My Oct. 9 review of The Crescent- added link to HM pics AND NOW PROOFS on page 2

I know everyone says this, but it really was the best day of our lives. I couldn't believe how fast it all went by. We left for our HM early the next morning and it felt so surreal, almost like it didn't even happen. DH and I saw each other before the ceremony and it was such a great decision. It allowed us to spend more time together and to be slightly more relaxed for the ceremony. So here's my review:

Weather 10/10
As every bride does, I promised not to stress over the weather, but they kept going back and forth over whether it was going to rain. As it turns out, I couldn't have asked for a better day. It was gorgeous and comfortable all day. The guys didn't break a sweat and the girls weren't cold.

Dress- Kleinfelds 9/10
I had a great experience there. The first time I went, my saleswomen did make a comment that I didn't appreciate, but I called her on it and from that point forward everything was fine. My seamstress was Maria P and she was awesome. She did everything I asked and even had them sew a metal comb on to the $10 veil I had bought from ebay. I know we have duscussed tipping seamstresses on the boards, and I still wasn't sure how to handle it, so I brought her a gorgeous bo-k when I picked up my dress. She seemed very surprised and happy with the gesture.

Bridemaid dresses- RK Bridal 8/10
They're not all that helpful there, but they do have a great selection. We found the dresses for about $30 less then other bridal shops. They guaranteed me a date and the dresses were about a week late, so it made me nervous, but it all worked out ok.

Tuxes- Mens Warehouse 8/10
I know some people have had bad experiences with them, but we didn't have any problems. All the tuxes were in on time with all of their pieces. The reason for the 8 is DH didn't love the tux. It really wasn't the store's fault, DH just hated that they have taken a size 42 waist down to a 32, he would have rather had something that fit him a little better. Despite what he thinks, I still think he looked great; all the guys did. MW was convenient for everyone and there were no major issues. FIL couldn't find DH's bowtie so he had to pay $15 for it. He found it the next day and they gave him his money back.

Ebay 10/10
I ordered a bunch of stuff for my wedding from various sellers and I had no problems with anything. People are sometimes skeptical of buying things on the web, but ebay helped me save a lot of money. I bought my FG dress, FG basket, RB pillow, matches, ribbon, veil (double tiered fingertip length for $10), Mrs. Savino bikini, Bride sweatpants, etc...

Duet Photography- day of 9/10
The guys were so awesome and never seemed in the way. The only reason they didn't get a 10 is because there were some photos on my must-take list that I don't think they got. I haven't seen my proofs but I will give them another grade when I do.
As for the day of, they came to the hotel and took photos of us finishing getting ready. Since DH and I were going to see each other before the ceremony I still wanted us to have a private 'first moment.' I had them set up our meeting on the beach across the street from the hotel. The had Steve out there and then I came out and they counted down for him to turn around and see me. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. I was shaking like a leaf and I'm so glad they were there to capture it.
We went to Planting Fields to take pictures and they seemed to know exactly where to go in the park, which was nice. The grounds were beatiful and I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures. They seemed to have a nice range of different shots.
Then we moved on to the hall and took some pictures on the beach with our bridal party. They were upfront and central for the ceremony, which we had while the sun was setting. Everyone keeps saying they had never seen a more beautiful ceremony. After that they just seemed to blend in. I always saw them at important moments, but they were never in the way or obnoxious.

I got my proofs- 7/10
The posed pictures are great, but they didn't take nearly enough candids, which I specifically asked for. Overall I'm pleased and they caught all the big moments, but I still feel like a little something is missing. I know my album will be beautiful, but I wish I had enough candids to make myself a small album, so I'm a little disappointed.



ETS- here's a link to some more pictures
photos.wickless.com/Photos.html?EventID=630&Link=home

Woo hoo!

I've been waiting for you!

I'm so happy you had a great day!

I'm glad the weather held up for you. It was around 6, I thought when it started getting cloudy & cool & windy (our CH was moved inside), but I'm glad that missed you.


How was Mexico?

congrats...

post pics!!!

Officiants Rabbi Rosen and Father Bob
before the wedding 4/10
day of 8/10
Father Bob was a nightmare to meet. I tried to set something up back in the spring and he blew me off and told me to call him in June. I called him in June and then he put me off telling me to call in August after we got our marriage license. I called then and he still put me off. We FINALLY set up a meeting for 2 weeks before our wedding and he called the night before to cancel. If I could have found someone else in that time I would have. I was so pissed off. We met him the weekend before the wedding and he was very nice and put my mind at ease a little. We met the rabbi before the ceremony and I didn't care for him much. He was bragging about himself and his family and telling us how we should do theceremony and he made me nervous.
The ceremony itself was beatiful though. The priest was much better and seemed more into it than the rabbi, but it was certainly beautiful and meaningful anyway.

Royalty Limos 10/10
They were awesome and I would reccomend them to anyone. We weren't going to book limos, but Manny gave me such a great deal I couldn't turn it down. The cars were all beautiful and they arrived early. The drivers were nice, but professional, and they had us all laughing. They even stopped so we could pick up some beer. They played the Here Comes the Bride horn while the guys were in the store. They even sent bigger cars then what I had ordered. They had directions to everything and helped keep us on schedule.
We also had pick up service for our HM and both times they sent stretch limos. It was a nice way to start and end off the HM.

LA Blossom 9/10
Laurie was a pleasure to work with from the get-go. She was great in working within my budget and everything was gorgeous. MY BM said they had never seen such beautiful bo-ks. The reason for the 9 is because the chuppa wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, but it was beautiful none-the-less. Also, I didn't have a throw-away bo-k, but it wasn't a big deal. My bridal attendent used some of the flowers from the chuppa to make one.

Stolen Moments 10/10
My bands were absolutely amazing. It was like one was better than the next. We had a classical trio for the ceremony, a calypso band for the CH and an 8 piece band for the reception. The company is out of Dobbs Ferry and their prices were exceptional for their quality. I knew they were good, but even I was impressed. The band learned some songs for us and everything was done so well. They had our dance floor grooving all night. I would highly recomend looking into them. Their website is www.stolenmoments.com and you can check out samples. The band we had was Moonlight Silhouettes.

The Crescent
before the wedding 8/10
day of 10/10
We dealt with Denise the whole time and she was great at telling us we could have whatever we wanted and in answering our questions. I called with some stupid questions and she was alwayds able to put my mind at ease. What pissed me off was at the meneu selection she leaned over and told me that we were expected to tip $1200 the day of. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that a tip was something you earned, not something I owed them. Anyway, it put a bad taste in my mouth and my parents weren't too happy about that either. Another thing was when I went to drop off the stuff for my wedding, I was tolf that Denise was on vacation. I thought it was really unprofessional that she hadn't bothered to call me and tell me she wouldn't be there and at the very least, send us her best wishes.
The day of though was absolutely phenominal! As soon as we got there we went to the bridal suite and they started bringing us food and drinks. They catered to us and made sure we had whatever we needed. They helped the ecermony run smoothly and did a quick runthrough so everyone knew where to go.
I didn't get to eat much during the CH because I was too amped up and I was walking around greeting people. The food looked awesome and there was plenty of it. I loved the fact that the CH was indoor/outdoor and there was plenty of seating so it never felt cramped.
They took us up to the ballroom before the guests so we could check it out. Everything looked great! Even the lighting was just right. I loved that they had a stage for my band instead of having them on part of the dance floor.
We chose the tuna carpaccio for the appetizer, and though I'm sure not everyone ate it, the people who did loved it, DH and and I included. It was delicious. Then we had salad, but there isn't too much to say about salad. We chose the filet mignon, chilean sea bass and a chicken dish for entrees. DH and I had the filet and sea bass and they were both out of this world. No complaints about the food. Our cake looked just like the photo I gave them and it was truely the coolest cake ever. i let DH pick the cake and it was chocolate with white chcolate mouse filling. I didn't love it, but then again, I don't liek chocolate all that much. The pastries were good and people seemed to enjoy the ice cream sundae bar.
The staff was better than any other I've ever seen. They were so attentive to all of our guests, not just DH and I. We've been to a lot of weddings and I've never seen one run as smoothly. I guess my dad was impressed too because he wound up coughing over the $1200 tip.

Favors- Wrap With Us 8/10
I called them a few times because the heart shaped bottle stoppers I wanted were out of stock. When I was in LI one day I went over there to order them, and low and behold, they had them in stock. I got exactly what I wanted at a great price, I just didn't feel like they were to organized.

Hair- Tarale 10/10
I know we've all had a hard time getting in touch with her at times, but she's totally worth it. She got there nice and early and had my hair, 5 BM, 1 FG and the MOB hair to do. She also did two of my friends who weren't in the BP after we left to take pictures. She got everyone done and everyone had a beautiful, unique look. I really can't say enough about her. All of my friends loved their hair and everyones stayed in all night. Mine was falling out a little, but I wore my veil all night so you couldn't even tell.

Makeup- personal friend 10/10
My friend Jill did our makeup and bless her heart for doing it for free. Everyone said they were going to do their own makeup, but then they changed their minds and she did like 11 girls!

Hotel- The Tides Motor Inn 7/10
It wasn't the nicest hotel in the world, but it was convenient. We were all pleasantly surprised when we checked in. The rooms were all very clean and very big for a motel room. I would have given them a higher score, but two days before the wedding I wanted to know who had booked rooms and the guy I spoke to didn't seem to know anything about my block. He coudln't find reservations for people we KNEW had rooms, my parents included. I wound up driving out there and made them print everything out. They had all the reservations, I don't know what happened.

Honeymoon- Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta
We had such an amazing time. We stayed at my parents timeshare, the Mayan Palace, in both places. Acapulco had a nicer hotel, but we liked the feel of PV better. We didn't do any trips, even though we had planned to, we just did a lot of relaxing. In Acapulco, we did go to see the cliff divers and had dinner at La Perla. The diving was cool, the dinner wasn't great. I would suggest to go see the show and have drinks, not dinner. We had a great meal at Madeiras, which was a prix fix dinner, and good surf and turf at the Hyatt Regency. One thing I will say, the restaurants have the GREATEST views you will ever see. The sunsets are outrageous. Most of our other meals we ate at the hotel or ordered room service. We went out a few times to Mandera, Paladium and some other sports bar.
PV is a different feel the Aca. It's a little more affluent and there's more fine dining. We had a great hilltop dinner and Filipes. We shared a huge spiny lobster, 2 filets mignons, and grilled shrimp. They also have the best cesar salad in the world. The guy comes over and makes the dressing from scratch, it's a big production. They also make some after dinner drinks like that and they set them on fire and what not. We also ate at this place De Santos, which looks it was picked straight out of South Beach. Great food and they have awesome martinis. They have this cool rooftop bar with a loungey feel and big beds to lay around on. We had excellent fajitas and tacos at this place Pipis. They have these huge margheritas and they were yummy! Another dinner that you have to do in PV is Rythms of the Night. You take a sunset cruise out to this little island that is only lit by candles. You have private tables all along the beach and it's very romantic. The dinner was a buffet, and it was decent. The show was pretty cool with dancers and drums. We went out to a bunch of bars on the Malecon and we loved being able to bar hop up the street.

If anyone has any questios about any of my vendors, or if I forgot something, just let me know!

Gorgeous! You, the cake,the BM dresses! Everything!

Explain the robe in the bar though? Was that over your dress?

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Posted by tourist

Gorgeous! You, the cake,the BM dresses! Everything!

Explain the robe in the bar though? Was that over your dress?

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LOL! We all went to the bar next to the hotel after the wedding. I didn't feel like struggling with my hair, so I just took off my dress and put on my wedding pajamas! I wasn't really able to drink at the wedding because I was constantly moving, so that was the first time I got to sit down, relax and have a couple of drinks with my friends. Here's a link to more photos.

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeEsWrJsxashu

Congrats!!!
Your cake looks amazing!!!

CONGRATS AND WELCOME BACK MRS!!!!

Glad to hear everything went well
LOVE your pics!

CONGRATS!!!!! I'm glad to hear everything went so well!! You looked beautiful (yep, I'm saying it again)

Congrats, you look beautiful!!!

I posted on BHB , but I have to say it again after reading your review:

Thank you for such a great review -- you were honest and detailed , which is greatly appreciated

I absolutely love your pics. You and your hubby look so happy! You were such a stunning bride, and I particularly love your dress, tiara and hair.

Your cake looked AMAZING!! One of the prettiest I've ever seen. And it sounds delicious too

Most importantly, it looks like you had such an incredible day surrounded by your friends and family... the joy is evident on your face and that's what truly matters!

Congrats on a beautiful day ... and many years of happiness with your husband

Congratulations! The pictures and review are amazing.

I LOVE THE CAKE! :)

Congrats Nicole!!! You looked amazing!!! I told you the wedding I went to at Cresent was awesome!!! I love the pictures of you in your rob.