ljlkc's reviews

Hole. E. Cow. Danae's work is amazing, there's just no other word for it. Her calligraphy has a beautiful, almost watercolor feel to it--I'm not sure if she does or not, but it seems like she uses one of those classic metal-tipped pens that she has to dip into an ink well.

On top of everything else, she's fast, she's communicative, and you just won't want to mail those gorgeous envelopes!! Do yourself a favor and have an extra one addressed to you as a keepsake.

Laurie makes some of the best cake I have ever had. And she's committed to fresh, local ingredients--she has her strawberries picked by a nearby farm the same day as the cake is delivered! That's what I call fresh produce!

They are amazing! Incredibly flexible and prompt. They also have by far the least expensive invitations I've seen. Around $4.50 for everything (including invitation, inner & outer envelopes, reception card, directions/accomodations card, and response card (with envelope). Quality is amazing for the price.

I booked Sherrie simply on reputation because she won't book trials until 5 months prior to the wedding. I'm not remotely happy about that, but I've only ever seen one negative review, so I'm hoping she lives up to her reputation.

Post-wedding update: Sherrie was great in the trial. I'm really picky when it comes to my hair and she spent 3 hours at the trial trying to make sure I was happy. On wedding day, I made the mistake of not drying my hair before she started. I think it made my hair look a little crunchy. But, once again, Sherrie stuck around and futzed around with my hair until I was happy. Through it all, she was professional, sweet, and generally fun to be around.

My makeup was flawless and lasted all day and night without any touch-ups.

I didn't give her 5 stars because my hair wasn't totally perfect, but it was soooo close and it wasn't for her lack of trying. In fact, I think it was my fault for not drying my hair (although she told me I didn't have to and it was up to me).

Reverend Mills has definite ideas about how the ceremony will go. At our initial meeting, we brought up several ideas, a few of which he immediately dismissed. But he had reasons for doing so and I get the feeling he knows what he's talking about and that the ceremony will be beautiful and special. I can't wait!

Post-wedding update: Reverend Mills did a great job. He was very charming and a couple of my engaged friends even asked for his contact info.

I've hired Kristen for DOC services and added on an extra meeting for design consultation. She's been very responsive so far.

Post-wedding update: Kristen was great. She coordinated all of the rentals and worked out a schedule, which worked perfectly. She made some game time changes (moving around some of the flowers, e.g.), which were spot on. She was organized, thorough, and even made sure I was on task with the things I was responsible for. She was great!

So far so good. The planner at the coordinator has been incredibly responsive and flexible, allowing us to modify their package to suit our needs. They're even allowing us to go off their vendor list because we don't like the two bakers they have. Plus, it's a gorgeous location (especially if you want to do the ceremony and reception in the same place) and among the less expensive venues in wine country.

I can't possibly say enough good things about the place. The coordinator is a dream. I had a lot of little details that I handed off to her the day before the wedding. I spent about 2 minutes telling her what everything was and going over where it was supposed to go and it was perfect on wedding day. Every single time I had an issue, she had a solution and it was worked out with the most minimum of fuss. Honestly, she was so awesome that as much as I loved my DOC, I could have done without the extra planner. The site was gorgeous! They had a bunch of different things we were able to use (parasols, a wine barrel table, etc). The serving staff was attentive. The food was great.

FI and I took swing dance lessons in a group format (at UCSF) with Jen and loved them. We thought of having her DJ and went to check her out at one of her gigs in the City. She was great--kept the dance floor moving and the music segues were flawless. I don't know how many weddings she's done and I don't know how she'll do as an MC, but I'm not too worried, since there's not a lot of that I want done. Bonus--she's going to give a half-hour group lesson at the start of the reception!

The shoes were beautiful and the service was great, but I had to send back the shoes because they didn't fit. I'll probably try another style from Blue Tux because they're just so lovely.

I've been here twice, once as a bridesmaid and once as a bride. My experience as a bride was less than perfect. Notably that they wouldn't immediately provide me with swatches (they did mail them about two weeks later) and they didn't measure my bridesmaids at the time--they asked them to come back later to be measured. That said, the dresses are beautiful and the service was attentive and genuinely helpful.