Leah's Reviews
The Wyndham Andover Hotel – reception location - Andover , MA – A+++++ Our reception went above and beyond what Jim and I were expecting. The ballroom was beautiful. I had my doubts when I saw it lit brightly during the day, but the night of the wedding the lighting was beautiful and it seemed like everything was sparkling. All of the staff there went out of their way to make sure everything was the way that we wanted it to be and make things easier on us. They must have ran items up to our room about a million times. We got a suite with the wedding package that we chose and the room looked new and clean. Many of our guests also got rooms and were happy with them. We had a couple of guest who waited until the night of to book a room and the staff were able to give them the discounted room block rate, which was supposed to have expired a week before. The food was fantastic. We made up a custom menu and did not go with what their choices were. The executive chef there is great to work with and had plenty of ideas. They were also very accommodating with prices. Jim and I had a tight budget and they worked with us so that we could get what we wanted. I would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone who is looking for a reception location.
Searles School and Chapel – A - The only reasons we chose this location are because of the price, size, and location. I do not like the look of it at all. I wasn’t too fond of the woman who does all of the bookings either. They are very strict that you only get one hour for rehearsal too. It was annoying at how strict they are with it. I did have people tell me that it was beautiful, but it really is not my style at all. We used the organist and chime guy that they use most of the time, and they were both very good and friendly.
Julie Altenhoff – photographer- A I haven’t gotten all of the pictures back yet, but most of them are posted. She took great pictures and she got creative with some of them, which I like. She took a lot of pictures, which is good because my eyes are constantly closed in pictures. She also worked well with my 3 year old daughter and even let her take a few pics. The reasons that she didn’t get a + are she said that all of the pictures should be on her site in a week, and it has been 2 weeks now and not all of them are up. The final thing that didn’t give her a + was that she didn’t give much direction as to who should stand where, etc… during formal shots. Her wedding packages and prices are great though and I would recommend her.
Dave Lynch – DJ – A Dave was great. He had a lot of personality and was fun to work with. It took him a while though to read the crowd and play the type of music that we wanted to dance to. From midnight to 1 am, EVERYONE was up dancing and we had a blast. He threw in a few surprises which were fun and we enjoyed. The idea that he had for the centerpiece give-a-way is a riot and we had a lot of fun with that. I would recommend him for someone who wants a party like atmosphere with an interactive DJ and not someone to simply play music and doesn’t really want an entertainer.
Brown’s Limo - A We were very happy with our limo. We got a Lincoln Navigator limo and it was nice. The driver was very nice and helped me get into and out of the limo. The driver was able to back the limo up my mother’s VERY steep and icy driveway, which I was concerned about.
Tsubaki Flowers – B - The flowers were beautiful! However, I found out afterwards that the delivery guy was setting up the aisle runner and pew bows at the chapel as people were showing up, which I was a little annoyed with. He was able to get into the chapel at 4:30, and I guess he didn’t show up until 5:30ish. I was especially happy with the way that my bridesmaid’s bouquets came out. They were very nice, especially for what we paid for them. I would recommend not giving a 3 year old a kissing ball, as she dropped it right after the ceremony and all of the flowers fell out. She ended up running around with my tossing bouquet. The quality of the flowers was great, and the only reason they did not get an A was because he was at the chapel setting up so late.
Suzannes's Weddings – A- They did our centerpieces for the tables. The flowers came out beautiful and we were very happy with them. I did ask that they use light pink gerbera daisies and they used bright pink, but it worked. I was annoyed with the customer service we received when we met with them. They said that someone had called and canceled our appt, which we did not, but we did meet with someone and she rushed us a bit. Honestly, I would not have used them if they didn’t come with our package, but the centerpieces were very pretty and we were happy with the final product.
Divine Linens – A We met with them a few months before and they were very helpful and we liked them a lot. Our linens looked very nice. I am not sure about prices because they came in our package, but we did like working with them.
A Day to Remember – B I bought my dress here. I chose this store because I knew that I wanted an Alfred Angelo dress. I thought that the girls working there could have been a little more helpful, but I did find The Dress. I had issues when going to pick the dress up because of their hours, but I did eventually get it.
Dresses By Dolly – C I got my dress and my daughter’s dress altered by her. Her prices are fantastic, but at the same time, you get what you pay for. I was very uncomfortable the whole night because she took the top in to tight, and we actually fought about it at a fitting. She told me that “it was supposed to look like that”. She ended up letting it out, but not enough. I felt like the work that she did made my dress look messy, and my dress was pressed very badly. Looking back at pics before I even put the dress on there were wrinkles upon wrinkles all over it. My daughters dress was very wrinkly too. She does let her brides use her petticoats free of charge, which I liked. I don’t think that I would recommend her.
David’s Bridal – A I had three bridesmaids that are various sizes, so we chose David’s because of the selection. They were great. We found the dresses the first time out. My MOH ended up getting her dress on clearance for $60.
Mr. Tux at the Manchester Mall – A - The guys got their tuxes through them. Their customer service was good. Jim did say that he didn’t think his tux fit him well, but I couldn’t tell.
Kay Jewelers – B We bought Jim’s ring here. We got him a titanium ring because of his work. We were told that it should never scratch; however, there were already scratches on it while we were on our honeymoon. The service here was good.
Gem Jewelers – B Jim had them custom make my rings. I have had the engagement ring for 2 years and have had to bring it back to get the diamonds tightened 2 x already. The rings are beautiful, but they do not offer a warranty, so whenever a diamond or another stone is loose, we have to pay to get it fixed.