www.creative-wedding-package.com

Todd was AMAZING!  Not only was he easy to work with, but the pictures are great!  I would recommend them to anyone!

They clearly know what they're doing.  Todd recommended a location that we'd never even been to and it was gorgeous.  Some of our best pictures were taken there.  He didn't ask for must-take photos (which I always thought was kind of weird - it's like they're looking for ideas), but I can't imagine another photo I would have wanted.  We have so much more than I expected.

I love that they didn't specify a number of hours of coverage or a number of pictures taken.  They give you all that they can that day!  CWP is the best!

www.stoneycreekinn.com

Stoney Creek was a great location for us since we had a lot of out-of-town guests.  Having the reception at the hotel made it pretty easy for our guests.  

We did book the hall very early (we booked in January '08 for our October '09 wedding), but there were 3 different coordinators during that time.  There was 1 that we never talked to though (I'm not sure when she quit - I just got the name from a fellow bride).  The 2nd is who we booked the hall with and she was great.  At some point in between, she was replaced by the girl that we worked the most with.  Unfortunately, I think some things got lost in the switch.  We thought we had already rented brown tablecloths, but they were never ordered and it didn't come up again until it was too late.  There was also a mix up with which beers we wanted for kegs, but they were able to fix this one in time.

The part that I didn't understand is that we were working with 1 coordinator for the final couple of months and she wasn't the one who was working during our reception, it was a different coordinator.  He was really great, but I wish I was able to work with him during those last couple of months instead.

Their centerpieces, linens (we used their ivory linens since the brown ones were never rented and they worked out perfectly), candles, etc. were great.  I don't know if every reception hall includes these things, but it was a great help.  Plus, they set everything up for us - centerpieces, table numbers, menu cards, place card/guestbook table, gift table... you name it.  We dropped off everything in big boxes 2 days before the wedding and when we came in for the reception, it was just what I had pictured!

www.bridgescatering.com

We basically used Bridges by default.  Stoney Creek only works with 3 caters, so we picked Bridges because their prices were the middle of the 3.  We didn't even have a taste testing, because we thought we would use them regardless, so it didn't matter! :)  Luckily, the food was really delicious!  We had a chicken cordon bleu and a stuffed pork chop.  I heard good things about both.  I personally had the chicken and it was great.  They also did a variety of appetizers for us, but I didn't get any. :(  I asked around later and everyone said they were good.

The servers looked very professional and they did a great job.  I didn't notice them at all and didn't hear any complaints, so that's a good job in my book! :)

Stoney Creek was actually the middle-man for us and the caterer, so we really didn't work directly with them.  During the reception, a server asked me about what order to serve the tables, but it was an easy answer and that was all I had to do! :)

www.djchancemusic.com

One of the first Stoney Creek coordinators we worked with suggested Jordan Chance as a DJ.  We met with Jordan and booked him right away.  He was laid back and had a no-cheesy-DJ-moves policy... no bad songs, no props, no jokes.  I was terrified to learn that some DJs think they need to "perform."  Even though we booked with Jordan, he wasn't able to do our reception, so he had his DJ Jason do it for us.  At first I was bummed because we liked Jordan so much, but we trusted that if Jordan trained him, he would be great too.  We actually didn't meet Jason until we reached the reception hall that night!  We had done everything via e-mail ahead of time, so he just ran through everything with me one last time and we were set.

We gave him a list of our favorite artists and music genres so he knew our likes/dislikes.  He took most of the dinner music from this list.  We did give a few (maybe 5-10) do-not-play songs and a few (another 5-10) must-play songs.  We let him do the rest.  He was great! :)  My mom even complimented him for preparing guests for things... like before we came in, he was prepping guests that we were coming in a few minutes so they'd stop getting drinks and appetizers and get in the ball room.  Then he gave a 10 minute warning for the toasts so everyone had time to get a drink.  Other than announcing things like that and the cake-cutting, bouquet toss, garter toss, he let the music do the rest.  He was perfect - just what we wanted.  Everyone was dancing all night!

I admit, I was nervous to use a grocery store's floral department, but being the long-distance-planners, we had to go with what others recommended for us.  They were right!  I loved the way they turned out and their prices were reasonable.

The BM bouquets being different colors was my idea and I love how they turned out!  My MOH were mainly burgundy, the next BM's were mainly orange, and the last BM's were mainly yellow.  GM's boutineers matched.  Mine was a combo of all colors.

All I told the florists were that I wanted the main flowers to be gerber daisies and the different colors for the BMs.  They did the rest!

www.hellercakes.com

Laurie was great to work with and we thought her prices were very reasonable.  We had cupcakes instead of a cake (because I've never really liked wedding cake) and it was very cost effective for us.  Delivery and set up was included, which was a great deal for us because we wanted 1 cupcake at each place setting.  She worked with the reception hall to make sure they were all set up upon delivery.

www.youdip.com

These guys were great because we booked them at the last minute (or so it seemed to us... we were about a month out) and they were available, easy to work with, and didn't need much from us! :)  It was a really nice touch to add with our appetizers.  I think our guests really loved it.  We got their smallest fountain with 6 dippings and it was a perfect amount.  I actually got some of these - unlike the appetizers!

www.duckysformalwear.com

We really didn't look anywhere else for tuxes and we didn't need to!  Their downtown Moline location worked really well for our out-of-town wedding party members because it was so close to Stoney Creek, where they were staying.

We also utilized their online measurement submission which helped our out-of-towners again! :)

I relied on my bridesmaid and sister-in-law on this aspect since she was from the area where the wedding was and I was not familiar with any of the salons there.  It was a great recommendation and CJ's was a perfect choice!

It's a small enough salon that they actually closed the salon for us that morning.  We started at 7:00am and were done around 10:30am... I think!  We had 6 hair-do's and 3 girls worked on us.  A few of us had them do our make-up too.

I loved my hair!  It is all my real hair (haha, I was asked that after posting trial pictures) and I picked this because it's close to what I look like every day.  My hair is typically in a low pony tail, parted on the side, so I just made that low pony a little fancier.  It stayed all day!  Mine was the first to be started at 7:00am and I started taking it out at about 1:30am!  The veil was originally supposed to come out for the reception, but it was in there so tight, I just left it.  It was short enough that it didn't matter... that hairdo was not going anywhere! :)   

Unfortunately, Bridal Dreams is no longer in business.  It seemed that they catered more to the homecoming/prom crowd, but we really lucked into finding this Mori Lee gown there.  It was on clearance so we got a great deal.

I gave them a B because we had already purchased the dress (we put down a deposit, but they were still holding it for us) and we came in to see it a few months later so we could measure it to see how long I wanted my veil to be.  When leaving, we said we would be back in a few months to buy and take the dress.  The saleslady said, "oh, you don't know we're going out of business next month?"  How were we supposed to know if you didn't tell us?! 

Luckily, their seamstress was going to continue alterations as a business out of her home after the store closed, so we were able to get her name and contact information.  (I rated her separately below since we only worked with her after the store closed.)

www.blushingbrideshop.com

We actually found this bridesmaid dress in a couple of different shops, but it was about $20 cheaper at this particular shop... not sure why.  Plus, it was very close to the home of one of my bridesmaids, so that worked out easily for pick-up.  The bolero jacket was sold separately. 

They gave a couple of my bridesmaids the run around about paying/pick up since they were from out of town, but it all ended up working out.  Also, they ordered the wrong color of ribbon, but they did get it fixed and we got the correct ribbons pretty quickly.  They didn't offer to do alterations or anything though, which I thought was odd.  They were fine to work with, but I wonder if we would have gotten better service if I had bought my gown there too, but who knows.

Ok, I don't remember her last name, but I can find it if anyone is interested.  This is the seamstress who worked at Bridal Dreams in Bethalto, IL when I bought my dress.  After it closed, Linda did alterations out of her home.  It's not where I pictured myself getting fitted in my bridal gown, but she did an amazing job!

She basically re-made the entire dress.  We bought it on clearance, and it was about 6 or 8 sizes too big.  She took about 5 inches out of the sides (of the all-beaded bodice), about 6 inches off the bottom, added custom-made straps made out of the extra skirt material, added the 3-point French bustle, altered crinoline we borrowed, and steamed/ironed everything.  It only took her a few weeks to do the first big chunk of alterations!  I went back the 2nd time and it just needed the straps added and a couple of things tucked in to lay flat.  I went back the 3rd time and it was finished!  I thought it would take much longer than it did - I was very pleased.  Her prices were GREAT too.