Church-St. Peter Lutheran Church Schaumburg, IL A+ I really can't say enough great things about St. Peter. I'm Catholic and the dear husband is Lutheran. Right off the bat his "must have" was his family's church, so St. Peter is was! We got married in the small, historic chapel but there is also a newer, much more modern church available. The pre-marriage classes with Sue were entertaining if not mildly educational (all though we had already discussed most of the things the class covered). The church does not push its beliefs on you if you aren't Lutheran, which was nice, because I really didn't have any intention of joining. As it turns out, I enjoyed working with the pastor and church employees so much that I decided to convert and am getting ready to take the class required to become a member of the church. Our pastor was Pastor Hudak and he was great to work with. He was easy to reach by email and answered all of my questions (no matter how ridiculous). He took the time to get to know me and gave a wonderful sermon at the ceremony. The ceremony itself went very well and the Pastor was personable and funny! It was truly an honor to get married at St. Peter by Pastor Hudak. We have friends that got married there last year and they paid signficantly more than we did for the newer church, which is supposed to be cheaper than the historic chapel. I believe if you are a member you get reduced rates. We paid what I felt was an extremely reasonable price for the space, organist, and staff time. Our booking included a one hour rehearsal, 1 hour for pictures after the ceremony, the pastor's time, and the organ player. Additional soloists were available for a small fee all though we didn't use one.
Reception Chandlers on the Schaumburg Golf Course A Kathy was our contact at Chandler's and from the moment we booked she was an absolute pleasure to work with. We originally booked the smaller room (upstairs, I think it was D) but as our guestlist got bigger we went back to look at Ballroom A/B on the 1st floor. I fell in love with the room immediately, we paid the extra deposit and we never looked back. Communication with Kathy was excellent from start to finish. She always returned phone calls either later in the day or early the next day and was happy to answer any and all questions. She made sure that we were on top of things like: picking our menu and cake, deciding on decorations, and getting the seating chart and placecards to her on time. She communicated wonderfully with the DJ and photographer as well, ensuring that everything at the reception ran smoothly. The food was phenomenal both at the tasting an the day of the wedding. We went with a mixed grill and the chicken and beef were both cooked perfectly. The veggies and rice pilaf were also awesome and I heard (all though didn't experience) that that veggie meal was also very good. The staff was attentive and the bartenders were generous with alcohol portions. The room was also beautifully decorated. The only reason I am giving them a A and not an A+ is because the other woman at Chandler's (Kathy's associate) was rude to us on a number of occasions. I thank my lucky stars that we got to work with Kathy. Shuttle Service Windy City Limos F Windy City was one of the few vendors we worked with that I was unhappy with. I was very disappointed with their service and wish that I would've gone with someone else, despite them being a recommendation from our hotel. To be fair, communication with the company was mostly positive before the wedding. I worked with Colleen Ryan and all though there were a few misunderstandings with when exactly they should charge my credit card (she told me at first that it would be charged immediately then later told me it would be charged at the same time it was charged for the remaining balance) for the deposit, mostly she was easy to work with and responsive to questions. Unfortunately, this kind of service did not carry through to the wedding day. We booked them for two separate contracts (both 14 person limo vans). The first contract started at 4:00 and was supposed to run a continous route between our hotel and reception. The second contract was to begin at 9:30 and run until midnight between the reception and the hotel. My DOC confirmed our expectations multiple times in the days before the wedding but on the day of the wedding, the first driver was incompetent. First, when we pulled up (after being a few minutes late taking pictures) he proceed to complain because he had been sitting in front of the hotel for 45 minutes with nothing to do. Shortly after that the van was full of guests ready to go. He took them to Chandler's dropped them in the wrong place, and then proceeded to park his car at the far end of the parking lot. He didn't return to the hotel for more guests until a frantic maid of honor ran out and asked him what the hell he thought he was doing. He stranded me and half of our guests at the hotel, forcing us to carpool, take cabs, and otherwise find our way to the reception. We missed 45 minutes of the cocktail hour. He claims we had to call him for additional pickups. Even though this is not what continuous means, we did call him, mulitple times. He was not answering. Later he changed his story and said that "someone" told him to wait. When I spoke with him around 9:30 that evening he was a rude bastard. Windy City's customer service after the wedding was awful. They were completely unwilling to refund any acceptable amount of money for their failure and refused to admit any wrong doing and accept any fault. I am no longer pursuing this issue (because they are impossible) but am considering filing a complaint with the BBB against them.
DOC Amanda Burdick, Ladi Events www.ladievents.com A+ Originally, I was dead set against having a DOC (my personality makes me a "do it myself or die" kind of person). DH finally convinced me to hire someone to help take some of the stress off, and I could not have been happier with Amanda and her services. She did so much more than help with things the day of. She confirmed all the vendors ahead of time, she helped our pastor run the rehearsal the night before, she created contact lists and timelines and all kinds of good stuff we needed. I was amazing at how organized she was and she also picked me up when our shuttle stranded me and helped me to stay calm while decided whether or not to decapitate or strangle the shuttle driver). As icing on the cake, she was fun to work with and more than a few of our single male guests were in love with her (sorry guys, she's married). Anyway, she was worth every single penny and I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a DOC.
Florist Joyce Grattoni contact her at jgrattoni@comcast.net A+ Our flowers were absolutely gorgeous. They lasted all day long and some of the larger arrangements were going strong even after we returned from the honeymoon. She was fun to work with, made the flowers less stressful than I was expecting, and even got DH's approval (he's a flower snob). She works out of her home in the NW burbs.
Photographer The Wedding Studio Schaumburg, IL Paulo (photographer) Amy(contact) B We hired The Wedding Studio because I do not believe that great photography should cost thousands and thousands of dollars. We booked one of their photographers for their basic, $999 package. It included 10 hours of photography with unlimited photos (there were over 1000 over the course of the day) a small album (that we are not using) a portrait station, sitting for engagement photos, and all the good stuff you'd expect to get. Contact with the studio was great before the wedding. We picked our photographer based on a number of albums; we just loved his style. We didn't meet before the wedding but spoke on the phone numerous times (face to face meeting is encouraged, I decided it wasn't necessary). The day of the wedding Paulo was great. The only person that didn't like him was my mother-in-law and she was just upset that he wouldn't let her boss him around. He was funny and got us in and out of posed pictures fast so we could go to the cocktail hour. He was excellent at blending but still getting great photos (when all the pictures came back there were tons of shots that I don't remember ever seeing him take). I didn't hear or see him once during the ceremony and he got some kick-ass shots. After the wedding the photos came back quickly. Amy met with us and gave us our CD proof as well as the online ordering instrustions. We are planning to purchase the digital rights to our photos but they give you the option of using an ordering goal; once so many photographs are purchased, they release the rights to you. The only reason I am giving them a B is because I hated the photographer we had for our epics. She was rude, unprofessional, and didn't speak English but got mad at us when we didn't understand her instructions. The photos were horrible and when I asked for a reshoot they said no. Otherwise, everything was great. Invitations and Save the Dates Linda Zec, www.invitations4sale.com B I ordered our save the dates and invitations through this site. Both were Carlson Craft and came at a huge discount. I was not really wild about having to pay with paypal (I would've preferred not having the extra step) but other than that, everything was okay. I'm giving them a B because they argued with me on some spelling and name issues. For example, our church was St. Peter Lutheran Church, not St. Peter's. They kept insisting it had to be changed even though I assured them it was correct. This delayed the printing a number of days. They also second guessed my wording in more than one place even though I was clear about how I wanted it. Other than that minor thing I was happy with the final product. DJ America's Best DJ Mike (contact), Marty (DJ), http://www.americasbestdjs.net/ A+ If it wasn't creepy, I would write love poems to our DJ. We booked them through Chandler's and it was one of the best wedding decisions we made. Leading up to the wedding we worked on timelines and music selections with Mike, the company owner. We didn't have specific play and do not play lists outside of the dances but Mike did a great job helping us put our tastes into words (we have opposite taste in music). He even helped us settle a fight between the two of us over what our first dance song should be. Marty, the DJ, did a great job of mixing both our tastes with classic and current music that everyone loved. He did a great job with intros, keeping everything running on time, and had a great sense of humor. He was polite and kept nearly everyone on the dance floor all night. He also made a point to approach us more than once to ensure that we were enjoying the music selections he was making. We aren't really into telling pros how to do their jobs so we didn't do a must play or don't play list. We assured him that since he knew our tastes we were sure he would pick great music but it was nice of him to ask, just the same. Unfortunately, I can't give you any idea of how much they cost because we booked them at special through our banquet hall but they are worth whatever they ask for! Hotel Block Doubletree Schaumburg, Paul C (first contact), A (second contact and stay) The C if for my original contact at the hotel. Once the contract was signed, she was awful. She didn't respond to emails, she was short on the phone the two times I called her in six months, and refused to honor a clause in the contract until I went to the manager (our contract stated that the hotel had to lower the block rate if the internet or in-person rate dropped more than 10% below the orignally booked rate). Lucky for me, she quit (or was more likely fired) and I was referred to Paul, the general manager, for the remainder. He was very pleasant to work with, provided prompt answers to all my questions, and was constantly following up to make sure I was happy. The stay at the hotel for myself and all the guests (to my knowledge at least) was fine. There was a mixup with my room (I was supposed to have one king bed, not two doubles) but I went to the desk and they fixed it right away. I also love their warm cookies! They let me take a barstool the morning of the wedding for the makeup artist and were very accomodating with letting us take photos in their hotel.
Dress David's Bridal Schaumburg, IL B I know what everyone says about David's (particulary this one) but I had a great experience. Marcia helped me find the right dress in 2 hours on my first and only visit. She also dealt with my mom, his mom, and my MOH being obnoxious. She did have another appointment at the same time as mine but I preferred this because she wasn't up my butt the whole time I was there. I had to ring the bell, which was awful, but other than that, I have no problems with them or their service. They also went out fo their way to call a few other David's in the area and see if anyone had a full-length, faux fur cape I desperately wanted. After about 10 phone calls they found one in Aurora and arranged to have them hold it for me. I thought that went above and beyond. I didn't give them an A because 1. After I bought my dress, they sold my name and phone number to every single wedding vendor in the tri-state area after I had asked them not to. Some of these vendors still call me (especially the lady from Mary Kay). 2. They bugged the hell out of me about BM dresses when I made it really clear we wouldn't be ordering from them.
Dress Alterations Mary Catomy Schiller Park, IL A+ Mary was great to work with. She works out of her basement and provides a no frills, no glam sort of service but does absolutely amazing work at great prices. My bustle stood up all night, even with my crazy running around, and the alterations were perfect. You get far more than what you pay for with Mary!
Tuxes Men's Warehouse Schaumburg, IL D They really sucked. Their rep really messed everything up! We had groomsmen with two tuxes. The event was entered in the computer incorrectly and Men's Warehouse stores in other areas weren't allowing certain people (my dad, for example) to pick out their own attire like we instructed. DH had no socks, the best man had no vest. It was a mess. The only thing that saved them from a F was that once everything got sorted out, all the guys looked great.
Hair and Makeup Sharon Daniel's Salon Schaumburg, IL 847-882-8000 Makeup-Kim, Hair-Lindsay A+ I absolutely love this salon and the employees! I ran to them after having my first makeup and hair artist cancel on me because she had a previous engagement she had "forgotten" about. Lindsay did a fantastic job with my hair (especially considering my original hair stylist quit about a month before the wedding and I was assigned to LIndsay instead). They did a second hair trial for free and Lindsay copied the original hair perfectly. On the day of, both artists were on-time and a blast to work with. They fit right in with our group. Kim, MUA, was phenomenal. I know that on my own I could never recreate the awesome job she did on my makeup and I really did look my best that day. Kim was great during my trial and offered tons of tips and suggestions that really helped to shape how my makeup looked on the big day. She was fun to work with and did a phenomenal job of keeping me cool (as my makeup got done towards the end of the morning and I was starting to get nervous). Many of the BMs also had their hair and makeup done by Kim and Lindsay. Everyone loved the work they did.
Garter Sew Unique Garters http://www.sewuniquegarters.com/ A+ I found this website literally by google-ing the type of garter I was looking for! Ordering made me nervous (as I had never heard of anyone using this site before) but, as it turns out, they do fantastic work. They made me a custom garter and toss that was reasonably priced and was in my hands about 3 weeks later. That quality was excellent. They have lots of garters already in stock but if you email them (and they can get the fabric) they will be happy to make something for you. My garter was half University of Illinois and half Michigan State to represent both mine and DH's schools (obviously, Illinois is better). Anyway, I was very happy with the garters, DH loved it, the person that caught it has it hung on their rearview mirror, and I had nothing to worry about ordering from this sit.
Shoes Zappos.com A I love this site and buy lots of shoes from them, so I knew this was the best place for me to go. I purchased white Colorifics in the Bette style and just left them undyed. They were snug (as you never know how things will fit from brand to brand) but their exchange policy is excellent, so I traded up for a bigger size and have no complaints. I didn't wear them the whole night (I switched to my adidas sandals after dinner) but while I was wearing them they were comfortable. I'm thinking about having them dyed another color and wearing them again, because I still think they are excellent shoes.
Jewelry Kohl's A I shop at Kohl's a lot (I can't help it, I love to rummage through their stuff) and I bought a braclet and and earrings for the big day. I bought them both on sale and paid about $50 for everything (including shipping). I ended up forgetting to wear my earrings (oops) but I plan on wearing them again.
Veil eBay Seller, Enchantment (or Enchanted) 4 All (or something like that, I can't remember the exact name). C I can't remember the exact name of the seller and the reason I'm giving it a C really doesn't have anything to do with the seller themselves but my veil came with a plastic clip instead of a metal one. This made it difficult for my hair stylist to work with (as it wouldn't bend) and after a slight accident before the ceremony, I had to wear my veil all day or risk half of my hair coming down with it. Basically, my MOH tripped and pulled my veil out, and in order to keep it in (god bless my DOC) we had to massively bobby-pin it. This was, of course, after my hair stylist worked with it for 20 minutes to get it to stay put in the first place. I was super annoyed having it on all night so in the end, I wish I would've paid more attention to what I was getting. The veil was beautiful but I recommend metal instead of plastic for the clip. The price was right at $20, but I guess I got what I paid for.
Bridal Shower La Villa, Addison and Pulaski Chicago, IL I have to throw this in because it is my absolute favorite restaurant. Even though I didn't have much to do with picking the shower location, my mom knew how much I love this place, so that is where it was. We were originally aiming to have the reception here, but it was too far away from the church for everyone to travel. The food was great, the service was top notch, and the spiked punch was yummy and plentiful. Aside from banquet rooms, they have a restaurant and carry-out and delivery pizza. Hands down my favorite Italian place in the world as well as my favorite restaurant. In addition to that, my parents spent a lot of time ordering their pizza and eating there when they were dating and newly married, so it has special meaning to my family as well.
Favors Ferrara Pan Candy Company Harrison Street in Forest Park IL A+ for product, C for service Ferrara Pan makes lemonheads, cherryheads, and my absolute favorite, grapeheads so there was no doubt what type of favors we would have. I didn't want to have favors at all, but since my mom insisted, edible was the way to go. I ordered 75 pounds of assorted "head candy" (we did cherry, lemon, grape, and appleheads) and put them in celophane bags with black ribbon tying off the tops. The candy is the best. Ordering from the company ensures you get some fresh stuff and I was convinced we would run out of candy because we were eating just as much as we were bagging. So, A+ for the candy. The service, however, sucked. I went through their candy store and their candy store service worker, Sylvia. She was rude, disorganized, and a little crazy. I placed the order and she told me to call back in a week and check on the status. When I called back, she didn't know who I was or what I wanted. So, I tried again in another week. After doing this for about a month, I finally got my candy (3 days before the wedding, and this was only after I went to a supervisor). I wrote them a check, and it took them until May 10th to cash it. Overall, while I love their candy, I was really disappointed with the service. |