Venue – Lakewood Theater – A I loved my venue. It is so unique, I think if I’d had an identical wedding in a different venue, it would have made a huge difference. The venue is a big part of what made our wedding special. I will say, though, that there were some communication issues throughout the process. When I first started planning, I had a friend volunteering to be my coordinator, and the venue manager was a little rude to her a couple times. There was one time she was short with me as well, and it could be difficult to get in touch with her. However, most of the time she was friendly and helpful and in the end she and the venue exceeded all of my expectations. I will say, though, if you use this venue, hire a day-of coordinator! In fact, hire my day-of coordinator!
Day-of Coordinator – Meredith Commender with Significant Events of Texas – A+ Meredith was so great, from the minute I met her through when I texted her the day after the wedding with a question. When I hired her, I was really stressed about some of the logistical aspects of being in such a different venue, and she responded to all of my questions and concerns with care and patience. She helped figure everything out, and would even email me from time to time with ideas she’d thought of for my wedding. That was above and beyond what I expected from a DOC. She’s very no-nonsense, and I loved that about her. On the day of the wedding, she took care of all of the set-up, ran everything like a dream, and cleaned it all up at the end of the night. None of my friends and family had to lift a finger, and if there were any issues or problems, I still don’t know about them!
Photographer – Lynn Michelle Photography – A+ What can I say about Lynn? My husband is a photographer, so photography was our first vendor after we had a date and a venue. I looked at dozens of photographer’s websites, and Lynn’s was the first one that I spent hours looking at. Not only are her pictures stunning, she and her crew are fantastic too. She has a hilarious, quirky sense of humor, and my husband and I just love her. We had a blast doing our engagement pictures, and they are so wonderful. On the day of the wedding, Lynn and her people were always there, capturing every moment. Lynn is another vendor that goes above and beyond – because we were in a unique venue, she asked if she could come to the rehearsal to get a feel for the place. And for the actual wedding, she showed up early and stayed late. I’ve only seen some of the pictures so far, but they are fantastic, and I have no doubt that the rest will be beyond stunning.
Florist – May Flowers and Gifts – A Kevin May was my first employer – I worked for her when I was in high school. So it felt kind of full-circle to use her for my wedding. Flowers were not super important for me, so I left a lot of the decisions to her. I had a certain look I was going for, and she understood my vision. She was in budget, on time, and the flowers looked and smelled beautiful. Since this wasn’t one of my top priorities for the wedding, that was all I was asking for!
DJ – Glenn Roush Productions – A+ Glenn, Lynn and Meredith were the Super Team at our wedding! Glenn is such a nice guy, and he definitely understood that having a fun wedding was what we wanted more than anything. At the beginning of the reception, people weren’t dancing as much as I had expected. I think they were all playing at Lynn’s Framed Booth. But Glenn picked up on what music the guests were responding to, and for the last 30-45 minutes of the night, we had a pretty good group on the dance floor. Glenn also ran the music for the ceremony, and it all went perfectly. He did everything to make sure that we, as well as our guests, were having a great time the whole night. And since it was a costume reception, Glenn wore his Double Rainbow t-shirt, which is further proof of his awesomeness.
Bakery – Panini Bakery – A+ Most important: the cakes at Panini are amazing. Since we had our tasting in March, we have purchased 4-5 cakes for family celebrations from Panini, because they’re that good. Also, the cake looked even better than I expected. Having a big show-stopper cake was another low priority for me, but Sophie understood what I was thinking of and delivered something even better. It was simple, but beautiful. And finally, Sophie is one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. She remembers us every time we go in, and you can tell that she really cares about her customers. Plus, of the three bakeries where we had tastings, Panini had the best taste and the lowest cost!
Catering – Tangiloo’s – B+ This review is kind of difficult for me. Tangi does not do weddings very often, she mostly does craft services for TV and movie sets. However, she does work closely and often with Lakewood, which is why I went with her. She doesn’t do tastings, but she let me pick up a to-go box one weekend when she was doing our menu at the theater. Also, the food is so good. We had the Greek menu, and everything was wonderful. I only have a few small-ish complaints. We were supposed to get a box of food to take to the hotel with us, but that never happened. Also, I had discussed with her getting containers for leftovers, but that didn’t happen either. And it occurred to me later that I don’t think she brought the baklava we had discussed. I don’t know if these errors were hers or her employees’, and since my dad paid the bill that night, I don’t know if we were charged for extraneous items or not. I do know that Tangi experienced a traumatic loss a few weeks before the wedding and she probably wasn’t picking up on details. In the end, the food was wonderful and plentiful and my guests loved it, which is the most important thing. I’m not upset about this vendor at all, just a little perplexed.
Dresses – Alfred Angelo – A My experience with Alfred Angelo was absolutely seamless. When I went to shop for my dress, my consultant was wonderful, but when I went with the bridesmaids to shop for them and to pick up my dress, the girl was pretty clueless. She didn’t even know how to lace up my dress! But, everything we bought there (BM dresses, my dress, FG dresses) looked great and came in on time. In fact, Becky commented that my dress was very well made! I have no complaints about AA!
Dress Alterations – Becky Fowler – A+ Becky altered my dress and my matron of honor’s dress. I’m very short (4’11”), so my dress needed a lot of work. I ordered the short length dress and still needed three inches off the hem! She also had to take an inch off the top of the bodice because my torso is so short, and that was a very complicated job because she had to open the seam, cut out the boning, and sew everything back together. But you would never know it didn’t come that way! She also put a bustle in for me. I thought for sure it would break at some point during the night, but it held up! For all of that, she charged me $200. I don’t even want to know what that would have cost through Alfred Angelo. And of course, she was as sweet as can be through the whole process, and a real pleasure to work with.
Groom’s Suit – K&G Fashion Superstore – A We got my husband a really nice Tommy Hilfiger suit, plus ties for him and the groomsmen, all for really great prices. The service isn’t all that attentive, but for the prices, who cares?
Groom’s Shoes – ecco – A My husband wears a 5.5 shoe in men’s, and literally the only places we could find fashionable dress shoes in his size were Payless and ecco. So we decided to get him a nice pair of shoes that he can wear for a long time, even though it meant paying more than we had originally planned. And he says they’re very comfortable, so I think it was well worth the investment.
Groom’s Alterations – LeighAnna of Maybe Sew – A LeighAnna was recommended to us by Becky Fowler for men’s alterations, and come to find out, she is in our neighborhood! My husband is also really short (5’2”), but he has broad shoulders and a thick neck with a tiny waist. His suit only needed a hem on the pants, but the shirt was a different story. To make it so he could button the neck, it was like a nightshirt everywhere else! You should have seen her face when she saw it on him! But she took in the sides and shortened the sleeves. It didn’t look perfect, but it looked great under his jacket, and he was able to comfortable wear his tie all night. I can’t remember what we paid, but I thought it was very reasonable, it was less than we had budgeted.
Officiant – Arianna Gray with Alternative Wedding Services – A+ Arianna is so wonderful. My husband’s father passed away about a year and half before the wedding. When we met with Arianna, the first thing she talked about was doing a memorial candle for people you always thought would be there but can’t be. And I just lost it there in the middle of Starbucks! Arianna helped us create a ceremony that was completely customized to us, and it was so beautiful. She has a lot of great ideas, and she really knows the history and meaning behind all of the wedding rituals. She was great from start to finish, and our ceremony was perfect. And I don’t know if she has some kind of magic, but we got our marriage license back in less than a week!
Hair – Misty Powell from Salon LaPage in Denton – A+ Misty is a dear friend of ours. Actually, she and my husband dated many years ago! Misty has been doing my hair for over five years, and she’s the only one I trust to touch it. For the wedding, she did hair for my sister, another bridesmaid, my mom and me. Everyone’s hair looked great and lasted all night. I don’t know how often she does on-location styling, but if you live anywhere near Denton, you should visit Salon LaPage. Everyone there is wonderful, especially Misty!
Makeup – Amanda Hugdahl with AH Makeup Artistry – A+ Amanda is so sweet and very professional. She did airbrush makeup for my engagement pictures and wedding. She also did makeup for my mom, sister and another bridesmaid. Everyone looked so beautiful, and the makeup lasted through all the tears, eating, drinking and dancing!
Rehearsal Dinner – Sonny Bryan’s, the West End – A+ We chose Sonny Bryan’s for the rehearsal dinner because we had several relatives in town from Switzerland for the wedding, and we really wanted to show them a good Texas time. We went to have lunch there one day to taste the food, and when they found out why we were there they comped our meal! The private downstairs room was booked for our date, so we were in a semi-secluded side area off the main dining room. We had two servers just for us, and they set up the buffet in the same room. The food was great and the service was excellent from start to finish!
Night Before Hotel – Corinthian Bed & Breakfast – A+ Two of my bridesmaids and I stayed at the Corinthian Bed & Breakfast the night before the wedding. The bed was very comfortable, the room was really cute and the breakfast was amazing! And the best part was, it was only a couple miles from the theater!
Wedding Night Hotel – Stonleigh Hotel & Spa – A+ The room was really nice and the room service was quick and delicious. The bed was also really comfortable. We didn’t see much of the hotel because we were so exhausted, but it was a great place to spend our wedding night.
I’m not going to give reviews of the rest of my vendors, but here’s a list. If anyone wants a review of any of these, let me know and I’ll do it.
Rings – Moissaniteco.com and Kay Jewelers
Invitations and other paper items – Designed by me. Printed parts from uprinting.com, cardstock and envelopes from cardsandpockets.com
Linen rentals – BBJ Linen
Airbrush tan – Salas Sunless
Facial – Hiatus Spa
Mani/pedi – Coppell Nails
Bridesmaid brunch – Mimi’s in Lewisville
Veil and fascinator – Circle Park Bridal
Sparklers – houseofrave.com
Day-of Coordinator – Meredith Commender with Significant Events of Texas – A+ Meredith was so great, from the minute I met her through when I texted her the day after the wedding with a question. When I hired her, I was really stressed about some of the logistical aspects of being in such a different venue, and she responded to all of my questions and concerns with care and patience. She helped figure everything out, and would even email me from time to time with ideas she’d thought of for my wedding. That was above and beyond what I expected from a DOC. She’s very no-nonsense, and I loved that about her. On the day of the wedding, she took care of all of the set-up, ran everything like a dream, and cleaned it all up at the end of the night. None of my friends and family had to lift a finger, and if there were any issues or problems, I still don’t know about them!
Photographer – Lynn Michelle Photography – A+ What can I say about Lynn? My husband is a photographer, so photography was our first vendor after we had a date and a venue. I looked at dozens of photographer’s websites, and Lynn’s was the first one that I spent hours looking at. Not only are her pictures stunning, she and her crew are fantastic too. She has a hilarious, quirky sense of humor, and my husband and I just love her. We had a blast doing our engagement pictures, and they are so wonderful. On the day of the wedding, Lynn and her people were always there, capturing every moment. Lynn is another vendor that goes above and beyond – because we were in a unique venue, she asked if she could come to the rehearsal to get a feel for the place. And for the actual wedding, she showed up early and stayed late. I’ve only seen some of the pictures so far, but they are fantastic, and I have no doubt that the rest will be beyond stunning.
Florist – May Flowers and Gifts – A Kevin May was my first employer – I worked for her when I was in high school. So it felt kind of full-circle to use her for my wedding. Flowers were not super important for me, so I left a lot of the decisions to her. I had a certain look I was going for, and she understood my vision. She was in budget, on time, and the flowers looked and smelled beautiful. Since this wasn’t one of my top priorities for the wedding, that was all I was asking for!
DJ – Glenn Roush Productions – A+ Glenn, Lynn and Meredith were the Super Team at our wedding! Glenn is such a nice guy, and he definitely understood that having a fun wedding was what we wanted more than anything. At the beginning of the reception, people weren’t dancing as much as I had expected. I think they were all playing at Lynn’s Framed Booth. But Glenn picked up on what music the guests were responding to, and for the last 30-45 minutes of the night, we had a pretty good group on the dance floor. Glenn also ran the music for the ceremony, and it all went perfectly. He did everything to make sure that we, as well as our guests, were having a great time the whole night. And since it was a costume reception, Glenn wore his Double Rainbow t-shirt, which is further proof of his awesomeness.
Bakery – Panini Bakery – A+ Most important: the cakes at Panini are amazing. Since we had our tasting in March, we have purchased 4-5 cakes for family celebrations from Panini, because they’re that good. Also, the cake looked even better than I expected. Having a big show-stopper cake was another low priority for me, but Sophie understood what I was thinking of and delivered something even better. It was simple, but beautiful. And finally, Sophie is one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. She remembers us every time we go in, and you can tell that she really cares about her customers. Plus, of the three bakeries where we had tastings, Panini had the best taste and the lowest cost!
Catering – Tangiloo’s – B+ This review is kind of difficult for me. Tangi does not do weddings very often, she mostly does craft services for TV and movie sets. However, she does work closely and often with Lakewood, which is why I went with her. She doesn’t do tastings, but she let me pick up a to-go box one weekend when she was doing our menu at the theater. Also, the food is so good. We had the Greek menu, and everything was wonderful. I only have a few small-ish complaints. We were supposed to get a box of food to take to the hotel with us, but that never happened. Also, I had discussed with her getting containers for leftovers, but that didn’t happen either. And it occurred to me later that I don’t think she brought the baklava we had discussed. I don’t know if these errors were hers or her employees’, and since my dad paid the bill that night, I don’t know if we were charged for extraneous items or not. I do know that Tangi experienced a traumatic loss a few weeks before the wedding and she probably wasn’t picking up on details. In the end, the food was wonderful and plentiful and my guests loved it, which is the most important thing. I’m not upset about this vendor at all, just a little perplexed.
Dresses – Alfred Angelo – A My experience with Alfred Angelo was absolutely seamless. When I went to shop for my dress, my consultant was wonderful, but when I went with the bridesmaids to shop for them and to pick up my dress, the girl was pretty clueless. She didn’t even know how to lace up my dress! But, everything we bought there (BM dresses, my dress, FG dresses) looked great and came in on time. In fact, Becky commented that my dress was very well made! I have no complaints about AA!
Dress Alterations – Becky Fowler – A+ Becky altered my dress and my matron of honor’s dress. I’m very short (4’11”), so my dress needed a lot of work. I ordered the short length dress and still needed three inches off the hem! She also had to take an inch off the top of the bodice because my torso is so short, and that was a very complicated job because she had to open the seam, cut out the boning, and sew everything back together. But you would never know it didn’t come that way! She also put a bustle in for me. I thought for sure it would break at some point during the night, but it held up! For all of that, she charged me $200. I don’t even want to know what that would have cost through Alfred Angelo. And of course, she was as sweet as can be through the whole process, and a real pleasure to work with.
Groom’s Suit – K&G Fashion Superstore – A We got my husband a really nice Tommy Hilfiger suit, plus ties for him and the groomsmen, all for really great prices. The service isn’t all that attentive, but for the prices, who cares?
Groom’s Shoes – ecco – A My husband wears a 5.5 shoe in men’s, and literally the only places we could find fashionable dress shoes in his size were Payless and ecco. So we decided to get him a nice pair of shoes that he can wear for a long time, even though it meant paying more than we had originally planned. And he says they’re very comfortable, so I think it was well worth the investment.
Groom’s Alterations – LeighAnna of Maybe Sew – A LeighAnna was recommended to us by Becky Fowler for men’s alterations, and come to find out, she is in our neighborhood! My husband is also really short (5’2”), but he has broad shoulders and a thick neck with a tiny waist. His suit only needed a hem on the pants, but the shirt was a different story. To make it so he could button the neck, it was like a nightshirt everywhere else! You should have seen her face when she saw it on him! But she took in the sides and shortened the sleeves. It didn’t look perfect, but it looked great under his jacket, and he was able to comfortable wear his tie all night. I can’t remember what we paid, but I thought it was very reasonable, it was less than we had budgeted.
Officiant – Arianna Gray with Alternative Wedding Services – A+ Arianna is so wonderful. My husband’s father passed away about a year and half before the wedding. When we met with Arianna, the first thing she talked about was doing a memorial candle for people you always thought would be there but can’t be. And I just lost it there in the middle of Starbucks! Arianna helped us create a ceremony that was completely customized to us, and it was so beautiful. She has a lot of great ideas, and she really knows the history and meaning behind all of the wedding rituals. She was great from start to finish, and our ceremony was perfect. And I don’t know if she has some kind of magic, but we got our marriage license back in less than a week!
Hair – Misty Powell from Salon LaPage in Denton – A+ Misty is a dear friend of ours. Actually, she and my husband dated many years ago! Misty has been doing my hair for over five years, and she’s the only one I trust to touch it. For the wedding, she did hair for my sister, another bridesmaid, my mom and me. Everyone’s hair looked great and lasted all night. I don’t know how often she does on-location styling, but if you live anywhere near Denton, you should visit Salon LaPage. Everyone there is wonderful, especially Misty!
Makeup – Amanda Hugdahl with AH Makeup Artistry – A+ Amanda is so sweet and very professional. She did airbrush makeup for my engagement pictures and wedding. She also did makeup for my mom, sister and another bridesmaid. Everyone looked so beautiful, and the makeup lasted through all the tears, eating, drinking and dancing!
Rehearsal Dinner – Sonny Bryan’s, the West End – A+ We chose Sonny Bryan’s for the rehearsal dinner because we had several relatives in town from Switzerland for the wedding, and we really wanted to show them a good Texas time. We went to have lunch there one day to taste the food, and when they found out why we were there they comped our meal! The private downstairs room was booked for our date, so we were in a semi-secluded side area off the main dining room. We had two servers just for us, and they set up the buffet in the same room. The food was great and the service was excellent from start to finish!
Night Before Hotel – Corinthian Bed & Breakfast – A+ Two of my bridesmaids and I stayed at the Corinthian Bed & Breakfast the night before the wedding. The bed was very comfortable, the room was really cute and the breakfast was amazing! And the best part was, it was only a couple miles from the theater!
Wedding Night Hotel – Stonleigh Hotel & Spa – A+ The room was really nice and the room service was quick and delicious. The bed was also really comfortable. We didn’t see much of the hotel because we were so exhausted, but it was a great place to spend our wedding night.
I’m not going to give reviews of the rest of my vendors, but here’s a list. If anyone wants a review of any of these, let me know and I’ll do it.
Rings – Moissaniteco.com and Kay Jewelers
Invitations and other paper items – Designed by me. Printed parts from uprinting.com, cardstock and envelopes from cardsandpockets.com
Linen rentals – BBJ Linen
Airbrush tan – Salas Sunless
Facial – Hiatus Spa
Mani/pedi – Coppell Nails
Bridesmaid brunch – Mimi’s in Lewisville
Veil and fascinator – Circle Park Bridal
Sparklers – houseofrave.com
