Vendors

Saint James Church

Saint James is K's church, his mom is a member there. Since we both grew up in the Catholic Church, I've never really thought about getting married anywhere but a church. We are having a family friend, the uncle of a high school friend of K's, do our mass and ceremony.

The Cotillion

We found the Cotillion and were quite impressed by their prices and the owner, Dimitri. He seemed very upfront and not wanting to rip us off. We had a tasting there and the food was amazing! Huge portions and not at all what you would expect from "wedding food". However, went I went to sign the contract, we were suddenly told there was a minimum for the room we wanted and not once before, in the 3 separate visits, did anyone mention a minimum. The minimum was higher than what we planned to invite, let alone actually show up at the reception. We've had to re-look at our guest list since and add in extra people. UPDATE!!! I called Dimitri and asked him about the minimum in general and he remembered we talked about 150 not 175 so he lowered it for us down to 150 guests. It pays to call sometimes and just ask!!

Paperandmore.com

We ordered our navy pocketfolds, navy envelopes, blank invites, #70 weight text paper for the inserts and other paper needs, and green metallic card stock from them. They had the cheapest pocketfolds of the places I found online, plus their shipping fees are great if you order over $15, its only $3.99! Samples are cheap and came very quickly. Highly recommend.

Anchorpaper.com

We ordered our paper for our programs and blank colored card stock from here. Samples ship quickly and are great quality. I highly encourage you to contact Tom with any questions. We ordered 100 sheets of 12x12 white paper, navy text paper and green text paper along with 8 1/2x12 green and navy text paper and Tom sent the scraps with my order for no extra charge! Great prices online and fast shipping.

Kara Schultz (photographer)

I found Kara through the knot before she was heavily talked about. A friend of mine who got married in 2007 gave me the advice of finding an up-and-coming photographer, because you will get great pics for not a lot of money. We lucked out with Kara in getting just that! She's now talked a lot about and the great thing is she's friends with my florist!

Kio Kreations (Florist)

Kristen is talked a lot about on the knot and she lives up to her hype. I went in with one idea, and we walked out with something completely different. She's making things work in our budget that I didn't think was possible! She too, has been great with communication and I have complete faith that she'll deliver what I want.

Photo Booth Express (Photo Booth)

I received an email from the knot about this company with a discount offer. We checked them out online, talked with Rob over the phone and decided to go with them. A photobooth was one thing I really wanted to have at our reception. We opted to go with their scrapbook service where there is an attendant all night to help guests put a copy in the book and leave us a message.

The Chair Couture(Linens)

2 sisters run this business and have gotten nothing but rave reviews from brides and vendors alike! Their prices are awesome and so far service is great too! They have a lot of options, depending on what you're looking for. So far, highly recommend.

Toast & Jam (DJs)

They get RAVE reviews from my fellow knotties. We have Kate and Rachel as our DJs, we met with them and totally fell in love! We are going through the song list to narrow down what we want and don't want. Since the initial contact, they've been great on communication, very quick and responsive!

LaDi Events (DOC)

We found Amanda through recommendations from the knot after our previous DOC had to shut down her business. Amanda is very reasonably priced and has a lot of experience under her. We hired her for the day of stuff but its really more the weekend of. She also graciously included all the duties Bella Sera was offering us in her package.

Foryourparty.com (cocktail napkins)

We ordered personalized cocktail napkins from Foryourparty.com during a sale they were having for 40% off! We ordered 100 navy with silver writing and 100 kiwi with navy writing, our plan is to alternate them in stacks at the cocktail hour and at the popcorn buffet. I know I didn't order a lot because they are just napkins but I love the way they turned out! Very quick shipping, the napkins are thick and the writing turned out great! I highly recommend them.

Chicago Trolley Co

We decided to do a trolley for the day of transportation because of the size they offered the just the coolness factor! The trolley we chose can fit up to 32 people and we are allowed to bring on our own liquor. We also got a discount from a CS Bridal show which helped with the cost.

Shoot the Bride Films (videographer)

We chose Jeff because of our meeting with him...we just sat and talked with him for about 3 hours! He offers affordable videography without being cheesy. We're excited to have him film our day.

Treats Bridal Shoppe

After looking at several shops in Chicago, I decided to look in my hometown. I actually found an Alfred Angelo dress on a real bride that I fell in love with so we tried to hunt that specific dress down. My sister-in-law shopped at Treats previously with a friend and suggested we go there. While they did not have the specific dress I was looking for they showed me an alternative along with several other styles. They did not try to up-sell me on anything and were an absolute pleasure to work with. The ladies are really friendly and helpful. My dress (a Mori Lee) came in on time and was perfect.

Platinum Vacations (Carol Nichols-Travel Agent)

K's mom's friend gave us Carol's number--she uses her several times a year for all sorts of trips. Carol was fabulous! She always returned calls quickly and sent over the information immediately. She recommended the resort we are going to for our honeymoon.