5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

I finally am getting my wedding review posted! About 2 months later! I hope I didn’t miss any vendors, but if I did I will continue to add them in. In a nutshell our ceremony was beautiful and by the time it ended, the cocktail hour and wedding reception went by so fast. Even though it went fast we had such an unbelievable time. Everyone I have spoken with said our wedding was one of the best weddings they have ever been to. All out hard work and planning did not go unnoticed.

Here goes….
Weather (5)
In May you expect sun and warm but comfortable weather. Well, not on May 18th, it was rainy and cool. I was bummed about it in the morning and I tried not letting it get to me.
By the time I made it into the church it did clear up a little bit but by the time the ceremony was over it started drizzling. It continued to be overcast and cool through out the rest of the day/night. I started to get a little nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get pictures outside but we did get a few pictures in.
I just had to keep telling myself the rain means good luck!

North Ritz Club (9.5)
All I heard from people for a year and a half since we booked NRC was “Where is your wedding?” No one really knew where they were located. NRC is such a beautiful, elegant hall that many people aren’t familiar with.
From the first time we met with the people at NRC they were so great to us. Our BM was Nadine and she was so wonderful and helpful! Monica my bridal attendant was amazing. She never left my side since we arrived but was never in my way. George our Maitre’ D was the best. He was so on point with everything that night. Always checking with our families to see if there is anything they needed. Neal and I were very impressed. They did a wonderful job putting all of our wedding stuff/extras together. Bathroom Baskets with the coordinating poems, our menus, sweat heart table, place cards etc.
All of our guests thought NRC was absolutely gorgeous. The champagne greeting was such a nice touch. I did not hear one compliant about the food. I heard the cocktail hour food (shrimp boat, baby lamb chops) were to die for. And the main course was even better then that! If any of you NRC brides are looking to choose a beef (Filet Mignon all the way). I found that most of my guests chose the Filet Mignon and all they did was rave over it! Neal and I actually ate! I said that from day one, I will be eating on our wedding day, and that is just what I did!
I gave NRC a 9.5 because the only thing I can say that got “messed up” was the challah bread. When we booked and also when we went there to go over the menu, we discussed the challah bread. And when our DJ was about to announce the blessing of the bread, George said they did not have anything, there must have been a misunderstanding somewhere. Well about 5-10 minutes later, he got us some type of bread to cut. We were thankful for that.

Our wedding cake was done by NRC. I was very pleased in the way our cake looked! When I walked in the room before everyone, I saw the cake and I let out a scream of happiness! They did an amazing job on it and the taste was even better. I only got a quick taste when I was doing the cake cutting but again all the guests were raving over the canoli cake and the fact that there was ice cream served with it was even better. Guests also loved the chocolate fountain, cookies and pastries!
The grounds of NRC are beautiful. Even on a drizzly, overcast day like we had. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take too many pictures outside but inside was beautiful.
They have an incredible staff, all white glove service and such an elegant way about the place. Overall we are so happy we had our reception held there!














Royalty Limos (8.5)

After we booked Royalty I was a little apprehensive about using them since I saw some mixed reviews on here. Communicating with Royalty was a little difficult. After we booked them for our wedding we tried to book them for our Bachelorette/er party. They gave us a ridiculous price quote. We called back about a month later to see how much they wanted if there were to do a drop off from the hotel to the airport and we explained what happened when we called for the Bachelorette/er party. They apologized and gave us a very good cheap price for our drop off.
The day of the wedding we had two great limo drivers who were there nice and early. Unfortunately I only remember one of the gentlemen’s name. Mike, he drove me and my father to the church and was so nice. He even calmed my nerves down and made me laugh right before I went down the aisle. If you could request a driver, I would definitely choose him.


Levitan Limousine (10) Since Royalty quoted us a lot of $ for a van to pick up and drop off our guests who were staying at the hotel, we spoke to Dave from Levitan Limos. We asked for a van and he said he can give us something better then that and gave us a very reasonable rate for a 2007 10 passenger Limo. He did about a total of 4 drops off/pick ups. All of our hotel guests loved the idea and felt it was very accommodating.

Rabbi Alan Stein (10)
We heard great things here on LIW about Rabbi Alan Stein and we chose to meet with him. He was great from the beginning. Since we were doing an interfaith ceremony and it was being held in church I was a little worried about how the ceremony would work. But Rabbi Stein got to know us as a couple and did a beautiful job at our ceremony.

The Parish of St. Joseph, Kings Park (9)

I just love this church, it is so pretty. Deacon Roy he was really good with us. It was a little difficult trying to get him to communicate with the Rabbi. Actually to me it seemed like he waited until the last minute. But they worked out their parts of the ceremony. The good thing about him was that he held the rehearsal and the ceremony went just like planned.


www.telltheworldtoday.com Personalized Tissue Packets (10)
Rhonda was great. Ordering them and previewing the sample was easy and fast. As soon as I gave her the ok on the proof, I got them within a week. Everyone loved them and thought it added an extra touch to the ceremony.



Satinbow.net (Invitations, menus, place cards, programs) (10)
Allison at the Satinbow.net was great. Communication with her was also great. We communicated mainly through e-mail and sometimes phone when needed. I told her I wanted elegant and classy and the feedback from some guests was just that. They all said how classy the invitations looked. They couldn’t get over how beautiful they were. I was very pleased with them because that was how I pictured I wanted them.
Allison also made my menus, place cards and programs. Of course I got some of the information to her like last minute for the programs but she got them all done so fast and sent them for delivery right before the rehearsal dinner. Talk about crunch time! I even received a discount on those items since we ordered our invitations through her.




USPS -Photostamps (10)
Easy to order, received them within a week or so from the order date. It added another nice touch to the invitations.

Melville Marriot (9)
I give it a 9 because of the communication issues we had. With returning phone calls, emailing the information that they promised etc. However, it did get straightened out all before the wedding. But after we got back from our honeymoon we noticed we were triple charged for a few things, which they are correcting now.
They gave out the hotel boxes we made for our guests with no problem. The rooms were nice and clean especially our suite! We love the bed;
The down comforter and pillows were right up my alley! I was even impressed they had Bath and Body Works soap!
The breakfast the morning after the wedding at Bistro 49 was good, very organized (we knew our guests were the only people we were paying for).

www.buygiftwrap.com Gable Boxes (10)
After deciding on either boxes or baskets for the hotel guests, we decided to go with the gable boxes and we are glad we did. The price was excellent and fast shipment. Everyone who got one loved them

Feldman Esquire (Tuxedos) (10)
We went in there kind of knowing an idea of the color vest we wanted for the GM. When we met with Steve he put it all together for us. We had a few OOT guys and Feldman Esquire made it very easy for them with the measurement form they gave them to get their measurements done. There were no problems with the Tux’s and the price was great. Of course the groom’s tux was free and they gave our Father’s 50% off. They were one of the nicest and easiest vendors to work with. We are very happy we used them and would definitely recommend them to others.




Burton Bridal (Flowers) (9)
We went to Burton’s because of the rave reviews we heard. We met with John and he definitely had the knowledge of every Flower! I love flowers so it was hard for me to even decide what to get. I brought in a few pictures of what I liked and he took it from there and came up with some gorgeous choices.
Since I was doing crystal butterfly bouquet jewels John had the idea of getting the same crystals to put on the Stephanophis (spelt wrong I am sure) flower instead of the pearls.
The only issues I was disappointed with were 1. I thought my MOH bouquet would be bigger then the others and it wasn’t. 2. I wasn’t sure about getting the cream color roses in my bouquet, but I decided to go with it and by the middle of my reception they didn’t look so good. The rest of the flowers alter vases, centerpieces, FG basket, cake roses all looked beautiful.
They were on time with delivering the flowers if anything, they were earlier then expected.






EBAY –Dreammakerwed (10)

I bought my bouquet jewels through Charlene and she was great to deal with. I had a jewel post break a few weeks before the wedding and I e-mailed her back to order another one and she sent it with no problem, and no cost to me. I thought that was very nice of her. I would definitely recommend her as an EBAY seller.
Unfortunately this picture was taken with the butterfly jewel upside down.




Dance Jock (8.5)
I am really surprised that I am giving them a lower grade then I expected to. This was the one vendor I was looking forward to. The communication and planning with Dance Jock was great. However, as DH and I were watching the pictures on the flat screens before we were about to be introduced into the RH, we noticed the DJ put up a picture we said only do if you can cut this one person out of it. It was a BP picture but one of our GM was no longer in the wedding party. Well they still put it up. I don’t think anyone noticed, at least they didn’t say anything. Also as we entered the RH and did our first dance, I noticed right away we did not have the gobo (our names in lights) that we paid for. After the dance the DJ came up to us and said they noticed they spelt my name wrong so they didn’t have it. We also noticed they didn’t give away any of the few giveaways we asked for and they didn’t play the last song we had requested. This was stuff only DH and I noticed but still it bothered me.
The maximus lighting was great. We had a steal drum band for the cocktail hour, which was a unique idea and all the guests loved it. Same with the saxophonist and our singer Rockell. She was out of this world! Everyone thought that was a cd playing until they saw her on the dance floor. Definitely a well worth addition!
All our guests loved the music and thought the idea of the flat screens with our pictures and pictures through out the night was such a great idea.




Bridal Styles (Veil & Tiara) (10)
Bridal Styles in Brooklyn definitely knows how to help you pick out a headpiece and veil. I thought I wanted a veil that was a little shorter but after the sales lady explained to me the difference between the lengths and what would look better with my height she recommended something different and she was right. The tiara and veil with blusher was perfect for me.





AJAFFE – Wedding Bands (10)
Thanks to a family member that works for this designer, she helped us select our perfect rings!
We are soooo happy with our wedding bands and my engagement ring. They are stunning rings!



Craft Shoes (10)
They had a nice selection to choose from and they were helpful.

Exclusively Weddings (10)
I bought my BM gift bags from them and a gift for my dad from them. Very good website, they have tons of wedding items. Fast ordering and shipping. Even the customer service representative on the phone was such a sweetheart!


myownpersonalizedlabels.com (Wine Favor Labels and tags) 10

At first, I wasn’t sure about ordering them online being I didn’t know what they looked like in person. But we ended up ordering the labels for our wine favors, hotel boxes and also the tags for both. After choosing a label and what we wanted printed on them we placed the order and within a few days a representative sent us a sample and called us to go over it with us. Once we give them ok, they send it to print and it came in the mail within a week from that. We love how the labels looked on the wine favors, and hotel boxes. It added a nice personal touch.


Favors (10)
I can’t remember the name of the liquor store where we got the wine bottles for our favors. But thanks to a guy at my office, his parents own the place in Elmont and he gave us a good price. We had one bottle of Robert Mondavi’s Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon and one bottle of Robert Mondavi’s Woodbridge Pinot Grigio. It was a great idea!

www.Buygiftwrap.com (Organza Bags for favors) (10)
Great price, Great Quality, Fast shipping.


Nocellos (Rehearsal Dinner) 10

We chose Nocello’s for our RD location. The staff at this restaurant were so great to work with from the beginning. We had a private room set up for our guests with a sit down dinner. The restaurant and its location were both ideal for what we needed. They were very accommodating and even though we had the room aside for a few hours, they did not look to kick as out when we went over our time. And even our arrival time, they gave us a window of times since we didn’t know how long our rehearsal at the church would be.
The price was very reasonable for a salad, dinner, dessert and beer, wine and soda. From what I did taste that night it tasted very good.

Oriental Trading (9)

I purchased a few things from Oriental Trading. Personalized Bubbles for the ceremony, Children’s wedding coloring activity set, my FG personalized duffle bag and a honeymoon journal to name some. Their prices are very reasonable but some of the stuff is made cheaply, for example the FG duffle bag zipper broke a few times.




Raylia (BM Dresses) (10)
When I first saw this dress I loved it. The color and the style was what I was looking for. When I saw all of my BM in this dress I loved it even more, they all looked so nice in it. I was a little reluctant in ordering Raylia because someone told me a story after their dresses are ordered and they come in to the bridal salon they are sometimes messed up, like the color or the detail work. But I am so glad I went with this dress! The pictures in the wedding books and on the internet do not do it justice!

Bridal Elegance (Wedding gown & BM dresses) (9)
I went to Phyllis at Bridal Elegance for my wedding gown as well as ordering my BM dresses and FG dress because that is where I received the best price for the dresses and alterations. During this time of me ordering my girls dresses and my own I was in a friends wedding where I was getting my dress altered from Bridal Elegance. I was really disappointed in the way my BM dress was altered. But at this point, I had to continue to go through Bridal Elegance for my own because if I went else where it would cost me massive money! Well I am glad I stayed with them because my wedding dress was altered perfect. My other girls who decided to get their BM dresses altered there came out good except my MOH, hers was still big on her but ended up to be fine in the end.
A little note to self if you decide to go through Phyllis at Bridal Elegance, try to make your appointments during the day when it is less busy. When she gets busy, you could be waiting there for a while and not get the full attention you deserve.




Marie Katz (Makeup) (7)
I have to say I am a little disappointed in the way my makeup came out. I went for two makeup trials, one for my engagement pictures, which I thought came out nice and I went again to try different colors. I did the airbrushing and looking now at some of my pictures I feel it looked so messy. The airbrushed foundation along with all of my eye makeup was off by the time I got to my reception.





Hot Hair - Dena and Marie (Hair) (9)
I have been going to Hot Hair for my hair since I was 8 years old. So once Dena heard I was getting married after all of these years she was so excited to do my hair for my wedding.
I was very pleased with the way my hair, my grandmother’s hair and the two of my bridesmaids hair came out. I am not sure if my BM were thrilled about they way it came but I thought everyone looked so nice.



Duet Photography - Photography/Videography (10)

We are very happy with Duet. We used Alberto’s team and they were great! From the day we met with them to book to the day we had our engagement picture shoot we hit it off. Alberto was fun and energetic. The day of the wedding, they showed up to meet me at the hotel early and then the other photographer (I am sorry I already forgot his name) got to DH house early. They started snapping the pictures right away. Our guests even commented on how great they were. Getting up on chairs, laying on the dance floor, laying on the street, they did anything to try to get the perfect picture.
We would definitely recommend Duet and Alberto’s team!





























































Bouquet Charm - Tatum (AKA Tatum & Steve) (10)
A special thank you to Tatum for making me my bouquet charm of my mom. It meant so much to me to have my mom who had passed away a part of my wedding. Tatum did a beautiful job and it looked amazing with my bridal bo'k.



Honeymoon Hawaii (10)

All we have to say is that we wish we were back in Hawaii right now. We booked our honeymoon through Alana’s (NY031978) mother Priscilla at Complete Travel Consultants
Everything was so amazing! We left the Sunday (2 days after) our wedding early in the morning and had our layover in California. Our layover in California was only supposed to be about an hour and it ended up to be almost 5 hrs due to a problem with our plane. (the good thing that came out of that is 2 free tickets to use within the next year).
Well when we finally arrived in Hawaii it was about 11:30pm their time and there wasn’t much we could do besides get our rental car and check into the hotel. We stayed in Kauai first at the Hyatt and it was so BEAUTIFUL! The view from when you walk into the lobby to the view from our room was stunning! We had the buffet breakfast included on both islands and it was worth it. We tried to do as much as we could but by the time we got use to the time difference it was time to head to Maui. Kauai is definitely considered to be the relaxing island. We had a great time by the pools, in the ocean, driving around the coast and especially meeting up with Cynthia and Rob (Cmrcmr0430) and getting those puka dogs that we saw on the travel channel!
When we arrived in Maui, we feel there was more to do there. We booked some excursions such as snorkeling, went on a helicopter ride, drove the road to Hana, went to a Luau and a lot more. The restaurants ( I think I ate more pineapple that week then I ever did in my whole life) the shopping and sites were great! We had a good time in Maui but before we knew it, it was time to leave. We highly recommend both the Hyatt in Kauai and Maui. They hotels were gorgeous and the staff at the hotels were all very helpful.
We loved everything!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up!

Congratulations!! You looked beautiful and it looks like you had a great day. I am also pretty sure that I recognized you in Hawaii!! I thought I knew you from somewhere, but I could'nt figure out where-- small world!!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NRC, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS

Congratulations!!! Great review

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NRC, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS

congratulations great review! your look so beautiful!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NRC, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS

Awesome review! You looked beautiful and your wedding was gorgeous! Congrats!!!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NRC, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS

congrats! thank you for the detailed review!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NRC, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS

Wow, thats all I can say, your pictures are spectacular, you look so beautiful!!!! Congratulations for a great review, thank you for sharing it.

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NRC, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS

Congrats!!!!!!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NRC, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS

Beautiful wedding and Honeymoon! Thanks for the review!! Cnograts!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NRC, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NRC, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS

Congrats! Great review

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

Congrats..What a great review..The NRC looks amazing, I am so excited to get married there after reading your review!!! Congrats

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

---

Posted by hmv12

Congrats..What a great review..The NRC looks amazing, I am so excited to get married there after reading your review!!! Congrats

---

You guys are going to have such a wonderful experience at the NRC.

I can't wait to see your review!!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

Congrats!! You were a gorgeous bride and your pics are beautiful!!!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY DARIA! What a great review! Thanks so much for the shout-out, I am so happy that I added a special touch to your unforgetable day! Lots of happieness to you and Neil!

Congratulations!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

Wow what a beautiful pics!
Congratulations!
Is the little girl you daughter?Se is so sweet!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
you looked beautiful and thanks for the review. i am looking forward to my wedding pics!!!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

---

Posted by Dyon

Wow what a beautiful pics!
Congratulations!
Is the little girl you daughter?Se is so sweet!

---

My flower girl is my God child. Isn't she cute?!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

Looks like you had a beautiful day! Your pictures are great. Thanks for the great review!

Re: 5/18/07 Review is finally up! NORTH RITZ CLUB, DUET, DANCE JOCK, BURTONS,ROYALTY LIMOS

Great review, thanks for sharing! You looked gorgeous!