Albuquerque Wedding Vendor Reviews

Hopefully this is the last wedding-related post I'll write. :-) (all photos copyright Ginger Russell unless otherwise noted).

I had a really hard time finding information about New Mexico wedding vendors online when I was planning my wedding. I managed to find really fantastic people to work with, and want to make sure other people can find them, too!

We had our reception at the Albuquerque Museum. It's a beautiful space and we were generally really happy with them. The staff isn't very accomodating- we had a close call on scheduling (they had a lecture for 25 people scheduled to end about an hour and a half before our reception was scheduled to start, and they refused to do anything to make our reception setup easier). If you use Stefani at City Treats as your caterer, though, you can get around some of the Museum staff issues.




(this is not a Ginger Russell photo)


(this is not a Ginger Russell photo)

Speaking of Stefani and City Treats, LOVE THEM!!!!! I cannot say enough wonderful things about Stefani and her staff. The food was awesome, there was a TON of extra food, they managed to get tables, chairs, and complicated table decorations for 180 people set up in a REALLY SHORT amount of time, and her prices were the best in town. The staff was incredibly professional. Stefani also does events outside the Museum- if you need a caterer anywhere in Albuquerque, USE STEFANI. You will not be disappointed.




(this is not a Ginger Russell photo)

Melba of Melba's Floral Studio did our flowers, and they were beautiful. We kept things somewhat simple, using mostly white tulips (spring wedding), but everything Melba did was gorgeous and very reasonably priced.






Ginger Russell was our wedding photographer, and we are really happy with the work she did. Ginger is a delight to work with, and she really captured the feeling of our day. She lives up in Santa Fe, and her prices were good- not cheap, but far less than other photographers who specialize in the journalistic style we were hoping for and only slightly more expensive than the blah photo factories that everyone in Albuquerque seems to choose. We're working on putting the album together right now, and I am really excited to see it. Ginger's work is really wonderful- check out her blog- she does portraits and non-wedding photography as well.

We hired Jim Gross of Carousel of Music as our DJ. He was fantastic. EVERYONE, from age 8 to 70, had a great time dancing, and several people commented that he was playing all of their favorite songs. I even had people call me after the wedding to ask for the playlists because they loved the music so much. Each of Jim's DJs are also talented musicians who play live music (included in the package price) for an hour during dinner or cocktails- Jim plays classical guitar and was wonderful. Jim also had the best prices in town.

Finally, we rented a limo, but not just any limo- we got a 1956 Chevy Imperial Limo from Monty at Imperial Limos. He's a gas, and the car was fantastic.




(this is not a Ginger Russell photo)
If you're planning a wedding in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have- there aren't a lot of internet resources for New Mexico wedding vendors and I'm happy to share my research and thoughts if you'll find it useful!


(albuquerque, new mexico, wedding, vendor, venue, caterer, reception, photographer, flowers, dj, limo)

The best in the world

I don't think I ever told you about the Best Matron of Honor Ever, or the Best Bridal Shower Ever that she threw for me.

Katie (my bestest law school bud) hosted a fabulous law school friend shower back in March. We had incredible food, fantastic games, and lingerie galore. Good times. As if that weren't enough, Katie made incredible party favors- a knit hat, complete with appliquéd felt flower, for each of the 20 guests.



Not only did she get a picture of the hats, she got a picture of the guests WEARING their hats!



Yes, Katie is awesome. It was the best, most thoughtful shower ever.

One more wedding picture....

We're sorting through pictures to figure out what goes in the album.... I think this is my favorite.



Photo Copyright Ginger Russell.

Preview of professional pictures

Here is a link to the early pictures from our professional photographer. I'm so excited!

The blog will be quiet for a couple weeks as I move, graduate, and go on a honeymoon. Catch you on the flip side!

Married!

What a weekend!

Here's a quick preview....


I am the happiest, luckiest girl in the universe!

WHEEEEEEEEEE!

Just got confirmation from the bridal salon that my dress should be here the first week in February.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE my dress. SO. EXCITED.

By the way, my dress came from Bridal Portfolio in Southlake, Texas (outside of Dallas). The ladies there are very nice and incredibly professional. It's a very pleasant place to shop for a gown and they have gorgeous dresses. They also special ordered samples of 3 dresses from one of their designers for me.... Everything went off without a hitch!

On the other hand, avoid Bridal Couture of Scottsdale, Arizona like the plague. They are lying, cheating punks who were rude the entire time my Mom and I were in their store, and I've been fighting with my credit card company for 3 months about fraudulent charges from this place. RUN AWAY!

Things I'm Really Looking Forward To

I am really looking foward to getting married. Good thing it's only five months away!

In no particular order:

• Falling asleep next to Mr. C every night for the rest of my life. He's a great sleeping partner.
  
• Having someone to go see movies with. C has great taste in movies (except the B-list horror flicks) and am really looking forward to having movie dates.
  
• The smell of his skin. It's sweet and wonderful and smells like home.
  
• Access to his incredible music collection. I love music, and have eclectic taste, but easily get stuck in ruts and don't know how to break out. C LOVES music, has impeccable taste, and at times appears to have music ADD- he blows from song to song and genre to genre so quickly it can be hard to keep up.
  
• Being a wife. Seriously. I'm looking forward to cooking. And making a home. And taking care of him, and letting him take care of me. I'm going to need to work on the letting him take care of me bit more than I want to admit.
  
  

Knitting for the Wedding?

A lot of people have asked me if I was going to knit anything for the wedding. I think NOT.

In June I thought about knitting a shawl or wrap for each of my bridesmaids, but people told me I was crazy. Then that same people suggested last week that I knit shawls for my bridesmaids, but there's just not enough time left. Besides which, even if I had started in June, that's a lot of lace knitting, especially given my utter lack of knitting time these days!

I love the huppahs people have knit as well, but we're our ceremony doesn't need one and I doubt that the church we're getting married in would allow it anyway.

I also thought about knitting an afghan or blanket or something for us to have at home after the wedding, but it would never be finished in time.

So no, I'm not knitting anything for the wedding. I might take my Birch shawl along for myself, since it will probably be chilly in the evening.

Still sick. Blech.

Wedding Update

Things are really coming together- whee!

I finally picked bridesmaid dresses- we're getting them from Aria Bridesmaids in LA.


(This picture is from Lynn Lugo Bridesmaids- very similar style/color/fabric, but Aria is a lot less expensive.)

It's also time to order invitations. I think we're going with fairly traditional invites from Reaves Engraving. They do all of the engraving for Cranes, and their house papers are a lot less expensive.

Our photographer is Ginger Russell, who lives up in Santa Fe. I am so excited about working with her- I love her style and she is such a great personality fit.

The ceremony is going to be at the church I went to when I was in high school, the Cathedral Church of Saint John, and the reception will be at the Albuquerque Museum. We're using City Treats as our caterer- Stefani runs the Cafe at the museum, and she's FABULOUS.

Our DJ is Jim Gross at Carousel of Music (terrible website, but they come HIGHLY recommended from several people I trust), and we're using Melba as our florist (again, terrible website, but fabulous florist.)

Everything is really coming together. It's about time to meet with most of the vendors to get round 2 of planning started, but all the bones are in place.

I can see clearly now...

Well, more clearly than Wednesday night, at any rate.

We've found a reception site that offers the same amenities as the other place for the lowly sum of $500. Yep, knocked an entire zero off the end. YAY. And, we've found another place that would include everything (catering costs, too) for $4000 less than the old site plus their catering estimate. So that's another nice option. AND, I've got a backup backup plan of doing it in a friend's gorgeous cabin north of Santa Fe.

And, I bought a dress on ebay this week for $50- not sure if it's the right dress, but it's pretty darn good and the price is absolutely right. Fits perfectly, too... It's nice to know I have a backup if I don't find anything else. And, $50 for a new, never worn dress with the tags still on! YAY!

My uncle is a former wedding photographer who offered to do our wedding when we first got engaged., and I may still take him up on that. I'd also like him to be able to be a guest. Using him would save us $2000, but seeing as how I've just saved us at least $4000 on the reception venue and between $500 and $2,000 on a dress, this might be a valid splurge.

I'm still amazed by how much this stuff costs, but I feel like things are looking up. Thanks for all your fabulous suggestions- keep them coming!

Rant rave, rave rant....

All right, ya'll. If you don't want to hear about wedding insanity, avert your eyes. I'm letting it rip.

I am shocked and appalled by what it costs to get married in this country. According to several sources, the average wedding in America costs $27,000. TWENTY SEVEN THOUSDAND DOLLARS! That is ABSURD. ESPECIALLY when you consider that the median household income in this country is $43,318. REDICULOUS!

I have been hoping to have the reception at a certain nameless historic property in the north valley. We were told two months ago by the owner that the facility plus tables, chairs, linens, and flowers, would be $3,500. This was confirmed one month ago when I took Mr. C there to see it.

Tonight, I was told that it would be at LEAST $5,000, that I would have to hire a professional wedding planner ($1,000 just for that day) AND that they won't even know if they can have weddings (zoning issue) until the end of the year, IF everything goes as planned (which it never does.)

Um, excuse me? I may be a bride, but I'm not an IDIOT.

The problem is, I'm now 9 months away from my preferred wedding date (the weekend between graduation and bar review) and most of the other venues I considered are booked.

Time to get creative.

This reception venue bullsh*t is just part of the problem. I am not poor, but neither am I rich. My parents are being incredibly generous in what they're contributing to pay for this debacle, and I'm putting every BigLaw penny I've earned this summer into the pot, too.

And despite this princely sum, WE CAN'T AFFORD TO GET MARRIED. When you add in the ceremony (over $1000 at the church I grew up at), dinner, cake, wine, fees, photographers, florists, a DJ, a dress, and a reception venue, all priced in the LOWER THIRD of what's available in NEW FREAKING MEXICO, one of the cheapest states in the union, we're pushing the edges of the budget. Even cutting out the photographer, DJ, wedding planner, and alcohol, it's well over $10,000.

Come on.

My goal is to do this entire thing for under $10,000 without falling prey to all this wedding industry baloney. A wedding lasts for approximately five hours; it's NOT WORTH sacrificing our financial future over.

If you have suggestions- local vendors (Santa Fe/Albuquerque), cost cutting tips, sanity hints, or anything else, please share- I'd love to have them and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Two Weeks of Happy

I just got back from two weeks with the BF. Don't we look happy?



Wait... What's that on my left hand? Why, yes, it is what you think it is....



Mr. C asked me to marry him two weeks ago, and I said YES. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! (And yes, I am driving- he proposed in El Paso and I had to drive back to Albuquerque the next day.)



I'm so very very very excited. Even more in love with him now than when we met. I'm so glad we found each other!