Here is my Review of my Engagement Party. Let me just say that because I do this for a living I am a very critical judge.
We had such an amazing time! It went soooooooo quick! I really cant wait for the wedding!
Sorry they are sooo huge!
Here is the link to all my professional pictures by Amanda Picone
Professional Pictures!!! 
Weather: A+++++++++
It was such a beautiful day! It was warm with a slight breeze. Perfect!
My Dress: A+++++
We all know I couldnt find a dress and that I bought a few... I went last minute to Cache and saw this dress and fell in love! Thank God!
His suit: A+
Bloomingdales - Great customer service!
Tie: Chanel: A++++
He loved his tie!!!!!!!
Photographer: Amanda Picone A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
www.amandapicone.com
Amanda was my favorite person to work with! She was sooo sweet! I really didn't tell her much of what I wanted, she did ask though.
I asked her for the usual pictures. She gave me sooooo much more then that! Her attention to detail was soo absolutely amazing!
She captured so many special things and she didn't even know it. She took and edited 896 pictures.
I LOVE her and would recommend her to anyone!
I added a few touches in memory of my Grandmother that only my family and close friends knew about. The butterflies on the cake, and in the CPs. I also wore my Grandmothers broach in my hair. The picture of My hair with the broach and my Grandfather is by far my favorite picture.... Amanda is really amazing. She didnt know that I did any of that....but with the amount of pictures she took of these things...its like she knew..... I love her!
Invitations, place cards & Thank you notes: The Wedding Paper Divas = A+++++
www.weddingpaperdivas.com
They were beautiful! The customer service was excellent and they came soo quickly!
Calligrapher: A++++++++
My MOH's Mom does this. She did mine really well in the short time frame I gave her (5 days)
FM me if you would like details on her.
Napkins: 4yourparty.com = A
I got 100 gray w/ yellow writing and 100 yellow with gray writing.
They were absolutely beautiful! I loved doing this because they had soo many options. The only thing was when the napkin got wet the ink kinda smeared on the napkin. But I loved them!
DJ: A+++
Now and Then Entainment. My uncle owns the company and he did a great job!
Menus: DIY
I bought the supplies and Michael's Craft store and made them myself.
Makeup: A+++++
My friend recommend her makeup artist/friend. I loved my makeup. I could have done it myself but I'm glad I had Jen do it for me.
She's worked for MAC and other makeup places. FM me if you would like her info.
Favors: The Cheesecake lady: I have to rate this separately. Boxes: DIY. If you want info on this FM me.
The Lady: D-
The Cheesecakes: A++++++++
She was not very nice to deal with and conveniently forgot everything I asked her to do a week before my party. I asked her to freeze the cheesecakes so they would be OK on the ride from my house to Caffe on the Green. I also asked her to put them in SILVER cups b/c that matched better then the various pastel crap she used. I wanted more then 2 flavors of cheesecakes and she made me feel like an a$$ for wanting 5 different flavors...but whatever..I was paying her to make 150 cheesecakes. She just seemed like she was doing me a favor and I was bothering her.... not like she was happy about the business she was getting.
Anyway... The cheesecakes are sooo delicious that it was all worth it. All my guests loved them and some even called me a few days later to ask if they could have they left over ones!
Spanish Guitarist:
Before Party: D
After: D
I booked (or so I thought) this guy through a DJ company. I booked him because I liked they way he played, also they way he looked. Don't kill me on this one!
He looked like a Spanish guitarist. The emails between myself and the DJ company that represented him were OK. They owner was very short with me and never said thank you for the business. I included a list of songs that I wanted to hear... also the style of music I wanted played.
I got an email back saying...... if he can do this he will.... Ummm IF? I asked for songs by the Mambo Kings.
So come day of.... I walk down to the terrace and I see two people (a man and a woman) playing the guitar. OK.... NOT what I booked. Totally different guy and who is this girl? My FH and I went over to them to say hello and introduce ourselves. They couldn't be bothered with us, they didn't even want to say hello. And they girl was a little nasty. I didn't hear ANY of the songs I wanted played and I didn't hear the style I wanted played either. I wanted fast music it sounded like they were playing lullabies for all I know. So I didn't say anything to them, or the owner because I paid for only one person and he gave me two. BUT I do think they owner should have called me to say they had to send other people instead of the one I booked. Its the right thing to do.
FM me if you want details.
Flowers: Flowers by Burton: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I LOVED my centerpieces! They were absolutely beautiful and exactly what I wanted. Burtons was a pleasure to work with!
The flowers were soo fresh and beautiful!
Table Runners: A+
www.sashesforlove.com Their customer service is great! All the runners were custom made and they were beautiful!
Hair: My Mom is a stylist and she did my hair so I cant give her anything less then an A+++++
Caffe on the Green:
Before: A
2 days before: D
After(SERVICE):F- - - -
After(FOOD): A
OK this was my main issue. They were sweet as pie before we paid in full. We agreed on a few things that never happened at my party.
We started out with a $60.00 per person package. Then we upgraded the wine on each table and the champagne on each table as well.
We also upgraded the desserts.
We added a Martini Bar.
All in all the catering for the party cost about 16K. I'm only saying this because its a lot of money and their attitude REALLY pissed me off.
Martini bar: We added it. I asked for 5 different Martinis. I said to the woman we were dealing with... If you cant find the recipes, call me and I will fax them over to you. They weren't crazy. She said, don't worry about it, I'll find them but if I don't, I promise I'll call you. OK. I'm at the 'Martini Bar' (and I'm saying it like this b/c it looked like crap, see pic). I order my favorite Martini and the bartender says.... oh yeah.... we don't have that one. I asked why, he said they didn't know the recipe.
NICE!!!!! Also there was no Martini Menu. It just didn't look nice, it actually looked weird and guest were confused which bar to go to for their drinks.
Strike one and two!
We arrived there an hour and a half before the party began, to set up a little. My Mom decorated the cake with the butterflies I gave them. Caffe on the Green was supposed to do this but they didn't.
I gave the woman we were dealing with the table runners. I was trying to tell her how to put them on because we had 2 runners for the large tables and 1 for the small tables. She immediately shot me down and said.. I know what I'm doing. I said OK fine. 10 minutes later I go check on the tables.. and they are wrong! So I tried to explain it to her and she was sooo mad that she wouldn't really listen. After a while she figured it out.
So there I am putting candles on the tables... and she is screaming at her poor service workers... like soooo bad I was embarrassed for them... she was screaming over nothing. Then I find out that she left before my party even started. She said she was going to be there, that the owner was also going to be there( hes an acquaintance) and their event planner would be there. And no one was. We had a BM who was OK....not great.
Service for my table was non-existent except at the end of the night when our coffee got cold they actually brought us new ones without being asked.
All the Champagne and extra wine we paid for was to be packed up and sent home with us... Which never happened.
They almost threw out our Swarovski Crystal toasting flukes.
They were throwing out our runners before my MOH stopped them.
My mom HAD to ask them to pack up the desserts, they didn't pack my cake, I guess because someone didn't ask them to do that.
They were literally throwing us out 10 minutes after the last guest left. Its not like we were standing around we were trying to pack stuff up.
The woman we booked with said that if we paid in cash we wouldn't have to pay tax. So 2 days before the party my FH drops off all the money. The next day I get a phone call saying ' You forgot the tax'.
The 1st thing they did when we walked in was to get that tax money.
Our package came with a choice of 4 dinners to add the steak it would be $10 more per person based on consumption. Which we did, my poor FH didn't even get to take a bite of his dinner before they told us the amount of people who ordered the steak and then asked us to pay for it then...as in right now. Not when the party was over.
They literally THREW my favors on the tale. As you can see in the pics. They toppings are on the side of the box.
I was trying to open the Champagne bottle on my table (FH was not around) and I was having a hard time, 2 servers were standing right next to me... Do you think they helped? NOPE!
I really could go on and on about this place but I will stop here!
All little things that no one else noticed but me, my FH and my Mother.
I really hope this was helpful! FM me if you have any questions!
Cake: A
The cake was made by whoever caffe on the green uses...but it was delicious!!!!! I asked them just to make it plain and I will give them the butterflies to decorate it with. IT never happened so my Mom did it for me.... She did scuch a great job! I got the butterflies from www.floraltrims.com
