Our wedding was absolutely perfect!  We had the best vendors.  I can honestly say that I wasn't disappointed with anyone.  This is mainly due to the amazing referrals I received from other knotties! 

Wente Vineyards - A-

Wente Vineyards is a beautiful location for a wedding.  It is setup perfectly for events with a Special Events office open 7 days a week.  Wente is extremely organized in how they manage your event.  Large events are their primary business - besides wine, of course :)  - and they know what they are doing.  The location is so gorgeous as well.  It looks absolutely amazing in photos year round.

Our assigned event planner was Georgine.  She worked with us through the whole process to design and plan our wedding.  My only complaint regarding the planning process (and the reason for the A- rating) is that there were a couple of small details that we were told by Georgine were going to be included in our package before we signed the contract.  Upon signing the contract, we reviewed the Event Order and the items were in fact included.  About half way through the planning process, a $500 charge magically appeared on my order.  It turns out they had added back in certain items that weren't supposed to be included.  It took a whole lot of arguing to get them removed again.  It may have just been an oversight but it seemed a little sneaky to just add $500 to the bill.  The Event Order/Summary is a very complicated document with every detail about your wedding so it is quite easy to slip something like that in.  So my advice is to read your Event Order very carefully and make sure all details are in writing - if not in the order, then at least via email.  The only reason I was able to get the $500 charge removed is because I found an email that mentioned the "included" items.

 

On the day of the wedding, our Day Of Coordinator (included at Wente) was Arlene.  I had heard some negative reviews about the DOCs at Wente so I was very nervous about this.  However, Arlene was great.  I gave her SO many instructions for setting up our ceremony and reception and she did everything I had asked.  I didn't hire my own DOC and I was afraid I would regret it but it was completely unnecessary.  The only mistake that was made during the setup was the chairs for the ceremony were setup with an incredibly narrow aisle.  I had asked for an extra wide aisle since I was planning on walking down the aisle with both parents but the aisle was so narrow, even two people wouldn't fit!  I find this to be a really strange mistake considering Wente does about four wedding every week!  Luckily, I was taking photos before the wedding near the ceremony setup and noticed the narrow aisle.  Arlene jumped on it and got it corrected immediately.   

Wente Vineyards Catering A+++

Wente provides all the catering and alcohol through their five star restaurant.  It was just as amazing as everyone says.  We received so many complements on the food.  Everything was also presented so beautifully.  The wait staff was extremely attentive as well. 

One bonus at Wente is that the wedding cake is included in all packages.  A couple of months before the wedding, we got to have a meeting with the pastry chef to discuss design and pick from their 20+ flavors.  It was fantastic.  Two nights before the wedding, I received a call at 10pm.  It was the pastry chef at Wente!  She was calling to tell me she is working on my cake and the brown marble cake stand that I requested wasn't available but they had a new, green marble cake stand that she thought I would really love.  She actually called me at 10pm to verify it was ok to change stands!!  I was in shock at that level of service!  Plus it was such a treat to find out my cake my in the process of being made!  (Little things are very exciting the week of your wedding!).  The final product was gorgeous AND delicious.

 

Photography:  Chyna Darner Photography A+++

 Chyna is fantastic!  Photography was extremely important to me and my husband and we reviewed a lot of photographer’s portfolios.  We chose Chyna for her reasonable prices, flexible packages (she worked with us to design a package that met our exact needs), and photographic style.  Her photos are artistic and creative, yet very natural.  She really knows how to highlight the beauty in any subject. 

She did a wonderful job with both our engagement photos and our wedding in October.  We shot our engagement session in several locations around San Francisco and Chyna was amazing.  She spent so much time with us running around the city to get the perfect shot.  She made us feel totally relaxed and it really shows in the photos.  They are simply amazing.  

On our wedding day, Chyna was incredibly professional.  She was very diligent in getting every shot I had requested and was fast and efficient in organizing our family and wedding party for the group shots (which is no small task with our family!).  She even had a fantastic assistant/second shooter.   They were both incredibly unobtrusive throughout the day – so much so that I didn’t even notice them at times!  After the wedding, I remember thinking that I had missed a bunch of shots because I didn’t remember seeing Chyna during some of the day’s events.  But when I received my photos, every last shot was there!     

For both the engagement session and wedding, she delivered SO MANY photos, each carefully edited and organized.  Both sets of images were delivered quickly and in less time than promised. 
Besides being a wonderful photographer, she is so easy going and fun to work.  Chyna will definitely be our family photographer for many years to come!

To see more photos by Chyna from our wedding, check out our Married Bio.

Flowers:  Le Bouquetier/Jacklyn Le - A+

 Jacklyn did a wonderful job with our wedding flowers.  She is very creative and really knows how to bring a vision to life!  I didn’t really know what I wanted when I first met with her and she was very patient and helped me decide on the details by offering lots of ideas and photos.  My flowers were more beautiful than I ever imagined.  Her attention to detail really showed in the final product.  She even made the most adorable little orchid head band for my 1-month old “flower baby” niece!  Jacklyn was prompt to answer emails and phone calls throughout the planning process, making it a completely stress-free experience.  

 

 

Ceremony Musician: Giacomo Fiore - A+

We went through the Music To Go! program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  Their musicians are students but very talented and VERY affordable.  We wanted a solo guitarist for the ceremony and cocktail hour and they provided us with an Italian guitarist named Giacomo Fiore.  He was fantastic.  He learned two songs that I had requested ('Can't Help Falling in Love' and 'What a Wonderful World') before we even had our first meeting.  He even learned a Jewish song, Erev Shelshonim, from a track I sent him and came up with his own arrangement.  I had heard from many other brides that you won't even notice the music as you walk down the aisle but I heard every note and it was amazing!  It brought me to tears.  Music To Go! was really an incredible value for such a great musician. 

Officiant - Linda Hirschhorn - A++

We had a Jewish/Interfaith ceremony.  My husband is Jewish and I am Christian.  We searched long and hard for someone that would allow us to craft a ceremony that was more about us than any one particular religion.  Linda Hirschhorn was perfect.  We met with her about six times before the ceremony and she spent a lot of time to really get to know us.  She was very supportive of all of our wishes and wants for our ceremony and provided lots of suggestions and advice.  The ceremony itself was amazing.  She had "warned" us that she would tell a story about us at the beginning of the ceremony.  I never dreamed it would be so funny and thoughtful.  I was literally laughing so hard I was crying.  Everyone was laughing.  It was an absolute blast.  Linda is a Cantor and she sang parts of our ceremony.  Her voice is so beautiful.  It was really a very magical ceremony.   

 

DJ:  Peter Haley/Spinheads - A-

Peter is a very personable guy.  He is very enthusiastic about music and has great energy.  He was very organized during the planning process and was on top of our music selections at all times.  During the reception, he did a great job announcing everything that we had asked.  He wasn't "cheesy" in anyway but still very fun and energetic.  We had requested he play everything from Israeli folk music to hip hop so I was quite concerned about the transitions.  However, he really knows how to read a crowd and kept everyone moving all night long.  He made one pretty major mistake at the beginning of the reception.  We had a slideshow before dinner and when I started the slides, he accidently played the wrong track.  It was a little awkward since a random song was playing with the photos, however he was SO SO apologetic and everything else went really smoothly.  And, even our parents didn't know the wrong song was playing.  Actually, even my very un-observant husband (who had help select the tracks!) didn't know!  So all was good. 

Peter gave us a couple of CDs with a compilation of songs played throughout the night.  It was a nice touch and made for fun listening music in the limo on the way to the after party with our wedding party!   

 

Videographer - Silver Lens Productions - A

This was a last minute buy for us.  We couldn't decide if we were going to hire a videographer so we interviewed a few but our budget was really tight at that point and the people we met with were pretty bad.  Thank God we found Chris from Silver Lens Productions.  He offered us a raw coverage only package with two videos during the ceremony and one throughout the reception with five total hours of coverage for a great price.  The video came out very nice as well - WAY better than the amature ones we have received from guests so it was well worth it.  It is an unedited video though so we will probably have them edit it for us in the future.  (WARNING:  Watching an unedited video of your entire reception can be a little embarrassingly painful :)  )  They have packages in all price ranges as well and their edited samples were very nice.

Shoes - A

I purchased my shoes from glassslipper.com.  I had to return the first pair because they were too small and they were great to work with and very accomodating.  I loved the shoes themselves.  They are Lindsey by Grace.  The beading was beautiful and they weren't too terribly uncomfortable for 3.25" heels :)  I was planning on switching out of them after the ceremony but wore them through about half of the reception.  I was very proud of myself for that!

 

Dress - A++

My dress was Marisa 765 and I loved it just slightly less than my husband on my wedding day :)  Marisa makes really quality gowns.  The silk fabric is the sexiest feeling material I have ever worn!  It was AMAZING!  Never underestimate how incredible nice fabric can make you feel! 

 

Alterations - Kirsten Tucker - A

Lots of Knotties recommend Kirsten and she did a great job for me as well.  She is a bit pricey though.  When my dress arrived it was larger than I had expected.  I had lost some weight but I wasn't expecting the dress to look so drastically different on me.  I was really concerned.  She took it in in a couple of places along the bodice and of course did my French bustle.  When I went back for my final fitting, I was so happy with the results!  I couldn't believe the difference.  It fit like a glove.  And I loved my bustle.  I only wish I had taken some formals with the bustle up :(  There is a good bustle shot under Dress Designer (above).

Jewelry - Etsy Seller - A+

 I was very particular about my jewelry and couldn't find anything close to what I wanted (that I could afford) in the stores or on the internet.  So (thanks to a knottie recommendation) I hired etsy seller kymjewelry to make my jewelry.  I sent her a photo of a necklace that I loved and for half the price, she made something pretty darn close.  She was very easy to work with and even created a prototype of the necklace before I paid anything to make sure she was headed in the right direction.  The end product was perfect.

 

Veil - Veilshop.com - A

Veilshop.com was much cheaper than the bridal salons and you can customize your veil and configure everything including color, length, and trim.  The veil was very good quality as well compared to others I have seen in the same price range.

 

Ketubah - MPArtworks.com - A

Our ketubah was ordered through MP Artworks.  They were great to work with - lots of text options and the ketubah came within a reasonable amount of time.  They even allowed us to customize the size.  The artist is Eve Rosin and the print is called Autumn Tree.  We love it!

 

Kippahs - Koolkippah.com - A

We ordered our kippahs through koolkippah.com.  They have very good customer service - answered my questions quickly and even sent fabric samples so I could select my colors.  The kippahs did take a very long time to come in but we ordered them in plenty of time so it was no big deal.

 

Candy Buffet

My candy buffet isn't exactly a vendor but I wanted to take this opportunity to brag about it.  IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!  I recruited a talented and creative friend to help design the buffet.  She came up with the idea to use all white candy against chocolate brown table cloths with splashes of the occasional purple and green candy.  She also designed a tiered look for the buffet by stacking boxes in the center of the table and covering them with the table cloths.  It created such depth and interest.  And the best idea of all...  she popped popcorn for the large hurricane glasses - it really filled out the buffet without costing a fortune.  I never imagined it could look so beautiful.  She even designed little signs for each candy using the same font styles I used in my other stationary.  Most of the candy was ordered from candywarehouse.com.  Take a look:

It was incredibly popular!  People were raiding it before dinner was served!  THANKS EMILY!!!

 

Orchids - B+

I ordered orchids from www.wholesale-tropical-flowers.com to lay on each placesetting.  I also ordered the orchids shown in the center of the candy buffet.  They arrived on the date promised and were in great shape.  They were also very affordable compared to getting them from a local florist.  My only complaint is that the instructions for care were very confusing and I had also ordered three orchid leis for our Welcome Dinner and one of them was a bit wilted and brown when it arrived.

 

 

 Wedding Hotel - Hyatt Summerfield Suites, Pleasanton - A+++

 Since the wedding was waaaaay out in Livermore (and we live in San Francisco), we decided to block a hotel in Pleasanton for the whole weekend.  The Hyatt Summerfield Suites was awesome.  They were so organized and were able to update me on the status of our block at any time of the day.  They also bent over backwards to give me an *excellent* block rate - almost unbelievable.  All their rooms are suites so it was an incredible value and our guests loved it.  During the wedding weekend, they were so accomodating.  They handed out my OOT bags and maps as requested and provided great service to all of our guests.  We decided to have a BBQ dinner in the courtyard at the hotel in leiu of a rehearsal dinner so that all our guests could join us.  They didn't charge us anything for the use of this space and even helped setup by provided extra tables and chairs.  The morning after the wedding, we joined all of our guests at the hotel restaurant for the complementary hot breakfast.  It was quite good and so much fun to see everyone one last time after the wedding.