I can't believe I am a wife! Here is a review with tons of non pro pics. Hope you ladies enjoy!
First off I stalked this website forever and drove myself crazy with wanting to do every little detail. AND I can happily say it was so well worth it!!! Every single person raved and raved about the wedding and all the little special touches. I think we seem to forget that just because everyone on this site knows all the 'trends' that doesn't mean every one else does. Most people had never heard of a candy bar buffet, slipper basket, etc.
I won't say don't stress during planning because I stressed and there is sometimes no way you can avoid it! What I will say is DO NOT let it get the best of you on your wedding day. People always say things will go wrong and don't let it ruin your day and I 100% agree. Everything can be fixed :)
For the vendors: I live in NJ so most of my vendors are based here! Sorry ladies. But I did use Duet and bridal reflections.
Weather: A+!! I kept weather stalking and saw it was going to rain on my wedding day. I was so upset because when I woke up it was raining. I didn't let it get to me and someone is on my side because right before I had to leave the hotel the sun came out and I had a perfect day! It was so nice out, not too hot, not too cold and we were able to have our cocktail hour outside which on the patio which is one of the reasons I had booked this hall!
Dress A=: It was jim jhelm from Bridal reflections. I found the dress online and fell in love with it! Bridal reflections in Massapequa was the only salon that had it so I drove all the way there. The people were so nice and at first they didn't let me try the dress on since it was my first time dress shopping. Instead I tried on about 10 dresses and they all just didnt seem right. Finally they let me try the dress on I went there for and I fell in love! It was way out of my budget but I have no regrets! I was so comfortable all night and everyone loved the dress.
Veil: Davids bridal: A+- I didnt want to spend a fortune on a veil since I was only wearing it for the ceremony. They had exactly what I wanted for under $100.
Hair A+: Michelle Loconte (idohairandmakeup) Michelle has a Salon in NJ and is an absolute doll! She was so perfect to work with. She was a little pricey ( at least to me) but she did the best job and most importantly my hair stayed entire night. I had temp extensions put in and I got my hair done at 1:30. I stayed up until 5am and you can see in my pic that my hair still looked great! I only touched it once and it was after I took my veil out and put more hairspray in. She traveled to my hotel with her assistant and everyone was so happy with their hair.
Make-up: Lauren Del Preore A+: One of my fav vendors! She was so laid back and awesome to work with! She traveled to my hotel day of and charges $85 for make up, it included regular or airbrush and eye lashes. Everyone was thrilled with their make up. I had 2 make up trials with other people and they turned out horrible! For some reason in these pics my face looked shiny but I promise it wasn't in person and I'm sure it wont be in my pro pics.
Florist: Laurelwood designs. A+ Easiest vendor to work with. I had a vision of what I wanted and she created it perfectly! My flowers were gorgeous! I could not have been happier with my choices and she did such an amazing job! Everyone was begging to take my centerpieces home but i couldnt let them because the glass trays were rentals.
DJ: In the mix A++++++++: They literally blew me away! First off the owner is very good friends with one of my bm's and gm's so I knew we were going to go with them and they would hook us up. BUT I couldn't believe how awesome they were! Fh and I are huge music snobs. We go to over 30 concerts a year and we like a lot of different music so this was the hardest vendor to book for us. What we basically did was asked if we could pick cocktail hour music, all dinner music and then besides some requests we had just do everything to get the guests dancing. He did exactly what we wanted. I mean I had certain versions of songs that I wanted him to play but they had to be stopped before certain times etc..(they were live songs) and he nailed everything! We did the uplighting around the room which I really recommend. It makes such a difference in the room and everyone loved it so much. We also had the screens with zap shots which the guests went crazy over. I have seen this at so many wedding but a lot of my guests had not and raved about it. Also we did a photo montage which was a huge hit! And as a surprise for us he played some concert footage and music videos along with some songs. When he first did it he came over and asked if it was okay and I was so blown away that I said of course! They guest were floored and I got to have some of my fav videos playing in the background.
etsy.com: A++++: I found the greatest things on that site. I got fh cufflinks, all my doj, my ring bowl, banner, cake topper, something blue etc.
Duet photo and video TJ's team: A+ (obviously no proofs yet) You really did not even know they were there. It was a hectic day because my limo ran late coming to pick up the girls to bring us to the church. I didnt want to see fh before the ceremony so our church was 6 miles from our hall and hotel ( the hall and hotel were a block away from each other) So our ceremony was 4pm and cocktail hour strated at 7. Plenty of time right??? WRONG! Because the limo ran late I ended up getting to the church late. After the ceremony the plan was to take formal pics with the family in the church and then go across the street with the bp for pics to a park. Since we ran late we had to rush the formal pics (our fault not tjs at all) then it was too late to go to the garden with the bp so we were only able to come some shots of fh and I. Our bridal party was huge so there was no way we could get them all to get in the park and take pics quickly.. they were a little rowdy lol. So we headed to the hall and got there at 6:30 with the intensions of taking pictures outside to make up for it and then getting to our cocktail our (which we refused to miss) There was another wedding there already taking pics(they had the upstairs room) so we werent able to do anything. We went to the bridal suite to hang out and then at 7 the outside was finally available. Again no ones fault it was just poor timing on from running behind due to traffic. So TJ wanted to go take the pics at 7 outside. I feel bad cause at first I gave him a hard time. I didnt want to miss my cocktail hour, so I told him I would go only if we were back in 20 minutes. And he stuck to it and got us back in the room by 7:20 and got the shots we needed. Then he did pull us out during the recpetion during salad, which I asked him to, to take some shots of fh and I since we were rushing to get to cocktail hour. All in all I think we got enough of the 'posed' shots and to be honest even if we didn't it was no ones fault. I allowed enough time but traffic was so bad. I have so much faith in Duet that I know they got every shot I wanted. Moral of the story... dont stress when some things go wrong! In the end it will all work out and TJ handled the situation perfectly, He kept me come and assured me he got everything.
Church: St Peter the apostle New Brunswick A+: the church was so easy to work with. At first I wanted to decorate the aisles and have petal cones. Then I booked and found out that we weren't allowed to decorate the aisle without a runner and we could toss anything after and no bubbles. So I decided not to do anything and saved over $1000 with the florist. And I have no regrets! The church was perfect with out the decorations, no one noticed and we did a ceremony so we werent even at the church for that long. We used the churches organist and cantor and it was great.
Limo: NJ LImobus: B- First off I have to say I am so happy we went with limo buses! We had a huge bp and we would have never made it in a limo. It was awesome having everyone together and we had such a great time on the bus. They let us bring alcohol so I am sure that helped.
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They get a B because the owner is not great to deal with so if you get him on the phone its such a pain! He has no manners and is just rude. My driver was so helpful and very nice. Like I said they were late but that was because Rutgers had homecoming yesterday so it was out of his control. And also I never even thought of music for the limo and the server we had on the bus was so annoying! She kept putting a song on and then changing it after 2 seconds. This went on for over 10 minutes! I think she was trying to dj lol.
Hall: The Imperia A+- This was a tough one for me. I found the hall in a wedding locations mag and fell in love with the picture! So I had to go visit it. Once I got their I learned that it had been open for about 6 months. This worried me but everyone has to start somewhere right?? They offered me a great price and the package included tip, tax and a ton of food and any cake of my choice with open bar. I couldnt resist so I booked with fh right away. I posted on the knot nj forums about the hall asking for any feedback and the girls were so rude! I didnt listen to any of the things they had to say, they didnt like that the hall was new, and that it was located on a highway, but I stuck to it and I was blown away! They did a fantastic job! Everyone raved about the food and kept saying they couldnt believe how much of it their was. We had 4 stations, which included a mashed potato bar, taco station, carving station and oriental wok station. Then we had over 10 passed trays going around along with a cheese and anti past station. Then everyone got a penne vodka, choice of two salads, sorbet, choice of 4 entrees, eggplant parm over linguini, chicken, salmon or filet mignon. Then for dessert I did a candy bar BUT the hall included an ice cream sundae bar, banana fosters, cake with a choc dipped strawberry. I only have 2 complaints. One is when we first got into the reception our Matrd was no where to be found and we needed drinks! My moh was right on it and found them and told them what we were drinking and never to let us go empty. From that point on we each had 2 drinks always at our table. I just felt that she should never of had to say anything, they should have done that already but whatever no huge deal. And my second is today we went back to the hall to pick things up and when we got their they gave us our top tier which we were planning on eating today. Well I opened the box before we left and the cake was completely crushed. I mean you could even make out it was a cake! The owner handled it right away and ordered us a new tier that we will pick up from the bakery hopefully this week. Again not the end of the world. They fixed it asap it just stinks its not out actual top tier from our wedding day cake.
Hotel: Double tree somerset: FFFFFFFFF+++++: If I could curse a thousand times I would. I will just leave it that they did nothing they were supposed to do. I booked this hotel back in March 2008 and I had problems with them from the second my invites went out until the morning of my wedding. I can't even think about the hotel cause I will get angry so if you need to know anything else fm me.
OOT Bags: We got reusable bags from whole foods. They were such a hit! We filled them with water, gatorade, cookies, 2 bags of chips, asprin, brownies, crackers, breakfast info, door hangers and welcome letters.
Invites and all paper goods: A+++ I got very lucky and had two people to do all of my paper goods. I hired a designer that I found on the knot. She got married last year and is amazing! She basically does any and all design work and will also do printing if you would like her to, or if you are cutting cost she will do designs and then you can print on your own. She was so amazing to work with and had the best ideas. I had her do my invites and print them and I had her do my programs and print them. I also had her do all my candy bar signage and stickers for bags, she did my std, invites, programs, photo share cards, and she is also doing my thank yous. Then I had my sister in law who is also a designer. I did not ask her to do anything at first since she was preggo but at the end of the planning process he did so much! she did my welcome letters, seating chart, breakfast inserts for bags, door hangers, table numbers, card box, memory table sign, chair signs and a ton more stuff!
BP gifts: We got the gm converse and a bottle of their fav alcohol. And we got the bm's pashminas, coach wristlets, and flip flops. I got my fg and rb new ds games and parents and priest gift cards.
Rehersal dinner: A+: Old man raffertys new brunswick: Awesome restaurant with great food. They gave us a package with three family style appetizers, salad, choice of three entrees and choice of 3 desserts. All fountain drinks and coffee were included and we did a drink option where they were able to have bottled wine, white or red, and also we made drink tickets were we had 50 tickets and each ticket let you cash in for a beer. The guys loved it and it really helped keep our bar bill down.
Candy bar: I am so happy i did this! EVERY single person went insane for it!! The adults were pushing the kids out of the way. People were running around with huge bags of candy. They went nuts for it and I couldnt have been happier! We had Fun dip, tootsie pops, candy corn, kisses, snickers, rwix, 3 musketeers, milky way, kit kats, starburst, pop rocks, twizzlers, candy buttons, m&ms, Peanut m&ms, peanut butter cups, gummy bears, raisinetts, good and plenty, starburst jelly beans, sweedish fish, rice krispie treats, choc lolli pops that i made, reeces pieces, sour patch kids, taffy, smarties, pixie sticks, nerds, skittles and large choc bars: crunch bars, butterfingers, baby ruth. I also used white sandwich sized bags fop people to fill their candy up with.
Details: I had
-photo share cards
-flip flop bakset: it was a hit! I have none left
-programs
--Table numbers: our dog dressed in different outfits
-Candy bar
Personalized cake topper
-I put a kids activity bag on their table
-A cousin has severe allergies and couldnt have the candy or any food at hall so I had the hall place a goode bag at her table with stuff I know she can eat from whole foods.
-Better together sign behind our chair
-photo montage
-memory table
ADVICE:
1)for the candy bar: if you think you have enough candy I promise you dont! I had to have gotten over 100 pounds of candy easily. I had 100 guests. I put out over 150 bags so maybe that was my fault but I cant not believe what these people ate! I honestly had over 5 pounds of each candy... some more and this is what I have left:
Candy corn
good and plenty
smarties
jelly beans
raisinetts
m&ms
Every single thing else is gone! Not even once piece left!!!
2) Don't lose sight of each other. We never left each others side. We had the best time together and didnt let anyone pull us away.
3) Go to cocktail hour! It was the best food and we got to do a ton of mingling.
4) Eat every meal. The only time we left was salad. We promised ourselves we would eat. Every single person told us we wouldnt have time but we promised we would and we did! I have no regrets and I am so happy we stick to our plan because the food rocked!
5) DANCE!! There were certain songs that we requested, mainly slow ones during meals and we made sure no matter what we were doing to get up and dance with each other. Most times we were the only ones on the floor since people were eating but we didnt care... it was perfect and so worth it!
7) Have fun! I understand people have different taste and you dont want to overdue it but its your day! We did everything we waned to do and because of that we have so many people calling us telling us that they have never seen a couple look so happy at their wedding and look so in love. For our last dance we requested the dj play a song that is over 10 minutes long. Now we know thats a long song thats why we put it at the end. Its something we really wanted but figured it wouldnt bother people since it was at the end of the night. Well everyone gathers around us and watched us dance like maniacs to dave matthews band two step. We were jumping around just the two of us for over 10 minutes and everyone had so much fun watching that they just preferred to clap around us in a circle. It was my most favorite memory of the night and something I will never forget!
BE YOURSELF! This is your wedding so dont let other peoples opinions sway you and eat all of your food!! :)
whew! I think thats it! now here are the pictures :) I will update with pro pics when I get them!
