marissa_irene
05-27-2006, 12:22 PM
I got married on May 6th in Centreville, VA and I just wanted to share my experiences with my vendors. I spent much more than I thought I would initially (most of the money going towards the photographer, venue and caterer), but we still managed to spend about half what a 'typical' wedding costs for our 65 guest wedding.
DJing provided by a friend for free, all stationary (save the date cards, invitations, programs and place cards) were print your own. It was a pain setting up the formatting for everything, but it was worth the time because everything came out beautifully and inexpensively (about $150 for all of the kits, clear labels for mailing and postage).
Cake - Provided by a relative of a friend for $175.
Don't expect to pay this little for your cake though. If I'd started early enough I would have booked the Manassas Cakery. Unlike some of the other vendors in town, their prices appear to include all costs. I had a bad experience with Happy Eatery in Centreville. Their literature says cakes start at $2 per slice, but when I went in for a tasting and had an estimate done for a pretty simple cake it came out to more than $5 slice! When you get your initial estimates over the phone, be sure they give you the price that includes everything - cake, fillings, and decoration. I would have never gone out there if I'd known how much it was really going to cost me to get a cake from them.
Wedding Band - Antique Guild, Alexandria, VA ($200)
For something different and less expensive than the normal jewelry shops, I got my wedding band here. It was a 14K white gold band with five diamond chips and cost less than half of the price that it would have at any other shop. Most of the other rings were platinum and much more expensive, so my ring was a find, but it's still worth a look. I had the ring resized elsewhere for a small fee ($20) and it matches well with my antique engagement ring, especially since the original matching wedding band was lost long ago.
Dress - Ellie's Bridal in Alexandria, VA ($1,100 for the dress, shipping, alterations, bra, all taxes)
The dress shop isn't the fanciest place, but the dresses are reasonably priced and the staff is always friendly, if a little busy taking care of clients. My dress came in ahead of schedule and the alterations done there came out well. Just beware of them trying to pin you too tight when you go in for your alterations - I couldn't breathe when I tried on my dress at the second fitting - but they fixed it before the wedding :) You might be able to find a cheaper dress on eBay, but not at any of the other dress shops in town. I was also worried about buying my dress at a second-rate shop and then having them go out of buisness before my wedding, so I spent more than I thought I'd have to here. Alterations were about $350. They may be cheaper elsewhere, but since this was my wedding dress, I didn't want to take any chances with it. Baragin tip - if you have enough time, check out the 'running of the brides' sale at Filene's Basement. It will require strength of will and at least you taking a day off work, but you might be able to find a good dress. David's Bridal might also have something you want, but not always. It's a good first step for figuring out what kind of dress you might want, but beware the mailing lists they put you on. It took a few months, but I got solicitations galore.
Shoes - My Glass Slipper in Alexandria, VA ($50)
A little fancy, but definitely has the biggest selection in town. And I didn't end up paying a mint for my shoes. Very friendly, nice atmosphere and the women working didn't complain when I spent an hour there finding the right shoes.
Officiant - Rev. David Pratt ($300)
A last-minute substitution for Rev. Norma Peyton, wife of Rev. Wesley Peyton (http://www.icrafters.com/peyton/), Rev. Pratt works with the Peytons and performs a variety of wedding services to couples in the DC area. A great find for couples looking for a officiant willing to perform weddings outside of a church. He was friendly and professional and put us at ease during the wedding.
Flowers - Grace at the Flower Gallery of Manassas, VA ($400 for bouquets and boutineers, and flowers for the cake)
Good flowers, very reasonable price and didn't try to talk me into more than I wanted to buy like the other florists that I talked to. One guy wanted me to buy table flowers and have my bridesmaids carry single stems, even after I'd made it clear that wasn't what I had in mind. There were no problems with changing the order after I'd made it. It's a big store, so I was worried about the cost initially, but with the florist, bigger was definitely cheaper. They can do up to six weddings a day here.
Rentals - Event Rentals, Chantilly, VA ($1,350 for the canopy, side walls, plain ceremony chairs, gold Chivarti chairs for reception)
They were chosen mostly beause of their proximity to our wedding site, and the fact that they have a custom-made canopy for the terrace there. Jodi and her boss, Dave, went above and beyond to help me out here, meeting with me several times and my caterer used them for the reception rentals as well (cost for linens, china, glassware, silverware, and tables included in the catering cost). They have a program called Party CAD, which allows them to figure out the best set-up for your site. This helped tremendously. Tent rentals are expensive though, especially since this was our 'in case of rain' ceremony plan. I'd recommend finding a place where you don't need to rent a tent if you can. If you want to get married outside though, a tent may be unavoidable as a back-up plan.
Venue - Cabell's Mill, Centreville, VA ($2,400 for 10 hours)
Administered through the Fairfax County Park Association's Historic Property Rentals, it was cheaper than one of the 'wedding' venues in the area, but not the most inexpensive place. It was a gorgeous setting and despite a couple of snags, worked out very well for our wedding. Drawbacks here - you have to pay for set-up and tear down time, all rentals need to be in and out during your rental time, seats only about 70 for dinner upstairs with no room for dancing and it books up about 11 months in advance (you can only reserve it 12 months in advance). Also, they have a few tables and chairs you can use at the site, but most of it will have to be rented elsewhere and brought in the day of the wedding. Be sure to factor in this cost when comparing reception sites. We had the wedding outdoors and the reception in the mill itself, but if the weather hadn't cooperated with us, it would have been a bit cramped having the ceremony under the canopy on the terrace.
Photographer - Amie Otto, www.amieottophotography.com ($1,850 for five hours of coverage, posting wedding photos to website and the digtial negatives)
Amie unobtrousively took excellent photos that captured all of the highlights of the day. The digital photos were posted to www.pictage.com within a week of the event. She's just as good as everyone else in town, but not as expensive. She was easy to work with and we couldn't be happier with the results.
Caterer - Jane Nordstrom, Thyme Savor, www.thymesavor.biz ($2,500 for a buffet dinner for 66 guests, rentals, 3 staff members, non-alcoholic beverages)
Definitely the star of the day. She and her crew did more than asked and pulled together the whole reception, even in a site not designed with a caterer in mind. No silly fees, like for cutting the cake, good, hot food and timely changes between cocktails, dinner and the rest of the reception. She and her staff made this part of our wedding worry-free.
Hope this helps some of you!
DJing provided by a friend for free, all stationary (save the date cards, invitations, programs and place cards) were print your own. It was a pain setting up the formatting for everything, but it was worth the time because everything came out beautifully and inexpensively (about $150 for all of the kits, clear labels for mailing and postage).
Cake - Provided by a relative of a friend for $175.
Don't expect to pay this little for your cake though. If I'd started early enough I would have booked the Manassas Cakery. Unlike some of the other vendors in town, their prices appear to include all costs. I had a bad experience with Happy Eatery in Centreville. Their literature says cakes start at $2 per slice, but when I went in for a tasting and had an estimate done for a pretty simple cake it came out to more than $5 slice! When you get your initial estimates over the phone, be sure they give you the price that includes everything - cake, fillings, and decoration. I would have never gone out there if I'd known how much it was really going to cost me to get a cake from them.
Wedding Band - Antique Guild, Alexandria, VA ($200)
For something different and less expensive than the normal jewelry shops, I got my wedding band here. It was a 14K white gold band with five diamond chips and cost less than half of the price that it would have at any other shop. Most of the other rings were platinum and much more expensive, so my ring was a find, but it's still worth a look. I had the ring resized elsewhere for a small fee ($20) and it matches well with my antique engagement ring, especially since the original matching wedding band was lost long ago.
Dress - Ellie's Bridal in Alexandria, VA ($1,100 for the dress, shipping, alterations, bra, all taxes)
The dress shop isn't the fanciest place, but the dresses are reasonably priced and the staff is always friendly, if a little busy taking care of clients. My dress came in ahead of schedule and the alterations done there came out well. Just beware of them trying to pin you too tight when you go in for your alterations - I couldn't breathe when I tried on my dress at the second fitting - but they fixed it before the wedding :) You might be able to find a cheaper dress on eBay, but not at any of the other dress shops in town. I was also worried about buying my dress at a second-rate shop and then having them go out of buisness before my wedding, so I spent more than I thought I'd have to here. Alterations were about $350. They may be cheaper elsewhere, but since this was my wedding dress, I didn't want to take any chances with it. Baragin tip - if you have enough time, check out the 'running of the brides' sale at Filene's Basement. It will require strength of will and at least you taking a day off work, but you might be able to find a good dress. David's Bridal might also have something you want, but not always. It's a good first step for figuring out what kind of dress you might want, but beware the mailing lists they put you on. It took a few months, but I got solicitations galore.
Shoes - My Glass Slipper in Alexandria, VA ($50)
A little fancy, but definitely has the biggest selection in town. And I didn't end up paying a mint for my shoes. Very friendly, nice atmosphere and the women working didn't complain when I spent an hour there finding the right shoes.
Officiant - Rev. David Pratt ($300)
A last-minute substitution for Rev. Norma Peyton, wife of Rev. Wesley Peyton (http://www.icrafters.com/peyton/), Rev. Pratt works with the Peytons and performs a variety of wedding services to couples in the DC area. A great find for couples looking for a officiant willing to perform weddings outside of a church. He was friendly and professional and put us at ease during the wedding.
Flowers - Grace at the Flower Gallery of Manassas, VA ($400 for bouquets and boutineers, and flowers for the cake)
Good flowers, very reasonable price and didn't try to talk me into more than I wanted to buy like the other florists that I talked to. One guy wanted me to buy table flowers and have my bridesmaids carry single stems, even after I'd made it clear that wasn't what I had in mind. There were no problems with changing the order after I'd made it. It's a big store, so I was worried about the cost initially, but with the florist, bigger was definitely cheaper. They can do up to six weddings a day here.
Rentals - Event Rentals, Chantilly, VA ($1,350 for the canopy, side walls, plain ceremony chairs, gold Chivarti chairs for reception)
They were chosen mostly beause of their proximity to our wedding site, and the fact that they have a custom-made canopy for the terrace there. Jodi and her boss, Dave, went above and beyond to help me out here, meeting with me several times and my caterer used them for the reception rentals as well (cost for linens, china, glassware, silverware, and tables included in the catering cost). They have a program called Party CAD, which allows them to figure out the best set-up for your site. This helped tremendously. Tent rentals are expensive though, especially since this was our 'in case of rain' ceremony plan. I'd recommend finding a place where you don't need to rent a tent if you can. If you want to get married outside though, a tent may be unavoidable as a back-up plan.
Venue - Cabell's Mill, Centreville, VA ($2,400 for 10 hours)
Administered through the Fairfax County Park Association's Historic Property Rentals, it was cheaper than one of the 'wedding' venues in the area, but not the most inexpensive place. It was a gorgeous setting and despite a couple of snags, worked out very well for our wedding. Drawbacks here - you have to pay for set-up and tear down time, all rentals need to be in and out during your rental time, seats only about 70 for dinner upstairs with no room for dancing and it books up about 11 months in advance (you can only reserve it 12 months in advance). Also, they have a few tables and chairs you can use at the site, but most of it will have to be rented elsewhere and brought in the day of the wedding. Be sure to factor in this cost when comparing reception sites. We had the wedding outdoors and the reception in the mill itself, but if the weather hadn't cooperated with us, it would have been a bit cramped having the ceremony under the canopy on the terrace.
Photographer - Amie Otto, www.amieottophotography.com ($1,850 for five hours of coverage, posting wedding photos to website and the digtial negatives)
Amie unobtrousively took excellent photos that captured all of the highlights of the day. The digital photos were posted to www.pictage.com within a week of the event. She's just as good as everyone else in town, but not as expensive. She was easy to work with and we couldn't be happier with the results.
Caterer - Jane Nordstrom, Thyme Savor, www.thymesavor.biz ($2,500 for a buffet dinner for 66 guests, rentals, 3 staff members, non-alcoholic beverages)
Definitely the star of the day. She and her crew did more than asked and pulled together the whole reception, even in a site not designed with a caterer in mind. No silly fees, like for cutting the cake, good, hot food and timely changes between cocktails, dinner and the rest of the reception. She and her staff made this part of our wedding worry-free.
Hope this helps some of you!