Vendor Reviews

Overall, our day was amazing and beautiful. There were no major snags or disasters. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. I was in awe of how many people traveled to be at our wedding. Literally every person at the wedding told me how stunning, glowing or beautiful I looked. I was amazed at all the kids! They kept calling me the pretty princess, but no one told me how freakin’ hot it is under all those layers of dress! LOL I’m so glad it’s all over and I couldn’t be happier to be married. It’s the most amazing feeling in the world. Here’s some vendor reviews (sorry if they’re long):

Ceremony: Lutheran Church of Our Saviour A++
I cannot say enough good things about this church. I got so many compliments about what a great speaker the pastor was and what a gorgeous ceremony we had. Everyone on staff at the church is so easygoing about everything and they are very affordable. They did our altar flowers for free and just kept them for Sunday service. Our videographer was able to stand up front and tape the whole ceremony. They let us use their fellowship hall for the rehearsal dinner for free. Overall, we had a great experience with them.

I did hear that the coordinator was complaining that we got dressed and picked up the flowers early, then left for pictures, and what was she supposed to do just sitting there, etc., but I told her on more than one occasion that was what we were doing, so I don’t know what else I could have done.

Reception: St. Clement’s Hall A
For the price, you can’t beat this hall. Unfortunately, the hall is in need of some TLC. We were told the carpet was going to be replaced or at least cleaned by our wedding, and neither one happened. We were told this by a member of the Knights of Columbus, who frequently use the hall, but the money they’ve given the hall for improvements has disappeared. I was a little disappointed that the fluorescent lights in the hall were on for so long, especially during our first dance :(. The person who runs the hall is a little hard to get in touch with, but he is very accommodating and easygoing. Being able to bring in your own caterer and alcohol saved us a ton of money. And we ran out of wine and the hall provided all the wine people could drink for only $25. I wish we would have spent a little more on the hall, but we got what we could afford at the time, and it’s not like there are so many fabulous halls in Toledo. ;)

Caterer: Dianne Westhoven A+++
This is another vendor I cannot say enough good things about. By far, we got the most compliments on how absolutely delicious the food was. Several people said it was the best wedding food they’ve ever had. Her prices are amazing and she doesn’t have lots of extra charges. She did not complain at all or balk when I added china the week before the wedding. She hired extra busers and got it all cleaned up. We had so many leftovers that we are still eating the food almost a week later, and we gave so much of it away. The only issue I had with her is that I felt a bit shoved out of the way after we cut the cake.

DJ: Kevin Mullan B
Kevin is a really good DJ. I got all kinds of compliments about how packed the dance floor was and what a great speaking voice he has. The reason he got a B is, up until the week of the wedding, he never returned any of my phone calls or emails after we booked him. There were several things he said he was going to do, and never did them. I was upset that I spent quite a bit of time on a “must play” list for the reception, and he largely ignored the list until the very end of the night. Come to find out though, that my DH vetoed my song choices, because he felt the dance floor was not packed enough. DH and I met line dancing, and I was upset that he killed all the country music because his work friends were not dancing. My work friends left because he didn’t play any slow songs. I tried to tell DH you can’t please everyone.

Florist: Sharry Folmer B
This was probably one of my biggest disappointments. I don’t know if I should have been more explicit with her, or if we should have had another meeting before the wedding. She said my bouquet was going to be 3-dozen roses – it had 26. I wanted mostly red roses with some pink. The BMs were supposed to have mostly cream with some pink roses. They were both opposite – way too much pink. All the GMs were supposed to have cream rose bouts and they were pink.

Also, I told her I wanted greenery with the bouquets and showed her pictures. Maybe I should have specifically said I wanted leaves. She used some green spiky stuff, that shedded all over the place, and did not fit with my idea of elegant roses. She also cut the heads off all the roses and stuck them in holders for the bouquets, so all during pictures, the roses were falling out of the bouquets and we just kept sticking the heads back in like she said to. During planning, I would try to tell her my ideas, and it felt like she always had an attitude of, “This is the way I do weddings.” And like Merin has said before, some of the flowers had brown edges. The good part is you can’t beat her prices and she’s super nice.

Photographer: Cathy Kautz A+
Cathy is very easy to work with and takes great pictures. We haven’t gotten our professional pictures back yet, but I can’t wait to see them. We went to the Botanical Gardens, and she had some great ideas and posing arrangements. She spent almost all day with us and never got bossy or rude. Her price is amazing.

Videographer: Family Friend
We haven’t gotten our video yet.

Cake: DH’s Uncle’s Sister A+
Our cake was done by a family member. It was absolutely delicious and we got so many compliments. I’ve never seen a line for cake like we had. And she only charged us $100. :)

My Dress: House of Brides A+
I ordered my dress online after finding it at Gallippo’s. It was less than half the price online. My dress arrived in perfect condition and before the date promised.

BM Dresses: Online Wedding Deals A
I also ordered these online. They delivered them way too close to the wedding date for my comfort, but we got them in time and the dresses looked so gorgeous.

Alterations: Jane’s Perfect Fit A++
Jane is such a delight to work with. She does excellent work and my dress fit like a dream. I can’t recommend her enough.

Tuxes: Men’s Wearhouse C
Ugh… The one vendor I thought I was going to go bridezilla on. We picked out a $120 tux (which I thought was too expensive in the first place) and I thought everything was going to be simple. Then the guys go to get fitted and I find out they’re all getting charged $150. I called Men’s Wearhouse to find out why and the manager didn’t return any calls. So I went in there, pissed as hell, and found out they’d added extra stuff we didn’t ask for. Thankfully, all the tuxes came in and nothing was wrong with any of them. I was very unhappy with them though. I still don’t understand how a friend of ours got married 1***189; years ago and their tuxes were $70.

Invitations: Rexcraft A+++
Our invitations were absolutely perfect. They were constantly available for my concerns or questions and shipping was super fast.

Rehearsal Dinner: Calvino’s A
Calvino’s catered the rehearsal dinner. The food was excellent, and we again, got so many compliments. There was some misunderstanding with the price and the owner tried to charge us more, but we ended up with the price he originally quoted us.