I had an initial meeting with the DJ for my wedding in the home of the owner of the business. It was an informal meeting, but it made both my husband and I feel comfortable and made us know that the DJ really cared about the music we had chosen for our wedding day. We had a special request for our DJ to play CDs of ours since the music that we listen to is not heard on the radios here (it is in another language). The DJ was very accommodating and did a great job mixing the music in with our English music selections. He was attentive to the activities going on (he caught the kids digging into my cake before it was cut) and helped find someone who could fix it before it turned into a disaster. The services are well priced for the quality of service that is received.

Elaine and her husband work out of their home on Johns Island. They invite you in to do a cake tasting of samples of their cakes that are to die for. The cakes are beautiful and tasty at the same time. They are professional and strive to make your cake taste like whatever you want it to-- be it your favorite candy or your favorite dessert, Elaine Mincey will make it into your cake. The do not advertise in the yellow pages and do hundreds of cake a year only by word-of-mouth "advertising". Elaine is known for making fondant flowers to go on the cakes. Although that is not what I chose for my cake, Elaine worked with me to make sure that the design I wanted was what was in the final product. This team really enjoys what they do and it shows!

He has been doing photography for years and mainly shoots the Spoleto festival in Charleston and in Italy. He came to my home several months before the wedding to show me his wedding portfolio, which was quite impressive. The day of the rehearsal, Bill came out to Dunes West and shot a few photos of my family and friends practicing for the big day. The best thing about Bill is that he captured everything about a wedding, not just the bride and groom. That night he shot over 1,000 photos! He is very dedicated to his work and he "catches the moments" through his photography. I had many compliments that night and for the following days about what a great photographer he was. He is definitely a people person and will get along with your guests.

I chose Tiger Lily for their experience and reputation for doing wedding flowers. Their website has photos from previous weddings to give you an idea of what they do. I fell in love with a centerpiece that they had previously done for another wedding and had them duplicate it for mine. They are open to all ideas that you put on the table and they give you a detailed proposal of all costs associated with the wedding day. If the proposal is out of your range, they will go back in with you and edit it until it is what you are looking for. The quality of the flowers and work is spectacular. The flowers lasted for over a week after the wedding! Wonderful vendor.

I found Pamela through an internet search. She is willing to work with anyone to make the wedding how they like and want it. My husband and I had originally signed a wedding certificate without having a huge ceremony. This was our secret, but we did not want to let our families down so Pamela was great enough to go along with our plan and helped us "disguise" the signing of the marriage certificate by offering us a "special prayer" for just the two of us since we did not have a "religious ceremony." She had come up with the plan herself and helped make the wedding go by as smoothly as possible. Her fees are very reasonable and was always early or on time for the wedding and rehearsal. She also has photos and possible readings on her website.

Ceremony:

Dunes West offered what I had wanted in my wedding: a green lawn with white chairs and a view of the river. The location is simply GORGEOUS. The club has a large changing room for the bride and her bridesmaids to get ready, as well as for the groom and groomsmen. There are large trees on the property with Spanish moss hanging down which provides for a romantic setting. Dunes West has three areas/possible set-up for ceremonies which includes the lawn, as I chose, and a large garden area in the back of the club house. You can also choose to have your reception at the same site, as I chose to do. It made it easy to have everything in one location so that no one would be required to drive from one sit to another.

Reception:

Dunes West Golf Club offers a great view of the river in the back of the building. The building has been updated and there are several areas for your guests to sit back and enjoy themselves, including indoor and outdoor spots. What I did not like about this venue was that you go inside for the cocktail hour and your guests are downstairs, then they must go upstairs where dinner is served and then go back downstairs for dancing and cake-cutting. Although there is an elevator, we found the set-up a bit inconvenient for our older guests and my sister-in-law who is wheelchair bound. Other than that, the staff is helpful and accommodating.

Catering:

Dunes West Golf Club offers a variety of food to choose from and various "plans" to choose from depending on your budget. There is a list that can be emailed to you with all of your options and pricing. Everything was stated clearly and there is no room for confusion. I chose the buffet style since I had many vegetarians and picky eaters as guests. The vegetarians were impressed by the quality and variety of dishes that Dunes West had to offer. The picky eaters were happy because there was much to choose from. As a bride, a sample of all of the food was prepared for me and put at my table before I sat down to eat. The food was delicious and I recommend them to make your life simpler if you are planning your own wedding at the Dunes West location.

I wanted a ring that would be different from most of the rings that I had seen. I liked the selection of rings from ice.com. I went into a regular jeweler to be measured and ordered the right size from ice.com. My fiance could not afford to pay for the total ring balance at one time and did not have a credit card that he could put the entire ring on, so they allowed us to make 5 payments which were much more affordable for him. The payments were automatically drafted from his checking account so that he could not forget to make a payment. The ring was high quality and a great deal.

I chose the Men's Wearhouse for the men's attire because they had vests in the color blue that I needed (aqua). The staff was friendly and tried to communicate with the groomsmen who all spoke only Spanish and understand no English. They really made the guys feel comfortable through the fitting process, which none had ever done before. The guys complained, however, about the clothes that they were told to put on to be measured in because they were dirty and had sweat stains around the collar. When the guys went in to pick up their tuxedos two days before the wedding, two of the seven guys had to be refitted because the original measurements that were taken were not correct. On the up-side, we received the groom's rental for free because we had five people renting tuxedos and Men's Wearhouse offers a deal if you rent more than five tuxedos.

I chose wedding paper divas to do my wedding invitations because they were the only company that offered what I wanted in my invitations. I was looking for a square invitation with three layers that offered flexibility in the colors on the invitation. The invitations cost more money than I had originally planned on spending, but every penny was worth it! The invitations were printed on high-quality paper and arrived within the week. The creation process was easy to follow, and they give you a sample before you order. You also can order samples of the colors (if you don't trust the colors on the website like I did) for a small price. They have any color you could possibly want including different textures and finishes.

I chose Ann Taylor because of the convenience and affordable price. All of my girls have access to the internet, even though not all of my bridesmaids live in a city with an Ann Taylor. The majority of my girls ordered over the internet and had no problems with sizes (my bridesmaids were size 00Petite, 0Petite, and 2). Ann Taylor had the right style that I was looking for: tea-length chocolate brown dresses that could be worn for another occasion and that was perfect for the budget of my friends who are still in college. The sales staff was friendly and helpful and willing to work to find the right size for my sister-in-law when we went into the store to buy.