Updated - Review - 10/13/07 GWM, Camelot Limo, Blossom Heath Florist, etc

Invitations – Invitations by Dawn www.invitationsbydawn.com
Rating A
We wanted to get invitations with a Irish chaddagh on them. I noticed that PattyK had some celtic invitation samples in her album and I asked her where she ordered them. She told me that you can order samples from Invitations by Dawn. I ordered a sample and we really liked the one with the Irish claddagh on them. We ordered them with gold lettering, including the return address on the outer envelopes. When I contacted the calligrapher, she did not use gold ink. So, I contacted Invitations by Dawn and explained the situation. Since it was too late to modify the order, I ordered the outer envelopes with black ink. They arrived in a couple of days.



Calligraphy – EZCalligraphy www.ezcalligraphy.com/
Rating A+
It was a pleasure to work with Michelle. I wanted the envelopes to be addressed in the same font as the invitation. It only took her a couple of days to locate the font. In a about a week, all the envelopes (inner and outer) were done. They looked wonderful.

Wedding Gown – Beautiful Bride (Lynbrook)
Rating A++
I found a gown that I really liked at the Alfred Angelo website www.alfredangelo.com/
According to the website, Beautiful Bride had Alfred Angelo dresses. I went to Beautiful Bride with a picture of the dress. They were very helpful and had the dress in my size (which was wonderful). They picked out other dresses that I might like. The first dress that I tried on was the Alfred Angelo dress. I didn’t try on any of the other dresses. I had found “the one”. Alteration process went very, very smoothly. Nothing but raves for Beautiful Bride

Shoes – Rhea Nichols (Rockville Centre)
Rating A+
Without going into detail, I have problems with my feet. My podiatrist suggested that I go to Rhea Nichols. The salesman was very helpful. He brought out a shoe that had a satin (not leather) knotted piece across the top of the foot. It was very comfortable.

Tuxedos – Town and Country (East Meadow) www.txtux.com/
Rating A
We only needed two tuxedos (groom and best man). DH and I went to look at tuxedos and picked out a style. He was measured that day. A few weeks later, the best man came up from New Jersey. Best man was measured. They picked up the tuxedos on the day before the wedding. My DH tried on his tuxedo in the afternoon and there were no problems. The best man did not arrive until early evening due to car problems. Luckily, his tuxedo fit perfectly.

Wedding Rings - www.celtic-weddingrings.com/
Rating A+
My husband is 100% Irish and we wanted to get wedding rings that were a little different. I searched on the internet and found this website. We found rings that had an Irish claddagh and Irish knots. We took a picture of the rings to our jeweler to see if he could find something similar (we wanted to see them before we ordered them). He contacted the company and they would not send the rings to him. So, we decided to order them…sight unseen. We were very happy with the rings. Subsequently, I went to an Irish store on Merrick Road in Seaford and they carried the rings.

Flowers – Blossom Heath (Oceanside) www.blossomheathgarden.com/
Rating A-
I ordered a bouquet for me, a bouquet for my maid of honor, a corsage for my mother, and boutonnieres for my 2 brothers. The corsage for my mother was fine. The boutonnieres for my brothers began to droop by the end of the wedding ceremony. While the photographer was taking pictures at my mom’s house, some of the flowers were falling out of the bouquets. We did our best to try to put them back in.

Flowers – Oberle (East Meadow) www.oberlesflorist.com/
Rating A-
My husband ordered boutonnieres for him and the best man. The boutonnieres began to droop by the end of the wedding ceremony.

Rehearsal Dinner – Alias Smith and Jones (Oceanside)
Rating Food A (but service was lacking on that particular night)
We were seated quickly because we had made reservations in advance for 10 people. There was only one menu on the table, so we passed the menu around. After about 15 minutes, someone brought menus for the rest of us. Eventually, our waitress came to take drink orders. Eventually, our waitress came to take our dinner orders. It took a LONG time for us to get our food. Then, a woman came over and told us that one of the chefs had to go home, which is why we had to wait SO long for our food. When the food finally arrived, it was delicious. It was no one’s fault that the chef had to go home, but it wasn’t the best of evenings.

Limousines – Camelot Limousines www.camelotlimo.com/
Rating A++
We met with Joe and explained what we thought we needed. He made some suggestions that made a lot of sense. We decided on the white Rolls Royce and a white limousine for the day, and a black limousine for after the reception. The cars were clean. The drivers were wonderful (very friendly and personable). The price was very reasonable, too.

Reception – George Washington Manor (Presidential Room) www.georgewashingtonmanor.com/
Rating A+
Our banquet manager was Melissa Patron. She was very helpful from the first day that we met with her. We had a lot of questions throughout the process and she answered every one quickly and completely. The bridal party was in a different room during the cocktail hour, but some food was brought to us. It was absolutely delicious. The food at the reception was delicious too. We also decided on trays of cookies and trays of pastries on each table, in addition to a dessert and the wedding cake. In the days after the wedding, many guests told us that they thoroughly enjoyed the reception.
The only “problem” was there was a parade in Roslyn, so it was very difficult for the limousines to get from Gerry Park to the George Washington Manor. It would have been nice if we were informed of the parade (even that week), so that we could let the limousine company know. This way, perhaps an alternate route could have been planned.

Frames (for table number assignment) and Favors – Blue Rainbow Design
www.bluerainbowdesign.com/
Rating A+
The frames that we picked were the brushed metal photo frames. They looked even better than the picture on the website.
The favors that we picked were the “Fall in Love” glass coasters. They also looked even better than the picture on the website.
They were both delivered quickly.

Photographer – Lavender Studio www.lavenderbridalstudio.com/
Rating A (so far)
We had one photographer (Michael). He took lots of pictures. He didn’t seem bothered when I asked him to take specific pictures. The proofs were ready in a couple of weeks. They looked great. A couple of days after picking up the proofs, I realized that some pictures that were taken at my Mom’s house were not in the box of proofs. I called Michael and asked about a specific picture - bouquets on the bed with the invitation propped up against the bouquets. (I thought that this would be a nice first photo in our album). He said that he was waiting on someone to get the photos taken at my Mom’s house to him and it would take about 4 weeks. We told him that we had picked out our Thank You photo and asked him if he could print copies of it for us now, or did we have to wait until we placed the order for the albums. He said that he could print the Thank You photos now and it would take only 2 weeks to get them from him.
UPDATE -
Rating B
We picked up the Thank You photos this week. They look great. I got a call from the photographer today. He asked me to send him one of our invitations. It seems that the pictures that he took at my Mom's house are 'in recovery' (whatever that means). He took family pictures at the park and reception, so that's not a big deal. BUT, there was a picture of the invitation leaning up against the bouquets that I wanted to use as the first picture in our photo album. He said that he will 'recreate that picture'. HOW? Is he going to get the same bouquets? What a bummer!!!
UPDATE -
Rating B-
It doesn't look like the pictures from my Mom's house can be recovered. I guess that I should be glad that it was ONLY the pictures from the house and not from the rest of the day.
UPDATE -
Rating B
We got a call from the photographer. He was able to 'recover' the pictures from my Mom's house. He will mail them to us. He is giving us more time to chose the photos for the albums.

Music – Capriccio Ensemble www.capriccioensemble.com/
Rating A+
Natalie Kriegler was wonderful to work with. She was very open to our suggestions (we like Bach and wanted to incorporate his music throughout the day) and made some excellent recommendations. There was a string quartet at our cocktail hour and for part of the reception.

Music – Charles Henry www.charleshenryprodj.com
Rating A+
Charles Henry was wonderful to work with, especially that we decided at the last minute to have a combination of string quartet music and a DJ playing CDs at the reception. Charles and Natalie worked well together. Their cooperation was wonderful and made the transition from one kind of music to the other hardly noticeable.

Wedding Night Hotel – Garden City Hotel
Rating – Average
Perhaps my expectations were a little higher than they should have been. We did not get a bridal package, but the room was average (nothing special). I had heard so much about how the Garden City Hotel is an upscale hotel. I was not impressed at all.

Re: Review - 10/13/07 GWM, Camelot Limo, Blossom Heath Florist, etc

Great review- I have to say, I agree with you about the Garden City Hotel. We stayed there for two nights after the wedding and the rooms were nice, but I was not impressed at all. Can't wait to see some pics to go along with this review!

Re: Review - 10/13/07 GWM, Camelot Limo, Blossom Heath Florist, etc

Congrats!!!

Re: Review - 10/13/07 GWM, Camelot Limo, Blossom Heath Florist, etc

thanks for sharing!