I purchased my bridal gown and bridesmaid's gowns at the David's Bridal in Orland Park. I was a pretty low maintenance bride, I was in and out in just a few hours. During my visit, I had fantastic service and the staff was very receptive to my ideas. I had no problems getting in at my appointment times, and after my alterations were completed, the gown fit perfectly! The store had a decent selection, but I shopped at David's Bridal because I knew I would be able to find a gown to fit my budget. My bridesmaid's also purchased their gowns at this location- the prices were great for these as well. I ended up receiving a discount on my bridal gown, because I purchased everything there. The store, however, does not have a lot of curb appeal, and the decor inside was cheesy. I felt as if I was in a costume shop. But, everything turned out fine, and I was happy with my experience.

You can’t go wrong with Men's Wearhouse. The MW stores are everywhere, which is great for out of town groomsmen! The guys were able to go anywhere in the country and be in and out for sizing. They also had a great selection and variety. The color of the vest matched the latte colored bridesmaid's gowns perfectly. I also received discounts on the children’s tuxes. Everyone’s suits looked great on our wedding day. Nobody had any problems with fit, and the men looked very classy!

My stylist at Vintage Ave Salon was Sarah for my wedding day. She did a beautiful job styling my hair, it was just as I envisioned. Sarah also styled all my bridesmaid's and flower girl's hair and did exactly what everyone asked for. The flower girl's looked SO cute! Typically when I've gotten my hair done for a formal occasion, it has too much hairspray and is very stiff. She didn’t do this; everyone's hair looked very natural and beautiful and held up all night.

We did our invitations online through Costco. It was so easy and economical. On the website you can order samples of various invitation styles and they send the samples to your house for you to preview. This is important to do because some of the invitations look different when in hard copy vs. online. After you've selected your invitation style, you write exactly what you want the invitation to say and select the font. Then, they send you a proof to ensure its accuracy. Our invitations came very quickly and looked PERFECT. They have the same make of invitations as a lot of the places that you order through a store, but at about 25% less cost.

For our ceremony, we had a four piece string quartet from Symphony Sounds come to play at our church. This was such a great option, because I am a very big music person. I wanted more modern, popular songs played at the ceremony- like the Beatles, for example. They were able to play instrumental versions of the more contemporary songs, and found the arrangements that weren't typically in their repertoire. They also played traditional Irish and Italian songs for each side of the family. The musicians were super laid back and low maintenance. Having them at our ceremony was such a unique touch, allowed my "musical" personality to come through, and was truly memorable.

The catering at our reception, by Levy Restaurants, was the best food I have ever had! They had great menu options, and they allowed us to hand pick our choices. I’m ½ Irish and ½ Italian, so I did meat and potatoes for the Irish side of the family and lasagna for the Italian side of the family. It was very easy for us to make choices that fit our budget. We definitely had a tight budget and for what we paid- it looked like so much more! The buffet tables also looked incredible-- we highly recommend Levy Restaurants for catering your reception.

Our wedding reception was held at U.S. Cellular Field. It was amazing! They have a room called the Stadium Club- it's like a fancy reception hall- but has two levels. The #1 thing about our reception was the food- people are still talking about it! U.S. Cellular field contracts directly with Levy Restaurants. The buffet tables were so ornate and beautiful. Courtney was my coordinator at the field. She took care of everything! She arranged free parking for us and security gaurds to escort our guests to the location of our event. She also made it possible for us to take photos on the field. I have an extremely picky and frugal husband and Courtney was so spunky and upbeat when we were making our selections, despite the pressure. She was around whenever I had questions and she coordinated with all of the other vendors for the occasion. It was an excellent experience!

For my wedding flowers, I used the little local floral shop near the south side at 35th and Ashland- Fasan's. I'm very much a tomboy, and know very little about flowers, so I simply told them I wanted something "fall" ish. I entrusted them completely with creating the concepts for the arrangements. This may be scary for some people, but I definitely made the right choice- the day of the wedding, I was in awe! The flowers looked so beautiful! Another bonus, their prices were incredible! They were about 1/2 of the price of any of the other florists that I had researched.

I attempted to shop for my bridal gown at the House of Brides in Orland Park. I was in and out of the salon, however, within 10 minutes. The consultant reprimanded me for having too short of an engagement, and she said they would be unable to find me a gown in under 6 months. It appeared that they had a great selection, but they didn’t even let me look. They told me I was having a “crash wedding.” They were very rude. I wouldn't go back, or ever recommend them to anyone.

Timothy Whaley Associates did a fantastic job on my wedding photography. They get five stars for the quality and service, but four stars only for the very expensive price tag that came along with it. Rosemary was our photographer and I simply can’t say enough good things about her. We had a consultation a month prior to the wedding and she was genuinely interested in finding out what images and people were most important to us for her to capture. The day of the wedding, she was very professional and focused on all the things I asked her to. She was very in tune to our preferences. When we received the images, she capture everything I asked her to, and she also got some great candid shots! Our album ended up being quite pricey, so I guess you get what you pay for!