Hi Everyone-
This board really helped me out as I was planning my wedding, so I wanted to make sure I could help all of you anyway I can. Please believe people when they said your wedding will be the greatest day of your life!!! I cannot begin to tell you how amazing and perfect our wedding day was in our eyes. I know people normally give their recommendations and grade them, but I have to be honest when I say EVERY VENDOR that I used was an A+++++++. Seriously. Nothing.went.wrong. I did not have to worry about a single thing on our wedding day and that in itself is a miracle (because I am kind of a control freak). That being said, let me go into a little bit of detail with each vendor.
CEREMONY & RECEPTION: Ocean's Edge Resort, Brewster,MA- when my husband and I drove up the driveway to Ocean's Edge we knew without a doubt that this was where we wanted to have our wedding. It had everything we were looking for: Outdoor ceremony, pavillion for the reception, and hotel on the property for our guests. From the first meeting until the day after the brunch, the staff (especially our coordinator Kimberly) were on top of everything. Out guests cannot stop raving about the location and the food. Let me just tell you about how amazing the food is. We chose to have the stations at the wedding because my husband and I felt that people would have more options to decide what they wanted to eat (much to the dismay of my parents) and it was such a hit. We had a carving station, pasta station and a Mediterranean station. Their lobster ravolis melt in your mouth. truely an amazing experience. The appetizers were also just as tasty. The service was amazing. Everyone was so gracious and so helpful. There really was nothing to worry about at all. They even brought champagne and appetizers to us right after the ceremony before we went to the beach for pictures.
We were married on the front lawn, our cocktail hour was on the Ocean Terrace (which is an upcharge, but SO SO SO SO worth it) the view is so magnificent and the ambiance is wonderful. Our reception was at the Baypines Pavillion (which had such a laidback feel). The pool and patio is great because people can go outside if they want fresh air for a bit. We had 175 people and there was plenty of room to dance (we would know because all our guests were dancing ALL NIGHT LONG).
I know that Ocean Edge can be more expensive then some places on the cape- you should know they have numerous different places to host weddings/receptions on the property (that all have different minimums), but if you are going to have 150 people and open bar (which was something my husband and I knew we wanted, saved up for and were willing to pay-because we felt Brewster was a destination for our friends and family) it really is not a problem to hit the minimum in the pavillion... so before you do not think it is possible, crunch some numbers and see. I promise you you cannot go wrong with Ocean's Edge
Lauren Methia- Finding a great photographer was very important to my husband and I-we did alot of research in what we were looking for (more candid, less formal and someone who would give us copys of all the images of the wedding, included in her pricing) in a photographer and we hit the jackpot with Lauren. Luckily for us, she was available for our wedding day. She is so sweet, easy to work with and has the most incredible eye when it comes to what moments to catch for your wedding pictures. She was there 45 minutes earlier then she needed to be and stay well after the last song to make sure she did not miss anything (we had a pretty amazing dance party going on). The pictures she captured truly encompass everything that my husband and I are. She is very very reasonably priced and if you would like to view some of her work-please feel free to view her blog (images from our wedding):
Petals by the Sea- Karen Bryden has to be one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met in my life. I was very honest with her from the beginning in saying that I only wanted bouquets for myself, our mothers and my bridesmaids. I wanted the men to wear starfishes and seagrass. She could have turned me down because it was not a huge request, but she not only was so excited to be a part of our wedding-she worked with me every step of the way with what I wanted. She captured all the little things that were so important to me- a small picture frame of my grandmother's attached to my bouquet (because they could not be with me on my wedding day). I also attached small pictures of each of my bridesmaid's children so they could be with us for the day as well (it was such a great personal touch). She is by far the most reasonably priced florist I was in contact with during my research. If you give her a budget, she will work with you to make sure it can happen. She is just amazing to work with!
Steve Binder- My husband and I have very specific tastes in music- we prefer dance music to anything. My husband is also Serbian and had alot of family over here for the wedding so we wanted to incorporate his culture's music into the wedding as well. When I say that people were on the dance floor all night long-that is an understatement. They started dancing in the middle of dinner! What was supposed to be the last song of the wedding-people started chanting "one more song" one more song" because the music was so good and everyone wanted to keep dancing-it was like an encore of a concert (he did play one more song)
Steve came to talk with each person before introductions to make sure their name was pronounced correctly. He spoke only during introductions and MOG/FOB dancing and smiled the rest of the time. He even gave us a cd at the end of the night with all the songs we incorporated into the wedding. Steve is such a gentleman!
If any of you are looking for more details, I would be more then happy to help, just send me a PM. Good luck in planning-it will all be worth it