9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Pre-wedding dinner-The Library Café-Farmingdale A
We went out to dinner with our wedding party and friends that were from out of town since we did not need to have an official rehearsal dinner. We had the private room upstairs that overlooks the bar. The food was very good and the service was great. Perfect location for a casual, laid-back rehearsal dinner.

Day of the wedding-I am usually a very nervous, worry-wart person and I was so relaxed, calm and at peace on my wedding day. It was such a great feeling. People ask if you are nervous and I described my feelings as “filled with anticipation and excitement” not nerves ? I highly recommend taking as many pictures as possible before the cocktail hour and reception. We got to see many of our guests during the cocktail hour and didn’t miss a minute of the reception!

Mother Nature- A+
We were so fortunate to have perfect weather…..78 degrees, sunny with a few clouds in the sky for pictures and no humidity

Ceremony and Reception-North Ritz Club A+++++
The best kept secret on Long Island! So many of our guest had not heard of or been to the NRC since it is fairly new (formally Villa Victor) and they don’t advertise in magazines etc. The grounds for the pictures and ceremony were in full bloom and the ceremony area outside was so pretty and felt very intimate.
The cocktail hour was amazing (some friends from out of state thought it was the dinner) and the entrees were delicious (Chateau Briand, Tilapia with lobster sauce and Chicken Tuscany). I was very impressed with the cake…it was buttercream with huge raspberries inside and was scrumptious.
The NRC club has one of the nicest/biggest bridal suites I have seen and when we arrived it was already stocked with food and drinks.
We had the entire place to ourselves since we had a twilight wedding and it truly felt like we were at home. The staff at the NRC is so friendly and warm.
George was our Maitre’d and paid attention to every detail and helped to make me feel even more calm. Monica was the bridal attendant and she was with us every step of the way. She even went up to the chocolate fountain for us numerous times!!

Special thanks to everyone at the NRC, especially Ida and Bill, who were so helpful over this past year of planning and answered every question we had. Bill helped us finish putting our favors together (Pindar wine in wine bag with favor tags) and Ida found a chuppah for us to use in front of the gazebo.

Officiants-Rabbi Jay Weinstein and Father Michael Callahan A+
I am Catholic and DH is Jewish and Rabbi Weinstein was so warm and respectful of both religions. He really cared about us as a couple and he really made our ceremony intimate and personal. The words and traditions were very touching and everyone was complimenting our ceremony.
We didn’t get to spend as much time with Father Callahan as we did with Rabbi Weinstein but he did a great job of incorporating the Catholic traditions and read the English interpretations of the Jewish blessings. He is also a very kind and warm person and I highly recommend both officiants.

Florist-Flower Barn Seaford A-
Mike was great the work with and the prices were reasonable. I loved my bouquet and the BM’s bouquets were beautiful as well as the guys boutonnieres. However, I thought the Bo’ks would have been a little bigger. We also added another dozen roses to the centerpieces the week of the wedding (4 dozen total) and we all thought that the centerpieces would be fuller. They were beautiful centerpieces and all of our guests raved about them but I guess they were just a little different then we were picturing on our heads. The flowers on the cake were even nicer than I imagined so we were very happy with the cake flowers.

Band-Arcadia (LI Paramount) A+++++

Arcadia MADE our wedding! They played music form the 60’s-70’ 80’s (Erasure, Fleetwood Mac, Bon Jovi, Van Halen) and then the new dance songs. They had everyone dancing all night and all of the vocalists sounded like the original artists. Both of their female singers were awesome (especially the Alicia Keyes “ If I Ain’t Got You” )

Songs:
Entrance-Let’s Get It Started
First Dance-All My Life-Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville
Father/Daughter-Have I Told You Lately-Van Morrison
Mother/Son-Perfect Fan-Backstreet Boys
Cake Cutting-This Will Be (an everlasting love)-Natalie Cole
Last Dance-Beautiful Day-U2

Steel Drum Band (cocktail hour)- Soular Rhythm NJ A+

Soular Rhythm got the party mood started during cocktail hour. They are AUTHENTIC!! They sounded and looked great!

Photo/Video-Duet Alberto, Gio and Hong (Sp?) for video

Working with them before and Engagement pictures-A+

Day of wedding-A+ Alberto did a great job with our engagement photos so I am confident that our proofs will be just as good. Alberto made sure that they took all of the “must take” photos. I think Gio is new. He was with the guys before we met and really didn’t know what poses to take. It also seemed like he followed Alberto around but the proof will be in the “proofs” They were all unobtrusive and now I understand why people call them the “paparazzi.” They snap a photo and they are gone. During our ceremony they were climbing around the back of the gazebo through the bushes to get every angle which was pretty funny!

Proofs and Video-TBD

Hotel for OOT guests and wedding night-Four Points Sheraton in Plainview A
The Sheraton just finished their renovations and it is beautiful! Our room had a Jacuzzi and the beds are so comfortable. We hung out at the lobby bar after the wedding and had a great brunch the next day. The rates were reasonable too and it is a convenient location (South Service Road off of LIE Exit 48).

Limo-Ultimate Class A
The limos were new, clean and most importantly they were on time! We also booked a shuttle for our hotel guests and a Town Car to bring us back to the hotel and all were great.

Invitations and calligraphy-Posh Papers (Phyllis in Huntington) A
We made some changes to the original invitation and Phyllis helped us every step of the way and made sure that we had everything on time.
lemontreestationary.com

Dress- Kleinfeld’s Christina Wu dress A+
Kleinfeld’s is top notch! I have heard all of the horror stories about Kleinfeld’s and luckily I did not have that experience. I told them my budget and they only showed me dresses within my budget. I actually fell in love with the dress that the sales women thought was best for my body (short torso). I also had my alterations done at Kleinfeld’s and even though it was expensive it was worth every penny because the dress was perfect!

Veil-Barron’s Tri-County A
Fingertip length with scattered pearls and crystals. Great prices and they had my veil ready within 2 weeks.

BM’s dresses-Bridal Reflections Massapequa A
The dresses all came in early and no problems with the alterations

Shoes-Sandy’s Shoes A
Sandy’s was super helpful with picking shoes that went with the BM’s tea length dresses and the dying matched the dress perfectly. I also purchased my shoes from Sandy’s…great selection and prices.

Hair and Make-up- A+
I searched high and low for hair and make-up vendors and after numerous trials I was so happy to find Vicky Casey (hair) and Jackie from I Make Up You. Vicky and her assistant were at my sisters house at 6:30AM and did 8 updo’s in 4 hours. My hair looked so natural and stayed all night. Jackie did the airbrush make-up which looked perfect and she did a great job with my coloring and highlighting of my cheeks etc.
I highly recommend both Vicky and Jackie.

Chocolate Fountain-Audrey’s Bakery (Tom) A
This was our splurge and it was amazing! The chocolate was so good and there were 8 different dipping items…..the rice krispy treats were my favorite.


Seating Chart/Favor tags-Cheryl from the Knot knotname-cherylandcliff A
[email protected]
I wanted to do something different from the traditional place cards and fell in love with Cheryl’s seating chart. She designed the favor tags and matched the design on seating chart. It looked so elegant when the guest walked in. Cheryl did a great job!

“Mini-Moon” Gurney’s Inn in Montauk A-
Gurney’s was exactly what we needed after the wedding and we were lucky to have beautiful weather all week! We had drinks on the beach, went the spa for couple’s massages and ate some great seafood. The only reason I give it an A- is because you pay for the breakfast and dinner “credits” and you don’t have the option of not including them so if you don’t use the credits you are paying for nothing. We felt that we had to eat at their restaurants which were good but would have liked the option to eat at other restaurants as well.

Honeymoon-Costa Rica in December!!!

FM me with any questions!

Polly

Link to pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8qeyjgb.5jabt257&x=0&y=uh0jc1

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Congratulations Polly! You guys looked absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Congratulations. You looked beautiful

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Congratulations!!
Your dress is beautiful!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Congrats!! You looked beautiful!!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

congratulations!!!!! you looked amazing!!!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Wow, you really look beautiful!! Congrats!!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

You looked amazing. Congrats to you and your husband.

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Congrats - you looked sooo pretty!!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Congrats!! You looked stunning!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Polly, you look absolutely GORGEOUS! You have a smile that's contagious and everything looks and sounds like it was so perfect for you guys. Warm congratulations to you and your DH!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

you looked so pretty!!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

You are beautiful!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Congrats!!
Thanks for the review-very helpful

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Congrats!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Thanks for the great review! I am getting married at the NRC also and it's great to know everything went perfectly!!!

Also, you and your DH looked amazing!!!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

I always hear great things about NRC. Great review!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Polly, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! You looked absolutely STUNNING!!!!!!! and your DH, wow!

Thanks for the awesome review!! wonderful pictures!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

Congrats! Thanks for the review, and great pics you look BEAUTIFUL!

Re: 9/5/05 NORTH RITZ CLUB wedding review-PICS at bottom!!!

WOW i love your dress! you looked amazing.