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Hi hive!
Us hostesses thought it would be nice if we could start vendor lists for local areas. As your DC/MD/NoVA hostess, I say, let's get the ball rolling! Share your vendor names, locations, and their websites. Feel free to include any details of your experience thus far too. Hopefully it will help gives brides just starting planning (or those looking for that one last vendor) a great place to start!
I got married in Georgia, so I didn't have a lot of DC vendors, but here's mine:
I was very happy with all these vendors I've listed. I was especially pleased with the customer service of the wedding gown store I visited---they did not try to sell me things outside my budget! The rings we also got at a great price for a great product. I would be happy to answer any other questions you all might have.
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Our wedding was in my husband's hometown of Philadelphia, though for certain things, like our band, they are willing to travel to DC (and a year later, guests are STILL calling up and raving about how much they loved our band), so for vendors that can travel or places that are easy to drop in (loved our jeweler - he made customizing our rings a dream) I'll include the info.
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Wedding date: Oct. 17, 2009
Venue: The Rooftop at Rockville's Town Center/VisArts
Caterer: The Knife & Fork
Photographer: Leslie Smith Jr. of LJSJ Photography (a good friend of mine with whom I used to work)
DJ: Voss DJ (he also sings and plays classical guitar!)
Florist; GreenWorks
Cake: The French Confection
Officiant: My stepbrother, who's a minister 
Dress: Carlisle Bridal (of Pittsburgh ... long story)
Shoes: Zappos.com
BM dresses: They are picking their own
Hair: Oasis (Rockville)
Invitations: self created
E-ring: Blue Nile
His ring: Haven't got it yet
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@Urban Leo--I like my florist (Conklyns), but I'm definitely not wild about them. They were the best deal, and my dad has done a lot of business with them over 10 years, so I trust that they'll deliver. (We also pulled the "we've ordered how many flowers from you over how long? And that's the best you can do?" and they came down another 10%)
They don't seem to do a lot of the stupid florist stuff that drives me nuts. For example we have until Friday morning pedestals we're renting for the bimah arrangements. They know they're not using them on Monday morning.
Here's mine, with quickie ratings in parentheses after each vendor.
Let me know if you have questions about any of them! Happy to help.
So far I have LOVED all of my vendors! I haven't had any problems with anyone yet...hopefully I'm not jinxing myself! They all came to me VERY highly recommended. If anyone has any questions about anyone feel free to PM me!
I haven't gotten too far into my planning yet but I've felt really lucky with the vendors that we've worked with so far so I thought I'd post and get their names out there.
I love ALL of our vendors!
I'm happy to share more information if you have any questions.
Our wedding will actually be in MA, since none of the local jurisdictions has yet recognized same-sex marriage. However, the following are the local and online vendors we are using:
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For anyone who is interested, someone on The Knot set up a list of vendors used by couples in the DC area. It can be found here. If you see a vendor you are thinking of using, you can click on the name of the person who used that vendor to get to the person's bio, which often has reviews of the vendor.
We still have a few vendors to book, but here's what we have so far:
wedding is over a year away, but here is what I have so far:
Ceremony: St. Sophia
Reception: The Park Hyatt Washington
Caterer: The Park Hyatt Washington
Cake: The Park Hyatt Washington
Rings: Charleston Alexander in Chevy Chase
Engagement party invites: Wedding Paper Divas
Dress: Cymbeline Paris via the internet (BrideCouture.com)
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andreaandchinelo - we totally wanted to do shoppers cupcakes too. How did they turn out? Did you go with whipped cream or regular? Were they still fresh and not too dry by the time of the reception? I had talked to the bakery before and they could do a smooth swirl tip, use any color for frosting etc... Their cupcakes are good and a hidden secret! I would love to hear how yours turned out!
Also - ceremony music by the Haase Quartet (string quartet)
In addition to the vendors I previously posted about, we used Nena's Special Occasions Hair and Make-Up for both our hair and make-up.
Here are mine so far for our August 14, 2010 wedding:
rehearsal dinner: Washington Club (Dupont)
bridal luncheon: Tabard Inn (Dupont)
church: St. Matthew's Cathedral (Farragut North/Dupont)
reception: National Press Club (Metro Center)
caterer: National Press Club (Metro Center)
florist: TBD; probably Shelly Bagdasian in Chevy Chase
photographer: Daniel McGarrity Photography
band: TBD; probably the Winn Brothers Band OR Junkyard Saints
invitations: Vellum (St. Louis (Kirkwood) MO)
cake: TBD; probably Georgetown Cupcake or Just Cakes in Bethesda
transportation: TBD
hotel blocks: JW Marriott, Marriott Metro Center and Mayflower Hotel
dress: TBD
tuxes: groom and groomsmen's own
make-up: me!
hair: TBD but probably Bella Salon in downtown Bethesda
Irish piper: TBD
Im a DC area bride getting married outside of DC but I got my dress in Rockville at Bridal Images on Rockville Pike.
I loved ALL my vendors!! I think our food and cakes were some of the best I've ever had at a wedding. I wouldn't have done anything differently!
Wedding date: June 2010
Venue: Glen Echo
Caterer: Ridgewells
Photographer: Rachel Naft Photography
DJ:
Florist;
Cake: Ridgewells (cupcakes)
Officiant:
Dress:
Shoes:
BM dresses:
Hair:
Invitations:
E-ring:
His ring:
Will fill in as I find more vendors. :)
Wedding date: July 16, 2011
Venue: Carnegie Institution of Science (16th & P St.)
Caterer: R&R
Coordinator: Not sure... will hire a day-of planner as we get closer
Photographer: Emily Goodstein (a friend who is starting her career as a pro photog)
DJ: Frank Young
Florist: Probably Tonya Evans from Occasional Flowers
Cake: Not sure yet
Officiant: Family friend from PA
Dress: Pronovias from Distinctive Designs
Shoes: Me Too from Zappos (purple and so cute!!)
BM Dress: They are choosing their own in various shades of purple
Hair Stylist: Either Abby or Stephanie at Parlour Salon on U St.
Make-up artist: Not sure yet
Invitations: Save-the-dates on cocodot.com; Not sure yet about paper invitations
Rings: Not sure yet, but perhaps a place in the diamond district in Philly
Also, I want to add some new categories if that's okay--
Rehearsal dinner: Tabard Inn
Hotel block: Doubletree Washington
Ceremony/cocktail hour musicians: Not sure... SUGGESTIONS PLEASE! :)
@MrsScottie: One MAJOR change-- we are NOT using Occasional Flowers because the woman with whom we scheduled a meeting stood us up. After several emails, we had arranged to meet at a Borders in Tysons Corner because she works out of her home. We drove all the way out there, waited for 45 minutes, called her and left a message, but she never showed up. The next morning, we finally got an email and a phone call-- she had a reason; who knows if it was legit. Anyway, we were really upset to have wasted our time and decided we couldn't entrust our wedding to her. We've decided to go with Petal's Edge in Alexandria. They've been great to work with and super reliable, which is, to me, the most important thing. In fact, I'm so confident in their services combined with the expertise of our caterer that we've decided to forgo a day-of coordinator.
One addition so far:
Invitations: Minted.com
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