My husband’s parents planned the rehearsal dinner at Carmina’s Mexican Restaurant & Banquet in Elgin. A friend of their family owns the restaurant. It was such a fun, relaxed place to hold the rehearsal dinner. We wanted a laid back atmosphere, so this worked perfectly- although the venue does have some nice, formal touches. The food was a variety of buffet style Mexican dishes. The staff had decorated the restaurant for the occasion and the service, otherwise, was also excellent. It was a fun, unique option for a rehearsal dinner.

I researched invitation pricing quite a bit, including stores that offered invitations. I ordered my invitations through Americawedding.com, because their invitations were, by far, the most reasonably priced. I had to design the invitations myself, but the setup they have on the site made it easy. The invitations arrived within two weeks of the order date, and I was very happy with the quality. Ordering the invitations online through Americanwedding.com was a great (and economical) option for me.

Our wedding cake was part of a package deal through our reception site, D’Andrea’s in Crystal Lake. The bakery they use is Peter’s Bakery in Cary. We were so glad to learn that D’Andrea’s partners with Peter’s Bakery because this is where we get all of our cakes for birthdays and other occasions. We knew it would be delicious! The cake was simple, but beautiful. We had the florist bring in a couple extra flowers similar to the ones in our bouquets to place on the cake. We had yellow cake with custard filling- it was exceptional.

The only big disappointment on our wedding day was the limousine service, Charter Limousine, Inc. The driver arrived in an Excursion Limousine that had a large dent in it. I was very disappointed with the lack of maintenance. The limousine smelled of smoke inside, which was particularly disgusting because no one in the wedding party smokes. The limousine was supposed to be stocked with beer, and there were only three or four cans of beer inside. In addition, we didn’t feel safe with the driving capabilities of the driver. When we came home from our honeymoon, we saw that they had charged us DOUBLE the contracted price on our credit card (i.e. they must have charged us twice). The issue took a couple of weeks to get ironed out, and was only fixed upon us bringing it up to them. I would not use or recommend this vendor!

For our reception, we hired Midwest Productions as our DJ service. We met with him prior to the wedding and saw that he was well equipped with all the new technology. He gave us some great suggestions to ensure the flow of the evening. He also assisted us in creating our playlist. He had a great energy and enthusiasm during the reception, and his playlist kept our guests dancing the night away. We were very pleased with Midwest Productions’s Service- they were professional and met/exceeded our expectations of great DJ service.

We had a good experience with our wedding florist, Fabbrini’s Flowers of Hoffman Estates. There was one minor glitch, however, and I am not sure if it was the florist’s error or not. We had ordered flowers for our parents, and we didn’t ever come across them the day of the wedding. We were not sure whether the florist forgot them, or if they were misplaced. It was disappointing, however. Anyhow, I went into Fabbrini’s Flowers not knowing at all what I wanted. The florist made some suggestions, and the bouquets were beautiful! The flowers were fresh the day of the wedding.

An artist at Taylor Stevens Salon in Algonquin did my wedding makeup. I went to the salon for a trial, and she tried a number of different looks until I found that I loved. She did a beautiful job the day of the wedding, and it lasted throughout the night. The prices at this salon were reasonable, as well.

My bridesmaid’s gowns were purchased from the House of Brides in Schaumburg. I chose this bridal salon, because we found the gown we wanted there, at the most inexpensive price. I have been a bridesmaid, and ordered gowns there a few times. Based on my experience with them in the past, I would have given this vendor 2-3 stars. But for my occasion, everything went smoothly. Two of my bridesmaids were pregnant at the time of my wedding and one had just had a baby. Although sizing was anticipated to be an issue, as would have been anywhere, the gowns looked great after alterations. The alterations department was efficient- my bridesmaids only had to go in for one fitting. Everything turned out beautifully.

Our wedding reception was held at D’Andrea’s in Crystal Lake. The food was excellent. We arrived to everything being set up as we had hoped- all of our favors were in place. My main complaint was that the food service was a bit slow. It appeared that they needed more staff for the occasion. They were also planning on only having one bartender for our event of 175 guests. I had to bring it up to the manager that this would most likely be inadequate. They ended up putting a second bartender on for the night. Besides those two issues, the night went very well.

We hired Picture Perfect Photography for our wedding day. Our photographer was the owner, David. He went above and beyond our expectations. He arrived early and stayed later than scheduled. My gown bustle kept falling down, and he made sure it looked beautiful in all of the photos. David also suggested a great place to get outdoor photos. Throughout our wedding day, David was enthusiastic and had a great sense of humor. We were able to view our photos online within two weeks of our wedding date. We were very happy with how the photos turned out. We most definitely recommend Picture Perfect to other couples!