GingerBCookie & other Houston Brides Vendor Reviews

[diamondlove]

Hey guys,

hopefully this is the right section to post this but if it''s not too much trouble for you -- would you mind sharing your houston vendors and a mini review on them? Ideally you could give a price range as well but if that''s too much trouble (and too nosey of me)-- at least share if you''d recommend them or not (why not). I''ve done some research for friends before but after seeing your gorgeous photos, GingerBcookie, I''m getting excited about vendor shopping for my own wedding in the near future.

I''m especially interested in florists (photographers & invitations) bc the styles and price ranges seem to range so drastically when i''ve gone to vendor meetings with friends. Some I''ve liked include Flowers by Lisa, Events in Bloom and Darryl Murchison but even price quotes between those seem to differ quite a bit on centerpieces, etc.

I have perused the Knot and have read some of the reviews there but would love to hear PSer reviews!

Anything would be appreciated! thanks.

DL

p.s. I am not ''officially'' engaged yet and am starting the search very early on but we have discussed a possible Fall 2007 date.

 

[appletini]

I''m can only help in the photographer dept. www.estrellaphoto.com She is amazing, her prices are listed on the site. If you do a search you can find my engagement pictures and I''ll be posting the wedding pics soon.

As for invitations, my aunt is in the printing business so she did that for me. My reception location (www.therichmondhouse.com) took care of the food, flowers, cake, music, minister, etc, so I didn''t have to worry about that.

Good Luck!

 

[gingerBcookie]

i can do a quick rundown, and if you want more detail, just let me know and i''ll answer as soon as possible. i started my residency so, my free time has become rather restricted.

video - joe simon
-highly recommended
-loved them, loved their work, very professional and incospicuous at the wedding (didn''t even notice them)
-large range in price inpackages, very willing to work with you to customize package to budget

photo - janet roe
-haven''t gotten my pics back yet, but their work is beautifl from what i''ve seen
-VERY pricey (and seem to get pricier very quickly!!!!)

flowers - wedding flowers by lisa
-highly recommended
-love her! sooooo nice, and enthusiastic, easy to work with
-on the pricey side, but you get TONS for your money (no need to worry about her skimping on blooms and replacing with greens)
-also like events in bloom with rob, but ended up going with lisa

cake - cakes by melanie
-DEEE-licious!
-issue with cake leaning, but she offered to partial refund and has been pretty professional so far, HOWEVER, i have not seen the refund yet, so we''ll see about recommendation (everyone makes mistakes, what counts for me is how you handle them)
-very low price

DJ - pete''s mobile DJ
-big thumbs down. they pay no attention to your requests or playlists.
-the DJ was Daniel and he was AWFUL at announcements also.

-originally used rockin robin -- BIG THUMBS DOWN. decided to drop my contract 1 month b4 the wedding due to HIS mistake. not professional.

caterer - chef''s table
-food great at tasting, blah at wedding, service on the slow side, did not fulfill contract, GREAT bar

hair/makeup - perfect face
-i liked the hair, but it started to fall out too fast
-did not like the makeup, but i think it was partially my bad for not doing a trial
-danielle was sooooo nice, very professional

day-of-coordiantor - jessica moore
-based out of austin
-love her, she kept my mind at ease the whole day
-affordalble pricing

hmmm...that''s all for now. if you have specific questions, don''t hesitate to ask!

 

[RoseAngel04]

ah...I am going to love this thread!! I am a Houston gal as well. I'm a LIW so still have sometime to plan.

So far I am only really looking and not really planning at all until we are officially engaged

but would LOVE an outside romantic wedding. Garden, pretty scenery etc...I am open! But like I said the planning has not officially started, so just gazing as of right now. Do you ladies know of any pretty outside ceremony/reception locations? If so i'd enjoy seeing them!

 

[radiantgirl]

Oooh, I'm going to love this thread!

Diamondlove - I am going through the same thing you are right now (though we are not officially engaged yet, but it will happen really soon!). I also live in Houston, and already booked 2 appointments for early next month with the photographer and videographer, so I can give you what I know so far:

Photographer - I have an appointment to meet with Eric Hoffland (www.hofflandstudios.com). He is kind of pricey, but I really like his work thus far and love the way they do their albums. So far, my impression from his company is that they are very professional and very timely with their email responses. Go check out his work online and view the albums. I think they are awesome! I can share the prices with you on him if you are interested.

I have emailed a few other photographers in Houston and asked about availability and pricing. I have looked into Tomas Ramos (www.tomasramos.com). He is very very expensive and we cannot afford him! His prices are crazy and out of this world! His albums are laid out just like Hoffland Studios called "flushmount setting." We also looked into Nhan Nguyen (www.nhanphotography.com). He, too, was almost as expensive as Tomas. Again, I can share the prices with you, if you'd like on these two vendors.

Videographer - We have an appointment with Barry from Artista Media (http://artistamedia.com/). He is somewhat comparable to another one I was looking at, and they are from Houston. There are 2 sample videos on his website, if you want to check it out. They are only highlights though. Prices are on his website.

Gary from Crescent Video (http://www.crescentvideo.com/) is the other company I was looking at because I saw a DVD that he did for a friend's wedding. Gary is based in Austin and will not charge for traveling costs from Austin to Houston. I have prices for him as well.

That's all I've looked into so far. Our wedding will be in April 2007, so just trying to get ahead on planning somewhat. We have an appointment with the church next Thursday and hope that we can have a Catholic ceremony there, since I am Buddhist and my FF is Catholic. Have you booked any appointments on any of the vendors you have been looking so far? When is your wedding date? Please share if you do because you can help me out as well.

 

[diamondlove]

wow-- thanks for all the helpful responses so far. I''m also thrilled that this thread will be helpful to other Htown brides to be as well.

GingerBCookie-- I was SET on the Parador bc it''s so beautiful except I now have a good friend of ours getting married there this fall. I know that shouldn''t matter but it DOES to me for some reason. There are a lot of places out bc of that and I may change my mind if I realize that I''m being too silly but I really would like to have it at a venue that hasn''t been used by any of our close friends which is going to be crazy hard.

Appletini-- your wedding photos are beautiful!!

radiantgirl-- it''s so funny bc you listed the three photographers that I had originally narrowed down my list to but I also think that Tomas Ramos is way too pricey *sniff* or else I LOVE his work and Nhan did my mother/daughter photos I gave as a mother''s day gift one year but I think he is out of my budget for the wedding.

I am very curious to know what Hoffland''s prices are bc I don''t believe he has them on his webpage? I have a few friends who have used him in the past and have only good things to say, FYI. I also have another friend who used JROE (GingerBCookies''s photog) and loved her.

I will have to check out Estrella now that I''ve seen Appletini''s great photos.

DL

 

[RoseAngel04]

Ginger- I just watched your wedding video you uploaded in another thread and it was simply gorgeous! I have also looked through the Parador's website that I found on the Knot.com and thought it was very nice. I really liked the outside ceremony that you had!

What month did you get married? How was the weather? I'm asking bc my FF and I have talked about having an outside wedding but as you know it's HOT and HUMID in Houston a lot of the times. I wouldn't want my make-up sweating off or for us all to be hot and miserable! Also, about how many people came to the wedding at the Parador?

thx!

If anyone else has any suggestions for outside wedding location in or around the area i'd love to hear about them!

 

[radiantgirl]

Diamondlove - do you know how to PM on here? I can email you Hoffland''s detailed pricing that he sent me. I looked at JROE also, but man, she is expensive! Her work looks awesome, but it looks like her pricing doesn''t even include the album. I''m not sure too sure on that. Maybe Gingerbcookie can chime in with the details.

Anyways, if you can tell me how to send you a personal message, I will forward you what I have on the photographer. Good luck!

 

[gingerBcookie]

Roseangel - we ot married at the beginning of May. there is a thread on my weather woes (90% thunderstorms) and my wedding pics thread showed how it all turned out (severe thunderstorms in AM, cleared to blue skies in time for my garden ceremony). it was warm/hot, but luckily the rain cooled it down rather than humidifying it (like it usually does with houston summers!). we rented only the duomo and garden, which alows for a max of 200. we had just ~190ish? guests there.

radiantgirl - jroe''s prices increased HUGELY from when i booked. we had a huge package that included albums and prints etc... for less than what it would cost us now just for the hours. when i saw jroes new prices, i was like

! no way could we have afforded her now!

 

[diamondlove]

radiantgirl,

I''m not sure if we can PM on Pricescope. However, I did see another thread you had on photographers-- were the prices you quoted on there regarding Hoffland? Not the 1st one that was REALLY pricey but the second one?


DL

 

[appletini]

Oh yeah... DJ was www.djsunlimited.net very professional and not cheesy. Makeup at Facade--it was great!

 

[radiantgirl]

Diamondlove - yes the prices I quoted on that thread was Hoffland''s and the first one was Tomas Ramos.

 

[RoseAngel04]

Apple - Did you go to facade's location or did they come to you? I have never heard of them, but found their website online and found it intresting. I noticed the price dramatically goes up if you wish for them to come to you for your big day!

 

[appletini]

Date: 6/23/2006 6:00:43 PM
Author: RoseAngel04
Apple - Did you go to facade''s location or did they come to you? I have never heard of them, but found their website online and found it intresting. I noticed the price dramatically goes up if you wish for them to come to you for your big day!

I went to them and then also treated my 2 MOHs to a makeover as their special MOH gift. They are pricey, but worth every penny.

 

[diamondlove]

Hey girls,

I am starting to really narrow down vendors and schedule appointments so I was wondering if there were any new Houston updates from anyone. Please feel free to share any good or bad reviews that you might have. I''ll also do the same once I actually start interacting with some of them more.

Any suggestions for bands? We are looking for a good variety cover band within a decent budget.

Thanks!
Diamondlove

 

[radiantgirl]

Hi Diamondlove - I can give you an updated list of who I have booked so far:

Photographer - Eric Hoffland (http://hofflandstudios.com)

Videographer - Barry Pett from Artista Media (http://www.artistamedia.com/)

Make-up - The Perfect Face (http://theperfectface.com/bridalinformation.html)

Flowers - Wedding Flowers by Lisa (http://www.weddingflowersbylisa.com/)

DJ - DJs Unlimited (http://www.djsunlimited.net/)

Hope that helps!

 

[diamondlove]

Thanks Radiantgirl!

Glad you decided on a photographer. I love Hoffland''s work. I''m also considering him still along with David Bates (Bates Photographic Studio), K&C, and a few others. If anyone has good or bad about DB, please share because I am leaning towards him right now.

I''ll have to check out Artista Media and see. I emailed Ed at Horizon Film and I can''t believe how high his prices are-- yikes. I like Joe Simon so he''s in the running as well.

I''ve heard good things about Flowers by Lisa -- do you mind sharing what price range her estimate is in for all of you who have used her (so far it''s both Radiantgirl and Ginger B). I have a friend who received an astronomical quote from her for centerpieces but I''m not sure if it''s because of the unusual flowers or she''s just that pricey but then another friend said she received a decent quote for $4k that was inclusive of everything (church arrangements, reception centerpieces, bouquets, etc) so I''m not sure how they could have varied so much.

Another good one I''ve heard about is Darryl Murchison so I''ll probably meet with both of them. I may also meet with Dream Bouquets bc I''ve read good things about them as well.

I''m finally narrowing down venues and dates so once that is set I can both on to deciding on photographers and then flowers/colors.

Again, anyone else with Houston vendors -- please share and I''ll do the same as I continue on my vendor quest.

Diamondlove

 

[budgetbride]

I''m a h-town bride, too.
I ''m using Bella Terrazza for my location...I''m now freaked out by the chef''s table review. Went for a tasting and it was great. I''m emailing the coordinator, NOW.

I too am on a budget, so this thread will be my favorite.
I looking at MyGatsby.com and eweddings.com for invitations. Both have prices I like. I''m more into contemporary styles so that works for me.

 

[chickflick]

I''m an H-town girl myself (OK, The Woodlands) although I''ve been a married lady for all of a month! I can''t help much with vendors because we got married on the Carnival Conquest in Galveston so it was all pretty much arranged for us. There were a few things I had to do myself:

--I ordered our DIY invitations from www.mypersonalartist.com and I can highly recommend them, especially for destination or informal weddings.
--All of our favors came from eBay- each guest received either a beach-y candle or an adirondack chair picture frame with a pic of our kitty in it, plus a heart bottle stopper, a CD my husband made (he''s a former DJ), bath salts, a tin of jordan almonds, a wedding-themed fortune cookie and wildflower seed paper in the shape of a heart. It was all in a glossy white box tied with a satin blue bow and a sticker with our monogram and wedding date on it.
--I had my hair done the day of the wedding at the spa at the San Luis, and they did a really nice job. I did my own make-up.
--We had our rehearsal dinner at Fisherman''s Wharf in Galveston, great food and they had a private area for us.

Best of luck to everyone!!

Michele

 

[diamondlove]

hi houston gals,

It''s been a while so I just wanted to check in and see how everyone''s planning is going. I''ve met with a few vendors so I think we''ve narrowed down the photographers we are considering to JROE (loved GingerBCookie''s wedding photos), David Bates or Hoffland Studios but we''re waiting for them to answer a few of our detailed questions.

We''ve been sampling some wedding music bands lately so let me know if any of you have a band you''d recommend. It''s a tough decision between a DJ vs a band since there are some types of music you just can''t recreate but the fiance and I both love live music and the ambiance it gives to a reception as well.

Lately I''ve just primarily been dress shopping and that''s been fun.

How are your plans coming along-- please share!

DL