jsmittym's reviews

CD artwork and design

Michelle is another friend of mine who offered to design the artwork as a gift to me. I loved the design. She used our bridge logo and improved upon it. I highly recommend her!

We like Father Dowling a lot. He is very easy going, nice, and knows what he's doing. He let us modify the ceremony "script" however we wanted. We ended up with a mixture of Catholic themes and other spiritual themes. He is fine either way.

Looooove my wedding band, especially the mixture of sapphires and diamonds. However, we definitely paid a premium for it for the name, and you will, too. But we have this tradition (hee!) of DH buying me a little something from Tiffany�s once a year. I don�t know how long we can keep up that tradition, but I'll enjoy it while I can. =)

Maya is great, and she came up with a choreographed dance for us. She also has a great sense of humor and can teach both the leader and follower positions really well.

I just went with Montage to speed things up. I loved making the invitations so much that I think if I ever went into any wedding-related business, this would be it. I'm even going to begin making birthday cards and other cards again like I used to do as a kid.

I looooove our invitations! Nessa is wonderful and does great work. I think a million brides have praised her name. Just add me to that list! I could have paid her to make the pocketfold portion of the invitations, but she said her price was about the same as the ones I was going to order through Montage, so I just went with Montage to speed things up. I loved making the invitations so much that I think if I ever went into any wedding-related business, this would be it. I�m even going to begin making birthday cards and other cards again like I used to do as a kid.

Thank goodness DH was on top of things (especially with my prodding!) and kept on checking up with the two stores to make sure they had the correct measurements and style of tux. If we hadn�t, we would have the totally wrong style and would have missed at least one person�s measurements. I think it was mostly the SF store that was having issues, but it�s also possible that that was when it was run by someone different. By the third time calling the store for some issue, he talked to someone knew who really seemed more with it and organized. This person fixed everything. Basically, if you go with After Hours, make sure you call and call and call again. Do NOT assume it will be perfect without your assistance. Also, the other that bothered us was that the tuxes available for our two ring bearers were too big. They said, oh, you can just roll up the sleeves on the white shirts. My sister (mother of one of the RBs) was *not* pleased with that.

Thank goodness DH was on top of things (especially with my prodding!) and kept on checking up with the two stores to make sure they had the correct measurements and style of tux. If we hadn�t, we would have the totally wrong style and would have missed at least one person�s measurements. I think it was mostly the SF store that was having issues, but it�s also possible that that was when it was run by someone different. By the third time calling the store for some issue, he talked to someone knew who really seemed more with it and organized. This person fixed everything. Basically, if you go with After Hours, make sure you call and call and call again. Do NOT assume it will be perfect without your assistance. Also, the other that bothered us was that the tuxes available for our two ring bearers were too big. They said, oh, you can just roll up the sleeves on the white shirts. My sister (mother of one of the RBs) was *not* pleased with that.

Azadeh is not cheap, so keep that in mind. However, she�s not the most expensive out there, either. If your other option is some super expensive couture gown, Azadeh might be a good alternative. Or, if you just really want a well made gown made entirely out of silk, she�s the woman for you. I almost had a fiasco on my hands when at my second to last fitting, the top overlay portion of my dress was finally put on and it looked *nothing* like the pictures of dresses I showed her. And even though she showed me a simple sketch of hers, I wasn�t able to picture in my head what she had in her head. It was a class case of miscommunication on both sides! I thought I just about wasted all this money and even contacted a friend who does costume design to be ready to build a backup dress in 4 weeks. Luckily for me, though, Azadeh understands and believes that good business is based on her reputation. She changed the overlay portion to make it look like what I wanted. She really impressed me and made me happy. When I went in for the next fitting, the dress was so much better and I was so much happier! I didn�t need a backup dress and I felt pretty for the first time. The thing I would warn *some* people about is if you are unevenly overweight (like me!) and if you want a dress that truly acts like a corset or girdle and helps cover up some or a lot of your flaws� I�d consider a different dress or designer. Whom or what, I don�t know. That wasn�t really an option for me since I�m so tall *and* overweight (which is why I chose a designer in the first place). I had a difficult time getting proper undergarments, and when you wear a silk dress, it shows so much. (She only works in silk, but I love that.) I love my dress, but I still have an imperfect body. ;)

Oh my word, the cake was gorgeous and tasted *wonderful*. She made it look exactly like the picture we showed her. Thank goodness we ordered enough for extra to take home. =) We also had her make a groomscake (DH is from the South). We didn�t give her a picture, but we said it should look like a football. It looked even better than I thought it would. The cake was moist and flavorful. The frosting and fillings were the perfect amount of richness and sweetness. (That is, not sickly sweet. I hate sickly sweet.) She is also very easy going, too, which I love. I highly recommend her.