My 9/21/03 Wedding Review (VANDERBILT MANSION)
I hope future brides-to-be will benefit from my review as I have from all the past reviews from the Ladies of LI Weddings - THANK YOU! Special thanks to SSDARE, you saved me hours of work with your table cards (and they were a hit!)
Ceremony/Reception: Vanderbilt Mansion (Oakdale): A+; From the very start, Carolyn, the banquet manager made me feel comfortable that I was in competent hands. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful day! Thank Goodness Hurricane Isabel came and left! Our guests were greeted with a hospitality in the courtyard and serenaded with a string quartet. Our ceremony was on the great lawn, facing the river (we even saw ducks swimming by as we recited our vows). There was a grand piano in the center hall where our jazz band played during the cocktail hour. The mansion was so tastefully decorated. The FOOD was SPECTACULAR, in terms of taste, abundance and presentation. The staff handled all the tiny details superbly! They even complied with passing around my DH’s signature margarita, including squeezing fresh lime juice for each drink! The ballroom is on the small side but perfect for 125 people. We keep hearing from our guests that it was one of the most elegant weddings they’ve been to (it sure did make me feel that way). If anyone is having a small-medium sized wedding that is classic, well-run and not overly priced, you can’t go wrong at the Vanderbilt!
Florist: Jack & Rose: A-; The bouquets were stunning! The ceremony flowers were exactly what I asked for. The centerpieces were elegantly arranged. Jack personally came to decorate my chuppah and my cake! He is very talented and it’s evident that he has many years of experience. The reasons why he gets a minus are, first, because Jack is very hands on and cares very much about pleasing brides ON their wedding day, he tends to be very stretched with his time. He is very accommodating to all brides, even meeting me at 9pm and staying until 11pm. The problem was, it was difficult getting hold of him. The second reason is that during my design session, I was never shown a “live” sample of what my flowers would look like. I was pretty clear on what type of flowers I wanted, I was disappointed to not be able to “see” a sample. I was very nervous on how things would turn out but was very relieved to see how BEAUTIFUL my flowers were! It pays to TRUST JACK! Jack is reasonably priced and provides hands-on attention that you normally wouldn’t get for the kind of price.
Make-up: Jillian from Gorgeous Faces: A; Jillian was fabulous. She is a true professional (with a great personality to boot!). She arrived 15 minutes early at my hotel (6:15am) and was able to do my make-up in 30 minutes! She is able to look at you and know what works. My make-up was very natural and lasted all day (except for the lipstick). I loved the false eyelashes that she used on me, wish I could wear them everyday!
Hair: Rock Twins: A; I had four bridesmaids and myself that needed their hair done by 8AM. The twins also arrived at my hotel room 15 minutes early (at 5:45am!) My hair was half-up and half-down and stayed the whole day!
Video: Wild Rose Video: A-; Bill and Marie are fabulous. They are professional and down-to-earth really “good” people. I’ve seen samples of their work and am praying my video will be as good. I had John as the videographer at my wedding. We barely noticed him, which was a great thing. The only down part was that I wanted him to ask members of my bridal party to say a few things for the video and found out he didn’t go up to a any of them.
DJ: More Than Music: B-; Frank was our DJ; we completed his forms detailing introductions, first dance; last dance, dinner music about 5 days before the wedding. We agreed on our requests. My greatest disappointment was he played my last dance song DURING the reception. I could not have been clearer. I also requested 'light' music during dinner, not the elevator music that is usually played and you know what, he played the elevator music and disappeared for 10 minutes. I couldn't even find him to request that he change things. VERY DISAPPOINTED since he came recommended by the sales manager as 'one of her best'.
Hotel & RH Dinner: Wyndham Windwatch Hotel: A; we blocked rooms and had our rehearsal dinner at the hotel. JoAnn, the sales manager was almost psychic. She was able to anticipate my needs, call me, email me before I had a chance to call her. Our guest count kept changing and she just kept adding more rooms to our block (thank goodness, the hotel was booked solid for my night!). We ended up having half our wedding stay overnight and had to change our rehearsal dinner room in order to accommodate everyone. Once again, the Wyndham was so responsive. The food was EXCELLENT (incredible dessert selection) and the staff people were friendly and courteous. Our overnight guests raved about the rooms and was even able to play a round of golf next door before dinner. The reason why they didn't receive a 'plus' is it appears that they are understaffed on the weekends at the hotel, snacks +/ room service took over an hour for the food to arrive!
Almost forgot...
Ceremony / Cocktail Music: New Found Sound: A+; we had a 5 piece string band greet our guests as they arrived in the courtyard, then they played our ceremony on the back lawn, then they moved inside; added a pianist and drummer and jazzed up the music. They were fabulous. Greg even made a trip out to the Vanderbilt to take care of logistics so that everything would be perfect for me, and it was. They are VERY reasonably priced compared to tons of quotes that we got. FM me and I will forward their # if anyone is interested.
Wedding rings: Hammerman Brothers (NYC): A+!; DH was very leery (sp?) about 'wearing jewelry'. Hammerman's custom made matching brushed platinum wedding bands for us and also made a diamond eternity band for me. Then in the last minute, I decided I wanted to engrave our rings before the ceremony AND, they were able to do it for us in a day! The reason is that they are a manufacturer as well, which also helps in their prices!
THANKS AGAIN, LIWEDDINGS AND ALL THE LADIES!
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Ceremony/Reception: Vanderbilt Mansion (Oakdale): A+; From the very start, Carolyn, the banquet manager made me feel comfortable that I was in competent hands. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful day! Thank Goodness Hurricane Isabel came and left! Our guests were greeted with a hospitality in the courtyard and serenaded with a string quartet. Our ceremony was on the great lawn, facing the river (we even saw ducks swimming by as we recited our vows). There was a grand piano in the center hall where our jazz band played during the cocktail hour. The mansion was so tastefully decorated. The FOOD was SPECTACULAR, in terms of taste, abundance and presentation. The staff handled all the tiny details superbly! They even complied with passing around my DH’s signature margarita, including squeezing fresh lime juice for each drink! The ballroom is on the small side but perfect for 125 people. We keep hearing from our guests that it was one of the most elegant weddings they’ve been to (it sure did make me feel that way). If anyone is having a small-medium sized wedding that is classic, well-run and not overly priced, you can’t go wrong at the Vanderbilt!
Florist: Jack & Rose: A-; The bouquets were stunning! The ceremony flowers were exactly what I asked for. The centerpieces were elegantly arranged. Jack personally came to decorate my chuppah and my cake! He is very talented and it’s evident that he has many years of experience. The reasons why he gets a minus are, first, because Jack is very hands on and cares very much about pleasing brides ON their wedding day, he tends to be very stretched with his time. He is very accommodating to all brides, even meeting me at 9pm and staying until 11pm. The problem was, it was difficult getting hold of him. The second reason is that during my design session, I was never shown a “live” sample of what my flowers would look like. I was pretty clear on what type of flowers I wanted, I was disappointed to not be able to “see” a sample. I was very nervous on how things would turn out but was very relieved to see how BEAUTIFUL my flowers were! It pays to TRUST JACK! Jack is reasonably priced and provides hands-on attention that you normally wouldn’t get for the kind of price.
Make-up: Jillian from Gorgeous Faces: A; Jillian was fabulous. She is a true professional (with a great personality to boot!). She arrived 15 minutes early at my hotel (6:15am) and was able to do my make-up in 30 minutes! She is able to look at you and know what works. My make-up was very natural and lasted all day (except for the lipstick). I loved the false eyelashes that she used on me, wish I could wear them everyday!
Hair: Rock Twins: A; I had four bridesmaids and myself that needed their hair done by 8AM. The twins also arrived at my hotel room 15 minutes early (at 5:45am!) My hair was half-up and half-down and stayed the whole day!
Video: Wild Rose Video: A-; Bill and Marie are fabulous. They are professional and down-to-earth really “good” people. I’ve seen samples of their work and am praying my video will be as good. I had John as the videographer at my wedding. We barely noticed him, which was a great thing. The only down part was that I wanted him to ask members of my bridal party to say a few things for the video and found out he didn’t go up to a any of them.
DJ: More Than Music: B-; Frank was our DJ; we completed his forms detailing introductions, first dance; last dance, dinner music about 5 days before the wedding. We agreed on our requests. My greatest disappointment was he played my last dance song DURING the reception. I could not have been clearer. I also requested 'light' music during dinner, not the elevator music that is usually played and you know what, he played the elevator music and disappeared for 10 minutes. I couldn't even find him to request that he change things. VERY DISAPPOINTED since he came recommended by the sales manager as 'one of her best'.
Hotel & RH Dinner: Wyndham Windwatch Hotel: A; we blocked rooms and had our rehearsal dinner at the hotel. JoAnn, the sales manager was almost psychic. She was able to anticipate my needs, call me, email me before I had a chance to call her. Our guest count kept changing and she just kept adding more rooms to our block (thank goodness, the hotel was booked solid for my night!). We ended up having half our wedding stay overnight and had to change our rehearsal dinner room in order to accommodate everyone. Once again, the Wyndham was so responsive. The food was EXCELLENT (incredible dessert selection) and the staff people were friendly and courteous. Our overnight guests raved about the rooms and was even able to play a round of golf next door before dinner. The reason why they didn't receive a 'plus' is it appears that they are understaffed on the weekends at the hotel, snacks +/ room service took over an hour for the food to arrive!
Almost forgot...
Ceremony / Cocktail Music: New Found Sound: A+; we had a 5 piece string band greet our guests as they arrived in the courtyard, then they played our ceremony on the back lawn, then they moved inside; added a pianist and drummer and jazzed up the music. They were fabulous. Greg even made a trip out to the Vanderbilt to take care of logistics so that everything would be perfect for me, and it was. They are VERY reasonably priced compared to tons of quotes that we got. FM me and I will forward their # if anyone is interested.
Wedding rings: Hammerman Brothers (NYC): A+!; DH was very leery (sp?) about 'wearing jewelry'. Hammerman's custom made matching brushed platinum wedding bands for us and also made a diamond eternity band for me. Then in the last minute, I decided I wanted to engrave our rings before the ceremony AND, they were able to do it for us in a day! The reason is that they are a manufacturer as well, which also helps in their prices!
THANKS AGAIN, LIWEDDINGS AND ALL THE LADIES!
