We had a blast. When we got off the plane, we were taken to the Sandals lounge in the airport to wait for our shuttle. We ate and drank and watched TV for about 20 minutes, and then took the bus ride to Ocho Rios. We stayed in a concierge level room, so we had VIP check-in, where we drank cocktails while we waited for our turn to see our room. Our room had a fully-stocked mini bar and room service would refill it daily or any other time we wanted. We ordered room service and ate breakfast on our balcony most mornings. Some mornings we ate at the open-air buffet. The food was delicious, all day. One night we took a shuttle to the other resort in Ocho Rios to have dinner, it was great, too. There was always something to do. They had activities all day every day, and they also had water sports, golf, and off-resort excursions. We had so much fun, we hated to leave!

Shannon is so talented. We met her for a consultation, and she brought us 9 delicious cake samples and 3 binders of photos of her cakes. Between her photos and mine, we came up with a design for our wedding cake. It was like the cakes you see in magazines, I was so happy with the way it turned out. We went with pound cake flavored wedding cake with buttercream icing. We only had about a 60% acceptance rate on our invitations, and Shannon gladly reduced the size and price of our wedding cake just a few days before the wedding. She worked directly with the country club on delivery details so that I had one less thing to worry about the day of our wedding.

Hands down best place in Hickory to host an event. Tara, the event coordinator, was super helpful. We were in contact with her often, bouncing off ideas, asking for room and table measurements, etc. She sat down with us and helped us plan out every detail of our event, giving us ideas, but ultimately putting us in charge. She and the chef worked out a custom menu for our brunch reception, and she thought of everything that we might have missed. She also recommended local vendors for the other services we would need for the wedding. The staff were very helpful when we were setting up and the day of the wedding. Everyone was very friendly and considerate. Before our entrance, a manager greeted us, asked if there was anything we needed him to do, and offered to have his staff go ahead and set up our sweetheart table with drinks and food since we'd probably be busy greeting guests. He was so thoughtful, as were all the staff. The head chef came out of the kitchen to ask how we liked the food. It was delicious. Maybe I'm biased,but it's some of the best food I've ever had at a wedding!

DJ:
On DJing I will give him 5 stars. However, please read my review of his videography service before booking. As a DJ, Rick was extremely professional. Before we booked, I must have spent an hour on the phone with him talking about music, emceeing, how he does weddings, etc. He gave me 3 references, all who gave him glowing reviews. His rate was about $200 less than anyone else in town. He had us fill out a long worksheet going over announcements, bridal party and family names, music we like, music we don't like, etc. He called me a few days before the wedding to practice pronouncing everyone's name correctly. At the reception, he did everything perfectly. He played a great variety of music, kept it clean and family friendly, got the crowd dancing and laughing, and just really took a lot of pride in his job. Aside from the video issue, we would have given him an A+ for service and highly recommended him for any event.


Videography:
Our situation with videography was such a huge disappointment. Rick was our DJ, and he offered to videotape the reception for an extra $125. We knew it wouldn't be Oscar-winning, but it would be nice to have some footage without asking family members to put their fun on hold to operate the camera. Two months after the wedding, I emailed him to inquire about our videos. He said that he had sent them, and then asked me to call him. I asked if anything was wrong, but he didn't respond. It turns out that he had sent the video to my old address. In his defense, I had forgotten to give him our new address (until he offered to videotape our wedding, I really had no reason to give him my new address and it slipped my mind). However, every other vendor we worked with would ask for an address before sending ANYTHING, and surely common sense would have told him that my husband and I weren't continuing to live an hour apart after our wedding! We had also discussed meeting one weekend before the wedding to discuss music, and at that time I had mentioned in passing that I had moved and therefore would be able to meet up with him. The simple solution would have been to just make another copy and send it to us, but he said that he had sent us the master and all copies! Trying to be a good sport, I informed him that I had mail forwarding and that surely it would turn up. A month later, it hadn't. I emailed Rick to discuss. He sent a series of very angry and unprofessional emails to me, and refused to refund my money or make another DVD. I told him that I would be reporting him to the BBB, and I did. Two days later, guess who called me, all apologies, and had magically found the master copy of the DVD. Again, being a good sport, I played along and thanked him, and he even came to the house to deliver the DVDs. It's really a shame that I had to report him to the BBB to get him to do the right thing, I really had so much respect for him when we hired him. As for the video, it was good-pretty much what you would expect for $125. But after his behavior, I would never recommend him to anyone, even the two future brides at my wedding who asked for his info.

The staff at Whitfield's were very helpful. The bride who recommended them to me found out the day of her bridal portraits that the florist she had hired for her wedding had quit and left no records of her wedding plans with the store, so she went to Whitfield's in a panic and they saved the day. I am not a big flower person and I had no idea what I wanted, but I came to them with a color scheme and they helped me pick out beautiful bouquets of flowers that would be in season for our fall wedding. The consultant we worked with changed jobs shortly before our wedding (he now delivers flowers, including flowers from Whitfield's), but he made sure that his replacement knew exactly what we wanted for our wedding, and everything was delivered perfectly, just as we had discussed.

It's no surprise that Diamonds Direct has the best reputation in Charlotte. My husband said they were great to work with when he went and picked my engagement ring. He chose a designer ring and then had them customize it for me. Resizing was a breeze, and they'll clean and buff my ring any time I'm in the area. We bought our wedding bands during their Valentine's Day sale. The place was packed, but everyone still got one-on-one attention. Our sales lady let me walk around the store with a diamond wedding band on so that I could decide if it was what I wanted! There were so many beautiful pieces, that it was hard to decide, but we both got exactly what we wanted and got 20% off. The staff are all knowledgeable and friendly, and payment terms are flexible. Everytime we go back for cleaning or service, everyone says hi, asks about the wedding, etc.

They were just okay. They have their own tuxes (rather than ordering them from a wearhouse), which is good and bad. The good thing is they get worn less and are in better shape. The bad thing is their tuxes get used almost every weekend and then have to have alterations, and so it's not uncommon for your tuxes to not be ready until the day before your wedding. That's what happened to us, and my husband's tux was huge. But, it was the day before the wedding, 3 hours before the rehearsal, so there was nothing we could do.

Huong (she goes by Ann) did a wonderful job with my wedding dress. I needed the dress taken in in the bust, hemmed, and I needed a bustle. When she was finished, the dress fit like it had been custom-made, just for me, and I loved the bustle that she created--it worked perfectly with the skirt of my gown. The cost was more than I had planned to spend, but Ann was very upfront and honest with her estimate, and it was well-worth it to know that my dress was in good hands. All my friends go to Ann for all of their alterations, and if I ever need a bridesmaids dress or anything else altered, I will definitely go to her.

We were really happy with our bridesmaids dresses, and got a great price. There were only two downsides-the dresses run large, and if your dress is on clearance, no exchanges are allowed. It was worth the money we saved on the dresses, though.

I've been going to Poffie Girls since Junior Prom! The day I went in to look at wedding dresses, I only called 30 minutes ahead, and they still squeezed me in with a consultant. She was great. I told her what I was looking for and my favorite designers, and she picked out some beautiful dresses for me to try on. I was by myself, so she helped me in and out of the dresses, gave me feedback, pinned me, etc. I got excellent one-on-one attention. Every visit since then has been great. They pressed my dress for me, even though I was having alterations done elsewhere. The women there all take a great deal of pride in their work, and it shows. I recommend them to all of my friends.