Vendor Reviews

Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 12:48 PM

VENDOR REVIEWS!

BRIDAL GOWN/ALTERATIONS/BRIDESMAID DRESSES, Images Bridal, GRADE B+:  An initial misunderstanding on my part caused some stress early on.  They also were not too supportive of some of my goals like dying my crinoline (which I ultimately did not do because I borrowed one) and not wearing a backless/strapless bra.  Hate those.  Ended up wearing one anyway – still not convinced it was worth its use.  Also, after taking the store credit (vs a smaller discount on my dress) I was disappointed to learn that despite having a wall of shoes and many books, too, they did not have any white, non-dyeable shoes.  I dislike dyeables.  I found my shoes elsewhere and then had to find something else to spend the remainder of my credit on.  However the ladies there were very cheerful and timely.  They allowed me to borrow a headpiece I had ordered (but was not in yet) for my hair trial.  I loved the bustle on my dress and they were spot on with ordering the right size (including custom hollow to hem) and no additional alterations were needed.  Their service was very good.

TUXES, MW TUX, GRADE A: Everything fit and everything went very smoothly.  When we had two groomsmen drop out/replaced within the last two weeks before the wedding and they made all the correct adjustments without missing a beat.  No problems whatsoever.

WEDDING BANDS, Don Basch Jewelers, GRADE B+: I had a very difficult time finding a jeweler that would create the wedding band that I wanted.  When several others said it wasn’t even possible (and if it were I probably wouldn’t like it), Don and Don Jr. said they could do it.  I liked their enthusiasm and definitely tried their best to understand exactly what I wanted.  The ring didn’t turn out quite right the first time so they happily made some adjustments and I like the outcome. 

REHEARSAL DINNER, Carrie Cerino’s, GRADE A:  Carrie Cerino’s food is top notch Italian!  We had a party of 28 and had our dinner in the atrium off the main restaurant.  They had us pick out 6 entrees and they printed out the limited menu for our guests.  This helped them to serve us faster and it helped us control the cost more.  Service was great and they were very understanding and flexible as we started almost an hour later than the reservation was made for.

STATIONARY, Me and Hubby, GRADE A:  We designed our invitations, menu cards and programs.  People thought we had them all professionally done! I designed them and Hubby painted the watercolors and put it all into Photoshop. He’s got skills, that hubby of mine!

HAIR, Roberts Salon (Michelle), GRADE B:  Price was very budget friendly and Michelle was very energetic and nice to work with.  The trial went a little better than the final.  We started running out of time the morning of the wedding so she anchored everything down and sprayed it into place but the veil was going to have to stay in. Ideally I wanted to keep the veil in if tolerable and as it turns out, it wasn’t an issue.

MAKEUP – TRIAL 1, Clinique Counter at Macy’s Great Northern Mall (Judith and two others), GRADE D-:  My experience with this counter was a disaster from the start.  I had left makeup to the proverbial last minute (two weeks out) and when I inquired about wedding day makeup Judith told me they could do it but they were “in gift” at that time so they we’re really busy so as long as I don’t mind the trial taking “like, two hours …”. Without many options left, I decided to do it anyway.  When I showed up for my trial, it ended up being a tag team effort between the lady who I was scheduled with and a Clinique consultant there from NY.  Neither paid much attention to what I said I did and did not like and I pretty much hated the look in the end.  So I moved on to a different Clinique counter.

MAKEUP – TRIAL 2 & WEDDING DAY, Clinique Counter at Dillard’s Great Northern Mall (Theresa and myself!), GRADE A:  After failing to like my makeover at the Clinique counter at Macy’s, I pretty much decided to do my own makeup BUT I wanted someone else to do my eyeshadow.  This worked out great.  I didn’t feel like my make up was caked on a ready to wipe off onto the shirt collars and dresses of anyone who hugged me and Theresa gave me soft eyes a bit more dramatic than my everyday wear - just the way I wanted them to be.

FLOWERS, New Leaf Florist (Helen Frantz), GRADE A:  Helen arranged the bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres. When started looking for and talking to florists I received a lot of negative feedback. I wanted tulips in my bouquets and I was told that it was a bad idea – they are difficult to arrange, they open up when warm and wont look pretty, etc.  I also received strange looks when I said I wanted Rosemary boutonnieres.  However, Helen heard out my ideas and got on board right away.  All the arrangements looked great and my bouquet was awesome!

LIMO, Accurate Limousine, GRADE C+:  The limo (a white Cadillac Escalade) was clean and looked great.  My wedding party enjoyed the champagne.  The downside was that the driver tried to take a shorter route to Wade Park from 90 rather than taking the MLK exit like I had wanted.  He relied on his TomTom and it ended up taking longer as he zig zagged his way to University Circle.  My biggest criticism, though, was that he was not at all mindful of photographer who was following him.  The limo drove through the tail end of several yellow lights and by taking a much different route than the one I told our photographer to expect, the photographer ended up getting lost.  The time we spent reconnecting caused us to lose a significant amount of time taking photos before we had to leave again for the hall.  

VIOLINIST, Mary Beth Ions, GRADE A+:  We heard her play “Ave Maria” at Christmas Eve Mass and booked her that same night.  Her playing is so beautiful and it added a very special touch to the ceremony.

PHOTOGRAPHER, Joshua J. Wood, GRADE A(+):  I LOVE the teasers he posted on his blog (http://joshuajwood.blogspot.com/2009/04/april-18th-2009-cheryl-and-thomas.html)! Watch the sideshow for additional photos.  Josh was fun and easy to work with, very creative, and he went out of his way to try and make up for the mishap that happened between the church and hall.  Josh is from Akron and is not as familiar with Cleveland’s east side so the plan was for him to follow the big white limo.  But the limo driver took a totally different route than I had told Josh about and it was running yellow lights. So Josh eventually lost sight of the limo and we didn’t reconnect right away.  This cut into our photo time in between the church and hall.  Feeling bad about it (and it wasn’t really his fault) he offered to come back to Cleveland the next day for some additional shooting at the park.  So we dressed up again (twist my arm!) and took some fun and creative pictures around the bridges on MLK Blvd.  I can’t wait to see them!

RECEPTION HALL/CATERING, Imperial Ballroom/Red Letter Events (Ed Sutter), GRADE B: The price was right, the hall was big, and Ed was willing to be very flexible so we went for it.  Ed definitely comes across as a salesman and he could be difficult to contact.  He is currently in the process of launching a second (or third?) restaurant in the Akron area and in the month before our wedding, he was spending every weekend in Panama City catering and tending bar to the Spring Break crowds.  I wasn’t always convinced Ed and I were on the same page but on the day of the wedding, he delivered.  The hall looked great and the food and service received good reviews from guests.  Ed’s flexibility allowed us to tailor the event to our tastes and budget.

FAVORS, Friends and Family Cookbooks (Kathy LeFevre), GRADE A+:  For something a little less traditional, we gave out cookbooks as favors.  Before the wedding, guests were asked to submit a recipe and a picture.  These were then all put into a nicely printed spiral bound cookbook that we then gave out to each couple/family/guest as a favor at the wedding.  Kathy was great to work with, quality was good and they were a big hit - I was repeatedly told by my guests what a great idea it was.

RECEPTION MUSIC, Frank and Dean … and then some (Damion Fontaine and Scott Brotherton), GRADE A+:  Hubby and I both really wanted live music but the expense of a several piece band was looking to be out of our budget.  Then we happened upon Frank and Dean, or as I lovingly called them, our two guys singing.  The music plays off their sound system and they provide the vocals along with a half witty/half cheesy banter that’s all entertaining to listen to.  I had said many times in the past that I would be happy to have an all Sinatra reception so this was a perfect fit.  Neither my family nor my Hubby's is known to dance much but they were all very entertained by the music.

HOTEL BLOCK, Sheraton, Independence (Derek Baker), GRADE B:  The location was perfectly between our church and hall making it a nice gathering place for out of towners and those who just needed a place to kill a couple hours with good company.  After both the rehearsal dinner and wedding, we met friends and family at the hotel’s bar (open late) for additional socializing.  Some had a drink, some did not.  We then also met all of our out of town guests (and some in town guests) there for breakfast the next morning. While a hot breakfast is not included in a standard booking, Derek arranged for vouchers to be held at the front desk for members of the wedding party.  We also stayed at the hotel in a jacuzzi suite.  The room was clean and the service good.  Lowlights were that they couldn’t find our reservation when we first showed up (in dress and tux after the wedding) and since I had to correct the front desk clerk and tell her we were staying two nights and not one leads me to believe that our reservations were never actually booked.  But without missing a beat, we had a room and it was ready so (luckily?) no trouble.  Also, we were surprised to realize there was no mini fridge to keep our reception dinner leftovers (I had no appetite at the hall but I was hoping to eat my dinner eventually that night).  It never occurred to me that there wouldn’t be one when there was one in all the non-jacuzzi suites.  I never did ask if we could have one brought to the room – I just sent my leftovers home with Mom and ate them later.

TRAVEL AGENT, Kaufman Travel (Nanci Kucharski using Apple vacations), GRADE A:  The only criticism I have is that Nanci recommended a 7 day beach honeymoon over a 10 day on the reason that we would probably be bored of the beach after 7 days and would be ready to go home.  I can assure you, Nanci, that we would have LOVED three more days at Couples Negril!  However, BIG kudos also go to Nanci for listening to what we wanted from a honeymoon destination and matching us up with Couples Negril in Jamaica!  This all-inclusive resort met our budget perfectly and included many activities other resorts do not, which gave us something unique to do every day without worrying about over spending once we were there.  We had a worry-free blast of time – it was a perfect fit!

HONEYMOON, Couples Negril, Jamaica, GRADE A: The only criticism I have of the resort was that our wet towels would disappear but weren’t replaced.  This included the beach towels that we would be charged for if we didn’t check them in before leaving.  However, one call to housekeeping and they would come up with new ones within minutes.  As mentioned above, the resort has lots of free activities.  We rode the glass bottom boat, went snorkeling during the day twice (and once at night but that did come with a nominal fee), took the catamaran cruise which included a stop at some caves we swam into and a waterslide for those who stayed closer to the boat, played racquetball, attempted waterskiing, and there were a host of other activities we didn’t try before we left.  We also received a sizable credit for the spa and salon for booking when we did so we both luxuriated in a couple spa treatments, too.  The staff was great, the food was excellent and the atmosphere was very romantic.

- Bride and Groom