Weddingbee Blog

So…we have a venue and we have a style…but how to execute?

WARNING: PHOTO-HEAVY POST AHEAD

As I mentioned, with our venue the issue was going to be controlling the vision. With the potential for there to be multiple vendors for the reception design and execution alone, we needed to think about how everything would remain cohesive and not turn into a garbled mess.

We spoke to the Kimmel Center and asked them if they could recommend any vendors who could “do it all.” In other words, were there companies that could help us with everything from flowers to chairs to forks and china? There were (hooray!), and so we decided to narrow it down to two that had done business with the venue and visit them one spring weekend.

I went armed with two things when visiting these vendors:

1. My wedding brand (modern elegance)

2. My binder of wedding inspiration

Oh…and 3. My mom and Mr. Turkey

When asked about the wedding I showed them photos around overall inspiration that I had compiled in my wedding binder, of bridesmaid style, food, and flowers.*

We were looking for them to tell us what could be done and see if they understood what we wanted. A fairly simple conversation, but our thought was that we could tell if there was a good “vibe” between us.

The first stop was Evantine. We had a feeling we would be “WOWed” by this visit, judging by what we had heard about their work and seen on the blog. I mean, check these out:

Place-card table at the Project H.O.M.E. iCare gala (at a private farm) / Image via Evantine Design

Love all the glass—from a gorgeous winter wedding at the Rittenhouse Hotel / Image via Evantine Design

We met with Brian and quickly realized that there was nothing he couldn’t do. Basically, your imagination could run wild (as could your bill). We loved how he thought outside the box and seemed to “get” our vision. Oh, and we nearly DIED upon touring his warehouse.

Imagine rows and rows like this—everything you can imagine / Image via Evantine Design

So, clearly a positive experience. However, we knew that with Evantine came a hefty price tag, so we went to our next location with a very open mind.

Our second stop was Robertson’s, who are known mostly for their floral design, but have done some fabulous signature events.

Event at Inn at Leola Village / Image via Robertson’s Flowers

Centerpieces from a wedding at the Westin—love the diversity / Image via Robertson’s Flowers

Our conversation mainly centered around flowers, and I felt like the consultant’s knowledge about what was in season in May (on the spot) was wonderful. He was able to look at my floral photos and give thoughts on how we could bring the color up or down, depending on our preference. I loved that.

To make a long story short, we ended up choosing Evantine. We had thought about splitting the work and having Evantine do the general design (chairs, tables, etc.) and Robertson’s do all the personal flowers (and potentially centerpieces), but that didn’t happen.

Why?

Because, believe it or not, we NEVER heard back from Robertson’s. Not once. Not after multiple phone calls and emails. It was seriously the oddest thing ever. And, after a while without a response, we decided we didn’t want to work with them anymore. (Can you imagine a lack of communication closer to the wedding? Eek.)

In the end, Evantine was absolutely the right choice, but it was a bizarre way to make a decision!

Have you had a vendor “disappear” after a meeting? Do you think maybe they didn’t like us?!?

*Note: I know NOTHING about flowers. I chose inspiration photos that were a) white, green, blue, or yellow (colors we wanted) and b) fairly unstructured in shape.