Vendor Reviews
We had a wedding for ~185 guests on a budget of $15,000. I say this to give you a general idea of where the prices of these vendors will fall.
Grades are given on an A - F scale. Keep in mind, I'm not one to give an A+++++, so A+ is about as good as it gets!
Reception Venue: La Roy's Hall, La Salle, MI
I was very happy with my experience with LaRoy's. This is a family owned and run business, so I knew I would always be working with the same people. Communication throughout planning was good. The pricing was GREAT. I think we paid around 35/pp on a Saturday for appetizers, buffet, full bar, linens, napkins, cake cutting... (I actually believe that pricing for that package has gone down since my wedding!) I wanted somewhere all-inclusive and reasonable, and they delivered on that!
The outside leaves a bit to be desired... it's just pretty non-descript, so I would plan on taking outside pictures on your way to the hall : ) The inside is pretty nice, and very neutral, so it is easy to dress up however you choose. If you're looking for something in the LaSalle/Monroe, etc area I highly recommend!
Contact Info: http://www.laroyshall.com
Invitations: LetterPunch Design (LetterPunchDesign.com)
Grade: A+ for final product, B+ for communication
To begin, I am SO happy with how the invitations turned out. I recieved tons of compliments about how beautiful they were (some people even called them the most beautiful inviations they had ever seen!) and that they were so unique. We wanted invitations that were "different" but not weird or too out there. I think Laura really made this come true. At the time I ordered, she offered DIY invitations... she designed and printed them all, and I put all the pieces together. This saved us a lot of money. I believe our final cost with design fee and postage was right around $4 per invitation.
Communication was a bit of an issue at times. I originally found Laura through Etsy. During the time we spent emailing back and forth about design changes, she shut down her Etsy shop (unexpectedly) and I didn't hear from her for over a week. I hadn't put any money down or anything at that point, but I was fearful that she had just disappeared and I would have to scramble to find a new inviation. Then, she continued to email with me as though nothing had happened. There were several lapses of communicaiton that lasted for several days to a week. In her defense, I believe that her business was growing quite rapidly at this point. She has since cut back so that she
Photographer: Jennifer from Moments by JEM
I seriously don't think that words can describe how much I enjoyed working with Jennifer. She's very kind, down to earth, and laid back. She made us feel like our wedding was her favorite wedding ever, she's so sweet. And, she takes absolutely beautiful pictures. To see previews, click here for us on her blog. We get our albums and all the pictures soon, but I have no doubt that those will look amazing as well.
Contact: http://www.momentsbyjem.com
Chair Covers: All About Elegance
Jennifer was wonderful to work with! We never actually met (did all our correspondence via email) and everything ran so smoothly. Jennifer always responded to my e-mails quickly, ususally within just a few hours. She had never been to our hall, so she took it upon herself to drive out there the day before and see what the chairs looked like, which was really going above and beyond! I think the chair covers were the single biggest impact on the look of the hall, especially for what they cost. I booked black chair covers with a white sash while Jennifer was running a special. I got them for $1.50 each! Jennifer runs specials on her website relatively frequently.
Contact: www.allaboutelegance.net
Florist: Pollynn Flowers
Lynn of Pollynn flowers loves what she does, you can just tell! Each time we met, she seemed so excited to be working on my flowers and coming up with different ideas. She would run around the shop, pulling different colored flowers and put them together to see how they'd look. Lynn was extremely flexible about when we needed to finalize everything. We added pew decorations at our last meeting and she had tons of ideas about how to reuse them for the reception. The flowers turned out absolutely beautiful! She offered to help out with anything we needed when she dropped the flowers off, and even teared up when she saw my dress. She loves what she does! Lynn's prices were extremely reasonable as well, which is why I met with her in the first place. The flowers didn't turn out exactly like how I was envisioning, but I they were beautiful. And, I got peonies! (I forgot I had mentioned to her that I liked them.)
Contact: www.pollynn.com
Baker: Kristy from the Bake Shop
Cake wasn't a priority for us, so I shopped around for the cheapest cake I could find. I found it in Kristy ($1.10/slice when I booked!), and I also found really beautiful cakes! Her cakes are all up to date. She doesn't use fondant, but you would never know that by looking at her work. Her cakes are all so smooth! We got tons of compliments on the cake from our guests. It's really a trek to get out to Kristy (she's in the middle of nowhere Fayette, OH), but it is worth the drive. She is enthusiastic about her job and works with you to make a cake you like. She delivered our cake over an hour away, and even with the delivery fee of $75 (a deal for that distance!), our cake was still less expensive than local companies. And better looking, I think!
Also, when she heard our color scheme, she went out and found those gems on the bottom of the stand on her own. She wanted to get something to match our colors!
Contact: Kristy, 419-237-2393
Alterations: Pam Thomas
Grade: A+
Pam is so awesome! She works out of her house, which has dresses hanging all over. She is so sweet, loves what she is doing, and knows her stuff! She hemmed my all lace dress (which involved removing and then reattaching the scalloped edge on the bottom), took it in on the sides, and added a bustle for less than $200. My bustle held tight all night long, never had an issue with it. After reading about other June 2010 weddings, many other brides were not so lucky! Each visit out to her was a lot of fun. I highly recommend her.
Contact: Pam, 419-8
Tuxes: Brighton Tux, Brighton, MI
Easy to work with, only one mix up (the dads didn't have ties or something? but the mistake was caught several days before), good prices. They had a good selection and the salesmen there were very knowledgeable about the different designs and styles.
Contact: www.brightontuxshop.com
Programs: Kinko's, Toledo, OH
I did the programs myself, but went to Kinko's to get them printed and folded. I wanted to use a paper that was heavier than printer paper, but not quite cardstock. I was quoted a reasonable price for this.
However, when I went to get the programs printed, I was basically told that I had to do them on the copy machine myself and that anything but except paper just heavier that copier paper would not fold correctly. I just wanted to get them done, so I did exactly what they said. THEN, they go to fold them and tell me that they can't put them through the machine, so I would be charged 10 cents per page for them to fold them by hand. (This was like, maybe 5 minutes after he said they would go through the machine fine and told me that cost). I pretty much had a break down. I took my things and left.
My mom went back the next day to see if the problem could be solved... the manager was profusely apologetic and completely rectified the situation. He used a heavier paper, put it through the folding machine, and gave us a discount. It all worked out well in the end, but it was definitely an unnecessary stress at the time. The manager did an excellent job of taking care of the problem, though.
Other Vendors I recommend...
David's Bridal, Toledo, OH: I got lots of attention; easy exchange when I decided I wanted a different size on the dress
StickerMeChic (Etsy seller): Cute stickers for our favors; fast shipping, easy to work with
Jewelry3721 (eBay seller): Hair comb
Flick's Liquour Store, Lambertville, MI: We got our chocolate covered pretzel favors from here, yum!
Vistaprint: Used free business cards as escort cards. I chose ones with a simple design, and added no wording. Voila! Easy, cheap escort cards.
