June 22 Wedding Review (Very Very Long)
Although I haven't posted too much recently, I wanted to provide a vendor review b/c this site helped me when I first started planning the wedding (almost two years ago!) Our day was absolutely perfect and I couldn't be more happy. But, I must tell you that the week before was very stressful: my street was ripped up and completely repaved two days before the wedding, I received raffle tickets to the church fair for the day of my wedding which I was never told about beforehand (it didn't affect the wedding at all), the programs almost didn't make it (truck couldn't get through b/c of the road paving), and a quinze anos celebration wouldn't leave the church (they were there 15 minutes before the wedding was supposed to start). The moral of the story, don't sweat the small stuff. Because we were calm about everything and had a great time, our guests did too.
Stationary: (For Brides planning from Boston) The Paper Caper of Boston. The programs and invitations came out perfectly. But, Lisa the person I worked with could be a little scattered and you really have to remind her about things you discussed. In the end, very worth it, but slightly stressful.
Dress: Wedding Salon at Manhasset. 10 out of 10. Everything was ready when I asked. The dress was beautiful. Rosemary, the person I worked with, didn't push the most expensive dress, she just found the dresses that looked the best on me.
Photographer: Ernie from Creative Compositions in Oyster Bay. Beyond 10. I really liked Ernie. Not only did he keep the mood light, he was a professional. He arrived at 12:30 pm for pictures before the wedding and didn't leave until 11:30 p.m. when the reception ended. For the break in the middle, he suggested we find a park to get our portrait pictures taken without missing any of the reception. He worked non-stop but wasn't ever present or ever underfoot. Even more important, he actually shaved $ off of the price so that it could fit in our budget (He wasn't going to quibble about a few hundred dollars he told us, his goal was to take great pictures so that we would want to buy them). He took over 600 proofs and I can't wait to get them back. Of course, that is the true test and I will provide an update.
Limos/Rolls: Strathmore Limosines. 10 out of 10. I never realized how much of an integral role the limo driver plays. Not only did they save my sanity by kicking the quinze anos people out and arranging all of our pew flowers, they lined everyone up in perfect order. They joked and kept the mood light. The Rolls and Limos were very clean.
Flowers: David Hedgecock in Queens (House Florist for Sans Souci). Very Good (8 out of 10). The flowers for the church and the reception were stunning. His prices were unbelieavable. I loved my bouquet. Some of the bouteniere flowers didn't look as fresh as I would have liked but everything else was very good. He even found the most beautiful green hydrangea flower leaves for the cake for me.
Reception: Sans Souci. 10 out of 10. I can't rave enough about the staff at Sans Souci. You can also see the vendor review I wrote for more details) They exceeded my expectations in every category. The food for the premier menu is unbelievable; I am still getting phone calls about the unbelievable cocktail hour. Manuel, our maitre dee, was the epitome of professional. They followed my requests to the last detail. The week of the wedding I dropped by to give them the baskets, etc. and they were touching up the paint and washing the rugs. Everything was just perfect.
Band: East Coast Band. Beyone 10! The guests raved about the band, which managed to appeal to every age group playing music from alternative to dance to big band to latin. We had a seven piece band plus a three piece jazz trio for the cocktail hour. Here again, the personalities of the members really left a strong impression. Down to earth and VERY Nice people, especially Tom Zano who we booked the date through. I would recommend them without reservation to anyone. They sounded exactly like the video that they sent us.
Best of luck to everyone. I really didn't like wedding planning but everything turned out beyond my dreams. It is worth it in the end if you stick with YOUR priorities and keep in mind that the most memorable moments aren't planned but just unfold when you do things from the heart.
Stationary: (For Brides planning from Boston) The Paper Caper of Boston. The programs and invitations came out perfectly. But, Lisa the person I worked with could be a little scattered and you really have to remind her about things you discussed. In the end, very worth it, but slightly stressful.
Dress: Wedding Salon at Manhasset. 10 out of 10. Everything was ready when I asked. The dress was beautiful. Rosemary, the person I worked with, didn't push the most expensive dress, she just found the dresses that looked the best on me.
Photographer: Ernie from Creative Compositions in Oyster Bay. Beyond 10. I really liked Ernie. Not only did he keep the mood light, he was a professional. He arrived at 12:30 pm for pictures before the wedding and didn't leave until 11:30 p.m. when the reception ended. For the break in the middle, he suggested we find a park to get our portrait pictures taken without missing any of the reception. He worked non-stop but wasn't ever present or ever underfoot. Even more important, he actually shaved $ off of the price so that it could fit in our budget (He wasn't going to quibble about a few hundred dollars he told us, his goal was to take great pictures so that we would want to buy them). He took over 600 proofs and I can't wait to get them back. Of course, that is the true test and I will provide an update.
Limos/Rolls: Strathmore Limosines. 10 out of 10. I never realized how much of an integral role the limo driver plays. Not only did they save my sanity by kicking the quinze anos people out and arranging all of our pew flowers, they lined everyone up in perfect order. They joked and kept the mood light. The Rolls and Limos were very clean.
Flowers: David Hedgecock in Queens (House Florist for Sans Souci). Very Good (8 out of 10). The flowers for the church and the reception were stunning. His prices were unbelieavable. I loved my bouquet. Some of the bouteniere flowers didn't look as fresh as I would have liked but everything else was very good. He even found the most beautiful green hydrangea flower leaves for the cake for me.
Reception: Sans Souci. 10 out of 10. I can't rave enough about the staff at Sans Souci. You can also see the vendor review I wrote for more details) They exceeded my expectations in every category. The food for the premier menu is unbelievable; I am still getting phone calls about the unbelievable cocktail hour. Manuel, our maitre dee, was the epitome of professional. They followed my requests to the last detail. The week of the wedding I dropped by to give them the baskets, etc. and they were touching up the paint and washing the rugs. Everything was just perfect.
Band: East Coast Band. Beyone 10! The guests raved about the band, which managed to appeal to every age group playing music from alternative to dance to big band to latin. We had a seven piece band plus a three piece jazz trio for the cocktail hour. Here again, the personalities of the members really left a strong impression. Down to earth and VERY Nice people, especially Tom Zano who we booked the date through. I would recommend them without reservation to anyone. They sounded exactly like the video that they sent us.
Best of luck to everyone. I really didn't like wedding planning but everything turned out beyond my dreams. It is worth it in the end if you stick with YOUR priorities and keep in mind that the most memorable moments aren't planned but just unfold when you do things from the heart.
