Post-Wedding Review

I loved my wedding day.

It was an incredible experience to be surrounded by such love, not only from Mr. L, but from our entire families and our friends, and I will always hold wonderful memories from this special day.  Everyone (seemed) to have a good time, and to me, that's what mattered the most, aside from the whole marrying my best friend thing :)  It did not go exactly "as planned" or "just as scheduled", as of course is the norm in the wedding world, but in my eyes, it was beautifully perfect.

This is not to say that there are things I wouldn't change.  I suppose in these areas is where I have a tinge of wedding regret.  My photographer was the main one.  He was so unfriendly on my day of, and literally threw a temper tantrum in front of Mr. L and me during our family/couple pictures.  I will never do business with that man again for as long as I live.  So I do regret that I didn't do my homework better and pick a completely awesome photographer whose personality clicked with mine.

Otherwise, honestly...I don't believe I would have changed a thing.  Except maybe get a better quality bridesmaid's dress for my matron of honor since her dress's zipper completely jammed up and failed miserably to do the only thing it was made to do -- zip.  Why couldn't I have discovered J. Crew a few months before the wedding, ahh!  But regardless of that tiny mishap, it was a beautiful, albeit warm, spring day that I love to relive over and over in our wedding video :)

So here's a full vendor review:

Venue: Kirk House and Gardens -- http://www.kirkgarden.com/

Lovely location, and the owner (Ms. Ruth) was an incredibly accommodating, sweet person who never seemed to be fazed by my mother's million questions.  A

Photographer: J. Havard Photography -- http://www.jhavard.com/

Although he seemed to know what he was doing and produced some nice engagement photos, his demeanor on my wedding day was terrible, and my wedding pictures were sub-par (not to mention no photography rights release or a CD of all of our images!).  Not at all what I was expecting.  D

Videographer: Shawn Sullivan and Ian of Atlanta, GA (Freelancers) -- http://studiosivisuals.webs.com/

Friends of my sister-in-law's family, these two rescued us at the last minute from using J. Havard's brother for videography.  They only do wedding videography on the side for now, but I love love love the video they made for us.  I only wish it was longer!  A

Florist: Belle Bouquet -- http://www.bellebouquet.com/

A favorite around my area, Belle Bouquet did a fabulous job with the flowers for my wedding.  Lana understood my visions of bright colors (hot pink, orange, and yellow!) and really made those dreams a reality.  Great customer service and willing to go the extra mile.  A

Cake Baker: Cakes by Judi -- http://www.cakesbyjudi.com/

This was another instance of being saved at the last minute!  Ms. Judi was so warm and welcoming when we came into her shop a mere two months before the wedding, and we were incredibly lucky she still had a slot open for May 15th!  The wedding cake was divine (we chose the most popular flavor, butter cake, with alternate cream cheese and lemon fillings) and she really shined with our special groom's cake request -- Boba Fett's helmet of Star Wars fame (chocolate cake, Mr. L's favorite!)  I would absolutely go to her again in a heartbeat!  A

Caterer: Tyner's Catering -- http://www.tynerscatering.com/

Tyner's really did a great job with our wedding food, and our servers seemed genuinely happy to be a part of our occasion.  Their wonderful prices are the reason we chose them -- around $12 or $13 a person for us!  We chose the hot chicken casserole, the sliced roast beef with peppercorn au jous, Italian flat green beans (they made me fall in love with green beans all over again at the tasting!), buttered whole corn, and the twice-baked potato casserole.  Salads and dessert were also included, as were drinks.  At the end of the evening, they even packed a take-home basket for Mr. L and I with a sweet little note included.  It definitely came in handy since we were STARVED when we got to our hotel!  A

DJ: JD the DJ Entertainment (John Daniel) -- http://www.jdthedjentertainment.com/

John Daniel was really easy to work with and did a wonderful job showcasing my and Mr. L's personalities through music.  He was always very polite and courteous, and I would happily choose him again.  A

Basically, I was very satisfied with the level of service my vendors provided for my wedding, and I would choose all but one of them if I had to do it all over again!