All you have to do is meet Joan and you’ll want to work with her just because of her personality. She is so fun, loves what she does, and is very talented! She will pretty much make any flavor you can think of for your wedding cake. I had a beautiful three layer strawberry shortcake cake with mascarpone cream and covered with strawberries. She also made fruit bouquets as centerpieces for all of my reception tables. My sister loved her so much she had Joan do her wedding cake a month later. She works incredibly hard and cares about every customer.

I was very impressed with Reed Catering. Cora is very sweet and personable, she met with me several times in person and worked with me to get me the food I wanted for my reception within my budget. She even served food I had purchased to my guests at no extra charge. One of my favorite things about Reed Catering is that they don’t charge you twice for service. Other catering companies charge a service fee AND automatic 18% gratuity at least, right off the bat. Reed Catering doesn’t automatically charge the gratuity, they leave that up to the bride and groom after the services are given. The food was delicious!

Green Villa Barn is beautiful. The owners are really good people and very trustworthy. It has a beautiful wood floor, wood beams across the ceiling, and hop branches over each window along both sides of the barn. It is easily found by your wedding guests and has plenty of room, up to 300 guests. There is even a side grass area outside available for use included with the price of the barn rental. I have seen other brides have their wedding and reception in the same room; it saved money and looked great! Parking is no problem either. The owners also sell flowers and fruit in the summer for great prices.

The ladies that run this store are very accommodating and really spend time with you trying to figure out a look you like for your reception tables. I even brought in some of my own things from home to set on the linens and they welcomed it. When I ordered my napkins they offered to both fold them and wrap them in ribbon at an awesome price, incredibly worth not having to do it myself. They have several beautifully decorated tables on display with so many fresh ideas to incorporate into your decoration plans. I probably spent too much time in the store trying to figure out what I wanted and they insisted to stay as long as I needed.

Kris Stalnaker is not only a great photographer but a great person. You can tell from looking at his pictures on his website that he really pays attention and is great at what he does. He is sensitive to requests and if it is alright with the wedding party, he will really use his imagination and take risks. My wedding party had so much fun during picture time and it really shows in the pictures. It happens quite often that after one wedding, he will end up doing pictures for most of the wedding party later when they end up getting married. He always has new ideas and styles of albums. He also did my invitations with the engagement photos, I had so many complements!

I spent a lot of time looking at websites for local flower vendors, and was very disappointed of the lack of pictures of people’s own work. Beth’s website contains pictures of her own beautiful flower bouquets, which really appealed to me. She is very talented and knowledgeable, and exceeded my expectations on my wedding day. She truly listened to what I wanted, unlike some who will tweak what you asked for to appeal to their own tastes. She will give you exact prices on what you want, and will alter to fit any budget. I would definitely use her again.

I can’t say enough about this Salon and the stylists. It can be difficult to find a reasonably priced salon with people that you truly trust with your wedding hair. Every gal working there is gorgeous; the kind of girls you want to ask what they think should be done with your hair. Three of my bridesmaids and I got our hair done there, I also got clip-in extensions and highlights. April specifically did an amazing job; I couldn’t thank her enough for making me feel so beautiful on my wedding day. They also have tanning and a nail station. I highly recommend them!

The store was actually very awkward when my dress was being altered, stuff was all over the place and it was very disorganized-looking. They were in the process of moving so I hope it got cleaned up. Regardless, the service was so great that I still gave them 5 stars. The main lady spent a lot of time trying to find me a specific lace for my dress, and did a beautiful job putting it on. I loved that it was one price for as many alterations as you needed to make the dress fit perfect. There weren’t any hidden costs or anything. She paid a lot of attention to detail and always remembered me and my dress when I called.

Don’t think you need to spend a ton of money on bridesmaid dresses. Look in places you wouldn’t expect. The dresses at Black/White were mostly black and white, but I found dresses that were white and a mossy green, which were perfect for my wedding. They had every size in stock, and I signed up to be a part of their membership club for free and got an extra discount which saved a ton of money. They were also on the sale rack. The dresses were very well made and several of my bridesmaids have worn them again after the wedding because they don’t look too wedding-like.

I bought my wedding dress at Bridal Exclusives after checking out literally every other bridal store in Portland and within an hour’s drive of Salem. They overall truly had both the best prices and best selection. No other stores carried as much variety, especially the modern type of dress I was looking for. The employees could not have been more helpful (without being annoying), and the store manager even helped me design a change in my dress. I liked that I only put half of the money down in the beginning and the other half after the dress came in. Overall it was the perfect experience; most of the people I know found their perfect wedding dress there also.