My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

I am finally getting around to posting my review. I can’t believe that it has already been over 4 months since October 13. The wedding was such a wonderful day for us, and everything turned out better than I could have ever predicted. Any glitches in the day were only minor, thank goodness.

I will be posting photos in the albums since I am not sure how to insert them in the review. Please bear with that! Sorry if you have to flip back and forth to see the photos. I am also hoping I posted enough. Let me know if I am missing anything you want to see.
Weather
A+++++++++++++++++++++!
October 13 was almost like a late summer day. We got really lucky since other days during that week hadn't been so nice.

Duet Photography A-
Huntington, NY and Wedding Center Café in Manhattan
I found out about Duet Photography through LI Weddings. Then, I found out that 2 of my friends and my boss at work were using them as well.

Overall
We were very pleased with Duet Photography overall. They listened to and accommodated all of our requests, and they are ultra professional and ultra organized, which makes them very easy to deal with.

We also felt that our photographer, Jay, was great. There was actually a very distinctive difference between the photographs taken by him and the other photographer on his team. We felt that his photographs were much more artistic and that he was really able to capture the day. It was a little bit unfortunate that his counterpart wasn’t up to the same standard since this photographer took all of the portraits of the families.

In our dealings with Duet, we did have some issues, which I will describe later on, but I found that they were wonderful in resolving these issues and accommodating us. I was really impressed with how they turned things around for us, and we are very satisfied with their end product. They were also terrific about helping us plan out the day, they were on time, and they were everywhere during the wedding. Part of our package included the raw footage of the photographs, and we could not believe how much of it there was. We must have received over 4K+ digital images, in addition to the CD with the edited photos.

Engagement Photos
Our package included Engagement Photos. We had Jay take these photos for us in Central Park. Some of them are included in one of my albums. We were very happy with these photos - Jay did exactly what we wanted - including taking some excellent shots with the NYC panorama in the background. We love having this memory of our time in Manhattan!

Wedding Photos & Video
We haven’t received our video yet, so I won’t go into any detail on that. We are also still in the process of getting our album together.

Duet arrived in a very timely fashion and took photos of the bridal party getting ready. Jay suggested going to a nearby park to take photos of the groom and me alone. Everything was timed out very well, and Duet was very professional and creative with their ideas. They also don’t spend a lot of time posing the bride and groom, so the photos come out very natural. Unfortunately, Duet didn’t spend a enough time, in my opinion, taking photos of the family members, which are the most important photos! We have so many photos of the bridal party, but there are not enough of the family members. I kept asking when we would start with the family photos, and Duet assured me not to worry.

The only other issue that I had with Duet (although sort of major), which they apologized profusely for, and made a very impressive effort to correct, was with the photos themselves. We were very disappointed when we received our wedding photos, and there were random objects in the background, like leaf bags, parked cars, random people. We were shocked that Duet did not take the time to edit these items out. We called Duet, and they assured us that they would fix everything, given that we provided them with explicit instructions. I ended up going though the 4K photos of raw footage, and I provided Duet with a somewhat detailed list of instructions. They turned around this list relatively quickly (about a month, and there were a lot of instructions!), and we were thrilled with the end product. Their work is beautiful.

Masters Florist - Lori
Rockville Centre, NY
A++++++++++++++++ (cannot + enough)!
Lori is the owner of Masters Florist, and she is fantastic! By far, she was my top vendor. We looked at about 4 other florists before picking Lori. She was the most competitive in terms of what we were getting for our money, and she really understood our vision of what we were looking for.

I am created an album with only the flowers. We loved the centerpieces, Chuppah (wedding tent), and bouquets. Lori had such creative ideas and was such a pleasure to work with! I cannot rave enough about her. We received so many compliments on the flowers.

Band - Night Moves
A+++
Band Booking Agency - Jason Craig
New Jersey

We didn’t have such a great experience with Jason Craig booking agency, so I won’t rate them. In the end, everything worked out.

To make a long story short, something happened with the band we were originally contracted for with Jason Craig. We ended up not using that band for a variety of good reasons. Luckily, Night Moves was available for our wedding. However, Night Moves was actually superb and very original and turned out to be much better than the band we had originally booked.

During the ceremony and cocktail hour, we had 2-3 pieces. They played the songs that we requested for the ceremony, and during the cocktail hour, they played jazz music on a piano provided by the temple and a saxophone.

Night Moves had a very interesting selection of songs. They really played something for everyone, and they really got our crowd going. The volume was perfect as well, with the 9 pieces they provided us with. We really liked working with Julian, the band leader. He is very sweet and easygoing, and he really listened to everything we asked him to do. We wanted the band to play continuously since our caterer only interrupts the band to serve dinner. The band listened to this request and played so much we had to tell them to stop! -- which was great. An interesting song they played was the disco version of Bryan Adams’ Heaven. They did a great job on our first dance song, Alicia Keyes “If I Ain’t Got You”.

Temple Beth El & Cosmopolitan Caterers
Great Neck, NY
A-
Temple Beth El in Great Neck was just renovated. Prior to this year, the temple was not set up for wedding receptions. The space is beautiful and large. It is full of options for different types and sizes of weddings. There is excellent indoor and outdoor space.

Temple Beth El has a choice of 2 wedding venues, a very large and more modern synogogue, and the other an old chapel from the 1930s. We decided to have our wedding ceremony in the old chapel because we wanted more of an intimate feel, and we felt that it would be best for our 150 guests.

The reception and cocktail rooms are also modern but classy. The reception room has a glass enclosed band shell that looks out to a small outdoor area with fountains -- very pretty.

I actually did have a chance to sample the food during the wedding. The caterer made sure of this, which was nice. Before the cocktail hour, my husband and I spent a few minutes alone, during which we had samples of all of the food from the cocktail hour. Since we had our photographer take table pictures during dinner, we were also able to try our dinners. I was very happy with the number of choices that Cosmopolitan Caterers gave us and also the quality of the food.

Cosmopolitan also made us a very creative and beautiful cake. It went with our Autumn theme. We gave them an idea of what we were looking for, and they did the rest. We were happy with what they were able to do with it!

The only thing that didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped was the planning process prior to the wedding. Every time we spoke with Cosmopolitan, we spoke with someone different (there are about 3 partners in the business). This made it a little bit difficult for us to feel confident that everyone was on the same page, but in the scope of everything, it was only a minor issue. Plus, it seems we had no reason to worry! Everything went well at the wedding.

Officiant - Rabbi Lisa Rubin
A+++++++++++++!
Our officiant, Rabbi Lisa Rubin, is one of the rabbis at Temple Beth El in Great Neck. She was really fantastic throughout the whole process. We must have met with her about 6 times, and she really helped us to learn about what our life together will be like and how we can make our marriage one that will help both of us to grow, both separately and together. Rabbi Rubin also made a beautiful speech about the time she spent with us during our ceremony. We were surprised and touched by this speech. It really personalized our wedding and made it more memorable for us and our guests. We wrote our own vows, and Rabbi Rubin also coached us through this process as well. She also helped us incorporate Jewish customs into our reform style ceremony.

Makeup - Karen Wysocki
A+
I found Karen Wysocki on LI Wedddings. I thought she was great. She does airbrush and regular make-up and her prices are in line, if not more reasonable, than other artists I looked at. Karen came on time and worked quickly and neatly. She did my make-up, my mom’s make-up, and one of my bridesmaid’s make-up. I would highly recommend her, and I would definitely use her again.

Dress & Hairpins - Mika Inatome
Reade Street, NYC
A+++++++!
My dress was a custom piece from Mika Inatome. I was very happy with the alterations and the process surrounding them. Very easy and pleasant! Mika is very sweet and she had great suggestions about how I should wear my hair, what shoes I should wear, and what my headpiece should look like. I ended up borrowing a veil from a friend that had originally been worn by attaching to a large tiara, and Mika fixed it, so I could slide it on with a comb and wear my hair down.

I loved the way the dress fit and the way it moved with me. The bustle was sewn into the dress, which made it very easy to bustle - it buttoned right up.

Shoes - Peter Fox
http://www.peterfoxshoes.com
Soho, Manhattan
A+++
Peter Fox sells very comfortable dyeable shoes. My feet did not bother me all night, and I never changed my shoes. They dye any shoes you buy from them for free, with a small swatch of fabric from your dress. I felt that they matched the color perfectly. Their physical store location is in Soho.

Invitations - Reaves Engraving
http://www.reavesengraving.com/
A+++
We were very happy with Reaves Engraving. We wanted a classic monogrammed invitation on thick paper, and Reaves provided us with this type of invitation at a great cost. Before going with Reaves, we shopped around at local stationery and invitation stores. The same invitation that we got from Reaves was about 4x the price everywhere we looked. The drawback to working with Reaves is that you need to deal with them over the phone or via email/instant messenger. However, I found that they were very responsive, and they easily accommodated all of our requests. We also had them do the calligraphy on the envelopes with their machine operated pen. Everything came out beautiful.

Wedding Bands
Michele Lynn
Great Neck, NY
A
We got our wedding bands from Sean at Michele Lynn in Great Neck, NY. We are thrilled with the final product, however, the process didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped it would. The jewelry is beautiful, and we think the pricing was excellent. I went with an eternity band with 32 pt sized stones, plus decorative stackables to wear on special occasions and Mike went with a simple platinum band. We had some trouble getting the groom’s ring. Sean at Michele Lynn kept giving us false alarms, saying it would be ready, and then we would get to the store, and it wouldn’t be ready. On our third try, he had the ring ready for us.

I STILL NEED TO POST HONEYMOON PHOTOS
Honeymoon - Crystals
Soufreire, St Lucia
A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++!
When we originally booked Crystals for our honeymoon, my husband was a little bit nervous that it would be too rustic for us. However, the villa had everything we needed, including a full kitchen, except that my hairdryer didn't work (and I am a major hairdryer user -- it is almost a religion for me!). The resort is a little bit rustic, but overall we had a great adventure, and lots of privacy.
Monica and Martin, who own this resort, make it very easy to make arrangements, including booking a jeep, and meet other guests staying at the resort. There were nightly get togethers at the tree house bar at the resort. While we were at Crystals, we had a chance to experience some of the beaches and restaurants in the area. The restaurants had delicious food (one was even a 5 star type of restaurant like those you will find in Manhattan), and the beaches were beautiful. We liked having the flexibility to explore the island that Crystals offered us.

We also had a grill at Sugar Cane, which was the cottage we stayed in. Since we live in Manhattan, we don't have this luxury at home, so my husband made a BBQ for all of the other guests staying at Crystals one night.

We especially liked the following:
- Hummingbird - great food and nearby
- Sulphur Springs & Diamond Falls
- Beach at Jalousie
- Beach at Anse Chasnet - our favorite beach and a beautiful resort we would consider staying at
- Dasheene at Ladera - special meal
- Rainforest Tour (we got to go with Ras)

Honeymoon - Sandals Regency
Castries, St Lucia (from a review I posted on Tripadvisor)
B
THE DECISION
We stayed at Sandals Regency for the last 4 nights of our honeymoon. We spent the other 6 days at Crystals in Soufreire. We decided to book the Regency instead of the Grande since the Regency had a golf course and the majority of the 'reservation' restaurants. We did not want to have to travel between properties, since we were only staying for 4 nights.

OVERALL
After our fantastic experience at Crystals, we may have been tainted because we found the Regency to just be 'okay'. We found that you could find privacy and romance at Sandals if you wanted it, but it meant not hanging out in the main parts of the resort. The main pool was crowded and noisy, like an all-day frat party. We do our fair share of partying since we live in Manhattan and enjoy the bars and nightlife at least on a weekly basis, but for our honeymoon we were looking for something more private and relaxing. There was a quiet pool on the 'bluffs' where we spent most of our time (if this pool hadn't been there, we would have been at a loss!). There were lots of activities to participate in at the resort -- pool volleyball, drinking at the pool bar, ping pong and pool, various contests organized by the staff, tennis with an onsite tennis pro, spa, golf, just lazing on the beach, water sports... you name it. There were also a lot of offsite tours that you could take advantage of (for an additional fee).

ST LUCIA INFO
We mostly thought that Sandals was 'just okay' because St. Lucia is such a beautiful, unspoiled, and safe island to visit. If you want to experience St. Lucia, rent a jeep and explore. Sandals is actually very expensive compared to the other places to stay on the island. Many of these places offer a lot more for your money. The island also has so many fantastic restaurants to try. In retrospect, we feel that it would have been more worth our while and money to spend the last 4 nights of our honeymoon at a non-all inclusive with access to a Jeep, like we did for the first 6 nights - recommend Ladera - we visited and it is gorgeous.

On a more positive note, Sandals really does offer everything you could possibly need to make your experience easier (including a very high end hair dryer in the room - LOL), but all of it comes at a pretty hefty cost. We just felt that it wasn't worth it! with all of the other options available on the island of St. Lucia. Sandals is, well, 'Sandalized' and it doesn't take advantage of all of the natural beauty that the Island has to offer. Instead, it has a pool with fake waterfalls, and ultra modern buildings and structures. it doesn't really incorporate the natural beauty of this beautiful island.

GOLF
The golf course at the Regency is a 9-hole course. We played it twice, so we could get in 18 holes. This was very enjoyable. The caddy fee was about $15 for both of us, and the cart was maybe about $30 (you would want to opt for a cart since it is very hot). We tipped the caddy about $40 or so because it was so hot and he was so helpful. It is hot out there, and these guys work hard!

OTHER RESORTS
We did not take advantage of the option to visit the other Sandals resorts, so we cannot speak for the Grande and Halcyon. We do have a friend who stayed at the Grande, and she did like it a lot. We also met some people who were staying there when we had dinner at Kimonos, and they seemed very happy with it. According to them, it has a nicer and larger beach, the central activity throughout the day is more spread out, and the layout overall is better.

THE ROOM
The room we had was the Luxury Oceanview Room. We decided not to spend the extra $$$ for the Butler service since we figured we didn't want to be spending a lot of time in our room, and we stayed in a large villa at Crystals for the first 6 nights of our honeymoon. The room was actually the best thing about Sandals! Temperature was very easy to regulate, we had a beautiful view of the beach and pool, we had a flat screen TV, linens were clean and new, and there was a mini fridge stocked with soda, juice and water daily. We were also given a bottle of champagne since it was our honeymoon. The only thing we were lacking was a balcony. The room description said balcony, but we didn't have one. We decided not to make an issue of it since the room was nice enough. If you do go with Sandals and have the choice between a larger but older room, go with the smaller rennovated one. It will make your experience better. The older rooms def were not as nice.

THE RESTAURANTS AND FOOD
We actually LOVED the food at Sandals - that and the room were our favorite things. There were a zillion choices and everything was very fresh, nicely prepared and tasty. There was definitely a creole influence in the ingredients, but that is part of the culture of the island. We really liked the following restaurants at Sandals - Armandos (order the pasta), La Toc, Kimonos. At Kimonos, we met some very fun people staying at the Grande. We made so much noise with them, I thought the Sandals staff was going to kick us out. Luckily, the restaurant was divided up into different rooms, so I don't think we really disturbed the other people!

THE CROWD
The majority of the crowd at Sandals Regency is in their mid-20s. We are in our 30s and just a little bit older, but at times it seemed like a big age difference. A lot of people were there to party during the day (we are more 'nighttime partiers'). There were a lot of 'weddingmoons', so maybe that put the crowd in party mode. At night, the place was dead, so we were typically in bed by 11 PM. There were late night bars at the resort, but they were empty when we went to check them out.

In the context of the island of St. Lucia, there is a lot more out there though and a lot of GREAT VALUES. Find these before the island is overdeveloped to take advantage of them... there is a lot of development in the works, so it may not be there for long.

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

Congrats! I just checked out the invite website, very cool, thanks!

I can't wait to check out your pics!!!!

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

The photos are in the albums I have. I will post a couple of the invites.

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

Great review!!!! Thank you for sharing! Your honeymoon sounded great as well! Congratulations!

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

Congratulations Great review

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

Great REVIEW date twin! I love your dress! 10-13 was a gorgeous day!

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

my friend have Rabbi Rubin at her wedding. She was Amazing!!! and probably the prettiest rabbi I have ever seen!

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

wait a second.. this is freaky... i just realized my friends wedding was the SAME day as yours. Hers was at 8 pm though. I cant believe you guys shared a rabbi! what are the odds of that?!!

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

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Posted by ritas2008

my friend have Rabbi Rubin at her wedding. She was Amazing!!! and probably the prettiest rabbi I have ever seen!

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That is so funny! We were trying to think of someone nice to fix her up with, if she wasn't dating someone. Your friend is so lucky to have her - she is the best!

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

congrAts!!!!

Re: My October 13, 2007 Wedding - Duet Photography, Masters Florist, Night Moves (Jason Craig), Mika Inatome, Peter Fox Shoes, Temple Beth El, Sandals Regency and More!

Thank you for your review!!! My fiance and I are getting married at Temple Beth El also. I'm so glad to hear you had such a great experience there!!! Did you post any pictures online? Id love to see some!