I don't post on here much, but I have really found vendor reviews useful and loved reading all of the posts. I loved our wedding and my vendors are a big part of why it went so well.
Reception Venue - Addison Event Center (Addison, TX) A+
Suzan and Henry run the AEC and did an excellent job for me from start to finish (presenting the venue, supporting the bride and accommodating my wishes). They were very responsive and organized and were available when I needed them. This venue was very reasonably priced and they rent linens in house and provide the catering, which takes out a lot of the hassle of finding vendors! I actually end up using another vendor for my napkins b/c AEC has colored linens, but only white napkins and I wanted lavender. Also, you are allowed to bring your own alcohol and they just charge the pour fee. Bartenders/staff are all included. Henry and Suzan also make recommendations for vendors they've enjoyed and you can trust that they only recommend good vendors. All of our guests absolutely loved the venue, the dance floor and they all raved about the food...it was genuinely delicious. I highly recommend AEC to any couple.
Ceremony Venue – Prince of Peace Catholic Church A+ (can you grade a church??)
I love this community! It doesn’t look like a traditional Catholic church…it has lots of natural light and stone and offers a really intimate view of the ceremony because the chapel is circular. We were really close to our guests during our ceremony which was great. We wanted to be able to see every one of our friends and family. The venue coordinator, Jill, was amazing, witty, organized and accommodating. She was able to deal with our huge families and make them understand what time they needed to be there, what to do, etc. She told us exactly what fees to pay and what to bring to the rehearsal and we just put everything in a zip lock bag and gave it to her at the rehearsal. She handled everything from there…even having our marriage license signed by our witnesses and sent off to the state. We already got it back!
DJ - The DJ F.L.I.P - Fitz Lauder (DFW) A++
Fitz was absolutely phenomenal. He was a recommendation of Henry & Suzan at AEC and I'm so glad we chose him. He was extremely organized, pleasant to work with, professional and fun too! He totally kept the party going and knew just what to do for the mood of our party. There are a lot of kids in our families and Fitz provided props for the guests to use with certain songs and the kiddos (and adults, actually) had SO much fun with the props. He took requests from guests, periodically called out our photo booth and just knew exactly what he was doing. He also provided very nice, professional lighting, which everyone commented on after the wedding. We can't say enough good things about him.
Cake - Bake Rejoice (Plano, TX) A+
Again, reasonably priced and so delicious!!! The owner, Joyce, is a classically trained chef who has been baking for many years. She uses only real ingredients and the cake was still moist when we cut into it and even for a few days after! We got almond cake w/ raspberry filling on two layers and chocolate on chocolate for the others. The cake was not only yummy, but beautiful...just what I had asked for and there were no issues whatsoever.
Groom's Cake - Bonnie Ruth's (Allen, TX) A+
My husband LOVES the red velvet cake from Bonnie Ruth's so we called them up and they made us a red velvet sheet cake to serve at the wedding. I was nervous it would look plain, but it was very pretty, simple with red dusting on it. It was a hit both for our guests and us. So glad we did this rather than a traditional groom's cake. My hubby was extremely happy.
Photographer – Stephanie Brazzle (DFW – and travels too) A
Stephanie knows what she’s doing and takes BEAUTIFUL pictures. I loved working with her for the most part, though communication was somewhat spotty. I think she was just extremely busy, but when it came down to it, she responded to my questions and we got it done. Stephanie was very organized at our wedding and just had a great schedule down. We have giant families, so she had a lot on her plate but executed everything so well. We spent more than we budgeted for photography because her photographs are just worth it. When I compared her photos to the other recommendations I had received, hers were far superior. We got the highest package with bridals, engagements, and two photographers at our wedding. She knows how to use light to make a great shot. I can’t wait to see our wedding photos!!!
Florist – Sherrill Brown Floral Design A (DFW)
Sherrill is an older guy and works out of his home in Garland. His prices are awesome and he did beautiful work. I didn’t put a + because I didn’t get to see actual designs before the wedding. I think this is because he orders flowers at certain times and maybe in certain quantities to keep costs down, but don’t quote me on that. He kind of sketched out what he was thinking and showed me the flowers in books, which gave me some idea of what to expect (I don’t know much about flowers, but I love how they look). He uses high quality materials and really is passionate about floral design. All in all, I thought he was a great vendor to work with and a sweet man!
Photo booth – 4 Flashes (DFW) A
Very responsive and easy to work with and book. I worked with Kristen, and she was great. They have really professional, high quality equipment and provided great props, a guest book and a flash drive with all images at the end of the reception. Guests of all ages LOVED the photo booth. It was a fun entertainment option for everyone and they could take as many pictures as they wanted.
Linens (Satin Napkins) – Kennique Linens (DFW) A
I had a great experience with Kennique Linens and my rep, Mesha. She drove out to meet me one day for lunch just to give me a fabric swatch so I could match it up with the chair sashes from AEC. That really meant a lot to me. Prices were pretty reasonable but they were so accommodating I didn’t really care what I paid. I think at the point I was just happy to have such a great rep. They installed the napkins and picked them up...like magical elves…I never saw them, just their pretty satin napkins at the reception.
Transportation – Executive Car Service (E.C.S.) (DFW) A
We didn’t need a car for hours and didn’t feel like spending $$$ for a ride to our wedding night hotel, so we found ECS and reserved an SUV to pick us up from Addison Event Center after the reception. It was around $100 versus the $400+ we would have had to pay for traditional wedding transportation. They called a few minutes before they were scheduled to arrive to give us a heads up and we had a smooth ride to our hotel!
Wedding Night Hotel – The Warwick Melrose (Dallas, TX) A+
This is a beautiful, elegant hotel in Uptown and I think it was just perfect for our wedding night. We had an early wedding/reception so some of my out of town friends met us in the hotel bar (The Library Bar) for a couple of drinks. We upgraded to a nice deluxe suite that was large, gorgeous and comfy. We loved everything about it, including the sheets, which were so soft we decided to buy some for our bed at home!