Vendor Reviews!
I'm still working on these...but thought I'd post as a work in progress...
Church
St. Linus Catholic Church
We didn't have any problems with St. Linus. We had a Catholic priest, that is a great friend of our family, who was not at that parish, but the pastor, Fr. Corcoran didn't have any problems with that; everything went great!
Reception
DiNolfo's Banquets: A+
When we first started our search for our reception, I was living in Melbourne, VIC in Australia, so it didn't make for an easy task. I did a lot of research for venues on the south/southwest side of Chicago and narrowed it down to approximately 4; my wonderful husband then went to see all of these places, and asked all of the important questions that we came up with and he got back to me what he thought. He said "hands-down" DiNolfo's was the best. However, we were faced with having to chose the location in Mokena or Homer Glen. We ultimately decided that we would go with the Mokena location.
I worked primarily with Megan, Chris & Bart and they were FABULOUS! They were so accommodating! They allowed us to come in the Wednesday before the wedding to set up all of our own stuff (centerpieces, decor, candles, candy table, etc.). They were kind enough to pack up ALL of our centerpieces (we had 3 cylinder glasses and 3 votive candles on every single table, plus a hefty amount on the head table, etc.) This was something they don't typically do, but they did it for us, and it was such a relief that we didn't' have to pack all of that up that night! Dinner was absolutely FABULOUS! The wait staff was incredible and friendly. We couldn't be more pleased with everyone at DiNolfo's Banquets, Mokena! THANK YOU!!!
Photographer
Danielle Aquiline Photography: A+ (Pending Photos)
I am absolutely in love with Danielle's work; I have been since the day we met! Danielle arrived promptly at my house and her second photographer (Jake Pouhl's) arrived to Mark's house to start photographing the wedding preparations. Our wedding day was insanely HOT and then turned into a monsoon! This definitely put a damper on our options for photos in-between the ceremony and reception. On our ride to DiNolfo's, we were having a blast in the trolley, and luckily, Danielle was following right behind us, so we asked if Jake could hop in the trolley with us to capture some of the action. He did! We were so grateful to have him there because I'm sure he got a lot of cute pics! And, as luck would have it, when we got to the reception, the clouds broke and the SUN came out! Danielle rounded all 23 of us and got us outside for some awesome photos! I was so excited that we were able to get the outdoor pictures, because I never ever thought we'd have that chance. Danielle sent us our "sneak peak" of photos only 2 days after the wedding, from her blog:
http://danielleaquilinephoto.blogspot.com/2010/06/kathleen-mark.html I was so pleased with Danielle & Jake, and would absolutely recommend them to ANYONE and EVERYONE looking for a wedding photographer!
Videographer
Orange Wedding Film: A+ (Pending Video)
What can I say...I absolutely LOVED!!! He was silly, fun and his work is AWESOME! JJ was on-time and started doing his thing immediately! We barely knew he was there while he was making his film. He just asked where the dress, shoes and jewelry was, and he did his thing! I thoroughly enjoyed working with JJ and was soo pleased to get our preview within a week and two days! Granted, once we're done, we'll have the entire film to watch, but being able to see the preview so quickly, it brought back so many memories...it was just awesome! I sent it out to my family and friends and they loved it! Especially those that could not make the wedding. Such a great thing to have!!! I don't see my rating changing at all for JJ/Orange because I have seen his work and I'm 100% confident that I will absolutely love it!
Flowers
Zuzu's Petals A+I met Natalie from Zuzu's Petals on one of my 2-week trips home while living/working in Australia. I really didn't know what I wanted at that point, but Natalie had a ton of photos from previous weddings that she had done, so it was extremely helpful! I booked with Natalie immediately. She was the most reasonable person I found. and I wasn't sacrificing beauty/quality either!Over the months, I changed my mind on the flowers a few times, and Natalie was always super sweet and so professional. She would send me an updated quote, literally, within hours! That was so helpful because it helped you stay on-track with your budget. If it came in too high with your changes, you could change it right away. In March 2010, I would up changing all of my flowers because I finally found photos of exactly what I wanted - and again, Natalie got my quote to me immediately. When Natalie came the day of the wedding with the flowers, I fell in LOVE when I saw my bouquet. It was exactly what I had envisioned. All of the flowers were absolutely gorgeous!!!
MakeUp
Sonia Roselli Esthetique: A+Preview: So, I'm completely IN LOVE with Sonia! We had corresponded so much prior to my make-up preview that when I finally met her, it was like being reunited with an old friend. Her personality and humor are just my style - she's unbelievably friendly and fun, but is an amazing make-up artist! My preview was a LOT of fun. WE laughed almost the entire time. And, my makeup was STUNNING!!! I was so excited!!!
Spray Tan: I also went to Sonia for my spray-tan the day before the wedding, and told her that I wanted to have some nice color. She sprayed me REAL good! I got a lot of compliments on my color and it lasted!!! She also made me two custom, and amazing lip-glosses and named them "Kate's Wedding Day". LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!
Wedding Day: was amazing as well! Makeup was perfect, even in the extreme heat! It was mid-90's but felt like it was in the hundreds. She made some necessary changes for the big day so that my makeup wouldn't run w/all of the humidity (no lower eye-liner for an example). Everyone commented on how awesome the makeup was...and let me tell you IT LASTED!!! Aside from having to blot a bit because of the heat, that was all I had to do. My gazillion individual lashes stayed on all night. And, I think I had about 100 on each eye (no joke). She's amazing and I recommend her 100%!
Kim Nather - Beauty By Brush: A+
I was in a serious bind for makeup for my BM's; the week before the wedding, the original woman I hired canceled on me! I asked around on the Chicago Knot to see if anyone had recommendations and my friend Stephanie recommended Kim to me, and I am FOREVER grateful! Kim arrived by 8:30, as she said she would, so she could setup her stuff. She got setup and asked for the 1st BM. Let me tell you, when she was done, my cousin looked FABULOUS!!! Completely flawless!!! Her makeup was done at 9:30am and it lasted the entire night. She only needed to touch up her lip-gloss. Kim took care of 8 of my bridesmaids that day and they all absolutely positively LOVED their makeup. I would absolutely, positively recommend Kim to anyone looking for beautiful, airbrush makeup that lasts ALL DAY LONG! And, a HUGE plus, she's extremely reasonable with her pricing!!!!
Bakery
Naples Bakery: A+
We were very pleased with our cake! We had yellow cake with strawberry and banana cream filling. Aside from the "cake cutting", I didn't sit down to have my piece of cake, unfortunately. I heard it was fantastic though! Also, this cake served approximately 175 guests, so we ordered an additional sheet cake, exactly the same filling/icing, etc. as our actual cake. I brought them a picture of the cake that I liked, as well as the ribbon and take topper and they took care of everything!
Church
St. Linus Catholic Church
We didn't have any problems with St. Linus. We had a Catholic priest, that is a great friend of our family, who was not at that parish, but the pastor, Fr. Corcoran didn't have any problems with that; everything went great!
Reception
DiNolfo's Banquets: A+
When we first started our search for our reception, I was living in Melbourne, VIC in Australia, so it didn't make for an easy task. I did a lot of research for venues on the south/southwest side of Chicago and narrowed it down to approximately 4; my wonderful husband then went to see all of these places, and asked all of the important questions that we came up with and he got back to me what he thought. He said "hands-down" DiNolfo's was the best. However, we were faced with having to chose the location in Mokena or Homer Glen. We ultimately decided that we would go with the Mokena location.
I worked primarily with Megan, Chris & Bart and they were FABULOUS! They were so accommodating! They allowed us to come in the Wednesday before the wedding to set up all of our own stuff (centerpieces, decor, candles, candy table, etc.). They were kind enough to pack up ALL of our centerpieces (we had 3 cylinder glasses and 3 votive candles on every single table, plus a hefty amount on the head table, etc.) This was something they don't typically do, but they did it for us, and it was such a relief that we didn't' have to pack all of that up that night! Dinner was absolutely FABULOUS! The wait staff was incredible and friendly. We couldn't be more pleased with everyone at DiNolfo's Banquets, Mokena! THANK YOU!!!
Photographer
Danielle Aquiline Photography: A+ (Pending Photos)
I am absolutely in love with Danielle's work; I have been since the day we met! Danielle arrived promptly at my house and her second photographer (Jake Pouhl's) arrived to Mark's house to start photographing the wedding preparations. Our wedding day was insanely HOT and then turned into a monsoon! This definitely put a damper on our options for photos in-between the ceremony and reception. On our ride to DiNolfo's, we were having a blast in the trolley, and luckily, Danielle was following right behind us, so we asked if Jake could hop in the trolley with us to capture some of the action. He did! We were so grateful to have him there because I'm sure he got a lot of cute pics! And, as luck would have it, when we got to the reception, the clouds broke and the SUN came out! Danielle rounded all 23 of us and got us outside for some awesome photos! I was so excited that we were able to get the outdoor pictures, because I never ever thought we'd have that chance. Danielle sent us our "sneak peak" of photos only 2 days after the wedding, from her blog:
http://danielleaquilinephoto.blogspot.com/2010/06/kathleen-mark.html I was so pleased with Danielle & Jake, and would absolutely recommend them to ANYONE and EVERYONE looking for a wedding photographer!
Videographer
Orange Wedding Film: A+ (Pending Video)
What can I say...I absolutely LOVED!!! He was silly, fun and his work is AWESOME! JJ was on-time and started doing his thing immediately! We barely knew he was there while he was making his film. He just asked where the dress, shoes and jewelry was, and he did his thing! I thoroughly enjoyed working with JJ and was soo pleased to get our preview within a week and two days! Granted, once we're done, we'll have the entire film to watch, but being able to see the preview so quickly, it brought back so many memories...it was just awesome! I sent it out to my family and friends and they loved it! Especially those that could not make the wedding. Such a great thing to have!!! I don't see my rating changing at all for JJ/Orange because I have seen his work and I'm 100% confident that I will absolutely love it!
Flowers
Zuzu's Petals A+I met Natalie from Zuzu's Petals on one of my 2-week trips home while living/working in Australia. I really didn't know what I wanted at that point, but Natalie had a ton of photos from previous weddings that she had done, so it was extremely helpful! I booked with Natalie immediately. She was the most reasonable person I found. and I wasn't sacrificing beauty/quality either!Over the months, I changed my mind on the flowers a few times, and Natalie was always super sweet and so professional. She would send me an updated quote, literally, within hours! That was so helpful because it helped you stay on-track with your budget. If it came in too high with your changes, you could change it right away. In March 2010, I would up changing all of my flowers because I finally found photos of exactly what I wanted - and again, Natalie got my quote to me immediately. When Natalie came the day of the wedding with the flowers, I fell in LOVE when I saw my bouquet. It was exactly what I had envisioned. All of the flowers were absolutely gorgeous!!!
MakeUp
Sonia Roselli Esthetique: A+Preview: So, I'm completely IN LOVE with Sonia! We had corresponded so much prior to my make-up preview that when I finally met her, it was like being reunited with an old friend. Her personality and humor are just my style - she's unbelievably friendly and fun, but is an amazing make-up artist! My preview was a LOT of fun. WE laughed almost the entire time. And, my makeup was STUNNING!!! I was so excited!!!
Spray Tan: I also went to Sonia for my spray-tan the day before the wedding, and told her that I wanted to have some nice color. She sprayed me REAL good! I got a lot of compliments on my color and it lasted!!! She also made me two custom, and amazing lip-glosses and named them "Kate's Wedding Day". LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!
Wedding Day: was amazing as well! Makeup was perfect, even in the extreme heat! It was mid-90's but felt like it was in the hundreds. She made some necessary changes for the big day so that my makeup wouldn't run w/all of the humidity (no lower eye-liner for an example). Everyone commented on how awesome the makeup was...and let me tell you IT LASTED!!! Aside from having to blot a bit because of the heat, that was all I had to do. My gazillion individual lashes stayed on all night. And, I think I had about 100 on each eye (no joke). She's amazing and I recommend her 100%!
Kim Nather - Beauty By Brush: A+
I was in a serious bind for makeup for my BM's; the week before the wedding, the original woman I hired canceled on me! I asked around on the Chicago Knot to see if anyone had recommendations and my friend Stephanie recommended Kim to me, and I am FOREVER grateful! Kim arrived by 8:30, as she said she would, so she could setup her stuff. She got setup and asked for the 1st BM. Let me tell you, when she was done, my cousin looked FABULOUS!!! Completely flawless!!! Her makeup was done at 9:30am and it lasted the entire night. She only needed to touch up her lip-gloss. Kim took care of 8 of my bridesmaids that day and they all absolutely positively LOVED their makeup. I would absolutely, positively recommend Kim to anyone looking for beautiful, airbrush makeup that lasts ALL DAY LONG! And, a HUGE plus, she's extremely reasonable with her pricing!!!!
Bakery
Naples Bakery: A+
We were very pleased with our cake! We had yellow cake with strawberry and banana cream filling. Aside from the "cake cutting", I didn't sit down to have my piece of cake, unfortunately. I heard it was fantastic though! Also, this cake served approximately 175 guests, so we ordered an additional sheet cake, exactly the same filling/icing, etc. as our actual cake. I brought them a picture of the cake that I liked, as well as the ribbon and take topper and they took care of everything!
