I ordered my Okinawa invitation sets from White Aisle. I had no problems with designing, ordering or shipping. Rebecca responded promptly to emails. I think the designs are unique and the quality is great. I agree that you should pay for the samples to get an idea of the paper.

Windy City Cakes was one of the bakeries that contracted with our reception site. The cake itself was 5 stars—from scratch with fresh fruit (strawberries) in one layer. I subtracted one star because I emailed Jennifer (the owner) about 2 weeks before the wedding with our final count and a minor change (add fresh raspberries) to one layer’s filling. I had to email her a second time to confirm she received my email—she stated she did-- but the filling ended up being incorrect (still tasty!). She does not “believe” in fondant so don’t go here if you are looking for that style cake. But check out her website and see her work.

Marinella is a genius. She was recommended by Wedding Belle’s in Barrington as one of their preferred seamstresses. She knows her stuff! My dress with a scalloped bottom and lace overlay required significant shortening and it looked beautiful. During our visits to the shop we saw other woman picking up wedding dresses and a 50th anniversary dress, all were beautifully done.

We had our rehearsal dinner for 25 guests here. Everyone I dealt with was professional and prompt. The co-coordinator helped me select a nice family-style meal. The catering captain/bartender on the day of the event was wonderful even though we were 30 minutes late coming from the rehearsal. They accommodated my SIL who is a vegetarian and a friend with a gluten allergy. I would highly recommend this site for smaller wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners and other family events.

I was matched up with Chrisondra through La Belle Vie. She came to our hotel and did hair and makeup for my 4 BMs and me. She did a great job with different hairstyles and textures and worked with each of us so we didn’t look like clones. The makeup looked great in pictures and held up well throughout the day. I thought the prices were reasonable for Chicago. I would highly recommend her.

We hired Studio One Photography for our wedding day. I am a little disappointed with our pictures. The pictures we have look great with some amazing outdoor portraits. But almost all of the pictures are posed and unimaginative. I would have liked more pictures of our friends during the cocktail hour and dancing at the reception. They were reasonably priced and the quality is fine, just overall nothing spectacular.

I give Metropolis 5 stars for the wedding day itself and minus one star for some of the planning aspects. We had our ceremony and reception here. I really liked that we were the only event that day (one of my requirements for a reception location). This is a beautiful space with the wood floors and high ceilings in the ballroom. They have remodeled and updated the smaller room that we used for cocktails. The Harmony room was used for touch ups between pictures and the ceremony. The food was some of the best I have had at a wedding and the service during the reception was excellent.

I had some frustration with the planning aspects. Most importantly, in a matter of 13 months, we had 3 different co-coordinators and 2 different chefs. The communication among these people was poor. I spent a lot of time repeating decisions that were already made. Michael (who finally inherited us) is a wedding planner in every sense of the term. He is very set on the “right way” to do things. I occasionally felt looked down upon as a “bad bride” because I didn’t care about linens or how the napkins were folded. But I know a lot of brides care about those things and here no detail is too small.

Our Save the Date cards were one of my favorite things about our wedding. Toby is a friend of ours and a very talented artist. She has done holiday cards for us in the past and we knew right away that we wanted her to do our save the dates. She helped us design a personal card that totally reflected us. We got so many compliments.

I worked with Jean and Judy to design my flowers. Initially, I had only a very vague idea of my “look”, they pulled fresh flowers from the refrigerator and made mock up bouquets. Judy also helped me make some last minute changes over the phone. On the day of the wedding, everything arrived to the correct locations and the flowers were fresh and beautiful. Everything stood up to the July heat, my husband’s calla lily even looked great the next day. They could improve their service by responding to emails although they were always excellent over the phone.

I only dealt with The Bride’s Room over the phone and online. I had chosen my bridesmaids dress and color but was disappointed by the service at David’s and refused to buy there. I contacted the store and was able to set up an account. My BMs all submitted their measurements and sizes and the dresses were shipped to them (3 weeks early!). My phone calls or emails were promptly answered—great customer service.