I'm back - my 11/8 wedding review!!!! Now with a few small pictures!
Hi everyone! I'm back from my wonderful honeymoon. We had a wonderful, fantastic, beautiful wedding! It was very stressful in the few days leading up to it but it was all worth it. It was VERY VERY cold that day but we still got some outdoor pictures so I was very happy. And congrats to the other 11/8 ladies- Lorimari and Regina- and I think there was one or two others so congrats!
Here is my review! It's long but honest. As you can tell, I am VERY picky.
Crest Hollow Country Club - A
We made a great decision in booking this place. Alot of people consider it a wedding factory but they made us so confident that I was not worried about a thing. Our banquet manager was Leo and he was AWESOME. He took care of us from beginning till end. I didn't eat but everyone commented on how great the food and service were. The drinks were great and they kept us fed so well in the bridal rooms. During pictures before the ceremony they brought out TONS of food for all my family members there- it was like a buffet.
The only problem that we had was that they scheduled a ceremony in our room right before ours. I know they turn things around quick but there was no way they could do the other couple's ceremony from 6:30- 7 and then ours at 7pm. Esp. with chanding all the flowers and huppah. My husband (!) got really angry and had to yell at them to change something. They wound up moving the other couple's and I felt bad but I was NOT having my wedding start late. But they worked it out. That was the only bad thing but we did not see any other weddings going on. They were so great there!
Band - Dwight Howard Music - A for performance and a B for pre-party
My parents used this band for their wedding 30 years ago. One member was actually the same! And for a surprise they had the lead singer from my parent's wedding (who they loved) come back and sing my parents first dance song. They played great songs and had everyone up dancing. I thought the band leader could have done a bit of a better job with making annoucements but noone seemed to notice other than me. People kept telling me how much they loved them.
I give them a B for pre-wedding because at the end they were a little hard to get in touch with. They were very nice when I did get in touch with them but I needed alot of hand-holding and I think they could have done a bit of a better job. But overall I was very happy.
Photography - Jovon - no grade for proofs but I am expecting about 1200 of them.
Organization - C
I have not seen my proofs yet but judging on my e-pics I am SURE they will be great. I love the photographers work. He did my friends wedding and the pictures were GEORGOUS. At the actual wedding the photohgrapher was everywhere. I cannot complain one word about that.
HOWEVER, they were 15 minutes late, took a long time to set up and were completely disorganized with family pictures. Now we have BIG families but I was the one who had to do the yelling to get everyone together. Like yell the family members who needed to be in the pictures. I gave him a VERY DETAILED list of everyone who I wanted in pictures and he did not have it with him. I was VERY annoying and aggitated that I had to be the one doing the organizing. I am planning on saying something to the studio. I would recommend them again, because like I said their work is great but just beware- even if you're not using them- to have someone organize that stuff.
Videography - Jovon - again, haven't seen the video but I would give the guy an A. He was everywhere and it looked like he got everything. His name was Irving and he was SUPER nice.
Florist - Pedestals - A+ for pre-wedding.
A for personal flowers
B+ for reception flowers.
This was my favorite vendor. They worked with my SO much before the wedding to make multiple centerpieces for me. They were SO SO nice- I worked with Juda, Phil and Joe and were so accomodating.
My bouquets and the girl's bouquets and guy's bouts were beautiful. I loved them. I liked my reception flowers alot too but they didn't seem as full as I wanted them to be. And I wanted votives on the tables but instead they put tapered candles. I know these are minor things but i was VERy specific in what I wanted.
Hair - Vivian from Anthony Cole in Bellmore - A+.
She was great, professional, creative and super nice. My hair held up the entire night. A few others there did some other of my BM's and mom and MIL's hair and theirs held up all night and until the next morning. i have been going there for years and HIGHLY recommend them. They were able to accomodate 6 of us within 2 hours. They are VERY reasonably priced too.
Make-up- Maureen Pedala - A+++++
The most talented, sweetest make-up woman I have ever been to. And I have a TON of trials. She does make-up for the WB 11 News and was able to do camera ready make-up so quickly. She came early, stayed late and even touched up people who did not have their make-up done. I cannot say enough good things about her. I would recommend her in a second to anyone. She uses great products. We even forgot to pay her for my make-up and she left without even wanting to bother me about it!!!!
My dress - Bridal Reflections in Carle Place - A
I have heard alot of negative things about them but they have always been so great to me. They came down in price on my dress, altered my SIL's veil for me to use and did the alterations perfectly. I had Lee as my seamstress and I highly recommend her. The only downside is that once you buy the dress, the charge alot for a french bustle and they changed alot to cut the veil but it was worth it. I LOVED my dress!!!!!!
BM's dress - Bloomingdales in NYC - F
OK, well there was alot of confusion here because they were completely unorganized. But they would up recommending alot of my girls to order up and the dresses came in falling off of them. Since they are a dept. story you were allowed to re-order but they were not happy to do that. I had to get the manager of the store involved who was very nice but it caused alot of aggravation. If you have a small bridal party I would go there since they usually give you 20% off when they are having a sale and have lots of dresses to try on for the brands Amsale, Vera Wang and Nicole Miller. That said, I loved the Amsale BM's dresses- they photographed beautifully and looked great!
Tuxedos - Colemans in NJ - F
Camelot Tuxedos - Babylon - C
We did this because half of the guys were form NJ and half were from NY. The guy in NJ assured me it would be no problem to bring stuff to Camelot in LI (cuz his friend owned it). However, jackets and shoes were wrong, stains, buttons came off. I was very unhappy with their service.
I think that's about it. I might add more things when I think of them and will post a honeymoon review for anyone going to Hawaii. I'll also post some pictures soon!
Thanks for all your help girls!!
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Here is my review! It's long but honest. As you can tell, I am VERY picky.
Crest Hollow Country Club - A
We made a great decision in booking this place. Alot of people consider it a wedding factory but they made us so confident that I was not worried about a thing. Our banquet manager was Leo and he was AWESOME. He took care of us from beginning till end. I didn't eat but everyone commented on how great the food and service were. The drinks were great and they kept us fed so well in the bridal rooms. During pictures before the ceremony they brought out TONS of food for all my family members there- it was like a buffet.
The only problem that we had was that they scheduled a ceremony in our room right before ours. I know they turn things around quick but there was no way they could do the other couple's ceremony from 6:30- 7 and then ours at 7pm. Esp. with chanding all the flowers and huppah. My husband (!) got really angry and had to yell at them to change something. They wound up moving the other couple's and I felt bad but I was NOT having my wedding start late. But they worked it out. That was the only bad thing but we did not see any other weddings going on. They were so great there!
Band - Dwight Howard Music - A for performance and a B for pre-party
My parents used this band for their wedding 30 years ago. One member was actually the same! And for a surprise they had the lead singer from my parent's wedding (who they loved) come back and sing my parents first dance song. They played great songs and had everyone up dancing. I thought the band leader could have done a bit of a better job with making annoucements but noone seemed to notice other than me. People kept telling me how much they loved them.
I give them a B for pre-wedding because at the end they were a little hard to get in touch with. They were very nice when I did get in touch with them but I needed alot of hand-holding and I think they could have done a bit of a better job. But overall I was very happy.
Photography - Jovon - no grade for proofs but I am expecting about 1200 of them.
Organization - C
I have not seen my proofs yet but judging on my e-pics I am SURE they will be great. I love the photographers work. He did my friends wedding and the pictures were GEORGOUS. At the actual wedding the photohgrapher was everywhere. I cannot complain one word about that.
HOWEVER, they were 15 minutes late, took a long time to set up and were completely disorganized with family pictures. Now we have BIG families but I was the one who had to do the yelling to get everyone together. Like yell the family members who needed to be in the pictures. I gave him a VERY DETAILED list of everyone who I wanted in pictures and he did not have it with him. I was VERY annoying and aggitated that I had to be the one doing the organizing. I am planning on saying something to the studio. I would recommend them again, because like I said their work is great but just beware- even if you're not using them- to have someone organize that stuff.
Videography - Jovon - again, haven't seen the video but I would give the guy an A. He was everywhere and it looked like he got everything. His name was Irving and he was SUPER nice.
Florist - Pedestals - A+ for pre-wedding.
A for personal flowers
B+ for reception flowers.
This was my favorite vendor. They worked with my SO much before the wedding to make multiple centerpieces for me. They were SO SO nice- I worked with Juda, Phil and Joe and were so accomodating.
My bouquets and the girl's bouquets and guy's bouts were beautiful. I loved them. I liked my reception flowers alot too but they didn't seem as full as I wanted them to be. And I wanted votives on the tables but instead they put tapered candles. I know these are minor things but i was VERy specific in what I wanted.
Hair - Vivian from Anthony Cole in Bellmore - A+.
She was great, professional, creative and super nice. My hair held up the entire night. A few others there did some other of my BM's and mom and MIL's hair and theirs held up all night and until the next morning. i have been going there for years and HIGHLY recommend them. They were able to accomodate 6 of us within 2 hours. They are VERY reasonably priced too.
Make-up- Maureen Pedala - A+++++
The most talented, sweetest make-up woman I have ever been to. And I have a TON of trials. She does make-up for the WB 11 News and was able to do camera ready make-up so quickly. She came early, stayed late and even touched up people who did not have their make-up done. I cannot say enough good things about her. I would recommend her in a second to anyone. She uses great products. We even forgot to pay her for my make-up and she left without even wanting to bother me about it!!!!
My dress - Bridal Reflections in Carle Place - A
I have heard alot of negative things about them but they have always been so great to me. They came down in price on my dress, altered my SIL's veil for me to use and did the alterations perfectly. I had Lee as my seamstress and I highly recommend her. The only downside is that once you buy the dress, the charge alot for a french bustle and they changed alot to cut the veil but it was worth it. I LOVED my dress!!!!!!
BM's dress - Bloomingdales in NYC - F
OK, well there was alot of confusion here because they were completely unorganized. But they would up recommending alot of my girls to order up and the dresses came in falling off of them. Since they are a dept. story you were allowed to re-order but they were not happy to do that. I had to get the manager of the store involved who was very nice but it caused alot of aggravation. If you have a small bridal party I would go there since they usually give you 20% off when they are having a sale and have lots of dresses to try on for the brands Amsale, Vera Wang and Nicole Miller. That said, I loved the Amsale BM's dresses- they photographed beautifully and looked great!
Tuxedos - Colemans in NJ - F
Camelot Tuxedos - Babylon - C
We did this because half of the guys were form NJ and half were from NY. The guy in NJ assured me it would be no problem to bring stuff to Camelot in LI (cuz his friend owned it). However, jackets and shoes were wrong, stains, buttons came off. I was very unhappy with their service.
I think that's about it. I might add more things when I think of them and will post a honeymoon review for anyone going to Hawaii. I'll also post some pictures soon!
Thanks for all your help girls!!
