Vendor Review: The Photography

Vendor:
Haven Hill Photography
Lisa Palochik
http://www.havenhillphotography.com/

Grade: B+

If I was solely grading a vendor by their personality and willingness to help, I would have given this vendor an A+++. Lisa (the owner) was exactly what we were looking for in a photographer. She was very bubbly and personable (A+) and on the day of the wedding she helped us out a lot. She was like our caretaker (A+). She coordinated with the DJ when certain parts of the event were to take place and always kept us aware of what's next. This was greatly appreciated. Her packages were also very much appreciated as they were very affordable for us and exactly what we were looking for (A+).

My biggest gripe for this vendor is the lack of communication. If I sent an email or made a phone call it would take at least 5 days before I heard back from her. This, I was not happy with. I will be ok with up to 3 days but taking a week or more to respond is rough for me. I don't even care if it was a short email stating, "Hi, I know you exist. Bye". This happened before and after the wedding. It was pretty much a month or so (maybe close to 2) before I heard anything from the photographer about the pics. It was a little frustrating and it didn't help that when I told my baker she said she had heard about this from other brides. (sigh)

Also, I do love the pictures but I wish we would have come up with better poses to make for some more interesting pictures. I guess I failed at that but I assume a pro photgrapher would have many ideas on how people should be posed and have creative ideas with the many years of experience. BUT maybe that is me expecting too much. I am new at this.

Either way, I was happy to work with her and her hubby in making our magical day, perfect!

Vendor Review - The Dessert

Vendor:
Titi L
(Titi is our spanish way of saying Aunt)

Grade: A+

My aunt is in the blue dress in the pic below.

OK, so how can I not give my aunt an A+ with the kind of dessert spread that she kindly provided for our wedding?! Not only did the desserts look amazing but when we went to say our hellos to our guests the majority of them had at least two desserts at their seat. Unfortunately, I was not able to eat any of the fine desserts but just about everyone raved about them. Luckily, I was able to get a taste test at my shower so I knew they were delish!

My Auntie worked her bootie off to get this dessert table accomplished so she deserves all the credit. This may be the last dessert table she'll ever do, lol... All her efforts did not go unnoticed and was greatly appreciated by the Mister and I. If she has the strength, she can create a dessert table for us anytime :)

Vendor Review - The DJ

Vendor:
Sam Perez
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
610.451.3025

Grade: A

As always, Sam delivered. He brought his years of experience and talent to bring our guests a wide variety of music to please the many ears. Was well organized and played music that matched the musical guideline we made for him.

Sam, a family friend was an apprentice to my cousin. He had been the DJ for my sister's wedding, my cousin's wedding, as well as, my Godmother's 50th birthday party. When my then FI heard his music for the first time he knew he wanted him for our wedding.

Although he didn't provide the lighting system that some entertainment companies provide, we hired him for his sound and we were more than pleased with his performance. Along with the photographer he helped to make sure we were on track with moving the night along with the many events that had to occur (intro, cutting of the cake, garter / bouquet toss, etc.)

One of the biggest challenges for a DJ is to make sure that people are entertained and are up and dancing (no wall flowers, please). The highlight of the night was when he worked with my sister and my hubby's friend to set-up a Soul Train line to a variety of Michael Jackson songs dating from the different eras. Guests of all ages (intoxicated or not) participated in it and it was a lot of fun! It will be one of the many parts of the night to be remembered.

Again, we are truly thankful to Sam being a part of our wedding and help keeping it smooth.

Vendor Review - The Flowers

Vendor:
Forever Silks by Ginny Harwood
Walnutport, Pennsylvania
Hours by Appointment Only
http://www.foreversilks.com/
610-760-9091

Grade: A+

Let me start off by saying that Ginny was an incredible person to work with. A great personality and willing to be flexible for me as I lived nearly 2 hours away. She responded in a timely fashion, usually less than 24 hours. That was a HUGE plus for me since my favorite form of communication was through email.

Now a little background on our decision to use artificial flowers. I do love flowers but I am known by my hubby to be a "plant killer." With that being said, I was also looking for an alternative to "real" plants because of the tight budget we were on. Since I wouldn't have known where to start with DIYing our flowers I was in search of a professional silk florist. One that would make sure that the artificial flowers looked real and NOT funeral like at all.

And there it was, an email from Forever Silks...

I found Ginny's email on a Thursday and immediately called her up to schedule a visit that Saturday at 4:00PM. So my Mom and I met with her to go over what we would want. This was our first floral visit which ended up being our last. We left very pleased with what she had to offer. So much so, we decided to book her the next day without even meeting with other floral vendors.

What I failed to mention above was that my "rules" for Ginny were that I wanted a deep red flower. I also wanted her to use her imagination when it came to the design of each piece. I wanted my bouquet to be filled with many different textures to make this a funky piece. She lit up with excitement. This emotion is what helped my Mom and I make the decision to book her (besides her work of course).

Since we booked early February, we kept in contact to stay updated with her progress. Throughout the months, she sent me her mock-up of my bouquet...OMG! I loved it!! Ever since then, I was even more excited to see the rest of her work.

One of the greatest aspects of working with Ginny was that she was able to have my flowers completed nearly a month prior to the wedding. No need to stress about the flowers at all. Another HUGE plus for the bride-to-be.

My final order consisted of the following:

• 1 Bridal Bouquet
• 1 Toss Bouquet
• 1 MOH Bouquet
• 6 Bouts
• 4 Corsages
• 1 Pomander
• 7 Boxes of loose flower petals
• 1 Dozen Butterflies

Below are pictures of the finished flowers pieces prior to the wedding...

My bouquet:

My Toss Bouquet:

MOH Bouquet:

Pomander for Arch:

Sample corsage:

Sample Bouts:

(white for groomsmen, red for groom)

PS: The flowers were BEAUTIFUL! It matched perfectly with the wedding and was a great compliment to my dress :)