Vendor Reviews
I live in Georgia, so, if you are looking for vendors, this may help!
Ceremony and Reception Venue
The Ravinia Club
A+
Actually, I feel like this topic should have two seperate ratings, one for the Venue itself and another for the wedding coordinator at the venue. Let's start with the venue itself. I give it an A+++++! The outside ceremony site was just beuatiful, even without the florist's extra touches here and there. The stone ampatheatre is very modern and the trees, river, and waterfall were amazing! The plan B site was just as pretty-an indoor 3 story wall to ceiling glassed in conservatory with tropical plants and a waterfall-all inside(luckily for me it didn't rain)! The cocktail hour was in the downstairs bar area with plenty of room for people to mingle and sit. The reception was upstairs in their main dining room. Be careful if you have more than 150 guests though, we just barely fit! As for the coordinator herself, Laura, I would rate her an average A. She was very helpful the day of the wedding, truly amazing the day of, actually, but during the planning process it was very hard to get in touch with her. She would take up to a week to reply back. On the flip side, once I did get in touch with her, she was VERY easy to work with and really tried everything in her power to meet any needs I had. She even totally remade a menu for me! Overall, I LOVED the Ravinia Club!
Bridesmaid's Luncheon Venue
The Swan Coach House
A
We wanted somewhere “girly” and with a menu light enough that the girls wouldn't feel stuffed and full all day. The Swan Coach House was beautiful with its “tea-room” look upstairs and they even have a porch you can use for your luncheon. They dress up each table with fresh cut flowers and have servers with drinks ready when you arrive. The food was light and refreshing and my girls LOVED it! We had chicken salad, a frozen fruit thing that was yummy and cheese straws with key lime pie for dessert. It was the perfect setting for what we were looking for. The only thing I didn't like was that everyone had to eat the same exact thing. I was lucky that all of the girls liked chicken salad. They have several options to choose from for your luncheon, but you can only serve one dish. Overall, great location (Buckhead), great décor, great food, great service!
Rehearsal Dinner Venue
Brio Italian Bistro in Perimeter
A
I have loved eating at Brio for years and years so it was not hard to choose this place for the rehearsal dinner. The managers were extremely easy to work with, they gave us a menu made up specifically for our night with our names on it and everything and the food was delishious and plentiful. Not an empty stomach in the house! The guests had 4 appitizers to choose from, 3 salads to choose from, 3 entrees to choose from, and 4 desserts to choose from. They also kept the wine flowing all night. The only down side in my opinion was that I really wanted a “U” shaped table setup and the room could only hold our 33 people with smaller round table that sat 8 people to a table. We had a minimally hard time figured out where everyone should sit once we got there. If you don't care about “U” shaped table setup, you are good to go here!
Photographer
The Photography Shoppe-shooters were Brendon and Jenny
A
This rating also should be devided into two catagories, one rating for the photography shoppe business itself and one for our shooters. To rate the business itself, I would give them a B+. They have great package deals, we had a ton of stuff in our $1850 package including an engagement shoot, our wedding album, 2 parent albums that the parents get to design themselves, a bridal shoot, 8 hours with 2 photographers the day of the wedding, etc. I loved the package and the fact that their employees email you back very quickly and try to accomidate your needs. I didn't give them an “A” because at the time, I did not understand, and no one explained to me that first, the Atlanta branch of the business is actaully out of Birmingham, so we never could go to a studio and the photographers have to try and fit you in on a day that they can drive the 3 hours to Atlanta. It rained the day of our engagement shoot and the photographer was like, “well, we need to know 4 hours ahead of time to come or not” and that was tricky. The second reason I gave the business a “B” is because I was not aware that my photographer is not the one that edits my pictures, some random editors in Lousianna at their home office do it. I don't understand how editors I never met can undersand what the phographer and ourselves were trying to capture in a particular shot.
Now, as far as the shooters themselves go-Brendon and Jenny-they are a brother and sister that happen to be two of the ten shooters they have in the Birmingham office. They were expereinced with a ton of great ideas and listened to what you liked and didn't like. I would give them A+++++++, they were great to work with all day!
Videographer
Nick Bach
B
Nick gave us an amazing price, that was really the only reason we could afford a videographer. He gave us 6 hours for $450 and then an aditional $25 after that. What a steal! The price may be what gave him the good score. When meeting with him we didn't really get the vibe that he liked shooting weddings, I think it is just what he does for extra pocket change. If you want something amazing, you may want to look for someone else. I know at one point during the reception, we were doing the bouquet toss and as I looked up to throw it he was running in with his camera, he almost completely missed the whole thing! When you look on his site now his prices have shot up $1,000....don't know if he is worth that much. For his new prices, I'd look elsewhere.
Florist
Creative Events by Sunflowers-Rich Larsen
A++++++++
I can't say enough amazing things about Rich. We met with three other florists before him and after 5 minutes of talking with him, we knew he was the one! He has thousands of pictures he can show you of weddings he has done and every single one of them is absolutely breathtaking, mine was no exception. He thinks of everything! He listens to exactly what you want and then makes your dreams fit into your budget. He was probably my favorite vendor of all to work with! I can't say enough about him!
String Quartet for ceremony and cocktail hour
After Five String Quartet
A+++++++
My husband and I are both professional musicians and half of the wedding guests were musicians, so, the string quartet had to be good, and these guys are amazing! We met with them at one of their homes and they did an hour mini-concert for us! It was so much fun! We'd shout out different songs and they would play them for us. They have hundreds of songs to choose from and if they don't have a song, they will get it arranged for you for just a little more money. Totally worth it! They even send you a CD of your songs to use at the rehearsal! They were all super nice (the cellist even posed in a picture for me and our photographers) and arrived plenty ahead of time! Great to work with!
Outdoor sound for ceremony
Ansley Segraves
A++++++
Ansley is a friend of mine from work who happens to do all of the sound for my school's performances (we have about 10 a year) and I knew he was good. For $100 he brought the sound board, all the speakers, mics, and everything else we needed to amplify everything for the outdoor ceremony. Everything sounded amazing and the music and mics went off without a glinch. If you have an outdoor wedding and have singers or a CD that you need played, he is your man!
DJ
Complete Music
our DJ was John Jacobs
A+++++++
Complete Music knows how to throw a party! I was so worried about making sure everyone was out on the dance floor and man were they ever!!! When dinner kind of fizzled out he started a trivia game about the bride and groom and asked funny questions that the guests really got into. Then to get guests on the dance floor we played a game called “snowball” where first just the wedding party started dancing and everytime he yelled “snowball” the people on the dance floor had to run out and grab someone else and get them on the floor. We had the whole crowd up there! He didn't play any of the cheesy stuff and everyone from 15 years old to 80 years old were up there dancing. At the end of the night I starting feeling sick and without question, when I told him we needed to play the last dance song and wrap it up, he was on top of it. Great DJ and a very easy DJ service to work with!
Bride's cake
Gabriel's Bakery
A+++++++
My cake was just beautiful! They made my dream a reality. It had two different flavors and when you went to do the tasting they actaully give you an entire cake to take home and try!! The strawberry cake was actaully made with real strawberries! YUMMY!!!!
Groom's cake
Stephanie Boyd
A+++
Stephanie was a friend of the groom's mother so we had her make the groom's cake which was in the shape of a tostito bag with a bowl of salsa. She also gave us small cakes to take home and try. They were pretty tasty, didn't get to try any at the wedding, but the design was cute.
Bride's hair and makeup
Formal Faces-Shannon was my stylist
A
Once again, another situtation where the company gets a different rating than the actaul vendor. Formal Faces the company really had some moments that bothered me. I'd give then a “B.” They are organized and respond to you quickly, but weren't into helping you with your needs as a bride. For example, I knew they had a great reputation but I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay their high prices for my one day so I asked to do my trial several months ahead of time to see if I wanted to use them. NO! No way, had to do it within a month of the wedding and HAD to put down the deposit before I could book the trial! What is the point of a trial then?! So, I just had to bite the bullet and pay the money. Lucky for me, I loved it! They have about 10 girls that work for the company and I had Shannon. She did both my hair and my makeup and came to the venue so I didn't have to go to her. She was a doll, totally listened to what I wanted and made my vision a reality. I actually had a trial at another place before Formal Faces and hated how I looked (Makeup Catoure with Dawn, she does airbrush, wasn't happy at all with my look). Shannon gets an “A++++++” in my book. The makeup stayed on through crying and sweating for 10+ hours without fading. Ladies, you don't need airbrush to have it stay through anything, their makeup was great! If you can stand the prices I totally recommend you won't be let down!
Dance lessons
GiGi's Ballroom-Gillian Grimsely
A+++++++
Gillian gave us 5 lessons for $275 and it was really worth it! You bring your song and she'll teach your a choreographed dance to go with it. 100% private lesson and she is very patient with you. She'll tell you that you MUST practice outside of the lessons for the best result. We did, and everyone LOVED our first dance! We did a rumba to start with some fancy turns, then went into a foxtrot at the faster part and everyone was cheering! The best part is that Gillian teaches you in such a way that you learn how to actaully do the dance (like the rumba or the foxtrot) not something that fits only to your song, so, we can take everything we learned and dance it to any song. We put the turns in where we wanted them and it wasn't so “Dancing with the stars” like that if you missed a turn, no biggy, the way she tought you, you knew how to just put it in later. I had fun and, although he won't admit it, my husband did also!
Bridal Attire
David's Bridal in Kennesaw
A
I need to start this one by saying I, too, was 100% anti-David's Bridal...I heard all the horror stories and was like “I'm not even stepping foot inside that place.” Well, my very pushy aunt told me that I had to at least “try.” So, my mom, MOH and I went to the one in Kennesaw and the lady found my dress after the 2nd try! Yes! It was the 2nd dress I tried on, and I never once regreted it! The price was amazing for how much dress and bead work their was and everyone complimented it! I will tell you a few pointers on the David's Bridal situation:
Dress Alterations
Bridal Sense
A+
The lady that owns this little shop is too cute! Very helpful and they did a great job on my dress. I had several fittings and the dress came out perfect!
The Ravinia Club
A+
Actually, I feel like this topic should have two seperate ratings, one for the Venue itself and another for the wedding coordinator at the venue. Let's start with the venue itself. I give it an A+++++! The outside ceremony site was just beuatiful, even without the florist's extra touches here and there. The stone ampatheatre is very modern and the trees, river, and waterfall were amazing! The plan B site was just as pretty-an indoor 3 story wall to ceiling glassed in conservatory with tropical plants and a waterfall-all inside(luckily for me it didn't rain)! The cocktail hour was in the downstairs bar area with plenty of room for people to mingle and sit. The reception was upstairs in their main dining room. Be careful if you have more than 150 guests though, we just barely fit! As for the coordinator herself, Laura, I would rate her an average A. She was very helpful the day of the wedding, truly amazing the day of, actually, but during the planning process it was very hard to get in touch with her. She would take up to a week to reply back. On the flip side, once I did get in touch with her, she was VERY easy to work with and really tried everything in her power to meet any needs I had. She even totally remade a menu for me! Overall, I LOVED the Ravinia Club!
Bridesmaid's Luncheon Venue
The Swan Coach House
A
We wanted somewhere “girly” and with a menu light enough that the girls wouldn't feel stuffed and full all day. The Swan Coach House was beautiful with its “tea-room” look upstairs and they even have a porch you can use for your luncheon. They dress up each table with fresh cut flowers and have servers with drinks ready when you arrive. The food was light and refreshing and my girls LOVED it! We had chicken salad, a frozen fruit thing that was yummy and cheese straws with key lime pie for dessert. It was the perfect setting for what we were looking for. The only thing I didn't like was that everyone had to eat the same exact thing. I was lucky that all of the girls liked chicken salad. They have several options to choose from for your luncheon, but you can only serve one dish. Overall, great location (Buckhead), great décor, great food, great service!
Rehearsal Dinner Venue
Brio Italian Bistro in Perimeter
A
I have loved eating at Brio for years and years so it was not hard to choose this place for the rehearsal dinner. The managers were extremely easy to work with, they gave us a menu made up specifically for our night with our names on it and everything and the food was delishious and plentiful. Not an empty stomach in the house! The guests had 4 appitizers to choose from, 3 salads to choose from, 3 entrees to choose from, and 4 desserts to choose from. They also kept the wine flowing all night. The only down side in my opinion was that I really wanted a “U” shaped table setup and the room could only hold our 33 people with smaller round table that sat 8 people to a table. We had a minimally hard time figured out where everyone should sit once we got there. If you don't care about “U” shaped table setup, you are good to go here!
Photographer
The Photography Shoppe-shooters were Brendon and Jenny
A
This rating also should be devided into two catagories, one rating for the photography shoppe business itself and one for our shooters. To rate the business itself, I would give them a B+. They have great package deals, we had a ton of stuff in our $1850 package including an engagement shoot, our wedding album, 2 parent albums that the parents get to design themselves, a bridal shoot, 8 hours with 2 photographers the day of the wedding, etc. I loved the package and the fact that their employees email you back very quickly and try to accomidate your needs. I didn't give them an “A” because at the time, I did not understand, and no one explained to me that first, the Atlanta branch of the business is actaully out of Birmingham, so we never could go to a studio and the photographers have to try and fit you in on a day that they can drive the 3 hours to Atlanta. It rained the day of our engagement shoot and the photographer was like, “well, we need to know 4 hours ahead of time to come or not” and that was tricky. The second reason I gave the business a “B” is because I was not aware that my photographer is not the one that edits my pictures, some random editors in Lousianna at their home office do it. I don't understand how editors I never met can undersand what the phographer and ourselves were trying to capture in a particular shot.
Now, as far as the shooters themselves go-Brendon and Jenny-they are a brother and sister that happen to be two of the ten shooters they have in the Birmingham office. They were expereinced with a ton of great ideas and listened to what you liked and didn't like. I would give them A+++++++, they were great to work with all day!
Videographer
Nick Bach
B
Nick gave us an amazing price, that was really the only reason we could afford a videographer. He gave us 6 hours for $450 and then an aditional $25 after that. What a steal! The price may be what gave him the good score. When meeting with him we didn't really get the vibe that he liked shooting weddings, I think it is just what he does for extra pocket change. If you want something amazing, you may want to look for someone else. I know at one point during the reception, we were doing the bouquet toss and as I looked up to throw it he was running in with his camera, he almost completely missed the whole thing! When you look on his site now his prices have shot up $1,000....don't know if he is worth that much. For his new prices, I'd look elsewhere.
Florist
Creative Events by Sunflowers-Rich Larsen
A++++++++
I can't say enough amazing things about Rich. We met with three other florists before him and after 5 minutes of talking with him, we knew he was the one! He has thousands of pictures he can show you of weddings he has done and every single one of them is absolutely breathtaking, mine was no exception. He thinks of everything! He listens to exactly what you want and then makes your dreams fit into your budget. He was probably my favorite vendor of all to work with! I can't say enough about him!
String Quartet for ceremony and cocktail hour
After Five String Quartet
A+++++++
My husband and I are both professional musicians and half of the wedding guests were musicians, so, the string quartet had to be good, and these guys are amazing! We met with them at one of their homes and they did an hour mini-concert for us! It was so much fun! We'd shout out different songs and they would play them for us. They have hundreds of songs to choose from and if they don't have a song, they will get it arranged for you for just a little more money. Totally worth it! They even send you a CD of your songs to use at the rehearsal! They were all super nice (the cellist even posed in a picture for me and our photographers) and arrived plenty ahead of time! Great to work with!
Outdoor sound for ceremony
Ansley Segraves
A++++++
Ansley is a friend of mine from work who happens to do all of the sound for my school's performances (we have about 10 a year) and I knew he was good. For $100 he brought the sound board, all the speakers, mics, and everything else we needed to amplify everything for the outdoor ceremony. Everything sounded amazing and the music and mics went off without a glinch. If you have an outdoor wedding and have singers or a CD that you need played, he is your man!
DJ
Complete Music
our DJ was John Jacobs
A+++++++
Complete Music knows how to throw a party! I was so worried about making sure everyone was out on the dance floor and man were they ever!!! When dinner kind of fizzled out he started a trivia game about the bride and groom and asked funny questions that the guests really got into. Then to get guests on the dance floor we played a game called “snowball” where first just the wedding party started dancing and everytime he yelled “snowball” the people on the dance floor had to run out and grab someone else and get them on the floor. We had the whole crowd up there! He didn't play any of the cheesy stuff and everyone from 15 years old to 80 years old were up there dancing. At the end of the night I starting feeling sick and without question, when I told him we needed to play the last dance song and wrap it up, he was on top of it. Great DJ and a very easy DJ service to work with!
Bride's cake
Gabriel's Bakery
A+++++++
My cake was just beautiful! They made my dream a reality. It had two different flavors and when you went to do the tasting they actaully give you an entire cake to take home and try!! The strawberry cake was actaully made with real strawberries! YUMMY!!!!
Groom's cake
Stephanie Boyd
A+++
Stephanie was a friend of the groom's mother so we had her make the groom's cake which was in the shape of a tostito bag with a bowl of salsa. She also gave us small cakes to take home and try. They were pretty tasty, didn't get to try any at the wedding, but the design was cute.
Bride's hair and makeup
Formal Faces-Shannon was my stylist
A
Once again, another situtation where the company gets a different rating than the actaul vendor. Formal Faces the company really had some moments that bothered me. I'd give then a “B.” They are organized and respond to you quickly, but weren't into helping you with your needs as a bride. For example, I knew they had a great reputation but I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay their high prices for my one day so I asked to do my trial several months ahead of time to see if I wanted to use them. NO! No way, had to do it within a month of the wedding and HAD to put down the deposit before I could book the trial! What is the point of a trial then?! So, I just had to bite the bullet and pay the money. Lucky for me, I loved it! They have about 10 girls that work for the company and I had Shannon. She did both my hair and my makeup and came to the venue so I didn't have to go to her. She was a doll, totally listened to what I wanted and made my vision a reality. I actually had a trial at another place before Formal Faces and hated how I looked (Makeup Catoure with Dawn, she does airbrush, wasn't happy at all with my look). Shannon gets an “A++++++” in my book. The makeup stayed on through crying and sweating for 10+ hours without fading. Ladies, you don't need airbrush to have it stay through anything, their makeup was great! If you can stand the prices I totally recommend you won't be let down!
Dance lessons
GiGi's Ballroom-Gillian Grimsely
A+++++++
Gillian gave us 5 lessons for $275 and it was really worth it! You bring your song and she'll teach your a choreographed dance to go with it. 100% private lesson and she is very patient with you. She'll tell you that you MUST practice outside of the lessons for the best result. We did, and everyone LOVED our first dance! We did a rumba to start with some fancy turns, then went into a foxtrot at the faster part and everyone was cheering! The best part is that Gillian teaches you in such a way that you learn how to actaully do the dance (like the rumba or the foxtrot) not something that fits only to your song, so, we can take everything we learned and dance it to any song. We put the turns in where we wanted them and it wasn't so “Dancing with the stars” like that if you missed a turn, no biggy, the way she tought you, you knew how to just put it in later. I had fun and, although he won't admit it, my husband did also!
Bridal Attire
David's Bridal in Kennesaw
A
I need to start this one by saying I, too, was 100% anti-David's Bridal...I heard all the horror stories and was like “I'm not even stepping foot inside that place.” Well, my very pushy aunt told me that I had to at least “try.” So, my mom, MOH and I went to the one in Kennesaw and the lady found my dress after the 2nd try! Yes! It was the 2nd dress I tried on, and I never once regreted it! The price was amazing for how much dress and bead work their was and everyone complimented it! I will tell you a few pointers on the David's Bridal situation:
- Go on a weekday when it isn't crowded, you will get treated a lot better!
- I only recommend THIS location. I went to the ones at other locations later in my planning process and hated them-terrible service. My rating is for Kennesaw only.
- Get it altered somewhere else-it will be so much cheaper! They tell you not to but I did and it was a lot cheaper and they did a perfect job!
Dress Alterations
Bridal Sense
A+
The lady that owns this little shop is too cute! Very helpful and they did a great job on my dress. I had several fittings and the dress came out perfect!
