ChristineC68

Hi- When are you getting married there?? So nice to have another person to bounce ideas off of who knows the exact decor of the room!! :)Keep in touch!

Marnles

We are getting married 9/21/02. I feel the same way about having someone else knowing about the place. We booked it without any real refernces, just had good feelings about the place and Frank, the sales manager we dealt with. Since then, I have heard nothing but good things. Great Service, Great Food, Tons of Food! Vendors have said they are very easy to work with, etc. I was thinking it is going to be absolutely beautiful when you get married, they will have their Holiday Decorations up. keep in touch too:)

Marnles&ChristineC68

We are having our reception there in October. I will keep you guys posted as well! :) Good luck.

ChristineC68 & Kate

Wow - are we lucky or what - having all of this in common! I met someone on another wedding board who is marrying there in Nov 2002! Christine - I loved Frank and how laid back he is. No pressure! His attitude is it's your wedding - you do what you like! The room is going to be gorgeous - he showed me pictured how they decorate during that time of year. I'm a teacher, so my convenient marriage times were at a minimum. So when I saw the decor, I knew that was the time of year to do it there! I too have heard only great things about the place. And I love that the whole place revolves around only you! We went for a tasting (did you?) and the food was excellent! We booked on the spot after the tasting. Have you guys looked at vendors yet? We can't decide whether to do DJ or photos first. (Actually my FH would now like to sit back and do nothing for a couple of months, but I want to get the ball rolling).

ChristineC68 & Kate

You had a tasting? When I booked I never thought of it, and they never offered. Think its too late to ask? RE: DJ and Photos- if you have your heart set on a certain vendor, book. However you do have plenty of time and you're off season, so you should get some nice deals. We are using Spin Around Sound and Gray Studios.

ChristineC68 & Kate

Never too late for a tasting! I would call Frank and ask - they just sit you in his office during a cocktail hour and bring 4 or 5 different dishes in to you...it was yummy! As for Gray Studios and Spin Around - are they very expensive? I hear Gray is definitely expensive...

Marnles

TASTING - Oh, I would feel uncomfortable, like intruding on the wedding! I would love it if I could sneak in a back door though! I think we got Gray's minimum package, $3,000.00, with a reverse bound album $500.00 plus some other items. So I think the total is around 4,000.00 SAS is a little higher than the rest but not by much, maybe $200.00 from what I've seen and I'm thinking they are worth it! We were looking for 'no cheese' and they promised us that so we'll see!

Stewart Manor CC

I am so excited to hear others are using SMCC. I haven't had a tasting, except for some fresh mozzerella that they had the day we booked. It's one of the things we wanted to ask them about. We hired Hart to Hart as our DJ. I think we are probably paying too much for them but I don't think I could have bared the idea of selecting one (my fiance has seen H2H at several parties and other friends recommended them). I left their office totally stunned after watching their sales pitch video:) Tonight we are signing Paul Marino Photgraphy. I am really excited about that, the pictures he showed us (full albums, full sets of proofs, etc) were gorgeous! They seemed comparable in price with most of the other photographers we looked at. Kate, since you are first, I cannot wait to hear your review. Marnles, Kate is right, if you find some vendor you love book them otherwise take your time. My fiance is actually more on the ball with this then I am. I am thinking about what songs to play at the ceremony (in 14 months) and he keeps reminding me that we need to sign a photographer. I guess we're balanced:)

Stewart Manor CC

Christine - you're too funny!! My FH at this point would like to just kick his feet up and relax a bit. I would like to get things done. Summer is when I have much more free time (school librarian here). I don't have any vendors in mind, so we're starting from scratch. So I watch this board very closely for suggestions. How were the prices at Paul Marino?? Kate - We were late for our tasting, but had we been on time, we would have walked in before the couples cocktail hour had already started. The only problem was when we left. But we walked through the smaller cocktail area (rather than the main cocktail room - just made a left out of Frank's office) and it was as unobtrusive as it possibly could have been. If I were the bride, it wouldn't have bothered me. I don't think she ever saw us (I hope!). Unfortunately - Gray seems too expensive for us. We are paying for everything, and I don't think we can spend that much on pictures, although I've only heard great things about them.

Stewart Manor CC

Hey, I just recently got married at SMCC on May 12, the place was great, the only thing I dint like was the Mater D, asked us twice the whole night if we needed anything, of course I dint notice until the next day but other then that it was Great, I also Love Frank he is so nice and was very helpful. My DJ was Hart to Hart we used them at all of our family weddings, they never let us down. My photographer was Gray, yes, they were expensive, but very worth it, we used Steve and he was so creative with the things he did, I had nothing but Great things said about my proofs, and I had them back in two weeks. Hope you dont mind the feed back. Have fun planning!

Stewart Manor CC - Thanks Erin and question...

Erin - Any feedback is GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks! So glad you had a great day overall. I wish I could have a photographer like Gray, we just don't want to go into debt before we get married:(. Thanks for the warning though. I'll be sure to ask frank to make sure that doesnt happen!!!! Question about the centerpieces - did you keep them as is, or did you upgrade? If you upgraded, how so? Did they put a complimentary one in the bathroom? on the bar? Thanks in advance...

Erin - Gray

If you don't mind me asking.... Where did you go for photos?

Stewart Manor CC - Thanks Erin

Thanks for the review Erin. I am so glad you had such a nice day. I met with Grey Studios also. There work was beautiful, but I was put off that they didn't offer traditional packages like other photogs. Paul Marino has several levels of packages from $2,600 - 4,300. They say all of it is negotiable in what is included on your contract. I'll let ya know how it goes...we have a few changes we want to make. Re: the flowers...I plan to order my own silk arrangements for centerpieces. Frank told us we can get credit for them if we don't use them.

Stewart Manor CC - Thanks Erin

I believ the did have flowers in the restroom but I dont think they did at the bar, I would double check that with Frank, I can't believe I don't remeber that but then again their is so much going on that day, you dont notice unitl afterwards. We went for our pictures at the Garden City Gazebo, we got lucky and were the only wedding their so we were able to take our time, we also took the family pictures in front of SMCC's gazebo, thay had it decorated really nice. The flowers as far as I could see were not spray painted, if you want I dont remeber the name of the florist they use, but you can call them and ask them what they do. Gray studio's is expensive, but that is the one thing I spent allot on, I didnt go crazy with all the little stuff or even my flowers, but still I got allot of compliments with everything. If you have any other ? feel free to ask.

Stewart Manor CC - one more thing

I didnt upgrade on the flowers, at the time I didnt know you could, I had booked w/someone who is no longer there.

Stewart Manor CC

Hello Marnles - we've emailed and such on other boards, but now I come here to find you here too - LOL!! So, from what I've read, I see you've booked the SMCC - A HUGE CONGRATS!!!!! In case your wondering, I post on other boards as May 11, 2002 Bride, we are getting married at the Sans Souci and my FH used to live in LB!! Bet of luck and let me know if you need any advice on vendors!!