Bio

A note about my reviews: Vendors that earned a B did exactly what I expected of them. Vendors that earned a B+ or A went above and beyond to 'wow' me. Vendors that earned an A+ were simply outstanding. I would highly recommend ALL of my vendors to anyone and had no serious negative experiences.

Day-of Coordinator:
Soiree Special Events: A+
I hired my own staff for my wedding, which was the smartest thing I did for myself! It has since made me realize that what I do for a living is worthwhile and extremely necessary for every bride. There was an issue with the caterer (see below) which I was not aware of until my husband told me at the end of the night. They took care of the entire setup and cleanup, as well as working with all the vendors to ensure a smooth event. Amy, Mariah, and Ryan are awesome!!

Engagement Photos:
Laura Gorman Photography: A
Laura was just building her portfolio when we wanted to take engagement photos, so we got a session for free! She walked around Old Town Alexandria with us for about an hour and snapped away. We got quite a few great shots and used one for our guest book photo mat. No complaints here!

Dress:
Allure Bridals & Bridal Visions: B+
Since I had over 3 years to plan my wedding, I was really in no rush to pick out my gown. My first stop was Bridal Visions, and I tried on several "good picks" there. I hit about 8 more stores after that, and none of them had nearly the selection of Bridal Visions. I was looking for a very simple dress with no lace or beading. I was even told by one saleswoman that such a dress did not exist and I would have to have one custom-made for me! As you can see above, I ignored her advice and went back to Bridal Visions. Yana and Trina both helped me with the sale and were super friendly. They let me try on as many dresses as I could and never brought me anything above my price range. They weren't overbooked and were able to spend quality time with me discussing the fabric, bustle ideas, sizes, and the fit of the dress. It came in earlier than expected and I received a phone call the day it was in. I could have found this dress online for cheaper, but the service of this local shop made me feel that they deserved my money. I'd recommend this store to anyone.

Alterations:
Angie C: A
Angie is my hero! I love this woman. She added a 7-point bustle and took in the dress in all the right places. I went three times for alterations and it cost approximately $150. She also altered my sister-in-law's bridesmaid dress and will be doing alterations for my bridesmaid dress for a wedding I'm in this fall. She obviously loves what she does and I'm looking forward to working with her again.

Headpiece:
Bridal Visions: B
No problems here, but my tiny little comb was $75. I searched high and low online, with no luck. After coming across this one at Bridal Visions, I decided to pay retail prices and go for it. I'm happy with how it looked, but was aiming more for the $20 range. It came in right on time and was very high quality, which I guess makes it worth it.

Bridesmaids Dresses:
Alfred Angelo & RK Bridal: B
No big issues here. RK Bridal is a store in NYC that offers a 5% discount off any quoted price. I called Pearl's Place to get a quote, then received the discount from RK. The dresses came in on time in the right sizes. My only complaint is that they don't have an online ordering system, which would have made things a LOT easier! I had very different-sized dresses to order and also had a rush charge, which made it difficult to figure out exactly how much the total would be. The guy on the phone was nice enough but I definitely got the feeling that they were extremely busy and not interested in answering lots of questions. I got $145 retail dresses for about $95 each.

Rehearsal Dinner:
The Chart House: A
Chris' mom arranged everything with the Chart House in Old Town Alexandria, which means I didn't have to do anything but show up! They provided a lovely cocktail hour and a fantastic dinner. The staff was courteous and on top of things, which made service go very smoothly. Their second-floor dining room has a fantastic view and provided privacy. My only complaint here is that you can definitely hear the noise of the restaurant below, so toasts were a little hard to hear. Also, there's no elevator for elderly guests. They can't do anything about either of those things, but FYI if you're planning an event here.

Rehearsal Dinner Photos:
Kate Triano Photography: A
Kate was another budding photographer looking for portfolio work, which means we lucked out and got her services for free! She got a lot of great photos and was super nice. I didn't hardly notice her at all, which was really wonderful. I'm glad to have those photos since the rehearsal dinner included all of our close family and friends.

Caterer:
Marco Polo Caterers: B
I originally worked with David, who was great. The tasting was wonderful, David was responsive, and all was well with the world. They even agreed to change one of their recipes (I wanted pineapple instead of onions on the kebabs). A few months before the wedding, I called again and learned that David was no longer with the company. I met with Enrico, who was also fantastic. He was very accomodating and put up with my detailed requests. Unfortunately between the last two versions of the contract, sodas were taken out. I believe it's because we changed the bar package to a limited bar (we provided beer & wine), but I didn't catch this detail before sending in the final check. On the wedding day, my DOCs had to run to the grocery store and buy 2-liter bottles to cover for this error. Yes, I was to blame for not checking the contract, but I also am a bit disappointed that it was changed without being pointed out. The food was very nice, the staff was friendly, and they let us bring our own alcohol. All-around, a good experience.

Site:
Newton White Mansion: B
No major complaints here. My coordinators came early like I asked them to, and they couldn't go into the house before our contracted time. They set up the outdoor ceremony first anyway, but an hour really is a short amount of time for the indoor setup. The mansion was beautifully maintained although the reception was a little hot with the AC turned all the way up. Our guests loved walking through the mansion and we received a lot of compliments.

Photographer:
Linda Wallace Photography: A++
Linda was by far my favorite vendor of the whole wedding planning process. We booked her WAY prior to the wedding, so there were several months where I didn't talk to her at all. During the process, I moved her hotel, added an hour, and included a drive to Alexandria from Landover. She rolled with all those changes with no complaints. I even came up with a "must take" list and ended up never sending it to her, trusting that she'd know what to get. On the wedding day, she was simply fantastic. Everytime we turned around she was there, but never noticeable enough to get in the way or be obnoxious. I don't think I saw her at all during the ceremony, although obviously I had a little more on my mind than looking for the photographer. She obliged to many requests by my family to take "group portraits" and got us through our formal photographs very quickly. Even after the reception she followed us to Old Town Alexandria for a portrait session. We ended up walking for about 90 minutes and she never once complained. Even with all that heavy equipment she was carrying around! If you're looking for a photographer, please please consider Linda Wallace. She was the shining star of the day and I couldn't be happier with the finished product! We ended up with 1200 final photographs to choose from and a few of my favorites are above (yes, there are LOTS more)! I'm not looking forward to creating an album, since it will be so hard to cut some of her great photos out. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.

Videographer:
Red Feather Video & Bright Star Productions: A
My brother and his wife run Red Feather Video, and their friends run Bright Star. Soheila & Ray were there to get the footage and Jeff and Lori will edit it as our wedding gift. Soheila & Ray were unobtrusive on the day and not at all intimidating or obnoxious. I'm sure working with them on a full video would be a great experience. I can't wait to see the final product!

Officiant:
Brian Vaughan: A
Brian was a joy to work with and really created an individualized ceremony for us. He traveled from Charlottesville a few times to meet with us and was easy to get ahold of through email. He really took the time to learn who we are and why we are with each other. He's the sweetest man and we both enjoyed having him there on our big day. We had a few people tell us that they had trouble hearing him during the ceremony, but we were outdoors and didn't have him mic'd. All in all, we are extremely pleased with Brian's performance.

Florist:
Petal's Edge Floral Design: A
I had my fair share of contract revisions and even changed my color scheme a few months before the wedding. Gerry and Rebecca rolled with it and provided beautiful arrangements. They even agreed to use my MIL's tall "vases," which were less than easy to work with. My bouquet looked great at the end of the day for our portrait session. They made Chris a second boutonniere to wear for those photos, but unfortunately it was demolished by his seatbelt before we even left the reception. A week after the wedding, we visited my parents and saw that they still had one of our centerpieces on their table. It surprisingly looked pretty good, which means they use the freshest and highest quality flowers. They have been in high demand lately so I was very glad to be able to work with them.

Cake:
A Piece of Cake: A
What can I say about Rocio? She's one of my favorite people and makes the BEST cakes in the DC area. It's evident that she loves what she does and she is so responsive and easy to work with. I have had several other slices of cake from Rocio and they are consistently fresh, light, and yummy!

DJ:
DJ Greyhound: A
Vern is by far one of the greatest DJs around. He lives near Annapolis which made in-person meetings difficult for me, but we really enjoyed his personality and laid-back style. We chose to have a very subdued and classy kind of wedding reception, which Vern provided for us. He didn't flinch at our requests for "Skokiaan", "The Safety Dance" , or lots and lots of Jimmy Buffett. We've continued to be 'vendor friends' after the wedding and he now provides a discount to any Soiree brides.

Ceremony Musicians:
The Moeller Duo: B+
I love the way these guys sound! They're a husband/wife team who play the cello and classical guitar. Check out the samples on their website and you'll see what I mean. This was the perfect compromise to a string quartet and a classical guitar, and was simply beautiful. I admit that I don't remember any of the music from the wedding, but was told it was great. I'm looking forward to getting the video back so I can hear them!

Ceremony Umbrellas & Fans:
Oriental Trading Co.: B
Just as I expected. The umbrellas were very affordable and so were the fans! My order came right on time. One of the umbrella handles fell off when I pulled them out of the box, but for $1.00 apiece, what could I expect? I originally ordered 24 umbrellas and after watching our guest count grow, ordered another 24. The kids loved them and so did the adults.

Favors:
My Grandma: A+
After coming up with the idea to give away jam as our favors, my grandma offered to make these for us! We all took a big field trip to go strawberry picking, and then she taught us how to make jam. We helped with the first batch but then she finished off the rest by herself! This woman is simply amazing and made this aspect of the wedding so much easier than if I had done it myself.

Embosser:
Wilshire Graphic Press: B+
No complaints here. WGS created a very cute pineapple embossing plate for us to use on everything. We embossed our invitations, place card favors, and thank you notes. I still use it on personal stationery. Amy is a dream to work with and is definitely on top of her correspondence. I've since ordered a plate for our new address and also one for my business. I'm excited to see them when they come in!

Invitations:
My aunt's graphic design business: A+
Yay! Susan is my hero! My aunt offered to design and print our invitations as a wedding gift. They turned out just fantastic and we received so many compliments! We used a pineapple theme on just about everything we could and the paper was primarily green with some white accents. We had a horizontal pocketfold which included directions, a response card, a wedding itinerary, and hotel information. We even embossed the tissue with a pineapple, because we could. Fun!

Thank you notes:
Paper Source: B
I love Paper Source and can't get enough of that store! I bought my thank you notes here and continue to return for just about all my paper needs. They are a bit pricey, so I can't wholeheartedly recommend them with no qualms. Great products, though!

Kid's Bags:
Oriental Trading Co., Dollar Tree, & Costco: B
Everything was just as expected. I ordered foam ice cream poppers, 'fart noise' cups of slimy stuff, and water snake things from the Oriental Trading Co. They arrived on time and were a fair price. No complaints there! Costco helped out with juice boxes, granola bars, candy, snack sized cookie bags, and disposable cameras. Dollar Tree was good for stuff like activity books, crayons, and "Groucho Marx glasses." The kids loved the bags and it kept them entertained all day! The parents were thankful too, that we thought of the kids.

Chocolate Fountain:
Soiree Special Events: A+
As part of our services, my company owns an awesome chocolate fountain! I used Belgian dark chocolate and our guests loved it. Dipping items included strawberries, pineapple, marshmallows, Rice Crispie treats, peanut butter cookies, and pretzels. They're really not as messy as people say, as long as the chocolate is far enough away that little hands can't reach into it. Kudos to Ryan for handling this one for us. Yummy!!

Transportation:
My mom's Subaru Outback & Chris' Nissan Xterra: A+
Since our ceremony and reception was at the same place, it seemed stupid to hire transportation. I arrived with my mom from the salon and Chris and I left in his new Xterra. Our family has a tradition of decorating the cars, which would have been impossible with a rented towncar. Plus, we got to go wherever we wanted without tipping the driver!