I knew that I would have absolutely no problems with the Chapel, and of course there were none! Louise let us come in a half hour early for extra picture time, and also left up the greenery around the Chapel for us. Bernard worked our event, and made sure that we had everything we needed. Communication was always great as well!
The Winery was the perfect site for our general theme, and Michelle was extremely easy to work with. On the day of the wedding, everything was great and how it was supposed to be (i.e. the left fireplace was lit for us). Michelle was even kind enough to leave up some of the holiday decorations for us that matched our décor perfectly! Michael, the man who did our wine tasting, was our manager for the event and approached me at the beginning of reception to make sure everything was fine and told him that if I needed anything, to let him know immediately. I didn’t have to talk to him throughout the event at all!
One caveat about the Winery: the deer head above the fireplace on the right side of Wessex Hall. It cannot be removed, but that is the decision of the owner, not the staff. Being a vegetarian, I found the head extremely offensive. It was the reason that we chose to book another reception site originally. When we decided to change our reception site, we came back to the Winery, but I was still concerned about the deer head. Luckily, our DJ brought in tall lights for the dance floor, and I couldn’t even see the deer head all night. I was extremely thankful for that.
Throughout all of the wedding planning, Laura was always fantastic. She answered my emails very quickly and I never had any issues. They even handled some miscellaneous tasks for me, such as setting up the guestbook, card box, escort votives, etc. Everyone loved the food, and so did Robert and I (yes, we actually ate at our wedding!). I thought their prices were extremely reasonable, especially with all of the linens, flatware, and glassware included. Plus, you have the piece of mind of a highly recommended company! The only bad thing I can say is that they didn’t set up the room exactly how we wanted (we had wanted our sweetheart table by the fireplace, but it was instead set up beside the dance floor). This was a not a big deal though, since we didn’t really know how the room should be set up in the first place. It worked out nicely being beside the dance floor anyway!
As I told Chris when I gave him his tip, if all wedding vendors were like him, wedding planning would be completely stress-free! He was definitely the most costumer service oriented vendor out of all of my wedding vendors. He came highly recommended by other brides on the Knot, and he absolutely deserves it. He would send me emails or call to check in with me, in case I needed anything. His fee was definitely reasonable, and you can tell that he takes pride in doing a fantastic job for you…which he does! With such a small guest list, I was a bit worried about keeping everyone dancing, but by the end of the night, it seemed like everyone was dancing! He knew exactly what to play, and was also able to sneak in some songs that we requested. Really, he was the perfect wedding vendor.
After a nasty encounter with the most popular Williamsburg florist on the Knot (page me on the Virginia board with your email address for more details), I was discouraged. I didn’t want to use a vendor whom I had heard nothing about! But, I took a chace with Morrison’s after I received their quote…Arlene had the most creative ideas of any florist I met with, in addition to being one of the most reasonably priced. She was also extremely flexible with our budget and never made me feel bad about it…ladies, if a vendor ever makes you feel bad about your budget or tries to bully you into paying more by ignoring your budget guidelines, then don’t deal with them!! We never did any mock-ups before the wedding, but I was extremely pleased with everything! I actually checked my email the day of the wedding and Arlene had sent me an email that simply said, “YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE THE BOUQUETS!” You can tell she loves her job, and she is a super sweet lady. My bouquet was lovely and simple, just like I had requested. The bridesmaid bouquets were perfect; they loved them! And, Arlene even cloved some of the oranges in the centerpieces, which she offered to do for me if she found the time without paying extra. Now, that’s a good vendor! I don’t understand the knottie fascination with one particular florist and when there are (in my opinion) better ones out there! Give Morrison’s and Arlene a chance…they are a small family business and it shows in how they treat you!
We had difficulty finding a baker who could do a smaller, three tier square cake (the first baker we interviewed said the smallest one they could do was 135 servings!). We had heard great things about Kara Buntin, but I had contacted her about delivering to my original site, and she didn't deliver that far out. But now, with the change to the Winery, she could deliver to us! She always answered my emails quickly, and she was great to work with. The cake was perfect, and was exactly what we had discussed (I don’t know who can take credit for the actual decoration on the cake…it was provided by our florist, but I don’t know who physically placed it on the cake). We knew we would have tons of cake left over (94 servings for 55 people!), but we were surprised to see that the whole middle layer of chocolate fudge cake was completely gone by the end of the night! If you want a reasonably priced, delicious wedding cake, Kara is a great option. She also does amazing groom’s cakes!
Tim is a music professor at W&M specializing in classical/renaissance guitar. I came across some music samples of his playing on the Weddings, Music, & More website, and I thought it sounded so pretty and different, and would be great for our ceremony. FI and I went to see him play with his wife (who sings) to hear him in person, and it really sounds great.
I dealt almost exclusively with Weddings, Music, and More, and while BJ was very nice, there were a couple of slight issues. She never sent me a copy of my signed contract, and the original contract also had the wrong time on it after we had confirmed the correct time by email. So, I had to meet with her to fix the mistake… not a big deal. Also, after confirming that she received my final payment, I noticed that it hadn’t been cashed two weeks later. I emailed her about it, and she said that I should sent another one (i.e. she must have lost of my check, but she didn’t come out and say it!). Again, not a big deal though.
Tim was very nice, but a bit difficult to get in touch with. He prefers to communicate by phone, while I prefer email to have a written record of any decisions that are made. But, he eventually contacted me and we decided on everything with no issues. Tim sounded great at the ceremony from what I heard! I think people appreciated something a bit more unique than the typical organ or string trio!
Robert and I do not attend church, but he considers himself a Unitarian (he attended a Unitarian church for several years). We attended a sermon by Jennifer, and thought it was very lovely and would fit nicely with our beliefs. We met with her a couple times, during which she got to know us a bit better and we finalized the ceremony. She also offers pre-marital counseling for those who would like it. She ran the rehearsal very well, and Robert and I loved our ceremony! She even sent us a copy of it, not only to keep but also to give to some of Robert’s relatives who are hard of hearing and were not able to enjoy it. One of my bridesmaid said it was her favorite wedding ceremony she had ever heard…serious and lighthearted at the same time. We were very happy in our decision to ask Jennifer to be our officiant.
Natalie has been my hair stylist for almost 11 years now…of course she gets an A! We did one trial, but we kind of winged it on the day of the wedding and I was very happy with it in person (I’m wondering if it looked as nice in photos!). We tweaked the style a bit as we went along, and I was very comfortable with this, since she knows me so well. I think it looked great! She also did my Mom’s hair and Robert’s mom’s hair for us for no charge.
I am really torn about this vendor! Pauline was recommended to me by Holly at Blush bridal in Newport News. She is the sweetest British lady you will ever meet! She works out of her home, and her prices are amazing! I had about 4 fittings, and I was very happy with the work she had done at each one. However, my Mom brought my dress to me the morning of the wedding, and there were several “dimples” throughout the back of the dress where the bustle ribbons were sewn in. My mom and mistress of ceremonies tried to steam them out a bit, but they were definitely not going away. I’m sure there is a way to do a bustle where this does not happen, and I’m really not sure what happened in this case. It bothered me at first, but I let it go since it certainly wasn’t worth being upset! Additionally, my bustle broke right before the father/daughter dance. We had to use a safety pin to fix it. It is so weird to me that all of the other work she did was great (she refitted the bodice a bit, fixed the neckline, hemmed, etc.) and then for some reason the bustle just wasn’t quite up to par. Will I use Pauline again? (I am a bridesmaid in a wedding this July) Probably so, since there will be no bustle involved! Again, I am quite torn about this vendor.
I had a trial with conventional make-up at European Beauty Concepts, and while it looked nice, I felt like I had an inch of crap caked onto my face! Through good old Google, I found Ashley and the Green Muse. My first trial didn’t go quite as planned (Ashley’s daughter was sick and the airbrush machine wasn’t working correctly), but the airbrush make-up still felt amazing! So, I decided to use it. Now, I had four make-up trials…crazy, right? But, as someone who doesn’t wear much make-up daily (just mineral make-up), I struggled with the natural look v. the bridal look. It took Ashley and I a couple times to get it perfect for me, and I think it looked great in person! Remember, make-up in person will always look different in photographs, and I can’t wait to see what it looked like in our pictures. Ashley did my make-up, as well as my bridesmaids, my mom, Robert’s mom, and my mistress of ceremonies. As far as I know, everyone liked their make-up. On the day of the wedding, Ashley was right on time and we finished way ahead of schedule (when does that happen??). All in all, she was great!
Robert and I love the Blue Talon, and we were excited to have our rehearsal dinner there. The manager, Adam Steeley, was a pleasure to work with, and always answered my emails promptly. He explained to us how to avoid a food and beverage minimum (changing our times around), and always seemed to want to do his best by us. We had discussed using the larger of the two private rooms, since the smaller one is not as private per se, and I had agreed to pay a sum based on the number of people we would have needed to get the larger room, since we had a smaller guest list. I didn’t mind paying this, and it was already within our budget. Adam also allowed me to use the Blue Talon logo to create menus for the occasion, which they placed at each place setting before we got there. On the night of the event, everything was fantastic! The food was excellent, and every one of our servers was perfect. Better yet, when I got the bill, it was so much lower than I had expected! It turns out that since they were having a slow night, they decided not to charge me a fee to use the larger room. I left an additional tip equal to the mandatory gratuity, and the waitress met with me to make sure it was correct. I explained how happy I was with everything, and since it cost much less than I expected, I wanted to tip them more for their service. She actually gave me a hug! I think the Blue Talon would be perfect for a smaller rehearsal dinner, and my experience with them was fantastic.
Overall, we had a good experience with Men’s Wearhouse. All the tuxes were correct for the wedding and that’s what really matters! We did have some issues with my uncle, who had gotten fitted in Florida, but the computers showed that he hadn’t been fitted. It took a couple phone calls to get it straightened out, but eventually, everything was fine. No big problems here.
I was a bit anxious about staying here, since another knottie had stayed here for her wedding night and encountered some issues. Robert and I were pleasantly surprised that we didn’t have any issues at all! They had just opened up in October, which may explain some of the negative reviews at that time, but I think they have worked out a lot of the kinks by now. The staff was very pleasant, and our room was amazing. We had to check out of our room around 3:30am the day after the wedding, and there were no issues. We took some pictures around the hotel, and everyone was very accommodating!