Today’s post is a VENDOR SHOUTOUT!

My wedding day would not have been anything that it was without my amazing vendors. They all worked with me throughout the year; planning, pinning, designing, and creating everything that came together to make our wedding day THE BEST DAY EVER! I want to give them all a huge thank you and will link their info, should you or anyone you know be in need of any of their services.

1. Tiffany Ott– My AMAZING wedding coordinator. Tiffany was my DOC (day of coordinator) and she and I started working closely together 3 months up to the big day. But of course, that didn’t stop her from answering all my questions even before our allotted time. She offers amazing coordinating packages, but being so hands on- I wanted to do the heavy lifting myself and once I did, she came in to make sure the “show” ran smoothly. Tiffany, I cannot thank you enough for everything you did to make our day the best day. You ran the show and made sure I didn’t worry about a single thing. Thank you for moving and repurposing all of the decor items so I didn’t spend a penny more than I had too. Thank you for getting our parties together and for being the ring leader for the rest of my amazing vendors. Your organization and amazingness is second to none and I don’t know what I would have done without you. If you or anyone you know is planning a wedding, I cannot recommend Tiffany and her team enough! Here is the link to her website! 

2. Sherie Noel–  Part of me wants to keep her my little secret, but being someone who likes to share, I guess I’ll let you guys in on it. Sherie is someone I’ve known my entire life. I grew up with her and her younger brother. We met when I was in 2nd grade- our moms became best friends very quickly since we also happened to be next door neighbors. Sherie used to babysit my sister and I when our parents would go out. We’d constantly be at each others houses and Sherie always got stuck looking out for us, her younger “siblings.” When my sister and I were in high school, she’d do our hair and makeup for every high school dance and graduation. So, when I got engaged, it was a no brainer who was going to beautify me for the big day., AND YOU GUYS, WE DID TWO DIFFERENT LOOKS! Sherie was not only the BEST MAKEUP ARTIST/HAIRSTYLIST ON THE PLANET, but she was also like my personal assistant! She touched me up throughout the day, fixing my lipstick in-between photos/dinner/drinks and was constantly there to help me fix my dress, change my shoes, adjust my veil, the whole shebang. When I asked her about doing my hair and makeup, I asked her if she’d be down to do a second look. I knew I wanted a second dress to change into for the dancing portion of the night, just so I could relax and not worry about someone stepping or spilling anything on my $$$$$$$$$$ dollar gown. With that, I decided I wanted to go from a relaxed, bohemian hairstyle to a messy up-do (because when my hair gets sweaty, it gets oily and stringy and I didn’t want any of that in my photos, so going up was the only option). I was worried Sherie would think I’m being dramatic and too much, and knew she’d call me on it- which she did. BUT she also said she’s 10000% in to do it. So after my father-daughter dance, Joey and I snuck away to change into our second outfits (he changed his suit as well) and as Tiffany was taping me into my second dress, Sherie was pinning up my hair and touching up my makeup. SHERIE I FREAKING LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER AND LOVE THAT YOU PLAYED SUCH A BIG PART IN OUR DAY, JUST AS YOU HAVE MY LIFE. If you have a chance, you should 10000000% get Sherie on your event/wedding team because she does amazing work and is willing to go above and beyond like no other. Here’s the link to her IG where you can DM her! 

3. Kendall Haines– THE BEST ACCIDENT THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME.  Soon I will put together a post about all the little things that came up during the course of planning our wedding, just because I think it will help anyone out there planning a big event. You have to realize that things will come up that are out of your control and you just have to roll with the punches. (Something Tiffany constantly reminded me of). Kendall stepped up as my lead photographer when my contracted photographer was unable to come shoot our wedding- which I found out less than 24 hours before our wedding day, I was actually at my rehearsal brunch when I got the news.  So yea, that wasn’t great, BUT it all turned out BETTER THAN I COULD HAVE IMAGINED. Kendall, you are absolutely amazing and a true God send. Your vision and creative direction was better than anything I could have imagined. Thank you for taking the time to stalk my Pinterest photography pages for hours the night before the wedding and for talking to me nonstop to calm my nerves and ease my every worry. THANK YOU FOR SHOWING UP AND GIVING US YOUR ABSOLUTE BEST. We truly love you and your husband and believe that everything happens for a reason, and believe you were the ones who were meant to shoot our big day. And now we’re friends FOR LIFE! 🙂 HIRE HER PEOPLE! Here’s the link! 

4. Jessica Buchanan– OUR OUT OF THIS WORLD amazing florist whom I trusted with the one physical aspect of the day I had no control over. THE FLOWERS. This girl is my dream florist, and honestly, the flowers are what stressed me out the most since there was no way for me to really know what they were going to look like until I actually showed up the day off. Thank you for answering all my texts, sharing my pinterest board with me, and for incorporating the most random requests in a way no one else could. For those of you who don’t know, one of my special details was in my bouquet. I wanted a favorite flower for every woman in mine and Joey’s family. My mom’s and his mom’s favorite flowers, both his grandma’s favorite flowers, and both my grandma’s favorite flowers. And let me tell ya, there were a lot of flowers that one wouldn’t think would go together, but she built the perfect bouquet! Right when I got to the venue with my bridesmaids, Tiffany said “you have to go look at your bouquet”, and when I walked in and saw it, I was brought to tears. It was everything I could have ever imagined. It was literally like she crawled inside my head and saw everything I was envisioning and then brought it to life.  I could not stop talking about how beautiful my bouquet was, the aisle pieces, MY ARCH!!!, and the table decor were. My guests were just as in love as I was!  I received multiple compliments throughout the night about how perfect each arrangement was. Here’s the link for her instagram, where you can reach her directly! I cannot recommend her enough and would not trust anyone else with flowers for any event of mine!!!

5. DJ Ray– I have no words. BEST DJ ON THE PLANET. Thank you for MC-ing the entire night and for making sure all the special moments hit just right. When we first met for coffee- my first question to him was “Do you think you’ll be able to mix in country throughout the wedding with the normal music most people listen too” He laughed and then assured me it wouldn’t be a problem. And let me tell ya, the man did it perfectly. He also made the mash-up for the music that my dad and I danced too for our father/daughter dance. Thank you for all your organization and coordination and willingness to cater to Joey and I like no other. We felt so comfortable and at ease with you leading the day.  I could not imagine another DJ at the helm of the day, and I can honestly say that our dance floor remained packed the entire night!!! That’s exactly what you want on your wedding day and the only way to do that is to play great music that makes people want to move! Which sounds easy, but you also need someone who can read the crowd just right and knows what songs to play to keep people out on the floor. NO ONE DOES THIS BETTER THAN DJ RAY!!! Here’s the link to his business! 

6.  Raymond Escalona– What a FANTASTIC videographer! When one of my coworkers told me he had a friend who video’d weddings, I was sold. I didn’t want just anyone to shoot our wedding and was having a hard time finding someone that matched our vibe. Meet with a few videographers and you’ll know what I mean, I’m not looking for an Oscar winning theatrical movie, I’m looking for the raw and real moments of the day to be captured. Ray did just that.  He was there early and stayed late to film the entirety of our day- even when he didn’t have too. I’m so grateful for that! Here is his instagram link where you can DM him for any inquiries! 

7. Gary FREAKING Norton– My best friend’s dad and our officiant. Man we lucked out on this one. We consider him family, and well the entire family, family. If you can get someone you actually know to officiate your wedding, I’d recommend you DO IT! I was having such a hard time because all I wanted was our wedding to be cozy, comfortable, relaxing, and so completely us. I paid so much attention to the little details because I wanted everything about the day to reflect Joey and I. And I wanted people to feel the love we have for each other and the love we have for each and every guest that we invited to share the day with us. When it came to getting an officiant, I was struggling because it felt so un-authentic to have someone marry us who didn’t even know us. I was telling one of Joey’s groomsmen about this over coffee when he said, why don’t you just have Steph’s dad do it? Until that moment, I didn’t even know that my own best friend’s dad could do weddings! Joey and I were over the moon when we found out he’d do it and having someone we consider family, marry us, was the cherry on top of our big day. It meant so much to us and we felt so relaxed up there, almost like it was just the three of us hanging out- with a mere 100 people just peeking in. Unfortunately, he doesn’t do weddings for people other than family….so I can’t leave his information, BUT I do implore you to find someone you know to marry you if you have the chance!

8. Thrifted Sister Rental Company– I found this amazing company on Instagram as I was searching for furniture to fill my lounge space. Nikki was absolutely AMAZING and answered all my questions in such a timely manner. She also suggested pieces and helped me design the perfect space! If you’re in need of rental furniture, definitely give her a call or shoot her an email! Here’s their website! They have absolutely beautiful pieces! I got my peacock chairs, coffee table, rug, couch, throw pillows, and side tables from them!

9. Otis and Pearl Rental Company– Ever since I dreamed up my perfect wedding, I knew that I wanted purple goblets on the guest tables to really spruce up my design. I’m not sure how I came upon Otis and Pearl, but when I saw their goblets, I was SOLD! I dealt with Gretchen and CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT HER! She was so helpful and responsive. I used Otis and Pearl for the goblets and for the brass candlesticks that lined my dinner tables. 2 weeks before my wedding, I realized I had to add 4 extra guest tables, which meant 16 extra candlesticks, and without hesitation, she added them to my account right away to make sure I got them reserved before someone else did. This happened 3 times throughout the course of our wedding, where I had to add items, subtract items, etc and Gretchen kindly helped me every time.  Even when I thought I was annoying her and ruining her life by making so many changes! She was so kind and helpful and my decor items were a HIT! Here’s the company website, they have tons of items you can rent!   

10. MJB Cakes– Melissa created the most perfect wedding cake and it was hands down the most delicious think I’ve ever tasted. I’m literally still dreaming about our cake! The marble design she created was to die for!! If you’re local, i.e. in Southern California, I’d definitely look her up!!! Here’s her link! She even makes to-go tastings so you can taste a plethora of flavors and frostings in the comfort of your own home!

11. The Metal Ranch– I’m SO lucky to have some pretty badass, talented friends. I played soccer in college with Katie, owner of The Metal Ranch, and when I got engaged, enlisting her help in creating the perfect cake topper was top of my list! I’d saved TONS of cake toppers I’d seen on Pinterest but really wanted everything about our wedding to be personal, so I reached out and sent Katie something I’d seen online and asked her if she could make it. Without hesitation, she did and she absolutely NAILED IT! I love our topper SO MUCH! It looked gorgeous atop the cake and is actually now bookcase decor and sits up against framed flowers from my bouquet. It’s the best little keepsake. They’re SO talented at The Metal Ranch and can literally make anything you can think up! I highly suggest you give their Instagram a follow! Here it is! 

12. Classic 21 Bartending– Eddie was a DREAM BARTENDER!!! He was so much fun the entire nigh, our guests were loving him!!! He was absolutely amazing and made sure my husband and I had everything we wanted, he even hand delivered our signature cocktails to us at our sweetheart table the second we sat down! Anything we needed, he was ready to lend us a hand! It was so sweet the way he constantly checked in on us throughout the night. I cannot recommend Eddie enough. When we told him our signature drink was going to be horchata and rum, he showed up with cinnamon sticks to put in the drinks!!! It was the most amazing detail and not something we even thought about! Here’s a link with his information! 

My wedding day truly was a team effort and I feel like I honestly assembled the DREAM TEAM! I want to throw a second, third, fourth, even fifth wedding with all these amazing people! I cannot say enough good things and if you have any questions about any of my vendors, DM me on instagram (@mrsamandafranco) and I will tell you EVERYTHING about them! I want everyone out there to have an amazing event (whether it be a wedding, baby shower, birthday party, etc) and truly believe these are the people to make your dream come true, just as they did mine.

xoxo,

Amanda