Michelle was wonderful. Her bakery/office/home was a bit difficult to find, but it was worth it for the cake tasting. I chose the strawberries & cream for the top and bottom layers and mocha chocolate chip for the middle layer. 3 square tiers, buttercream frosting, smooth, to be decorated with flowers once it got to the venue.

We had a last minute (as in 3 days before the wedding) venue change, but she was extremely flexible and still had the cake delivered on time - early, actually. That ended up being slightly unfortunate or funny, depending on how you wanted to look at it (I, personally, found it hilarious). We were running behind due to several complications, so the wedding started 45 minutes late. My husband briefly thought he was marrying the cake, as it went down the aisle right before I did. But the cake looked perfect and it tasted great. The icing was thicker on the actual cake than it was at the tasting, which is a persnickety thing to dislike (I'm not a huge fan of icing), but other than that, great cake.

Jonathan was awesome. There was a basic invitation design he'd already created that he completely personalized for us based on our requests. And then for the thank you notes, he took a poster design, made it match the style of our invitations, and perfectly executed the minor changes we requested. He was wonderful to work with - very professional (but also very friendly), very responsive, and so creative. I was glad to see someone else had already reviewed his work here!

It is a bit expensive (we chose to have him print everything, but you could easily do the printing yourself; he offers the .pdf file instead of printed invites) but still much more affordable than all the other options I looked at, and you're also helping out a small business.

ellothere.etsy.com is the link to his shop.

The Flower Exchange was awesome. I chose to do the flower arrangements without the help of a florist (but definitely with the help of lots of friends and family) because I'd decided on something very simple. All I ordered were gerbera daisies, and these guys had the best prices I could find anywhere. The flowers arrived 2 days before the wedding, and I received an email letting me know they'd been delivered. They held up beautifully from when we received them until the day of the wedding, and they seemed no worse for the wear after the transportation to the venue.

The only complaint I had was that there were no burgundy or orange flowers at all, and the website lists that burgundy and orange are included in the assorted bundle. There were plenty in shades of pink, white, yellow, and a few red of the mini-gerbera variety, but I was hoping on orange for an extra pop of color in the centerpieces. The burgundy were to be my bouquet, but I was able to buy them elsewhere.

Chris and his wife Erin are awesome. They are so easy going and laid back; it was a pleasure working with them. If you prefer photographers that aren't in your face all the time and trying to force photo ops, you should work with Chris & Erin. They are really flexible and very attentive to the types of photos you want. I was so excited to get our proofs back because I had no idea what they'd caught (aside from the portraits and the must-have shots). And when we did get the proofs, they did not disappoint. They posted a handful of photos on their blog (www.chrismichaelphoto.com/blog) a few weeks after the wedding, and then about a week and a half later, we got the rest of the proofs. Overall, it was about a month between the wedding and getting the proofs, which is great; especially considering the 1,500-ish photos they had to go through.

I cannot recommend them highly enough. They really do fabulous work (engagement, wedding, family, and individual portraits), and they're just a really cool couple in general. www.chrismichaelphoto.com for more info.

I ordered my dress from the Nordstrom website (they didn't have it in any stores near me) and after visiting a local seamstress, I went back to Nordstrom to find out how much they would charge for alterations. It was WAY more affordable than the seamstress I'd visited previously. The staff I worked with were amazing (which is what I'd expect from Nordy's) and took care of everything - bra fitting, dress fitting, second fitting, and steaming the dress the day before the wedding. I think they charge more if you didn't purchase your garment from their store, but I'd still recommend using them.

The Brushy Creek Community Center (in Round Rock, TX) was amazing. We used it for both the ceremony and the reception. We used the gardens and the pavilion in the back, and it was beautiful. We had to move our venue 3 days before the wedding, and lucky for us, the pavilion at the Community Center was available. It was extremely affordable, especially compared to other locations around Austin, and easily accommodated the 135-140 people at our wedding. Had the tables and chairs not already been provided by our caterer, we would've used what the community center provided; they're included in the rental rate, and they are pretty nice (as in, the chairs aren't the flimsy plastic folding chairs you see from a lot of rental companies). You can decorate however you want (we hung paper lanterns, built an arbor, and wrapped lights around the columns. All they really ask is that you clean everything up; unless you don't mind losing a $100 deposit, in which case they'll clean it for you.

I ordered the bulk of my flowers (all gerbera daisies) from another vendor, but when I got them, the one color I needed for my bouquet was missing. I tried a couple different places around Austin but no one seemed to have many, if any, gerberas. Luckily, I called Central Market (Lamar & 38th) and they had a whole bucket full of the burgundy color I needed (not to mention every other color imaginable). They were cheap, too, and in fantastic condition. A couple family friends actually made my bouquet for me, and it was one of my favourite details from the wedding. If you are doing your own flowers, or at least bouquets/boutonnieres, I'd definitely recommend getting your flowers from Central Market. Great selection, great condition, and friendly staff.

Convenient location (on Stonelake in NW Austin) to rehearsal dinner restaurant. Decent pricing. No one had issues with reservations or rooms or anything.