11/3/07: Thatched Cottage, Variety DJ, The Wedding Center, EZ Callig, Hair by Diana & more!!!

This is pretty long, so to save you some time here are the Vendors that I’ve reviewed:

- RH: Thatched Cottage
- EZ Calligraphy: calligraphy, program printing, accessories, etc.
- Limousines: Mark of Elegance
- DJ & MC: Variety Music
- Hair: Hair by Diana (Avella)
- Makeup: Marie Katz
- Bride’s gown & veil & BM dresses: Bridal Suite of Bay Shore
- MOB gown: Angels Bridals in East Islip
- The Wedding Center in Commack (aka TWC):
Flowers, photography, videography, hair comb, favors & invitations
- Wedding Night Hotel: Huntington Hilton
- Honeymoon: Sandals Grande Antigua

Please feel free to FM me with any questions that you might have!!

***********************************************

Thatched Cottage: 10+ + + + +
Food: From what I understand, the general consensus is that the food was out of this world! We went to the CH & were constantly being stopped by guests raving about the room (they liked that they all had seats!), the view & the food! We literally had 4 or 5 of our otherwise reserved MALE guests running up to us during the CH yelling things like 'OMG - I just went to China, Japan, Mexico & the Mediterranean all in 5 minutes and now I'm headed over to France!!! This is the best cocktail hour EVER!!!' It was hysterical! Everyone LOVED that the waiters were waiting with drinks as they walked in – a few people commented on how it reminded them of being on cruises and vacations and that it’s a great way to start the party up! I couldn’t agree more! Oh and the raspberry champagne? It was a BIG hit! We were also bombarded with positive reviews about the dinner and its presentation (they wheel it all out onto the dance floor and serve everyone at once from there. People were wowed by that and kept telling us how much they liked & enjoyed it. And finally, the cake – it looked just like I imagined & tasted even better! I’m getting hungry now just thinking about it! LOL

Service: Absolutely tops!
- Our maitre’d was awesome – she kept checking in on us and took care of all of our little requests and needs immediately (not that there were many – I think they anticipated almost everything).
- We decided against floral centerpieces, so we had CPs that were made up of 5 glass vases that each needed to be filled with water, silk leaves & then candles before being setup on the tables. The staff set our CPs up perfectly and they looked absolutely stunning! It was no small feat – there were over 55 large vases – but they did it perfectly. They also carried out all of my other instructions & setup everything else perfectly as well (memorial, gift card, place card tables, etc)
- From the feedback that I’ve gotten so far, the waitstaff, bartenders & the rest of the staff were also congenial & accommodating and our guests were quite impressed with the service that they received.
- Our BM and the rest of the crew at the Thatched were also tops & I just wanted to give them a shout out. From day one they treated us like we were #1 and it really made for a memorable experience – I’d 100% highly recommend the Thatched for your affair!!!

Grounds & Decor: Even in November, the grounds looked fantastic & I was thrilled that the rain held off long enough for us to take our pics outside (I was dying for a “kissy shot” under the lamppost! LOL). Everything there has been recently upgraded, the grounds were perfectly manicured and the view…well, that was one of the top things that everyone was commenting on! The view from the main room is just breathtaking and if you’re lucky enough to be there during sunset/twilight when the sky changes colors you’ll just be wowed. I am so happy that we went with a daytime wedding (12:30-5:30pm) because everyone partied like it was nighttime, but got to see the gorgeous view & grounds!

Overall - the staff, the grounds, the food, everything - perfect! The entire day was filled with smiling guests that kept stopping us repeatedly to rave about everything that they were experiencing – I never expected such a thing!!! All in all - TOP MARKS for the Thatched Cottage...it was all I had dreamed it would be

***********************************************

EZ Calligraphy: 10+ + + + +
I used EZ Calligraphy for all of the following: envelope calligraphy (inner & outer), programs, OOT bag informational booklets, place cards, memorial candle, customized cake serving set & customized flutes. I also had them assemble my programs, OOT booklets, place cards and invitations (which they then delivered to the post office for me and had hand cancelled).

I worked so much with Michelle that I now consider her a friend, as well as a vendor. She went above & beyond and single-handedly made pulling off all of the things above a breeze for me. I work 3 jobs (I picked up a p/t job & started consulting again to save up for the wedding), so at a time when I was stressed out & run ragged, she was a total lifesaver. Michelle is helpful & patient…she sits with & works with you until she knows exactly what YOU want…even if you didn’t know it when you walked in. I found her advice & professional opinions to be right-on and I really appreciated it. She met some crazy deadlines that I had without a problem and her assembly service…I can’t even begin to go into how phenomenal that is! I had her assembling all of my booklets and inserting the maple leaf brads that I had bought into all of my place cards after she had printed them. Her invitation stamping, assembly & delivery service was the biggest time saver for me though. The cake serving set & flutes that I ordered from her were gorgeous too. She recently started carrying them (and a ton of different invitation brands), so it was nice that I could order them right through her. If she had been selling invitations back when I had ordered them, there’s no doubt in my mind that I would have given her my business. I 100% recommend Michelle & EZ Calligraphy for prompt, professional & beautiful work!!

***********************************************

Mark of Elegance Limos: 7
I’m a little conflicted here. MOEL is contracted through TWC, so we “had” to use them. Whenever I worked with Sally, their wedding coordinator, she was fantastic. She is nice, responsive and just really easy to work with. Whenever I called their owner Mark to make an appointment to come see the limos though, it was awful. He rarely picked up or returned calls & whenever we did get him on the line he was friendly & would make the appt. for us, but then he’d call back right before the appt. to cancel it. I’m talking 9+ cancellations…we never got to see our limos beforehand, which I wasn’t too happy about. I know that they have to go out to pick up customers, etc. (which was explained to me repeatedly) but I have a hard time believing that after 15+ phone calls & 9+ appointments they couldn’t make the time to let us come see them – even though our schedule was pretty flexible.

Now, that being said, when the limos did arrive that day they were (thankfully!) beautiful, brand new white limos in excellent condition. We had booked a 14 psgr which they had to take off the road to repair that day, so they surprised us with a free upgrade to a Hummer to replace it, which we had a ton of fun in with the bridal party on the way to the RH. The driver of the Hummer, I *think* his name was Tom, was just SUPER. He was helpful, friendly, funny, nice…he walked me into the church & instructed us all on what to do (my mind had gone blank LOL). He was just great! When we were leaving after the reception, the Hummer was booked, so they sent us two 8 psgr limos to bring us all back to the hotel. One of them arrived on time, but the other came 45 minutes later – thankfully the RH let a few of us hang around until it showed up…we were a little annoyed with that though. So, it’s unfortunate to say, but I really had a mixed experience with them…

***********************************************

Variety Music (DJ): 10
Variety was a REAL pleasure to work with. Both their office staff and the DJ & MC that we had were all very nice and very professional. MC Harry was just great! He was fun, he worked well with the guests and us (he kept checking in to make sure we were happy) and he had everyone up and dancing! He's another vendor that people keep raving to us about…everyone said that he was great & fun without being over-the-top or too in-your-face – which is exactly what we wanted. I’m not much of a dancer, but I was out there the ENTIRE time (in fact I probably should have spent more time meeting & greeting my guests, but I just HAD to dance) and a whole lot of friends & relatives who don’t normally dance were out there too. Variety is another vendor that I would highly recommend to anyone!!

***********************************************

Hair by Diana Avella: 10+ + + + +
Diana – top marks for being fun! Seriously, though, Diana is FABULOUS! She was set to arrive at my house at 5am (she lives about 40 min. away), so when I turned on the traffic/weather station at 4:30am to check the weather I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that the S.S. pkwy was closed for long stretches in between us. I figured that she’d never show up on time now & our schedule was tight. Just when I was about to really freak out, though, she called. She was 2 miles away (past my house) and needed instructions back. She arrived 10 minutes early that day & saved my nerves!!! I was so grateful!!

She did my hair, 3 of my girls & my MIL and she did a beautiful job on each of us; not to mention the fact that everyone loved her. This includes my MIL, who never likes anyone or anything I told her how beautiful she looked & she launched into a rave about Diana & how she loved both her work & her personality – I was astounded! LOL Oh I should also mention that getting my MIL to my house that morning was going to be very difficult, so Diana was kind enough to make a second stop at my DH’s house to work on her there (since it was on her way home)…I cannot even begin to tell you what a blessing that was Diana was one of my favorite vendors & I would 100% HIGHLY recommend her to anyone!!

***********************************************

Makeup by Marie Katz: 10
Marie was very nice & professional. She showed up on time (even though it was super early) and was ready to work. She airbrushed 5 of us and the results were beautiful. My makeup lasted all day and despite dancing for 3 ½ hours straight it still looked perfect. I never like how I photograph – ever – but I do have to say that I have loved the pix that I’ve seen so far…I think she worked a miracle! I’d highly recommend Marie!

***********************************************

Bridal Suite of Bay Shore: 6
Brides Gown & Veil: The ladies at the BSOBS were sweet and nice when I went in to order my gown and when it came to my gown they were pretty much always nice except for one incident. These are the few reasons why I gave them a low score:
1) I ordered my gown & then went out shopping for a wrap and a purse. After I spent $$ on a purse, I mentioned that I was looking for a wrap during my last fitting & they were like “OH! Your dress comes with a purse and a wrap – you don’t need to buy one!” That info would have been helpful to know back when I ordered it. Anyways, I took the dress home & unwrapped the purse only to find that it had a lot of pulls & missing beads & sequins. I didn’t bother telling them about this since it was late in the game & I had a backup, so they couldn’t “make good” on it, but I just wanted to share my disappointment that they would even give me something that looked like that – it’s horrendous.
2) My bustle. It kept coming undone & fell apart during our first dance to the point where we couldn’t do it anymore without my killing myself (lots of $ and dance lessons went to waste and this was my only real disappointment of the day…it still makes me sad). Afterwards many, many people (incl. the bridal attendant & maitre’d) told me that they were astounded that my bridal salon would even consider bustling a dress that was so heavy in the back in a single point and that that’s why it kept coming undone. Not knowing anything about gowns, I think that their not knowing that a bigger bustle was needed was a big failure on their part. The only major thing that went wrong on my beautiful day was what everyone at the reception dubbed my “[bustle] wardrobe malfunction.” 6 jumbo safety pins later, I was finally able to party…I’m going to be calling them to bring this up with them…there’s nothing that they can do now, but maybe they’ll put a little more thought into the next bride’s bustle...
3) I wanted to come in to try on my gown after it came in (they insisted on ordering me a size smaller since I had been on a diet & I hadn’t lost any more weight since then & I was nervous). My first call to them to check to see if the gown was in was fine. The lady said “Sure you can come in to try it on ANY time before your 1st fitting. Please just make an appointment.” The 2nd call was with a VERY nasty woman that told me I was wrong, that I wasn’t told that & that I could not under any circumstances come in to try my dress on – because I’d probably ruin it by making it dirty & ripping off the beads/sequins. My 3rd call went to a nice woman that said “sure” and made the appointment. It’s no big deal, really, but the 2nd lady was SO unbelievably nasty & upset me so much that it really hurt my opinion of them.

Bridesmaid Dresses: I could go on for hours about how horrible the shop was to my bridesmaids, how they made one cry and the many lies that one of their staffers told both them and myself (when I tried to calmly intervene on their behalf to resolve the issues). Since this review is already so long, I’m going to leave this part out; however, if you are interested, please feel free to FM me any questions that you may have regarding our experience with them.

***********************************************

Angel Bridals: 9
My mom went there for her gown and she really liked them. The spent a lot of time working with her and finally got her into a beautiful gown that she never would have picked out on her own. When I asked her to rate them, she gave an enthusiastic “9!”

***********************************************

Flowers (TWC): 10
Gorgeous! The flowers (bouquets, boutonnières and corsages) were all perfect according to my specs, they were delivered promptly that morning and they lasted beautifully throughout the entire day. They even threw in a bag of extra bouts for the guys, even though I had forgotten to ask for them. I was absolutely thrilled with their work that day!

***********************************************

Videography (TWC): ?
After the wedding, in the limo on the way to the hotel I looked at my hubby and asked “Did you talk to the videographer at ALL today?!?!” and much like myself his answer was “no.” Having spoken to him on the phone a few days prior, I know that his name was Fred and I know that he arrived at the church and the RH on time and looked like he was working hard all day, but he was quiet and unobtrusive…you almost wouldn’t have known he was there – which is what I wanted. Hopefully the video will come out beautifully and I can give him a 10, but as of right now I can’t really give him an honest rating because I just don’t know! The experience seemed pleasant, so hopefully the results will be great!

***********************************************

Photography (TWC): 10 (so far - pending seeing the proofs)
Fritz Auguste – what a PLEASURE it was to work with him! Friendly, funny & outgoing, he & his assistant were on time to my house, the church and the RH. I liked that he would stop after the pix that came out particularly nice to come over and show them to me so that I had an idea of what his standards were for a good pic. When the weather didn’t cooperate, he quickly improvised and did all of our bridal party pics inside of the church afterwards (we were there to re-pose the ceremony anyways) which I was happy with because our church is ornate and beautiful…I don’t think that our priest was too happy about how long we were there, but other than a few stern looks, he didn’t say anything! I had sent Fritz a list of “must takes” via email a few days prior & he made sure that he got them all…even the ones that I had completely forgotten about the day of. Once we got to the RH the rain was realllllly pending (it was dripping on & off), but the wind had died down so he was DETERMINED to get my DH & I the outside pix that we so desperately wanted. He was quick (but not rushed) and took us through the full round of our “couple shots” out on the grounds of the hall & made sure he got every pic I wanted. After we did a few shots with the BP & families inside he disappeared into the background. He was unobtrusive, but he was all over the place working hard! He was so great, in fact, that many of my guests came up to us during the party to comment on how nice he was & how it was great that he wasn’t in their faces, but seemed to be getting everything. I cannot wait to see our proofs!!!!

***********************************************

Invitations & Favors (TWC): 8
Doris & the ladies in the Invitation Dept. were really, really sweet, patient & helpful. I had a certain idea of what invitation I wanted in mind and they sat patiently with me until I found it. I only had 2 minor problems with them:
1) I ordered favor ribbon with them & when it came in it was seriously messed up. They quickly acknowledged the issue, sent it back & ordered the replacement ribbon. Well, they must have actually forgotten to order the replacement, because a few visits & 3 MONTHS later it finally arrived. Had I not ordered the favors & the ribbon way in advance, this could have been a really serious issue, but luckily they had had 4 months to get that ribbon back in my hand (which they did). They were always nice about it, but I was very disappointed in their performance here…
2) My only other real beef with them is that the wait time in that dept. is horrible (which is probably due to the fact that you get their undivided attention when you have them)…they should probably consider expanding the staff in that dept. If you’d like to go look, I’d recommend Saturday morning at about 10am when they first open. I found that they don’t usually get too busy until about 11am on Saturdays…

***********************************************

Hair Comb (TWC): 10
The lady who helped me with this was extremely helpful, patient, attentive, nice & sweet! She helped me to pick out a hair comb that I just loved and that I received many compliments on. When I was there, I had her undivided attention and help and it was a real pleasure. I wish that I had gotten her name…

***********************************************

Huntington Hilton: 9
They were really easy to work with and accommodating. I love that they have a bar in the lobby…our after party started there before it moved back to our suite. Everything was great. My only complaint, and it’s really minor, is that we checked in at 7pm and they brought us our complimentary champagne & strawberries at 10:30pm. Having been up since 4am & with my DH sick with a fever, we were both passed out in bed by 10pm so they woke us up when they knocked on the door…repeatedly (I tried ignoring it). Other than that, though, top marks!

***********************************************

Sandals Grande Antigua - the new Mediterranean Village: 10
Absolutely gorgeous! The view, the staff, the room & the food were all great! Unfortunately, my DH became deathly ill when we arrived & ran a dangerous temperature for the first 4 days (we now know that it was pneumonia!). Our butlers were excellent, constantly restocking our bar with water & juices so that I could keep him hydrated & they constantly kept me in ice & towels so that I could make his compresses. They also contacted the resort Nurse for me & had her come to our room since he was too ill to move. Unfortunately, and I think this is more cultural than anything else, she took her time getting there (over 2 hours even though she knew that he had a 104.2 degree fever!) and I was panicked and scared so I wasn’t too happy about that. She then called in a local doctor to treat him and he arrived 2 more hours later. Based on all of the other service that we received, I’m chalking it up to that they’re just more laid back than us NYers and move a bit slower. It was like that all over the resort so I think it’s just natural to them…unfortunately, I could have used a bit more hustle on those first few days. Thankfully, though, she did call to check on him every day after that and made 3 more “house calls” to see him. So, unfortunately we spent our entire trip in the room...

When he was a bit better I went for 2 very brief walks on the grounds and they’re just gorgeous & the beach is breathtaking. I also hit the breakfast buffet one morning on my own and the food was good (slow service again though). Our butler ordered me some dinners from the different resort restaurants & delivered them to the room, so even though I didn’t eat at the restaurants themselves, I tasted their food & I was very satisfied with the selections that I had. Unfortunately, the food was all I really experienced on the trip, but I was very happy with it. We had a room with a private pool & a patio & the accommodations were just gorgeous…since it’s all new, though, it really should be lol The construction’s all done on the resort, but there’s an off-site casino being built right on the property line that was next to our “villa.” We did hear some construction going on, but it’s mostly finished so it honestly wasn’t that bad at all. When he was doing better, I’d sometimes hang out on our patio listening to the music & watching the people and events over at the pool and it really looked like people were having fun, so even though I didn’t get to really experience too much there first-hand, based on what I did see & experience I'd definitely recommend this resort if you're considering it! We’re planning on going back for our anniversary if time & $$ permit so that we can enjoy the trip!!

***********************************************

Re: 11/3/07: Thatched Cottage, Variety DJ, The Wedding Center, EZ Callig, Hair by Diana & more!!!

Thanks for the great review! I'm sorry that your poor DH was sick for most of your honeymoon.

Re: 11/3/07: Thatched Cottage, Variety DJ, The Wedding Center, EZ Callig, Hair by Diana & more!!!

thanks for sharing your experiences. congrats to you and your hubby!

Re: 11/3/07: Thatched Cottage, Variety DJ, The Wedding Center, EZ Callig, Hair by Diana & more!!!

Congrats! I never heard anyone say nice things about TWC. I'm glad that you had a good experience. oh and you have FM.

Re: 11/3/07: Thatched Cottage, Variety DJ, The Wedding Center, EZ Callig, Hair by Diana & more!!!

Congrats!

Thanks for the review!

Re: 11/3/07: Thatched Cottage, Variety DJ, The Wedding Center, EZ Callig, Hair by Diana & more!!!

Thanks so much ladies!!

Re: 11/3/07: Thatched Cottage, Variety DJ, The Wedding Center, EZ Callig, Hair by Diana & more!!!

Thanks for the great review! And - wow - what an experience at TWC!! Some of the people that work there are certainly in the wrong business! Sorry you had to deal with that..

Re: 11/3/07: Thatched Cottage, Variety DJ, The Wedding Center, EZ Callig, Hair by Diana & more!!!

Sorry about your Wedding Center experience. I never hear anything good about them. I'm glad it mostly worked out in the end and you had a beautiful day. Congrats!

Re: 11/3/07: Thatched Cottage, Variety DJ, The Wedding Center, EZ Callig, Hair by Diana & more!!!

thank you for sharing your review especially the honeymoon--im sorry your husband got sick!! i am going to antigua sandals and i cant wait now!!


thanks so much!!