My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (ALL Shutterfly PICS added page 3 -1/18/05)

So sorry for the very belated review. I know how much I relied on these in my planning, so I really hope helps. I used a couple of Chicago vendors as well that I won’t review since I’m not sure they will be much help. I’ve been waiting to get my proofs to post with the review, but I still don’t have them. I will post them soon I hope.

Band: LiveWire www.livewireny.com A+
This was one of the harder things which we spent a lot of time picking. Since we live in Chicago the majority of bands that we heard we heard by video or cd. I have to say that we heard 90% of the bands out there with 8 musicians or less. We really wanted a 7 piece band due to space limitations and LiveWire was very accommodating. We heard them in their studio in the city and they were great. One of the band member’s sounds just like Billy Joel. Anthony, the band leader, stopped by my mom’s house to get the deposit, and also dropped of a CD of a the background music to a song I wanted to sing as a surprise for my husband. They even brought the 8th member even though we didn’t pay of 8 people, and it worked out fine. They were happy to learn songs. They super accommodating, very reasonable priced, and very responsive. These guys also go by the names Attitude and Phase 3 if you book them through an agent.

String Quartet: Lyrical String Quartet A+
I totally shopped around to find the most reasonably priced group and found them. They were well dressed and very professional. All the members were also from Long Island so I didn’t worry about traffic. I didn’t get to hear them play much since I was in the bridal suite while they played, but what I heard coming down the aisle was good. About a month before my wedding one of the band members called me to tell me that the bandleader was in a fatal car accident. It was very tragic, but they did honor all their commitments. I’m not sure if they are still performing.

Save the Dates: Paper Source www.paper-source.com Magnet Valley www.magnetvalley.com Pearl
I made my own and was able to get a lot of materials including eyelets, paper and tools. Paper Source has a lot of different types of paper and you can return easily. I bought adhesive magnets from the Magnet Valley. I purchased 100 4x4 20 mil magnets and cut them down at Kinkos. For some reason they only sent 86, but quickly sent the rest.. I wanted them larger than business cards, so I choose these over the other size. Make sure you also get at lease 20mil otherwise they are pretty flimsy. Pearl was a good place to buy really thin ribbon for a great price

Invitations: Paper Source, JKM Ribbons www.jkmribbon.com A, http//handmade-paper.us A++ LCI Paper www.LCIpaper.com A+
Ok this was kind of a nightmare. I spent forever trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I looked at all the websites, and decide that the really creative ones were just too expensive. So the Martha Stewart in me decided to make a surprise appearance. I did swear that I wouldn’t do anything like this after doing the save the dates.
Paper Source: I bought stardreams paper (Opal (cardstock) and Mars(regular paper)) at Paper Source, I also bought all the rsvp cards and envelopes. They have a bunch of different sizes and are much cheaper to buy this way then already printed. I had the printer cut them down to size before printing.
Handmade-paper: I wanted to a gatefold so I search high and low for an embossed paper. Susan who is the owner is absolutely amazing. She totally went above and beyond, she sent all sort of different samples, and then sent me a few extras free of charge when I didn’t have enough. She totally went above and beyond. Just go to her website if you are looking for any type of paper. I believe she said she has over 1800 different types.
JKM Ribbons: So this is where I got a little obsessive. I wanted a taffeta-like ribbon and couldn’t find it anywhere till I found this site. They have a great selection that are well priced. If you need a decent amount I think it costs less to buy from them here than anywhere else. They also got it to me much sooner than their website says they would. Since they are out of Jersey it doesn’t take long to ship.
LCI Paper: I had a hard time finding square 71/4 x 71/4 envelopes. This company carries a bunch of different kinds, which are fairly inexpensive. They sell in packs of 50 and will happily send you samples. They shipped them directly to the calligrapher, and even sent a few extras at a reduced price.

Calligrapher: A Fine Letter www.afineletter.com A+, Carmella Mazzarulli [email protected] A+
I used A Fine Letter for the STDs. I picked the penmanship style that is only .25 per envelope. I think I sent it Tuesday and had it back by Saturday. It took her a day to do everything. Melanie is very nice and was easy to work with.
I used Carmella to do the invitations because she only charges $1 for each invitation (inner and outer) including return addressing (I didn’t have it printed on the back of the envelope). I think its only .80 if you don’t do the return addressing. They came out beautifully, so much so that people commented on the calligraphy. I got them the day I wanted. I would recommend her in a heartbeat.

Photographer: Jamie Collins www.jamiecollinsphotography.com
I looked at 6 different photographers but kept comparing everyone to her. Jamie is extremely talented and has a very artistic style. She is based in CT, but had no trouble getting to us in Port Jefferson. She specializes in digital photography. Because she is not a big studio, prints do take longer than if you went with a large photography group. It took a long time to get the engagement shots. But I really liked her work and was ok with the delay. I’m still waiting to get the proofs back, supposedly they were sent a couple of days ago so I should get them soon.

Video: WildRoseVideo www.wildrosevideo.com
Totally the easiest decision in the wedding planning. They were the only place I went to and booked them on the stop. I had looked at a few different videos online and they blew me away. Marie is so great. I had initially emailed them to see if they were available and called when I didn’t hear back right away. It turned out that Marie did respond letting me know that they were booked, but I didn’t get the email. During the phone call she basically fit me it. The videographer, John, got there early and was with me from 11:00am to 1:30am in the morning. Mark, their son was there as well. I have to say that video might be the most important thing I booked that day. It was all such an amazing blur that I’m glad I’m going to have something that will show me what actually happened that day J No rating since I don’t have the video yet.

Florist: FlowerMichele www.flowermichele.com A
John was absolutely terrific to work. I had me with him and one another vendor and knew off the bat that I wanted him to do the flowers. He is super personable and very easy to work with. The flowers came out beautifully, I had an idea of what I wanted (high pedestal with a mushroom effect) and he totally went with it. The flowers were wonderful quality, very full and exactly the way I wanted them. The one thing that did happen was that he forgot our sample viewing, which wouldn’t have been a major thing, but I live in Chicago and its an 1.5 drive to get to Huntington to see it. Fortunately I was able to schedule it the last time I was going to be NY before the wedding. He was super apologetic and bent over backward to meet after that. Things happens, no one is perfect. I would recommend John in a NY minute.

Dress: DesignerLoft www.designerloftnyc.com B+
I had quite the adventure getting my dress, but finally ended up purchasing it here. They specialize in boutique designer dresses in the 2000+ ranges that are not as mainstream as Ream and Amsale. They are very friendly (not snotty at all) and have about 10 different designers. A couple of things were annoying, I was going to do a muslin fitting and originally they said it would happen about 5 weeks after I bought the dress. Since I was scheduled to come for an event 5 weeks later it would have worked out perfectly, but it turned out that they weren’t ready to do it when I called to confirm the appointment. It’s annoying because I was flying to NY every time to do things like this and this then had to schedule another trip. After I finally did the muslin, which basically uses canvas to create a dress fit to my dimensions, when I tried the actual dress on at my first fitting it was huge, 3 sizes to big, and I didn’t lose or gain a pound. Now that happens, but it shouldn’t if you do muslin. Everything worked out perfectly in the end and I adored the dress I bought, but those were my two issues. They weren’t great about returning calls, but it was adequate for the most part. I actually saw the woman I bought my dress from on “The Apprentice” last night.

Limo: Royalty www.royaltylimo.com A+
I definitely shopped limos. Royalty did have the best prices and the most limos. They were an hour early and Tina is absolutely fabulous. Great to work with.



Hair: Taralei A++
Have to say this was one of the best finds in the whole wedding planning. I looked on LIW for recommendations and called around. Taralei was just mentioned once as a recommendation to another bride from Denise Venti since she was booked. I hadn’t seen any pictures or anything but I figured why not. I scheduled trial with 3 different hair-dressers, and she was the last one. The first one I didn’t like, the second was ok, but Taralei blew me away. I knew that I was going to book her before I even saw the back of my head. She and her assistant were on time the day of and she’s an absolute sweetheart. My hair lasted all night long, not a single strand fell. If you are planning a trial she isn’t the easiest person to reach, but she always calls back eventually. Don’t let it discourage you. She is fabulous.

Makeup: Jacqueline Nicole www.prettyme.com A+
Everything you here about her is true. She is so sweet, and great at what she does. She’s the only trial I had and loved my makeup. I knew that I was going to book her and am glad I did. The makeup came out beautifully. I did the airbrushing and thought it felt so good. My makeup lasted all night.

Rehearsal Dinner & Hotel: Danfords www.danfords.com C-
I wasn’t sure what to grade to give. We had a hard time booking a hotel. After seeing a few places we decided we wanted our guest to stay somewhere that they could walk around. Port Jefferson really was the only option. Unfortunately there aren’t a ton of choices where everyone could have a central location. Danford’s seem to have what we were looking for even if it was expensive ($189 per night). They said we were getting a break from their $229 rate, but it turned out you could get the $189 if you just went online. We also booked our rehearsal dinner there Thursday, but then changed it to Friday a week later. I get a call from a friend that when she tried to book just Saturday night they said she couldn’t, and they had a 2 night minimum. WHAT??? No one every said anything like that and when I scoured their contract it never mentioned anything like that. I ended up speaking with Nicole who was abrasive at best but then finally said that they would accommodate 5 rooms without the 2 night minimum. Bull, but it was fine since I had a bunch of people spending more than one night anyway.
One month before the wedding, we called to confirm the rehearsal dinner, and they had the reservation for Thursday. Not only did they not have the change in their book, they said they couldn’t make the change and the person responsible for making the reservation no longer worked there. Thank god we had a fax from her that showed the change in the reservation, but the restaurant manager was a jerk. At this point Linda got involved, and got this straightened out as well as worked with us regarding the guest reservations and making sure the block was held longer. Linda was a pleaure to work with and the really the only exception.
All in all the customer service is extremely lacking at the Danfords. We had the suite for 3 nights total and 20 rooms, and any request made appeared to be an annoyance to them. I asked for an electric cord, some plates brought up, and a few random things, and they were accommodating but after initially telling me that they weren’t sure if that was possible. A perfect example: when I went to the front desk to have 5 copies made of directions to the wedding. The woman at the front desk made them, but also told me that she would wave the .25 per copy fee. WHAT??? I’m spending $1000s of dollars here and you were going to charge me to make 5 copies. Lets just say they did the bear minimum, and didn’t treat us at all with any special attention no matter how minimal. After being on a honeymoon where every hotel went the extra miles to make our stay special, we really realized how little Danfords did.

Favors www.idlebrook.com A
Hated this part. I couldn’t decide what I wanted for the longest time. I decided on letter openers with our names engraved. It was pretty hard to find nice ones that were reasonable priced. This is a promotions company that has all sorts of items you can personalize, in all different price ranges. They were very professional, shipped quickly, and all in all it was a smooth process.

Shuttle Bus: Coach USA FFFFFF----------
ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!!! They were easy to work with in booking the buses and were better priced by $300 than anyone else, but that’s where the good ends. I had reserved 2 shuttle buses to take my guests to the reception and back. We had one pickup from Port Jefferson at 5:45 and the other from Brooklyn 4:15. At 4:15, while I’m in the limo, my aunt calls from Brooklyn to tell me everyone is waiting but the bus isn’t there. I called the bus company and was given the driver’s cell phone. He said he hit traffic was on the Manhattan bridge and was about 30-40 minutes away. Bad enough but not the end of the world since if he got there at 5:00 they would still make it on time. He didn’t pick them up TILL 5:40!!!! He had no directions (I had emailed them to the bus company), no navigation system, and didn’t to get to the wedding 8:00. The 40 guests on this bus all missed the ceremony, and waited for 1:40 minutes for the bus. The drive should not have been more than 1:30, he got lost twice on top of it. After he finally arrived he had planned on leaving since he thought it was only a drop off. Just out of control, how did he think everyone was getting back?
The other bus from Port Jefferson never showed up at all!!! For a nationwide company to screw up to this end is unthinkable. They do this all the time and should consider traffic, directions, etc. I was unbelievable!! Our bridal party that would have taken the bus back to PJ ended up going with us in our limo and getting 2 taxis. We finally did receive a full refund after 2 months of harassing them, but the money can’t make up for the disaster.

Cake: Audrey’s Bakery www.audreybakes.com A+
Tom is terrific. We were kind of nightmare customers since we kept changing our minds. He went above and beyond by making a total of 4 different sample cakes for us. In the end the cake was excellent and looks beautiful. We also got the full Viennese hour that our guest adored. The highlight was the chocolate fountain but everything was wonderful.

Reception: The Vanderbilt Mansion www.vanderbiltmansion.com A+++++
There is a ton to say, but words don’t do them justice. Everything was absolutely wonderful. I dealt primarily with Mary Anne who was super accommodating and would get back to me right away with regard to any questions that came up. The food was incredible, people are still telling me how terrific everything was. We upgraded to all the stations and it was an insane amount of food. Fortunately the weather was excellent so we were able to get married in the courtyard, which looked lovely. We also had some of the stations on the back terrace so that worked well. Suzanne, the Maitre’D is fantastic. She totally dealt with the bus fiasco during the wedding, as well as made sure that all the details were worked out with the band and flow of the night. I am so glad that I decided to have the wedding here, not only was the place very beautiful and regal, but the staff at Lovin Oven are a pleasure to work with.

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

It sounds like despite a few mishaps, you still had a beautiful wedding. Thanks for the detailed review! Post pics so we can see!!!

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

Congrats, date twin!! Glad to hear you had a wonderful day, despite the shuttle bus fiasco .

Looking forward to pictures!!

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

Irene!

What a fantastic day regardless of the problems with the bus company and Danfords. I can't wait to see your pictures and I'm dying to know where the surprise honeymoon was to!

Congratulations to you and your husband!

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

Glad to hear you had a wonderful wedding day! Congrats!

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

Irene - first of all, congratulations!!! I have been anxious to read your review as I am a Vanderblit bride. Glad it turned out to be a perfect day for you! Can't wait to see the pics. My FH really wants to get married in the courtyard, so I especially can't wait to see those. And those of you in your gown of course!

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

congrats, it all sounds wonderful!!

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

COngratulation Irene!!!!

Can't wait to see your pics - enjoy newlywed bliss!!

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

Congratulations Irene!!!!!

Best wishes to you and your DH!!!

Your review was great, and I feel your pain about Danford's (the hotel part for us was less than perfect, but the reception was great). And like you I loved Wild Rose.

All the best!~~~~~~~~~~

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

CONGRATS!!! SOUNDED LIKE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

Congratulations! Glad to hear you had a lovely day for your outdoor ceremony. We too had a problem with our bus that shuttled family and the wedding party from Manhattan to Vanderbilt - they were late, got lost despite having given them directions beforehand.

Look forward to seeing you photos.

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

CONGRATULATIONS. I loved the vanderbilt too, they are a real class act. cant wait to see pics

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (pics to be posted next week)

Ok I've been a very bad newlywed. But I finally got my pictures a couple of weeks ago and FINALLY organized them to post. So I am very sorry for the delay. I know how much I love looking at pictures. Here are a bunch.

But first I forgot to include a couple of reviews so here goes:

Stan Weist We used him to find a couple of ballroom dancers that performed 2 15 minute sets. My mom wanted some form of entertainment during the wedding. They were very good, but I think one set would have been enough.

The Honeymoon
As some of you know it was a complete and utter surprise for me. I had no idea where were going, even at the airport. Basically I flew 16 hours before I found out. Between our connections I had no clue. We initially flew to Crete and step 9 day just relaxing which was definately necessary and wonderful. We stayed it 2 different parts of the island at gorgeous hotels. My DH did very well planning. From there we flew to Munich and unbeknowst to me would spend a few days there. Highly recommend going. We even got to go to Ocktoberfest which was an experience in itself. We then drove through Austria and stopped at an old castle for the night from where we headed to Vienna. After a few days in Vienna we took the train to Budapest. I'm not including details but these places are really beautiful and certainly worth seeing. Our final stop was Prague which was our favorite. Its still has the old medival feel and we absolutely adored being there. All in all it was a terrific honeymoon with a terrific agenda that I can only thank my husband for. It was a complete and utter surprise to the point I didn't even know which city we would go to next.

Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (FINALLY WITH LOTS OF PICTURES)

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Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (FINALLY WITH LOTS OF PICTURES)

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Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (FINALLY WITH LOTS OF PICTURES)

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Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (FINALLY WITH LOTS OF PICTURES)

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Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (FINALLY WITH LOTS OF PICTURES)

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Re: My September 4th wedding at Vanderbilt Mansion (FINALLY WITH LOTS OF PICTURES)++++ Shutterly link to all picks page 3 added 1/18

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