Vendor Reviews: I wanted to preface these review with the fact that I HATE letter grades b/c every vendor report that I've seen has things like "A++++" (what the hell does that mean? I don't ever remember getting grades with mulptile pluses in school) LOL. So, that being said, I've used a 1-10 rating scale (1 being terrible & 10 being best). I've also included whether or not I'd book this vendor again.
Venue & Catering: Devils Thumb Ranch (Tabernash, CO) - 10/10 We were SO thrilled to find Devil's Thumb Ranch during our venue search! I think we got in & signed our contract before they got popular (recent remodel) & before their rates went up. Now, that being said, I definitely had my reservations about getting married at a place called "Devil's Thumb" but after seeing how gorgeous the venue was I quickly forgot about this & now I could care less!!! LOL We worked with Lindsay (wedding sales) and she was so helpful in answering all of our questions, she even sent me a digital pic of the snow accumulation a few days before the wedding when I was freaking out about the weather! Major bonus points to DTR for including things (linens, servers, etc) in the contract & not nickle & diming their brides/grooms for things...well done!!! Their catering staff were SPECTACULAR and even went & found hot chocolate for the kids who requested it during our coffee/cake service even though it wasn't on our catering menu. The staff at DTR went above & beyond to ensure that our guests were happy & that everything went according to plan. Even after the wedding we had a few questions about different charges on our credit cards (we paid for our guests' rooms) and the reservation staff were SO nice & accommodating as we asked questions about things (which all turned out to be legit, just things we didn't expect...like our guests charging meals to their rooms, etc)! We would book them again in a heartbeat and we'll be returning for anniversaries!!!
Flowers: Pick Me! (Winter Park) 10/10 - We booked Kara @ Pick Me for our flowers without looking into any other florists. I did this because 1.) I was tired of vendor researching & 2) I wanted someone local that wouldn't have to travel far to deliver our flowers to Devil's Thumb Ranch. I was BEYOND pleased with the quality & freshness of our flowers & Kara did an AMAZING job taking my inspiration picture of a bouquet that I loved & making it a reality! Our cake flowers, bouts & centerpiece flowers were all EXACTLY what I wanted! The girls at Pick Me even put a small yellow ribbon on my brother's bout (as he had recently gotten home from a year in Iraq & they wanted to do something special for him). Seriously these girls @ Pick Me know their stuff & are so great to work with!!! I would book Kara (or her partner Rami) again in a heartbeat!
Day Of Coordination: Kara Delay of Pick Me! (Winter Park) 10/10 - In addition to doing our flowers, Kara was our DOC & she ROCKED! She was so easy to work with and we had such a relaxing & amazing day because we knew she was taking care of everything! She gave us some outstanding vendor recommendations which saved us LOTS of money & brought us in contact with my absolute favorite vendors (Paula & Rachel). Kara is so full of energy, has a fantastic sense of humor & is just AWESOME to work with. I would absolutely book her again!
Cake: Paula Thomas of Teacup Shop Bakery (Denver) 10/10 - one of my favorite vendors. She is SOOOO sweet in person & genuinely wanted to make sure that we loved our cake. Paula came to our house for our tasting & was very accommodating when we told her what we wanted. She even came back & delivered a second set of tasting cakes months later in our planning process when my mom was in town so she could be part of the experience. :) Paula's cakes are DELISH and she took our ideas/pictures & exceeded my expectations. I LOVED the groom's cake & can't thank Paula enough for doing such an amazing job for us! ABSOLUTELY BOOK HER...if you don't you are just silly! :)
Ceremony Music: Michael Lancaster (Denver) - 10/10. Michael came highly recommended by several knotties and now I know why. When I first contacted Michael about playing guitar for our ceremony he was so prompt with his responses, eager to hear about our plans & agreed to learn several songs just for our ceremony. Michael even agreed to learn 2 new songs for us that I really wanted to have in our ceremony & he is SO talented! I am so glad that we booked him!!! I can't wait to get our DVD from the videographer so I can hear him play again!
Photography: Rachel Terry of Stellar Photography (Grand Lake, CO) 10/10 - (my other favorite vendor). Rachel was recommended by our DOC, Kara, and I thank my lucky stars that we found out about Rachel before booking another photographer! Rachel is UBER TALENTED and is SO affordable that I still can't believe she doesn't charge double her current rates (lucky me!) LOL. We got 6 hours of photographer time, rights to our digital prints, a professional flush mount album, and an e-pic shoot with rights to the digital prints all for less than $1800 (although I think her rates have gone up a bit in the past year, she is still one of THE MOST AFFORDABLE photographers out there! Rachel is very sweet/profesisonal/and fun. She wasn't afraid to get on the ground (down in the dirt & horse poop) when taking our pictures in the meadow at DTR and was very impressive in how she got all of our family in order for family pictures (seriously, with her "wrangling skills" she could herd cats!) LOL. She shot our e-pics and captured my all time favorite photo of DH & me on the railroad tracks up in Fraser. I can't wait to see our wedding pictures and know that they will be exactly what we are waiting for! Seriously, if you are looking for a photographer look no further, RACHEL IS THE BEST (& she's totally affordable) :) (& if you can't tell by my review...I would ABSOLUTELY hire her again!!!)
Videography: Jay Schipper (Denver) - ?/10 - haven't seen the final product yet...but he is afforadable. Negatives are that he was late arriving to our wedding, was still changing into his dockers (I mean literally still tucking in his shirt & putting on his belt) as we were getting lined up & organized for the ceremony). I think he had car trouble & that is understandable (at least he made it) but I was a little nervous. We'll see how the final DVD comes out & then I'll revise my review if needed :) Don't know if I'd hire him again, depends on the final product.
Hair & Make-up: Liz Gonzales of Beauty on Location by Liz (Denver) - 7.5/10 - Liz was very sweet & easy to work with & was willing to consider my budget restraints which I really appreciated. She came to my house & did a trial and then did day of hair & make up for myself, MOH & the moms. I was very pleased with my makeup but was a little less impressed with my hair b/c she did it a little different than the trial (which I loved) and I had bobby pins coming out later in the day). She also forgot to affix my veil before she left & almost forgot to leave me with a makeup touch up kit (which I remember her about & she graciously left). I don't think it is her fault for forgetting the veil, b/c I forgot too...but I figured it would be something that a professional hair/make-up artist would absolutely remember (we put it in during the trial so she definitely knew that I was wearing one). That being said, I would book her again b/c she was affordable & pleasant to work with.
Wedding Dress & Maid of Honor's Dress: Chiyo's Bridal (Denver) - 7/10 - Yes, I found my dress there & the staff were pleasant, but it was nothing special. The thing that I did like was that they had several plus size dresses/samples to try on & this was important to me. Their order time was accurate & they were very responsive to my questions when I called & asked about delivery date, etc. Their bridesmaid dress selection was good & we found a Bill Levkoff dress that I really liked. I'd use them again but I'm sure there are other dress shops in Denver that are just as good if not better experiences :)
Suits: Men's Warehouse (Denver) - 6/10 - DH bought 2 suits (BOGO Free) at the MW in Park Meadows Mall. Their sales staff are kinda slimy (just not genuine) but hey...they are in sales so what do you expect. DH found a very nice Calvin Klein suit for the wedding & also got another suit for free. The alterations staff were a little mixed up & DH had to go back for 2 fittings (luckily we had plenty of time for the extra alteration appt. & they didn't charge for their mistake but it was a hassle). I would use them again but would also be just as happy going elsewhere if we need formalwear for DH in the future.
Veil: Ocannsey Designs (online) - 9/10 - bought my veil online after a knottie recommended them. Very affordable, very true to their descriptions & fast shipping. I would definitely use them again! I found my veil in the "bargain" section & was very happy with it (for 1/2 their already low prices) SCORE! :)
Garter: True Blue Bridal (online) 9/10 - they carry plus sized garters which was a big plus for me (no pun intended) LOL Shipping was fast & I was very happy with the product. I'd recommend them!
Shoes: Famous Footware (Denver) - 7/10 - chain store where we bought our shoes (DH & Me) for the wedding. Decent selection & prices. We shop their for regular everday shoes...yes, we'd go back.
Bridal Jewelry: Nordstrom (Denver) - 9/10 - I had a very hard time finding jewelry to go with my dress b/c my dress was a weird color (blush/champagne but not gold). Nordstrom had the perfect jewelry but I had to go to a different store to get an extender for my braclet b/c it was just a smidge too small (damn my big wrists) LOL. Plus was that the sales girl at the Nordstroms in Park Meadows knew exactly where to send me in the mall to get the extender for my braclet! :) I love Nordies & recommend them for bridal jewelry that isn't your typical diamond/pearl look.
Ring Dish: Etsy Seller - Palomas Nest (online) 10/10 - got our ring dish from her after seeing it in a bridal magazine & LOVE it! This was one of my favorite details of our day. :)
Rehearsal Dinner Catering: Hernando's Pizza and Pub (Winter Park) - 10/10 - This place has AMAZING food & the owner, Jeff is so easy to work with. He didn't even blink when I told him we wanted to do a VERY large take out order instead of the traditional in-restaurant kind of rehearsal dinner. Our food was ready exactly when we specified & we got TONS of compliments on the lasagna and the price was outstanding for the amount of food that we got! We got lasagna, pizza, salad & garlic bread for 30 people and had TONS of leftovers for just over $200.00. I would use them again in a heartbeat!!! If you are ever in Winter Park and want a fantastic place for dinner check out Hernandos!!!
Alterations: CH Studios (wedding dress alterations) - 8/10 - Christine was easy to work with and did a good job fixing my dress which was 2 sizes too small when I brought it in to her (thanks to my lovely thyroid condition). Christine was able to put in cups, take in the chest, take out the side seams, hem my dress & do my bustle. She is expensive, but she knows her stuff & definitely has that talent that she charges for. My only compliants were that she didn't have my dress ready at my last appointment & I had to wait an extra 1/2 hr before my fitting (which really isn't that big of a deal but hey...my time is valuable too!). My other complaint was that she never asked me what kind of bustle I wanted...she just said "okay, you are going to have a 2 point bustle & its going to be like this". I really didn't care b/c it was cheaper than the bustle I thought I wanted, but still...I think the professional way to do this would have been "do you have an idea of the type of bustle you'd like?" and then talk about why or why not that was a viable option with the dress. Oh well...overall I was pleased with how my dress fit & felt confident in my dress on my wedding day so that is why I still recommend her & give her an 8/10. :)
Venue & Catering: Devils Thumb Ranch (Tabernash, CO) - 10/10 We were SO thrilled to find Devil's Thumb Ranch during our venue search! I think we got in & signed our contract before they got popular (recent remodel) & before their rates went up. Now, that being said, I definitely had my reservations about getting married at a place called "Devil's Thumb" but after seeing how gorgeous the venue was I quickly forgot about this & now I could care less!!! LOL We worked with Lindsay (wedding sales) and she was so helpful in answering all of our questions, she even sent me a digital pic of the snow accumulation a few days before the wedding when I was freaking out about the weather! Major bonus points to DTR for including things (linens, servers, etc) in the contract & not nickle & diming their brides/grooms for things...well done!!! Their catering staff were SPECTACULAR and even went & found hot chocolate for the kids who requested it during our coffee/cake service even though it wasn't on our catering menu. The staff at DTR went above & beyond to ensure that our guests were happy & that everything went according to plan. Even after the wedding we had a few questions about different charges on our credit cards (we paid for our guests' rooms) and the reservation staff were SO nice & accommodating as we asked questions about things (which all turned out to be legit, just things we didn't expect...like our guests charging meals to their rooms, etc)! We would book them again in a heartbeat and we'll be returning for anniversaries!!!
Flowers: Pick Me! (Winter Park) 10/10 - We booked Kara @ Pick Me for our flowers without looking into any other florists. I did this because 1.) I was tired of vendor researching & 2) I wanted someone local that wouldn't have to travel far to deliver our flowers to Devil's Thumb Ranch. I was BEYOND pleased with the quality & freshness of our flowers & Kara did an AMAZING job taking my inspiration picture of a bouquet that I loved & making it a reality! Our cake flowers, bouts & centerpiece flowers were all EXACTLY what I wanted! The girls at Pick Me even put a small yellow ribbon on my brother's bout (as he had recently gotten home from a year in Iraq & they wanted to do something special for him). Seriously these girls @ Pick Me know their stuff & are so great to work with!!! I would book Kara (or her partner Rami) again in a heartbeat!
Day Of Coordination: Kara Delay of Pick Me! (Winter Park) 10/10 - In addition to doing our flowers, Kara was our DOC & she ROCKED! She was so easy to work with and we had such a relaxing & amazing day because we knew she was taking care of everything! She gave us some outstanding vendor recommendations which saved us LOTS of money & brought us in contact with my absolute favorite vendors (Paula & Rachel). Kara is so full of energy, has a fantastic sense of humor & is just AWESOME to work with. I would absolutely book her again!
Cake: Paula Thomas of Teacup Shop Bakery (Denver) 10/10 - one of my favorite vendors. She is SOOOO sweet in person & genuinely wanted to make sure that we loved our cake. Paula came to our house for our tasting & was very accommodating when we told her what we wanted. She even came back & delivered a second set of tasting cakes months later in our planning process when my mom was in town so she could be part of the experience. :) Paula's cakes are DELISH and she took our ideas/pictures & exceeded my expectations. I LOVED the groom's cake & can't thank Paula enough for doing such an amazing job for us! ABSOLUTELY BOOK HER...if you don't you are just silly! :)
Ceremony Music: Michael Lancaster (Denver) - 10/10. Michael came highly recommended by several knotties and now I know why. When I first contacted Michael about playing guitar for our ceremony he was so prompt with his responses, eager to hear about our plans & agreed to learn several songs just for our ceremony. Michael even agreed to learn 2 new songs for us that I really wanted to have in our ceremony & he is SO talented! I am so glad that we booked him!!! I can't wait to get our DVD from the videographer so I can hear him play again!
Photography: Rachel Terry of Stellar Photography (Grand Lake, CO) 10/10 - (my other favorite vendor). Rachel was recommended by our DOC, Kara, and I thank my lucky stars that we found out about Rachel before booking another photographer! Rachel is UBER TALENTED and is SO affordable that I still can't believe she doesn't charge double her current rates (lucky me!) LOL. We got 6 hours of photographer time, rights to our digital prints, a professional flush mount album, and an e-pic shoot with rights to the digital prints all for less than $1800 (although I think her rates have gone up a bit in the past year, she is still one of THE MOST AFFORDABLE photographers out there! Rachel is very sweet/profesisonal/and fun. She wasn't afraid to get on the ground (down in the dirt & horse poop) when taking our pictures in the meadow at DTR and was very impressive in how she got all of our family in order for family pictures (seriously, with her "wrangling skills" she could herd cats!) LOL. She shot our e-pics and captured my all time favorite photo of DH & me on the railroad tracks up in Fraser. I can't wait to see our wedding pictures and know that they will be exactly what we are waiting for! Seriously, if you are looking for a photographer look no further, RACHEL IS THE BEST (& she's totally affordable) :) (& if you can't tell by my review...I would ABSOLUTELY hire her again!!!)
Videography: Jay Schipper (Denver) - ?/10 - haven't seen the final product yet...but he is afforadable. Negatives are that he was late arriving to our wedding, was still changing into his dockers (I mean literally still tucking in his shirt & putting on his belt) as we were getting lined up & organized for the ceremony). I think he had car trouble & that is understandable (at least he made it) but I was a little nervous. We'll see how the final DVD comes out & then I'll revise my review if needed :) Don't know if I'd hire him again, depends on the final product.
Hair & Make-up: Liz Gonzales of Beauty on Location by Liz (Denver) - 7.5/10 - Liz was very sweet & easy to work with & was willing to consider my budget restraints which I really appreciated. She came to my house & did a trial and then did day of hair & make up for myself, MOH & the moms. I was very pleased with my makeup but was a little less impressed with my hair b/c she did it a little different than the trial (which I loved) and I had bobby pins coming out later in the day). She also forgot to affix my veil before she left & almost forgot to leave me with a makeup touch up kit (which I remember her about & she graciously left). I don't think it is her fault for forgetting the veil, b/c I forgot too...but I figured it would be something that a professional hair/make-up artist would absolutely remember (we put it in during the trial so she definitely knew that I was wearing one). That being said, I would book her again b/c she was affordable & pleasant to work with.
Wedding Dress & Maid of Honor's Dress: Chiyo's Bridal (Denver) - 7/10 - Yes, I found my dress there & the staff were pleasant, but it was nothing special. The thing that I did like was that they had several plus size dresses/samples to try on & this was important to me. Their order time was accurate & they were very responsive to my questions when I called & asked about delivery date, etc. Their bridesmaid dress selection was good & we found a Bill Levkoff dress that I really liked. I'd use them again but I'm sure there are other dress shops in Denver that are just as good if not better experiences :)
Suits: Men's Warehouse (Denver) - 6/10 - DH bought 2 suits (BOGO Free) at the MW in Park Meadows Mall. Their sales staff are kinda slimy (just not genuine) but hey...they are in sales so what do you expect. DH found a very nice Calvin Klein suit for the wedding & also got another suit for free. The alterations staff were a little mixed up & DH had to go back for 2 fittings (luckily we had plenty of time for the extra alteration appt. & they didn't charge for their mistake but it was a hassle). I would use them again but would also be just as happy going elsewhere if we need formalwear for DH in the future.
Veil: Ocannsey Designs (online) - 9/10 - bought my veil online after a knottie recommended them. Very affordable, very true to their descriptions & fast shipping. I would definitely use them again! I found my veil in the "bargain" section & was very happy with it (for 1/2 their already low prices) SCORE! :)
Garter: True Blue Bridal (online) 9/10 - they carry plus sized garters which was a big plus for me (no pun intended) LOL Shipping was fast & I was very happy with the product. I'd recommend them!
Shoes: Famous Footware (Denver) - 7/10 - chain store where we bought our shoes (DH & Me) for the wedding. Decent selection & prices. We shop their for regular everday shoes...yes, we'd go back.
Bridal Jewelry: Nordstrom (Denver) - 9/10 - I had a very hard time finding jewelry to go with my dress b/c my dress was a weird color (blush/champagne but not gold). Nordstrom had the perfect jewelry but I had to go to a different store to get an extender for my braclet b/c it was just a smidge too small (damn my big wrists) LOL. Plus was that the sales girl at the Nordstroms in Park Meadows knew exactly where to send me in the mall to get the extender for my braclet! :) I love Nordies & recommend them for bridal jewelry that isn't your typical diamond/pearl look.
Ring Dish: Etsy Seller - Palomas Nest (online) 10/10 - got our ring dish from her after seeing it in a bridal magazine & LOVE it! This was one of my favorite details of our day. :)
Rehearsal Dinner Catering: Hernando's Pizza and Pub (Winter Park) - 10/10 - This place has AMAZING food & the owner, Jeff is so easy to work with. He didn't even blink when I told him we wanted to do a VERY large take out order instead of the traditional in-restaurant kind of rehearsal dinner. Our food was ready exactly when we specified & we got TONS of compliments on the lasagna and the price was outstanding for the amount of food that we got! We got lasagna, pizza, salad & garlic bread for 30 people and had TONS of leftovers for just over $200.00. I would use them again in a heartbeat!!! If you are ever in Winter Park and want a fantastic place for dinner check out Hernandos!!!
Alterations: CH Studios (wedding dress alterations) - 8/10 - Christine was easy to work with and did a good job fixing my dress which was 2 sizes too small when I brought it in to her (thanks to my lovely thyroid condition). Christine was able to put in cups, take in the chest, take out the side seams, hem my dress & do my bustle. She is expensive, but she knows her stuff & definitely has that talent that she charges for. My only compliants were that she didn't have my dress ready at my last appointment & I had to wait an extra 1/2 hr before my fitting (which really isn't that big of a deal but hey...my time is valuable too!). My other complaint was that she never asked me what kind of bustle I wanted...she just said "okay, you are going to have a 2 point bustle & its going to be like this". I really didn't care b/c it was cheaper than the bustle I thought I wanted, but still...I think the professional way to do this would have been "do you have an idea of the type of bustle you'd like?" and then talk about why or why not that was a viable option with the dress. Oh well...overall I was pleased with how my dress fit & felt confident in my dress on my wedding day so that is why I still recommend her & give her an 8/10. :)
