Hey ladies!
Well, the day has finally come and gone, and I wanted to post some vendor reviews while everything is still fresh in my mind. =] Overall, we had a fantastic experience with our vendors and a wonderful (although a bit rainy) wedding day!
DRESS - Beratti Bridal - A
The staff at Beratti were great, and I found a dress that I loved! I didn't feel pressured into buying my dress that day (in fact, I didn't...I slept on it and came back the next morning to order) and my dress came in in a very reasonable amount of time (ordered in December, came in in May, I believe). We also got our bridesmaid dresses from Beratti. I'd definitely recommend them!
FLOWERS - Diane McNulty - A+
Diane was awesome!!! She had done the flowers for my sister-in-law's wedding, which is how I came to find her. She works out of her home and has relationhips with different wholesalers to get what she needs at very good prices. Diane was able to accomplish exactly what I wanted to do, and under budget! She is extremely friendly and willing to help out in any way that she can.
PHOTOGRAPHY - McManigal Photography - A+
I suppose I haven't gotten my pictures back yet, but I have seen a few sneak-peeks and have loved what I have seen! My husband (!!) and I are not typically too excited about people taking pictures of us, but we had a wonderful time! Amy and her husband Chris tag-teamed taking photos for the day and were truly great to work with. I'm excited to see the rest of our photos!!
CAKE - Craig's Cake Shop - A+
Not only was Craig a very easy-going guy, the cake was DELICIOUS!! We got several compliments on the cake as well as its decoration...and it was quite affordable! Easily one of our self-proclaimed best decisions of the wedding planning process. We had also considered Chris' Confections, but had several problems with her (she canceled our appointment by mistake, didn't apologize, was quite rude, not very accommodating, etc), so we're glad we went with Craig instead!
CEREMONY/RECEPTION - Great Hall at UW's Memorial Union - A
We are both UW-Madison alums, so having our reception at Memorial Union was a no-brainer! Since I am a lifetime Union member, we were able to get the room practically for free, which was great! The food, surprisingly, was very very good...just as good as it was for our small group tasting a few months earlier! Although the Union does not provide a day-of coordinator, we didn't seem to need one...their catering director, Steve, is very helpful and accomodating and his interns (who I'd imagine rotate based on the semester) are extremely helpful as well. We were both very glad in the end that we chose this location...plus, it's a gorgeous ballroom! We had the ceremony and reception in the same room (with a turnover during the cocktail hour) and it ran very smoothly!
TUXES - Men's Wearhouse - B
No real complaints here, although several vests did come in the in the incorrect size (though since we picked them up early, we had time to fix them). It was very convenient to be able to pick up and drop off the tuxes at any location.
SHUTTLE BUS - Kobussen Buses - C
From the get-go, we decided that we wanted to set up shuttle service to/from the hotels and the wedding venue, as parking in downtown Madison is hell-ish at best. Very far in advance, we looked into places and the most economical turned out to be Kobussen. At first, they were very easy to communicate with, but as the wedding day drew nearer and we needed to iron out details (pick-up times, etc), my contact (Stacey) was almost impossible to get a hold of. When she did eventually send me a contract, all the info was wrong...I tried to ask her to correct it, but she again went AWOL. I ended up having to email her supervisor (who had originally been my point of contact) and she was able to get things to happen. As far as I know, the shuttle service went without incident (we never took the shuttles personally), though I did hear that they may have missed one pick-up. However, the stress during the last month was unnecessary.
HOTEL BLOCKS - Radisson Madison and Best Western West Towne Suites - A
We set up blocks at both hotels and had no issues. We were able to leave OOT bags at the front desks of both hotels and they seem to have distributed them appropriately. We, personally, stayed at the Radisson, and it was way nicer than we thought it would be!! They had a great (free!) breakfast and have Sleep Number beds! =P We also stayed in the suite for two nights and thoroughly enjoyed it....they even ended up comping us for both nights in the suite (because we had several people booked in our block, plus a lot of guests used the bar area downstairs). We would stay there again!
ALTERATIONS - Lee's Alterations - B+
With only a month left until my wedding, I turned to Lee's Alterations in Eau Claire to get my dress altered (add a simple bustle and hem the front). They did a decent job, considering that wedding dresses are not "their thing," if you will, but they got it done very fast (within 2 weeks) and it looked good. Originally, I had taken my dress to Caron's Alterations in Brookfield...she was very friendly and we set up a second appointment for me to come back with my MOH so that she could learn how to use the bustle. I drove the 3.5 hours from Eau Claire to Brookfield to have this appointment...and she wasn't ready for us. In fact, she insisted that I had never set up an appointment and she hadn't even STARTED on my dress (it had been 2 months). My mom ended up dropping by and picking up my dress (and deposit!), hence me bringing it back to Eau Claire to get it done there...I just wasn't comfortable leaving it in Brookfield again and did not want to make that drive if I didn't have to. In the end, all worked out, but again...unnecessary stress.
REHEARSAL DINNER - Great Dane (downtown) - A+
We held the rehearsal dinner at our favorite Madison restaurant, the Great Dane. We had a blast! Originally, we were supposed to be outside in the Beer Garden, but since rain was threatening, we were moved inside to the Rathskellar, which was just as nice (and less humid!). We had delicious food and the service was great, especially considering that we were a group of 20 on a Friday night!
DJ - Double Platinum - B
We booked Double Platinum because of their rates and because we didn't need any crazy lighting, etc, due to the nature of our reception space. They provided both some ceremony music and the cocktail/dinner/dancing music. Our DJ was Allen. I was told a week before my wedding that he would call to confirm details...well, he didn't do so until the Thursday night before my Saturday wedding...and we were at the Badger game so missed his call....then again on Friday evening while at our rehearsal dinner. I ended up finally catching up with him while on my way out to go bowling with my bridesmaids Friday night. He did a fine job...there was a time when the music cut out suddenly during dinner and another time when he interrupted the second-to-last song to announce and play the last song of the night. He also ran the anniversary dance waaaay too fast, in our opinion (married less than a day, married for 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, 25 years, 30 years, 40 years...it was done in like 1.5 minutes) and was hard to understand over the PA system sometimes. However, he did play the music that we asked him to and was good about playing requests.
That's all the vendors I can think of...I hope this helps out some of you fellow Wisco knotties! I'm sure I'll also have some things to sell once we take inventory of what is left...stay tuned! =]
Jen
