I'm sorry this is so long! But I'd rather give you more details and concrete examples, rather than less.
Instead of grading vendors, I'm just going to say whether I'd highly recommend them, recommend them with reservations, or wouldn't recommend them. I think this is more useful than an arbitrary grading system. If you need more information about any of these vendors, feel free to contact me at geekchicwedding@gmail.com.
Our Vendor Team:
Invitations: Vertallee Letterpress with calligraphy by Citywrites
Wedding Planning: Christina Hill of cHill Weddings
Ceremony and Reception Venue: Delaware Museum of Natural History
Boudoir Photography: Dollface Studio
Wedding Photography: Jeremy Evans Thomas
Officiant: Rabbi Sigal Brier
Ceremony Music: Fairmount String Quartet
Florist: Mary McVeigh of Flowers by Mary Elizabeth
Caterer: Toscana Catering
Cakes: Suzy Vanhoose of Cakes by Suzy
DJ and Lighting Design: Kyle and Kyle of Synergetic Sounds
Stationery:
The stationery of the wedding was my "splurge" area. I knew that I wanted to use high-quality materials and a custom design that was infused with details. I was incredibly pleased with the end result of the paper products from the wedding -- they all truly reflected us and what the wedding was about.
Letterpress printer: Vertallee Letterpress (Austin, TX) -- Highly recommend
I found Vertallee on Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book of Wedding Vendors. They're a husband-wife duo based in Austin, TX so I knew that I could go see them and the presses if I needed to/wanted to. Vertallee was so easy to work with. She does wonderful design work but I knew that I wanted to do most of the design myself and just have them print it. She offered valuable guidance of what would and what wouldn't work with letterpress and feedback on my designs. Her attention to detail and customer service was refreshing. Letterpress is a very costly printing method, and I found Vertallee's prices to be better than any other press shop (even Mercurio Brothers!). The invitations turned out beautifully -- the colors were crisp and clear, the indentations were deep, and the paper was of very high quality.
Magnets for Save the Dates: Fresh Impressions -- Recommend with reservations
My wedding planner told me about Fresh Impressions, as she had used them for her Save the Dates. They provided easy to follow instructions on how to design custom art for the magnets (and didn't charge extra for providing custom art, as other companies sometimes do). Christina told me that they were the best quality for the price, and I trusted her. They were about $1.50/magnet. My only reservations with them is that the magnets weren't cut evenly. Since our design was a photobooth strip, the magnets that weren't cut correctly looked particularly bad. However, they did send about 30 extra magnets, so it wasn't a huge problem -- we just needed to go through the entire batch and discard the bad ones.
Custom postage stamps: Zazzle -- Highly recommend
For custom postage, Zazzle has the best prices. It offers a variety of denominations (I needed 27-cent, 59-cent, and $1.34 denominations) and the user interface is easy to use. It was well worth the cost -- we had a number of guests comment on how much they enjoyed the stamps (we used a dinosaur skeleton with our wedding date for the STDs and thank you notes, and our parents' wedding pictures for the invitation and response postcard). I had a bit of an issue because I didn't read their Terms of Use carefully enough -- I tried to use a photo that wasn't mine (it was from the museum's website) and they wouldn't print it. Not a problem though -- I just bought a new one off of istockphoto.com and emailed them the receipt. To pre-empt this issue with the wedding photo stamps, I sent them an email saying that our parents gave us permission to use these photos and they were fine with that. There was also a problem with shipping (they thought it had shipped, turns out it had never left the warehouse), and when I called them to ask about the status of the order, they couldn't find the package so they made a whole new batch and overnighted it to me. I had it the following afternoon.
Calligraphy: Citywrites (Manhattan, NY) -- Do not recommend
My wedding planner, Christina Hill of cHill Weddings, referred me to Citywrites, as one of her colleagues highly recommended Kari Jo. Her work is beautiful. The style is modern and fresh while still giving the document the sense of formality that traditional calligraphy imparts. However, I had a few problems with Citywrites. When I received the inner invitations, there were about 30 of them that were completely off-center (not like, right-aligned, but both vertically and horizontally off-center). It was so bad that Christina wrote her an email and she offered to fix them, but she only kept about 5 extra envelopes. At that point, I needed to get the invitations out the door and there just was no time for us to do a back-and-forth through the mail. This was a mistake that a professional calligrapher should never have made. Further, I had sent Citywrites the place cards and escort cards more than 4 weeks before I needed them back. When I reminded Kari Jo in late August that I needed them back in a week, she made it clear that she hadn't worked on them at all, making me really worried that I wouldn't have them in time. When I did receive them (on time, but later than I would have liked), there were a few escort cards that were on the list but that were missing, and others that were spelled wrong. I had sent Citywrites about 40 extra cards (she requires an overage of 10%, which would have been 10 cards), but she didn't keep any of them. Again, this was about 2 weeks before the wedding, so there wasn't time for us to go through the mail (and by that point, FedEx was like, $50!). GeekChicGroom ended up having to make the cards from pieces of her handwriting in Photoshop and we printed them out on our inkjet (they didn't look the same as the others obviously, but there was nothing else we could do). While the calligraphy is beautiful, the process of dealing with Citywrites was SO stressful.
Wedding Planning: Christina Hill of cHill Weddings (Philadelphia, PA) -- Do not recommend
I met Christina on the Weddingbee boards. She seemed knowledgeable about Philly weddings, and though she hadn't done a ton of weddings at that point, her price was really good. We were originally looking for just a day-of-coordinator, but because the price for full coordination was still less than half of what we budgeted for a DOC, we figured that we should go for it, especially considering that I was planning a Delaware wedding from Texas.
In the planning stages, Christina was a wonderful resource. She was very quick to respond to email and phone calls and offered valuable support and feedback to both my mom and me, especially on particularly sticky issues. She referred us to wonderful vendors who were within our budget, including Jeremy Evans Thomas (our wedding photographer), Synergetic Sounds (our DJ and lighting designer), Dollface Studios (my boudoir photographer), Citywrites (our calligrapher), Flowers by Mary Elizabeth (our florist), Wertz Motor Coach (our guest shuttle) and Cakes by Suzy (our groom's cake and wedding cake baker). With these references, Christina ended up saving us thousands of dollars and, for the most part, we were pleased with her vendor referrals.
Christina ran the rehearsal well, commanding attention and respect of a large number of people. She was efficient and addressed questions authoritatively.
There were a number of things, however, that didn't go so well. I understand that issues come up that can't be helped, but as a professional wedding planner, we expected Christina to more effectively manage these things. I made it clear that guests would start arriving at 5:30PM. I heard from a number of guests that when they arrived (after 5:30), the guest book and card vase was not set up and the staff was not properly dressed. There were 2 issues that probably kept Christina from having the set-up completely finished when the guests arrived: the chuppah was not properly configured and the shuttle was late. When we arrived at the museum at 5PM, the chuppah set-up was underway, but it was set-up incorrectly. This was a huge problem that needed to be corrected. More details can be found in the Flowers by Mary Elizabeth review below, but the bottom line was that if Mary was unclear about the set-up, Christina should have taken the initiative to get it fixed, rather than to rope the groom into fixing it. The other issue was that there was no point person for the bus, so the driver didn't have clear instructions on what to do or where to go, which meant that it was late leaving. I heard from a number of people Christina apparently told people that it would not be coming back and we would not hold the ceremony if people were late (neither of which were true), so people had to drive themselves instead of taking the shuttle, which is exactly what I didn't want. The bus ended up making a second trip and delaying the start time of the ceremony, which is fine, but the lack of communication around this was unacceptable. The bus should have been organized better so that the ceremony wasn't delayed by 20 minutes.
Further, I was waiting in the back of the museum with my mom and the rabbi from 5:30 on. At 5:30, I managed to catch Lisa (Christina's assistant) and ask her for my bag to touch up my makeup. After that, I heard nothing else from Christina or Lisa. 6 rolled around, and no one came to get me. 6:10 rolled around and no one came to get me. I knew something was wrong but had no idea what. Not knowing what was going on was HORRIBLE. All I wanted to do was get married, but for some reason, I couldn't! I had no idea that we were still waiting for people to arrive, and had I known, I would have felt SO much better about the whole thing. Instead, I felt in the dark and out of control. In the end, the rabbi had to say enough is enough and tell her to get on with the ceremony.
That being said, I was so pleased with the reception room set-up. Everything was set-up exactly as I intended and it really looked beautiful.
Once the ceremony was finished, however, it was as if Christina disappeared. I had to cue the DJ to do things like cut the cake and do the hora, and I had to tell my dad when to give the toast. Christina had a minute-by-minute timeline of the entire day, and she knew that toasts were to be done during the first and second courses and that the bride/FOB/groom/MOG dance was to be done during the second and third courses. But after the time for these things came and went and the DJ made no mention of doing it, I had to be the one to tell the DJ to make these things happen. This was precisely the reason I hired a wedding planner -- so I wouldn't have to make sure things like this were done at the reception!
I later found out that she actually did disappear -- to my hotel room to decorate the room with rose petals. While this is a nice thought, our hotel room was 20 minutes from the reception, which means that she and her assistant were gone from the reception for over an hour. Given that we actually needed her to be at the reception doing the job we hired her for, I would have gone without rose petals any day.
Other things weren't in place when they needed to be -- there wasn't a knife and plate next to the cake, so we were standing there for a few minutes awkwardly waiting for these things (apparently my sister had to ask her to get it, and Christina said to her "Oh, I figured she would have a cake set?" Christina had made a checklist of everything I had and I handed it all off to Christina the day before, and there was no cake set there.). We needed chairs for the hora and after the DJ made the announcement, it also took her a few minutes during the hora to get them. It was like the DJ would make an announcement, and then we would stand around waiting for a few minutes, and then whatever we needed appeared. This was unacceptable, and really awkward.
Lastly, and this is the least of my worries but it impacted my mom a lot, when we asked Christina to help us transport the gift bags to the hotels, Christina declined. She also did not offer to help us transport everything from our house to the museum. I believe this is standard wedding planner stuff, and it was a significant hassle for my mom in the days before the wedding.
In the grand scheme of things, these things did not impact the event. We were still married. Our guests still had a ton of fun. And I understand that things go wrong. But when things do go wrong, the wedding planner should be the one to make it right -- that's why we hired one. Unfortunately, it was Christina's lack of communication and preparation that made these things go wrong. This was unacceptable for a professional wedding planner.
Venue: Delaware Museum of Natural History (Wilmington, DE) -- Highly recommend
For the longest time, I thought this museum was sort of a dumpy, fifth grade field trip kind of museum. Not one that you would have a wedding at, and certainly not one that was fabulous and chic. And that was true, up until a few years ago when the museum was completely gutted and remodeled. The museum was perfect for us. The Skylight Gallery, where we had our ceremony, was airy and full of natural light from all of the windows. The rest of the museum has interesting galleries, which was perfect for mingling during the cocktail hour, with lots of nooks and crannies, which were great for setting up bars and stations. And the Exhibit Hall was just the space we were looking for -- we wanted a raw, modern space with nothing on the walls. Really, a blank slate. It was a little hard to imagine what it would look like without an exhibit in there (we got married on one of the only weekends this year that the Exhibit Hall was empty), but once I saw it, I knew we had picked the perfect venue. Because it is a blank slate, you can do whatever you want -- any decor, any theme, any colors, it all works in there. It's really the perfect event space. It's just a shame that it's available so infrequently! (Most weddings they have are tent weddings in the back of the museum.)
The first venue coordinator we were working with was a little flakey, but he left mid-way through the planning process. His replacement, Dawn Swartout, was phenomenal. She was quick to answer all of my questions and so helpful in providing assistance. She was very willing to meet with Erica Razze of Toscana Catering and spoke frequently with Christina Hill of cHill Weddings.
One of the biggest perks of this venue is that they offered 3 babysitters for $180 for the entire night. They were Education staffmembers at the museum, and they really helped the kids have a ton of fun and the parents enjoy themselves. This was a great price and the fact that I didn't have to bring in yet another vendor was a huge load off my mind.
The only downside, and this wasn't a huge downside but still one that I think I should mention, was that the museum was hypervigilant about getting us out of the museum by 11:30 because they had a museum event in the Exhibit Hall the following day. As such, they cut off the bar at 10:45 without telling my parents or I. I had clearly specified to the caterer that I wanted the bar to close at 11, but they had to listen to what the museum said. It was just a little strange that they made this decision without telling us. Like I said though, it wasn't a huge deal.
Photography:
Boudoir Photography: Dollface Studios (Philadelphia, PA) -- Recommend with reservations
I knew I wanted to do this for GeekChicGroom ever since I heard about it, but I had no idea who go to do. My wedding planner, Christina Hill of cHill Weddings, recommended Dollface Studios, as she had worked with them on a number of weddings in the past (though never with boudoir). Dollface's boudoir package includes hair and makeup, a 2-3 hour photo shoot, the shoot location, an album of 25 prints, and 75-100 high-res images on a CD. It's a team of 2 women -- Darah and Siobhan (Darah did my hair and makeup and Siobhan did my photography). I was nervous, but they totally put me at ease! It's was like being with 2 girlfriends, even though I had just met them. We drank champagne while Darah did my hair and makeup. As soon as she was done, Siobhan basically told me what to do and how to do it. The pictures came out beautifully -- I was so surprised and impressed. When it came time to do the album though, I was really picky about the layout and in the end, it was easier for me to do it myself. Darah was really understanding and professional about the whole thing, and sent me a check for the balance of the album. I ended up ordering it from Blurb, and it came out so well. If you're not as picky as I am about design, you'd probably be fine with Darah laying out the album for you. But if you're a little more hands on and detailed like I am, you'll probably want to do it yourself. Nevertheless, this was a wonderfully empowering experience and the pictures are phenomenal!
Wedding Photography: Jeremy Evans Thomas (Philadelphia, PA) with Mary Kate Burgess (Wilmington, DE) -- Highly recommend
My wedding planner, Christina Hill of cHill Weddings, referred me to Jeremy. I knew I wanted a photojournalist photographer with an edge -- I wanted someone to capture the day, but in unexpected ways. Jeremy fit this description to a T. He's both a wedding and travel photographer, so he's got a wonderful eye for fun locations, great lighting, and unusual textures. His best quality, however, is his ability to capture his subject's emotions. His pictures are so expressive, and he captured every single high and low of the day (in a good way!). Kate was Jeremy's second shooter, and she fit Jeremy's style really well. She captured many of the pictures that we really love, including many of the details. Both photographers were able to capture so many facial expressions/moments of which we were never aware. We all were so pleased with every single one of the (many) photos we received. You can see my bio, as well as the pictures in our slideshow, for examples of his work at our wedding.
We received about 1200 beautiful high-res images on a few DVDs about 10 weeks after the wedding. Throughout the planning process, Jeremy was easy to reach by either phone or email, and he was very willing to work with my very anal tendencies (ie, revising the contract, making sure that we okay-ed the pictures before he or Kate used them in any way). Both photographers were extremely unobtrusive (the phrase "ninja photographer" comes to mind). They were fun to be around and were a calming (yet assertive) presence. Jeremy and Kate knew that details were my priority and that formals were not; we received a TON of detail shots and Jeremy breezed through the formals in under 10 minutes. When things didn't go as planned (things that weren't even photography-related!), Jeremy handled things smoothly and professionally. It was really refreshing.
The only (small) downside was that his wide-angle lens broke during the hora, so we didn't get any crowd shots after that point. However, Jeremy offered to post-process some of our guests' photos to round out our photos, which was a great solution for everyone. In the grand scheme of things though, this was so small and was easily rectified.
We were so pleased with both Jeremy and Kate's work, and I'd be happy to work with either one of them again! (Though baby pictures won't be for a while!)
Ceremony:
The ceremony was by far my favorite part of the day. We really felt that Rabbi Sigal personalized the ceremony so well, and all of the guests appreciated that.
Engagement ring: Bailey, Banks and Biddle (La Cantera Mall, San Antonio, TX) and 47th St. in NYC -- Highly recommend
Jeez, this place saw us every weekend for a month last year! After searching long and hard, GeekChicGroom found the ring he really wanted to get me. It was made by a designer called Ritani, and the only place that carried it was BB&B. Unfortunately, it was a bit more than he wanted to spend. It took some negotiating, but we finally got it! We purchased the setting and side stones from BB&B, but GeekChicGroom went with my dad and a family friend to 47th Street in NYC to purchase the center stone. By purchasing the center stone in NYC, we were able to get a bigger, better quality center stone at a much better price than BB&B could offer us. The service at BB&B is great though!
Wedding rings: Americus Diamond (San Antonio, TX) -- Highly recommend
This is like the Wal-Mart of jewelry stores -- it's honestly the biggest jewelry store I've ever seen. They had a huge selection and didn't pressure us to buy anything we didn't want (ie, once I knew I didn't want diamonds, they didn't pressure us to keep looking). Once we ordered them, the bands came in in a little over a week. They also offered to replate my engagement ring free of charge anytime I need it done because I bought my wedding band there, which is nice. They didn't negotiate, which was a little disappointing, but based on my research, the prices seemed pretty fair.
Officiant: Rabbi Sigal Brier (Manhattan, NY) -- Highly recommend
We searched high and low for a rabbi who would: 1) marry us, 2) customize the ceremony to fit us as a couple, 3) be okay with not doing certain parts of the traditional Jewish wedding, and 4) incorporate our family. It was really hard. We talked to like, 20 rabbis. We finally found Rabbi Sigal, and once we did, it seemed like a perfect fit. Our first meeting was at her home (when she was still living in Philadelphia; she recently moved to Manhattan), and she was warm and welcoming. She genuinely wanted to know who we were, who our families were, why we were getting married, that kind of thing. It was nice to see that she was so interested. We didn't have an opportunity to meet again in person, but we did have another long telephone conversation to catch up, talk about the wedding, plan logistics, that kind of thing.
I was a bit concerned when she didn't give my wedding planner, Christina Hill of cHill Weddings, as much detail as Christina needed to effectively run the rehearsal and also when she commented that she would start singing a congratulatory song at the end of the ceremony if others started it, even though I asked her not to. But despite those concerns, the rehearsal and ceremony ran smoothly and no celebratory songs were sung. =)
Rabbi Sigal also ran a meditation and grounding exercise with us and our parents prior to signing the ketubah and marriage license. This was a great way for me to really get a grasp on the moment and find my center before the ceremony (and I'm really not into that froo-froo kind of stuff at all!). But I did appreciate it.
The ceremony was beautiful and personal. One guest commented that it felt like she made the Jewish faith and traditions apply to us as a couple, like we did the traditions because it fit us, not because we were supposed to do it. That's exactly how we wanted the ceremony to be. It was really the perfect ceremony for us.
Ketubah: newketubah.com -- Highly recommend
Our ketubah is the most beautiful ketubah I've ever seen (I might be biased). We wanted one that was modern that would fit in with our decor, so that we could actually hang it up. Tsilli's work is just that -- it's fine art. She also uses a sewing machine to make the lines in her ketubot, which is a wonderfully unexpected detail that this detail-obsessed bride marvels at every time she looks at the ketubah. We used her secular text without the Hebrew. The ketubah came quickly and was packed beautifully.
String Quartet: Fairmount String Quartet -- Highly recommend
My mom was adamant about hiring a string quartet for the ceremony and cocktail hour. Out of things to be adamant about, this one was pretty benign. I tasked my mom with finding a string quartet that was in budget and would play my processional (the Waltz from Sleeping Beauty). My parents are musicians, so they know what's good and what's not -- and let's be honest, I think Miley Cyrus is pretty catchy. Beth Dzwil, the coordinator for the quartet, was quick to respond to emails and easy to work with. The music was absolutely beautiful. My processional was timed wonderfully and sounded incredible. It's probably because at that point I was standing pretty close to the quartet, but honestly the sound was so rich and robust that it sounded like a full orchestra. They made good choices for music selections during the cocktail hour -- it was fun and upbeat, and really set the mood for the party. Additionally, Beth was very accommodating; even though the ceremony started late and the cocktail hour went over, they were fine with staying until the end.
Reception:
I cried when I first saw the tables and chairs set up in the room. This vision that I had in my head for so long was all coming together! And Christina, Erica, Mary, Kyle, and Kyle all worked together to make what was in my head come to life in the Exhibit Hall. It was beautiful!
Flowers: Mary McVeigh of Flowers by Mary Elizabeth (Landenburg, PA) -- Recommend with HEAVY reservations
My wedding planner, Christina Hill of cHill Weddings, referred me to Flowers by Mary Elizabeth. At that point, I had a floral design for the reception and my bouquet in mind, and I needed someone to execute it while sticking to the budget. Mary came in well under budget and had good ideas about what would work and what wouldn't. She came up with creative ideas, and when I didn't really like one of her ideas, she was open to all of my feedback and suggestions. She really just wanted my mom and I to be happy, which was nice to see. I also hadn't given her much direction about things like the cake flowers or the centerpieces for the square tables (I just told her that I wanted a number of square vases of varying heights, each with different white flowers), and what she came up with was great.
However, when we arrived at the museum, it was clear that the setup of the chuppah was wrong. Considering that my mom had gone over to Mary's house and they had had a meeting for over an hour about what the chuppah set-up would be like, it was very strange that it was setup like it was. The chuppah was so important to my mom, and both my mom and I made that clear to Mary. Further, the fact that GeekChicGroom had to oversee Christina and Mary to make sure that it was fixed correctly is unacceptable. If they needed clarification on how it was setup or needed to practice, they should have done it beforehand. Considering that they only had an hour to setup the ceremony and cocktail hour, they should not have wasted it playing around with the chuppah configuration. Fixing the chuppah was the last thing GeekChicGroom should have been doing in the minutes before he got married. I think the problem stemmed from the fact that Mary is more of a big picture person, rather than someone who focuses on the little details, which didn't work well for the chuppah setup.
At the end of the day, however, the end result was really beautiful. After it was fixed, the chuppah was exactly what my mom and I wanted and the quality of the flowers was beautiful. While I would never work with Mary again, I recommend her to any bride that isn't as detail-oriented as I am or who doesn't really care about the end result.
Catering: Erica Razze of Toscana Catering (Wilmington, DE) -- Highly recommend
My family has been eating at Toscana ever since we moved to West Chester, so choosing Toscana to cater the wedding was pretty straightforward. In fact, we were pretty set on using Toscana before we even had a venue! Erica was a phenomenal partner in planning this event. She made sure that every single detail was looked after -- even the really weird quirky ones! She totally bought into the aesthetic of the event and really made sure that what she did meshed with the event as a whole -- she really understood that "geek chic" vibe we were going for. I was truly touched by the time, effort and energy Erica put into making this event everything we wanted and more. She was equally as excited about things like the prosecco bar and the cheese course as I was, which made planning with her that much more fun.
We were under a *strict* budget, and she did everything she could to bring us as close to that budget as possible. She worked with Party Rental, Ltd. for the high end rentals (i.e., flatware, water glasses, linens) and Diamond State Party Rental for the lower end stuff (e.g., generic glassware, dishes, kitchen rentals). In doing so, Erica did a sweeping cost analysis of each rental item to make sure that we were getting the absolute best deal possible. However, she understood that compromising in some areas would take away from the overall look of the event and made sure that that didn't happen.
The food was phenomenal. We knew it would be good -- Toscana Kitchen is awesome -- but the fact that wedding food was that good was incredible. I didn't actually eat during the wedding, but this comes from my parents and our guests, who have since told me that they really enjoyed themselves and what they were eating. (Erica did put together a to-go box for GeekChicGroom and I though!) Erica made great suggestions about what would work and what wouldn't, and she was constantly going back and forth with the chef. The presentation was modern and artistic; the plate was full yet not messy. The service was great; the waitstaff were friendly and quick to serve each course (and best of all, they were constantly making sure a glass of prosecco was in my hand).
There were only a few glitches that whole day -- 1) one of the drinks that I had wanted for the prosecco bar (a Kir Royale) was substituted with a blood orange mimosa, which we had talked about earlier in the planning but I didn't want in the end; 2) only 1 side of a glass room where the caterer was prepping was piped and draped, rather than both sides (I should have been more specific about what I wanted); and 3) the cheese course came out a long time after the entree course finished. But these were *really* small things that I can easily overlook.
We could tell that the entire Toscana staff -- from Erica, to the chefs, to the waitstaff -- were truly invested in our wedding, which made working with them really wonderful.
Wedding and Groom's Cakes: Suzy Vanhoose of Cakes by Suzy (Langhorne, PA) -- Highly recommend
My wedding planner, Christina Hill of cHill Weddings, referred me to Cakes by Suzy. Both the wedding and the groom's cakes looked amazing and tasted even better. I was pretty clear in what I wanted for the wedding cake -- 4-tier, square tiers, chocolate ganache frosting -- and Suzy added fresh flowers to make it look really beautiful. We had 3 different flavors -- yellow cake with raspberry preserves filling, chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling, and spice cake with cream cheese buttercream filling. I don't know which one I liked better! I received so many compliments on the wedding cake. I wasn't as clear with the groom's cake, but I told her I wanted it to be like a "my favorite things" kind of cake. For more details and pictures of the groom's cake, you can go to my blog here. We served it at the rehearsal dinner for dessert, and GeekChicGroom (and our guests!) really got a kick out of it. I was a little wary about using fondant (it usually tastes like glue), but Suzy's fondant was so thin that I couldn't even taste it. Suzy was prompt with delivery and always professional, and communicated quickly through email. Her creativity and attention to detail is unparalleled! I can't say enough good things about Suzy.
DJ/Lighting Design: Kyle and Kyle of Synergetic Sounds (Bensalem, PA) -- Highly recommend
The lighting was incredible. The Kyles wall-washed the room with amber uplights. Synergetic Sounds had a ton of different colors of amber/orange, and I told them to bring a bunch and use their judgement about which was the best. They made a wonderful color choice -- the room was warm and bright, yet incredibly chic. We had also chosen to pinspot all of the tall centerpieces (the curly branches and the calla lilies), which really made them pop. When combined with the DJ, lighting the room was actually very cost-effective and packed such a huge punch. It was really impactful.
Although we had spoken on the phone, the first time I met Kyle was at the wedding. He's a bubbly guy who really seems to like being a DJ. He em-ceed when it was necessary, didn't talk when it wasn't, and didn't think our ideas were weird. He played all of the Dinner Music playlist, even though it meant that they had to download about 20 songs that they didn't have (songs that weren't typical at weddings like Death Cab for Cutie, Jack's Manniquin, The Clarks, etc.). Kyle played nothing on our Do Not Play list, everything off our Must Play list and most of our If You Have Nothing Else You Can Play These Songs list. The dance floor was packed most of the night, and when it wasn't, he played something to get people moving. He played just enough slow songs without it being overbearing. He did a wonderful job em-ceeing the hora (which most guests hadn't ever danced before!), and people had TONS of fun with it. There was just 2 issues: 1) for the bridal party entrance, they played Hootie's "Only Wanna Be With You" instead of The Rembrandt's "I'll Be There For You," which was actually pretty funny (and was rectified quickly!), and 2) Kyle had asked everyone to remain standing while GeekChicGroom and I did our first dance. This really wouldn't have been a problem except that I felt like all eyes were on me and I got really self-conscious and didn't really want to dance anymore. =( We had asked Toscana to serve the salad during the first dance so that there wouldn't be all eyes on us, but since people were standing, they couldn't do that. There was no way that the Kyles would have known that though, and we just ended the first dance reeeeeally quickly. =) They did, however, slow down our first dance so that we could actually dance to it, which we really appreciated!
Transportation:
Towncars: Roadrunner Express (Wilmington, DE) -- Highly recommend
Instead of limos, we used a towncar service throughout the weekend. A towncar took my family (me, my mom, my dad, and my sister) to the reception, one took my mom and dad from the reception back home, and one took GeekChicGroom and I from my parents' house on Sunday morning to the airport. They were on time and very professional each time they picked us up, but we've used Roadrunner's towncar service in the past, so we weren't expecting anything less.
Shuttle: Wertz Motor Coach (Marcus Hook, PA) -- Recommend with reservations
Wertz was suggested by my wedding planner, Christina Hill of cHill Weddings. The price was good for going back and forth from the museum to the Sheraton all night long. My only problem is that the dispatcher gave me a few headaches in the days before the wedding, which Christina dealt with. Also, when they showed up, the driver had no idea where they were going and one of the groomsmen had to intervene so that I didn't have to. It was just stress that was totally avoidable. As far as I knew though, everything else went well. Fashion:
Bride's dress (including alterations) and veil: Jennifer's Bridal (Hockessin Corner, Hockessin, DE) -- Highly recommend
It was a bit chaotic when I first arrived (there are 2 appointments at each time slot, and the other bride who was there had an entourage of about 15 people -- no joke), but the salespeople at Jennifer's were kind and understanding. I believe they said something to the other bride, because they left in about 15 minutes. After that, it was a wonderful experience. The saleswoman we were working with listened to what I wanted, made valuable suggestions, and was considerate of my mom and my sister's opinions. We didn't feel rushed at all and we ended up staying there for about 1.5 hours. I had narrowed it down to about 3 dresses, and they encouraged me to continue to try them all on and take my time making a decision. I ended up selecting a sample gown for 40% off the original price. Once I had selected the gown, everyone there seemed genuinely happy for me and my family and the decision. It was really a wonderful experience. And the best part was that since it's in Delaware, it's tax-free! The veil was a fingertip, 1-layer veil with silver embroidery and crystals along the edges from Giselle Bridal. It was expensive, but really beautiful and fit well with the dress.
Jennifer's works with a seamstress named Karen Schluter. Karen was wonderful to work with, and very accommodating to my schedule (since I was only in Philly a few times before the wedding). In the end, the dress fit, bustled nicely, and it was pressed beautifully (she handpressed each of the pleats).
Bridesmaids' dresses: netbride.com -- Highly recommend
I had instructed all of the bridesmaids to find a Jim Hjelm dress in chocolate brown satin that wasn't floor length. They ended up choosing JH5806T, JH5762T, JH5782 (she didn't wear the bottom piece), JH5704T, JH5657T, and JH5772 (she altered the bottom to make it knee-length). Meg at Netbride was so helpful in answering all of my questions promptly. The dresses came quickly, they were of good quality, and we saved about $75-100 on each dress. The girls looked great together (I'm a firm believer that matching bridesmaids are on the way out), and I was happy that everyone really enjoyed what they were wearing (and maybe they might wear them again! Maybe not. Wishful thinking?).
Groom's suit: Men's Wearhouse (Huebner Oaks, San Antonio, TX) -- Highly recommend
We went to get GeekChicGroom's suit during one of the MW suit sales, and of course found the only suit in the store that wasn't on sale. =/ The salespeople were helpful and offered valuable advice (we quickly discovered that we knew nothing about suits!). They took his measurements and turned around the alterations quickly. GeekChicGroom didn't try it on though until a week before the wedding (!), and found out that the padding in the shoulders was really off and made him look like he was wearing one of those 80s power suits. I called the next day, explained the situation, and they told us to come in and they would fix the problem. They totally did -- they rush ordered a new suit and altered it in less than a day. We had a brand new suit 2 days later, free of charge.
Hair: Sherif Zaki Salon and Day Spa (Greenville Crossing, Greenville, DE) -- Highly recommend
Rebecca is the bridal coordinator at Sherif Zaki and she put up with so many changes from me in the planning stages that I don't know how she kept her head on straight! Massages, no massages, manicures, no manicures -- it was nuts. Jordan did my hair and my mom's hair, and like always, she was fabulous (she is my mom's regular stylist). We did a hair trial the day before, I told her what needed to be tweaked, and it went perfectly the day of. We accidentally left the veil at the salon (we were in a rush to get to the rehearsal!), causing my mom to have a slight panic attack, but everything worked out fine. They called us the next morning and assured us that it was safely locked away. The bridesmaids all got down-dos and they all looked great (and were finished on time). The day before, I had also gotten a massage (wonderful) and my nails done (also wonderful, no chipping and made my scraggly nails look good). The only downside was that I had 2 girls with me to get manis and pedis and we couldn't sit together when we got them done (there weren't enough nail techs). Overall, we had a wonderfully relaxing and fun experience at Sherif Zaki.
Makeup: DIY, Laura Mercier at Neiman Marcus (La Cantera Mall, San Antonio, TX) -- Highly recommend
After a not-so-good makeup trial, I decided to do my makeup myself. I wanted a clean, fresh face with a smokey eye and muted lip, and explained this to the woman at Laura Mercier. As it turns out, she's a traveling makeup artist from Laura Mercier headquarters, so I totally lucked out. She designed a great look for me that was easy to do (I don't normally wear a ton of makeup, so this was key), looked "bridal" with drama, and stayed on for hours. Laura Mercier also isn't super pricey, even at Neiman Marcus, so I got a whole new look (including basics like primers) for about $200. I also got individual lashes from MAC, which made my eyes really pop.
Rehearsal Dinner: Toscana Kitchen (Rockford Shops, Wilmington, DE) -- Highly recommend
Toscana was also doing the catering for the wedding, and our family has eaten there a ton over the years, so this restaurant was a natural choice for our rehearsal dinner. The food was wonderful with tons of different choices. The restaurant was expecting us when we arrived, and though Toscana doesn't have a private room, they gave us a number of tables that were off to the side of the restaurant. When we first got there (around 6:15), the restaurant was still pretty empty, but even as the night went on, they made a point not to seat people by us for some privacy, which was nice. The service was good throughout the night, and they made a point to save the figurines from the groom's cake. We also received a 10% discount because Toscana also catered the wedding, which made the dinner very reasonable. Gifts:
Bridemaids' pashminas: Amazing Collections -- Recommend with reservations
The pashminas are of wonderful quality (soft, with heft to them) and Ruth gave me a 10% bridal party discount. She went out of her way to find the exact color I needed (I sent her a color chip and she matched it perfectly). My only qualms are that it took months to arrive (because it was a special order color) and when it did, I found that she had attached a pretty large tag (about 1"x3") that says "Amazing Collections" with fusable interfacing, so that's not coming off.
Bridesmaids' personalized stationery: BellaBluDesigns on Etsy -- Highly recommend
Christy went back and forth with me multiple times on fonts, pictures, colors, etc. She was extremely patient and just wanted everything to come out right. She also gave me a 10% bridal party discount. Production and shipping was very fast.
Bridesmaids' individual gifts: Multiple vendors -- Highly recommend
I also gave each bridesmaid another more personal gift, most of which were from Etsy. I recommend the following vendors: Swept from the Sea (sea glass necklace), Colorscape Designs (citrine earrings), Boojiboo (vintage-y apron), Stiches are Forever (clutch). The other two gifts were from Anne Taintor and Victoria's Secret. All vendors shipped quickly and the product was of good quality.
Groomsmen's iPod Shuffles: Best Buy (The Rim, San Antonio) -- Highly recommend
Easy enough. We went in there and asked for 7 iPod Shuffles (one for GeekChicGroom). They thought we were nuts, but that's okay. GeekChicGroom uploaded songs that each groomsman would like onto each Shuffle before he gave it to them.
Groomsmen's ties: Express (North Star Mall, San Antonio) -- Highly recommend
We found 6 perfect ties about 5 months before the wedding and bought them. About a month before the wedding, I went to ship them to my mom and somehow lost 1 in between our house and my car. Express has a service called Fashion Delivery (I've blogged about it here -- very cool process). Unfortunately, the ties were already on clearance at that point and they couldn't find another one, even after 2 tries. We ended up finding a matching solid color tie at Macy's and giving that one to the Best Man.
Groomsmen's pocket squares: Men's Wearhouse (Huebner Oaks, San Antonio) -- Highly recommend
I called them, they put aside 6 white silk pocket squares and I picked them up at lunch. These were the cheapest I found either online or in a brick-and-mortar store (only $7.50 with tax).
Guest Accommodations:
Hotel Room Block: Sheraton Suites Wilmington (Wilmington, DE) -- Highly recommend
Denise was wonderful to work with. The rooms were clean and well-appointed for the price ($115 under the room block). The front desk staff handled the gift bags professionally and to my knowledge, everyone who should have (even those who didn't book inside our room block and used AA or Expedia or something to book their reservations) received the right gift bag (there were apparently like 4 weddings staying at the Sheraton that weekend). They don't have a bridal suite, but the rooms are nice enough that I really didn't care. We got pricing for the afterparty, but they were a little expensive so we didn't use them, and they had no problem with us bringing in pizza instead.
Afterparty: Grotto Pizza delivery to the bar at the Sheraton Suites Wilmington (Wilmington, DE) -- Highly recommend
I called them the morning of the wedding to order pizza for the afterparty, and they were perfectly pleasant. We got free breadsticks for every 2 pizzas we ordered. The delivery man was prompt and met us at the front desk of the hotel, then helped us set up all of the pizzas. There was a bit of miscommunication with the front desk, as they were a bit hesitant to let us bring the pizza into the bar, but who can argue with a bride? =) It was a little sucky that Delaware's last call is at 12:45, but the party apparently moved to on of the groomsman's rooms after the bar closed. |