8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

I'll start off by saying thank you to LIW!! Without you ladies I would've been a normal bride, just kidding! I received awesome advice, help and ideas and I truly believe it helped me stay sane throughout the wedding planning process and made my wedding a hit.

As a note for all of my reviews, I believe vendors should be professionals – returning phone calls, answering questions, being polite, etc.

Now to the reviews:

Weather: C
The week of the wedding the weather reports changed hourly. The day of the wedding it POURED and hailed. Hail in August! It's not a 'F' because it stopped raining for two hours and I was able to take pictures outside. PLEASE pick a location that looks good inside AND outside!!

Crest Hollow Country Club: A+
I can't say enough about this place. The food, the service, the people!! Starting with the food – it was AWESOME!! So awesome that people are still talking about it now! The service and people was equally great. I tripped over my dress and ripped the bottom. My BA sat down on the floor and sewed the dress back together and then put bobby pins on the lining so I wouldn't trip again. Again, this place is absolutely fantastic and I wish I could go back there for another wedding to enjoy all the food I didn't get to eat during my own wedding.

David's Bridal: B+
David's Bridal was the only store I went to for a dress. I picked out five dresses and decided the first one I tried on (the one I liked the least on the rack) was the one. My only complaint with David's Bridal is their alterations department. They weren't polite and it took forever for them to alter my dress – I had to go back twice since they did it incorrectly the first time (I only needed it to be hemmed and brought in on top).

Men's Warehouse: A
I didn't have anything to do with the tuxes but DH didn't have any troubles and everything was perfect for the GMs.

FM Entertainment - Frank: A+
Frank was our DJ and he was fantastic!! He had people dancing until we had to leave.

Flower Michele: B
I was disappointed in FM after all of the great reviews and recommendations from LIW. My BM's pink flowers were already brown; my bouquet should have been a mixture of the BM's pink flowers with a couple of white flowers, but were instead white flowers with a smattering of pink flowers. I spoke with John after the wedding regarding this, but he stated it was a misunderstanding since he thought it would be white with a few pinks. Finally, FM was supposed to decorate my cake, but didn't. My cake didn't have any flowers on it until I said something to DH, which CHCC overheard. They then stuck in some flowers to decorate it. The CP's were beautiful.

Stacy Pitt – Hair: A-
Stacy was about half an hour late on the day of the wedding, which really freaked me out. Other than that, she was great. Unfortunately my curls went completely flat before the ceremony, but that was due to the humidity, not her.

Gorgeous Faces – Make-Up: A
Jillian is a sweetheart. She did everyone's make-up quickly and professionally. I loved my make-up the day of.

Fedali – B-pics: A+
They are AWESOME!! They made me completely comfortable and after getting over the first shock, it was actually fun! I gave the pictures to DH the morning of our wedding and he was completely shocked. Fun fun fun!! Do it!

Blue Daisy – Day After Photos: A+
Mariann is truly amazing. We did 'day after' shots with my dog, even though in my case it was 2 weeks later (after the honeymoon). We went to DUMBO, Grand Central and Central Park. The photos are amazing, I have them throughout our house.

Keepsake Floral: A+
Very expensive, but worth every penny. I had wanted to preserve my bouquet and Keepsake really listened to my comments. I had them take out the majority of the white flowers so that it would be a pink bouquet and placed it into a shadowbox. Everyone that sees it is impressed.

Art-istic Images – Photographer (Artie): B-
This is a hard one to review. Overall I liked my pictures and album. However, there were so many other things that went wrong. I didn't do a 'must-take' list because Artie said he had been doing it so long it was a no brainer. Unfortunately, I have NO pictures of me and just my grandparents, my DH's grandparents, my ENTIRE cocktail and Viennese hour (which I was there for), etc. Although he apologized, it doesn't really change the fact that I have more than two hour's worth of time that went missing. Furthermore, my DH and I had to get Artie and the second photographer to take pictures by telling them we were going from table to table and wanted pictures. I should've phrased it better because the one clear picture I have of my grandfather he's sitting next to his table with food and napkins everywhere. To top everything off, it was a pain to reach him. I would either get a return phone call from him the same day or three weeks later. Again, overall I liked the quality of the pictures and the album, but the service and missing photos are huge. GIVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER A MUST TAKE LIST!!

Wedding Cinema – Videographer (Pete): B
Pete was recommended to me by Artie, my photographer. Pete was also extremely hard to get a hold of. I received my video the last week of November and it was okay. Nothing special, but not bad either.

Chocolate Menus - Deloache Chocolate: A+
Philip Deloache was an absolute gem to work with. He helped me design my menus, which were made out of chocolate – they were gorgeous and all of the guests loved them.

Officiant - Judge Ohlig: A
We wanted something short and to the point - he delivered.

Apple Entertainment – TJ: A
I didn't meet TJ until the day of the wedding. We did everything over the phone, I told him what I wanted and he let me know what was possible and what wasn't since my room at CHCC had mirrors. The day of, everything was perfect – the red lighting, the pinpoint lights on my CP's and my monogram. He even sent me my GOBO after the wedding as a keepsake!

BuyGiftBox.Com – Gable Boxes: A
A little expensive with the shipping, but very efficient and guests loved the hotel welcomes and the take-home boxes for dessert at the reception.

Simply Elegant Favors.Com – Espresso Set and Customized Tea Bags: B+
Roughly half of the espresso sets were damaged/wrong ones. In order to get it fixed, I could either pay to have it shipped back (roughly $50 since they're heavy) or drive to their warehouse and pick out new ones. Thankfully my parents live near them so we chose that option. The customized tea bags were very cute.

Paper Presentations: A+
I LOVE that store and bought tons of paper there to make my own programs, invitations, monogram tags, etc.

Executive Inn: A
We chose Executive Inn because they provided a shuttle to and from the hotel and CHCC, which my guests were very appreciative of. Since our wedding was on a Friday, the day of we ate their American breakfast (yummy omelets!).

Honeymoon – Princess Cruises to Alaska: A+
We LOVED this trip; it was perfect from start to finish. The service was impeccable; the food was delicious; and the scenery was out of this world!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

Okay my pictures aren't posting...

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Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

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Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

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Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

Cathy, you make such a beatiful bride. I love your pictures!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

Congrats! Beautiful wedding

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

Great review! Beautiful Bride!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

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Posted by lucamon

Cathy, you make such a beatiful bride. I love your pictures!

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Thanks Sam!! If you look closely at the first picture (left hand side background), you'll see the placecards you taught me to make! Everyone thought they were beautiful! Thanks so much for all your help!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

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Posted by LaurenJosh

Congrats! Beautiful wedding

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Thanks! Good luck on yours!!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

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Posted by NapaValleyGirl

Great review! Beautiful Bride!

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Thank you!!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

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Posted by fujamaga

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Posted by lucamon

Cathy, you make such a beatiful bride. I love your pictures!

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Thanks Sam!! If you look closely at the first picture (left hand side background), you'll see the placecards you taught me to make! Everyone thought they were beautiful! Thanks so much for all your help!

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It took me a while but I see them. Good job!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

congratulations! everything looked wonderful!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

You look beautiful!!! Congrats!!!!!!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

Thanks everyone!!

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

Congratulations again. Everything looked beautiful. Your makeup was amazing.

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

Congrats! Everythig looked wodnerful

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

Thank you!!

I know it's lame but I go everytime someone responds

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

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Posted by fujamaga

Thank you!!

I know it's lame but I go everytime someone responds

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haha.. don't worry, we all do the same thing.

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

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Posted by lucamon

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Posted by fujamaga

Thank you!!

I know it's lame but I go everytime someone responds

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haha.. don't worry, we all do the same thing.

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Haha, thanks Sam, makes me feel not as crazy

Re: 8/15/08 - CHCC, FM Entertainment, Flower Michele, Art-istic Images, Wedding Cinema, Stacy Pitt, Fresh Face Forward Wedding

Where did you take your outdoor pictures? I'm still upset we didn't get outdoor photos due to the tropical storm. I was considering the day after shoot but I already had my gown preserved.