Our Wedding Vendors
Officiant Venue & Catering Photography Services Music & Entertainment Services Wedding Cake Floral Supplies Floral Design Paper Goods Design Paper Goods Production Dresses Tuxedos Accessories Paper Goods/DIY Supplies Room Block Rehearsal Dinner |
Brian, Notary Jacaranda Country Club Claudia Oliver Photography Michael Berrios Entertainment A Piece of Cake by Elena Costco Floral, FiftyFlowers Evan (BIL) & Oceana Oceana Oceana, Rickylee and ana_2985 David's Bridal Men's Warehouse Love | Salt Jewelry (bridal hairpiece) Hello DesignCrew (garter) GreenlandTurtle (sixpence) Paper and More Blue Dot Paper Shop Nashville Wraps Sheridan Suites Plantation The Field Irish Pub & Restaurant |
For more detailed breakdown of all the vendors we used (especially for DIY projects), please see my planning bio.
Vendor Reviews
Jacaranda Country Club (Venue & Catering) - B. Let me start with the general assessment. First of all, Jacaranda is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The grounds are gorgeous, the outdoor ceremony space overlooks a lake and is STUNNING at sunset. The reception area - from the cake area to the tulle-and-lights drapings on the ceilings to the wall of windows overlooking the grounds - is enough to take your breath away. The food - from the cocktail hour appetizers down to the dessert - was delicious and there was overly abundant amounts of it made available (they actually went around and offered seconds to our guests). The wait staff was efficient and extremely attentive to any need both we and our guests had.
Now for the good. For the majority of our wedding planning experience, we worked with Darlene, the catering coordinator. She was absolutely phenomenal - answered every single question I asked, took care of any issue we came across. She special ordered linens for us when the linen company discontinued the color we wanted to use. She accomodated the fact that we were thirteen guests short and allowed us to shuttle those funds towards bonuses for our guests, like a chocolate fountain and a coffee station (which were HUGE hits for our guests). The day of, she was gracious and helpful, and took care of everything for us. I cannot speak more highly of all of her assistance over the course of that time period.
Now for the bad.
1) When we booked our venue, we were informed that there was another event immediately preceeding ours, and that even though we were contracted to have access to the venue at 4:30pm, we wouldn't be able to do setup or decorating until 5pm, and probably would not have access to the bridal suite until about 5:15pm. We were doing our own floral, and discussed with both Darlene and Mike (the catering director) that we'd be providing our own floral and doing setup at the facility itself, and it was cleared by them. We were also permitted to use the women's locker room facilities to get ready prior to when the bridal suite would be available. At our last meeting, I cleared with both Darlene (via email) and Mike (via face-to-face meeting) that we would have friends arriving to help with the reception area setup and moving our belongings from the locker room to the bridal suite, and both said they would be ready for us. First, the bridal suite and reception area were not ready until nearly 6pm (ceremony started at 6:30), and even then, the setup staff wouldn't allow our friends in to set up the floral. They had to put out all the floral and other decor that Jacaranda was not handling in a matter of 15 minutes. Second, after DH and I had gone outside to do pictures, Mike came into the locker room and essentially yelled at my mother and bridal party that we were not supposed to be setting up our floral arrangements in the locker room. Our setup had consisted of basically putting flowers and water in vases and lining them up on one of the countertops so our helpers could come in, get them, and place them on tables. We did this to help streamline the process, and so that Jacaranda would have maximum time to turn the room around from the previous event. Needless to say, it was pretty upsetting to my mom and my MOH that they were yelled at for something I had previously cleared with the venue, repeatedly.
2) Darlene stopped by the locker rooms midway through getting ready to inform us that there had been complaints from golfers about men in the women's locker room and vice versa. The only time this had occurred had been when our groomsmen had been bringing in dresses and supplies to the women's locker room (more handing them off to us than anything) and at the time, no one had been in the locker room to complain. Immediately prior to Darlene letting us know, one of our BMs had dropped off a gift to the men's locker room (for my DH) and my dad had come over with my gift from DH and to see me in my dress. Again, no one in the locker room to complain. In fact, all the golfers that had come into either locker room had been nothing but sweet and had expressed excitement over the fact that there was wedding preparations going on. We promised Darlene at that point to make sure nothing like that was going on, and we thought the issue was handled. The issue was brought up again by Mike by him essentially yelling at my mom and bridal party in our locker room after DH and I had gone out to pictures (which triggered the flower argument).
3) While we were getting ready, my BP would be going back and forth to the bar area to get glasses of water or soda for us to drink. Every time a BM would go into the bar, they were met by rude comments from several golfers in the bar having cocktails. The culmination of that was my youngest bridesmaid (13 years old) being told that "we won't mess with you, we don't want to go to jail". Needless to say, most the girls were pretty insulted and the youngest was very upset by their comments. To Darlene's credit, the moment my mom brought this to her attention, she apologized for the issue and was super attentive to making sure everyone was happy, but it was still a rather uncomfortable situation.
Even with these issues, I would still recommend Jacaranda, based on how beautiful the facilities are, how excellent the food is, and how efficient and helpful the staff are (ESPECIALLY Darlene). However, what would have been a rave review of the venue was somewhat marred by Mike's behavior and the issue with the bar patrons.
Claudia Oliver Photography - A. Claudia was an absolute sweetheart and a total pleasure to work with. I'm a photographer myself (which meant that, out of everything, the photography was going to be the thing I was pickiest about), and Claudia was incredibly patient and accomodating when it came to the specific shots I really wanted to get. She reshaped the package we wanted to reflect our needs (less prints, more coverage) and ended up staying two hours past what we had booked her for. We got back over 1500 pictures, and they were all absolutely gorgeous. My only complaint? Sometimes, it could be difficult to get ahold of her (think 2, 3 emails before you hear back). But when I look at the pictures she gave me, that's totally minor in comparison. I would recommend her in a heartbeat.
MB Entertainment (DJ Services) - A+++++++++++++. I honestly speak highly enough of Mike Berrios. DH and I knew going in that we would have a particular playlist in mind, being huge music fans and particular in our song choices. Mike not only embraced this, but was able to weave some fantastic ideas in and around what we wanted. He worked with our playlist, tracked down obscure songs for us, and created an incredible playlist. By the time dancing started at the reception, we were running an hour behind - he made a point to play nearly all of our must-play songs, while keeping the dance floor packed all night. He played an excellent MC - getting involved when he should, and letting the party go when it should. I honestly credit how fun and entertaining our reception was singlehandedly to him.
A Piece of Cake by Elena (Wedding Cake) - A-. We recieved a cake from Elena as part of our wedding package at Jacaranda. The cake was absolutely beautiful, and tasted wonderful. My only complaint is that when we went for our tasting, the woman working there that day seemed totally put out and annoyed by us, even though we had had a standing appointment for the day for weeks. Other than a very slight lack of service, I would recommend them in a heartbeat.
Costco (Flowers) - B+. I ordered a 20-piece wedding package, and 200 bulk white roses for our centerpieces and decor. They were extremely accomodating by adjusting the pieces within the package to reflect our needs (substituting centerpieces for bouquets, corsages for bouts, etc.). They arrived first thing Thursday morning, as promised. However, upon opening the wedding package, I found that all the bridal party bouquets and half of the bouts were browned and damaged. I called customer service, and by Friday morning, I had all new bouquets and bouts that had no damage, save for one or two bruised petals. The second round of flowers not only looked gorgeous for the wedding, but lasted nearly a week after. The bulk roses I ordered all arrived with minimal issues (a few bruised petals here and there - normal for that kind of shipment and easily remedied) and after two days in water, they opened into huge, fat blooms that smelled and looked AMAZING. We had leftover roses for over a week after the wedding. I would recommend them for their bulk flowers again in a heartbeat.
Fifty Flowers (Bridal Flowers) - D. I ordered a 3-piece wedding package (my bouquet and two wrist corsages for moms). Like Costco, they arrived first thing Thursday morning and were browned and damaged. I called customer service, and by Friday morning, I had a new package - except the bridal bouquet roses were now cream (instead of white) and the corsages still had damaged roses. Thankfully, my BIL was able to take apart the corsages and rebuild them with leftover flowers from the first Costco/FF shipments, and had to build me an entirely new bouquet by picking out the undamaged roses from the old bouquets and putting them in new ones. However, even with that, my bouquet was bruised and browning by the ceremony time. Unfortunately, I would have a very hard time recommending them again to another bride.
David's Bridal (Bridal Attire, Bridal Party Dresses, Rehearsal Dinner Dress) - A. In all, my entire bridal party purchased dresses from them, and I purchased my wedding dress, undergarments, veil, and rehearsal dinner dress. During several trips into several different DB locations, we typically recieved good service, but often, the consultants were too busy to assist unless you had an appointment. However, all of the dresses turned out beautifully, including some serious alterations and taking-ins that needed done on mine.
Men's Warehouses (Tux Rentals) - A. We always recieved great service from MW, including when DH needed two resizings after losing weight before the wedding. Two of our groomsmen were younger and had outgrown their original jacket size by the time the wedding rolled around - MW quickly found replacements. All the guys looked fantastic in their tuxes.
Blue Nile (E-Ring and Bride's Wedding Band) - A. Blue Nile worked directly with my DH to design my engagement ring, going over the 4-Cs and helping him design a ring that reflected the style I liked, but had the features he wanted (a higher quality stone, etc.) me to have. We were able to get a beautiful matching wedding band to go with it as well. Delivery was quick (within 48 hours of final payment) and having a monthly payment plan let us purchase the items we wanted over a period of time that worked for us.
Stephen DiFranco Jewelers (Groom's Wedding Band) - A. We went with Stephen DiFranco's because he was a local jeweler with an excellent reputation in the area I grew up in, and he was selling the ring that ScubaSteve wanted at about $100 lower than the major retail chains. They took care of sizing and took down our desired engraving the day we went in, and within three weeks, we had a perfectly sized and engraved wedding band at our doorstep via Priority Mail. They even called us to let us know it was on the way and what day we could expect it to arrive so we could be home to sign for it. Needless to say, I'll be going back to them for any jewelry needs whenever I have a chance to get up to NE Ohio.
Paper and More (pocketfolds, tan envelopes) - A. I found that Paper and More had the most affordable quality pre-made pocketfolds that I could find online, in the colors I needed them in. Everything shipped out at $3.99 (irregardless of weight or quantity) and there was no sales tax. Everything I ordered (in seperate shipments) was shipped out within 48 hours of ordering, and I recieved my items within 2 days of my notified shipping date. Everything I recieved was of fantastic quality and the costumer service was phenomenal. My only (tiny) complaint was that they had virtually no paper products in matte navy.
Blue Dot Paper Shop (navy cardstock & envelopes) - A. One of the few sites online that had navy cardstock and envelopes, and at very reasonable prices. I had order from them within a week of ordering, and everything was of fantastic quality.
123 Print (STD Postcards) - C. I ordered our STD postcards and favor cards from 123 Print after a fellow bride recommended them for inexpensive printing. The pricing was great and the ability to upload custom designs was really nice. However, the cost of shipping was ridiculous - I spent more in shipping than I did on the actual items I ordered. Once they were ordered, I had problems with my order. First, I recieved someone else's STD postcards, so I had to have my STDs reordered/sent. Then, I recieved my favor cards, but the print was so tiny that I had to reorder in a bigger size. While the general pricing was good, I did encounter enough headaches with this company that I would second guess future orders with them.
FrostyAugust (embroidered handkerchiefs) - A. I was able to custom order the handkerchiefs I needed with the phrases and thread color I wanted, and they turned out beautifully.
GreenlandTurtle (sixpence) - B+. He had a wide variety of different coins to choose from and the sixpence I recieved was in good condition and arrived within two weeks ordering. My only (very minor) complaint was that I was unable to order a single one (they came in a minimum package of six)...luckily, I knew a few other brides I could give them away to, but otherwise I would have been stuck with a bunch of sixpence I didn't need.
hellodesigncrew (garter) - A. I ordered a plain navy garter that I could embellish myself. It came quickly, and was beautifully made.
Love|Salt (hair piece) - A++++++++. I know Salt through the blogging network, and I love all her work. She designed a custom hairpiece for me for the reception and it turned out beautifully.
PersonalImpressions ("sorority" tag) - A. I ordered a "sorority" tag to attach onto my bracelet. It was super inexpensive and came very quickly.
StrumpetsBazaar (vintage handkerchief) - A. I ordered a vintage handkerchief for my girlfriends to sign for the day of the wedding. Even with being international, it came very quickly. I got two beautiful, snowy white vintage handkerchiefs for under $10. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
TheTaffyBox (toasting flute charms) - A. I custom-requested/ordered the charms that went on our toasting flutes from TaffyBox (were supposed to be necklace pendants - she put them on rings to place on our glasses). She was extremely helpful in the ordering process, my order was turned around quickly, and the final product was great.
Hyatt Place Plantation (Room Block) - F. We had originally planned to go with Hyatt Place as our sole room block hotel, as they gave us a very reasonable quote and their amenities matched what we were looking for in terms of providing for our guests. We had two very productive initial conversations and booked an appointment to meet with the sales coordinator and view the property. When we arrived for our appointment, we were referred to the front desk clerk that was on that day - while she gave us a nice tour, she couldn't answer any of the questions that I had brought to ask the sales coordinator. I recieved a contract from the sales coordinator after several email requests, which I had to return, as it was missing certain rates/accomodations we had previously agreed to with management. We then spent two months repeatedly emailing the sales coordinator, requesting our new contract, even expressing that we had guests ready to book - all emails were ignored. We finally wrote a letter to the manager of the hotel explaining our displeasure at the situation - we never heard from the manager of the hotel, and all we recieved was an email from the sales coordinator claiming we never had an appointment and blaming all the "miscommunications" on her assistant. In the end, we honestly couldn't trust that we would recieve reliable service from the hotel or the sales coordinator and (thankfully!) went with Sheridan Suites for our room block.
Sheridan Suites Plantation (Room Block) - C. After the fiasco with Hyatt, we went to the other hotel Jacaranda had recommended. When making initial arrangements, everything was fantastic - the customer service agent we worked with was very sweet, gave us a tour of the facilities and the rooms. We set up a room block with them months in advance to allow for people's timeframes of scheduling travel plans. This is when we encountered problems. When we signed the contract, we asked that they offer guests two rates - one with breakfast and one without - and our guests could decide what worked best for them. They ensured us this was no problem. However, as the wedding approached, we found that guests were being offered one rate over the phone, and another online - never both at the same time. We had one guest be told that we had booked our entire block, and she would now be charged the full room rate (in reality, we still had 10 rooms open on our block). We had another guest book under the room block, and then have their room cancelled and rebooked elsewhere without them realizing it. I emailed and called the customer service agent we had worked with and explained the issue - she told me that she had test-dialed the front desk after hours and had been offered both rates and was told rooms were open. I waited thirty minutes, called myself and was told that rooms were sold out under one rate, but not another, and were completely sold out for the night of the wedding (we still had eight rooms open at the time). I also tried to confirm with the sales agent for three weeks prior to the start of festivities that we would have a shuttle running to/from Jacaranda (one of the advertised features when we agreed to the room block) - the sales agent finally contacted me four days before people were to arrive and told me they could get my guests there, but would stop running shuttle service at 10:30pm (our reception went until midnight). She claimed we were told this at signing (not true). My mother finally took over and contacted the hotel directly on my behalf - we were promptly reassigned to another sales agent, who was able to fix the room rate situation, as well as arrange for later shuttle service (half of which we were financially responsible for). During the week of the wedding, checking in and out went without a hitch for our guests, and they all reported an enjoyable stay. My parents also arranged a cocktail party prior to the wedding, and the hotel set it up for us beautifully. They had originally promised a sign indicating that the courtyard was reserved for a prior party - my mom had to track someone down thirty minutes into the party to request it after several hotel guests not involved with our wedding proceeded to come out to the courtyard and eat the appetizers we had out for our guests.
While in the end, the service we recieved was positive, the sheer hassle we had to go through to get that service made me wary to utilize their hotel again, especially considering everything we had gone through with our first hotel.
The Field Irish Pub & Restaurant (Rehearsal Dinner) - A. One of our local favorite restaurants, they set up a rehearsal dinner for us in their back dining room. We were able to set up a custom menu with them, and they were accomodating to the few special requests we had. When we arrived, the room was gorgeous, the food was delicious (and all came out on time) and the service was great. My only (extremely minor) complaint was that they were unable to set up a single table for our group to sit at, which made conversing with different groups (in various booths and tables) difficult, but that was a very minor annoyance. I would recommend them in a heartbeat. :)
Boxed Gifts (shark cufflinks for groom) - F. I ordered shark cufflinks for DH from this company via Amazon. I confirmed the address on the order that it was our correct, current address. First, the company mailed the package to the wrong address; after three weeks of trying to get a concrete answer from them as to where the package was (if it was at a post office, I was willing to pick it up), they claimed it had been at our local post office all along and was now being sent back. I requested it be resent and asked them to confirm the address. They instead shipped the package to the wrong address for a SECOND time, where someone actually signed for it and kept it for themselves. After four weeks and a rather angry phone call to customer service, they finally shipped the package to me at the correct address...a week before the wedding. While the product itself was perfect (they were a huge hit with DH), the sheer frustration and hassle (and total lack of customer service) was not even close to worth it.
Nashville Wraps (gift wrapping supplies) - A-. I wanted to coordinate our wedding party gifts and out-of-town bags with our wedding colors, but navy tissue paper and rafia ribbon are damn near impossible to find. We were able to get bulk navy and kraft tissue papers, as well as navy, kraft and white rafia ribbon, all for under $30. The order came very quickly, and all the colors were perfect. My only complaint with the company was that any order under $25 came with a $10 service charge. I ended up having to add things to my order to avoid the charge. I was able to use the additional items in the end, but it would have been nice to just order what I needed.