We loved the wedding cake and groom's cake we ordered from The Swiss Bakery! Laurie and Lauren guided us expertly through the options to pick out the perfect cakes. They were easy to work with, even from a continent away, and the cakes were delicious. Our guests are still commenting on how perfect the groom's cake was for us. I think there are almost as many pictures of it as there are of us!
Sue was my favorite vendor to work with! We had an idea of what we wanted but had no idea how to put that into flowers. She took the time to really understand our wedding, showed us lots of pictures and then made great suggestions. She customized everything to fit our wedding and worked with our budget. She responds quickly when you have a question and makes sure she has all the details right. Added to that, the flowers were absolutely gorgeous.
We were very happy with our choice to use Fleet Transportation! We used two 32-passenger shuttles and one (free) sedan to navigate through the narrow and crowded streets of Georgetown and Foggy Bottom. They were on time, knew where they were going and what they were doing, and made sure not to leave anyone behind.
The reservations people were easy to work with and the contract was detailed and straightforward. Somehow the signed version got lost, so when I called to confirm and make a couple changes 2 weeks ahead of time, they didn't show my reservation. Nevertheless, they made up for lost time so quickly it was as though nothing had happened.
3Citron is an excellent caterer--they make delicious food, they are full of creative ideas and they know exactly what they're doing. The owners are extremely nice and were willing to work with our smaller budget and complicated schedule (planning from a continent away). They seemingly effortlessly made a beautiful and smooth-running reception. I think they'd be perfect for brides who want a caterer that will expertly handle all the details and make them a great reception.
3Citron isn't as good at handling a high amount of customization. When it really counted, they did what we'd specified (the menu, colors, setup, and adjustments for allergies were all done correctly) but there were other things that inexplicably just didn't happen as planned (e.g. not offering sparkling cider as an alternative for champagne for teetotaling guests, the leftover food that had been promised was non-existent).
3Citron always responded to me quickly, but I think that in the months leading up to the wedding they were preoccupied with other events. They really can (and perhaps prefer) to pull together all the details at the end, so I agree with the others, don't worry if they don't seem to be paying much attention to you months ahead of time, make a list of what you want and tell them when their focus is on you. They're pretty laid back about the whole contract process, so do look over the contract to ensure they've included what you talked about and gotten the numbers right.
And a word of advice to 3Citron (soon to be Washington Parties?): Please ensure that your waiters know exactly what they're serving. They were great, but there were a couple instances where they gave out incorrect information.