ni_mc's reviews

Brittany is my dear friend who is the head pastry chef at a bakery in Fremont. She is incredibly talented and devoted to her craft, and wow - her cakes taste fabulous. Our cake was delicious (everyone adored it), beautiful, and she specially matched it to our colors. She charges a little less than a grocery store, and still delivers a great cake. Ours was a delicious chocolate with raspberry filling and chocolate ganache with white fondant and blue roses on top

Zales offers competitive pricing on wedding bands and was very helpful when a problem arose. My husband's ring didn't fit him properly so they promptly fixed it, but they forgot to let us know. When we called back they remedied their mistake immediately and mailed the ring to us overnight. Good service at a decent price.

JoAnn's always has a 40% off coupon in their mail inserts. Subscribe to their mailing list and you can buy your favors bit by bit at a great deal. We got bubbles, ribbon, and jam jars at 10 cents to 25 cents each. Best of all we got lovely clearanced wedding vines and flowers for about $1 each. We decorate the whole huge church and gave nice favors to over 150 guests for about $100 total. Also check here for good deals on veils, tiaras, flower baskets, and ring pillows.

Incredible. My husband bought a lovely dark blue, sharkskin Oscar de la Renta tux jacket and pants for $99 including alterations, just because it was a former rental. Well who cares if someone wore it already? $99 for a tux in great condition was fantastic. It cost the groomsmen $125 for their rentals, but that included shirt, cuff links, cummerbund, and bowtie also. The staff is very helpful - they really know their tuxes! It was good service and good-looking wedding party men!

David's Bridal did not have any short-sleeved dresses as I wanted, but the dress I bought there fit me almost perfectly right off the rack and looked simply stunning for my exact budget price of $300. But how they must make the big bucks is in the extras: $45 for a plain veil, $55 for the smallest petticoat, and $85 for a tiara. I would have liked to go home and consider those, but you only get the 10% discount if you buy those at the same time as the dress. Check around for the extras first (JoAnn's Fabrics is comparable in quality, but much cheaper), then go to David's for the dress.

This east-side barbershop couldn't care less about marketing or chit-chat, but a $15 haircut never looked so good. My husband comes out like a movie star every time he visits. They take nearly an hour and are extremely precise. When my husband got a haircut 2 weeks before our wedding it still looked great the day of. And at $5 for a shave, your man would be wise to avoid chancing nicks so he can look perfect at the altar.

Crystal Nails is the best deal you'll find for manicures, pedicures, and fake nails. They have massaging pedicure chairs and they're very good at doing nails. It's no spa, so the ambiance isn't great, but when you are going with all your bridesmaids anyway that's not a big deal since all you'll want to do is chat. Hey, you can't beat $10 no matter how nice the mood is!

Old Town Park is a perfect spot for a summer potluck or barbecue rehearsal dinner. I think it's very silly to spend a lot of money and time on a dinner that should be relaxed and casual considering how busy you'll be the next day! The park has picnic tables, barbecue areas, a basketball court, lots of grass for lawn games, and a big toy for the kids. And it's just 2 blocks up from the waterfront. There's no shelter, but you wouldn't want an outdoor dinner unless it was nice out anyway. It was a very pleasant way to hang out with family and friends right before the big day.

We made our bouquets from silk flowers to save money, but we had Farley's make a large arrangement for the centerpiece at the altar, and the mothers' corsages and groom's boutonniere. It was expensive, but they all looked amazing, and the arrangement dried beautifully. My only frustration was that they aren't opened Sundays so we had to get it done a day early.

Russ Lorne and his wife cost in the mid-range of local photographers, but I think it's the best deal I found based on what we received. We got matted engagement photos, 12 hours of photography during the preparation through the reception, 3x5 proofs of every photo taken (even the ugly ones!), a gorgeous album, 2 parent albums, and thank you card photos, plus all our negatives for about $1500. He was very attentive and well captured the best day of my life. I love showing off the album and we still go through our 3x5s (hundreds & hundreds of them) every so often. I was extremely pleased. You can see our photos on his website (http://www.phototrekphotography.com/ - Nicole & Justin McNeil) if you're curious.