We had the absolute best day on our wedding day. We feel like a lot of that has to do with all the planning we put into it but also the great vendor team we had on the day of and leading up to the big day. We wanted to share some of our experiences here because we wouldn't have had the perfect day without these vendors!
I had heard some good reviews from others who got married and/or had a reception at the IMU. We worked with Christine from the first site visit to the signing of contract to the planning and day of prep. She was absolutely great.
We prioritized the photographer as the second most important thing behind our venue so we started this search early. We did meet with two photographers prior to signing a contract. Both were lovely people but we just felt a connection with Rebecca that put us at ease. She is the type of person we could see ourselves being friends with and since neither of us are use to being in front of the camera, this was a key factor. Rebecca was so easy to work with and quick to respond to emails/texts. We worked through weather postponements and rain on the wedding day and everything turned out great. She gave us absolutely
stunning photos from our wedding day that we will always cherish. We highly recommend her!
When it came to DJs, we didn't know much about any in the area. After reaching out to several and researching a lot, we ended up in contact with Cole. Music is important to us so we put a lot of pressure on ourselves when it came to this. We didn't know what to expect but walked away from our first meeting with Cole completely at ease! Cole is just the easiest to work with and we felt we worked great together. Fast forward to day of our wedding and Cole worked with our officiant to ensure the sound was perfect for the ceremony, he adjusted songs to meet our needs and kept things running smoothly. We really enjoyed working with Cole and have already recommended him.
Like with the DJ, we didn't really have any contacts or experience in the floral industry in the area. Because of this, I reached out to a family friend that I grew up with who now has her own flower shop. I had loved her wedding floral arrangement when she posted them so we were thrilled when she agreed to take us on as a client even though the wedding was an hour away from her shop. Abby met with my mom and really worked through a lot of details that I had planned out and then she had a follow up meeting closer to the wedding with Wyatt and me. She provided us with absolutely stunning floral arrangements and bouquets. She even let us use some of her vases and candles in our table arrangements. She was able to take a lot of ideas that we liked and turn it into a cohesive look and we heard so many compliments on the flowers. Her and her team really knocked it out of the park. I was a little bummed that we left the next day on the honeymoon and I did not get to enjoy them any longer than that day.
I did a lot of searching and pricing between Bloomington and Indianapolis stylists and found the cutest little bridal suite at a salon in downtown Bloomington. It was such an amazing find and I am so pleased with my selection. Royale Hair Parlor has an entire suite in their basement dedicated to wedding parties where you have your own private area and can bring in food and drink. They have a dressing room and bathroom in the space. It is so cute and the perfect space for a bride and her girls to get ready! They even have a little selfie wall and the most gorgeously wallpapered wall perfect for all kinds of photos! Not only is the space gorgeous, but everyone I met on the staff at Royale were great people! The owner, Bridgett, styled my hair and Cory did my makeup. They were both honestly the nicest people and I loved how everything turned out. I had done my trial with both of them and then decided to make a few adjustments to the makeup plan and Cory gave me exactly what I was envisioning. The staff was super accommodating. We had a team of two hair stylists and two makeup artists for 7 people. They started us early in order to get us out of there in time to get back to the hotel to get in gowns and do the final touches. Steph, the operations manager of the shop, worked her magic to get us all in and through each service by early afternoon. Due to rain forecast, my photographer and I had been texting all day before and morning of my wedding. We ended up bumping up the first look and some pictures and thanks to the scheduling at the salon, that was no problem. I left as my mom and the final bridesmaid were getting finishing touches to hair and makeup. We had the best time hanging out and chatting with each other and the staff as we got ready that morning. Everyone looked gorgeous with their hair and makeup done for the wedding.
We hired a string quartet from the Jacobs School of Music at IU to play before and during our ceremony. They were just lovely. The process was quite simple. I worked with an employee to arrange for the musicians and once they assigned the quartet musicians I then worked directly with the lead. Working with Diana was easier than I thought it may be and she really helped us get the song selection we wanted. We chose some very non-traditional but meaningful to us songs for our ceremony and she helped see that we were able to provide the musicians with the arrangements and sheet music.
I got this idea to have tables labeled with cities that we had been to together (or in the case of Barcelona and Madrid, were going to together). Wyatt suggested that we use map prints from Evelyn Henson because he knew that I loved Evelyn's work and we both really enjoy her map prints. During our planning process Evelyn stopped carrying 8 x 10 prints of her map prints and only carried much larger versions but then she began carrying the map prints as 5 x 7 note cards. Since it was still several months away from the wedding, we did decide to wait a little while before purchasing because we were unsure of how many guests we might end up with at that point. Much to our dismay, she also discontinued the map print cards. I sent her a quick email and she was honestly the best. She offered to do the order for us without any additional charges when we knew what cities we wanted. We were even able to wait until much closer to the wedding so we had a better idea of how many tables we might have. We ended up ordering 20 and only needing to us 17. They came super quick and were great quality. They were everything I had envisioned framed and on the tables at the reception and I am very excited to incorporate them into decor in our house.
My first experience dress shopping was at Sophia's Bridal in Greenwood. I loved everything about my experience there but simply didn't find "the dress." Whereas that experience was more in line with what you see in the show "Say Yes to the Dress," Gretchen's Bridal is a little more low key. I took my sister and Devin with me. I did have a lovely sales associate help me but she was a little more hands off than I was expecting. I was a little overwhelmed because I was basically given free reign of the store to pick out dresses. I tried on several dresses and my sales associate did help me in and out of the dresses but she did less pinning and clipping than I expected after my first dress shopping experience. I actually found my dress from their off the rack section. I just loved it but she had not zipped it or buttoned any of it. I was concerned about alterations because of the design. She took me over to the alterations department while I was still in the dress and they checked it out and ensured me that they could make it work. Naturally, I was still a little nervous but I later found out that where my associate had not zipped it, it wasn't because it wouldn't zip! The only alterations I ended up needing were for length and a bustle. I loved my dress and am so thankful to have found it at Gretchen's. I had an overall good experience there and had no issues. I have sent their information to a couple of people already. It's not as full service as "Say Yes to the Dress" but it's still a great store.
Speaking of alterations, I took my dress to a local seamstress. Gaby was great to work with and she ended up getting more business for the wedding. Wyatt had his jacket altered there and his mother had her dress altered there too. We all had wonderful experiences. I along had my dress shortened and a bustle added so I took it for the initial consultation and to leave it for the work. I went back for my first fitting and it was perfect. Gaby really does great work and is so kind. She suggested I bring a friend or video how to bustle the dress during my first fitting. I brought my matron of honor and they taught her everything she needed to know to bustle it correctly. The price for the alterations was very affordable. I am sure that we will be returning customers as long as she has her business in town.
My bridesmaids all purchased dresses from Azazie. The price point on the dress was affordable and several used their custom measurement tool to get their dress made specifically to their measurements. I chose a color I wanted the girls to choose from and they had hundreds of dresses to choose from to fit their style and needs. The dresses have lead times listed on the website when you go to order but most of their dresses came in a little earlier than anticipated. As the bride that was a welcome occurrence. They all looked gorgeous in them!
I ended up finding
my heels for the ceremony online at DSW. I knew I was going to switch into some more comfortable shoes after the ceremony so I opted to go a simple route. My shoes wouldn't show but I still wanted something a little fun so I chose some gold glitter simple heels. They were fairly comfortable for the 4 hours I was in them walking around campus for photos and for our ceremony but I don't think I would have lasted all night in these.
I purchased some
Keds x Kate Spade New York to wear during the reception to save my feet from some pain right before our honeymoon! This was the best decision I made! They were so comfortable and definitely helped save my feet for our trip to Spain. I chose to get the metallic rose gold leather sneakers. They're adorable and were perfect for me.
Wyatt purchased his ivory
dinner jacket from J.Crew. He found it online and decided he would buy one rather than rent one because he really liked this style. It was back-ordered so it took a few months before it arrived but it looked amazing on him once it did get here. He still had time to get it altered slightly. The quality of it is very good and he can see himself wearing this in the future if we have any formal events to attend.
Wyatt chose Men's Wearhouse for rentals for the groomsmen. He had purchased his dinner jacket and shirt and he already owned a nice pair of shoes. He ended up renting matching pants, bow tie, and a shirt for a backup. We chose a navy suit for the groomsmen. They all looked sharp in their rentals. Overall, everyone had a great experience with the rental process and received exactly what they were supposed to receive. They all looked so good!
Wyatt designed my engagement ring with the help of the guys at Golden Lion Jewelers here in town. It turned out perfect and just what I would have picked for myself had I been the one picking it out. We purchased our wedding bands there and I was able to go in and meet with and work with them. They are so nice and we got just want we were looking for and it came in quick!
I used the Knot Shop to order our favor containers. The small plastic globes were so perfect for our travel themed tables. I also ordered personalized cocktail napkins to set out at the bar and some new monogrammed slippers that I wore while getting ready. The shipment came pretty quickly and all were quality products. It was overall a great experience and the website has sales frequently so we were able to get some products on major sale.
I purchased so many cards from this Etsy shop. I used cards in my bridesmaid proposal boxes, thank you cards to those who attended my bachelorette, for my bridesmaids the day of the wedding, for our officiant, for my parents, for Wyatt's parents, and for Wyatt. They are superb quality and so pretty!
I had a great experience with this shop. I purchased monogrammed shirts for us to get ready in the day of the wedding and customized hangers for each of us. They make it super simple with detailed instructions for all the information they need and the turn around time. They even add 'I Do' and the date to the bride's shirt for free! The shirts were high quality and looked so great on all of us as we got ready together.
I purchased an
art print of the Sample Gates from this shop. We used this as part of our guestbook and had guests sign the mat that will go around it. It is framed now and I love how it turned out. She shipped it out quickly and it came in perfect condition. If any other nostalgic Hoosiers out there are looking for a great nod to IU, her Sample Gates print is lovely!
I printed our save the dates, all of our wedding invitation suite, and rehearsal dinner invitations using Vistaprint. The save the dates and wedding suite were designed by me but we chose to keep it simple and use a pre-made template for the rehearsal dinner. It was a breeze. Everything turned out looking great. We were pleased with quality and timeliness of orders.
I designed our programs and had them printed at Staples. The process was really easy and they came back quicker than expected. The quality was great and it cost less than I had budgeted! If you are overwhelmed by online printing options or in a crunch for time, I'd recommend stopping in and chatting with someone at Staples. They were very knowledgeable and helped us.
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