yelp my wedding vendors

three stars.

I’ve been in here to just browse a few times, and also once to pick out saris for my bridesmaids to wear, and twice for their fittings.

I feel like I was treated totally differently when I had my sister-in-law with us to pick out saris and help bargain the price down, versus when I came by myself or with my other bridesmaids. Service a little less friendly, being told I’d have to come back the next day to pick up something that was sitting behind the counter, etc.

I would not come here with the intent to buy something without bringing my haggling skills, or preferably, one of my family members who have much more experience (and language skills) than I do.

All that being said though, they have a pretty good selection and prices can be reasonable once you go through a few rounds of haggling.

three stars.

My experience here was pretty limited.

I came in one day, by myself and without an appointment, to wander around and look at bridesmaid dresses.

Based on horror stories I have heard, I was expecting less than what I got. I had two staff members approach me and they were pretty friendly and not pushy at all – I had made it clear that I already had my dress and was just looking casually for ideas for bridesmaid dresses.

Ultimately, I found that nothing there suited my tastes – too expensive and too blah. That is based on my personal tastes and refusal to ask my friends to shell out more than $50 for a dress they will wear once.

Five stars!

I could not be happier with my experience at Ethan Lord!

After a less-than-stellar attempt at having a ring custom designed for us somewhere else, Larry made sure that we were happy with their design at each step in the process.

His frequent communication and willingness to let me be involved with the process not only alleviated any fears I had about having another botched-looking ring, but also gave me the unique experience of meeting the CAD designer and seeing how that end of everything works.

I would recommend Larry and Ethan Lord Jewelers for anyone looking for a friendly and competent jeweler, especially if you are looking to do custom work.

Five stars!

Of everything I received compliments on at my wedding, nothing was as highly praised as the clay bouquet Sarah made for me.

Her handiwork is exquisite and her prices are very reasonable.

If you have considered using an alternative to fresh flowers for your special occasion or to give as a gift, I would definitely check her out.

Fenton Florals on Etsy.com, FTW!

three stars.

After googling “Chicago Justice of the Peace” and “Chicago Wedding Officiant” and compiling a modest list of potential officiants for our wedding, we decided to go with Judge John Laurie.

Our decision was made based on the following: availability, price (charging us $225 for 30 minutes of work versus the $450 the next guy wanted), and willingness to let us write our own ceremony.

We initially contacted him through his website, and also had the opportunity to email and chat with him on the phone.

After handing over our $100 deposit, we received the stock ceremony script he uses for weddings he prefers. If I had not already planned on writing our own, I would have been disappointed because it was pretty blah. Ours, on the other hand, was awesome, and he complimented it as well :)

On the day of, he showed up on time and got the job done. Our venue had no mic, which could have been helpful as he did not project as much as we would have liked. A word of caution on tricky names, have him practice them beforehand because even though we had names written out phonetically, a few were still butchered in the pronunciation.

All in all, Judge John Laurie took care of business. I would recommend him to others, especially those getting married downtown, to act as an officiant.. you might just want to go over the volume and pronunciation ahead of time.

Four stars!

Its been over a week, and my toes still look great and my finger nails are just starting to chip and peel.

I’m usually a DIY kind of girl when it comes to beauty, but for my wedding, I got a mani/pedi. We were kept waiting about 15 minutes for our appointment, but at least they had chairs and plenty of trashy magazines for us to read while we waited.

Janny was not particularly talkative while doing my nails, and I appreciated it. The whole experience was so relaxing that I fell asleep more than once!

Salon Excursion is off the beaten path for me, but if I was in the area and wanted to treat myself, I would not hesitate to stop in again.

Oh, and I should mention that while they do accept credit cards, gratuity is cash only.

Five stars!

My husband and I absolutely loved working with Jon!

He is easy to get a hold of, gives feedback and direction while shooting, and is a lot of fun to be around! Reasonable rates, a la carte purchasing options, and quick turnaround time.

We enjoyed having him as our wedding photographer so much that we asked him to shoot another celebration next week!

Five stars!

Songhea and her crew were phenomenal at my wedding this past weekend! They played for our ceremony and then for the duration of our reception at the Hancock Building.

My husband and I found them on GigMasters.com, and we could not be happier with the service they provided. Songhea was our point of contact and was very easy to work with an extremely accommodating. For a string trio, they charged around $800 for 3.5 hours which we thought was reasonable, especially when compared to other area musicians.

I especially appreciate them learning a new song so we could walk out to “Everlong!” I would hire them again in a heartbeat for any special event!