Vendor Reviews. I know many brides give A+++++++ to each one of their vendors, and while I am stoked they were so happy with each one of them, I didn't learn much from those reviews (ei: what to avoid/prepare for in advance) so it was really important for me to give honest, detailed reviews. Please note a B is still a good review (if I remember correctly a B meant "very good" on my report card). I didn't have any negative experience with my vendors. www.floralsbysue.com). www.remembercatering.com).

Venue: St. Vincent's A
Gorgeous! Made for wonderful photos and seemed easy enough to work with. They even let me use their tables for free.

Day of Coordinator: Suzanne Chowla - A+
Suzanne is AMAZING and did a fantastic job. In my first few phone conversations with her I could tell she was going to do a wonderful job... she is seriously the most thorough person I have ever come in contact with (and I am a law student!). She went above and beyond and worked within my budget. She was really great about setting up lists of questions for me to answer because she knew I didn't have much time to work on my wedding. She calls herself a "day of coordinator" but in fact she is much more than that. She made a very detailed time line for me and sent each one of my vendors individualized time lines! If you are not organized, or you are not detailed orientated or don't want your wedding to be detailed and planned to a T - Suzanne is not the coordinator for you. She is extremely organized, thorough, and intense (I mean that in a good way). She is not for the faint of heart bride's who don't want a precisely planned out wedding. If you want everything planned out in advance perfectly she will work great for you. She is so organized my grandpa made jokes about it in his toast. She made my day go smoothly and was fantastic throughout the whole process. (suzannechowla@yahoo.com )

Florist: Florals by Sue - A+++++
I was more blown away/pleasantly surprised by Sue than anyone else I worked with. I knew Suzanne (see above) was going to do a fantastic job, the venue was beautiful, etc. but I didn't know how the flowers would come out. The day of my wedding I couldn't believe what Sue produced! I was speechless. She was down to earth, listened attentively, and created a floral scheme even more magnificent than I could ever imagine. Not only that - she under bid any other florist I contacted. I was on a tight budget and affordable but gorgeous flowers were extremely important to me. Her website needs to be updated because it does not do her justice. (

Caterer: Affair to Remember - B
The service and attentiveness to my needs before the wedding was amazing! Marcus Lee is a doll. He went above the call of duty and assisted me with everything. He helped me order the alcohol and referred me to the cheapest service, he included many of the rentals in the price, the tasting was amazing, he returned my calls, etc. Another upside: ATR knew the venue well, and worked within my strict budget. They gave us an expansive menu for the amount of $$ we had to work with.

The reason they get a B is the day of the wedding there were a few disappointments. In all fairness to them initially the wind was horrible and they were battling everything (flowers, table clothes, favors) getting knocked over and probably couldn't focus on the details. They even had to move the chocolate fountain. My mom said they knew the forecast and should have brought more staff. I didn't notice disappointments (except that the buffet food was no longer hot, and the salmon was dry unlike the tasting). The chicken was also a bit cold and the food set up made it difficult to serve yourself and get sauces, side dishes). However, I am a food snob. That should be noted. Many of my guest later told me they thought the food was fantastic!

There was no coffee service with the cake because there were not enough cups (a guest saw them washing cups in the guest bathroom). Again in all fairness they had been serving coffee since the beginning as I requested. One of the worst things - the bartenders didn't know how to make drinks (they didn't even know how to make a cosmo!)... even my signature drink a mojito. I bragged to everyone about the mojito months in advance. My mom washed the mint herself the night before and I made the simple syrup. We had someone bring it over to the bartenders and when I came back from photos (AFTER cocktail hour was over) there were no mojitos. WTF? So I go to the bartenders and they didn't know what the mint was for. My friend had to give them directions how to make them but they tasted horrible. I feel so bad complaining about any of this stuff because the people at ATR were really sweet including the darling bartenders who worked so very hard but the lack of training for the bartenders was kind of bullshit. It wasn't the bartender's fault, they were great and doing their best, but ATR shouldn't have sent over bartenders who didn't know how to make common drinks). I paid for an open bar and went out of my way for special drinks that couldn't be served. Regardless of those things the service was great and I will tip each one of the servers/bartenders. I would even work with ATR again. (www.remembercatering.com)

Laterns: Asain Ideas A+
Best customer service ever! They will custom make your cord. I think I spent $175-$190 to have this at my wedding and they made the dance floor so romantic. I am selling these lanterns.

Hair: Laura Smiley A
She has done my hair forever and I love her. She usually doesn't do weddings.

Drinks: BevMo B+
Ron was great to deal with. He let me in on so many secrets to save money. I would work with them again. You can return unopen bottles. I think they are great. Only got a B because they forgot the deliver the champagne and my caterer had to hunt them down on the day of the wedding.

Invites/STD: Papersource (DIY) B
What a pain in the ass. I love the papersource!!! That store gets a million A's but it is expensive, invites add up, and they take more time then we had. If I had to do it over again I would probably have had my invited done for me.