We were given a list of a couple of different hotels in the area that worked with Receptions South. We chose Courtyard Marriot because they offered a shuttle service before and after the wedding to all guests who stayed there, and we decided that it would be a great idea since we had an open bar! The rates were about average at 99.00 a night. The day of the wedding, they let the bridal party check in early so that we could get ready there before the pictures. The night of the wedding they were also very prompt and professional with their shuttle service, making a couple of different trips as people started leaving, and coming back one last time for my husband and I, who of course stayed behind a little while. My only complaint was that in order to get a free room, you had to reserve 20 or more rooms, which is a lot more than some hotels, so we ended up having to pay for ours (we were 4 rooms short), which was a disappointment… but there was free breakfast in the morning and the staff was very polite and helpful with any questions or concerns we had.

We met John a couple months before our wedding at a bridal show. We had already booked another DJ, but ended up switching because we were so impressed with Johns charisma and professionalism! Im so glad we did, he kept the night moving along at such a great pace… we never felt rushed, but when you have to fit all the dances, tosses, toasts, and cake cutting into a 4 hour time frame – you have to be pushed along a little or you’d spend all night talking to everyone there! He made everyone laugh and did everything so professionally all night long! The week before he called and made sure he could pronounce everyone’s names correctly and made sure that all the music requested was the right version (some songs have different versions….). There was one song that he didn’t have that we wanted, and he made sure to get it! I was extremely impressed with everything he did and couldn’t imagine anyone different. Surprisingly, he was also one of the more affordable ones too!

Receptions South made our night ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! From the very first meeting they were very thorough on all of the different details. They provided everything from chair covers and centerpieces to food and cake cutting! We had the rehearsal the night before where we met Jan, our ‘captain,’ who we wouldn’t have made it without! She was very professional and down to earth and helped us with so many things that I never would’ve thought of. She showed us how to do the aisle runner and helped with figuring out the processional and seating arrangements. The night of, she was there early to make sure everything was perfect and in place exactly the way it needed to be. Throughout the night she was the angel in disguise making sure everything got put into place where it needed to be, from making sure the cake topper and wedding flutes got put where we could get them later to making sure the wedding party had everything we needed (including drinks in hand!). As the evening went along, I’m pretty sure every staff member came up to us at some point to say congratulations! My cousin lost his tie at one point in the night, and Jan found it within one minute! She was absolutely amazing. The room was beautiful, the staff was extremely talented, and the night was perfect thanks to the wonderful people at Receptions South!!!!

Dave was AMAZING! We had our pictures taken at the Cincinnati Art Museum during the day, before the wedding. He met us there and followed us throughout the entire evening. When we were at the museum, he came up with so many cute poses and great shots. Our pictures looked like a fairytale. He also made sure that my hair and dress were in perfect shape for every shot. The pictures throughout the night were a great mixture of the common classic shots as well as a ton of candid pictures! We laughed a ton and cried a ton when we got them back (within 3 weeks)! He is also a graphic designer, so he was able to create some very cute pictures by superimposing us in scenery from around the art museum. I would recommend him to anyone! Very friendly and down to earth and extremely professional! Prices were also competitive and he offers a ton of different packages to suit each couple and make their day perfect!

I absolutely loved salon urbanity!! I had never been there before, but got an excellent review from a friend and trusted her opinion – glad I did! 5 out of 7 of the bridesmaids as well as my mom got our updo’s done there! They had all of our appointments at the same time, which was extremely nice. My stylist Marc, did such a good job! There were a couple things I didn’t like and he changed them right away! All of our girls had similar reports and everyone was impressed with the way they looked. The pricing was also very good – I did call around to see what the average was before booking and they were right on target. My stylist Marc specializes in bridal updo’s, so he is usually the one that does all of the brides. He was great and made me feel so wonderful the entire time I was there. It was definitely a great start to the day!

We ordered all of the tuxes from Skeffingtons (groomsman, ring bearers, groom, and fathers). All together there were 5 different styles for the wedding party (we wanted the best man to stand apart from the rest), and all but 2 were incorrect when picked up. We realized the ring bearers were wrong right away, and although they insisted they were correct, fixed the problem. The night before we realized that the best mans tux was the exact same as the groom! My husband (fiancé at the time) went the morning of our wedding to fix them problem, and had to deal with a large amount of attitude from the salesman who told him it was very short notice and WE should have noticed that sooner!! That problem was fixed as well. Then the night of the wedding our fathers showed up in all black, instead of the charcoal vest and tie we had specified. When we returned the tuxes, we voiced our disappointment, and barely even got an apology. Very disappointed.

I can not say enough good things about this store! Land of Oz is known for their affordable invitations. When we walked in, they had over 50 books of invitations (complete with invite, reception card, RSVP card, all envelopes and the real thing so you could see EXACTLY what you were buying!). We told them a basic idea of what we were looking for and they found a bunch of matches for us. The pricing was AMAZING and they only took a week to come in. We had ordered a mock-up of the invitation and when we wanted to change something, they did it until it was completely the way we wanted it, no questions and free of charge. Both Mike and Fay were VERY professional and helped us out a ton!

We ordered our save the date cards from VistaPrint.com. I don’t think they have any actual stores, just the website. However, they are EXTREMELY cheap. We ordered about 250 save the date postcards (in color) and the price was less than 20.00! They had a lot of different styles to chose from, our cards had a plain backside, but you could order them differently than that as well. Plus, they only took about a week and a half to ship to us! We thought this was the absolute best deal because weddings can be so expensive… We would’ve opted not to do them because of the cost factor, but for 20.00 you couldn’t beat it! We also ordered our thank you cards through them for the same price. Because we didn’t want to write a thank you on a postcard, we ordered envelopes for the cards and it was only 5.00 extra. Very good prices and quality, would recommend to anyone whether on a budget or not!

4 out of 7 of our bridesmaid dresses needed alterations (mostly length) and 3 went to Lisa Rose. Lisa has been in the business for over a decade and does an amazing job at a very reasonable price! She had the three dresses done in about a week and a half, and they all looked amazing. The dresses were bunched up in the bottom (that was the style) and she was very good at keeping them all the exact same! She even talked to the other alterations lady (for the 4th dress) and made sure that they were on the same page since the dresses were a little complex. On top of all of this – she was able to tell my maid of honor how to put a bustle in, since we learned that my dress did not have one at the very last minute – free of charge – no questions asked! I thought that this was EXTREMELY generous of her, as she is an extremely busy lady. Shes very friendly, very professional and affordable!

Land of Oz specializes in wedding invitations, but we learned that they also sell bridesmaid dresses! Fay, the owner had books from all of the big designers they get at a discount from. They are the SAME dresses that are sold at Davids Bridal and other big name bridal stores. The only difference is that they don’t have them in the store for you to try on and they don’t do alterations. However, the owner was a seamstress and measured all of the girls before we ordered the dresses! The dresses that we ordered (Forever Yours) were 199.00 at Davids and we got them all for 119.00 each. A couple of them had to be altered (nothing major) when they arrived, but were absolutely perfect! The quote time was accurate and Mike and Fay were AMAZING help!