8/23 Manhattan Wedding Review (long)
I was guest at my friend's wedding on Saturday and figured I'd post a review to share some ideas and some things to watch out for. Hope you all enjoy and get something out of it!![]()
All in all it was a very nice reception (I couldn't make it to the ceremony which I heard was wonderful) but there were some small disasters![]()
and although I really hate to mention them at all, I think I should just to warn other brides-to-be! So, beginning with the good:
1. They had a mariachi band playing during the cocktail hour and they were great. The guests all hung around to hear them play.
2. The groom designed all the BM gowns AND the bride's gown so that added a really cute personal touch. The bride had a butterfly theme going so each of the BMs had a butterfly somewhere on her gown and butterflies in her hair. Each BM gown was slight different but the same shade of pink except for the MOH who had a lighter shade of pink.
3. During dinner they played a little 'documentary' of the B&G's lives from birth through the wedding day with interviews with the parents and siblings. This went over really well with the guests and gave everyone something to do during dinner.
4. The tables were sprinkled with photo confetti which was a big hit.
5. The place card table had a little leafless plant with the place cards hanging from the branches. The place cards were butterfly cutouts with a little factoid about the bride or groom on the back like 'Did you know the groom once ate a bug...' I thought that was sooo cute![]()
6. They had a salsa band and a DJ for the reception and both were great, the dance floor was pretty packed most of the night.
And now the not-so-good:
1. There was no A/C in the reception hall. This was a 300++ person wedding and the site had promised the bride A/C but then called her the night before and told her it would be an extra $4000 for A/C. She WILL BE SUING St. John's the Divine (110th & Amsterdam). Alot of the guests left early due to this and the bride had already paid for an extra hour.![]()
Which I think was rude!
2. The caterer was understaffed, I think, because they never came around after dinner to clear the tables until around 11:30pm.
3. There was only one bar for the 300+ guests...the line was literally out the door (again, the cateres fault)
4. A fight broke out on street just outside with what I can only guess was a family member and about 20 guests came down on the groom to prevent him from jumping into the mini-brawl on his wedding day!![]()
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It really wasn't a big fight, people made it out to be more than it was but the groom should never have even paid any mind to it....THANK GOD the bride was inside and missed the whole thing!
5. The bride & groom didn't make it to the dance floor ONCE (besides the dances) because they spent the entire night going from table to table greeting their guests! I felt so bad for them -- they looked so exhausted and positively miserable by the end of the night!![]()
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That, to me, was the worst part.
One last thing, the bride is quite the bargain hunter and she planned this wedding in less than 1 year so that may be why she had some trouble in some areas. But at least she didn't spend an exhorbitant amount of $$. I'm really not trying trash her wedding because in the end more of it was MORE beautiful than ugly and it was really a great party. I had a blast, she looked absolutely breathtaking and, and it was an awesome party!![]()
All in all it was a very nice reception (I couldn't make it to the ceremony which I heard was wonderful) but there were some small disasters
1. They had a mariachi band playing during the cocktail hour and they were great. The guests all hung around to hear them play.
2. The groom designed all the BM gowns AND the bride's gown so that added a really cute personal touch. The bride had a butterfly theme going so each of the BMs had a butterfly somewhere on her gown and butterflies in her hair. Each BM gown was slight different but the same shade of pink except for the MOH who had a lighter shade of pink.
3. During dinner they played a little 'documentary' of the B&G's lives from birth through the wedding day with interviews with the parents and siblings. This went over really well with the guests and gave everyone something to do during dinner.
4. The tables were sprinkled with photo confetti which was a big hit.
5. The place card table had a little leafless plant with the place cards hanging from the branches. The place cards were butterfly cutouts with a little factoid about the bride or groom on the back like 'Did you know the groom once ate a bug...' I thought that was sooo cute
6. They had a salsa band and a DJ for the reception and both were great, the dance floor was pretty packed most of the night.
And now the not-so-good:
1. There was no A/C in the reception hall. This was a 300++ person wedding and the site had promised the bride A/C but then called her the night before and told her it would be an extra $4000 for A/C. She WILL BE SUING St. John's the Divine (110th & Amsterdam). Alot of the guests left early due to this and the bride had already paid for an extra hour.
2. The caterer was understaffed, I think, because they never came around after dinner to clear the tables until around 11:30pm.
3. There was only one bar for the 300+ guests...the line was literally out the door (again, the cateres fault)
4. A fight broke out on street just outside with what I can only guess was a family member and about 20 guests came down on the groom to prevent him from jumping into the mini-brawl on his wedding day!
5. The bride & groom didn't make it to the dance floor ONCE (besides the dances) because they spent the entire night going from table to table greeting their guests! I felt so bad for them -- they looked so exhausted and positively miserable by the end of the night!
One last thing, the bride is quite the bargain hunter and she planned this wedding in less than 1 year so that may be why she had some trouble in some areas. But at least she didn't spend an exhorbitant amount of $$. I'm really not trying trash her wedding because in the end more of it was MORE beautiful than ugly and it was really a great party. I had a blast, she looked absolutely breathtaking and, and it was an awesome party!
