Weddingbee boards

We loved everything and were very happy with our choices.  Here's who we used...  Oh, also, I just uploaded in the gallery a picture of our Welcome Bags, which were based on Ohio products (with details of where we got stuff) if anyone wants to see.

- venue: Manor House at Squire Valleevue Farm (only available to CWRU alums).  Absolutely amazing, and our guests commented again and again how intimate and quiet it was.  We ended up with 55 guests -- we'd been told we could fit 68 -- and were VERY glad that we had only 55, as another table would have had to fit in the corner of the room.  We had the ceremony on the lawn (right in front of the house) and the pictures are stunning.  It was sort of a down-side that we had to be out by 10 p.m., but it just meant that everyone had lots of energy for the after party.    

- officiant:  Bob Javorsky, from ourweddingofficiant.com.  Loved Bob!  He was very respectful of the fact that I wanted a civil, non-religious ceremony (I'm Catholic and wasn't having the wedding in the church for logistic reasons).  He was calming on the day of, and super accommodating to all of our requests.  I highly recommend him. 

 - flowers:  Hosanna Designs -- great price, loved my bouquet (will post a picture to the gallery), everyone loved the centerpieces (submerged gladiolas with floating candles); she was very accommodating to my odd requests for blue flowers and peacocks.

- photography & videography:  BCR Studios.  We loved our experience with Kay and Stacey -- the photographs are beautiful, they were fun to work with (and very open to all of my ideas), and the photos were posted online superfast.  Our engagement shot was great also.  We're still waiting to see the DVD (but then, I haven't gotten them music to put on it yet) and to do our finalized album, but I doubt that will change my opinion of them.

- caterer:  Ruth Levine, of Bistro 185.  We got tons of compliments on the food -- our appetizers were "retro" things like sliders, pigs in a blanket, macaroni & cheese bites, and so forth -- our main course was steak with three sauces, as well as salmon with a guacamole salsa.  My mom thought the food was a little too cold, and the pierogies were definitely not that great, but otherwise everything was great.

- cake:  Archie's.  Great price.  Tasted amazing (just like my memories of Hough's) and they delivered on our request for white-on-white designs in buttercream.

- linens -- L'Nique -- we used peacock-blue iridescent silk taffeta tablecloths, constellation blue sashes, and white napkins.  No complaints -- as the bride I loved the colors, and there was enough white from the plates that we were fine.

- rentals -- Let Us Entertain -- we went with the most basic options.  No complaints. 

 - DJ -- We used our iPod -- there wasn't much room for dancing in Manor House anyway.  No complaints -- we used the "crossfade" function so the songs overlapped a bit.

- ceremony music -- Sapphire Duo.  No complaints.  They were profesionally dressed and very accommodating when I asked them to use a digital recorder to record their music.

- afterparty venue -- we had the afterparty in a suite at Glidden House (a B&B only open to CWRU alum), which was where we had our guests stay.  We were a little annoyed that the original suite they gave us was WAY too small for a party -- and they knew we wanted to have a party there -- but we just moved everyone up to the bridal suite on the third floor and had a great time.  If we were to do it again I'd probably reserve the bridal suite for the afterparty, and a separate room for the bride & groom.  (I think there were only 2 rooms on the entire 3d floor -- maybe reserve both for the party.)

- my makeup:  Bella Tocare, in Brecksville.  This salon specializes in Aveda products, which I did NOT want to use for my wedding day, so I brought my own makeup and had the makeup artist, Jackie, use that.  She's very talented and personable, but the extra makeup I bought was another cost to consider.

- my hair: Alisa, of Enzo's Salon in North Royalton.  Full disclosure -- Alisa is my cousin -- but I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED my hair on the day of the wedding.  I have long hair that's fine but have a LOT of it, and she patiently curled my entire head of hair and sprayed it with enough hairspray that it lasted the entire wedding.  I heartily recommend her.

-  I'll ask my mom who we used for our vallet and for shuttles (so many guests were from out of town and staying at the same hotel [Glidden House] that we had shuttles running to and from the reception.

Oh!  Also, I'm having my flowers preserved with Timeless Moments.  I haven't seen them yet, but we looked at lots of samples in her house and they were really beautiful.  You can even have beads made from the dried flowers -- I'm definitely going to get some of those for perhaps a future gift to, perhaps, a little girl.

http://timelessmoments.com/

The valet (vallet?) we used was from All-Star Valet..           http://www.allstarvalet.com/   Two valets and one greeter.  Charged by number of cars parked.

Shuttle guy was:  Cleveland Auto Livery Inc.  216-421-1101.  Charged by the hour.  One hour driving to event, one hour driving from event. Two 15 person vans.         http://bobbyjonline.com   Much more reasonable than fancy party bus prices.  (We didn't hear anything bad about the shuttles, and no one got lost, so we're assuming people liked them!)

Liquor was from Wine –N –Spirits in Brecksville Shopping Center.  Free delivery to wedding.