Invitations - Seedlings LLC: A+++++
We worked with Jenny who owns her own invitation design firm in Columbus, Ohio.  She was SO easy and sweet to work with.  She advertises custom invitations, and yes, they really are custom!  She let us take a lot of creative liberties… like I sketched the graphic that was used on the front of the invitation and I created the map myself and she inserted it into the design.  Since I was very picky about the invitations, this worked out well for us!  I would HIGHLY recommend Seedlings if you know exactly how you want your invitations to look.  She can definitely make it happen!

Venue & Florist - A New Leaf: A
We were kind of forced into using A New Leaf for our flowers since the venue is owned by the flower shop. Originally, I wanted to do my own flowers... But, it turned out just fine and worked out really well in the end. We worked with Brianna who is new there and I believe our wedding was her first. We were a little nervous about that to begin with. Every time we met with her and Michelle they just seemed super laid back about the flowers and it was somewhat hard getting answers out of them. I think they have just done so many weddings and kind of 'know the drill'. But you don't exactly pick out all of your flowers there, you just give them the 'look' that you want and some of your favorite flowers that are available during that season and they order what is available and then they only use what looks best when they get it in. When I first saw the bouquets on the wedding day I was a little disappointed because they weren't what I had pictured in my head, but then as the day went on, I realized how beautiful they were and that Brianna did such a good job with the colors and combinations. I was specific about having goldenrod in the reception space and she worked it in beautifully! And the whole 'naturalized' theme I wanted to carry through was very evident. In the end I can say that I am VERY happy with the flowers and A New Leaf! Everyone has been complimenting the venue for its uniqueness... it was definitely a hit and I am still in love with the place!

...I highly recommend A New Leaf!!!

Hair & Make-up - Elizabeth from Enzo's in Glenview: A+++++
I was VERY happy with how my hair and make up turned out. I have been getting my hair cut with Elizabeth since I was 10 and she knows how to handle my thick hair... she was SO much fun to have there... she is a blast to talk to and completely understood the look I was going for - natural.  She did a great job and I would highly recommend her!

Videography - REM Videography: A
This was kind of our last minute splurge. We waited till like 1 month before the wedding to book REM. I honestly didn’t even research any other videographers, so I cant say that he was the best fit for us... but his work seemed good so we went for it. There just wasn’t enough time at that point to be picky. We worked with Robert and he was SUPER nice and easy to work with. Him and Dean seemed to work well together coordinating the shots as well. I cant really critique all of his work yet since i haven’t seen the final product yet. But I will give him an A so far because he kept the energy levels up and was really great the day-of.

Caterer - Blue Plate Catering: B
We worked with Kelly Milam and she was absolutely amazing!! She was so sweet and very helpful throughout the planning process. Unfortunately she couldn’t be there on the wedding day so Jessica Lussier took over for her. Jessica was great as well! The reason I would give them a B though is because we did passed Hour douerves (sp) and cocktails and they just didn't get enough food out to all the guests. Kelly assured me ahead of time that everyone would be stuffed but, some people told me they never even saw the food or only got 1 or 2 things. The other negative is that, it is true what other knotties have said about Blue Plate... the food is just not the same as at the tasting. Many of the hour dourves that were supposed to be hot came out luke warm or cold, and they just didn't taste as good as at the tasting, so that was a little disappointing. The other negative thing is that they only came to the venue 2 hours before the wedding began to set-up. However, my Mom had to wait until they got there to set-up all of our other things, like the candy buffet, the sashes on the chairs, etc... She said she was extremely rushed and almost didn’t get it all done before the wedding. Besides those things... I was super happy and excited about the passed lemonade and iced tea that we had in the courtyard... it was SO beautiful and so fun to drink cause they put sugar on the rims of the glasses! ...that was just something fun and cute. And otherwise, I would say that they did a good job and were very accommodating. I cant say I would highly recommend them though just because the final product wasn’t great.