LarkJ's reviews

Kirk is a really nice, laid-back guy that we picked based on his general DJ philosophy of not interfering with the crowd or talking too much and based on other Knotties' reviews of him as being good at keeping a crowd dancing. He definitely lived up to his reputation! He played fantastic music and the dance floor was hopping all night long. He kept the crowd involved but was not over the top or overly intrusive at all. Plus, he kept offering to bring us drinks and making sure that everything was OK, and checking in with us on timing of events. The venue and catering staff kept telling us that he was the best DJ they had ever worked with, and I'm not surprised--he was great!

My husband absolutely loves goats, and so I knew that I wanted a groom's cake shaped like a goat, but everywhere I called wanted to do a fancy, sculpted, 3D goat for many hundreds of dollars, which I could not afford. I found Lara from Fluffy Thoughts on The Knot and she gave a much more reasonable quote for a silhouette of a goat. I thought it was going to be totally flat, but it turned out to be sculpted and gorgeous and really realistic, with airbrushed frosting. I could not believe how beautiful and realistic it was, and it was really delicious. I got the cake in chocolate and hazelnut, but I think she can do pretty much any flavor you want. Amazing cake, amazing artistry, amazing price.

We did tastings at two different bakeries, one after the other, starting with Upper Crust. The cake was moist and light and the frosting was fluffy and delicious. And Elizabeth's designs are gorgeous! The second tasting that we did could not hold a candle to Elizabeth's delicious cake! Her prices were totally reasonable, she can recreate any design you show her, and she doesn't charge extra for fondant.

The cake turned out absolutely adorable, and looked exactly like the photo we showed her. Plus, it tasted DELICIOUS. Guests kept coming up to us all night and telling us that it was the best wedding cake they had ever had. Even the fondant was good!

3Citron is the exclusive caterer for our venue and at first we were really worried about that because we were afraid of wedding caterers and were thinking of using a restaurant to cater instead. But their food was really good and their prices were very reasonable. They were super accommodating and allowed us to sort of invent our own dish in order to incorporate Torsten's German heritage into the meal. They also provide a complimentary Day Of Coordinator, who was great. The food was delicious and we got lots of compliments on it. The service was impeccable and the bartenders were great as well. The presentation was fabulous and we even had one waiter assigned just to make sure that the two of us were set.

We had a couple billing issues when they updated the cost with the final head count, but it all got worked out. It's definitely important to pay close attention to the numbers to make sure everything matches up, but once we pointed out the discrepancies, they resolved them right away and everything worked out. Then, after the wedding, it took over two months before they refunded us the security deposit on the venue (this was 3Citron management, not the venue management). We heard all manner of excuses through the course of our persistent emails and phone calls before we finally got the check back. It’s too bad that they had these logistical money-related snafus, because the food and coordinator were great and on the day of, everything went perfectly.

We found Erin through the American University music department--I believe she is a fairly recent graduate. I emailed with her and a couple other people, and she was the only person willing to provide a quartet in our price range instead of just a trio. We used them blind, without a rehearsal or trial or anything, based solely on AU's recommendation. I was a bit nervous about it, but it turned out great. The music sounded fabulous and they hit all their cues perfectly. Our music selections were pretty traditional, but I think the quartet has a wide repertoire and can likely work with you no matter what music you want.

Barbara is amazing and basically sat there and listened to me babble about flowers (I had no clue what I wanted) and budget and then turned around and whipped it all into a brilliant proposal. I had really strong feelings about color (purple) and she spent an hour with me going over various images of different purple flowers and finding out my opinions of each. She and I had an ongoing email dialogue--every time I picked a new element for the wedding (such as a dress), I emailed it to her as further inspiration. Her prices are unbeatable, too.

The flowers were absolutely perfect, and I couldn't believe how much we got for our money. My bouquet was even more beautiful than I had envisioned--she really nailed my color and shape specifications. The bridesmaids loved their bouquets too, the boutonnieres were fantastic, and the centerpieces and altar arrangements were completely gorgeous. I couldn't believe how well she understood my vision and how perfectly she carried it out. We got tons of compliments on the flowers, all night long.

We had a hard time finding an officiant because we want a totally secular civil ceremony and there are no Justices of the Peace in DC. Reverend John Gaffney is a Unitarian Universalist minister who has a similar view of marriage and morality to us even though he's a minister and we don't even believe in God. At first, he was great to work with, and gave us a bunch of sample ceremonies to work with that were very helpful when we were writing our ceremony.

We had some problems with him toward the end and at the ceremony, though. First of all, he kept postponing our final meeting to go over the details (it happened three times) and we wound up meeting only a couple weeks before the wedding, which was frustrating. At that meeting, he seemed a bit unprepared and we never read through the ceremony in its entirety, which in retrospect we should have done. He also kept mispronouncing Torsten's name (which is pronounced phonetically--he kept pronouncing it like Tursten), and we corrected him on that and he even wrote down the correct pronunciation.

At the ceremony, he showed up on time and everything and was very nice, but he seemed unprepared and lost his place several times, leading to awkward pauses. It would have been OK, but there were three problems. First, he kept mispronouncing Torsten's name despite having gone over it earlier. I had my sister (the MOH) correct him during one of the readings, and he pronounced it correctly once after that, then went back to pronouncing it incorrectly. It made me flinch every time he said it. Second, he added a whole chunk of stuff to the ceremony that we had no idea he was going to do. He stepped in front of us, which was weird, and started talking about how a marriage was like a building and required artisans to maintain. I didn't catch all of it because I was trying not to laugh, but it was definitely strange. Third, and worst, he forgot half our vows. We had written a part where he asked us each if we promised to love, cherish, and grow with the other person, and we were supposed to say "I do," which was very important to us, and he seemed to lose his place right before the vows and then skipped over that part and started with the part where we repeated after him to say "I take you" instead. So we never wound up saying "I do," which was disappointing.

In the end, none of it was that big a deal, and the ceremony was still meaningful and emotional, and we wound up married at the end, which is what matters. But he definitely seemed confused and absentminded, and I wish we had had an officiant who had been more organized and performed exactly the ceremony we requested.

McLean Gardens Ballroom is totally gorgeous and exactly what we were looking for. It is basically a large reception hall owned by the McLean Gardens condo community. It has a gorgeous black and white marble-floored foyer, a huge ballroom with a dance floor, pillars, 40-foot ceilings, and two fireplaces, and a nice upstairs with pretty bathrooms and a room to get ready in. It does not really have any outdoor space so though our wedding was indoors, we took our photos at the National Cathedral, which is nearby. The staff were very helpful and flexible, and the room looked absolutely gorgeous all set up for our wedding. They carried out our vision perfectly and it looked even better than we were imagining. We got compliments on the venue from guests all night long. They are affiliated with the caterer we used, 3Citron, and we had a few problems with them, but the venue itself was fantastic and the wedding went off perfectly.

We were looking for three things in our invitations: Purple, decent quality at a reasonable price, and able to accommodate two languages. I searched everywhere for something that fit all three criteria and eventually got really discouraged and overwhelmed. So we went to Paper Source in Georgetown to discuss options with them. We had to wait awhile before we could meet with someone, but that was my own fault for not making an appointment. And when it was finally our turn, they were GREAT. They talked through options with us, showed us tons of examples, and finally helped us pick out everything we needed to make our own. If I had been able to find a pre-made invitation that fit our criteria, I'd have done that instead because there are lots of nice ones available for only about $100 more than what we spent on materials, and it would have been worth it for the savings in time. But given our parameters, this was our best option, and the people at Paper Source were great. And it turns out that I LOVE our invitations. I don't think we saved much money doing them this way, but it was the only way we were able to get exactly what we wanted.

Everyone says that Estee is great and now I totally see why. She did a five-point bustle, took in the chest, altered the neckline, and steamed and pressed the dress (and veil)--all for $100. It only took one try and when I came back to try it on, it fit perfectly. She is really nice, too, and was very flexible and accommodating with my schedule, even making time the day before the wedding to steam and press the dress so it wouldn’t wrinkle again before the wedding. And she has a maximum charge of under $200, so even if you have more complicated alterations than I did, you won't have to pay too much.