is just the nicest person, and SO fun and easy to work with. She recently moved back to Austin so her prices are lower while she builds up her client base, and I feel like we got an amazing photog for a steal of a price. Our engagement photos were fantastic, and even though they said 4-6 weeks for pictures we got them in 2.5 weeks. We only booked her for 6 hours the day of the wedding, but she ended up staying more like 8 hours to make sure she captured everything. Lisa is an outstanding photog and a great person to work with. Highly, highly recommended.

Cake: Coco Paloma, A++++
Paloma is the other tie for my favorite person to work with. Her cakes are gorgeous, unique, and completely delicious. When we went in for our cake tasting, I immediately knew we wanted to work with her. Her bakery is small, and so her time with you feels completely personal and relaxed. We spent almost an hour talking about design and tasting her amazing cakes. We chose smores cake and white wedding cake with lemon curd for our layers. One of the neatest things about  Paloma is she includes a 1st anniversary cake with any wedding cake order, so you don’t have to save any layers and freeze them. She will make you a fresh cake for your anniversary.
 
Lighting: D&H Lighting, B+
The lighting looked great, we had 12 up lights along the walls and a spotlight on the cake, but they also did our AV for the ceremony and didn’t bring the wireless mike we paid for, so there was an ugly stand mike in the middle of our ceremony. Price was competitive, but the microphone thing really bothered me.  Ceremony Music: Barton Strings, A+
We had a violin and cello duo, and they were incredible. Barton Strings is a little pricey, but you absolutely get what you pay for. Tracy Seeger, the manager, was very easy to work with.  
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Re: Vendor Reviews, 5/21/11 (long, sorry!)

  • BabyBlueNTexasBabyBlueNTexas member
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Sounds like you had an AMAZING wedding!!! Congrats on your new life together and thanks so much for sharing with us. I am sure a lot of brides will find this useful!

    :)
    Report Reply
  • lainieblainieb
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of this out!  We are getting married at Thurman's Mansion in October and I will definitely benefit from your experiences and tips!
    Report Reply
  • camera11camera11
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Congrats Lainie, I hope you enjoy getting married there as much as we did! I really believe the problems we had with Thurman's Mansion were unique to our situation, but still its probably good for you to be aware of them.
    Report Reply
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