The following vendor reviews are pretty long and detailed, mostly in order to be fair. We were able to have a beautiful wedding for under 6K, and searching through other brides' vendors and reviews made a lot of that possible. So if these reviews help just one bride feel good about her wedding, even with a small budget, writing this all out is worth it to me.
Venue: The Eagan Community Center will both be our ceremony and reception site. So far everything has gone smoothly. The rental coordinator was helpful and answered my many questions.
Post-wedding review A+: Everything went perfectly on the day of! We met with Melissa the coordinator shortly before the wedding and went over all of the details of set up for the ceremony and reception and paid the remaining 50% of our rental fee. Our back up ceremony location was in the banquet hall, which ECC staff was willing to set up and flip the room afterwards, thankfully it stopped raining shortly before the ceremony. Melissa was on top of keeping us updated on the weather up until it was time to decide if we needed to use the back up space.
It truly is a beautiful space indoors and out, especially for the price. The staff there were always friendly whenever I asked them to open the banquet hall for various reasons, and communication with Melissa was pretty good, however e-mail was the only consistent way to contact her, she was often out of office and calls went straight to VM.
ECC allows you to choose one of three caterers contracted through them, which meet all price points. More on the caterer below. The ceremony fee is waived if you choose to hold it on the patio (they have 2 other spots to hold an outdoor ceremony, for a small fee) I chose to get ready at the hotel, but they do have a couple rooms to rent for getting ready as well.
We even took all of our posed photos outside there. If you’re looking for one place to hold all of your wedding events, ECC is it. As as side note, it was pretty hot and humid on the day of (summer wedding of course) and the whole building was nice and cool, and very much appreciated by our guests.
Caterer A-: Classic Catering. This caterer was one of the three contracted through ECC. We met with one other caterer (Kowalski’s) and chose Classic because their pasta choices were better tasting and prices were better. We also didn’t need to go through a second vendor for items such as place settings and linen/paper goods, unlike Kowalski’s which added over $1,000 more to our final catering bill. Classic also included more sides with their buffet. Though their office was kind of difficult to find, our initial meetings went well and I felt they answered my pages of questions throughly.
On our wedding day the buffet set up was very pretty, and our guests said all of the food was really good. But personally DH and I felt the pasta was over-cooked and mushy, which is the only reason they don’t get an “A”, other than that the few bites I got in were very tasty. The event staff were professional and they also provided a late night person to collect our rented decor at no extra cost.
Bar services A: Holiday Inn Burnsville. ECC only allows you to have bar services through Holiday Inn Burnsville. We aren’t drinkers, and we used our caterer for all N/A beverages, but the drinks were reasonably priced, and the bar tenders were professional and nice. I would recommend them.
Photographer: Jaye Reilly Photography. I found Jaye after some online research. She is mostly a destination wedding photographer based out of CA, however she has special rates for MN couples because she's from here, and travels back often. We liked her style. The only thing I was hesitant about was that we couldn't meet in person until the end of May. We just had our engagement shoot with her while getting to know her. I'm no longer worried, and we booked her right then. We just got our proofs, and they look great! I'm excited to see what she does for the wedding.
Post-wedding review B/B-: I have pretty mixed feelings about this vendor so this is going to get pretty long and detailed, in order to be fair. I really wanted to like our experience, and really did for the most part. But I guess I’ll be frank here. I’ve come to the conclusion that if photography is among your top priorities (but not your first or second) then she is a good choice. Her price was most attractive, and we did end up with some very beautiful wedding photos. Everything I wrote above before is still true. However, there have been some downsides that irked me slightly.
The first thing that could have been better was the number of engagement photos we received, only about 35 (most of which we did really like). We shot at the sculpture garden where there were a ton of unique backdrops and we spent about an hour and a half shooting. I was expecting many more.
My other complaint is in regards to our posed photos. ECC also had many photo spots but we spent 95% of our time in one spot. And when we got our photos back, there were only a couple of just DH and I, and only one I really like. In hindsight for this situation, I would’ve had all of the posed photos planned/detailed exactly and not assumed, but I don’t feel that should’ve been my job (shots/backgrounds I wanted to make sure to get, yes. But not to direct the entire shoot.)
Our reception/candid photos are plenty and good, and are my favorite to look at now. Comparing our photos to others from her blog, it’s my opinion that she is much more experienced and better at capturing exotic destination weddings. The style that attracted us to her just didn’t seem to be conveyed in our photos.
After the wedding our communication could’ve been better. However at one point she did have a very valid (unexpected) reason, but other times not-so-much. She did have our photos done within the time outlined in the contract. But I needed to contact her for the photo release after we got our photos, and actually as I’m writing this we are still waiting for our copy of the contract with her signature on it, since we were snail-mailing the contracts back and forth it was forgotten about in the our pre wedding craziness (we have a copy, it just doesn’t have her signature--thankfully all technicalities went smooth).
Overall I think exotic destination weddings are her niche, and other weddings are just good. To be fair, she is somewhat new to the business and was moving cross-country during that point in time (however I personally believe that one shouldn’t commit to prior engagements if planned life events are going to be a distraction). Perhaps, time and more experience are all that she needs.
DJ: We hired Neon Express based on knottie suggestions and couldn't pass up their price. So far we've only had e-mail communication, but that has been fast and helpful.
Post-wedding review A-: The main reason that this is not an A+ is our officiant’s mic kept going in and out during the ceremony, which in the moment didn’t seem like a big deal, but when our guests commented on it later, it became a bigger deal.
We had very little communication before the day of, but that’s because I didn’t feel like it was necessary. He had our key songs, must play, do not play lists, and musical preferences for everything else.
The reception music was good and people seemed to enjoy the dance portion. He didn’t play my dedication song until it was the last song left (at that point the the person it was dedicated to had already left as it was after midnight, when I requested it be played at 9:30pm), and when he did, he didn’t announce that it was a dedication, not a big deal in my case, but if my circumstances were different it would’ve been a big problem. Unfortunately I cannot totally rave about their services like other knotties. But, you do get a great value in services for the price they charge. I would definitely recommend them.
Officiant A: Judge Ellen Maas. We happened to know our officiant through a member of the bridal party. We LOVED the ceremony she had prepared. She was respectful of our wants, especially since we didn’t want any sort of religious ceremony. I was worried about our ceremony not being as “pretty sounding”--for lack of a better term-- as religious ceremonies sound, I had no worries after we read Judge Maas’ ceremony. We didn’t change anything. Her price was in the median range for other judge officiants I found.
Hair Styling D+ (B+ for Bridesmaids): Cole’s Salon Eagan location. Cole’s is my regular salon. At the time I didn’t have a stylist I regularly went to so I went by their recommendation. I have waist-length hair and asked for someone who may be familiar with styling it. They made my appt. with a stylist named Nicole. My bridesmaids were assigned that week to other stylists so we could all get done together. I wanted a half up style with big curls/waves and volume on top...nothing unique by any stretch. My trial run went okay, I wanted slightly less tight curls (some were essentially Cindy Brady curls), otherwise it was good. She noted that for the day of.
On the day of we reviewed and I also told her my curls didn’t hold past two hours (which is not normal for me), she said not to worry, she’d get them to hold today. SO NOT THE CASE! I didn’t even make it back to the hotel to get dressed before they were flat and knotting up, and I couldn’t get my veil in because of the way she inserted the bobby pins. I tried to fix it on my own but didn’t have time to take care of it all. I ended up brushing out my hair in the bathroom 10 minutes before walking down the aisle! It was nothing like I had envisioned, I was so disappointed. If the day weren’t so exciting, I would’ve cried.
However, all six of my bridesmaids (and flower girl) had very positive experiences with their styles. They looked great and held up well into the night. The only complaint was not all of their appts started on time, affecting the rest of our timeline a little. My guess is previous appts ran long. In a do-over I would do my own hair.
Save-the-Dates: These were made on Photoshop by me and printed through Vistaprint. We ordered large magnets and postcards. Vistaprint quality was good, for the price. A lot of the postcards were printed slightly crooked. Vistaprint sends a lot of offers if you sign up with them, and often all you pay is shipping. We also ordered photosharing cards through them, 250 free. We had them by the guestbook and sent one in each thank you card.
Invite Paper A: Paper Depot. We completely DIYed our invites and got our paper from Paper Depot in Minneapolis. The staff were helpful when I had questions. We didn’t have them help with a mock up, but they do that as well. I think you can use their supplies to cut your paper, but I had everything at home as well. For the paper we wanted to use, they had the best price. Along with all the other paper options, they have a really large selection of the stardream type of paper.
Wedding Dress A-: My dress is from the designer Casablanca Bridal. I ordered it from The Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul. Their customer service was pretty good when I went to try dresses on and ordered, my consultant Katy was very helpful and honest. But it could've been better when my dress came in. I had some beading fall off of my dress (couldn't find where it came from, but me and my 2 BMs heard them fall under the dress while it was hanging on the wall) and they told me the beads were from other dresses and threw the beads I handed them in the trash.
Bridesmaid Dresses A: David's Bridal in Richfield. The dresses came in earlier than anticipated. Their customer service is decent. Our consultant Erin was awesome, I definitely recommend requesting her if you go into that store. She made it fun, amusing, and no pressure.
Men's Attire: Savvi Formalwear in Eagan. We met with Ashley at the ECC Wedding Workshop. When we went in, she was very helpful in dressing up the mannequin in each of our choices and creating a whole look. Hubby got his suit free with four groomsman tux/suit rentals. FIL got his suit from the Southdale location.
Post-wedding review B+: The wrong color ties came in for the groomsmen and usher and FOG vest came in the wrong color and style. They were very quick to fix the order, and luckily the Eagan location is right down the road from ECC, or it would’ve been inconvenient to go back and pick up the re-ordered pieces. One GM’s pants were too long, but by the time he said anything nothing could be done.
Alterations: Louise. Again, based on knottie suggestions and rave reviews, I went to Louise for my alterations. I've only had one fitting so far (as of June) and it was a great experience, can't wait to see what she does with my dress!
Post-wedding review A: The only thing keeping this from being an A+ is she sewed the wrong bustle on my dress. The bustle still looked good, it just wasn’t the one I chose, but I didn’t notice until I saw photos from the wedding, so not all her fault. Louise is everything the knotties who recommend her rave about. She makes you feel great when you meet with her, and she does a good job for the prices she charges. I needed my dress taken in a few sizes and shortened, along with a bustle. My MOH also brought her dress to her and liked the results.
Louise was also a total rockstar when I had an attire emergency. I planned on making satin sashes with my MIL for 6 of my bridesmaids and this was to be done the last few days before the wedding since not all girls were in town. It ended up that MIL couldn’t work with the satin and I was no help, so I called Louise (I told her my plan at our last fitting and she said that if I needed any help to call her). I brought the fabric to her the day before the wedding, and she had them all done in time for the girls to get dressed.
Really the only way to get a hold of her is by phone, and it’s usually best to call early morning or evenings.
Ceiling Drapery: Sitting Pretty. We met with Jennifer last month, and booked. She was great with email communication and setting up a consultation, especially between two brides; we're sharing the cost with another couple for the next day, she let us split the cost. Even if we hadn't, the cost was very reasonable compared to other decor vendors I contacted.
Post-wedding review A+: Another great vendor for the price we paid. I only had a couple emails with here after our meeting/booking. The style needed to change to accommodate a wall that was going to be pulled out if we had to move the ceremony indoors, and there was no issue with that.
Day of Coordinator: Celebrate in Style. A DOC was something I really wanted, but was only going to get if we had room in our budget. My research led me to Kearney from Celebrate in Style. Her website didn't impress me, but for her rates ($35/hour), we decided to check her out. We just booked her, and are setting up our pre-wedding meetings now. So far everything seems great, and seems to be a great value for our money. I hope it works out!
Post-wedding review A+: Hands down my favorite vendor. I keep thinking back on details that come to mind that I didn’t worry about one bit during the wedding. She kept things moving smoothly and right on time. She met with us three times before the wedding (at no extra cost) to go over the many, many details she would be in charge of, helped us come up with a timeline, and set up and took down all of our ceremony and reception decor. She really exceeded all of my expectations, I’m not even completely sure of everything she took care of because she only came to me when it was necessary. I do not have one negative comment. I can’t recommend her enough! And her prices are quite an added bonus. I believe that I would not have had as much fun on my wedding day without her.
Cupcake vendor A-: Sam’s Club in Eagan. We ordered our cupcakes through Sam’s. They tasted very good, but their in store customer service wasn’t so good. Cake was not something we had high on our priorities since we were having a candy buffet as well. I recommend Sam’s if you have something not very elaborate in mind and want either chocolate or white cake, but still care about taste. Even though we wanted something simple, we still added our own touch (edible sparkle powder and decorative cupcake wrappers) to keep them from being boring.
Flowers:
Sam’s Club A:
I ordered the bridesmaid’s flowers online from Sam’s. I only wanted Calla Lilies. Sam’s was really affordable especially since I needed at least 30. They were delivered right at the recommended time; a few days before the wedding. They weren’t fully bloomed on purpose and bloomed in time for the wedding. We assembled the bouquets ourselves then night before, the Calla Lilies were very sturdy and held up through the ceremony.
Mpls Farmers Market, Market Flowers B+:
I ordered Asiatic Lilies for my bouquet. I ordered extra stems, per their recommendation (actually a lot more then they recommended just to be safe), because some the blooms on the stems probably weren’t going to open in time. I also ordered these to arrive early to allow the blooms to open (also their recommendation). Not enough of the blooms opened to make a bouquet so my MIL ran around town the morning of the wedding to find other white lilies, and the Asiatic ones were used elsewhere for decoration. I didn’t use their facility, but it is open for their clients to use for DIY flowers, which a lot of people seemed to be taking advantage of.
Hotel A: Marriott SpringHill Suites. We had our hotel block and wedding night accommodations through SpringHill Suites. We worked with Melissa, she was great, good communication through calls and email. We had some stragglers with booking rooms, and they were helpful in letting us extend our book by date (so we could get our wedding night booked free with 10 rooms sold).
The rooms were nice, as was the staff. They were helpful when we needed to check in early to our wedding night room after checking out of our getting ready room. The provided four free shuttle trips to and from ECC and the hotel which was awesome and very convenient, we didn’t need to worry as much about drinking and driving. The only negative comment I have is we didn’t get the champagne or strawberries that were apart of our room package, we were exhausted by the time we got to the room, we completely forgot until the next morning.
Boudior Photographer B+: Cadence Cornelius. I took part in one of Cadence's boudoir marathons. She signed me up for a time that she actually had booked already, so she worked with me to get a day scheduled. It actually was just me (another bride was booked after, but never showed, so I got a little extra time) Cadence and her make up artist, Suzy, were fun to hang out with while getting hair and make up done (this was the reason it wasn't an A, I wasn't a big fan of my hair and make up turned out after we discussed it), I was totally at ease after 10 minutes and a glass of wine. The actual shoot was fun, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Cadence was kind and encouraging, and took her work seriously. The images I received were nice. I would do a few things differently, but I'm not sure it had anything to do with Cadence.
Day After Picnic-
Jensen Lake Picnic Shelter Eagan A+: This is a great place to hold outdoor gatherings. Had I not wanted such a traditional setting for our wedding, we would have held it here in a heartbeat. The price for all day rental is very reasonable. The facilities are very clean, in great condition, and spacious (plenty of room for a couple hundred people). There are plenty of outlets for food and fans. Tons of room for yard games, nice fire pits, and a large playground. It overlooks Jensen Lake and is a beautiful setting. We will be using this place again if we have another family gathering.
Day After photographer A+: Bill Hickey Photography. This photographer’s services were a gift for our wedding. We checked him out before our wedding and decided not to use him for the wedding based on our interview with him and wanting to go with the other photographer we met with. Hindsight has me kind of regretting passing over him so quickly (he was the first we met with). Since his services were already paid for, we had him photograph the picnic. The photos turned out beautiful (I almost like them more than our wedding day photos), I really like his editing style as well. He blogs mostly about sports, but he is familiar with weddings. If I had to do it over I would probably use him instead on our wedding day.