I'm back on TK, my wedding was this past Saturday. Here's how the vendors turned out (most of this is local, there are a couple that aren't):
Jenn is a friend of Jon's, and she is an up-and-coming young photographer here in Cincinnati. The day of the wedding, she was very easy to work with and very friendly with us, our wedding party and our guests. The shots turned out super awesomely, better than many of the more expensive pros in the area. Also, she is easy to stay in communication with, is very flexible, and the turnaround for the photo CD (complete with printing/reposting rights) was extremely fast. We super highly recommend her.
Wedding Dress - Alfred Angelo/Plus Size Bridal (A): My dress is an Alfred Angelo 2015 in Cherry/White. I went to the AA outlet in Miamisburg (south of Dayton), and I found the dress. The service was great - they worked with me and were very patient even though they were an hour and a half from closing time. However, due to the inconvenience of having to travel back and forth from Dayton, I ultimately purchased the dress from an online retailer based out of North Carolina caled Plus Size Bridal (psbridal.com). It cost $200 cheaper and the turnaround time, while it was a little under three months, ended up being slightly shorter than the estimated wait time. And when I received the dress, it was beautiful and exactly as described.
Maid of Honor Dress - Alfred Angelo (A): My sister's Maid of Honor dress was Cherry/Charcoal. She originally went to David's Bridal, and they told her that to get the kinds of dresses she was interested in, it would take several months. She went to a retailer in the Philadelphia area that carried AA and was able to get her dress within a few weeks.
Bridesmaids Dresses - David's Bridal (C-): My best friends' bridesmaid dresses were in two different styles in Apple Red. One ordered in NYC and the other in Columbus. They received their dresses within a few short weeks, and contrary to what the salespeople tell brides and bridal parties, the color came out exactly the same, and the dresses fit great on them. The only reason that I give DB anything higher than an F is because they were great with my two bridesmaids.
However, the Philadelphia-area stores were awful with my MOH. And before I decided on an AA dress, I did look into DB for my wedding dress, and I went to the one in Springdale near Tri-County Mall. The first visit was great, and the salesperson was patient and good at choosing flattering dresses that were also in my price range. However, the second time I went there, the salesperson (I had a different one this time) took a long time to tend to me, and acted like she couldn't be bothered to deal with me. I asked her about a specific dress, and she took an hour to tell me the dress was not available in my size except from a store in California, and she refused to call and see if it could be transferred to my store. I refuse to give them any more of my business, and I have no problem telling others how awful they are. If you can afford it, please go elsewhere.
Groom's Tuxedo - Men's Wearhouse (A+): H went to Men's Wearhouse in Tri-County Mall to order his black tux with red vest and tie. It was pretty hassle-free, and the tux was super sharp and looked really dapper on him. The shoes were a little uncomfortable on him, but generally speaking the tux fit nicely on him. He returned the tux the next day at the MW across from Kenwood Mall, and there was no hassle at all.
Ceremony Venue - Meyer Lake, Mt. Airy Arboretum, Cincinnati Parks (B): We originally reserved the Braam Memorial Gazebo, another gazebo in Mt. Airy Arboretum. The process to reserve is pretty easy - do so over the phone, and then they send out a contract, you sign and pay $150 for the permit, and that's it.
We did have a few slight issues, though. They do not allow tenting, and you have to rent chairs separately.
Also, another issue arose, partly because I reserved in winter. The landscape within the arboretum is different between winter and summer. One thing that was important to us besides appearance was accessiblity for people with limited mobility, since a few of our guests had limited mobility issues. In winter, the original site appeared accessible while the site we ended up using, while much prettier, did not, due to a steep slope, snow and lack of shoveling/maintenance. However, in summer, the opposite is the case, with the original site having a lot of obstacles for guests, but the Meyer Lake site having a winding brick pathway softening the slope, which is easy for people to navigate in walkers, canes, and wheelchairs.
Finally, the parks personnel stated that there would be signs posted the day of the wedding marking off the site. These were not in place, causing a lot of confusion with our chair vendor, our pastor, and even H (who was super nervous so he forgot where the site was). This is what led to us using the Meyer Lake site. The lack of promised signs also led to confusion for guests who saw signs for other events at the park, but did not see signs for our wedding, and they ended up getting lost in this sizeable park.
Ceremony Chairs - The Inflatable Fun Company (A): I rented ceremony chairs from the Inflatable Fun Co. They had quoted me the lowest price, including delivery, set-up and teardown. My communication with Joe and Amy was excellent. The day of the ceremony, they could not find my ceremony location (and neither could Jon or anyone else). But they were patient enough to wait for everything to be sorted out.
Reception Venue - Mill Race Banquet Center, Hamilton County Parks (A+): Our reception venue was the Mill Race Banquet Center which is a banquet center/clubhouse on a golf course on the northern edge of Winton Woods in Forest Park. Considering that it is an all-inclusive venue and they do not accept gratuity, the prices were pretty reasonable. And the service was excellent.
Wedding Cake - DessertWorks Cakery (A+): The cake was our splurge. I noticed on the DessertWorks site that the cakes can come in a really wide assortment of flavors and fillings. I went to a tasting with Sandy, and the sample cakes were a hit both with me and with my H. Sandy's communication was excellent, and the wedding cake was both beautiful on the outside and quite tasty on the inside. We had a lot extra because I overordered, but has quickly been eaten by H, me, and our respective families.
I hope my reviews can be helpful to other Cincy brides :-).