The service and quality of Deer Park Villa is awesome. The Deer Park Villa has a vintage/rustic charm. It isn't the ritz, and it isn't a new with a modern chic atmosphere. Because of this, it is a rarity. It offers something real, and we enjoyed it very much.

We had our rehearsal dinner here and it was classic Deer Park Villa. They were very accomodating, and amazingly enough the weather never got the bite that the fog can give Fairfax.

The food was great. Our friends and family loved it. I was pretty busy chatting and holding my best friend's baby to eat a lot, but what I had was good. The house wine was also really good.

Our dinner was on the porch which had great access to the bar and to the buffet. ALSO, they were able to accomodate the DVD Slide Show that my mother in law had prepared for us.

We started with Bella. I was really excited because they seemed so great. Everything just seemed like it would work out so well, and I could afford them, and it they sold me on the extras that are included. But that was the problem. They are a very hard sale, but their product doesn't hold up. They spend so much on marketing and sales that they don't pay their photographers competitive prices.

We got our engagement session, and I am so glad that we did. The photos were awful. They were so posed and fake. They weren't at all what we had expected. When we confronted Bella they said it wasn't their fault, it was the photographers fault and therefore the 100% satisfaction guarantee was void. When I explained that we were looking at another photographer, they tried to make her out as an amature photographer (she has won awards and is amazing). They gave me 20 reasons why they were better and what would happen if? The same things that any decent bride will ask the photographer: what happens if you are sick? what happens if your camera breaks? what happens if xy and z? They were trying to scare me in to staying with them. It didn't work. By that point I was pissed, but they refused to respond to my request for a refund. It took my now husband (then fiance) to CALL and demand our refund because of poor quality, and even then they never gave us back the $400 for the engagement session.

Be weary if you get sold on Bella.

We used Willowstone Catering, and WC uses The Stuart Rental Company. Because of this I didn't actually deal with Stuart Rental from a person to person basis.

HOWEVER, they were amazing. The details in our rentals were amazing and they live on in the photos. They had an amazing selection, were easy to order from, and delivered exactly what we wanted when we wanted it.

I do believe, from what I have heard, that their prices were amazingly competitive!

Lindsey designed my programs, my guest book, and my elaborate pocket fold invitation. They are still one of my favorite parts of the wedding. I don't think ANYTHING got more compliments (except maybe the day in whole) than the invitations. Even 20 something year old GUYS were commenting about how they had never seen such a beautiful invitation. Even people who had just sent out their own invitations said they had never seen such a beautiful invitation.

Lindsey worked well to keep me calm and down to earth. She was so understanding about hard to get guest lists and final counts, yet motivated me enough so that I actually worked to get the final lists rather than just hiding under a rock until it was all over. She was also willing to change things around, and then change them back, and then switch them around on my whims. She was a saint to put up with me!

The best thing though... She put the stamps on the return envelope so that I wouldn't have to assemble the invites! It saved me so much time and energy.

I cannot begin to thank Lindsey for being so awesome, and I look forward to working with her again in the very near future.

Karen was AMAZING! She totally came through for me when I was a jam. We were going to use a friend, but through lack of communication (ON MY PART), he ended up being out of town the weekend of the wedding. I freaked out. How was I going to be able to find someone to do flowers for the wedding within 3 weeks to the date? Karen! That is how!

Even though she had another event that day, she said she would do the flowers as long as I could have someone pick them. Which was NOT A PROBLEM! The flowers were so beautiful, and everything I had ever wanted. I couldn't have been happier. Everything was beautiful!

In addition, she was just so easy to work with. I barely had to do anything... Oh wait, I don't think I did do anything! I filled out her worksheet so that she knew what I wanted (some weird little things that I wanted) and she sent me an itemized quote, which was a great way for me to see what I could or could not get rid of if my budget was over!

I would highly recommend working with her! And I can't wait to have another event that needs flowers!

All of my photos were taken by Lisa Leigh and her assistant, whose name I believe is Alexis. Lisa is amazing. I cannot even begin to say enough good things about her. I know this price may seem shocking to some. It is. But your pictures will last forever. They will live on, not only at your house, but your parents' houses, your grandparents' houses, etc etc. I have been told by so many people not to scrimp on your photography, and I didn't. And I cannot be happier.

We had started with Bella photography, read their review, and our confidence in photographers was shattered. However, Lisa was able to pick up the pieces, work with us (not against us) and make us look wonderful. Lisa worked timelessly, calling or e-mailing just to check in, to offer her support or ask if there was anything she could help with. She arrived early and stayed late. And she has continued to bestow compliments upon us!

She is so professional, yet so fun and laid back. From the moment you walk into her studio to the moment you go back to work on your album... She is amazing! We also connected. I knew I could trust her to take all the photos I really wanted without having to write down every one. If there was something random that I wanted... ok, I wrote it down, but just standard stuff... she got it. She was also incredibly patient with friends and family at the wedding who wanted family photos.

Photos were posted while we were on our honeymoon which gave us a lovely surprise when we returned to the States. She even had created a slide show so that we could see some of her favorites. I'll post it: www.lisaleigh.com/slideshows/ronibrian. It is just another example of how Lisa Leigh went above and beyond for us.

All the photos are wonderful. Which actually is turning into a problem, as now I have to narrow it down for the 30 page book, when I really just want all of them :)

I too found Anne thanks to the Knot. SM23 referred me to her, and she is amazing. I totally agree with other reviews. Her prices are crazy crazy cheap. She could double her prices and still be the best price on alterations out there.

I came in with a used dress (score eBay), that needed the modesty panel moved a bit, and a french bustle instead of an American bustle. I didn't have a garment bag, so that is why it is $60 instead of $50. She did an amazing job, including a long and very detailed direction sheet on how to bustle (because it is more confusing than it looks.. pay attention when she shows you!)But she does her very best to make it easy--with the color coding, safety pins to find the first bustle point, and directions!

Anne was incredibly flexible, understanding and easy to work with. I am keeping her contact info in hopes that she does alteration of non-wedding clothing!

As soon as my husband and I went and saw SFTS, and knew the price tag, we knew that there was no way that we would ever find another venue we liked as much, especially for the value. I would add, that whoever labeled this as a $$$ is crazy. I cannot think of a cheaper venue that doesn't look like a cafeteria or something straight out of the 70's. As it is, the site is worth far more than they are charging for it.

We worked with Kristen King, their coordinator, who was such a sweetheart, and helped make the experience wonderful. The whole campus was easy to talk to and get information out of. However, it isn't a full time job but so be a little patient for a response. They aren't ignoring you :)

The only thing I would suggest being mindful of is really setting out your time line with the school and the planners. I went in thinking I could start at 1:00, but they had anticipated 2:00. It worked out, HOWEVER, I had to pay an extra 75 dollars (which I don't think they ended up billing me, so I didn't add it to the final numbers).

We are still hearing positive things about how beautiful, wondering and amazing the wedding was. And the photos speak much loader than words. It was an amazing venue for what was a perfect day.

We also added a Victorian house for 2 nights that was 1,400 (the groom's family stayed there from out of town, and they LOVED it.