All You Need is Love: Vendor Reviews

Catch up on all the recaps by clicking "Our Wedding" at the top.

So now between the wedding and honeymoon recaps, I figured now would be a good time to do vendor reviews and final thoughts of the wedding. This post has the vendor reviews, and then tomorrow I'll post the final thoughts of the whole wedding experience!

First-- I wanted to say thank you to all of you who have been reading these recaps and all your sweet comments! It has been great for Matt & I to relive the day, too. I just wanted you to know that it meant a lot to me to read your comments!

Vendor Reviews
I absolutely loved all of our vendors, from the photographer, to the reception venue, to the florist, to the baker. I would recommend them all to anyone getting married in the Houston area. You can get their contact information from their websites I have linked to.

Photography- Kasey Lynn Photography: Kasey did an amazing job, as did her second shooter. Throughout the whole wedding-planning process, Kasey was very prompt with responding to my emails and silly questions and was very easy to work with. We are so happy with her pictures and seriously could not have asked for anything more.

Reception venue- Amerigo's Grille: This restaurant is gorgeous, the food is amazing, and the service is outstanding. However, I wish we could have had a longer reception. I felt rushed during the whole thing and I just hope my guests didn't feel the same way. But since they are a restaurant, I completely understand why we had to clear out at the time we did. I didn't want to push the ceremony any earlier because we had several out of town guests, etc. In the end it all worked out and we got to talk to everyone, but if I could change one thing, that would be it.

Floral- LZ Floral: Lara is very easy to work with and as you may know from reading my past posts, I had a lot of floral changes just because I was indecisive. She was very flexible but also made sure we stuck to our budget.

Bakery- Kiss the Cook Cakes: The cake was amazing, both the decorating and taste, and we couldn't have asked for a better value! What more can you ask for?

All You Need is Love: I Toss the Bouquet and We Leave!

Catch up by clicking "Our Wedding" at the top. All pictures by Kasey Lynn Photography.

So my bridesmaid Kara is helping me out of my wedding dress, I get to go to the restroom for the first time all day, and I realize I'm in absolute pain. My stomach is all cramped up and my feet are killing me. Well, no time to worry about that then because I have to go meet my husband and take a ride in the limo!

After we are changed, we have to wait for the all clear before we walk down the stairs and into the onslaught of bubbles, hugs, waves, and goodbyes!

Another one of my favorites :)

Everyone loved the ears! It was definitely a good surprise and left no doubt where we were going for our honeymoon! Right before we climbed into the limo, I had to toss the bouquet!

My friend Ari catches it!

I then give my dad one last hug before we leave...

Kiss my new HUSBAND
[my hat was trying to be blown off--it was windy!]

And off we go!.. Oh wait, no!

As soon as the limo starts to pull out I tell him to stop. My mom still had my cell phone and other essentials I needed for the honeymoon. Matt runs out to go get them, much to everyone's surprise.

But then we're on our way!


The limo was stocked with beverages, so I quickly downed some water which greatly helped with my health issues. Matt & I then enjoyed a nice limo drive to our hotel for the night before flying to Disney World the next morning!

Up next: Final (maybe) wedding thoughts

All You Need is Love: The Wine Cellar Pictures

Catch up by clicking on "Our Wedding" at the top of the page! All pictures by Kasey Lynn Photography.

After we finished the cake and pie cutting, our photographer stole us for some more portraits in the wine cellar. These are DEFINITELY some of my favorite pictures of the day and it was nice to take a little break from the hustle and bustle of the reception.






After these pictures, we went to the last few tables to chat, and then went upstairs to change! One of my bridesmaids came to help me while the others passed out the bubbles to the guests because...

Up next- we leave!

All You Need is Love: We Cut the Cake & Pie

Catch up by clicking "Our Wedding" at the top! All pictures by Kasey Lynn Photography.

After the dancing was over, it was time to cut the cake! I know I'm not the first to complain about this, but either:
-Someone should offer lessons/tips for how to cut the bottom layer of a wedding cake -or-
-You should be able to cut the top layer
It is surprisingly difficult when you have to navigate all the frosting, the sheer size of the cake, etc. Basically- future brides, beware! Maybe have more than a one-inch gap between the bottom and second-to-bottom tier :P

That's some concentration, let me tell you

We did it!

Thankfully, the cake was absolutely delicious so well worth our effort! And no, no icing was smeared in anyone's faces.
We then moved on to the apple pie!

And it was much easier to cut!

You may have noticed the absence of us feeding each other cake. That would be due to my pickiness over what pictures I post of myself on the internet. Let's leave it at that, k? After the amateurs attempting to cut the cake, it was time for the experts!!

Up next-- we take pictures in a wine cellar!

All You Need is Love: We Dance, Dance, and Saw 'Em Off

Catch up by clicking the "Our Wedding" tab at the top :)

All pictures by Kasey Lynn Photography.

Matt & I chose to dance to Brad Paisley's "Then" for our first dance. I was unsure of how well I was going to be able to dance in my ball gown, but we managed :)

Take a listen while you scroll down the pictures-- oh and FYI we shortened the songs for the dances. I didn't want to dance in front of people for 5 minutes straight so we (Matt) just did fancy music editing magic.

We were able to do some fancy moves

Love this picture the photographer got of my parents

Next, my dad & I danced to "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw. Yup, typical song, but I am definitely a daddy's girl so it's fitting.





After that, we still had one very important dance to attend to-- The Aggie War Hymn. If you aren't an Aggie or familiar with Texas A&M, it is our fight song and it is tradition to do it at your wedding, especially if you are both Aggies. Since a lot of our guests are also Aggies, it was a lot of fun for us all to go out there and sing the War Hymn. Take a listen here.

Yes, that would be me 'sawing 'em off' in my wedding dress.

Saw varsity's horns off

WHOOP!

Coming up next-- cutting various baked goods

All You Need is Love: We Mingle

Catch up by clicking "Our Wedding" at the top! :)

Did I ever tell you about the time table of our wedding day? It was tight. Ceremony at 1, then Matt & I needed to have left the reception by 3:45 or so. Amerigo's is a restaurant, so we were supposed to all leave by 4ish... I believe we got to Amerigo's around 2, so that left about 90 minutes for talking to our guests, cutting the cake and pie, and then dancing, before going up to change. Perhaps that's why I couldn't eat-- I was time-pressured!

Anyway, after arriving and looking at all the little details, Matt & I started visiting each table. We had about 140 guests or so, a lot of which I didn't know. Looking back, it was all a blur, but I remember a few things distinctly:

-Holding tight to Matt's hand as neither of us really knew what we were supposed to be doing
-My photographer, Kasey, getting us glasses of water-- something that was MUCH needed!
-Everyone complimenting everything
-So many smiles, hugs, and congratulations
-Tons of introductions and being overwhelmed by the love of our friends & family

Talking with some cousins from my side of the family

Friends! Since it was two weeks after graduation, it was a nice (short) reunion for a lot of us

I hadn't met this little one yet- another one of my cousins-- so cute!

My dad and a good friend chatting

Went to New Orleans with these girls for Alternative Spring Break in 2010-- so much fun! [And no, they didn't plan on wearing the same dress :P]

Up next-- the dances!

All You Need is Love: Reception Details, part 2

Catch up by clicking the tab "Our Wedding" at the top of the page!
All pictures by Kasey Lynn Photography.

We held our reception at Amerigo's- a really nice restaurant in The Woodlands. The food was excellent and the event coordinator was very easy to work with throughout the planning process. For the kind of reception we were looking for, Amerigo's was the perfect fit.

If you're ever in the area, I recommend just to go eat there for a meal. You won't be disappointed! [Promise this was not a paid advertisement-- they're just THAT good!]

The outside...

Our pianist, Mr. Palmquist. He also played at the ceremony.

Overall, we were very happy with the reception venue. At the end of the reception, the chef had personally put together a little box of food for Matt & me that he had cooked especially for us. There was also a box with two pieces of apple pie. :) We didn't eat much at the reception (so typical) except for a couple of bites of cake and pie.

Side story- honestly I couldn't eat during the reception. Someone offered to get me some food and for some reason I had no interest in it. I felt so much pressure to go and talk to all of the guests and we had a limited amount of time, so perhaps that's why...

Anyway-- it was really nice having the box of food to eat post-reception and it was DELICIOUS!

Up next-- we mingle!