Meagan and Mark
June 23, 2007
Wedding Day Overview - Select Photographs
Wedding Day Events - Additional Photographs
Vendor Reviews, Recommended Websites, and Engagement Photographs located at bottom of bio.
Wedding Day Overview - Select Photographs
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Wedding Day Events - Additional Photographs (Un-edited)
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After waking from my too-brief sleep....
First stop of the day!
My favorite aunt brought ingredients for mimosas - delish!
A beautiful bridesmaid waking up with her drink.
Do you think our flower girl liked her hair? (Flower Girl Flower Tank ordered from Classy Bride.)
The crowning touch. (Custom tirara ordered from Kate Parker Weddings.)
She wanted to know if I thought she looked pretty - of course I thought she looked beautiful!
Aaaah, one of the many planning scrapbooks being put to use, (yes!).
The amazingly talented and fun Nikki hard at work.
The process.
Almost done!
Finishing touches.
And spray, spray, spray.
A stop at Tiffany & Co. to get my rings polished.
Excellent customer service, as always.
To our suite in The Westin.
Serious preparations begin! The flower girl could not wait to put on her dress, (custom designed and created by her mother, Mary Cittadino of Sew Much), and her jewelry, (purchased from creme de luxe as part of my gift to her), and she loved looking in the mirror once she was accessorized!
She was also quite proud of her manicure and pedicure. She had gone to the salon with her grandmother the day before.
I, too, was happy with my manicure. The ring on my right hand was a graduation gift from my mother when I received my first graduate degree, my M.S. degree. Both my manicure and pedicure, done at Mitchell's the day before the wedding, lasted through our honeymoon - through climbing and hiking, horseback riding, snorkeling, surfing, swimming with dolphins, and much more.
My favorite part of getting ready - war paint!
Fresh-faced and ready to go; bring it on!
The uber-talented Nancy Dastillung of Brideface at work.
The robe I wore was a gift from my mother, purchased at Knickers in Hyde Park Square. I loved it!
Precision!
Nancy brought an assistant, Mollie, and they worked in tandem to paint nine faces in less than three hours. (The bridesmaids' makeup applications were part of my gift to each of them.) Everyone looked lovely.
Mollie's work on a gorgeous bridesmaid, (who is wearing Tigerlilly jewelry, given as part of the bridesmaids' gifts).
The flowers arrived while Nancy was finishing my makeup; my bouquet and the bridesmaids' bouquets were delivered in clear glass vases.
Attempt one at getting my mother, who has the best sense of humor, sewn into her dress after it ripped along the zipper due in part to poor alterations. (Marisa Baratelli gown from Bella Donna in Glendale.)
My mom, still graceful under pressure as the attempts continue. I was not so graceful when my dress disaster became apparent.
My beautiful earrings. I chose my bracelet and earrings from the Paris flagship store at Bridal and Formal in Reading, and the quality is fantastic. In the picture, the earrings are lying on a beautiful embroidered lace handkerchief that my mom gave to me the morning of the wedding. I highly recommend Paris bridal jewelry. The designs and materials are superior, and I have worn my bracelet and earrings several times since our wedding day.
My own dress on, (finally!); putting in my earrings.
On goes my lovely and super-comfortable garter from Knickers in Hyde Park Square. (My mother and I are quite fond of Knickers, if you have not guessed!)
I could not, however, manage my shoes by myself. (Kate Spade's Gretchen style, purchased from My Glass Slipper.)
Meanwhile, as we had our hair and makeup done, traveled downtown, and got dressed, the men met downtown, ate lunch on Fountain Square, enjoyed a few drinks together at a nearby bar, and then got dressed in a seperate suite.
...
...
...
As we repaired my dress in the bathroom of our suite, they waited in the atrium of the building...and waited...and waited.
One of the ring bearers took advantage of the wait with a cookie from the popular cafe Ingredients.
Exhausted from the dress fiasco, and nervous about how I looked, I began crying as I approached my fiance. (Actually, I stopped, turned around, went back to the elevator, and had to receive a pep talk from the fabulous Tiesha before I would go up to him!)
I'm coming! Almost there --- really, this time.
His reaction was positive.
Very positive!
But, there was no time for conversation; the Art Museum was closing in less than an hour.
Out we walk.
We were extremely late arriving to the Art Museum - but happy to finally be there.
First, a picture with the ladies.
Then, a few by myself...
Inclduing a good picture of my hair from above.
Finally, a few stolen seconds to reflect on the Museum's beauty with my husband-to-be.
Gosh, I love him!!!
Waiting turns for pictures...
...
Our lovely wedding party.
So happy!
Wishing I could stay forever.
But...time to leave (already!!!)!
Back into the Excursion, heading to the Cathedral. The groomsmen also served as ushers and needed to arrive early.
After dropping the men at the Cathedral, the ladies continued on a few blocks to take more pictures.
Doesn't everyone look beautiful?!
...
Landen was born approximately two weeks after our wedding. My bridesmaid swears he was smiling for this picture :).
A bridesmaid with her purse tucked under her arm. The purse was part of my gift to each girl; I loved the purses when they came and wished I had ordered one for myself! (Bridesmaids' purses ordered through Jessica McClintock website. To each purse I added: a pair of Foot Petals Tip Toes in Black Iris, a package of tissues featuring the bridesmaid's first initial, a tin of Mirror Mints, a tube of Lucky Chick's Mandarin White Orchard Shea Butter Hand Cream,
a tube of Not Soap Radio's Read My Lips lipgloss in To See The World Through Rose-Colored Glosses, and a paper fan.)
Our perfect - beautiful and functional - parasols, rented from Bella Umbrella.
Time for the ceremony - finally!
The flower girl, eagerly anticipating the beginning of the ceremony. (Crystal bouquet ordered through Kate Parker Weddings, featuring clear, chrysolite, and peridot colored crystals.)
The walk begins.
And continues.
Finally - the trade-off!
Greetings from Father Barry, our humorous and wonderful officiant.
Our family and friends!
A moment of prayer.
Beautiful bridesmaids in a row.
Handsome groomsmen in a row. Notice that everyone is laughing - Father Barry was
hilarious
.
Ready, set, go.
My husband held out his right hand instead of his left - and continued to hold it out until the priest pointed out - over the microphone - that he apparently didn't know the difference between his left and right.
Notice the youngest ring bearer's face - his mom had told him that our kiss was going to be the first time we kissed -
ever
. He was veeeery interested in that kiss!
Walking out, very pleased, admist congratulations.
A candid shot of my beautiful grandmother following the ceremony.
With the fabulous little ones. (
There's
my veil!)
Suddenly, the flower girl was shy - but still adorable!
Me with my wonderful mother. My husband with his dear mother.
My brother-in-law (the Best Man) and his girlfriend, my father-in-law, and my sister-in-law (the Matron of Honor) and her husband. We are all friends. I feel very blessed that everyone gets along so well!
The men, (who were happily looking forward to the reception).
Plus the women.
Then, just the two of us.
And off to the reception....
A detail from our boxes for guests from out of town. Each box contained: a can of Barq’s Red Crème Soda, Busken Cookies,
a Cincinnati postcard, a Doscher's Famous Cincinnati Bengals Chew - vanilla flavored taffy, a Doscher's Famous Cincinnati Red Legs Chew - cherry flavored taffy, a Graeter’s Chocolate Bar, Grippo’s Potato Chips, Haute Chocolate's Lisa Brownies, Husman’s Potato Chips, and a Reds Memorabilia pen.
The labels, purchased from My Own Labels, that we placed on the black gable boxes. The boxes were handed out as guests checked into their rooms.
The Taft Room at The Westin, awaiting our arrival. A few minutes prior to our entrance, Tiesha and her assistant guided guests from the Foyer, a glass-enclosed area overlooking Fountain Square, where the coctail hour was held, into the ballroom.
Escort cards / favor boxes had been set out on artistic steel tables at the reception entrance. Our grandparents' wedding photographs stood behind the boxes in silver frames. We purchased the frames at Saks Fifth Avenue and returned the photographs to our grandparents in the frames, as a thank you for allowing us to use the pictures.
In this picture, you can see that our escort cards / favor boxes, (each containing a MidSummer's Night scented Yankee Candle in a hand-blown glass holder from Pier 1 Imports), coordinated with our placecards, thanks to the wonderful services of the Pink Ink girls. Our invitations, programs, escort cards / favor boxes, table numbers, and place cards all featured the same custom design based on my favorite Tiffany & Co. collections: Jazz and Lace.
Our Vera Wang Love Knots flutes, a cherished shower gift.
The flower girl and ring bearers received candy jars at their place settings. (Flower Girl and Ring Bearer Candy Jars purchased from the Mindy Weiss website Shop Love Me.) The flower girl also had a white feather boa folded over her chair. The women in the bridal party had fluffy black Steve Madden thong slippers waiting for them on their chairs.
All place settings included Godiva's Dark Mint Medallions - delicious, (and less exotic than the Marble Hill Chocolates that were served during the coctail hour, since we knew that not all of our guests were culinary adventurers).
We're here!
Speeches and toasts began immediately following our entrance.
My father gave a wonderful speech and toast.
I cried during several of the speeches.
But, I also had plenty of opportunities to laugh during the Matron of Honor's speech and the Best Man's speech.
My husband hugging his brother, the Best Man, after his speech.
Thanking our guests for sharing the day and evening with us.
Our first dance.
Let them eat cake! Our cake looked EXACTLY as I wanted it to look. The workmanship was flawless, and it tasted delicious.
The first cut, with our Vera Wang Love Knots serving set, another generous and cherished shower gift from a bridesmaid.
Party time! First, mingling.
Then, dancing, (at least, I think that's what I'm doing in this picture).
Everyone dancing once the alcohol has begun to kick in :).
...
Breakaway --- for end-of-the-night pictures by the fountain! Yay! I had been very upset earlier in the day to miss our picture time by the fountain, so the photographers whisked my husband and me out to the fountain for a short period during the reception.
The spray from the fountain felt wonderful. It was a lovely break. (There had been a movie playing on the screen over Fountain Square - notice the credits rolling in the background. In this picture, it looks as if we were alone in front of the fountain, but in actuality there were hundreds of people sprawled across the Square watching "The Greatest Game Ever Played" and "Happy Gilmore". Earlier in the day, Fountain Square had been temporarily converted into a mini-golf course and putting green.)
Back to the party! We had wonderful guests; everyone stayed until the lights were dimmed at midnight, and after midnight the festivities continued at downtown bars and clubs. Most people had smartly booked rooms at The Westin and Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza. I love urban atmospheres, and I am so glad that we got married downtown. Our many guests from larger cities - Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, and Palm Beach, among others, were particularly pleased by being able to spend the night in the city rather than having to spend the night in the suburbs.
Together forever :).
Vendor Reviews
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Ceremony Location -
St. Peter in Chains Cathedral
S: C
P: A
The Cathedral is gorgeous, and we were glad to find a church outside of our home parish that was willing to marry us despite the fact that we have been living together for several years. At the time that we booked the Cathedral for our wedding, the Cathedral’s fee was significantly less than the fees of the other churches we considered, and it included excellent professionally trained musicians as well as all set-up and break-down. Though the Cathedral’s fees rose significantly between the time that we booked the Cathedral and our wedding day, the Cathedral honored the fee initially quoted to us. The Cathedral’s secretary was always extremely kind and pleasant. Unfortunately, the Cathedral& #8217;s wedding ceremony coordinator, who first contacted me approximately two weeks before our wedding, was extremely disruptive and inappropriate both prior to and during both our rehearsal and our actual ceremony, and she caused a great deal of grief and strife – to the extent that she initiated a shouting match with our officiant during our rehearsal. Fortunately, Tiesha was able to restore a certain degree of calm and sensibility to the proceedings.
Officiant - Rev. Barry Windholtz
S / P: A+
If you are looking for a priest to marry you within the Roman Catholic Church, I highly recommend contacting Father Barry. Typically, he is willing to marry Catholics in the Church of their choice, even if they are not members of his parish.
Contact Information:
St. Rose
2501 Eastern Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
P: 513. 8 71.1162
F: 513.871.2851
strosecin@aol.com
Reception Location -
The Westin Cincinnati
S: A
P: A
Though we considered numerous downtown venues, we chose The Westin based on its modern feel and neutral color scheme as well as the responsive and superior service of the catering manager, Marla Davis-Orvig. We found the $10,000 Saturday night minimum to be reasonable relative to the minimums of the other downtown locations we considered, (which ran from $15,000 to over $25,000). The Foyer, a wide private glass-enclosed hallway running twice the length of the Taft Room and overlooking Fountain Square, was a unique cosmopolitan touch that we especially we appreciated. The Westin was extremely accommodating throughout the planning process and the wedding day, offering: free valet par k ing for all meetings and drop-offs prior to the wedding day; an elaborate tasting for six individuals; choices of white or black floor-length linens; choices of traditional or structurally artistic metal tables for the escort card, favor and gift tables; a free champagne toast for the head table and parents’ tables; early check-in for family members and the wedding party; a free suite overlooking Fountain Square for the bride and groom the day and night of the wedding; beautiful room decorations and an excellent spread of food for the bride and groom following the reception; et cetera. Bar service prices are per drink or per head, whichever your preference. The menu is customizable and the food prices negotiable. We chose to offer three meals, one created by the chef specifically for our reception. The presentation was excellent and our food very good. Though the bar ran out of vodka and beer on a few occasions, they were always quickly replace d . Also, many of the traditional fees, such as the room fee and the cake-cutting fee, were deleted at our request. Finally, as they advertise, the beds are heavenly. I highly recommend speaking with Marla and visiting The Westin if you are considering a downtown reception location.
Caterers -
Marble Hill Chocolatier
S: A+
P: A+
We used Marble Hill chocolates as additional hors d' oeuvres during our coctail hour. We are always impressed by the shop's products, and our guests raved about the artisan chocolates. They were quickly eaten.
Chocolates from Marble Hill Chocolatier, Cincinnati, Ohio:
The Tropical Collection ~
Kahlua
Key Lime Pie
Mojito
The Truffle Collection ~
Passion Fruit Tahitian Vanilla
Cake Creator -
Maribelle Caker y Cincinnati
S: A+
P: A+
The staff at Maribelle Cakery is extremely professional and made choosing our cake a very positive experience with a private consultation, full slices, and thorough unrushed descriptions of our options. We met with the head designer, who requested to see pictures of my gown and other wedding aspects before making specific suggestions regarding our cake design. We appreciated that at Maribelle, a family owned and run business, they meet customers by appointment only, which meant that we had the entire showroom and the designer’s attention to ourselves – my mother, my husband, and me. Maribelle’s cake designs are sophisticated and flawless, and their cakes are delicious desserts. Their silver platters are spectacular. Our cake design was a customized version of one of their newest and most popular styles, and our f lavors were customized combinations of their various flavors and fillings. We were able to choose as many flavor combinations as we wanted at no additional cost. Initially, based on a desire to save money and a combination of several very high recommendations, we had chosen to utilize a baker who makes wedding cakes in her home, but when she cancelled our cake, we chose to use Maribelle instead due to their reputation for professionalism and for producing the highest quality wedding cakes in Cincinnati. I am glad that we chose Maribelle; our cake was beautiful, delicious, and worth every single penny. We are looking forward to the fresh cake that we will receive on our one-year anniversary.
Florist -
Robin Wood Flowers
S: C
P: B
Our service from Robin Wood seemed to be highly dependant on the business load of the store; during busy times we received poor service, but du r ing non-busy times we received excellent service. Robin’s store is bright and creative, and her designs are beautiful, but she was not organized in her dealings with us. She was willing to meet with us several times to work through a variety of ideas, but each time she took only cursory notes, and following each meeting we had to contact the store several times before receiving an updated contract. I should not have been surprised then - though I was surprsied - when the afternoon of the wedding the bouquets that arrived at the hotel looked nothing like we had ever discussed with Robin. Though the bridesmaids’ bouquets looked completely unlike the sample bouquets Robin had put together for me in her store, I realized that there would not be time to fix the five bouquets and my bouquet, and since my bouquet was the most shocking in its lack of relation to what we had discussed and what was written in our contract, I asked Tiesha to prioritize a r ranging for a replacement bridal bouquet. Tiesha spoke with Robin and she agreed to create a new bouquet for me and to deliver it in time for our pictures, but when the new bouquet was ready, she informed Tiesha that she would not deliver the bouquet until our balance was paid in full. My fiancé had given Robin’s accountant his credit card number for the final payment several days in advance of the wedding day. Apparently, they had been attempting to run the credit card since that day without success, but had neglected to tell us that there was a problem. Because they waited to inform us of the problem until the Saturday afternoon of our wedding, we had no way of determining the nature of the problem with our card. When Tiesha explained the situation to my father, he gave his card so that that they would release my bouquet to me. He asked Tiesha to not tell us, as he didn’t want our worries from the dress situations to compound, so we did not know that this happened until we returned from our honeymoon. Though my parents did not mind using their credit card, none of us understand why the florist didn’t tell us earlier in the week that the card wasn’t working so that we could have investigated and corrected the problem. I believe that waiting until the afternoon of the wedding to inform us of the problem, and then threatening to withhold my bridal bouquet as we were leaving for pictures, was unprofessional. We contacted my husband’s credit union upon our return from our honeymoon and discovered that that Robin Wood’s accountant had been attempting to process the credit card as a debit card; but my husband’s credit union does not allow debit card purchases in excess of $500. Despite these difficulties, however, the reception flowers were all amazingly beautiful, so much so that I would consider using Robin Wood again, though with lower expectations for service and with an insistence that everything be written out in great detail. On a positive note, I liked that Robin Wood offered a plethora of artistic vases rather than only standard vases; the black ceramic vases that we chose were only $5 more to purchase than to rent, so for a small price increase we were able to at the end of the night give our centerpieces to the individuals who had helped us the most in preparing for the wedding. The people to whom we gave the centerpieces appeared to be truly touched and appreciative, and by all reports the flowers lasted for about a week following the wedding.
Photographer -
Cindy Wagner
S: A+
P: A+
Fabulous vendor. We had a wonderful experience working with Cindy. Though she resides in Indiana, where she is heavily involved in her local arts community, she travels extensively to photograph weddings. As busy as she is, ho w ever, she has always been accommodating to our schedule. She drove to Cincinnati on several occasions ~ for my mother and me to interview her and look through her portfolios, to shoot our engagement pictures, and to scout locations for our wedding day pictures. My mother, husband, maid-of-honor and I were all comfortable with her from the moment we met her. She has extensive training in the arts, which I believe is evident in her work. Her love of art is also evident in her interactions with the people she is photographing. Her excitement is truly contagious. When she shoots, she offers helpful hints regarding body placement, but without being domineering. At times Cindy and her assistants became so engrossed in taking pictures that they did not seem to realize that we needed to move forward to the next place or activity. Cindy was with us for the entire day. She arrived at the hair salon at 10:00 and stayed at our reception with h er assistants until after midnight. Throughout the day, she and her assistants monitored the pictures they had taken and kept me informed regarding which pictures had been taken and which pictures had yet to be taken. I was devastated to lose so much of our scheduled picture time at the art museum due to the dress situations, but Cindy and her assistants were still able to get many wonderful shots in the short amount of time we had there. Additionally, the dress difficulties pushed us behind schedule so far that we were forced to forfeit our drives to our other planned picture locations. Cindy and her assistants were extremely resourceful and found an alternative picture-taking location on a side street less than three blocks from the Cathedral. We were able to take enough quality pictures before the ceremony that we were able to go to our reception almost immediately following the conclusion of our ceremony, as we had initially planned. During t he reception, Cindy set up her computer and ran on the screen a loop of the best pictures taken earlier in the day, which our guests loved. All of our pictures were ready for us when we returned from our honeymoon, and we have already received many compliments on them. Cindy was willing to personalize a photography package to fit our budget. My favorite elements offered in her packages are her gorgeous storybook albums. Her arts background is evident in her sophisticated album arrangements. Additionally, Cindy provides her clients with a disk of all of the full-resolution images used in their albums for their personal safekeeping and use. My mom was certain that she wanted to have a parents’ album put together by whichever photographer we chose. I, however, initially thought that I wanted to simply get my photographs from our photographer and create my own album – until I saw Cindy’s albums, which quickly changed my mind. I highly recommend contacting Cindy to discuss her work and view her albums before making a final decision regarding which photographer you will use. All in all, Cindy exceeded all of our expectations in regard to both service and product.
Disc Jockey -
Bill Dattilo of Tri-State Entertainment
S: A+
P: A+
Bill was a perfect fit for us – extremely classy, knowledgeable about music, punctual, and able to both incorporate our preferences and accommodate our crowd. Bill met with us several weeks prior to our reception and also communicated multiple times with Tiesha prior to our wedding day. My husband and I have wide-ranging musical tastes, and Bill was able to understand them, and honored them at our reception. He also fully honored our Do Not Play list. All of his suggestions at our meeting were good ones, as were his questions. He made sure that he under s tood the context of the night’s events, the timeline, and how to correctly pronounce names. For our cocktail hour and dinner time, I specified a group of CDs that I wanted to be played, knowing that as much as I loved them some of the songs on them would not be appropriate for our purposes, and Bill listened to each of the CDs prior to the wedding day in order to choose appropriate songs. We were fully satisfied with Bill – more so than I expected to be, in fact – and I highly recommend him.
Cocktail Hour and Dinner Time CDs:
Café del Mar, Vol. 13 (Various Artists)
Elemental Chill 3: Air (Various Artists)
Hotel Costes, Vol. 2: La Suite (Stéphane Pompougnac)
Hotel Costes, Vol. 3: Etage 3 (Stéphane Pompougnac)
Suzuki (Tosca)
The K&D Sessions (Kruder & Dorfmei s ter)
Versions (Thievery Corporation)
Vintage Chill, Vol. 1: Spring (Various Artists)
Entrance and First Dance Songs:
Entrances
Bridal Party: none
Bride and Groom: James Taylor ~ How Sweet It Is
Dances
First: Bon Jovi ~ You Had Me From Hello
Father-Daughter: Rascall Flats ~ My Wish
Mother-Son: Kenny Rogers ~ Through The Years
Transportation -
A. Limousine Associates
S: A
P: A
This company provided the best price for an Excursion on our wedding date. We rented a black 18-person Excursion for the three-hour minimum time period. It was in good condition, and the driver was extremely considerate and helpful, especially in regard to keeping us in-line with our time schedule.
Invitations -
Pink Ink Design Group
S: B
P: A
The women at Pink Ink were kind, talented, accommodating, and flexible. We worked primarily with Karen, who designed our invitations, our rehearsal dinner invitations, our programs, our escort cards, our place cards, and our table numbers. They were all exceptional in design and of good quality, and the prices were reasonable. In fact, though we didn’t order the products until just a few months before our wedding, Karen recalled that we had first visited the store to discuss our invitations a year prior, and she honored the store’s prices from that time. I loved that we were able to have customized and coordinating paper products. We did experience difficulty in that some of the items weren’t completed in timely manner. However, we had multiple guests contact us to inquire who designed our invitations a t the request of their friends who had seen the invitations and wanted very much to know who designed them – including inquiries from Chicago and New York.
Rental Company -
Adora Event Rental
S: A
P: A
Adora offered the most affordable chair covers and delivery of all of the companies we considered. Eleni, the owner, was polite, responsive, and always helpful. The service was superior, and chair covers were in excellent condition.
Jeweler -
Smith Jewelers
S: A
P: A
My engagement ring and wedding band were both purchased from Tiffany & Co. My husband, however, did not want a platinum band. For him, we chose a Tungsten ring from Smith Jewelers, a jeweler my family has used repeatedly in the past. They are kind, offer quality merchandise, and give a discount to Bethesda Hospital employees.
Tuxedos -
Folchi's Formal Wear
S = B
P = A
Though the tuxedos were superior, service was at times disorganized. A store employee called my husband one week prior to the wedding to complain that one of the groomsmen and both of the ring bearers had yet to submit their measurements, despite the fact that the groomsman in question had gone with my husband to the store several weeks before in order to get measured and the fact that the mother of the ring bearers had faxed their measurements to the store the week before. When my husband informed the caller of these facts, the staff was able to find the information in their system. The fact that the out of town attendants were able to submit their measurements and deposits via the Folchi’s website was helpful. Also, my husband lost twenty pounds in the month before the wedding but did not resubmit his meas u rements, so when he picked up his tuxedo two days before the wedding, it was quite large. Because the warehouse is onsite, they were able to provide him with a smaller tuxedo almost immediately. We also appreciated that the groom’s tuxedo rental was free.
My Dress -
Bridal and Formal
S = A
P = A+
To choose my gown, (Amsale Collection, Sydney), I visited the store on the day of a trunk show, (Kenneth Pool for Amsale). Katie assisted me in trying on a number of gowns, and she provided polite but candid opinions about each dress that I tried. I enjoyed the personal attention given to me by Scarlett Austin and his staff, and found the stylists’ opinions very helpful in regard to choosing a dress that flattered my body, choosing a coordinating veil, and choosing appropriate jewelry. I highly recommend attending a trunk show when choosing a gow n if possible. I received a discount from Bridal and Formal for purchasing my dress during the trunk show. However, with only the standard trunk show discount, the dress remained outside of my budgeted price range. Seeing how much I loved the dress, Bridal and Formal’s staff arranged with the designer for an even greater discount. The designer also added three inches of extra length to the gown for me for free. When my dress came in approximately six months later, I tried it on in the store and immediately realized that the top of the dress fit slightly differently than had the top of the sample dress I had tried on a half year earlier; it sat higher than the sample. A manager contacted the designer, who agreed to bring the original sample to the store during an upcoming trunk show. Bridal and Formal held my dress until the trunk show, and when the designer's team came into town, I met with them to express my concerns. I tried on both the sample dress and my dress, and they discerned that my dress did in fact fit me differently than had the sample; mine sat one inch higher. The designer offered to create an entirely new dress for me free of charge to address my concern. The new dress fit exactly as had the sample. Regarding my Paris jewelry, (earrings: Casino Royale, Small; bracelet: Grand Tour), the quality is excellent, more substantial and far shinier than the majority of the bridal jewelry that I have seen. The designs are versatile, and I have already worn both pieces several times since the wedding.
Bridesmaid Dresses -
Bridal and Formal
S = A-
P = A+
My one caveat regarding Bridal and Formal is that though the bridesmaid department did give my bridesmaids an additional discount on their Amsale dresses, (Top G152T and Skirt G186T), beyond the typical discount given to bridesmaids when the bride has purchased her dress at the store, the staff made poor recommendations to my bridesmaids regarding what size dresses to order.
Hair Stylist -
Nikki at Mitchell's Salon and Day Spa, West Chester
S: A+
P: A+
My rating is based on my own experience. I loved having everyone together at the salon to have our hair done. My mom, my mother-in-law, the flower girl, the flower girl’s mom, the flower girl’s grandma, (who was also one of our readers), all of the bridesmaids, and I got our hair done at the same time at the salon. It was such an excellent start to the day! The flower girl’s grandma brought ingredients for mimosas – yum! I loved everyone’s hair, and I especially loved mine. I met Nikki when she did my hair for a wedding I was in two years ago, and she has been my stylist since then. In my opinion, she is very talented. She r e cognizes what styles will be flattering on me, and she can mold my hair to do what I envision. My hair is naturally blonde and bleaches in the sun in the summer, and she does an excellent job at blending my roots in the winter. I arrived to my first wedding trial, the week of my mother’s accident, tired and tearful, so she offered to stay late on a night of my choice during the coming week so that I could be rested and happy during my trial, and she did not charge me for that visit. Then, at my new trial, she studied the pictures I brought and listened to my ideas. When I told her that I wanted a Grace Kelly look, she gently told me that she would do what I preferred, but that since she saw my personality as more Gwen Steffani than Grace Kelly, she wanted to show me an idea she thought I might like first. She did the front of my hair exactly as I was picturing, but showed me a different idea for the back – which I loved. She also des i gned a second more traditional style, saying that she wanted to have a traditional style prepared in case I decided on the wedding day that I did not want the new look after all. But, when they day came, I did go with the new look. I loved, loved, loved my hair, and it stayed in place the entire day. Plus, my mother was supposed to bring my veil to the salon the morning of my wedding but forgot; Nikki was able to perfectly recreate all of her work from my trial and to describe to my bridesmaids where and how to place my veil based only on her memory. Nikki also did my mother’s hair prior to mine, and even though my mother brought a hair piece and Nikki had never met my mother or done her hair before, Nikki used the piece and made my mother’s hair look just as she wanted it to look. I wish that I could mandate that all brides use Tiesha as their DOC, Nikki as their hair stylist, Nancy as their makeup artist, and Cindy as their photographer .
Makeup Artist -
Nancy and Mollie of Brideface
S: B
P: A+
Nancy and an assistant applied makeup in our suite at The Westin for: my mother, my mother-in-law, the flower girl, my five bridesmaids, and me. Several months prior to the wedding, at a complimentary event held at Saks, Nancy shaped my eyebrows and my maid-of-honor’s eyebrows and gave us each a makeup application. We loved her work. At my actual makeup trial, Nancy was able to apply the primary elements from the idea pictures that I brought in a flattering way to my face structure and was able to integrate my feedback about her work, making changes until we reached the look I desired. She is highly qualified, and a master of the Mercier flawless face. She uses excellent products, but never in excess, (for example, she did not use foundation on me, as we agreed that we wanted my skin tone to show through, but she d i d utilize highly pigmented products to create the dark eye look that I wanted). She was not concerned that my inspiration pictures were from Another Magazine, Bazaar, and W, as other bridal makeup artists might have been. You can tell that she has worked the shows because she is able to create more than one “look” (and also because she has excellent time management skills). Each of my bridesmaids looked gorgeous, but still like her individual self. I also appreciated Nancy’s strong knowledge of lighting and photography elements and her understanding of the interplay between face structure, lighting, and photography, an understanding many makeup artists in this area lack, in my opinion. Related, I am fond of Nancy’s emphasis on brows and eyes – classic framing elements. The one difficulty that I had with Nancy is that she double-booked herself for my wedding day after telling me that she would not book another bride f or my wedding day, which caused logistical difficulties and required me to re-arrange my schedule for the day, but once Nancy realized her doing so had created problems, she was very apologetic and worked with me toward a solution. If I had paid both Nikki and Nancy twice their current rates for their work, I would have considered it to be worth every penny.
Wedding Coordinator -
Tiesha of Creative Afflairs
S / P: A+
Tiesha is an amazing person, and her services are an incredible value. Though we hired her only for day-of services, she met with us several times, for several hours each time, beginning two-and-a-half months prior to the wedding to ensure that she understood my vision and to organize details and timelines in advance of the wedding day. She took over all vendor contacts beginning several weeks before the wedding and attended our final vendor meetings. Prior to the wedding, she sent out c o mmunications to everyone involved in the wedding to ensure that everyone was aware in advance of the day’s planned activities in detail. She was always helpful, calm, collected, and incredibly professional. We gave her the majority of the materials for our ceremony and reception in advance of the wedding day, and she handled all deliveries. At the rehearsal, she calmed a (very vocal) feud between our priest and the Cathedral’s new wedding ceremony coordinator. The day of the wedding, she arrived at the hotel before us to prepare the room for the makeup artists and to collect my dress and my mother’s dress from storage where they had been delivered the night before, she provided many emergency items such as the steamer, found additional emergency items such as the butter knife and blue thread for my mother’s dress, assisted with the dress situations, negotiated with the florist when the wrong flowers were delivered, handled a fee mi s understanding with the makeup artist, set up our reception including our chair covers, contacted the appropriate vendors to inform them that we were running late due to the dress situation, brought us drinks, and cleaned and decorated our suite, (with rose petals, candles, a lovely handwritten letter, a gift of a gorgeous frame in our wedding colors holding a picture of my husband and me taken earlier in the day, and plenty of food and drinks). She also performed countless other duties, such as calming my mother on several occasions and helping my mother into and out of her wheelchair. Her assistant was equally kind and conscientious. I truly cannot say enough about the wonderful job Tiesha did for us and how much my family and I appreciate her work. When I first told people that my husband had purchased a DOC for me as my birthday present, they said that the choice seemed to be a foolish waste of money, especially because I am so organized. Weeks ou t from the wedding, those same people were already saying that they could not fathom my not having Tiesha’s help. Perhaps most telling, several of our other vendors contacted me even before the wedding specifically to tell me how much they loved working with Tiesha, how lucky I was to have found her, and how much they were already looking forward to working with her again in the future. There were several mishaps on my wedding day that threatened to tear all of my planning apart at the seams, and thanks in large part to Tiesha, they were not evident to anyone except those individuals directly involved. I love Tiesha, and I firmly believe that anyone’s wedding day experience would be improved by her presence.
Other Vendor -
The Celestial Steakhouse
S: A
P: A
We worked with Christopher Helms, the General Manager, in organizing our rehearsal dinner. We utilized the Incline Room located above the lounge. The room accommodates up to 54 guests; we had nearly 50 and did not feel over-crowded. Windows enclose the south and west wings, providing an incomparable view of the city and the river. There is also a beautiful 20 foot chandelier in the center of the room. Because the room opens over the lounge below, we could hear soft live jazz music throughout the evening. The room minimum was reasonable for our number of people; we had an open bar but brought our own dessert, and we just reached our minimum, (which we had negotiated to be several hundred dollars less than their standard minimum for the room on a Friday night). We worked with Christopher to pre-select our cheese, fruit, and vegetable trays, our salad, and our meal choices, and he prepared personalized menus for our party. We did not want to pay the $8.50 per person price for dessert, so we chose to bring our own dessert for a $2.50 per person plating fee. We chose to bring a large cake from Bluebird Bakery in Glendale, the same cake we were eating when my husband proposed to me. The cake was excellent, and at $68.00, even with the plating fee it was far cheaper than using the restaurant’s desserts would have been. I thought that the evening was lovely. We received many compliments on the atmosphere and the food. The only downfall I noted was that the room was chilly and in some places near vents, cold.
Rehearsal Dinner Menu:
Assorted Cheeses, Fruits, and Vegetables
Salad: Heart of Romaine with a roasted garlic-parmesan dressing
Entrées: Filet Mignon - an 8 oz. hand selected, center cut filet, char-grilled to medium and served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes OR Amish Chicken Brea s t stuffed with dried cherries, fresh herbs and brie over a Vidalia onion tart
Dessert: Bluebird Chocolate Cake
Other Vendor -
Tigerlilly Jewelery
S: A+
P: A+
I ordered the majority of my bridesmaids' jewelry from Tigerlilly, and was very impressed by their service and products. The crystals were of excellent quality, and several vendors commented throughout the day that the crystals were the nicest they had ever seen on bridesmaid jewelry, that the crystals looked like crushed ice.
Other Vendor -
Bella Umbrella
S: A+
P: A+
We rented our parasols and umbrellas from Bella Umbrella and had an excellent experience. Prices were reasonable, with two-way shipping included.
Recommeded Websites
BRIDESMAID DRESSES
ariadress.com
bellabridesmaid.com
charsa.com
kathlinargiro.com
miracledress.com
simpledress.com
siriinc.com
threaddesign.com
vucouture.com
EDIBLES
daleandthomaspopcorn.com
godiva.com
marblehillchocolatier.com
vosgeschocolate.com
FAVORS AND GIFTS
bayleysboxes.com
chicblvd.com
designhergals.com
girlshop.com
indigonight.com
plumparty.com
redenvelope.com
shopintuition.com
shoploveme.com
signaturesasha.com
uncommongoods.com
FLOWER GIRL DRESSES
joancalabrese.net
kayacollection.com
petiteparfait.ca
shelleygeorge.com
smithermanandbarnwell.com
HANDBAGS
laurenmerkin.com
laurenscherr.com
nataliejordan.com
perfectdetails.com
JEWELRY
amysbridalaccessories.com
annabellagio.com
creme-de-luxe.com
hautebride.com
husakdesign.com
reginab.com
swarovski.com
tiffany.com
tigerlillyjewelry.com
turqbridal.com
vivandingrid.com
PERSONALIZED CLOTHING
rhinestonrevival.com
classybride.com
PREOWNED WEDDING DRESSES
preownedweddingdresses.com
SHOES
beautiful-shoes.com
belissimabridalshoes.com
bergdorfgoodman.com
chineselaundry.com
endless.com
jimmychoo.com
katespade.com
modelbride.com
myglassslipper.com
piperlime.com
neimanmarcus.com
ninashoes.com
nordstrom.com
raffaello-network.com
shannonbrittshoes.com
stuartweitzman.com
zappos.com
Engagement Pictures
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. Thank you!
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