Here are reviews from our June 29, 2013 wedding! I know how much reviews helped me during planning so I'll try to be as thorough as possible. If anyone has any questions or wants more details on a particular vendor I used just PM me!
Venue: Grassy Hill Lodge, Derby, CT
Loved loved loved our venue. It seems that not many people have heard of Grassy Hill (or they confused in with the golf course located in Orange) and I think it's a venue that typically gets low key events and weddings. Although we were having our wedding paid for by our parents, my husband and I decided early on that we didn't want to spend a fortune on 1 day so we could put money that wasn't used for the wedding towards a house. I had heard about Grassy Hill Lodge from a friend and from the moment we arrived for our tour, I knew it was our venue. It has a rustic feel to it, and they have a gazebo area to get married in (which we did). The gardens and waterfall (man made) were absolutely beautiful as well. When Martha went over the pricing with us, things got even better. All the prices on the menu already included tax, and, there are no services charges at Grassy Hill, which was huge. I know a lot of other places we looked tacked on a 20% service charge (which was not gratuity) so not having that was awesome. The package came with fruit, cheese, veggies and crackers during cocktail hour, 5 hours open bar (and we didn't need to upgrade the liquor, they don't use well liquors), sit down dinner. champagne toast, table linens, centerpieces if we wanted, escort cards, table numbers, a day of coordinator (Martha), cake from a choice of 2 bakeries, and a birdcage for cards if we needed it. We opted to add hand passed hors d'oeuvres during our cocktail hour. Depending on meal selections, prices ranged from $78-$95 per person, and adding the hors d'oeuvres during cocktail hour was an additional $8 per person. We didn't add any kind of extra desserts, but that was an available option. The venue can hold up to 300 people, and at first I was worried because we were only having about 116 guests (invited close to 200 but many declines on my husbands side of the family) and I thought it would look empty, but it did not at all, and having a larger dance floor was great. The food was amazing. We received so many compliments, especially from guests who had the filet. Having a day of coordinator was also very helpful. Martha is the owner and she was very prompt responding to my emails during our year of planning. She made sure everything ran smoothly the day of our wedding so that I didn't have to worry about the little things at all.
Cake: Tidmarsh Bakery, Ansonia, CT
Through our venue, we could choose between 2 bakeries and we chose Tidmarsh. At first glance, we were a little worried, it's a small shop, but the owner was so nice. The whole time we were there people kept coming in and out to purchase items and telling us we would not be disappointed with our wedding cake. We wanted to do cupcakes instead of cake, and he gave us 9 to take home and try! I didn't have any sort of vision for how the small cake to cut or the cupcakes should look, so I gave them a swatch of the bridesmaids dresses and told them it was in their hands. They did a beautiful job with decorating. We had chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting, which were a big hit among our guests. We also had a small round cake on the top of the cupcake stand, as well as second small round cake to cut. We took both home. The owner also told us that instead of eating frozen cake one year from our wedding, to just come into the shop and he would make us a fresh cake for our anniversary at no charge. Awesome.
Photography: RAW Photo Design/Anthony Decarlo Photography/Carla Ten Eyck Photography
Ok. Photography review is a bit complicated. After we got engaged and met with a few people, we booked with RAW Photo Design and Eric shot our engagement photos. While we did have some communication issues with them initially, Eric actually handed the business end of RAW over to Carla Ten Eyck and things became much smoother. Our engagement photos were awesome, and we were so excited for them to shoot our wedding. A little more than a week before we got married, Eric died in a tragic accident. Despite emotions running high and sadness among the photographer community, I was so so impressed with the staff and professionalism at Carla Ten Eyck. I was contacted early on when Eric had first gone missing, and they assured me that should it come to it, we would be given replacement photographers of the same caliber and quality and that finding a new photographer wasn't something they wanted me to worry about with only about a week to the wedding. Once it was confirmed that we would indeed be needing a replacement, again, the staff at Carla's studio was so helpful. They gave me the name of the person they had in mind, and also assured me that we would still get everything we had paid for (2 photographers for unlimited hours, photobooth, guestbook of engagement photos). In fact, they had a rush put on the engagement guestbook so that I would be sure to have it by our rehearsal date. Our replacement photographer was Anthony Decarlo and Jacob from Carla Ten Eyck was our second shooter. In my year plus of planning, I had never come across Anthony's name on the boards, and I don't know why. Working with him was awesome. He has a great personality, and I felt really at ease around him. He also made time in his schedule to meet with us 2 days before our wedding, just so we could establish some sort of connection before the big day. It also helped that him and Jacob had both worked with Eric before and knew that we had hired RAW for a reason and wanted to make sure we would get awesome photos. Jacob spent the first half of the day with the boys, and my husband said he was great, easy to get along with, and helped calm his nerves. We got together for a first look around 2:30 Anthony and Jacob worked really well together to come up with some creative shots and ideas.
Boudoir Photography: Amanda Rose Photography
I wanted to do boudoir photos, but they can be pretty pricey. A friend of mine actually got in touch with me in early april because she wanted to get 3 people together for Amanda's Boudoir Party package. I am so glad I did it. Amanda was great to work with, doing the party package with a couple other girls was a blast, and definitely affordable. We got 3 outfit changes, plus our makeup done for $250. After seeing my password protected photo gallery I ended up getting an album made as well as all my photos on a disc with rights to print (an additional $215), and when I gave them to John the night before our wedding he was blown away. I think he looks at the album everyday, haha. I hadn't come across Amanda during my wedding photography search, but had I known about here I probably would have set up a consultation during planning. And I would definitely recommend her for boudoir photography!
DJ: Musically Yours
Musically Yours was recommended to us by RAW photo. John and I didn't want a DJ that screamed cheesy, and we also didn't want someone who was going to talk and talk all night. Ronnie was exactly what we were looking for. We didn't want a lot of common reception stuff (no entrance, no first dance, no parent dances, no bouquet toss) and Ronnie was super cool with that. He made sure to coordinate with both Martha and our photographers what our timeline was so that photo opportunities wouldn't be missed and always returned my emails or phone calls right away during the planning process. He was also very helpful a day or 2 before the wedding when I was still struggling with music for the bridal party to walk in to. He had a great suggestion for us, and it worked out well. Several of our guests raved about how great the music was, and that he did a phenomenal job. The music during dinner was at a perfect volume, I didn't have to shout to talk to guests. There were a few people who thought the music was too loud once the dancing started, but that might have been a result of the layout (2 tables were close to the speakers) and not the DJ.
Hair and Makeup: Charlene Elizabeth Salon, Wallingford, CT
Charlene has been my hairdresser for quite some time, and I knew that I wanted her to do my hair and makeup for the wedding. I couldn't be happier with the results. My makeup was flawless, and even though it wasn't airbrush makeup, it stayed put all day (makeup was done around 10:45am, wedding ended at midnight). Also a good tip for future brides: wear a pair of false lashes. I bought some at walmart for less than $5 for Charlene to put on, and I know from my boudoir photos that using them makes your eyes look that much better in photos. My hair was almost a bust, but Charlene really came through for me. I had bought a flower hairpiece from Etsy and it looked like it wasn't going to work well with what I had envisioned for my hair. I really did not want an updo, and Charlene ended up pinning my hair into a low side ponytail so that when the flower was positioned it didn't overtake my face. It wasn't what I had originally envisioned, but in the end, I ended up loving it and I received so many compliments! Charlene is super affordable, and she owns her own salon, so myself and my 3 bridesmaids plus my mom had the place to ourselves. We brought in breakfast, and since things moved so quickly, Charlene even found time to fit my mom in for makeup (she didn't have an appointment, she was going to do it herself originally).
Officiant: Sal Fiore (Weddings by Sal)
My husbands family was a bit put off at first that we were having a JOP rather than a church wedding. I think witnessing our ceremony really opened their eyes about JOP ceremonies. When we first met with Sal, we spent over 2 hours at his house, and I think it showed in our ceremony. Just about every single guest I talked to said our ceremony was beautiful, and felt really personal. One of our guests even said that it was the best ceremony she has ever seen. Sal is so great to work with and he will incorporate whatever you want. In addition vows, we also had a rose ceremony and a unity candle ceremony. While reading through the ceremony is seemed like a lot, overall the entire ceremony was only about 20 minutes, exactly the length we wanted. What's also pretty great is that Sal hands his camera off to a guest and asks them to take photos during the ceremony. so, while we are still waiting on professional photos, Sal put up about 40 pictures of us on facebook from his camera. Sal will travel to your rehearsal as part of his package. If you are looking for a JOP I would highly recommend Sal!
Spray Tanning: Serenity Salon and Spa, Wallingford, CT
I had a gift card, so I decided to use it on spray tanning. Best decision ever. I went 2 days before my wedding and on the day of our wedding I had the glow I was looking for. I didn't buy any of the products to make the tan last, so it's just about worn off by now. If anyone is in the wallingford area and interested, I actually have referral cards for Serenity. It would get you $20 off a spray tan (so, $18 instead of the normal $38). If you want one, PM me your address and I would be happy to mail it out.
I think that's it. Whew. Hope my reviews can help a future bride!