Our Wedding at John Anthony's- vendor reviews- long

Hello all, We just had our wedding a couple of weeks ago and it was an amazing experience from the church to the reception- All I can say (what everyone else say to everyone else, enjoy it cause it goes so fast!! It will be the fastest day of your life. As for our vendors- (I did most of the planning and have been on this site for a year so hopefully this will help)- John Anthony's- the hall was beautiful, the service was great and everything went pretty smoothly there. It did rain that day so we did not get too many great shots at the hall outside but all else was fine. My few complaints with the hall were the following: =we were supposed to have a hospitality set up prior to the cocktail hour for out of town guest that never happened and people were not let in early as was promised =they had told us to order a centerpiece for the vendor table to make the room look uniform yet they put the vendors behind a curtain in the corner- we could have saved this $100 in flowers. =and lastly the glass doors in the upstairs room were pretty dirty- sounds like a small thing however when we booked the hall I noticed that and they said for parties they are cleaned. Then the two tastings we attended the same doors were still dirty and right before we were announced I noticed they were not cleaned. No else probably knew but being a neat freak and having worked in a catering hall for 6 years- these things annoy me. However the service and food were great and I felt the prices were the most reasonable of all the halls we looked at- my wife just loved the location. As for the other vendors- no words could describe how happy and pleased we were with our videographers and photographers. We have seen no proofs or copies of the video just yet but the service was outstanding. For video we used Wild Rose- not only was the onwer Bill and his son Mark, kind and professional, they were extremely discreet yet made sure they got some great footage. My wife could not believe how great they were and having two cameras people said might be a bit much- I did not even notice one camera. Wild Rose- amazing service, reasonable prices and Bills wife Marie is great to work as well. As for our photographer, we used Devito Studios in Rockville Centre (my sister used them 3 years ago). Mike, the owner and his assistant Mike were incredible, professional and also unobtrusive. They truly ran the show, got the shots we wanted and wasted no time. Both Mike and Bill (video) worked around the rain and Mike was even more helpful than the limo people with my wifes dress. Could not be more satisfied. I am sure we will love the pictures when they come in. As for the most important part of the reception, our band. We used Rave from Staten Island (based on a friend's recommendation). The band is the key to the evening. People have not stopped talking about the band. I have heard a bunch of LI bands and there are alot of good bands- to us, this band was unbelievable (my sister used Renegade and they were great 3 years ago but they were booked and now they are pricey). The band sets the tone so be sure to love your bands. Colonial Flowers in Bellmore did our flowers and they were amazing- it took us many trips and talks with the owner Claudio but he outdid himself. Worth talking to him, our flowers were unreal. We used Camelot Limos (Jam Limo Co.) and the drivers were nice the limos were great but the town car we had the ac was not so great. I thought they were good to deal with- the Escalade and Jaguar we had were nice but I was not wowed with the service. They should have been more helpful with my wife and her dress at times especially in the rain. Overall they were fine. Tuxedos- Feldmans in Lynbrook were great- Michael was excellent to deal with. I can type forever and keep giving my opinions but that's all they are, my opinions. Keep that in mind when you look at this site. It is helpful and a great resource but the bottom line is do what you want and go with whomever you think will make you happy. It is an awesome time, stressful and sure things go wrong (my family's central air broke that week) but go with it all and enjoy- it is only one day and it goes so fast but the memories we have are absolutely priceless. And Hawaii, I will save that for a future post- those going will not be disappointed! All the best and remember to take a second and enjoy these times!

Our Wedding at John Anthony`s- vendor reviews- long

Congrats! I think some things are bound to go wrong, especially when so much time and energy is put into one day. Enjoy married life, and can't wait to hear your review on Hawaii!

Our Wedding at John Anthony`s- vendor reviews- long

Congratulations!! Thanks for all the details. I wanted to thank you for posting about Wild Rose. I booked them several months ago. I contacted them initially based on your comments. Was your wedding in the day or evening? I was just wondering if Bill's camera had a light or anything. I know you said they were discreet but I am concerned about the lighting being obvious. Especially since our wedding is at night. I am also looking forward to your review on Hawaii.

Our Wedding at John Anthony`s- vendor reviews- long

Congrats on your marriage!! It is wonderful to hear that after all your hard work and planning, everything turned out wonderful. I can't wait to hear your review on Hawaii. Best wishes to you and your new wife!!!

YAY!! YAY!! YAY!! - Thanks, Cley!!

As you know, I'm also using Wild Rose Video and Colonial Flowers for my wedding in 38 days!! I'm SO happy to hear that they were wonderful!! Thanks so much for posting, Cley! All the best to you and your new wife! :)

Congratulations!! Glad to hear you had a great day! *NM*

Response to Karen

Our ceremony was in the day and the reception was in the evening and I do not remember Bill using a light- he probably did but I never noticed. So many people were taking pictures (friends and family)and so much is going on you will not notice alot. Try to take it all in.

Question for Cley

Happy to hear you had a great day! We`re also getting married at John Anthony`s (9/21/02). You mentioned a hospitality table for out-of-town guests. The majority of our guest will be from outside the area, and I was interested in hearing more about the hospitality table......I`ve never heard of one before. Thanks!

Question for Cley

What they had promised was that they could set up a table in the lobby with a cheese and vegetable platter along with champagne and strawberries for the guests to pick on about 1/2 hour prior to cocktail hour starting. Good luck