Ceremony/Reception Venue: Centennial Lakes Park
We had originally thought about this place when we first were venue hunting, but it ended up being too small for what our original guest list size was. We decided to cut it back even more along with postponing our wedding. We lost the deposit for the other venue, but we feel that it was worth losing.
They let you bring in your own vendors except for beverages, they have a required beverage provider and can't serve hard liquor- only beer and wine.
Centennial is a hugely popular wedding site and Laura (Park Manager) has always been prompt about getting back to me whenever I've had questions.
Hotel Block: Residence Inn Minneapolis/Edina
They are just finishing up some remodeling, and this place is absolutely gorgeous! The rooms even have stainless steel appliances! Even for our Memorial Day Weekend wedding, they still gave us a great rate for the block which I know our guests will appreciate. Brandy (Sales Coordinator) is very helpful! With it being so close to Centennial Lakes Park and they gave us a better rate than the other hotels around, it was a clear winner.
Wedding Officiant: Affordable I Dos
We met with Susan at her home office and were really impressed with how organized and on top of things she is. She always responded to my emails super quickly! The packages do live up to the name :-) What I really like is that it's a team of officiant so if anything were to happen, you're not SOL and a replacement officiant will work your wedding. We picked the Simple Elegance package, and even with the mileage fee-it's cheaper than what I saw elsewhere. Also like Render, they allow you to pay off the balance in advance, which we plan on doing too! The officiant we picked was Matthew Lane and can't wait to meet him.
Beverages: Complete Beverage Services
Melissa got back to me incredibly quick when I asked about beverage packages for the Park and they're all pretty reasonable compared to what I've seen at other places.
Photographer: Render Photography
Britt was the only photographer we met with. As I looked around on other photographers' websites, I honestly wasn't as excited about their work as I was about hers- and her prices were the most reasonable. What really made us book her was that she's letting us pay for the photography in advance, so we've sent her a couple checks so far for different amounts to chip away at the balance. One less thing to worry about paying day of!
DJ: Central MN DJ Company
FI's cousin owns the company and has arranged for a colleague to work our wedding, I'd never want to make a friend or family member 'work' that day-they should have fun! He's also giving us a very generous discount. I'm excited to see his company in action!
"Flowers": AccentsandPetals
I wanted something different than traditional flowers since I'm honestly not the biggest fan of them, plus dang they're expensive! So I found these really unique and beautiful fake flowers made from birchwood shavings. Best of all, even with the shipping and insurance costs (seller ships from the Philippines), it was STILL cheaper than getting real flowers! I bought THREE vouchers when AccentsandPetals was featured on Heartsy and ordered a motherload of the loose flowers in different kinds of flowers, I'll put pictures of them up when I get them.
I would recommend ordering these WAY in advance because they can take a while to ship, especially if you're doing a custom order-and the fact that they're coming from The Philippines. The most recent order I placed got shipped three days after I placed it, and came approximately 2 weeks later. The first order I placed took about a month and half to get here from when I originally placed the order.
UPDATE: This seller is now on ArtFire, she also has a facebook page. She's constantly coming up with new things!
Catering: Divine Swine
They're incredibly well known and read TONS of rave reviews! Also helps that they're extremely affordable, and their pricing includes gratuity AND tax! Bruce got back to me quickly with the quote and with answers to a few questions I had. Can't wait to have their food on our wedding day!
Desserts/Favors: Most likely Cafe Latte in St. Paul, MN
Hair & Makeup: Julie Swenson Beauty, St. Paul MN
Julie used to own Smart & Chic, and now has a new business. Her prices were some of the best I've seen, and I'm willing to pay the extra $30 for airbrush- other places wanted to charge me $100 just for airbrush! She has an awesome reputation and I can't wait to have her make me and my bridesmaids pretty :-)
Tablecloths: Deckci Decor, Roseville, MN
Centennial has unusual sized tables (60" rounds) while most venues do 90" or 120" so it made finding tablecloths strangely hard! A couple websites were charging $12-15 for ONE tablecloth that would fit, Deckci came in way under for $7 per tablecloth. They got back to me incredibly quick with a quote and we're opting to pick them up instead of having them delivered.
Alterations: Amazing Alterations, Anoka, MN
Brenda is extremely friendly and helpful. Also helps that her dogs are super friendly and admire you looking pretty, lol! I went in originally wanting to have my cap sleeves and train removed, but will be having the bodice of my dress taken in since I've lost weight, a permanent bustle put in and won't need a hem thanks to her educating me on hoop skirts! I like it so much better than the crinoline I originally got and I can't wait to try on my dress again when she's finished! Her prices are really reasonable too.
We had originally thought about this place when we first were venue hunting, but it ended up being too small for what our original guest list size was. We decided to cut it back even more along with postponing our wedding. We lost the deposit for the other venue, but we feel that it was worth losing.
They let you bring in your own vendors except for beverages, they have a required beverage provider and can't serve hard liquor- only beer and wine.
Centennial is a hugely popular wedding site and Laura (Park Manager) has always been prompt about getting back to me whenever I've had questions.
Hotel Block: Residence Inn Minneapolis/Edina
They are just finishing up some remodeling, and this place is absolutely gorgeous! The rooms even have stainless steel appliances! Even for our Memorial Day Weekend wedding, they still gave us a great rate for the block which I know our guests will appreciate. Brandy (Sales Coordinator) is very helpful! With it being so close to Centennial Lakes Park and they gave us a better rate than the other hotels around, it was a clear winner.
Wedding Officiant: Affordable I Dos
We met with Susan at her home office and were really impressed with how organized and on top of things she is. She always responded to my emails super quickly! The packages do live up to the name :-) What I really like is that it's a team of officiant so if anything were to happen, you're not SOL and a replacement officiant will work your wedding. We picked the Simple Elegance package, and even with the mileage fee-it's cheaper than what I saw elsewhere. Also like Render, they allow you to pay off the balance in advance, which we plan on doing too! The officiant we picked was Matthew Lane and can't wait to meet him.
Beverages: Complete Beverage Services
Melissa got back to me incredibly quick when I asked about beverage packages for the Park and they're all pretty reasonable compared to what I've seen at other places.
Photographer: Render Photography
Britt was the only photographer we met with. As I looked around on other photographers' websites, I honestly wasn't as excited about their work as I was about hers- and her prices were the most reasonable. What really made us book her was that she's letting us pay for the photography in advance, so we've sent her a couple checks so far for different amounts to chip away at the balance. One less thing to worry about paying day of!
DJ: Central MN DJ Company
FI's cousin owns the company and has arranged for a colleague to work our wedding, I'd never want to make a friend or family member 'work' that day-they should have fun! He's also giving us a very generous discount. I'm excited to see his company in action!
"Flowers": AccentsandPetals
I wanted something different than traditional flowers since I'm honestly not the biggest fan of them, plus dang they're expensive! So I found these really unique and beautiful fake flowers made from birchwood shavings. Best of all, even with the shipping and insurance costs (seller ships from the Philippines), it was STILL cheaper than getting real flowers! I bought THREE vouchers when AccentsandPetals was featured on Heartsy and ordered a motherload of the loose flowers in different kinds of flowers, I'll put pictures of them up when I get them.
I would recommend ordering these WAY in advance because they can take a while to ship, especially if you're doing a custom order-and the fact that they're coming from The Philippines. The most recent order I placed got shipped three days after I placed it, and came approximately 2 weeks later. The first order I placed took about a month and half to get here from when I originally placed the order.
UPDATE: This seller is now on ArtFire, she also has a facebook page. She's constantly coming up with new things!
Catering: Divine Swine
They're incredibly well known and read TONS of rave reviews! Also helps that they're extremely affordable, and their pricing includes gratuity AND tax! Bruce got back to me quickly with the quote and with answers to a few questions I had. Can't wait to have their food on our wedding day!
Desserts/Favors: Most likely Cafe Latte in St. Paul, MN
Hair & Makeup: Julie Swenson Beauty, St. Paul MN
Julie used to own Smart & Chic, and now has a new business. Her prices were some of the best I've seen, and I'm willing to pay the extra $30 for airbrush- other places wanted to charge me $100 just for airbrush! She has an awesome reputation and I can't wait to have her make me and my bridesmaids pretty :-)
Tablecloths: Deckci Decor, Roseville, MN
Centennial has unusual sized tables (60" rounds) while most venues do 90" or 120" so it made finding tablecloths strangely hard! A couple websites were charging $12-15 for ONE tablecloth that would fit, Deckci came in way under for $7 per tablecloth. They got back to me incredibly quick with a quote and we're opting to pick them up instead of having them delivered.
Alterations: Amazing Alterations, Anoka, MN
Brenda is extremely friendly and helpful. Also helps that her dogs are super friendly and admire you looking pretty, lol! I went in originally wanting to have my cap sleeves and train removed, but will be having the bodice of my dress taken in since I've lost weight, a permanent bustle put in and won't need a hem thanks to her educating me on hoop skirts! I like it so much better than the crinoline I originally got and I can't wait to try on my dress again when she's finished! Her prices are really reasonable too.