Cake - Veronica Blanco ~~A++
Veronica is a family friend who started her own cake business a few years ago, she offered to do our cake and I was super excited about it. It cost in total a little less than $1 a head, so it was wonderful since hubby dearest and I were on a tight budget. The cake itself was delicious and super beautiful! It consisted of 3 tiers and 3 flavors (of which I have no idea what they were) But the bottom tier was delish!
Flowers – Costco – Dee Scott ~~A+
Costco provided the flowers – a family friend provided the arrangements. They turned out beautiful, the flowers were very bright and crispt, none of them were brown or wilted by the time the wedding day came around. I believe Dee received the flowers on Wednesday, and arranged them for our wedding Friday evening. I was very pleased!
Photographer – Jillian Zamora Photography~~A+
I meet with Jillian at the beginning of 2011, but I had booked her December of 2010. I knew immediately that I loved her work and style. When I originally booked her we settled on a ball park time frame, a guest count and a date. I mailed her a deposit but we never signed a contract. It wasn’t until a month before the wedding that we both realized that there wasn’t a contract in place. I was so worried because her prices increased a couple hundred dollars from when I first booked her. But as wonderful as she is – we got to stick with the original price we had come to agree on in the winter of 2010. She’s very kind, and very helpful….not to mention patient! I hired both her and her husband for the day of our wedding, and they seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She made sure both my husband and I were comfortable during our little photo-op after the ceremony and was wonderful to work with. I do regret not getting more pictures of husband and I, but I blame that on myself. She seemed to catch what I felt was important, and kept me calm when it seemed like nothing was going right.
The one and only thing that I have qualms with was that I had to call her at the 6 week mark to remind her to mail our disk of pictures. From what I gather – this is not normal behavior. Her increase in work volume had her working sometimes 3 weddings a weekend. I’m understanding due to being a photographer myself – but this is something that did bug me slightly. However, she expedited the mail. And they arrived in the next two days. I’m very happy with the pictures and I’d recommend her to anyone :)
The one and only thing that I have qualms with was that I had to call her at the 6 week mark to remind her to mail our disk of pictures. From what I gather – this is not normal behavior. Her increase in work volume had her working sometimes 3 weddings a weekend. I’m understanding due to being a photographer myself – but this is something that did bug me slightly. However, she expedited the mail. And they arrived in the next two days. I’m very happy with the pictures and I’d recommend her to anyone :)
Vistaprint – A+
I wouldn’t really put them down for anything specific – I got a custom shirt for both me and husband to wear the day of the wedding (free), we also got a wedding sign (free), and other small knick-knacks for around the reception/ceremony (free). They have a lot of specials where you can receive products free, and only pay for shipping. The shipping - even the slow shipping is either on time or WAY early. All the products we ordered and received were high quality.
After the wedding we used them for our “Thank You Postcards”. They came out great – aside from my small typo…grr..
After the wedding we used them for our “Thank You Postcards”. They came out great – aside from my small typo…grr..
Linens – www.linentablecloth.com ~~A
The linens I ordered arrived quickly. The box (which I’m sure is because they packed too many in one package) was torn and broken. It looked like the kind gents at USPS taped it up in several states as it made its way here. They were all good quality, easy to wash/steam and seemed to be quite durable from what I could tell. We only used them for the ceremony and haven’t since. The one and only complaint I have was they accidently sent me 18 table cloths that were X size and 1 table cloth that was Y size, instead of 19 table cloths that were X size. It was a very small difference in size though, and my mother tacked the misfit cloth with a glue gun. : )
Hair – Heather Cannon from Shawn Kristopher Salon ~~A+++
I can’t say more how much I enjoyed working with Heather. She’s a wonderful hairstylist! Not to mention easy on a tender head. She both colored and styled my hair as well as put in extensions. I was SO happy with how my hair came out during our trials, and it came out looking exactly like before come wedding day!
Music/DJ - Hunter Vaughn & Partner ~~F
F as in fired. This was by far my most disappointing vendor. At the beginning Hunter was very pleasant to work with, he was always quick to answer voicemails, texts or emails. He was always on top of what seemed to be everything! I was pretty confident that everything would go smoothly come wedding day. When wedding day came however, that was far from what happened.
To start off with, we agreed he would be there at 5:30pm. As he was not playing any ceremony music and this would put him at the venue 1-2 hours before the reception started. He called me almost at six, asking for the address of the venue (which I had emailed twice) and saying he would be leaving PLANO to head to Fort Worth. He arrived at 6:50pm - 10 minutes before the ceremony was set to start. My venue being the down stairs and upstairs of the building meant he had to walk through my ceremony area (where all my guests were already seated) to get upstairs with all his gear to the reception area. I was very unhappy about this. We started the ceremony a tad bit late, on account there were still guests being seated due to crazy traffic. As the ceremony was just starting, Hunter and his partner decided to do a sound check….causing every one of my guests downstairs a headache from the absurd sounds his equipment was making. – I about died.
After the ceremony the reception promptly began and our guests had NO music to arrive to, none whatsoever. When it was time to announce my new husband and I he failed to do that, or play our entrance song either. It took him 10 minutes (at least) to find the songs I had given him for our first dance, father daughter dance and such. You couldn’t hear what he was playing, but it sure wasn’t any one of the songs that was on the list of 150 songs I had given him as the approved to play list. When one finally did come on, it was the first time guests actually hit the dance floor, when the dance floor was full he proceeded to change the song…in the MIDDLE of the song, from a slow country song to rap. This, threw me over the edge….enraged a few of my guests and angered my father beyond words.
To make matters worse, he started an argument with my bartender when he tried to order a beer without an ID. In my opinion, you shouldn’t be drinking at your place of business – whether it’s a party scene or not. After that we told him to pack up and go home. Luckily we had an ipod that we hooked up to the sound system to play music from for the rest of the night.
Lastly, it took a good 45 minutes of him arguing with my father about payment for them to settle on $100. To assist in the payment for set-up/break-down and travel. He’s lucky he got that – or so I thought. Until I spoke with my father when we got back from the honeymoon and the damage deposit got put on hold because Hunter or his partner damaged a piece of equipment. Needless to say, I will never work with him or anyone associated with him again. Nor do I recommend him to anyone, under ANY circumstance.
To start off with, we agreed he would be there at 5:30pm. As he was not playing any ceremony music and this would put him at the venue 1-2 hours before the reception started. He called me almost at six, asking for the address of the venue (which I had emailed twice) and saying he would be leaving PLANO to head to Fort Worth. He arrived at 6:50pm - 10 minutes before the ceremony was set to start. My venue being the down stairs and upstairs of the building meant he had to walk through my ceremony area (where all my guests were already seated) to get upstairs with all his gear to the reception area. I was very unhappy about this. We started the ceremony a tad bit late, on account there were still guests being seated due to crazy traffic. As the ceremony was just starting, Hunter and his partner decided to do a sound check….causing every one of my guests downstairs a headache from the absurd sounds his equipment was making. – I about died.
After the ceremony the reception promptly began and our guests had NO music to arrive to, none whatsoever. When it was time to announce my new husband and I he failed to do that, or play our entrance song either. It took him 10 minutes (at least) to find the songs I had given him for our first dance, father daughter dance and such. You couldn’t hear what he was playing, but it sure wasn’t any one of the songs that was on the list of 150 songs I had given him as the approved to play list. When one finally did come on, it was the first time guests actually hit the dance floor, when the dance floor was full he proceeded to change the song…in the MIDDLE of the song, from a slow country song to rap. This, threw me over the edge….enraged a few of my guests and angered my father beyond words.
To make matters worse, he started an argument with my bartender when he tried to order a beer without an ID. In my opinion, you shouldn’t be drinking at your place of business – whether it’s a party scene or not. After that we told him to pack up and go home. Luckily we had an ipod that we hooked up to the sound system to play music from for the rest of the night.
Lastly, it took a good 45 minutes of him arguing with my father about payment for them to settle on $100. To assist in the payment for set-up/break-down and travel. He’s lucky he got that – or so I thought. Until I spoke with my father when we got back from the honeymoon and the damage deposit got put on hold because Hunter or his partner damaged a piece of equipment. Needless to say, I will never work with him or anyone associated with him again. Nor do I recommend him to anyone, under ANY circumstance.
Ceremony/Reception Venue – YWCA Fort Worth ~~A
I really enjoyed working with Stephanie, she’s wonderful. I asked her many questions and she had plenty of answers. The venue itself was absolutely beautiful. I loved the convenience of having the reception and ceremony in one place. It IS a do-it-your-own kind of place though - they assist in setting up chairs, and tables, but that’s about it, this is one of the main reasons why it’s so budget bride friendly. I was a little late on our final payment, mostly due to the fact that I had so much going on I completely forgot about it. They never called with a reminder, which surprised me. We weren’t charged a fee, which I was grateful for – especially since we were almost a month late on the payment. (ooops).
My only complaint, which isn’t even much of one, is that there’s really only one person in that building you can ask questions to – even if they are generic – such as “do we need to provide the trashbags?” They have someone at the phone 24/7. But no one but Stephanie could answer even the simplest of questions. Which was slightly frustrating. Other than that, the venue was wonderful, my guests loved it. I would highly recommend it any day to any bride!
My only complaint, which isn’t even much of one, is that there’s really only one person in that building you can ask questions to – even if they are generic – such as “do we need to provide the trashbags?” They have someone at the phone 24/7. But no one but Stephanie could answer even the simplest of questions. Which was slightly frustrating. Other than that, the venue was wonderful, my guests loved it. I would highly recommend it any day to any bride!
Catering – Olive Garden ~~A+
Although they didn’t “cater” per say, but they did provide the food.
Going into working with them I knew up front they don’t cater/deliver – which I feared would be the biggest hassle on planet earth. But they do supply a “party-to-go” and any Olive Garden I called and spoke to had someone at the “party-to-go” register that could answer literally any question I had.
Because they don’t do your standard catering I was able to get food for around $6 a person, which was a god send. All FIVE pastas, were cooked wonderfully (so I hear), the salads were all fresh, and the bread sticks were all warm. The appetizers also came out well. My guests are still raving about the food, it was ready for pick up on time – well packaged and piping hot! As much as I enjoy eating there for dinner – I never thought I’d have such a good experience with “catering” from them.
Going into working with them I knew up front they don’t cater/deliver – which I feared would be the biggest hassle on planet earth. But they do supply a “party-to-go” and any Olive Garden I called and spoke to had someone at the “party-to-go” register that could answer literally any question I had.
Because they don’t do your standard catering I was able to get food for around $6 a person, which was a god send. All FIVE pastas, were cooked wonderfully (so I hear), the salads were all fresh, and the bread sticks were all warm. The appetizers also came out well. My guests are still raving about the food, it was ready for pick up on time – well packaged and piping hot! As much as I enjoy eating there for dinner – I never thought I’d have such a good experience with “catering” from them.
Beer/Drinks – Goody Goody ~~A+
No complaints here, they don’t offer discounts on bulk buys unless its special liquor or wine – which I was a tad disappointed about. But the beer prices were still outstanding and either better or within a few cents of anywhere else we quoted. They are a tad over priced on mixers and non-alcoholic drinks though (which I knew ahead of time) And they were very kind to help my father load up the 30+ cases into the back of his truck bed.
Bartender/Server – JC Bartending, Inc. ~~ A++
Because we didn’t hire a caterer - we hired a server from the same place that we hired our bartender. From what I understand the server was very on point about making sure all the pasta trays were rotated out when they became empty, cleaning trash from all the tables – and refilling the salads as they got soggy or empty. This was important to me because we had a lot of guests at the tables and I didn’t want them waiting for food or not having room due to trash.
The bartender and server were both very nice the one time I approached them, and seemed to be eager to help. My father offered to pay for their services and from what gather they were very well priced. I would definitely recommend them
The bartender and server were both very nice the one time I approached them, and seemed to be eager to help. My father offered to pay for their services and from what gather they were very well priced. I would definitely recommend them
Hotel Booking– Travelocity B
I was excited when I discovered that our hotel was $50 cheaper if booked through Travelocity than anywhere else. So I quickly booked - or at least tried to. When I clicked on “book hotel” it changed the room price by $40. Which I was not happy about – nor understood. So I called Travelocity, only to be told that they were updating their systems, and the new +$40 was the updated price but was not showing on the display page. It took about 1 hour and 4 managers – but I got my hotel for the -$40 price….plus an extra $5 discount :)
Wedding Night Hotel – Embassey Suites A+
This is by far one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in (also expensive). Both in and out of country. We checked in the morning/afternoon of the wedding – we were promptly helped and got our keys to our room rather quickily. Which I was excited about. They upgraded us to the top floor at no charge and even left frozen strawberries (that never defrosted) for us by the bed. I booked them through Travelocity in my maiden name – and when we checked in husband name. Thinking nothing of it – until we got a call from his mother saying she couldn’t check into the hotel because we were in HER room! Oops. The hotel apologized for the mistake (which was ours) upgraded her hotel room to the top floor as well – at no charge : )
I felt a little weird walking around barefoot due to the fact I forgot to pack a pair of shoes to change into! And my wedding shoes were taken the night before with my dress by my family. BUT hotel came to the rescue and gave me a free pair of hot pink pool flip flops – which I wore the whole honeymoon.
The breakfast area was a little hard to find – but MAN was it delicious. It was all cooked to order – and I have to say it was the best orange juice I’ve ever had in my life. I would LOVE to stay here again – with their showers that have like 8 shower heads – but I doubt I can bring myself to spend that much on a hotel again.
I felt a little weird walking around barefoot due to the fact I forgot to pack a pair of shoes to change into! And my wedding shoes were taken the night before with my dress by my family. BUT hotel came to the rescue and gave me a free pair of hot pink pool flip flops – which I wore the whole honeymoon.
The breakfast area was a little hard to find – but MAN was it delicious. It was all cooked to order – and I have to say it was the best orange juice I’ve ever had in my life. I would LOVE to stay here again – with their showers that have like 8 shower heads – but I doubt I can bring myself to spend that much on a hotel again.
Honeymoon Resort – Grand Occidental of Cozumel, Mexico B-
This was my first trip to Mexico, and my first time staying at a “resort”. So I’m not sure if maybe the pictures and talk got my hopes up too high – or what. But I was slightly disappointed with this resort. I guess it didn’t help that the resort/hotel was under 20% occupancy so a lot of the restaurants’ and activities were closed.
There are iguanas EVERYWHERE – but the staff is pretty good about cleaning up their…surprises they would leave behind.
Food - the food was OKAY. There wasn’t anything that I would have actually ordered over anything else I eat on a daily basis. And I got slightly bored of their menu after a week there -This could have something to due with the fact they only had one restaurant open. The cheeseburger was delish. But everything else was like I said…only “okay”. I didn’t like the fact that it would take so long to be served, when we were 2 of like 12 people in the entire restaurant – and how most of the servers would act annoyed when you asked them for something. The drinks weren’t much better; they tasted a lot like syrup with bad alcohol. So I stuck with water most of the time we were there.
Hotel/Resort Room – They upgraded us to the honeymoon sweet. Which I later found out meant that they upgrade entails the exact same room but with a queen bed instead of two full sized beds. The sheets and bed always felt damp, but while we were down there I always felt sticky from all the humidity anyways – so I doubt this has anything to do with the actual resort :) the bed was not of comfortable sorts. It was pretty rock hard, and the water in the shower would change from freezing cold to burning hotel sporadically for no reason.
Scuba – for our wedding present mother-in-law very kindly decided to pay for scuba classes so we could dive on the honeymoon. I’m not sure if the scuba place was WITH the resort – or if it was a separate company. But they were on the resort property. The diver masters were all wonderful, very kind, and very knowledgeable of all the reefs. The boats were a little older, and often times smelt of gas fumes. But it was VERY beautiful – and I would love to go back to Cozumel solely for the diving reefs :)
There are iguanas EVERYWHERE – but the staff is pretty good about cleaning up their…surprises they would leave behind.
Food - the food was OKAY. There wasn’t anything that I would have actually ordered over anything else I eat on a daily basis. And I got slightly bored of their menu after a week there -This could have something to due with the fact they only had one restaurant open. The cheeseburger was delish. But everything else was like I said…only “okay”. I didn’t like the fact that it would take so long to be served, when we were 2 of like 12 people in the entire restaurant – and how most of the servers would act annoyed when you asked them for something. The drinks weren’t much better; they tasted a lot like syrup with bad alcohol. So I stuck with water most of the time we were there.
Hotel/Resort Room – They upgraded us to the honeymoon sweet. Which I later found out meant that they upgrade entails the exact same room but with a queen bed instead of two full sized beds. The sheets and bed always felt damp, but while we were down there I always felt sticky from all the humidity anyways – so I doubt this has anything to do with the actual resort :) the bed was not of comfortable sorts. It was pretty rock hard, and the water in the shower would change from freezing cold to burning hotel sporadically for no reason.
Scuba – for our wedding present mother-in-law very kindly decided to pay for scuba classes so we could dive on the honeymoon. I’m not sure if the scuba place was WITH the resort – or if it was a separate company. But they were on the resort property. The diver masters were all wonderful, very kind, and very knowledgeable of all the reefs. The boats were a little older, and often times smelt of gas fumes. But it was VERY beautiful – and I would love to go back to Cozumel solely for the diving reefs :)