The Riviera at Massapequa vendor help

Hi! I am getting married at The Riviera at Massapequa in June 2012. I have the place booked, but that is it so far. Does anyone have any suggestions for vendors?
I need a photographer, florist, dj, hair and makeup, and officiant.
I basically need everything. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

Here's who I used and would recommend 100000%:

Photo: Benchwerk (just got my pro pics, I'm obsessed w/ them)
Video: Myther Ganibe (still waiting on my video)
Officiant: Pastor April (I can't say enough wonderful things about her)

Feel free to message me with any questions.

Im also getting married at the Riviera, but in July 2012. So far our vendors that we have chosen have been great:

-Photographer: Memento Photography
-Videographer: Sunnyville Films
-DOC/Photobooth: A Modern Day Affair

Not booked, but most likely going with:
-DJ: Either Absolute Entertainment or Tommy Tunes
-Florist: B u r t o n s (without the spaces of course)

Vicki and Michelle have been great to work with so far!! HTH!!

I got married there a couple weeks ago.. we used:

Photog: Patken
Video: Couped Up
Flowers: Flower Barn for personals and centerpieces for reception.... Tim's florist for the CH centerpieces (which is included in your package, you can use them for your reception CP's)
DJ: After Hours
DOC: A Modern Day Affair

I am getting married there in 3 weeks, and here is who I am using, I love them all and would definitey recommend any of them!

Florist- Flower Barn
DOC- A Modern Day Affair
CH music- Jason Liebman
Photog- Photo Pink
Hair- Designs by Angela
Makeup- Kelly from Glam Me Up

DJ is a family friend, so is our officiant, but if you want that info I can get that for you too!

Hello Riviera bride!

Here were our vendors and I highly recommend all of them:

Main Florist: Designs by Rose

Other Florist: Tim's (house vendor - we used the rose from the free CP's you get to give out to the Mothers for Mother's Day)

Photog: Duet Photography - Nick's team (Kevin was our econd shooter)

DJ: LI Sound

Steel Drummer for CH: Thru LI Sound.

Makeup: Sandra Baldini (her sister Christina also came along to help out and she was great!)

HTH!

ETA: Also, we requested Paul as our MD for the eveving and he was amazing! Anthony is also very nice as well (he's an MD but actually bartended the evening of our wedding)

DJ: After Hours Entertainment (Phil Volaro) is awesome
Photo: Treasured Memories (Tim Ryan) I love my e-pics
Limos: Camelot Limos (ask for Joe)
If you think you might want a band: Times Square Orchestra (amazing)
Florist: Colonial Florists in Bellmore (Great prices)
Invitations: Have you Heard (good selection and nice to work with)

---

Posted by Maymay

I am getting married at the Riviera May of 2012. I was starting to look into flowers and made an appointment with Tims since they were the house florist. Is there any reason you chose to go with Designs by Rose vs just using tims for everything?

---

No reason really. For appts. alone if was easier going with Designs by Rose since she is located a lot closer to me in Queens. Plus, I have been to weddings and seen Rose's work and loved it. And the pricing was great.

I know girls have used Tim's and said they were excellent.

I'm getting married there June 2012 too!

heres who im using

Florist: Bella Flowers
Photos: Trent Bailey
DJ: DJ Gaza
Wedding Planner: Stellina Events
Limos: Still haven't booked yet but I'm talking to Camalot and Coachmen
Video: stil looking

So glad to see this thread! We are getting married there Sept 2012 and it is so helpful to see everyone else's vendors! Especially since we are planning from CA and can't get back to have personal meetings with each.

For those who have been married there already- do you have posted/would you mind posting photos? I know since Riviera has all that beautiful dark wood I want to make sure the photographer has shot there before and can make good use of lighting.
Speaking of which- did you have your DJs do uplighting, etc.? Our wedding will be evening so I am just worried about it being too dark without some kind of lighting design.

Also- we are looking for a male officiant who will do secular ceremonies with a personality! Any suggestions are welcome (:

Thanks girls!

---

Posted by tinarex

So glad to see this thread! We are getting married there Sept 2012 and it is so helpful to see everyone else's vendors! Especially since we are planning from CA and can't get back to have personal meetings with each.

For those who have been married there already- do you have posted/would you mind posting photos? I know since Riviera has all that beautiful dark wood I want to make sure the photographer has shot there before and can make good use of lighting.
Speaking of which- did you have your DJs do uplighting, etc.? Our wedding will be evening so I am just worried about it being too dark without some kind of lighting design.

Also- we are looking for a male officiant who will do secular ceremonies with a personality! Any suggestions are welcome (:

Thanks girls!

---

Here is a link to my album on FB with the Riviera photos.

Wedding Pics

We used Duet Photography (Nick and Kevin) and they did a beautiful job photographing our wedding. I had ask Nick if he had done weddings there before just to check and he's done lots.

And we did go for the uplighting through our dj, LI Sound. We had an evening wedding and like you were concerned about it getting too dark in there once the sun went down. It did help and I just like the way it looked in the pictures.

Hi again!
Now that we are moving along with planning (and since this post already has a nice little audience of Riviera brides) I was just wondering if those of you who are planning or especially if you've already had your wedding feel like having a DOC is necessary? I have been working with Vicky and she has been super helpful so far, but since we are planning from CA I feel like I don't want to accidentally overlook something.
So basically if you did have a DOC was it something you feel was super important and if you didn't - do you wish you had or was the day just fine without it?

Thanks!
-Cristina

---

Posted by tinarex

Hi again!
Now that we are moving along with planning (and since this post already has a nice little audience of Riviera brides) I was just wondering if those of you who are planning or especially if you've already had your wedding feel like having a DOC is necessary? I have been working with Vicky and she has been super helpful so far, but since we are planning from CA I feel like I don't want to accidentally overlook something.
So basically if you did have a DOC was it something you feel was super important and if you didn't - do you wish you had or was the day just fine without it?

Thanks!
-Cristina

---

I had a DOC, and it was a lifesaver! We hired AMDA about 6 weeks before the wedding, so we didn't use them all through the planning, but Laura was great for confirming all of the vendors beforehand. But the real place you will need them is the day of. They organized the BP for the ceremony and all other stuff, organized all of the vendors to make sure everything was set up properly since we had lots of special touches, made sure pictures were on time, and most of all they cleared up SO many little mishaps, including me getting black grease AND marinara sauce all over my dress!

Honestly, our BM and MaitreD were amazing, but its not their job to make sure all of your little details are perfect, it is their job to make sure things run smoothly. I'm sure it would have been fine if we hadn't had a DOC, but it really was worth it for peace of mind.

---

Posted by Maymay

Got it thanks! I was just wondering if people thought the prices at Tims were not comparable with other florists and if they had any issues with them.

---

Iwas wondering the exact same thing. We live closer to Rose but I like the idea that Tims is right in massapequa should there be any flower emergencies day of! Did anyone who priced both find Rose to be better priced?

Update:

Florist: Tim's ...the owner (who's name I don't remember- and it was a woman so her name was not tim lol) was sooo sweet and seemed to really have a good idea of what I was looking for when we met. I'm really excited to work with them and the price seemed pretty reasonable.

DJ: Seward Park Tech...they came out from Queens to meet us at Riviera while we were home for the holidays so they could give us an idea of where they would set up and what kind of lighting would work in the space.

Photography: Lighthouse...Finally met Florio over the holidays and he is nice/funny/a great photographer! He was willing to adjust the package based on the things we did/didn't want (such as removing the engagement session). Good prices and great work- super excited to work with him!

Room Block: Courtyard Marriot. It includes a free shuttle with 10 rooms and a discount on our room. To us having the shuttle (more for drunk guests than OOT guests) was super important.

Still trying to figure out an officiant, hair/makeup, videographer.

Also- if anyone has recommendations for a good spot close by for first-look photos that would be great!!
Thanks my fellow Rivierans (: