vendor help needed

New to the site very happy i found it!! I am not sure of wjhere to start - just got engaged in septemeber and immediately went out and booked a date at west sayville cc -

now we need everything else!!! .....

FlOWERS?>anyone ever use the littl eflower shop in lindenhurst? they are close to my house and ive always bought stuff from them..

band or DJ? every DJ site I look at looks so cheesy... not sure if they are reputable or not.
I was in contact with body rock.. pricey!! can a band really fit in the west sayville room?? looks a little small..

still undecided about video, anyone still get videos?

Photographer- everyone tells me t his it wehat i need to book next.

i looked at the following websites

j'adore love
joe sanfilippo
brian calabrese
duet
patken
and Laura Ryan

i read alot of good stuff about jadore love - and a good friend recommended joe sanfillipo, i found laura ryan and brian calabresee on joe sans website.

All in all im very happy iwth the west sayville cc- the ceremony looks like it will be great - i hope it doesnt rain!

Dress shopping this weekend!

I need as much help as possible and glad i found this site! Thanks for all reposnses in advance!!

I am using Lisa Marie Photography in Rocky Point. She's the owner and Photographer and she's awesome.


Happy Planning and welcome to the site

Congrats!
I would immediately call every photographer you listed as well as Thomas Paul, Duet and Amanda Piccone and ask if they have your date available.

Things on Long Island book up fairly far in advance, not sure if your date is in fact 4/10/10.

Are you having video? You may want to research that as well.


I would recommend reading the Brides Review to read more about vendors and experiences with them. As far as flowers I would personally recommend Designs by Rose- amazing for my wedding.

Good luck and Congrats!!!!

welcome and congrats!!!

I agree, call the photographers to see if your date is even available. Then I would meet with them all and decide on that.

I'm not familiar with that flower shop but popular ones on here are:

flower michelle
burtons
flowers by brian
flower barn
and pedestals.

girls def still get video. It's a wide range of prices though so first decide if you want it and then decide on budget.

HTH

My suggestion is to start with a budget in place first. If you have an idea of what $$ you have in your account now to spend, then you can be a lot flexible in looking at vendors. I know one place I went to for Photography that quoted me a price that was way over my budget so I didn't even bother looking at them. It saves you time.

As for vendors, (besides the RH which seems you covered already) you will need

-Photo/Videographer
-Band or DJ (entertainment)
-Florist
-Make-up and/or Hair (unless you plan to do your own)
-Limosines

I started going to Bridal Shows and Expos to get an idea of what I needed and the suggested timeframes. Other web sites that helped were TheKnot.com and WeddingBee.com, Projectwedding.com. Of course, there are also a ton of Bridal magazines on the market that give you more ideas.

Happy Planning!

Welcome & congrats!! I wouldn't judge a DJ by their website. I'm going with Body Rock and they were actually the cheapest of 3 that I got quotes from! And bands are even more expensive! Just keep that in mind!

We're also using Duet who is extremely reasonable for photo/video packages. Good luck and happy planning!

For flowers we are using Burton's, and are excited.

We have an affordable videographer, who has several packages - Rob from Couped Up. He's a vendor on here.

We LOVE our photographer, no one on here seems to use her, but her name is Lana Rowe, she was a recommended vendor on theknot.com and has great packages and amazing work. Google her and find her website, it is great.

I dont think im doing video.. im going to put the extra money towards the photographer.

I cant beleive all the responses already- this is an awesome group!!

Another option you may want to look into if you are short with time and/or $$ is 'All inclusive' packages offered by certain companies that include all your wedding needs under 1 roof. For ex, I booked Ariana Studios( Wedding Plaza) for my photography/DJ/florist, etc. Their package includes not only all those services but things for the groom like free tuxedos and limosines for ujnder $7 or $8,000.

Also, some RH's offer an all inclusive package. When I checked out Manor East, they had a package that not only included the standard 5 hour ceremony/reception but also threw in the DJ, photog/video, flowers, etc...Its amazing how much RH's go to lengths to make you book with them...

So definitely shop around - the vendors hyped about on these boards are only like 15% of the entire wedding market in NYC/Long Island...theres a lot to see!

Welcome and Congrats!! For photographers check out J'adore Love Photography and Amanda Picone Photography. I love both of their work. They are both vendors on here.

i contacted jadore love - very reasonable- so was joe sanfilippo - meeting with joe this week - both have very awesome stuff on their websites.. i ust spoke with my father and his giving me pretty generous budget for my photographer, so going with a less expensive photog like the ones above will leave me with a nice some of cash left for other stuff!!! i thought photos were going to cost like 5000 ---- looks like i can get something in the 2000 or 3000 range very cool!!


The photographers will probably let me know, but what exactly are engagement sessions??

an engagement session is generally a casual shoot, but can be as formal as you want, before the wedding. This gives you pictures for the newspaper announcements, save the dates if you want to send them, and lets you get an idea of how you work with the photographer, and gives them an opportunity to work with you to see how you will photograph and such.


I would def check out Duet, I know they had photo options for around 3k (we are getting photo and video for 5)

For DJ's, we are going with After Hours, who is really reasonable and energetic.

For Flowers, check Flowers and Designs by Gina. She is located in Queens, does amazing work (sample centerpiece is in my album) and will really work with you on the price.

Welcome, and GOOD LUCK!!!!!

For photography I used Willi Wong, who is amazing!! FM me if you want info, I also used Willi Wong for video, which I havent gotten back yet! I would highly recommend Willi and he is one, if not the best vendor I've worked with!

Thanks i will check out all the recommendations! but so far i think im really like this guy http://www.joesanphoto.com and this one http://www.kimberlyhurst.com/blog/ - these are the 2 that stood out the most for me so far, but i dont hear too much mention about them here...

jadore love has some really nice work too!!

all ive been doing for 3 hours now is looking at photogrpahers. overwhelming..

Ill let everyone know how things go when i meet with all these photogs!

ok good luck congrats to you...ok i checked out 15 photographers and finally ended up booking with vanessa from hidden pixels she's ala cart so prices are pretty reasonable but she does do packaging...
i booked with li sound i did of course go and see a ton of djs and i just though they were the best and very reasonable as well i did think body rock was the most expensive dj i met with..
if you seriously need any help i hired a day of which also is a wedding coordinator her name is gina from bleu diamond events shes a vendor on here what a helpful asset to have if you have the extra money in your budget but if you don't i would suggest it anyway shes the best and takes the pressure off and she has the best leads for vendors

Welcome to the Boards and Congrats on your engagement!

We're booked with:
Florist:
Flowers & Designs by Gina

DJ:
FM Entertainment
Also check out After Hours and Tommy Tunes They have a good rep and reasonable pricing as well

Officiant:
Pastor April

Photog / Video:
True Love

Make-up
Oksana

HTH

Welcome to the site!

So far my fiance have booked these vendors:

Flowers:
Burtons

Photography:
Duet

Videography:
Duet

Reception Hall:
The Inn in New Hyde Park