Up and Away : Let’s Review

Up and Away : Let’s Review

July 28th, 2011 @ 6:40 pm by Mrs. Cloud
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I know writing up vendor reviews here on Weddingbee isn’t incredibly common, especially now that we have the amazing Vendor Reviews, but to be honest, it’s something I have been looking forward to doing, so I’m going to do it anyway! I had the opportunity to work with some amazing, amazing, AMAZING vendors during my planning process as well as a few that were, well, let’s just say I wish I had known then what I know now. If my experiences can help anyone, especially a fellow Richmond bride, I figure I should share!

Abegail Burns for Chanel (Makeup)
Saks Fifth Avenue, Stony Point Fashion Park (804)320-6960
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough
Abegail was wonderful the day of the wedding doing mine and all of my girls makeup (plus Mama and Nana Cloud) quickly and for a great price. We had a full trial at the Chanel counter in Nordstrom and just when I though my makeup couldn’t look better than that, she blew it out of the water on my big day! Read more about my makeup here and here.

Bella Rosa Bridal (Dress and Alterations)
www.bellarosabridal.com
Very Highly Recommend
Read more about my dress here and here. The ladies at Bella Rosa are so friendly and helpful (even if you have to have your dress taken in four times the week of the wedding!) and I would encourage anyone looking to check out their amazing selection of dresses. (For those who have asked my dress was from Priscilla of Boston, Style 4119.)

Blue Steel Lighting Design (Custom Lighting)
www.BlueSteelProLighting.com
Very Highly Recommend
They came in last minute when I decided I had to have some sort of lighting and did pinpoint lighting on our tables and a custom light for the dance floor out of our monogram. All night people commented on what a difference the lighting made, and even more someone from Blue Steel was there all night to insure we had no issues (we had none). Wonderful service and even Daddy Cloud said they were worth every penny (the pennies he was desperately pinching by that point ;))!

Bottom’s Up Pizza (Rehearsal Dinner)
www.BottomsUpPizza.com
Very Highly Recommend
More information on our experience here. The food was amazing, the staff was amazing, everything was amazing. Even if you aren’t looking for a rehearsal dinner location, go eat there. It really is the best pizza in the city.

Calligrapher
Do Not Recommend
I really believe our calligrapher had the best intentions, and I assumed things would be easier because she was local, but in the end she was just unorganized, and unreliable. We had to have multiple envelopes redone more than once because of her error. She never could remember the pricing we agreed on, or when we needed them completed by. They looked beautiful, but the hassle was not worth what she charged.

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Ceremony)
www.richmondcathedral.org
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough
Are you even allowed to review a church?? Either way, the cathedral is beautiful and everyone that we worked with there was a pleasure to deal with!

Eric Cunningham, Choice Entertainment (DJ)
www.choiceentertainment.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough
Eric was amazing. My husband dealt with him primarily, but he’s pretty hard to please so his thumbs up should really say something! I would hire him again in a second!

Florist
Do Not Recommend.
I would really, really like to blame my floral troubles on something simple like a miscommunication, but I just can’t. The vendor we went with came with great recommendations and up until the wedding day were a dream to work with. But then the flowers came, and it doesn’t matter how nice the people were, the bouquets were terrible. Not at all what we asked for or agreed upon, and half dead looking by our two o’clock ceremony. I was extremely disappointed. While hindsight is of course 20/20, I can say that some of the centerpieces were nice and looked decent in pictures. But they still were not what I ordered and for what we paid I would expect to look back and say I at least liked more than 25% of the finished product.

Hair
Do Not Recommend
I could write an entire post about my hair drama. The stylist I hired (and had been going to for a year before the wedding) not only showed up late with her assistant, but was in a FOUL mood all morning. To name a few issues for you: She did not bring a blow dryer for the two blow outs she had to do, charged each of my girls almost twenty dollars more than what we had agreed upon (but they were too nice to bring it up to me) and then rushed through/half-assed my updo. My hair was falling and frizzy before the reception and I later found out the stylist bad mouthed me and my girls after the fact. Bleh. Not a person I would want near me ever again, never mind on such an important day.

HumanStory (Videographer)
www.HumanStoryFilms.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
Adore. See the entire film here, it really speaks for itself. If you can book William and his amazing team, do it.

Jenny McQueen, Capture (Photographer Second Shooter)
www.Capture-Weddings.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
I met Jenny for the very first time on our wedding day because she was never supposed to shoot our wedding! Our original second shooter came down with the flu that morning and Jenny stepped in at the last minute. I have to say, I’m so glad she did! Her pictures were amazing, and we got them back super fast. Most importantly she was an absolute pleasure to have around us on our big day.

Jessica Oriole Salay, Oriole Photography (Photographer)
www.OriolePhotography.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
LOVE. HER. She made everyone comfortable and at ease during every picture she took, and the images really speak for themselves. I will be forever grateful to her for coming in at the last minute after our previous photographer disaster, and I fall in love with our pictures all over again every time I look at them.

Magic Special Events (Linen and Chair Rentals)
www.MagicSpecialEvents.com
Very Highly Recommend
It really was the linen and chair rentals that brought my whole vision together. Super nice to work with, the best prices we could find and the ONLY company that could deliver black chiavari chairs to Richmond!

Tait Boudoir Photography (Boudoir Photography)
www.TaitBoudoir.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough
I gave the Mr. a little black book with some pretty pictures I had taken very secretly before the wedding. Tait Photography was amazing to work with, Erica made me feel super comfortable and the images were beautiful!

The Jefferson Hotel (Reception Site)
www.JeffersonHotel.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
Our experience at The Jefferson was amazing. The food, the drinks, the people, was all perfect. I would not do a single thing differently.

Windy Jennings, Weddings by Windy (Coordinator)
www.WeddingsByWindy.com
Cannot Recommend Highly Enough!
You can read my raving reviews of Windy on almost every one of my previous recaps (and especially here), but I really can’t say enough wonderful things about her. Mama Cloud and I originally thought we would be able to handle everything ourselves (we were oh so wrong), and that a coordinator would not be in the budget. We not only managed to find someone we truly loved and “clicked” with, but also someone who offered different level packages to fit what we needed. She never pushed us to pay for full coordination (her highest package) when she knew we didn’t need it (we went with partial coordination and day-of). She’s the best, she saved our wedding a hundred times over, and I’ll love her forever for it.

Winn Transportation (Trolley and Bus Rentals)
www.WinnBus.com
Very Highly Recommend
We had a trolley to move our wedding party and charter busses to move our guests back and forth between the hotel and church. They were on time and the trolley is just a wonderful experience in itself.

Other vendors we used that I absolutely loved - Crowning Glory Designs (veil), Invitation by Design (invitations), Paper Source (all paper products), Paper Mart (ribbon), The Big Day (honeymoon registry), Bed Bath and Beyond (registry), Williams Sonoma (registry), Kasia Fink Veils (hair flower), Doubletree Hotel Downtown Richmond (second hotel block option for guests), The Briar Patch (flower girl dress), Feathernesters Tea Room (bridesmaid luncheon), Bridal Party Tees (custom shirts for me and my maids), Men’s Warehouse (tuxes).

I think that is about it! We were so lucky that the amazing people we worked with MORE than made up for the less than wonderful ones! I would like to point out that these reviews are from my experiences alone and may or may not speak for the vendor as a whole. Also, I don’t want to bash anyone and decided not to post the names of some of the vendors I didn’t have the best time with. If you are curious about them, or the ones I loved, please feel free to PM for more details. Oh, and of course I also have to say that I received no discounts or kick-backs for posting these reviews, they are just my honest opinions for you to take as you will.

All credit for the images above (unless otherwise noted) go to our incredibly talented photographer Jessica Oriole Salay and amazing second shooter Jenny McQueen for Oriole Photography.

Miss a part of the Cloudy wedding? Catch up here…

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11 Responses to “Up and Away : Let’s Review”

Member

MCC919 (message) 509 posts, Busy bee

I thought your hair looked so pretty! You were one of my early hair inspirations!!!

7/28/11 @ 6:50 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Cloud (message) 802 posts, Busy bee

@MCC919: aw thanks! I have tried to edit out the really bad ones, and thank god for my MOH who pretty much put it back up for me in the bathroom more than once!

7/28/11 @ 7:03 pm (reply)

Guest

Jordan

I think that you should list the names of the vendors you DON’T recommend…so people will know to avoid them!!

7/28/11 @ 7:03 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Cloud (message) 802 posts, Busy bee

@Jordan: I didn’t want to put anyone out there because of course this is just my one experience and may not represent their business as a whole. Please feel free to PM me if you have questions about a specific “negative” vendor and I would be glad to give you the info!

7/28/11 @ 7:14 pm (reply)

Member

lolo7835 (message) 558 posts, Busy bee

Woo Richmond in the house!

Yay Humanstory! We are going with them for our wedding video and CAN NOT WAIT. William is awesome.

And I was also lucky enough to get my dress at Bella Rosa bridal, and they are great. Phyllis pulled my dress from my haphazard description and it’s great. They’ve been fantastic with the bridesmaid dresses as well. We’ll see how the dress alterations go this weekend.

7/28/11 @ 8:37 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Parasol (message) 2,142 posts, Buzzing bee

I love your vendor reviews, Cloud! I’m glad so many of your vendors worked out, but I’m sad a few didn’t. The review of your florist is exactly why I’m doing my own flowers. I’ve had way too many friends tell me horror stories about their florists, and because our floral needs are fairly small, I thought I’d say the money and do them myself. We’ll see how that goes!

7/28/11 @ 8:46 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Tartlet (message) 3,207 posts, Sugar bee

Thanks for taking the time to post these, Cloud! I always found these incredibly helpful, even if I wasn’t from the same area. It gives a comprehensive list of what to look for (and in some cases, what not to look for) in a vendor. Your wedding was so beautiful!

7/29/11 @ 5:58 am (reply)

Member

pookiepie (message) 317 posts, Helper bee

Love your pictures! I booked Humanstory right away when you first posted your video here, I can’t wait to work with William thanks for sharing!

7/29/11 @ 7:45 am (reply)

Member

toshella (message) 644 posts, Busy bee

Thanks for sharing! I’m getting married in Culpeper, VA and will definitely check out some of the vendors you mentioned, even though Richmond is a few hours away. Gorgeous wedding!

7/29/11 @ 9:59 am (reply)

10.

Guest

Kate

This is such a helpful post!

7/29/11 @ 12:48 pm (reply)

11.

Guest

I totally wish I could get married in that cathedral, it is gorgeous! Alas, I am not Catholic

7/29/11 @ 10:46 pm (reply)