Married!!
The Club At Hillbrook - Chagrin Falls, OH
Fantastic - A ++++. I cannot say enough about the service and staff at Hillbrook. From beginning to end they were fantastic. We were able to get in to see the place as it suited our schedules. The atmosphere was better than we could have imagined. It was the first venue we looked at, and as we looked around others, we kept tallying how much time, money and work it would take to make the spaces more like Hillbrook. Janet and Melanie were easy to get along with and either she or Melanie responded promptly to my e-mails and inquiries. I was able to come out with only a couple of days notice on the morning of an event when my mom came to town and Janet took the time to walk us around even though I'm sure she had many other things on her plate that day.
The food was amazing. We are still getting compliments on it - and they don't even include the caveat "for wedding food." I thought the food was great when we had our tasting, but I thought it was even better the night of the wedding. Truly superb.
I was able to drop off personalized centerpieces, escort cards, photos, and all the other wedding "stuff" the week before the wedding - along with photos of my "some assembly required" centerpieces and they took care of all of the set-up. Everything was wonderful.
The day of staff was polite, friendly and eager to help us with anything we needed. They kept us running on time all day long. Jill suggested photo ops around the grounds and house. We also got compliments from other guests who had interacted with the staff that they were extremely polite and helpful and always with smiles on their faces.
The food was amazing. We are still getting compliments on it - and they don't even include the caveat "for wedding food." I thought the food was great when we had our tasting, but I thought it was even better the night of the wedding. Truly superb.
I was able to drop off personalized centerpieces, escort cards, photos, and all the other wedding "stuff" the week before the wedding - along with photos of my "some assembly required" centerpieces and they took care of all of the set-up. Everything was wonderful.
The day of staff was polite, friendly and eager to help us with anything we needed. They kept us running on time all day long. Jill suggested photo ops around the grounds and house. We also got compliments from other guests who had interacted with the staff that they were extremely polite and helpful and always with smiles on their faces.
Platinum Photography
Loved the photos - LONG wait for delivery - B. I have to say, working with Terry was a pleasure. We loved her style, she was bubbly and easy to get along with. She was quite the trooper as we had her out hiking with us for our engagement session - and my mom and our dog tagged along as well. The wedding photos did not disappoint. We were extremely happy with the photos, the quantity and the quality of the work was excellent. We can't think of anything else that we really wished we had photos of from the day. Our only disappointment is the wait time to get the proofs. With the e-pics it was off the cuff, she mentioned it would be 2 - 3 weeks, I think it was 4. No big deal - and the photos were great. We felt like she really captured some of what made us "us". Our wedding contract stated proofs in 4 weeks. When we got back from our 2 week honeymoon I responded to Terry's thank you e-mail and inquired about photo proofs - people were asking, you know - and she responded that it would be about 4 weeks. Well that turned the 4 week contract into 6 weeks, but we were okay with that. We wanted photos for Christmas presents. As we got married the last weekend in September 6 weeks still left us plenty of time to get prints before the holidays. The 6th week passed and still no photos. We finally received proofs about 11 weeks after the wedding and less than 10 days before Christmas.
We LOVED working with Terry. And we LOVED LOVED LOVED the finish product (samples are all over this bio, or you can check out her blog here). And if we'd known up front it would be 11 weeks before we got pictures, we would have been okay with that because we know that is not unusual for wedding photography. There are a lot of images to go through and editing involved. But because we started out thinking 4 weeks and ended up at 11 weeks we were disappointed in that regard.
We LOVED working with Terry. And we LOVED LOVED LOVED the finish product (samples are all over this bio, or you can check out her blog here). And if we'd known up front it would be 11 weeks before we got pictures, we would have been okay with that because we know that is not unusual for wedding photography. There are a lot of images to go through and editing involved. But because we started out thinking 4 weeks and ended up at 11 weeks we were disappointed in that regard.
Jerry Bruno Productions - Scott Jones, DJ
A snag or two, but kept things moving. B+
My husband and I know very little about music. We know what we like, but what will get a party going - we left that to the experts. We hired Scott Jones of Jerry Bruno Productions as our DJ for both ceremony music and the reception. He was easy to get along with and really knew his stuff, very professional. We went into our pre-wedding meeting with a few "must plays" a few "must not plays" and a couple of thoughts on ceremony music. He was able to take the couple of songs I knew I wanted played during the ceremony - no Pachelbel for this couple - and suggest better versions of those songs that I'd not heard before and flesh it out with the rest of the music that all seemed to fit together well. He kept things moving on the dance floor all night long and we even had him stay an extra 30 minutes because everyone was having a great time.
I didn't notice, but my husband did - but he started out playing a version of the entrance song that I did NOT want. He quickly switched it to the correct version - and like I said I didn't even notice. The second snag was a specific song he was to play for my husband to dance with his mom to. It wasn't supposed to be a spotlight dance, but we would have appreciated a little notice before he played the song. He had to play it twice because the first time he played it Mr. Loopy and I weren't even at the reception - we'd stepped out to take a few more photos with the photographer (and I had to change my shoes LOL). The second time he played it, we were in the room, but didn't realize it was playing until my mother in law was standing next to us looking upset because Mr. Loopy was taking photos with friends (not paying ANY attention to the music at all to realize what song was playing) instead of dancing with her -for the 2nd time. A heads up would have been FANTASTIC. He did a great job keeping things moving, directing attention to the key parts of the reception - dinner, cake cutting, dancing, etc, but if he could have made sure Mr. Loopy and I knew when he was about to play the mother/son song it would have been perfect!
My husband and I know very little about music. We know what we like, but what will get a party going - we left that to the experts. We hired Scott Jones of Jerry Bruno Productions as our DJ for both ceremony music and the reception. He was easy to get along with and really knew his stuff, very professional. We went into our pre-wedding meeting with a few "must plays" a few "must not plays" and a couple of thoughts on ceremony music. He was able to take the couple of songs I knew I wanted played during the ceremony - no Pachelbel for this couple - and suggest better versions of those songs that I'd not heard before and flesh it out with the rest of the music that all seemed to fit together well. He kept things moving on the dance floor all night long and we even had him stay an extra 30 minutes because everyone was having a great time.
I didn't notice, but my husband did - but he started out playing a version of the entrance song that I did NOT want. He quickly switched it to the correct version - and like I said I didn't even notice. The second snag was a specific song he was to play for my husband to dance with his mom to. It wasn't supposed to be a spotlight dance, but we would have appreciated a little notice before he played the song. He had to play it twice because the first time he played it Mr. Loopy and I weren't even at the reception - we'd stepped out to take a few more photos with the photographer (and I had to change my shoes LOL). The second time he played it, we were in the room, but didn't realize it was playing until my mother in law was standing next to us looking upset because Mr. Loopy was taking photos with friends (not paying ANY attention to the music at all to realize what song was playing) instead of dancing with her -for the 2nd time. A heads up would have been FANTASTIC. He did a great job keeping things moving, directing attention to the key parts of the reception - dinner, cake cutting, dancing, etc, but if he could have made sure Mr. Loopy and I knew when he was about to play the mother/son song it would have been perfect!
Colonial Beverage
Liquor is the most important part, right... They did it right. A +
My husband took care of this part. They gave us great recommendations for a fully stocked bar based on our headcount. Knowing our crowd we upped the vodka count, but otherwise left it as he recommended and we have very little left over. They took back anything that was unopened and billed us after the fact for only what was used. Drop off and pick up was done with no issues directly with our venue.
My husband took care of this part. They gave us great recommendations for a fully stocked bar based on our headcount. Knowing our crowd we upped the vodka count, but otherwise left it as he recommended and we have very little left over. They took back anything that was unopened and billed us after the fact for only what was used. Drop off and pick up was done with no issues directly with our venue.
Cupcakes -
Super! - A
Our cupcakes were made by a family friend starting a business. Cupcakes were great and affordable. Pictures are on the details page. We did 3 varieties. Chocolate with a chocolate ganache frosting and white chocolate curls on top. Lemon cupcake with a buttercream frosting and sugared lemon rinds on top. And white cake cupcakes with a lemon frosting with almond brittle pieces garnishing the top. They are all delicious - Mr. Loopy and I shared one of each at one point in the evening. There were very few left over. E-mail me for contact info.
Our cupcakes were made by a family friend starting a business. Cupcakes were great and affordable. Pictures are on the details page. We did 3 varieties. Chocolate with a chocolate ganache frosting and white chocolate curls on top. Lemon cupcake with a buttercream frosting and sugared lemon rinds on top. And white cake cupcakes with a lemon frosting with almond brittle pieces garnishing the top. They are all delicious - Mr. Loopy and I shared one of each at one point in the evening. There were very few left over. E-mail me for contact info.
