ch_we's reviews

I already had an idea of what I wanted on my cake, and it came from a wedding magazine that I had noticed months beforehand. I had no idea what the process of ordering the cake was going to be like, or if they were going to be able, or even willing to duplicate the design in the photo. I contacted Rose at the bakery and showed her the photo of what I wanted. Not only was she willing, but she was actually excited about creating the unique design for my cake. She answered all of my questions patiently, and while I paid a bit more in the end than I wanted, it was an exact duplicate of the photo, applied perfectly. We had so many compliments on the cake during the reception; it was almost a shame to cut it up on the end!

I had booked this hotel with the knowledge that this was a nice, new hotel on the waterfront that had Jacuzzi suites. I arranged for champagne to be waiting for us as we arrived so we could celebrate right away after arriving. I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to change prior to leaving the wedding so the previous night I called and mentioned that we would be arriving late, in full get up and hoped to be checked in quickly and quietly. That was not what ended up happening. We arrived and it took about 25 minutes to get checked in, give them my credit card AGAIN, and for them to get our suite ready for us (which should have been done prior to our arriving at 12am that night!). Not only were we standing there feeling foolish in our formal wear, but there was a nightclub adjacent to the lobby with drunk stragglers staring at us and wolf whistling and making rude comments about our wedding night. We stood there FOREVER! Then to make matters worse, the champagne wasn’t in the room, we had to call TWICE to get it delivered (keep in mind I paid extra for it to be waiting for us) which when it finally arrived was an hour and a half after we checked in. The suite was NOT worth the huge price tag. It was small, and when they say Jacuzzi, they mean a super narrow and tiny tub with two jets that were placed in such awkward positions, that they were barely under water even when the tub was full. The toilet in the suite wasn’t functioning properly, and my husband had to lift the back part off the toilet every time we used it to make sure the flap was in the proper position because it kept running all night. For that amount of money, the toilet AT LEAST should work properly. So, save your money, and drive 20 minutes to the Hampton Inn and Suites on the waterfront in Bremerton, Washington. It’s half the cost and triple the quality! I wish we would have!

Because my fiancé, now husband, is an amateur photographer, the photographer for our wedding was an extremely important decision for us. A friend had recommended Jeff LaPlante, and while we were on a tight budget, I thought I’d at least go to his website and check out his work. When I finally did go to his website, I just happened to be at a public library. I cannot describe what it was like to look at these couples through Jeff’s photographs and instantly fall in love with them, and their stories. I both laughed out loud in the library and cried while looking through all of his amazing blogs and photographs. I also immediately went home to my fiancé and told him that this photographer is the one. Jeff LaPlante Photography was definitely our splurge of the wedding budget. Was it worth it? Every single penny. The photos that Jeff and his wife took throughout the day were stunning. He and his wife were unbelievable at fading into the background, I hardly knew they were there! During the reception, he even set up a monitor and hooked it up to his camera showing a slideshow of the photos he had already taken during the day. There was a huge crowd gathered around the monitor throughout the night and we kept hearing again and again from people at how amazed they were at the quality of the photographs! You have your memories of that day, and that is important, but to go back and look at the photographs that Jeff LaPlante photography have provided, it makes you remember that day all over again, in such a fantastic way!