Neil at St. Charles String Quartet was an absolute dream to work with! He was immediately responsive to my inquiry and was excited about my special request for my processional ("Sweet Caroline"). The group doesn't charge for requested songs that they have to learn -- even if every song is new! They sounded gorgeous and really made the ceremony special. You can also hire other arrangements -- solos, duos, trios, and the full quartet -- and they're flexible on pricing, too. Tell Neil that Caroline sent you -- you really can't go wrong booking them!

Hands down my favorite vendor. Michelle's photos are AMAZING. (See mine here: http://michellelindsayphotography.com/blog/?p=1005). She's fun, easy to work with, and just insanely talented. Her packages don't come cheap, but she always works with a second photographer, which i appreciate, and she's cool about giving you digital copies of the images for your own use. Plus, the pictures. Her talent speaks for itself. I cannot recommend her highly enough!

Arelle is a makeup GENIUS. She made me look natural, just like i wanted, but the makeup looked gorgeous in pictures and held up all night. Eve is my normal hair stylist (and i *adore* her), but a family emergency called her out of town on my wedding day. Before she left, she worked with Chaz to make sure he could replicate the style she'd done at the trial. And it was PERFECT -- gorgeous, loose, bouncy curls that were exactly what i wanted. I cannot recommend all three of them highly enough!! Contact them all at VSL Hair Designs in Washington, DC.

E-Wedding Bands offered by far the best price we found for our wedding rings (mine is 2.5mm platinum; his is 6mm palladium with a beveled edge). The rings are gorgeous and appear to be of excellent quality; the site's response time was excellent, and we had them in our hands less than a week after ordering! Also, they were running a special for 10% off palladium bands which i forgot to enter into the checkout; when i realized it, i e-mailed customer service, who cheerfully honored the coupon. All in all, quick, excellent customer service, and a beautiful set of rings. Highly recommended!

I designed our invitation suite myself using Adobe Illustrator, but we don't have a decent printer, so i hunted high and low for a good print shop. I came across a recommendation for Cards & Pockets, which has just opened a print shop, and was blown away by their quick response time and gorgeous quality. Their selection of paper isn't the absolute best in variety, and you do have to print on their stock, but we nevertheless found some gorgeous snow-white cardstock and had them print our custom-sized invitations, RSVP postcards (front & back), and info cards. They came out simply beautifully, and John in the print shop is a dream to work with. He explained the layout needs very simply and clearly, and his turnaround time can't be beat! (Well under a week for our entire invitation suite, over the July 4th holiday.) I'd recommend Cards & Pockets for buying blank stationery for home printing, and especially for having them print your designs from .pdf files.

VistaPrint was incredibly easy to use, and our save-the-dates were great quality! I designed the postcards myself and uploaded the files onto VistaPrint's website -- they have a super helpful preview feature that lets you make 100% sure you're uploading the right file. The postcards came a day earlier than their website had said, plus the quality was fantastic -- especially since they were on mega-sale! We essentially paid for shipping and came in under $25 for 100 full-color two-sided postcards. Can't beat that!

Jen was fantastic to work with! She was so enthusiastic about the project, even though it was a tiny one (monogram design) compared to what she's usually commissioned for. She got the vibe we are going for immediately, and designed a monogram that was exactly what i was hoping for. She was responsive and gracious about modifications and unfailingly helpful and cheerful when i wrote with questions. Plus, she's crazy talented. I wholeheartedly recommend her!

Daniel Kim from Five Star Diamonds is awesome. He really knows his stuff and was willing to answer all sorts of my dumb questions. He gave us a fantastic deal on my engagement ring (which appraised way higher than what we paid!). Also, in terms of customer service, he really can't be topped. The day before we were supposed to go pick up the ring, the strip mall where the store used to be based was partially destroyed by fire. Within 48 hours, Mr. Kim had called us to apologize, assured us that the ring was safe, and arranged for us to pick it up at his new storefront. Definitely recommended!

Manu owns two bridal shops in the Triangle area -- the Bridal Gallery in Raleigh, NC, where i bought my dress, and the (much MUCH larger) Bridal Boutique in Cary, NC, where i got it altered. Manu is really talented and was willing to chop off about eight inches of dress to make my floor-length gown into the tea-length dress i was dreaming of, and when i went in for my second fitting, the length was perfect, as was the bodice, even though she hadn't even pinned it very much when i tried on before. She also custom-made me a crazy poofy shoulder-length veil that was exactly what i wanted, even though i didn't so much as show her a picture beforehand. I'm taking a star off only because you have to pay 100% of the alteration cost up-front. In my case it turned out fine, especially since it was such a major alteration (there are like 30 layers of tulle in my giant skirt that she had to cut off!), but it did make me a little nervous to fork over so much before services were rendered. Rest assured, though, that i am *delighted* with the finished product!

I got my wedding dress in North Carolina, where i'm from, even though the wedding is in the DC area. My mom and i spent well over an hour in the Bridal Gallery, which is a tiny shop crammed into a storefront on Hillsborough Street. The salespeople were helpful but definitely hands-off -- i got into and out of a lot of dresses on my own, but i didn't mind so much, honestly. Plus we more or less had the place to ourselves, which meant that i got to try on gowns to my heart's content! The ordering process was pretty painless, and Manu (the owner, who has another shop in Cary called the Bridal Boutique, which i will review separately) contacted Casablanca and got them to agree to make my particular dress without a train, so she could then hem it to tea-length. I was really impressed that she was willing to go above and beyond like that. Definitely recommend the shop, but beware that parking sucks and it gets insanely crowded on weekends!