Caterers - Louise's Catering This is Turner's required caterer, but we couldn't have chosen better ourselves. The manager Gretchen is phenomenal! So professional and just top notch all the way. The food was amazing and they were willing to make anything we wanted. We are still hearing about how good the Prime Rib was. Our only issue was that the dish we specially requested did not live up the tasting on the wedding day, but it seems that only those of us who knew what it was supposed to taste like noticed. I was very dissapointed with that only because I was really looking forward to that dish. The prime rib was amazing, and though we didn't get to have any, we have been told the tiramisu also was great. The staff was top notch and attended to each guest's every need without missing a beat. The bar staff as well handled everything beautifully, especially our drunk friends. Highly recommend!
A- Cake Creator - Custom Creations and Alterations My seamstress made our cake. She does it on the side, and we had always wanted something that was truthfully very simple. Plus, we didn't serve cake, we served tiramisu instead, so the cake was actually one real layer on the bottom for us to cut and two styrofoam layers on top for show. The cake was super yummy though, and beautifully done. She was great to work with and made me a sample for no charge. A+ Florist - Carrie at Petals Carrie is awesome. There is no other way to put it. She went above and beyond to make my vision happen on my budget. I was altering and tweaking thinks right up to the last minute and she didn't miss a beat. All of the flowers were gorgeous and so much better than I expected. I think I would have done just Gardenias in my bouquet if I could do it again - but that would be my choice, and so not Carrie's fault. My only dissapointment was that the anemones didn't have dark centers, which I had requested, but I haven't asked Carrie about this so I don't know if they just weren't available or what. Highly, Highly recommend.
A- Photographer - Heather Cook Elliott Heather did a magnificent job. Our pictures are gorgeous, just as good as photographers I looked at that were twice the price. She was everywhere on our day, and was up for anything. We had a very energetic wedding party and she kept up with us without any complaint. Our only dissapointment is that we don't have more than one family shot with each of our parents, and none of the immediate families or sibling groups or other more "formal" group shots we had asked for. I didn't have a list with me that day, and our ceremony ran a bit late, so I wasn't thinking of any of that until it was too late. I do think this was partly Heather's responsibility to make sure these shots happened. We also don't have any pictures of just Ken, or just me, or really any of Ken's prep time or waiting before the ceremony time. All in all though, I wouldn't trade our pictures for anything, and the missing shots aren't that big of a deal. We own all of our images and got 10 hours of coverage for the price some photogs asked for just to own the images. She also did a great job with our engagement pictures. It is not easy working with another photographer as your client, and Heather did a great job.
A- Videographer - Anne MorningstarAnne is one of my students, and I asked her at the last minute to tape our ceremony. She does do this for several weddings every summer, and she is very good. She did a tremendous job taping our ceremony. The sound situation was more than challenging, and she nailed it. There are shots of Ken and I during the ceremony and our vows that are absolutely priceless. We were crying watching our video when it arrived. I am so pleased I decided to have this done and can show my kids one day. She also added a beautiful credit sequence (with the names of those who were in the wedding and all of our music and reading selections) that utilized some of the receiving line footage. The whole piece was beautifully done and really captured our day as it was, not as something else. If you are interested in hiring her, send me an email and I will give you her contact info.
A Disc Jockey - Mad Cap Milwaukee We LOVED our DJ. He was recommended to us by one of our bridesmaids who had him for her wedding. We gave him a list of exactly what we wanted to play with very little wiggle room. (we are serious music people) He worked with us to make it a list that would be energetic. He did fill in here and there, and he kept the dance floor PACKED all night long, and stayed later when we asked him too. He kept things going, checking with us when necessary, but not bugging us. All of the fun of having every song you want without any cheesy DJ crap. Highly recommend.
A+ Musicians - Arreaux Strings - Rebecca ShawI think I've seen every knottie say this - but it is true - I don't remember hearing the music much. I do remember hearing the trumpet, which I had specially requested, and Rebecca built a trio around that for me. The only problem we had was that they didn't switch from the prelude to the girl's music when they should have - but I honestly don't know if they weren't being cued by the DOC or if they just didn't do it. My two vocalists said they were wonderful to work with and did a great job. They were on time, did rehearsal with the vocalists and were super low maintenance, in fact I never even talked to them that day.
A Transportation - Crystal Limosine We struck a deal with them for my DH's bachelor party and the wedding. The owner Samir, was our driver and he was super calm and collected (despite us running late) and treated us wonderfully. The bus was clean, spacious and very nice. A little ridiculous on all of the "features" (a video screen fireplace on an 80 degree day) but my DH really wanted it that way. It was great to party with our friends before the reception. All in all, great service and vehicle.
A+
I guess I did a good job. ;0) Please check out my website if you are interested in seeing more, or have needs for your wedding.
No job is too small to be a custom and unique one.
Rental Company - Karls Even Rental Where to start? First, we got a great deal on our rentals - I negotiated heavily with them because we needed so much, and they beat everyone else's prices and then some. However, the tables and chairs were supposed to be delivered on Friday between 8and noon. They didn't come until after 1:30, and only after many, many upset phone calls from me. The driver and workers were beligerent with my DH and were throwing chairs off the truck breaking them. My DH and his friends did most of the unloading because we were so far behind schedule. We had to call and get replacements on the broken and damaged items they sent us. All in all, this fiasco made us late for our rehearsal and really was very stressfull. They did deliver the chairs to the ceremony site on time the next day, but honestly, if I hadn't gotten so upset with them the day before I don't know that it would have been that way. On friday, when I was talking to our account manager and her manager, they assured me they would be talking to the sales manager about our situation and would be doing somehting for us. When I called a week and a half later to discuss the situation, she acted like she didn't know what I was talking about. To get the issue behind us, we agreed to a 15% discount as compensation. It isn't enough, but at least it is over. I can't recommend them in good faith. Canopies is quite a bit more, but apparently worth it. Our catering manager told me on Friday "This is why we never deal with Karls". Not very confidence building.
D- Jeweler - Art Metals Studio Christopher Sklba worked with us to design our rings. He had designed my graduation ring, and it was DH's intention from the beginning that we design my ring together. The process was more time consuming than I would have liked, but in the end I have a totally custom ring that I truly love and is like nothing else. Their service is top notch and the product is too. A week and a half before the wedding they helped me get together custom necklaces for our moms with no complaints. Highly Recommend.
A Tuxedos - Men's Wearhouse We chose Men's Wearhouse because they fit the shirts and jackets on more than just the neck measurement. Everyone had all of their pieces, they fit well and the price was good. DH also got his RD suit there. They did a great job with service, fitting and tailoring, even taking up my dad's pants the day before the wedding. They also custom ordered all of the men's ties and pocket squares for us. No complaints.
A My Dress - Melissa Sweet "Lia" - Zita's Bridal My dress was a Melissa Sweet "Lia" ordered thru Zita's Bridal. Zitas gave me great service when I was shopping and once I had decided they price matched a shop in Indiana. My only complaint is that when I came into pick up my dress (I made an appointment 2 weeks ahead of time) they tried to stick us in a storage closet to try it on - claiming they were overbooked and basically ignored me. I would say once they have your money they aren't at all interested in you. I didn't do my alterations there even though they were far more convienient, b/c they were so overpriced in my opinion and I didn't appreciate the treatment I got once my dress was in.
C+ Bridesmaid Dresses - Bloomingdales - Skokie,ILThe dresses were BCBG and off the rack. I wanted something with texture to contrast my all silk gown and I didn't want traditional bridesmaid's gowns. The girls at the dress department searched the whole country for me to get the right sizes and got us the best discounts on the dresses. In the end the originally $400 dresses cost us about $150 each. Great service, quick and so nice to work with. All of the dresses were perfect, I'm still totally in love with them.
A+ Hair Stylist - Holly & Neroli Brookfield Holly travelled to the downtown location to do my hair the day of, and she was great. She was there early and so calm. When I started to freak out that things didn't look right, she was great at keeping me sane and fixing it right away. I was done on time, and perfectly. Holly is my regular stylist, and I'm always pleased with her work. The staff at Neroli Downtown did a great job on the rest of my girls as well, and the event booker worked with us to get the best pricing for everyone. My only issue was that the desk girls had our charges wrong and kept trying to insist it was $50 more than it was. It took ALOT of discussion to get it right. I wouldn't mention it but the exact same thing happened at my MOH's wedding one month later. I would say the group coordinator needs to go over the schedule with the desk ahead of time.
A Makeup Artist - Julie On Location Julie was wonderful. My first trial didn't go so well, I really didn't like it. So she fit me in for a second one for free and it was great. She did a PHENOMENAL job on everyone the day of. My mother has never looked more gorgeous. We got super sweaty at the reception, but things pretty much stayed looking great. She even came to the ceremony to touch us up afterwards before pics. I think she can be a little hard to warm up to, but once you know her, she is so sweet and wonderful. She gave me a shade of lipstick I'm still wearing and I have never been able to find lipstick I like on me, ever.
A+ Linens - BBJ Linens BBJ was great. Our linens were fabulous. Some of our order didn't show up on the delivery date, but they ran what they had in the shop down to the reception hall on Thursday and had the rest fed-exed in on Friday early in the morning. Great service. The rounds that they said would fit the long banquet tables did not, however the extra linens we had because of the shipment mix-up took care of that problem so it all worked out. I fell fairly confident that if I had called that day to say it was a problem, they would have taken care of it. Also, the chair ties/table runners aren't long enough to go longways on a banquet table, despite what they said, but we made it work. They also did the linens for my MOH's wedding a month later and all was perfect.
A Alterations- Custom Creations and Alterations This is who I used for alterations on my gown, my mom and my sister's dresses. She did a great job, was very detailed and thourough. I had a lot of alterations and a bustle for $140. She also gave us sticky tape and extra bra cups for free. And those bra cups came in handy when I put the dress on the day of and realized I had lost a little weight. Very, very good and well worth the trip to Racine. I have since taken other work to her and am equally pleased.
Thanks for Visiting!!
You can usually catch me on the Wisconsin board - or email me at molly@mthreestudio.com
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