Amanda132
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2009
Vendor Reviews
Maybe it's a little early to do vendor reviews since I haven't gotten final products back from the Roots or Trinity yet, but I don't anticipate anything less than stellar work from them. In fact, I think all of our vendors were amazing! Here are some details...
Kristie Pederson, Wedding Planner - A+ - I love Kristie. Kristie was an absolutely amazing planner. I would always copy her assistant on every email, but more often than not, Kristie would respond before her assistant. Her level of communication, attention to detail, and familiarity with Disney weddings could not be beat, plus Jeff and I just clicked with her and would end up chatting with her about anything and everything. And I really feel like she went above and beyond to make sure we got the things we wanted... even the tiny details. Heartbreakingly, she sprained her ankle before our wedding and was under strict instructions from her doctor that she was not able to work it. I cried. Kristie cried. In the end, Kristie's boss was at our wedding instead of her, and it came out perfectly anyway because Kristie made sure every single detail was in our BEO. She even stopped by our rehearsal to see us because she was so upset she couldn't make it to our wedding. Brides that have Kristie as their planner, you are in amazing hands!
Sarah Malfara, Disney Floral - A - Sarah was so sweet at our planning session, and she really made sure I got everything I wanted. Although I didn't make too many changes after our planning session, she was always prompt to respond when I would email her. Also, some of our linens went down in price a few weeks before the wedding, and we saved about $200 altogether! I was very impressed and pleased that she let us know about that savings instead of holding us to the price that was already on our proposal. And the final product... my bouquet, our linens, and our centerpieces came out perfect. She executed my vision even better than I had imagined.
DJ Elliot, DJ (through Disney) - A+ - DJ Elliot does a lot of work for Disney (Star Wars Weekends, Frozen Summer Fun, Star Wars Celebration), but he does very few weddings. We requested him anyway, and he agreed to do ours because he is sort of friendly with Jeff. He was awesome! I only requested two "must play" songs, and for the rest, I told him to play whatever people would dance to. He absolutely did that, and even though we only had 40 people altogether, there were always plenty of people on the dance floor. Plus, after our grand finale song with the confetti cannon, he had everyone leave the dance floor except Jeff and I. He played one final song for just the two of us to dance to in a quiet moment together, and it was the perfect way to end our reception. I'm not sure if this is typical of weddings, but it was such a special moment and really solidified my happiness with choosing him as our DJ. Oh, also he somehow found out about my small obsession with Mulch, Sweat, and Shears (the band that used to play at DHS), and he got a recording of one of their sets and played it as a surprise for me during the wedding. Hopefully there are photos of my reaction because I was shocked and amazed.
Root Photography, Photography - A+ - I already kind of mentioned this in my Glad I Did, but I am so so happy that we had the Roots. They kept me calm before our first look, directed us exactly where and when we needed to be places, and they obviously take amazingly brilliant photos. Although we haven't yet received a final product from them, I know that they will deliver beautiful photos. I've known that I've wanted them to photograph my wedding before I even had a potential groom. After getting to know them, it makes it an even better choice to have had them. Between their quality of work and personalities, they were truly one of the best things about our wedding.
Trinity Wedding Cinema, Videography - A - I can't wait to see our video! David and Kristina were great, but I definitely had less contact/connection with them than I did with the Roots. However, this is due to the nature of photo vs video, and I absolutely can't say that they were lacking in any way. David's communication before the wedding was so great, and he helped me create a custom package to fit our needs. He helped me weigh the pros and cons of having more hours for more footage vs our tight budget. We also haven't received a final product from them, nor do I expect one for quite a while, since we didn't order the sneak peek video as part of our package. But like with the Roots, I anticipate beautiful work from them when the time comes!
LeJeune Artistry, Hair and Makeup - A+ - I am so glad that we had Patricia LeJeune and her team for hair and makeup. I wear literally no makeup ever and wanted a very natural look, and Patricia absolutely nailed that. She did all the makeup for our group, and Juanita did all the hair. Between just the two of them (they were supposed to have an assistant who called out sick), they did hair and makeup for five of us in less than four hours. And the work was flawless. Everyone looked amazing, and everyone was happy with their work. Even my mom was happy, and she is extremely picky about how she looks and almost did her own hair/makeup to have it done the way she wanted. Plus Patricia is super sweet and didn't judge me when I whispered to her, "make them all less beautiful than me."
Carolyn Allen's, Alterations and Steaming - A - I went to Sue at Carolyn Allen's for all my bridal alterations. After my first fitting, my mom liked Sue so much that she went there for her own alterations and actually ended up buying a new MOB dress for herself from the store there instead. My sister/MOH got her alterations done there as well, and my dad ordered his tux there. I had three fittings, and I was so impressed with Sue and her family. You can really tell that they take pride in their work. I had somewhat of a lot of work done on the dress, seeing as I had the whole train of my ball gown removed. It was definitely pricey, but I felt that it was fair. I really felt that I was in good hands at Carolyn Allen's, and it was a great bonus that they also did in-room drop off and steaming for my, my mom's, and my sister's dresses.
SomethingPrintable on Etsy/Vistaprint, Invitations - A - We tried to save a little on the budget when it came to invitations, so we used an Etsy vendor, SomethingPrintable for the design and then had them printed by Vistaprint. Even though this is technically the bargain way to do invitations, I am thrilled that we did it this way. We might not have had fancy envelopes or anything, but I was able to get the exact invitations I wanted at a great price. Victoria at SomethingPrintable was very responsive and extremely fast at sending our designs within just a few days. And Vistaprint may be an inexpensive printing option, but I was very pleased with the quality of the invitations I received.
Honorable Mention:
Wanderable, Honeymoon Registry - A - I know that the opinions on having a honeymoon registry are kind of mixed, but I was very happy that we did one through Wanderable. The fees are sort of middle-of-the-road as far as honeymoon registry fees go, but we didn't feel comfortable straight up asking people for Disney gift cards as gifts. We really wanted to do the honeymoon registry as a way to sort of force ourselves to have the unforgettable experiences that we maybe wouldn't do otherwise. All our items were purchased from the registry except one, and I was very happy with the experience. Plus the site is beautiful, user-friendly, and was pretty customizable.
Maybe it's a little early to do vendor reviews since I haven't gotten final products back from the Roots or Trinity yet, but I don't anticipate anything less than stellar work from them. In fact, I think all of our vendors were amazing! Here are some details...
Kristie Pederson, Wedding Planner - A+ - I love Kristie. Kristie was an absolutely amazing planner. I would always copy her assistant on every email, but more often than not, Kristie would respond before her assistant. Her level of communication, attention to detail, and familiarity with Disney weddings could not be beat, plus Jeff and I just clicked with her and would end up chatting with her about anything and everything. And I really feel like she went above and beyond to make sure we got the things we wanted... even the tiny details. Heartbreakingly, she sprained her ankle before our wedding and was under strict instructions from her doctor that she was not able to work it. I cried. Kristie cried. In the end, Kristie's boss was at our wedding instead of her, and it came out perfectly anyway because Kristie made sure every single detail was in our BEO. She even stopped by our rehearsal to see us because she was so upset she couldn't make it to our wedding. Brides that have Kristie as their planner, you are in amazing hands!
Sarah Malfara, Disney Floral - A - Sarah was so sweet at our planning session, and she really made sure I got everything I wanted. Although I didn't make too many changes after our planning session, she was always prompt to respond when I would email her. Also, some of our linens went down in price a few weeks before the wedding, and we saved about $200 altogether! I was very impressed and pleased that she let us know about that savings instead of holding us to the price that was already on our proposal. And the final product... my bouquet, our linens, and our centerpieces came out perfect. She executed my vision even better than I had imagined.
DJ Elliot, DJ (through Disney) - A+ - DJ Elliot does a lot of work for Disney (Star Wars Weekends, Frozen Summer Fun, Star Wars Celebration), but he does very few weddings. We requested him anyway, and he agreed to do ours because he is sort of friendly with Jeff. He was awesome! I only requested two "must play" songs, and for the rest, I told him to play whatever people would dance to. He absolutely did that, and even though we only had 40 people altogether, there were always plenty of people on the dance floor. Plus, after our grand finale song with the confetti cannon, he had everyone leave the dance floor except Jeff and I. He played one final song for just the two of us to dance to in a quiet moment together, and it was the perfect way to end our reception. I'm not sure if this is typical of weddings, but it was such a special moment and really solidified my happiness with choosing him as our DJ. Oh, also he somehow found out about my small obsession with Mulch, Sweat, and Shears (the band that used to play at DHS), and he got a recording of one of their sets and played it as a surprise for me during the wedding. Hopefully there are photos of my reaction because I was shocked and amazed.
Root Photography, Photography - A+ - I already kind of mentioned this in my Glad I Did, but I am so so happy that we had the Roots. They kept me calm before our first look, directed us exactly where and when we needed to be places, and they obviously take amazingly brilliant photos. Although we haven't yet received a final product from them, I know that they will deliver beautiful photos. I've known that I've wanted them to photograph my wedding before I even had a potential groom. After getting to know them, it makes it an even better choice to have had them. Between their quality of work and personalities, they were truly one of the best things about our wedding.
Trinity Wedding Cinema, Videography - A - I can't wait to see our video! David and Kristina were great, but I definitely had less contact/connection with them than I did with the Roots. However, this is due to the nature of photo vs video, and I absolutely can't say that they were lacking in any way. David's communication before the wedding was so great, and he helped me create a custom package to fit our needs. He helped me weigh the pros and cons of having more hours for more footage vs our tight budget. We also haven't received a final product from them, nor do I expect one for quite a while, since we didn't order the sneak peek video as part of our package. But like with the Roots, I anticipate beautiful work from them when the time comes!
LeJeune Artistry, Hair and Makeup - A+ - I am so glad that we had Patricia LeJeune and her team for hair and makeup. I wear literally no makeup ever and wanted a very natural look, and Patricia absolutely nailed that. She did all the makeup for our group, and Juanita did all the hair. Between just the two of them (they were supposed to have an assistant who called out sick), they did hair and makeup for five of us in less than four hours. And the work was flawless. Everyone looked amazing, and everyone was happy with their work. Even my mom was happy, and she is extremely picky about how she looks and almost did her own hair/makeup to have it done the way she wanted. Plus Patricia is super sweet and didn't judge me when I whispered to her, "make them all less beautiful than me."
Carolyn Allen's, Alterations and Steaming - A - I went to Sue at Carolyn Allen's for all my bridal alterations. After my first fitting, my mom liked Sue so much that she went there for her own alterations and actually ended up buying a new MOB dress for herself from the store there instead. My sister/MOH got her alterations done there as well, and my dad ordered his tux there. I had three fittings, and I was so impressed with Sue and her family. You can really tell that they take pride in their work. I had somewhat of a lot of work done on the dress, seeing as I had the whole train of my ball gown removed. It was definitely pricey, but I felt that it was fair. I really felt that I was in good hands at Carolyn Allen's, and it was a great bonus that they also did in-room drop off and steaming for my, my mom's, and my sister's dresses.
SomethingPrintable on Etsy/Vistaprint, Invitations - A - We tried to save a little on the budget when it came to invitations, so we used an Etsy vendor, SomethingPrintable for the design and then had them printed by Vistaprint. Even though this is technically the bargain way to do invitations, I am thrilled that we did it this way. We might not have had fancy envelopes or anything, but I was able to get the exact invitations I wanted at a great price. Victoria at SomethingPrintable was very responsive and extremely fast at sending our designs within just a few days. And Vistaprint may be an inexpensive printing option, but I was very pleased with the quality of the invitations I received.
Honorable Mention:
Wanderable, Honeymoon Registry - A - I know that the opinions on having a honeymoon registry are kind of mixed, but I was very happy that we did one through Wanderable. The fees are sort of middle-of-the-road as far as honeymoon registry fees go, but we didn't feel comfortable straight up asking people for Disney gift cards as gifts. We really wanted to do the honeymoon registry as a way to sort of force ourselves to have the unforgettable experiences that we maybe wouldn't do otherwise. All our items were purchased from the registry except one, and I was very happy with the experience. Plus the site is beautiful, user-friendly, and was pretty customizable.