My fabulous May 16th wedding (North Ritz Club) and Now With Proofs!!
Rehearsal Dinner: Pfiff Restaurant in NYC: A+
We picked this restaurant to have our rehearsal dinner because it is where Rob proposed. The owner, Patricia, was so accommodating to Rob during the months he spent planning the proposal, that we both felt it would be the perfect choice. Patricia worked with us to create a fun and relaxing atmosphere for our guests. We had about 50 people at our rehearsal dinner since we also chose to invite all of our out of town guests. We rented out the entire restaurant and Patricia allowed us to take 10 8x10 framed pictures (both from the night we got engaged and our formal engagement pictures) and put them around the restaurant. We chose our own music and created our own menu. Everybody raved about the food and watermelon martinis!!
Wedding Coordinator: Jodilynn from Simplicity Planning: A+
Jodilynn was incredible! We didn’t decide to use a wedding coordinator until a few weeks before our wedding and boy am I glad we did! Jodi stepped right in to both planning the wedding and rehearsal dinner. She was there when we had our “music crisis” when we had to hire another ceremony musician last minute, made sure all of our out of town guests were in the right place and worked with ALL of our vendors. I can’t say enough about how much she helped us. I highly recommend!!
Ceremony Musicians: Ensemble Champlain: A+
We had a trio; violin, cello and flute originally booked. Harry was great to work with! A few days before our wedding, we found out that the organist could not play the song we wanted so Jodi called Harry to see if he could get us a trumpet in addition to the trio. He had somebody for us within hours. Walking into the church to the Trumpet Tune, it was so beautiful. I highly recommend them!
Reception: North Ritz Club: A++++
After originally booking somewhere else, I changed my mind once I saw the North Ritz. DH and I had a bunch of special requests, from having German food at our cocktail hour to Missouri wine on each guests table. They were more than willing to accommodate everything. DH’s family has a vineyard and the wine was a very big deal to us. Each waiter poured the wine, asking each guest and explained the significance. It really put the personal touch on our wedding. My father in law had people coming up to him all night wanting to order the wine.
They brought our cappuccinos on trays to each table at the end! The sorbet came out served in martini glasses. It was unreal. The service was outstanding. George, the Maitre D was very attentive, my bridal attendant Monica bustled my dress, made sure everything was okay all night. I was blown away by the service, both prior and the day of. We shipped tons of things to them the week before and they made sure everything was exactly the way we wanted.
Gown: Diamond Bridal from Lillettes: A
I worked with Karen and if it wasn't for her, I never would have found my dress. She suggested it to me and I fell in love. Lillettes is also where I ordered my After Six BM dresses. I was able to add a BM dress to my order late and they were very accommodating. My dress came in early. All of my fittings went very smoothly, I didn’t have that many alterations. The DAY before my wedding, my mother and sister went to pick up my dress and Lillettes lost my veil. I was a little upset but they quickly made me another one within the hour. It looked even better than the one I originally had.
Tuxes: Stallone’s (in St. Louis): A
Stallone’s was great. We had 3 OOT groomsmen, they allowed us to pick up the tuxes a week early and overnight them to New York. No problems at all.
Invitations, Programs, Menus and Save The Dates: Spin Design: A+
Spin Design is owned by my sister in law and I am so glad we were able to get her to design everything for us in a short amount of time. She custom designed everything, from our unique luggage tag Save The Dates to our one of a kind invites. Everything matched with 'our logo' for our vineyard theme. We got so many complements and I highly recommend her!
Florist: Flower Michele: A+
John worked with us and our schedules while we were planning from out of town. After seeing 5 florists, I was positive John would be able to make our vision come true. I was amazed when I saw the bouquets arrive at the hotel. The flowers matched perfectly, and my bouquet was absolutely beautiful! Our centerpieces were so gorgeous. All of our guests wanted the flowers and they took home the top of the centerpieces. He incorporated the hanging grapes and ivy from our theme. He was the ONLY florist I saw that was willing to even attempt it. He also decorated our cake, which I also loved. The DAY before the wedding, when our butterfly mishap occurred (see below), I called Flower Michele and asked for rose petals. They were able to get me two baskets for the church hours before the wedding and really relieved my anxiety. I highly highly recommend.
Photographer: Mark Kauffman: A+ (for the day of, I have not received my proofs yet)
We had Mark Kauffman himself, his assistant and Drew as our Fine Art photographer. All I can say is WOW. They really exceeded our expectations and Drew was great! Completely accommodating. They were all over the place but barely noticeable. I can’t wait to get our proofs. I saw quite a few photographers in my search and his studio’s work was consistently the most beautiful I have ever seen.
Edited to Add: I received my proofs, all 1300+ of them. I am very happy. They completely capture the day. Now I still have work on my album!
Videographer: Wild Rose: A+++
I love Bill and Marie. They arrived early and got all of the getting ready shots. I got to do the “Wild Rose turn” and because I chose the documentary style video they interviewed me, DH, and our families. We were extremely impressed with their professionalism both prior and the day of the wedding.
Our wedding video turned out to be absolutely breathtaking. Wild Rose did a phenomental job! I highly recommend them!!!
Band: Hot Pursuit: A+++
They MADE the entire night. We literally had guests book them that night for their daughter’s wedding. They learned both of our parents dances for us. Our first dance was amazing (they even let us sneak into the room to practice with them during cocktail hour). I can’t say enough about them. Our dance floor was PACKED all night, from the moment we walked into the room. We booked Hot Pursuit through Faze4 although they are also through Franklin Wayne as well. 4 unbelievable singers.
Hair: Tarale: A+
I love her. I had another hair trial with somebody else but decided I wanted another look. After my original stylist cancelled due to personal reasons, I didn’t have time to have a hair trial with Tarale b/c I don’t live in New York. I was fully confident she would be able to pull it off and she did. I loved my hair. It stayed all night and was perfect.
Make-up: Jacqueline Nicole: A+
What can be said about her that hasn’t already. She is amazing. She arrived early and had 10 people to do. She made both my mother and grandmother look so beautiful! I had airbrushing and it lasted all night. AMAZING.
Limos: All Star Limos: A
We had a H2 Hummer limo for the BP, a 10 passenger for our parents and a 6 passenger bridal coach. The drivers helped with everything from the runner to making sure the bus driver knew where he was going. Debbie was GREAT to work with; we had rented vans from them two nights prior to take our BP to and from the rehearsal dinner. NO problems at all. I love using them. Their cars were clean, new and impeccable.
Bus: H&J Bus: F
They were almost two hours late picking up my guests from NYC. The driver (Earl) gave us all kinds of excuses from a flat tire, traffic, and a parade. To this day we still do not know what really happened, honesty would have been nice. Their extreme tardiness caused scheduled stops to be eliminated so my guests had to walk blocks to consolidate at one meeting place. Their aerobic activity was not over yet H&J added another block of walking to meet the bus because he passed up the hotel and did not want to go around the block. The guests arrived at the church AFTER I did forcing me to duck back into the limo. After the reception, the driver was rushing people out threatening that if they did not get on the bus in 5 minutes they would be left behind (this was at 11:10 and our pickup on the contract said 11:30). After the bus was loaded with our guests the driver decided to “shake down” guests for additional funding or they would not be dropped off. The drop offs were all discussed and assured by H&J and we were running ahead of schedule. Some guests gave him money. Our best man took the tip money for the driver and paid the guests back. The ironic thing is he would have received more money from the tip had he not extorted money from our guests. When my husband called the next day to complain to the owner, he said “roll with the punches” and he was not going to get the extorted money back. H&J was rude and had horrible customer service concerning problems. They refused to recognize the efforts put into making this day special and in my opinion treated my guests like cattle. I would NOT recommend.
Butterflies: Swallow Tail Farms: ???
We paid $ to have 5 dozen butterflies to release after the ceremony. They were supposed to arrive on Saturday. They never did. They claim it was FedEx that did not deliver. We contacted Fed Ex directly and they claimed that Swallow Tail Farms had a Monday delivery scheduled, realized their mistake and recalled the order. Nevertheless, we couldn’t get them delivered in time because they do not have a carrier authorized to deliver live butterflies on a Sunday and they refunded our money. I was a little disappointed but it was alright in the end. We didn’t have to worry about coordinating anything.
Hotels: Wingate Inn, The Paramount, Best Western President: B+
I got ready at the Wingate Inn in their bridal suite, they were great! DH and family got ready at The Paramount (which is also were we spent our wedding night) and we also blocked rooms at the Best Western President. Jodi delivered all of our OOT bags. We had a few last minute people to book hotel rooms, which was harder to convince the hotels to honor the rate but in the end it worked out.
Honeymoon: San Francisco (Clift Hotel) and Napa Valley (1801 Inn): A+
We stayed at the famous Clift Hotel, sister to The Paramount in NYC. Once we arrived, the concierge Philippe greeted us with champagne and we were upgraded from the suite to their “Private Apartment” (which we are convinced is bigger than our house, it took up a greater part of the 14th floor). The view was amazing, the room was amazing, the service outstanding. We left to go shopping the first day to come back and find the bedroom trailed with rose petals, on the bed, bathroom, candles, and hersey kisses. A knock on the door a few minutes later, was a bottle of red wine, fruits, cheeses, etc.
We later found out it was because my FMIL had arranged for the rose petals at The Paramount for our wedding night and it never happened. Lo and behold, they went over and beyond to make it up to us.
DH rented a Porsche Boxster (who ever thought to rent a manual transmission with those hills!) but we had fun driving around Chinatown, Sausalito, Coit Tower, Haight Ashbury, etc.
After a few days in San Francisco, we went to Napa Valley. We stayed at a very cool B&B (caviar for breakfast!), toured the wineries, had a couples massage, and just relaxed. It was perfect!!
My wedding pictures (posted from Newlywed Board)
My Proofs
We picked this restaurant to have our rehearsal dinner because it is where Rob proposed. The owner, Patricia, was so accommodating to Rob during the months he spent planning the proposal, that we both felt it would be the perfect choice. Patricia worked with us to create a fun and relaxing atmosphere for our guests. We had about 50 people at our rehearsal dinner since we also chose to invite all of our out of town guests. We rented out the entire restaurant and Patricia allowed us to take 10 8x10 framed pictures (both from the night we got engaged and our formal engagement pictures) and put them around the restaurant. We chose our own music and created our own menu. Everybody raved about the food and watermelon martinis!!
Wedding Coordinator: Jodilynn from Simplicity Planning: A+
Jodilynn was incredible! We didn’t decide to use a wedding coordinator until a few weeks before our wedding and boy am I glad we did! Jodi stepped right in to both planning the wedding and rehearsal dinner. She was there when we had our “music crisis” when we had to hire another ceremony musician last minute, made sure all of our out of town guests were in the right place and worked with ALL of our vendors. I can’t say enough about how much she helped us. I highly recommend!!
Ceremony Musicians: Ensemble Champlain: A+
We had a trio; violin, cello and flute originally booked. Harry was great to work with! A few days before our wedding, we found out that the organist could not play the song we wanted so Jodi called Harry to see if he could get us a trumpet in addition to the trio. He had somebody for us within hours. Walking into the church to the Trumpet Tune, it was so beautiful. I highly recommend them!
Reception: North Ritz Club: A++++
After originally booking somewhere else, I changed my mind once I saw the North Ritz. DH and I had a bunch of special requests, from having German food at our cocktail hour to Missouri wine on each guests table. They were more than willing to accommodate everything. DH’s family has a vineyard and the wine was a very big deal to us. Each waiter poured the wine, asking each guest and explained the significance. It really put the personal touch on our wedding. My father in law had people coming up to him all night wanting to order the wine.
They brought our cappuccinos on trays to each table at the end! The sorbet came out served in martini glasses. It was unreal. The service was outstanding. George, the Maitre D was very attentive, my bridal attendant Monica bustled my dress, made sure everything was okay all night. I was blown away by the service, both prior and the day of. We shipped tons of things to them the week before and they made sure everything was exactly the way we wanted.
Gown: Diamond Bridal from Lillettes: A
I worked with Karen and if it wasn't for her, I never would have found my dress. She suggested it to me and I fell in love. Lillettes is also where I ordered my After Six BM dresses. I was able to add a BM dress to my order late and they were very accommodating. My dress came in early. All of my fittings went very smoothly, I didn’t have that many alterations. The DAY before my wedding, my mother and sister went to pick up my dress and Lillettes lost my veil. I was a little upset but they quickly made me another one within the hour. It looked even better than the one I originally had.
Tuxes: Stallone’s (in St. Louis): A
Stallone’s was great. We had 3 OOT groomsmen, they allowed us to pick up the tuxes a week early and overnight them to New York. No problems at all.
Invitations, Programs, Menus and Save The Dates: Spin Design: A+
Spin Design is owned by my sister in law and I am so glad we were able to get her to design everything for us in a short amount of time. She custom designed everything, from our unique luggage tag Save The Dates to our one of a kind invites. Everything matched with 'our logo' for our vineyard theme. We got so many complements and I highly recommend her!
Florist: Flower Michele: A+
John worked with us and our schedules while we were planning from out of town. After seeing 5 florists, I was positive John would be able to make our vision come true. I was amazed when I saw the bouquets arrive at the hotel. The flowers matched perfectly, and my bouquet was absolutely beautiful! Our centerpieces were so gorgeous. All of our guests wanted the flowers and they took home the top of the centerpieces. He incorporated the hanging grapes and ivy from our theme. He was the ONLY florist I saw that was willing to even attempt it. He also decorated our cake, which I also loved. The DAY before the wedding, when our butterfly mishap occurred (see below), I called Flower Michele and asked for rose petals. They were able to get me two baskets for the church hours before the wedding and really relieved my anxiety. I highly highly recommend.
Photographer: Mark Kauffman: A+ (for the day of, I have not received my proofs yet)
We had Mark Kauffman himself, his assistant and Drew as our Fine Art photographer. All I can say is WOW. They really exceeded our expectations and Drew was great! Completely accommodating. They were all over the place but barely noticeable. I can’t wait to get our proofs. I saw quite a few photographers in my search and his studio’s work was consistently the most beautiful I have ever seen.
Edited to Add: I received my proofs, all 1300+ of them. I am very happy. They completely capture the day. Now I still have work on my album!
Videographer: Wild Rose: A+++
I love Bill and Marie. They arrived early and got all of the getting ready shots. I got to do the “Wild Rose turn” and because I chose the documentary style video they interviewed me, DH, and our families. We were extremely impressed with their professionalism both prior and the day of the wedding.
Our wedding video turned out to be absolutely breathtaking. Wild Rose did a phenomental job! I highly recommend them!!!
Band: Hot Pursuit: A+++
They MADE the entire night. We literally had guests book them that night for their daughter’s wedding. They learned both of our parents dances for us. Our first dance was amazing (they even let us sneak into the room to practice with them during cocktail hour). I can’t say enough about them. Our dance floor was PACKED all night, from the moment we walked into the room. We booked Hot Pursuit through Faze4 although they are also through Franklin Wayne as well. 4 unbelievable singers.
Hair: Tarale: A+
I love her. I had another hair trial with somebody else but decided I wanted another look. After my original stylist cancelled due to personal reasons, I didn’t have time to have a hair trial with Tarale b/c I don’t live in New York. I was fully confident she would be able to pull it off and she did. I loved my hair. It stayed all night and was perfect.
Make-up: Jacqueline Nicole: A+
What can be said about her that hasn’t already. She is amazing. She arrived early and had 10 people to do. She made both my mother and grandmother look so beautiful! I had airbrushing and it lasted all night. AMAZING.
Limos: All Star Limos: A
We had a H2 Hummer limo for the BP, a 10 passenger for our parents and a 6 passenger bridal coach. The drivers helped with everything from the runner to making sure the bus driver knew where he was going. Debbie was GREAT to work with; we had rented vans from them two nights prior to take our BP to and from the rehearsal dinner. NO problems at all. I love using them. Their cars were clean, new and impeccable.
Bus: H&J Bus: F
They were almost two hours late picking up my guests from NYC. The driver (Earl) gave us all kinds of excuses from a flat tire, traffic, and a parade. To this day we still do not know what really happened, honesty would have been nice. Their extreme tardiness caused scheduled stops to be eliminated so my guests had to walk blocks to consolidate at one meeting place. Their aerobic activity was not over yet H&J added another block of walking to meet the bus because he passed up the hotel and did not want to go around the block. The guests arrived at the church AFTER I did forcing me to duck back into the limo. After the reception, the driver was rushing people out threatening that if they did not get on the bus in 5 minutes they would be left behind (this was at 11:10 and our pickup on the contract said 11:30). After the bus was loaded with our guests the driver decided to “shake down” guests for additional funding or they would not be dropped off. The drop offs were all discussed and assured by H&J and we were running ahead of schedule. Some guests gave him money. Our best man took the tip money for the driver and paid the guests back. The ironic thing is he would have received more money from the tip had he not extorted money from our guests. When my husband called the next day to complain to the owner, he said “roll with the punches” and he was not going to get the extorted money back. H&J was rude and had horrible customer service concerning problems. They refused to recognize the efforts put into making this day special and in my opinion treated my guests like cattle. I would NOT recommend.
Butterflies: Swallow Tail Farms: ???
We paid $ to have 5 dozen butterflies to release after the ceremony. They were supposed to arrive on Saturday. They never did. They claim it was FedEx that did not deliver. We contacted Fed Ex directly and they claimed that Swallow Tail Farms had a Monday delivery scheduled, realized their mistake and recalled the order. Nevertheless, we couldn’t get them delivered in time because they do not have a carrier authorized to deliver live butterflies on a Sunday and they refunded our money. I was a little disappointed but it was alright in the end. We didn’t have to worry about coordinating anything.
Hotels: Wingate Inn, The Paramount, Best Western President: B+
I got ready at the Wingate Inn in their bridal suite, they were great! DH and family got ready at The Paramount (which is also were we spent our wedding night) and we also blocked rooms at the Best Western President. Jodi delivered all of our OOT bags. We had a few last minute people to book hotel rooms, which was harder to convince the hotels to honor the rate but in the end it worked out.
Honeymoon: San Francisco (Clift Hotel) and Napa Valley (1801 Inn): A+
We stayed at the famous Clift Hotel, sister to The Paramount in NYC. Once we arrived, the concierge Philippe greeted us with champagne and we were upgraded from the suite to their “Private Apartment” (which we are convinced is bigger than our house, it took up a greater part of the 14th floor). The view was amazing, the room was amazing, the service outstanding. We left to go shopping the first day to come back and find the bedroom trailed with rose petals, on the bed, bathroom, candles, and hersey kisses. A knock on the door a few minutes later, was a bottle of red wine, fruits, cheeses, etc.
We later found out it was because my FMIL had arranged for the rose petals at The Paramount for our wedding night and it never happened. Lo and behold, they went over and beyond to make it up to us.
DH rented a Porsche Boxster (who ever thought to rent a manual transmission with those hills!) but we had fun driving around Chinatown, Sausalito, Coit Tower, Haight Ashbury, etc.
After a few days in San Francisco, we went to Napa Valley. We stayed at a very cool B&B (caviar for breakfast!), toured the wineries, had a couples massage, and just relaxed. It was perfect!!
My wedding pictures (posted from Newlywed Board)
My Proofs
