Vendor Reviews

I worked with a lot of great people and without them I would not have been able to throw the wedding that we did. Some where better than others so below I have put my reviews of all the vendors. If you want my PreWedding reviews of vendors along with links to the vendor's websites, those can be found in my planning bio (click here).

Reception Site - Profile Event Center = A+

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The hallway set up with our votives and lighting
I cant say enough awesome things about this place. I worked with some amazing people during my wedding planning and the one that stands out the most is their coordinator there, Heather. She got back to me quickly, worked with my on questions/issues, and was super friendly the entire way. You would think those are things every vendor should do but i have found it is harder than you think. The space itself too is very unique which I loved. We did a family style meal which guests raved about. There was a TON of food too and it all came out in a timely manor. It did take about an hour and a half for dinner, but it was by course and each course had so much food that it didnt make a difference. And the food was AWESOME! I have had subpar wedding food and i would say this was not only great wedding food but great food in general! Now their prices have risen since I booked but I still think they are a good price. They have updated bride and groom suites, and outdoor patio, intelligent lighting built in, as well as a sound system already there. Not having to rent lights and having my DJ use their system saved a good deal of money.

Day of Coordinator - Lasting Impressions = A+

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Sarah helping me take my veil out :)
Sarah and I just clicked the moment we meet with her about 1 year and 8 months before the wedding. I already knew at that time I would want a DOC and we hired her soon after we meet her. My mom couldn’t figure out why we needed one but after the wedding was over, came up to me and told me how wrong she was and how much she though Sarah did a great job at the wedding. She not only answered any questions I had over email throughout the process. But about 1 month out, stepped in and helped me with finalizing the time line and contacting vendors. Most importantly, she and her assistant set up my venue. I was a DIY bride and had a lot of things that needed to be set out from votives to a card box to menus to kids activity books - the list goes on and on. She even ran and manned our popcorn machine for our late night snack that people LOVED! She saved me so much anxiety and knowing I could just enjoy the day and count on her to set everything up was fantastic! 

Alterations - Louise Kegley = A 

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My Dress
Louise was one of my most fun vendors to work with. Unlike the typical bride who only has a few fittings - I had 9. Yep 9. And that was by my choice. I started alterations about 8 months out from the wedding because I wanted to get a jump on things and Louise had no problem with that at all - she told me I could have as many as I wanted. And she did an amazing job fitting my dress and putting in a bustle that had no problems at all - it stayed in the entire night. She also fitted a BM dress for me and my RD dress and still in total charged me less than $250 - not bad at all. She also steamed my DIY veil and a couple of my BM's dresses (that were altered by someone else) for free. And each time I went there it felt like I was visiting a friend. We would gossip about the knot and talk weddings (her daughter got engaged during the time I worked with her) and it was just fun.

Flowers - SW Floral Designs = A-

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My Bouquet
Sarah does flowers out of her home making her prices amazing. We used pretty expensive flowers and still were able to do 18 centerpieces, personal flowers for 20 people, plus delivery for around $1200 which I thought was amazing. She even worked with me quite a few different times as I changed the type of flowers I wanted. She delivered everything on time and they looked awesome! She even worked with me quite a few different times as I changed the type of flowers I wanted. The only small issue was the flowergirl’s pomander that kept falling apart but in the grand scheme of things that wasnt really a big deal at all. Based on her prices and work I would def recommend her.


Cake - Penny Steele Custom Cakes = A-

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Our Cake
She makes the BEST tasting cakes! I cant express enough how good they are! Every time I think of them I want a piece of cake from her! So good! Aside from that, I did have a concern that the cake we got did not exactly look like the picture I gave her to work off of - it was close but not quite there. So I emailed her about it as I felt I should express my concern. She called me about a 1/2 hour after I sent my email to talk about what I didnt like. Basically the ribbons in the picture I gave her looked different as they were fabric and the ribbons she made for me were made out of gum paste - which is what I requested. She explained to me the difference between fabric and gum paste and what she had did. After I talked to her I felt much better about it and understood the differences. My cake still looked amazing and tasted even better so I am really happy with the outcome.


Photography - Vetriano = A-

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I worked with the lead photographer Sara and her 2nd shooter - Scott. They were really fun to work with however Sara ended up being a 1/2 hour late to the church so we missed my getting ready shots. Scott was there to capture some but we didnt get much. He also didnt mean to, but he did step on my veil as I was walking down the aisle. We covered it up well so it wasnt a big issue but still a small one. Our contract also stated 2 weeks to get pictures back but potentially longer depending on how busy they are. It took a day shy of a month to get the pictures back. There were some great shots from the pics we got back though. They did do a good job caputring the moments. I would have liked a few more detail shots but that was prolly my fault for not communicating that. I also keep in mind that I got two shooters for 8 hours for less than 1k which is a pretty amazing price so maybe I am getting what I paid for - and really 5 years down the road I prolly wont care as long as we have at least a few good pics.


Linens - Prestige Linens and Events = D-

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The only reason Choua did not get an F is because I did end up with linens and they were beautiful and at an amazing price but it has taken a LOT of headache to get here...see below if you want the why - beware it is a bit long.

First of all, back when I was looking for a linen vendor, she was already displaying red flags such as being late to meetings or not returning phone calls but I dismissed them because she told me she had a death in her family and that one of her kids was sick. Fine - I was understanding - things happen. Plus her prices were still awesome.

We booked, put a deposit down, and didnt talk to her for about 6 months (which is what I did for many of my vendors I booked early) but when I emailed her at new years saying "yea it is 2010" and checked in, I got an email bounce back. I had a couple emails so I tried another one - still bounced back. I tried calling - the number I dialed was disconnected. I tried looking at the website and it was down! I googled her and found a site that said they went out of business! So of course I am freaking out a bit and look around more till I find a third email that finally goes through. She emails me back and apologies and says that they are in fact in business and they just had their website go down and got new phones. So fine. I am worried at this point but again her prices are still great and I am not sure we can afford linens with another company and we already have a deposit down so I just stick with her and hope for the best.

Then about a month and a half out from the wedding, I email her asking if I could get a sample linen to bring to my final walk through to help me decide on lighting in the space. She asked me to email her back in a couple weeks as she didnt have the linens right now. I did that and she then asked if I could pick it up from her on a Friday that she was in town. I said yes that would work great and asked where and when? Over a week later she gets back to me and mentions a city but nothing else so I email her again to get specifics on where/when we can meet...it is now only a few days out from when she wanted to gtg. A couple more days pass and I am supposed to meet her the next day and still nothing. So I call her and the phone number asked me for a pass code which of course I dont have. She finally calls me around lunchtime on the day we are supposed to meet and tells me that her assistant will drop them all my office and will call soon to get my address. I ask for her assistant's phone number and of course she says she doesnt have it on her. Hours pass - nothing. I call Choua back - nothing. I email her the next day saying I got nothing. She emails me back 2 days later saying sorry she didnt know that her assistant didnt show up until recently and that her house flooded and that her cell phone has a virus. Really??? Excuses Excuses.

Well we finally get a hold of her and set up a time to get the linens and all that ends up working out but boy was it a hassle. Then after the wedding we got her the linens back right away and in her contract it states that after 72 hours after the return you will be issued your $100 deposit back. No surprise there that after 2 weeks we didnt have it back so I emailed her (once I was back from our HM) and she responds that she emailed me to get my address. 1)She has my address, 2) never got that email. So I sent her my address and asked when I would get the deposit - and nothing. Still havent heard back and it has been over 3 weeks. I am just hoping to get it back at this point and will file with paypal here shortly if I still have silence from her end. I am sure there is another excuse coming my way.

EDIT: It is now 11/23 and I have heard NOTHING back from her. I logged a dispute with Paypal and have escalted it to a claim. I am hoping I get my deposit back but would be kinda surprised if I do.



Hair - Smart and Chic = A

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We worked with Julie and Dawn and both did an awesome job! Julie was my hair syalist and did my makeup. Now I am pretty picky with both hair and makeup and she did a great job working with me. We ended up doing two hair trials - one without hair extentions, and then one after I went out and bought some and she only charged me for one trial. She worked with me till we got my hair right and I have to say I LOVED my end result. I really appeciated the time she took with me.

Rentals - Midway Party Rental = A

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We ordered a popcorn machine from them for our late night snack. They allowed us to pick it up a day early and return unopened packs of popcorn - which was awesome because we REALLY overestimated the amount of popcorn we would need. In total for the machine and popcorn it was only about $60 which I thought was an awesome price. Not to mention that our guests loved it.