Boston&NY2006
Finally a Mrs.!!!!!
Member since 6/05 1699 total posts
Wedding Date:
7/8/2006 3:30 PM
Wed. Location:
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My 7-8-06 Wedding Review: Jericho Terrace, Flower Michele, Verdi, Royalty, Gorgeous Faces and more!
Well, it's finally over and I'm finally a wife...I can't tell you how wonderful a feeling that is!
I'd like to start by thanking Ron, Liz, and everyone at LIW for being so helpful to me during my planning. I planned my wedding "via satellite", and would've been tearing my hair out in Boston if it weren't for LIW. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
I did have some Boston vendors, but decided to include them anyway because you never know who might have a sister or cousin getting married in Boston.
I also tried to include prices wherever I could because I always hated not knowing what to expect in terms of cost when I was planning.
So, without further adieu, my review!
Dress: Judd Waddell from Allegria Bridal (Belmont, MA)- 10/10
Allegira Bridal was nothing but a pleasure to deal with throughout the entire process. I bought the dress at a trunk show, so I actually got to meet Judd and he did give me a great sketch of me in the dress that I will treasure forever. I also received a small discount on the dress, so I paid $2000 before tax instead of $2500. The dress was fantastic quality (according to my seamstress, some of the best craftsmenship she's seen in a long time), and was worth every single penny. Judd Waddell is sort of lesser known, but I am so glad I found this dress.
Veil: Custom Made by Allegria Bridal 10/10
As I said, Allegria Bridal was great to deal with. I ordered this single layer, fingertip length, silk organza veil with a chiffon edge and it arrived in about a month. It cost around $300 once all was said and done, but again, worth every penny.
Shoes: Kate Spade, "Marty" from My Glass Slipper.com 5/10
I absolutely loved these shoes and basically covetted them for months before I actually bit the bullet and paid the $225 for them. If you are like me and have wide feet, you probably think that couture shoes are out of the question...Think again, ladies! Kate Spade shoes actually run quite wide. I was so pleased to find this out and the shoes were actually REALLY comfortable!
The only issue I had was that when I received the shoes, they had very clearly been tried on A LOT before I received them. My Glass Slipper has very clearly stated policies about inspecting all shoes for "toe marks" and any sign of wear, so this really surprised me. When the shoes arrived, they had some "toe marks" and there was carpet fuzz on the bottom of the shoe from where some sort of sticker had been removed. I called MY Glass Slipper and was basically told that all shoes are inspected before leaving the warehouse and that there was nothing wrong with them when they were shipped. In the grand scheme of things, there wasn't really anything wrong with the shoes, but for $225 I'd expect them to be flawless.
 
(Ignore the weird shoe pads...I guess I shoud've waited until after pictures to put those in. They did make the shoes very comfy though).
Alterations: Melissa Nyugen (Haverhill, MA) 10/10
My seamstress doesn't usually take business from the general public, but did so as a favor to my DH's aunt who uses her for all her alterations. I couldn't go without mentioning her because she did such a fantastic job.
Hair: Sarah and Bridget Rock of NY Bridal Looks 10/10
Sarah and Bridget were absolutely amazing. They arrived right on time at 11:00 and had everyone completed (me, 5 bridesmaids, my mom and my MIL) by 1:45. They were absolute professionals in every sense of the word. Some of my bridesmaids had pictures of what they wanted, some did not...in every case, they were thrilled with how their hair turned out. I had a trial with Sarah in May, and loved how it turned out. The day of the wedding, I decided to make a slight change Sarash just rolled with the punches. I was absolutely thrilled with my hair and it lasted all night long. Sarah and Bridget charge $150 for the bride and $75 for the bridesmaids' up-dos for groups of 5 or more.
Make-up: Jillian Eisenberg from Gorgeous Faces 10/10
I was absolutely thrilled with Jillian's work. I paid $125 for my make-up. Jillian arrived right on time and only took about half an hour to complete my make-up. It was exactly what I had hoped for (very soft and natural) and lasted all day long. I also bought the lipstick and lip gloss from Jillian which was great because after kissing, eating and drinking I did need to reapply the lipstick.
BM Dresses: Chloe Strapless Dress in Berry Pink with Petal Pink Sash from Ann Taylor Celebrations Collection 8/10
I fell in love with these dresses the minute I saw them. They were $178 each when we bought them, and at that time they were giving away the sash for free (I think they're charging for it now). I really wanted my girls to have a dress they can wear again, and I think this one totally fits the bill. They were high quality, comfortable, and IMO pretty affordable for such a nice dress. The reason for the 8/10 is that we did have some issues with the fact that you buy the dresses off the rack. I sent all my BMs the info as soon as we picked the dresses (which was literally one week after the collection came out in stores). Within two weeks, three of the five bridesmaids had ordered their dresses, but the two that hadn't could not order their sizes online. I had to call around to all these Ann Taylor stores in the country to find the dress in their sizes. Ann Taylor customer service was helpful, but had no idea if they would have more dresses made. If you do decide to go this route, I would definitely take all your BMs to the store together and buy them at the same time. It was just an unnecessary headache during my planning.
My junior BMs dresses were also from Ann Taylor, but were siginificantly altered by a very talented seamstress in order to fit since Ann Taylor doesn't have children's or juniors sizes. Just something else to think about if you have little ones in the BP...
Tuxedos: Mens Wearhouse in Salem, NH and Bay Terrace, Queens 9/10
Overall, I was very pleased with the tuxes in terms of quality and look. My DH dealt with the selection and sizing of the tuxes in the Salem, NH location and had no complaints. We also had some deadbeat groomsmen who were measured late, but MW didn't even charge them the rush fee. The prices were great (only paid around $100 per GM and we received on tux free).
The only issue was that my DH's pants arrived torn (right at the crotch too, so it's not like you can hide that one) and he had to be rushed another pair. Luckily, my Dh followed the instructions MW had given him and went to pick up the tuxes 2 days before so there was time to get another pair. Moral of the story...make sure your FH doesn't procrastinate on this and end up with his boxers hanging out of his pants on the altar. Also, a word to the wise, my DH ordered the regular collared shirts instead of the stand up collar and was infinitely pleased with his decision...I didn't see one GM tugging at his collar the entire day!
 
Church: All Saints' Episcopal Church (Bayside, NY) Can't rate a church
I went to this church growing up and my parents still go there, so it was very special for me to be married in this church. They were so accomodating and helpful throughout the entire process. Everyone also really appreciated the air conditioning!
Invitations: Simply Encore style D-8053 ordered from Knot to Be Forgotten 4/10
Early in my wedding planning, I found an invitation that I absolutely loved at Crane, but they would've been almost $2000 for everything . So, my mom and I set out to find the same thing for cheaper.
I absolutely loved the invitations and thought that the quality and value were outstanding (about $600 for 150 invitations, reception cards, response cards with envelopes and lined outer envelopes with return address printed). That said, the service at Knot to Be Forgotten left a lot to be desired. We found Gladys to be very hard to get in touch with and she often wouldn't return calls until we had called and left numerous messages over the course of several days. At one point, my mother waited for almost two weeks for a call back from her. My mother also gave her the address of where to send the proof and then waited for almost two weeks before it finally arrived. During this time, my mother called several times because she was worried it had gotten lost in the mail, but never got a hold of Gladys or received a call back. I just felt this was extremely unprofessional and rude.
We also were irritated at the fact that despite typing out everything that was supposed to go on the invitation, our proof came back with several errors. I realize that this is why you get a proof, but it was the result of her sloppy handwriting and cross-outs on the form, so I think it's unacceptable. It also delayed us getting our invitations for two weeks because we had to wait on a second proof.
Overall, I wouldn't reccomend KTBF to another bride because I just felt that the customer service was so severely lacking. I would, however, recommend Simply Encore invitations.
Favors: Donation to Children's Hospital Boston (10/10)
This was definitely one of the easiest parts of our wedding-planning in terms of both the decision to do it and the process of making the donation.
My DH and I both have relatives that have been affected by childhood illnesses, so this was a very important cause for us, and a no-brainer in terms of deciding where to donate money. The entire process was also unbelievably easy. I basically called Children's one day from work, they sent me an order form and a sample (you could pick either a placecard or a scroll), I filled it out, wrote a check and sent it back in. Within two weeks of sending my check, I received my package of scrolls and acknowledgement of the donation. I also took advantage of my company's matching gift program, so Children's got some extra money out of the deal. We donated $2000 and my company matched it for a total of $4000. We did actually make a bigger donation than we needed to. I believe that Children's asks for $2 per scroll or placecard.
 
Florist: Flower Michele (Mineola, NY) 9/10
Ok, I have to start off by saying that John from Flower Michele is an absolute pleasure to deal with and I enjoyed working with him immensely. From the first moment I met him, I felt that he totally understood my "vision" for the wedding and trusted him completely. When I went in for my sample centerpiece, I was absolutely floored. He had perfectly captured exactly what we wanted.
Now, the only reason for the 9/10 instead of the 10/10 is that I was a little surprised by the flowers on the day of the wedding. In our contract, it stated that the bridesmaids bouquets would contain white blizzard roses, green hydrangea, and pink and green ranuculous. When they arrived the day of the wedding, they had no ranuculous, but had some sort of small purple flower and hot pink tea roses. I am assuming that there was a problem getting the ranuculous, but since we had never discussed purple in the bouquets, I was surprised that he would take such liberty. I was also a little disappointed with the high centerpieces. It specifically stated in my contract that there would be no exposed greenery or ferns and there was some very visible greenery in the CPs. They were definitely not as full as my sample had been, and that upset me a little.
Overall, I still absolutely loved my flowers and was thrilled with my choice of Flower Michele. I would, however, have loved a phone call or a heads up so that I could have been expecting that the bouquets were going to be a little different, and I would've liked to be consulted before another color was added to the BM bouquets (it just so happens that I really dislike the color purple...oh well).
Our total cost was about $3500 for 17 centerpieces (8 low, 9 high), my bouquet, 5 BM bouquets, 2 jr. BM bouquets, 12 boutonierres, 6 corsages, 2 altar arrangements, 10 pew decorations, and cake flowers.
         
Limos: Princess Rolls and 14 Passenger Lincoln from Royalty Limos 8/10
My parents were in charge of researching and booking limos, so all that I know is that my dad felt that the customer service was best at Royalty. He also felt that their limos were in the best condition and were cleanest.
The two drivers were both very courteous and helpful. Fixing my dad's tie before we walked down the aisle, fluffing my train, etc. My DH and I also definitely enjoyed the champagne in the limo from the church to the reception. Overall, we were very pleased with the service we received. The total cost was about $1200.
We knew that because the Princess Rolls is an older car, the air conditioning probably wouldn't be the best...It wasn't. When my parents and I drove to the church from our house, it was only a 10 minute ride, but we were definitely sweating. The limo driver didn't turn the A.C. on until we got into the car, so I think that had something to do with it.
The only other "problem" was that the limo for the BP wasn't in the finest of shape. My sister mentioned that there was a missing light fixture in the ceiling...It really wasn't a big deal...The BP seemed like they had a pretty good time anyway because they were whooping it up by the time they got to the reception.
   
Band: The Swinging Johnsons/The Johnson Brothers (Boston, MA) 9/10:
Before John and I were even engaged, we decided that when we got married, this would be the band at our reception. We were very lucky that when we decided to get married in NY instead of Boston that the Swinging Johnsons (known as The Johnson Brothers when they play weddings so as not to offend Grandma) would agree to come along for the ride. Of course, we had to pay extra for the privilege, but it was worth it! We paid $6,000 for the band (they normally charge $3500 in Boston) and paid for their hotel rooms the night of the wedding.
I have to say, this was one of the best decisions we could've made. They literally had the dance floor shaking (it was actually shaking according to my cousin) the entire night. After dinner, they got things started with "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey, and women and children were diving for cover to get out of the way of the stampede to the dance floor. They fit our taste and that of our friends perfectly...They played classics, oldies and of course, 80's music which was great.
There was a little confusion with the introductions (DH's grandparents didn't want to walk in, they just wanted to be acknowledged at their table), and the band actually started playing DH and his mom's song when my dad and I were taking the floor. Those were pretty small, though in the grand scheme of things. For the most part, they were pretty amazing all night.
    
Like I said, everyone had a REALLY good time...
Menus and Placecards: Inkspun.com 8/10
This was sort of a last minute thing because I decided I hated the menus and placecards provided by Jericho Terrace (really...they're kind of hideous). Anyway, I was very pleased with the way they turned out and the priced were fantastic. I could, however, have done without the panic of not knowing if they'd be ready on time. The gentleman with whom I dealt (whose name escapes me now) was not the best at returning phone calls or e-mails, so I was a little worried (when I still hadn't heard back from him a week after I placed the order...especially since that left me with only 5 more days until the wedding). Anyway, everything worked out fine, but returning phone calls goes a long way with me.
The cost was $0.39 per placecard and $0.49 per menu. Well worth it in my opinion.
Reception Hall: Jericho Terrace (Mineola, NY) 6/10
I really do hate to give Jericho Terrace such a low rating, but there were just some glaring problems that I cannot ignore.
First, the good things...
I thought that the food was very good. I didn't get to eat much at the cocktail hour, but what I tasted was delicious. I also really enjoyed my entree (I had the filet mignon) which was cooked exactly as requested and was a very generous portion. The appetizer was a cold antipasto, and while it wasn't disgusting or inedible, I wasn't impressed. The salad and pasta course were both good. We had the deluxe menu, and from what I hear, every choice was well received. Two people with whom I spoke even had the duck and said it was great.
I also thought the wait staff and bartenders were unbelieveable. So many of our guests actually even took pictures with their waiter because they were just that good. They were constantly replenishing drinks and meeting special requests which was something I was concerned about. The bartenders were just as good, and many people commented that the bartenders would have a drink waiting for them when they got to the bar...To me, that's impressive service.
Finally, I thought their prices were pretty good. We paid just about $26,000 for the reception for 175 people. Our minimum was actually 200, but since we didn't make our minimum, they threw in chair covers, wine on every table, upgraded beer (we got bud, bud light, heineckin and amstel light instead of just bud and coors) and a cordial bar. Even without the extras, it included top-shelf open bar, an obscene amount of food and stations at the cocktail hour and 7 entree choices for dinner. We wanted tons of food, but didn't want to break the bank, and we were able to do that. Of course, you get what you pay for, so the decor was not exactly my favorite and I definitely could've done without the 3 other weddings going on at the same time as mine.
Ok, now the not-so-good things...
I really felt that the entire planning process was made difficult by Jericho Terrace. When I originally booked the hall in January 2005, Robert was assigned as my banquet manager. I think I was a pretty low maintenance bride, and only actually called JT about 4 times from January 05 until my semi-final appointment in May 06. The problem was that every time I called with a question, Robert told me that it could wait until the semi-final appointment. This made me uneasy, but I didn't want to be a pest, so I let it go and figured that they must know what they are doing. I also felt that the receptionist (during the day) was extremely short with me whenever I called and just had a rude tone. I mentioned this to Robert, and he acted completely shocked that I thought this woman was rude. Well, I posted it on the Jericho Terrace thread and found that MANY other JT brides had complained about the same thing to Robert. It's absurd to me that he would act as if I'm imagining that this woman was rude when other brides have clearly mentioned the same thing.
This brings me to May when I was to be scheduled to have my semi-final appointment. I never received the "letter" as promised, so I called JT myself to schedule the appointment (in person appointments were always difficult because I live in Boston). I scheduled the appointment with Robert, and dutifully brought my list of all the things that he had told me could wait until this meeting. When I arrived with my parents and FH, I was surprised to find out that we would not be meeting with Robert, but with someone I had never even met before, Anna.
I was immediately turned off by Anna because she has a very used-car-salesman kind of style, and she started steamrolling through her checklists without even letting us get a word in edgewise. When we started going over our choices, she basically shot one thing down after another. While I appreciate suggestions (after, this is what they do for a living), I felt that she had no regard for our personal preferences and just wanted to do things how they are used to doing them. I also found myself repeating the same things to her over and over. She must have asked 3 or 4 times during the course of 30 minutes whether we had a band or a DJ. She also asked me three times what kind of cake we wanted. For the record, it was #7 with no bows, sponge cake, cannoli and chocolate mousse filling.
She was also extremely rude when I told her which parts of the package we didn't want. For instance, we didn't want the ice sculpture, fruit carvings, or "champagne march." I simply stated that we would rather not have those things at the reception and to please make sure that they didn't happen. Every single time I wanted to eliminate something, she pushed and prodded me wanting to know "Why" I didn't want those things. I was trying to be tactful and tell her that they just weren't our style, but she wouldn't drop it and continued to try to convince me of how wonderful these things are. My father finally had to step in and say, "She just doesn't want them. ok? Enough."
Finally, she was unable to answer many of the questions that Robert had told me to bring with me to the semi-final appointment. For example, I had wanted to have chivari chairs for the reception. Robert told me that we would deal with it at the appointment, and I assumed that they could either provide them or had a vendor that would. I came to find out at the final meeting that they don't have anyone or even know of anyone that does this, and Anna told me that I would have to call Robert myself the following day and ask his permission to bring the chairs in. As you can see from my pictures, we ended up doing chair covers because at this point it was too late to find someone or to argue with JT about it.
I was also told at this meeting, that our final appointment would be with our Maitre D and that we would go over this stuff again with him at that meeting. Maybe it's just me, but it seems really inefficient to have to repeat yourself three times to different people. I've never heard of other brides having to deal with so many different people in the course of their wedding planning.
After our meeting, I called Anna to ask her to send me a sample of the menu (something I had meant to ask at the meeting, but forgot because I was so flustered) and she said she was glad I had called because she didn't remember to write down what kind of cake we wanted!!! I nearly died! I repeated AGAIN that we wanted #7 with NO BOWS with sponge cake, cannoli and chocolate mousse filling. She repeated it back to me, and I figured that it was an honest mistake and that it would be fine. I couldn't have been more wrong...She literally called me back three days later to ask me AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! She said that whoever entered the contract into the computer somehow forgot to enter the cake and the paper contract had been lost...Great...I told her again and figured that at this point there's no way the cake would be wrong. I must be so naive because the day of my wedding, I was actually surprised to see that the cake was wrong. Oh, it was #7 alright, with all it's bows, and not even normal bows like in the picture...bows with some weird airbrush technique done to them. I am still astounded that after all that they could still mess it up!
This brings me to the day of the wedding. We arrived about 5 minutes late because there was some sort of fireman's parade and we got detoured. I had been told that they stagger their weddings and that we would have plenty of time to take pictures outside before another bride arrived (i.e. more than 5 minutes). Well, lo and behold, another bride showed up literally seconds after we did and immediately took over all the outdoor picture areas. We were left standing next to our limo trying to figure out what to do. I thought that Al (my maitre d who was standing right there) should've jumped in at that point, but nothing was done. As a result, I have no pictures outside at JT and really don't like any of the pictures that were taken inside (not anything really wrong with the pictures, but I don't like the decor). It was just so disappointing that we had such gorgeous weather and still didn't get to take any pictures outside.
We were also told, by Robert, that we didn't have to worry at all about hearing other weddings going on at the same time. He gave us some speech about how the rooms are sound-proofed, etc. Well, funny how when our band stopped playing to announce something (like a toast or the father daughter dance) we could hear techno music BLASTING from another room. It got to the point that the band started to joke about it, "Better play a really loud one because it sounds like that techno is starting up again." Luckily, the band was great about it and it wasn't too much of a problem, but I felt we were misled.
The two other issues I had were with Al, the maitre d. First, it seemed he had not reviewed our contract at all before we arrived. I had to repeat to my bridal attendants and to him that we were not doing a champagne march, the flower arch, a bouquet toss or a garter toss. All of this had been covered both at the meeting with Anna and when my parents met with Al. I was really annoyed to have to repeat myself again on my wedding day. The second issue I had with Al was his treatment of my band. As I mentioned in my band review, they travelled all the way from Boston and it was very important to us to have them there. I had given Al a list of "reuqests" from the band that I asked he follow because it was very important to me that the band be happy (happy band=happy guests, right?). Al assured me everything would be done, but the day of the wedding he didn't sound very convincing. I mentioned some of their requests (which were, by the way, not ridiculous..for instance, if someone could bring them some hors d'ouerves and soft drinks while they set up because they'd been driving all day). Al then told me that the band is "hired help" and that I shouldn't be concerned with these requests. He said that his job is to make me happy not the band because they're being paid to be here. I felt that this was a really arrogant attitude especially since it's my opinion that regardless of whether someone is being paid to be there they should be treated like a human being. It finally got to the point where my DH had to say, "You said that your only job is to make us happy. Well, if the band's not happy, we're not happy, so you'd better work a lot harder trying to make the band happy or your envelope will be a lot lighter at the end of the night." It's upsetting to me that it got to the point where my DH had to say that. I haven't gotten all the details from the band, but it's my understanding (from my guests) that the band got into some kind of argument with Al later in the night.
All in all, most of the things that went wrong went completely unnoticed by the guests, but I could've done without the stress. Jericho Terrace, in my opinion, could use some work on their customer service and just general competence. I realize that they're a "wedding factory", but you'd think that after so many years of churning out wedding receptions they'd have it down to a science.
So, do I regret my choice of hall? Yes. Did I let it ruin my happiness on the day of my wedding? No. Does it take away from the fact that I married my best friend? Definitely not.
I would not, however, reccommend JT to another bride.
Photographer: Photography by Verdi (Patchogue, NY) 10/10
By now, you've been through most of my review, and I think the pictures speak for themselves. I have never doubted my decision to go with Verdi from day one, and cannot reccommend them enough. If you have booked them or are thinking of booking them, you have nothing to worry about!
Mindy and Rich were so patient all day long (even with my mom who can try your patience), and really kept me calm and organized. I didn't even know they were there half the time, and they still captured the most amazing shots.
We paid $4700 total and that included 2 photographers for the entire day, all our proofs (guaranteed over 1000) in a proof album (and no, they DON'T say Verdi on them, it's just the photos posted online that have that), about 500 of our pictures posted on their website (very convenient for inserting pics into this review!), and our album. I do not have a single bad thing to say about Verdi...They truly were a wonderful choice.
Here are some of my favorite pictures:
       
 
Soooo classy...
  
Message edited 8/1/2006 2:24:07 PM.
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