Venue – Empire Room A++++++
The venue was perfect. Everyone was really nice and helpful. Laura was great to work with and made sure everything was handled perfectly. The food was awesome!!!! Normally wedding food is sort of blah but this meal was sooo good. I didn’t taste the canapés but my mom said they were good as well. The staff set up my DIY cookie and milk buffet, which was a hit! At the end of the night we were given a picnic basket with champagne, cake, and milk and cookies. A very nice touch. The only mishap was the specialty drink during the cocktail hour. I requested a wedding cake martini, which is our favorite drink as a couple. They served a drink but it wasn’t a wedding cake martini. People drank it but it was too strong for me. Overall, a great experience and if I could pick my venue over again I wouldn’t change my selection.
http://www.empireroomdallas.com/Cake - Society Bakery A-
I couldn’t give them less than that because I LOVE their cakes. We had three different flavors – vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet. So good! My only issue was the ribbon takeover! Someone went ribbon crazy on my cake. Not what I envisioned at all.
http://www.societybakery.com/Photography – Sunshine Peacock A+
She was great. She was very easy to work with and affordable. I’m sure the pictures will be lovely and I can’t wait to see them. She arrived on time and was very professional.
http://www.sunshinephotography.com/DJ Davale – DJ Takeover – A
He was great. He understood what we wanted and made it happen. He also recorded a personal message for me that was played right before my dad walked me down the aisle. Best Price In Town!!! 972.333.7262
Quartet - Serenata Strings – A+
Karen was great with communication before the wedding. The quartet arrived on time and played beautifully. I snuck out to hear some of the music before the ceremony and they were wonderful.
http://www.seneratastringsdfw.com/Florist - 1 True Blessing Floral – B-
Ricky was a last minute vendor. I was prepared to do the flowers myself. I had taken a class and was really excited about making my flowers. Ricky is just stating out and I was his first wedding. When he arrived at the hotel with my bouquet, I wasn’t happy. The roses seemed a little wilted. I told him and he said no problem. He made another bouquet at the venue, which was gorgeous. The issue - the centerpieces. I order 20 centerpieces. Well turns out the venue only sat 8 to a table so we had more than 20 tables. I spoke to Ricky about this on Wednesday prior to the wedding and he said no problem. I gave him 24 vases for the centerpieces and I thought everything would be fine. As we are lining up to begin the ceremony, I noticed 4 tables with no centerpieces. I ran back through the kitchen to grab Ricky (get the visual of me with my dress hiked up trying to catch the florist, ha). I may have been a bit mean but it was high stress at that point. He told my mom I only gave him 20 vases. BULL. I let him know in very few words all of my tables needed centerpieces and if he didn’t have enough material to complete 24 you should have told me this on Wednesday. Granted it was last notice but charge me extra to make it happen. My flowers were roses, hydrangeas, and orchids which are not hard flowers to get in 3 days. I would have purchased them myself if he couldn’t make 4 additional centerpieces. I told him every table MUST have a centerpiece when this ceremony is over. In the end all the tables had centerpieces. Four tables had just roses but it was fine, I guess. Ricky gave me an unbelievable deal, really unbelievable!!!!!! The centerpieces that were correct were gorgeous. The bouquet, bouts, and corsages were all great. 972.821.9941
Men’s Warehouse – A
The men looked great! We customized a few things. My honey wanted them to wear black shirts which the Men’s Warehouse doesn’t offer for the tux packages. Luckily each man had a black shirt. They also didn’t have a nice green tie so we purchased the ties and gave them as gifts.
Gown - Adele’s Bridal – A++++
I originally found my dress at another salon but Adele had a much better price!!!!! I love my dress. Adele added a bustle for $15 too. She was great. Her shop is North Richland Hills. I would recommend her to any budget bride. 817.281.4814
Makeup Artist - Kendra Carter, Mocha Cosmetics– A+++++++++++
She did an amazing job!!!!! I don’t wear makeup so this was all new to me. She is very affordable and does amazing work (not that I needed a lot of work, LOL). I was really impressed. I love her!!! 469.278.0978 Tell her Lisa sent you
Dance Floor - Dallas Event Rentals– A+
The Empire Room has a dance floor but the way I set up the room required an additional dance floor. I ordered a black and white dance floor from Dallas Event Rentals. No issues. I’m sure the floor will look great in the pictures.
http://www.dallaseventrentals.com/Lighting - HPS Lighting – A
John set up 15 uplights, a pinspot light for the cake, and a gobo on the dance floor. It looked nice. The gobo didn’t show up as good as I thought but no one notice. I’m just anal.
http://www.hpslighting.com/Videographer - JJ Crowder Video– A
Brandon was our video guy. We have known the Crowder family for years. I can’t wait to see the video. Piece of advice – watch what you say while the mic is on. My honey still had his mic on while we were having a private talk. LMAO! 469.547.5731
Wedding Website - A
http://www.weddingwindow.com/ Great and easy use!
DIY, Me – A+++ (can I really give myself an A)
Invitations, Save the dates, cake topper (ordered the letter from Crafty Eddy), milk and cookie buffet, birdcage veil, programs, OOT bags, and guestbook via Picaboo. I’m sure I did other amazing things but I can’t think of them right now.
Honeymoon, Cancun – Excellence Playa Mujeres A+++++++++++++
I loved it!!!!!!!! Any vacation from this point forward will be adults only and all inclusive! We booked with Marcie from Beach Bum Vacations.
marcie@beachbumvacation.comOverall it was a great evening!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any questions…ask away!
Tomorrow pictures of the room....AKA the love shack!
