In continuation of my last post, here are my reviews/experiences regarding my cake and dress shop vendors. I actually worked with THREE different bridal shops, but this is the one I purchased my dress from.
The Dress: Victoria's Bridal Couture
Fort Lauderdale, FL
www.victoriasbridalcouture.com
4.5 out of 5.0
After going to over TEN different bridal stores in Atlanta, I found the dress I wanted, at a price tag out of my budget. My mother clued me into the online sales some stores were doing in other states, so I started calling around and emailing to see if I could get my dress at price within my budget.
Sure enough, Victoria's Bridal came through for me at the BEST price of any other store. You can order online but the service is minimum - I guess that's how they can give you the best deal possible. It took a while to get the order through because I had a special request to extend the train longer, but it finally went through and then it was time to wait.
I heard little to nothing in the 6 months of waiting, and when it came time for my dress to arrive, I called the store, and they told me it would be another month longer. This was highly disappointing but they surprised me and it came a few weeks later. Good thing I still had time for alterations and finding accessories!
The dress came via UPS and was perfect. I'd highly recommend any bride on a budget to go through this process, but put in a bit of extra time in case it takes longer.
Dress by Demetrios
The Cake: Cake Studio
Los Angles, CA
Sonia's Listing on Wedding Wire
5.0 out of 5.0
Sonia was wonderful to work with, our wedding cake she made - just as wonderful! Everyone raved about how good it was and how gorgeous the design (it was just my style!)
My mom found her on wedding wire and made the initial contact. We were planning our wedding from out of town and met with a handful of cake designers in one day. Sonia's cakes are fluffy and dreamy and unique compared to the over-sugared-weighed-down ones most everyone else had. The fondant she makes is actually made of marshmallow so it doesn't taste nasty like most fondants. She took a lot of time during our initial consultation then again just days before the wedding to go over exactly what we wanted, and helped us come up with the design in the first place. I think we spent hours in her office during the first consultation. We ended up with a gorgeous Tiffany's-blue fondant-covered four-layer cake with ganache and Bavarian cream with hazelnut crunch between layers of white cake.
We had a VERY small wedding (40 people) but I'm a wedding photographer and I didn't want my cake to look itty-bitty. She was able to find cost-cutting solutions to be able to give us a bigger cake that was beautiful but that cost less. We simplified the design and added a fake (foam) layer to the bottom to help do this. She also helped us know what jewels and ribbon to get to her and the measurements we would need. We rented the cake stand from her as well and she delivered the cake the day of the wedding herself.
I get to try wedding cakes a LOT since I photograph weddings and ours was I think the best I've ever had. It was fresh and unique - yet beautiful too! Plus, Sonia was a doll to work with and gave us just what we asked for.
Toasting Flutes from Tiffany's and Cake Knife and Server by Vera Wang
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