7/24 Riviera Wedding Review (Long & detailed)

Wow - some of you ladies are so prompt with your reviews, I feel as if I am late! But, here goes...DAY OF:

Riviera: A+ I am not a girl that is given to hyperbole, but that said, the Riviera was absolutely out of this world. Banquet manager was Michelle and she was fantastic - kept me calm and answered all of our questions. Office is sometimes a little hard to get in touch with.
Maitre'D. Jennifer and she was fantastic. She took care of everything. I didn't have to worry about anything at all - she worked with my other vendors to make sure the day went perfectly. She is incredibly intelligent and very quick. She got anything we asked for at all. Wonderful. totally accomodating. Held our hands all day and evem gave recomendations on how much to tip other vendors. Didn't even bat an eyelash at our more unusually requests. Our service in general was fanatasic: the waitress were really good, especially johanna our bridal suite waitress, and the bartenders were truly exceptional and charming, too. I have one problematic uncle, and they saw the potential and watered down his drinks all night on their own volition. The drinks were really good, the liquor all top shelf, with absolutely no limitations, and we have a hard drinking crowd. It was absolutely superlative.
Atmosphere. The place was beautiful, and we had the ceremony outdoors, despite some minor showers. They were very very flexible in this regard. The cocktail hour was inside, and we despite my worries, it went off without a hitch and was really pretty. Just lovely. They even worked with my HUSBAND'S (!!!!!!!!!) father, who is a musician, so he could play during the cocktail hour. Also, we stayed really late and they were incredibly patient with us getting out of there. They also let us have our rehersal the day right before the wedding, and let us rehearse our dance on the dance floor there :) They even got our wobbly place cards to stand up straight, and provided a basket for our programs. There were no jetskiiers and we had no volume problems whatsoever. A little hard to fit bride and both parents down the aisle at the same time if you are doing a jewish processional.
Food. I am told that the food was wonderful (didn't get to eat all that much) and there was a LOT of it. We got the chicken princess, the stuffed flounder (which they made without the shrimp because I am allergic), the prime rib and the duck. I believe the duck was the absolute favorite. I got the fish which was also very very good. Intermezzo was a nice touch. I heard the cocktail hour was great, and the little I had of it (they brought things up to the bridal suite) was delicious. As for the mini-vienese, two words: CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN. that, and well, if that was MINI, I can't imagine what 'full' would have been. Vegetarian meals provided! And, the vendors got the full meal, including all appetizers and desserts.
The only minor glitch was that they lost and hence did not put out the menus that I made and didn't put the stands I got for the table names out. Otherwise, Perfect. I can not imagine a more perfect place to spend my special day. (Saturday morning wedding)

Black Forest Bakery: A+ Our cake got rave reviews. People could not stop taking pictures of it. AND it tasted good to boot. We got a mad-hatter style rolled fondant thing. I was admittedly a little nervous about then doing it, but WOW was that totally unjustified. It looked SO incredibly good - almost exactly like the pictures I wanted, and this was not an easy thing to accomplish. I wish they had had almond filling, but we got rasperry and it was very tasty. It literally could not have been better. If you have any unusual requests at all, go to Black Forest in Lindenhurst. Upped our price by 15% two months before the wedding due to increases in baking supplies prices, but oh so very worth it. Fantastic!(Riviera recomendation - house upgrade, perhaps a little pricey)

Flowers by Lorraine. B- Lorraine was a sweetheart, and incredibly flexible and accomodating. As some of you know, we had a last minute money crunch (my Mom pulled the rug out from under us) and Lorraine allowed us to make some of our centerpieces smaller, even though she had already ordered the flowers! And, she didn't mention it to my mom at all, which was great. Overall, the flowers were pretty, I guess. But, the colours were not at all what I wanted. As a matter of fact, one of the colours (a dark red) was a colour that I particularly hate, and the orange roses (what I really wanted) looked cheap and ridiculous next to them. They did look pretty with the table cloths (burgundy) and the girl's dresses (orange silk), but the colours just weren't what I thought i was getting, and was not at all the look I was going for. I am not sure how this happenned :On the plus side, the flowers were very fresh and we are told lasted until 2 days ago (friday - almost a week later). And, she gave us all the rose petals for free (which were a lot!). So, if you are going with her, I would say that you made a good choice, just make sure you get a sample centerpiece or something, and you will be golden... Honestly, the shape, size, specific flowers and wrapping were perfectly done, and the gazebo, wrong colours and all, looked absolutely stunning, and she and her staff are very nice and patient - great to work with. She sat down with us multiple times and fielded many phone calls. (Riviera house reccomended florist - upgrade. lorraine is related to one of the owners, well priced)


Then Til Now DJ: A+ We had Steve and an assistant. We went to Steve because we specifically wanted a classy style with no handouts or cheesy participation dances. He will do it if you want him to, but I don't know that it is his thing. He played the music at a nice volume, and he played everything we wanted to hear - including many of our favorite songs, some of which is pretty obscure. His timing was great - he played all of our non-danceable stuff during dinner and managed to find a lot of danceable stuff that we still loved. All the people who do dance, did. He didn't play a single thing off our do not play list. And, he stayed an extra 15 minutes beyond what we contracted for. He really is wonderful. A gem. I reccomend him highly. He, the photographer and the hall were a seemless, perfectly coordinated team.(Riviera recomendation, very resaonably priced)

Angelica Studios/M. Kauffman: A+
This is a day of review and grade ONLY. We have not yet gotten our proofs. We wound up with Roy and Jackie. I can not say enough good things about these two. Incredibly creative, very helpful. Kept us calm and on track, watied around to do some special shots at the end. I really enjoyed working with them - we had a great time. Coached us really well. And, they were EVERYWHERE. I cannot believe some of the places these two squeezed themselves into to get good shots. I have no idea how Roy moves as fast as he does. They were truly amazing. Incredibly patient. Roy spend almost two hours on the phone with me two days before the wedding getting details on style and people. They somehow produced an umbrella when it started to rain during our ceremony. Roy forced us to eat. A true professional. Incomprable. We got well over a thousand shots. Based on the day alone, I would say HIRE HIM if you can get him. DH says they were both awesome. Overall, WONDERFUL (more when we get proofs, FM me for details on MK.)

Donna Bardot Make-up A+ WOW. When I looked in the mirror when she was done, I could not believe how good I looked. It was incredible. A consumate professional. She is a true artist. Came to the Riviera. WOW. Very flexible. I didn't even have a trial - I didn't need one. I have severe acne, and you would never, in a million years know it that day. She did an awesome job. She came even though my mom and sisters all cancelled with her. We, as long island brides are really lucky that she does weddings. I have never felt so beautiful. Gosh, I wish she did hair. My DH says that my makeup was absolutely gorgeous. This woman really knows her stuff (a little expensive, but worth it. gives discounts for groups)

Brittany & Co. Hair I used Camille. D+ Okay, they did accomodate me absolutely last minute and opened early, which was really nice. BUT, I had to go to them and it took forever and I absolutley hated my hair. Really, I got back into the car and cried. Thank goodness one of my bridesmaids had brought a curling iron and the other had very deft fingers. They totally redid the top and sides of my hair. The back fell out an hour into the party. To be fair, I had gone to Elena for a trial (although she wasn't able to do my wedding - my fault) and I LOVED what she did, so anything in comparison was bound to be awful. Everyone else said it looked fine, but I felt like I looked like I was 16 had just gotten a bad perm. (WAY too expensive for what it was. Go with Elena instead - comparatively priced and MUCH better. I am still kicking myself)

Steven Colamaria, Videographer A for day of - haven't seen his work yet, but he was a pleasure to work with. Brilliant man, with artistic, cinemotographic style. Not intrusive yet still everywhere. Not at all cheesy. (just starting out with weddings, so well priced. longer review later)

All other services soon... I am tired of typing... Overall, the day was absolutely amazing. Better than I ever dreamed it would be. It was the best day of my life - I still haven't coem down off that cloud!

Re: 7/24 Riviera Wedding Review (Long & detailed)

Thanks for the review!
I am looking foward to seeing some pictures!!!!

Re: 7/24 Riviera Wedding Review (Long & detailed)

Congrats! Sounds wonderful! Don't worry about the hair-I didn't like mine either, but you'll soon forget about it!

Re: 7/24 Riviera Wedding Review (Long & detailed)

Congratulations. I'm glad everything went well. Can't wait to see pictures. Sent you FM

Re: 7/24 Riviera Wedding Review (Long & detailed)

Please FM me with info on your videographer
thanks!

Re: 7/24 Riviera Wedding Review (Long & detailed)

Congratulations and thank you for the honest review. Best wishes to you and your DH!

Re: 7/24 Riviera Wedding Review (Long & detailed)

Congrats!!

Re: 7/24 Riviera Wedding Review (Long & detailed)

Congratulations!!!

Any pictures to share?

Re: 7/24 Riviera Wedding Review (Long & detailed)

OH I am so glad to hear that you had a good review of your own wedding!

As a person who attended...I must say that it was a spectacular time! The food was superb and the cake was just how she described.
As far as your hair goes sweetie, it looked gorgeous to me, and I never would have known that anything was wrong if you hadn't written so!

Now I'm Anticipating my big day review!