Venue: Graves 601 Hotel
Grade: A
Gorgeous, modern venue! Plenty of interesting spots if you're going to do indoor photos and the best ballroom in the twin cities in my opinion. We had about 160 guests, but the ballroom could easily accommodate 300. Since it isn't as popular as some of the other downtown hotels, we were able to get a Saturday evening in August relatively late in the planning game. We worked with Susan Davis, who was very nice but not as thorough as I would have liked, so be sure to check everything twice. They were very accommodating to all our special requests and really helped us to make the budget work. The food was phenomenal, restaurant quality, with generous portions. Some of the hotel staff weren't super friendly in our initial visit, but the day turned out perfectly, so no real complaints.
Photographer: Live & Love Studios / Alex Johnson
Grade: A+, pending final photos
We snagged Alex as an associate of Live and Love Studios. We instantly connected with him and it's clear he loves his job. He has a laid-back approach to shooting and always arrived early to our appointments. I'd be sure to have a good idea of your "must have" poses or shots and someone to make sure the details are styled correctly/people are lined up, but let him be creative with the rest.
Photobooth: The Traveling Photobooth
Grade: A-
Everyone loved it, but I'd check out the competition too. The price was significantly more than other photobooths in the area but we were able to negotiate the price down. We felt more comfortable going with them because of all the great reviews and the volume of weddings they do. The photobooth was having technical difficulties the night of our wedding, but they were minor and didn't affect the quality of the pictures. The guestbook was very nice and I'd spring for the CD too as it includes the individual photos from the strips as well as the strip form.
DJ: Instant Request
Grade: B
Again, we felt more comfortable going with Instant Request because of the great reviews. Our DJ seemed less experienced and seemed to follow our event planner a little too literally. Lots of minor issues, plus one major mistake when he missed the cue for our recessional. I'd definitely consider using live musicians rather than a DJ for the ceremony music. We chose a lot of great music, so I'm not really sure whether it was our song choices or the skill of the DJ, but the dance floor was busy all night, which is what we wanted.
Florist: Dubay Floral
Grade: A-
Stephanie was very flexible when it came to my ever-changing plans for the flowers. She is reasonably priced and has many ideas on how to save money. The flowers fit my overall vision, but I was disappointed that some of the flowers weren't fully bloomed or looked a little thirsty. She had another wedding the same day, so that may have been part of the issue.
Cake: Sweet Treats by Jeff Perila
Grade: A
Jeff's cake is yummy, there is no other way to describe it! You can definitely tell that he uses good, fresh ingredients. I did 5 different cake tastings and it was a close tie between Jeff's cake and Penny Steele's in terms of flavor. Ultimately we decided that taste and price were more important than looks, so we did sheet cakes from Jeff.
Officiant: Judge Greg Galler
Grade: A
Detailed and quick to communicate in our initial conversations. We chose every single word of our ceremony. The day of, he was prompt, professional and had a great speaking voice. He used a Kindle for our ceremony, which I think worked well, since there weren't any papers shuffling.
Premarital Counseling: Tie the Knot Wedding Ceremonies - Melanie
Grade: A-
We did our counseling sessions with Melanie over Skype as we live in Chicago. She was caring yet professional and we were comfortable opening up to her. I think it was worth it to do the counseling, though I think more sessions would be beneficial.
Room Block: Minneapolis Hilton Garden Inn
Grade: A-
We were able to get a room rate of $67 and the online guest list manager made it easy to keep track of the reservations. They were quick to respond to initial e-mails, but later on a few of my e-mails and calls got ignored. Everything turned out fine though and the rooms were nice.
Grade: A
Gorgeous, modern venue! Plenty of interesting spots if you're going to do indoor photos and the best ballroom in the twin cities in my opinion. We had about 160 guests, but the ballroom could easily accommodate 300. Since it isn't as popular as some of the other downtown hotels, we were able to get a Saturday evening in August relatively late in the planning game. We worked with Susan Davis, who was very nice but not as thorough as I would have liked, so be sure to check everything twice. They were very accommodating to all our special requests and really helped us to make the budget work. The food was phenomenal, restaurant quality, with generous portions. Some of the hotel staff weren't super friendly in our initial visit, but the day turned out perfectly, so no real complaints.
Photographer: Live & Love Studios / Alex Johnson
Grade: A+, pending final photos
We snagged Alex as an associate of Live and Love Studios. We instantly connected with him and it's clear he loves his job. He has a laid-back approach to shooting and always arrived early to our appointments. I'd be sure to have a good idea of your "must have" poses or shots and someone to make sure the details are styled correctly/people are lined up, but let him be creative with the rest.
Photobooth: The Traveling Photobooth
Grade: A-
Everyone loved it, but I'd check out the competition too. The price was significantly more than other photobooths in the area but we were able to negotiate the price down. We felt more comfortable going with them because of all the great reviews and the volume of weddings they do. The photobooth was having technical difficulties the night of our wedding, but they were minor and didn't affect the quality of the pictures. The guestbook was very nice and I'd spring for the CD too as it includes the individual photos from the strips as well as the strip form.
DJ: Instant Request
Grade: B
Again, we felt more comfortable going with Instant Request because of the great reviews. Our DJ seemed less experienced and seemed to follow our event planner a little too literally. Lots of minor issues, plus one major mistake when he missed the cue for our recessional. I'd definitely consider using live musicians rather than a DJ for the ceremony music. We chose a lot of great music, so I'm not really sure whether it was our song choices or the skill of the DJ, but the dance floor was busy all night, which is what we wanted.
Florist: Dubay Floral
Grade: A-
Stephanie was very flexible when it came to my ever-changing plans for the flowers. She is reasonably priced and has many ideas on how to save money. The flowers fit my overall vision, but I was disappointed that some of the flowers weren't fully bloomed or looked a little thirsty. She had another wedding the same day, so that may have been part of the issue.
Cake: Sweet Treats by Jeff Perila
Grade: A
Jeff's cake is yummy, there is no other way to describe it! You can definitely tell that he uses good, fresh ingredients. I did 5 different cake tastings and it was a close tie between Jeff's cake and Penny Steele's in terms of flavor. Ultimately we decided that taste and price were more important than looks, so we did sheet cakes from Jeff.
Officiant: Judge Greg Galler
Grade: A
Detailed and quick to communicate in our initial conversations. We chose every single word of our ceremony. The day of, he was prompt, professional and had a great speaking voice. He used a Kindle for our ceremony, which I think worked well, since there weren't any papers shuffling.
Premarital Counseling: Tie the Knot Wedding Ceremonies - Melanie
Grade: A-
We did our counseling sessions with Melanie over Skype as we live in Chicago. She was caring yet professional and we were comfortable opening up to her. I think it was worth it to do the counseling, though I think more sessions would be beneficial.
Room Block: Minneapolis Hilton Garden Inn
Grade: A-
We were able to get a room rate of $67 and the online guest list manager made it easy to keep track of the reservations. They were quick to respond to initial e-mails, but later on a few of my e-mails and calls got ignored. Everything turned out fine though and the rooms were nice.
