I got married June 11, 2010 and everything went a lot better than I thought it was going to. In the end we had a great event and most importantly I married my love!
Recap: the wedding was at 6:30 at Burlington Baptist and the reception was at the Briarwood at 7:30.
Vendor Review:
Burlington Baptist: A+
Granted I am and have been a member of this church my entire life but they were great to work with. They answered all my questions and let me into the building any time I wanted to set up.
Brother Todd (officiant): A+
He is the pastor at Burlington Baptist and was amazing. He had us come to two pre-maritial counseling sessions and it was not at all the horror story I had heard about from other officiants. He was fine with any non-traditional touches I wanted to add to the wedding. At the rehearsal I realised I had forgotten to discuss with him not using honor and obey in the vows and he already knew I wouldn't want to use them.
Fassler Florists: A+
Everything was perfect even though I had no idea about what I wanted when we had our meetings. They were so easy to work with (after getting over the whole there email system not working), delivered everything on time, the flowers looked great, and they offered me a bunch of ideas and it really helped. They also added personal touches to my bouquet using buttons from my grandma's wedding dress and her locket with a picture of DH's deceased grandma.
Christina Ramge (CJ Photograhpy): A+
She was amazing!!! We picked her bc of her work on another friends engagement pictures. We had our engagement pictures done with her and they were amazing. SHe was wonderful to work with. When we had some problems with the reception hall she volunteered to call them and help me. She was great at our meeting going over everything we would need to know. The day of the wedding she was my rock, she kept me calm and worked with change in plans because of weather and I think it worked out even better. Monday she had a few teasers blogged and on facebook and they are amazing. I cant wait to see our final products. She also designed STDs and they were great as well.
DJ Butlers (Lewis): B
He was a good DJ and everyone seemed to have fun but there were a few things that kept him from getting an A. He didn't have batteries for the wireless mic so he had to leave the reception to go get them for the toast. He played my father daughter dance as the song he introduced the bridal party to. He made things a little jerky and not smooth but my photographer worked it out for me. He did a great job with not playing the music on my do not play list. He didn't play one of my special request songs until the very end when it was just me, the groom, and a few other people and that song had a special meaning for several of the other couples as well. But all in all it went well.
Briarwood/Cincinnati Catering: F/ A
My experience with the Briarwood was awful everything seemed to go wrong that could go wrong and I never got phone calls returned during the entire time we were booked there and some of the staff were just rude. Well it was sold twice while we were booked there. The last time happed 15 days before the wedding. Dave(the owner) was supposed to be selling the business July 1 but apparently called Brad with Cincinnati Catering and said I am dropping the June weddings and filing for bankrupcy. So Cincinnati Catering picked up our wedding. Of course I found out because all this happened the day we were supposed to have our final meeting and no one showed or answered the phone. It wasnt until two days later that I was able to get in contact with someone. But Brad was great to work with. He took over everything and worked with me and it went off without a hitch. So the original Briarwood gets an F but Cincinnati Catering gets an A.
Because of everything that happened at the reception hall we had to get a new baker at about a week to go.
Affordable Weddig Creations: B+
She worked us in and it was great to have a baker. She offered us chessecake as a bottom layer and the cake tasted great but she under estimated how much cake we would need because there was not enough for everyone. But the cake looked beautiful and everyone said it tasted great.
Madison Avenue Bridal: A
I got my dress there and it ilooked great and came in earlier then expected and their seamstress added a bustle and everything went well. Both were reasonable.
All in all my big day was a hit and it feels so surreal to know that I am now a married woman!