Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

Hello everyone,
So here’s our review. Just a couple of disclaimers. This isn’t going to be long one. Just of the main vendors- I wanted to pay forward the favor that a few brides on this site have done for me in describing their experience with vendors to me. I’m always a bit iffy about reviews because I think they are too extreme- either people lovvvvvvvvvve the experience or downright hate it. Also please keep in my mind that this is MY experience. It is not indicative of the one you’ll have. Tastes vary. There are many variables that come into effect on your day. Ours was a relative small wedding (70-75 ppl) on a Friday night during a week of a snowstorm. Also, we had no wedding party. (Just us and our nephew). I am the groom so I can’t really comment on the stuff that my wife took care of like the wedding gown etc.

So here goes-

Leonard’s- A
I was pleasantly surprised with Leonard’s. I was nervous because I had gone to a Labor day wedding there and the food at the cocktail seemed cold but I think that was because there were about four weddings going on. There was just one more on our day. Our prices were cheaper because of the day and time of year. The food was great. People loved the cocktail hour. I felt like we had more than enough food and we had a very basic menu. Our maitre’d, Natalia, and the bridal attendant (I feel bad forgot her name) were sweet and accommodating. Leonard’s was super patient with late add-ons and late guests for our ceremony, which we also had there. They really made things easy for us. I am not fond of the Leonard décor but with the right lighting, it really worked out.


Timeless Treasures Films (Videographers)- A- pending DVD
Everything has been said about Ray. He’s such a nice guy. He came along with another cameraman, Chris who was also a great guy. They were so laid back and out of the way. That was the first day I met Ray and things were great. Every correspondence always went well. But the biggest compliment I can give them is the fact that they are such troopers. We spent about 45 minutes taking pictures and filming in Central park in the freezing cold with snow all over- and these guys had no hats or gloves. So with their red faces, hands, and ears, slipping and sliding on sheets of ice, these guys did their thing without a complaint. I really appreciate their efforts. I can’t wait for the DVD.

Hilda Giecco – Officiant- A.
WE met her about a year before our wedding and that was it. Because of all the running around and various changes that were taking place in our lives, it was difficult to meet with her again. From the notes she took during our initial meeting, she was able to write a very sweet, moving, intimate, and most of all customized ceremony. People really liked her. She is the sweetest person. I am so happy we met her. She speaks Spanish and can do non-religious weddings. She is so accommodating. Our wedding was non-religious, yet very spiritual. I highly recommend her.

Camelot- A
Joe was a pleasure to deal with. The cars were on time and super clean. There was some miscommunication with the package my wife booked and we were left without a ride to our hotel after the reception . Joe himself drove us back to Herald square in Manhattan. Now that’s accommodation. I highly recommend them.

Flower Michele- A
I was hesitant about John at first because I felt like he didn’t address me when we first met with him, but I guess he is used to mostly the bride handling that stuff. My wife really handled the correspondence with John thereafter and I don’t regret it. The flowers were great. We had low centerpieces. Really let him know what you want. He works with your style. He was great with last minute adjustments. He even gave my wife a boost when her car wouldn’t start during one of her visits to his shop. He is hard to get a hold of at times but he really did what we asked. Great experience.

Billy Joe Hoyle- photographer A
Note to everyone- this guy is super non traditional. He really doesn’t do a lot of formals. He is really a photojournalist. This is what we wanted. He was great. He was super cheap because his deal calls for a CD with all the photos- that’s it. He can do prints but he does not do albums. This was s fine with us. He was such a nice guy to be around as well. We found him on the knot. We got the pictures as soon as we came back from our honeymoon and there were fantastic.

Elegancia- C-
This was the biggest disappointment. This was the one vendor that I was not worried about going in but happened to be the biggest flop. This goes to show you that things will happen on your day that you have no control over so you just have to go with it. Every meeting with Elegancia was top notch until the day of the wedding. We dealt with Jose, the owner, and Louie, the DJ and administrative asst. Louie was assigned to be our DJ. About three weeks before the wedding we met with Louie to go over the song list. Things were fine. We made one final change about two nights before the wedding. Right after the ceremony at Leonard’s, I bumped into Jose in the lobby. When I asked about Louie, he told me he wasn’t there and had a family emergency. I was pissed. He should’ve called me the second he knew his DJ wasn’t coming. I found out when my cocktail hour began. Then he messed up on our entrance song. We wanted this old school salsa song which ahs a great build up to walk in to. He played it but after he introduced us then he played it for too long. I had to dance salsa which I don’t know how to do and looked like a fool. We made it clear to play our first dance song for only 2 mins. Because it’s so long (Sade’s Kiss of Life) we had to cue him to stop because he didn’t on his own. Then, when we were ordering our dinner, he went over the song list. My wife was going to dance with our 7-year-old nephew who is like a son to us. He was the best man and ring boy. The song was supposed to be Usher’s version of “ You’ll be in my heart” from Disney’s Tarzan. It was more laid back and smoother than the Phil Collins version. Plus it’s different. I asked him if he had Usher’s version and he said, “No, Usher doesn’t have a version” This pissed me off so bad because I do a lot of research when it comes to stuff like that. It’s on the Disneymania album. He said he looked but couldn’t find one. This is so BS. I challenge anyone to google the words usher and the title of the song. I found it so irresponsible and disrespectful that he didn’t have the song when we clearly asked for it three weeks in advance and if he really couldn’t find it he should have told me so I could have limewired it like everyone else does. Nobody knew this so it wasn’t that bad but that’s what separates the professionals from the others. Then there was a mishap with our party favors. We ordered our own and delivered them to Leonard’s that morning. The guy who picked it up went over the checklist in front of my face. Jose couldn’t find 100 glow necklaces that were supposed to be given out. The truth is maybe Leonard’s lost it but considering everything else that transpired I was inclined to think otherwise. Also, I personally went with my nephew to request just one song he wanted for the night and he didn’t play it. I can’t keep writing about this guy- LOL.

Damn, this was a lot longer than anticipated. I hope this helped. Good luck with all the planning. You can fm with questions but I’m really not on this site anymore after all that planning. To everyone that answered any of my questions, thank you so much.
Mark & Jeannette

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pics

This was in central park where I proposed.

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Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

congratulations you looked gorgeous!!!

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

Congratulations! Beautiful pictures

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

Congrats!!!!!!!
Beautiful pics.....

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

So cool to see a review by a Groom!!! Congrats - looks like you had a beautiful wedding. Sorry about the DJ though.
CONGRATS!

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

congrats thanks for the review !

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

Congratulations! You looked amazing. Thank you for the review.

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

What a nice review! Thanks for returing the favor.

Congrats to you and your bride

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

very nice. you looked beautiful! :)

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

First of all let me tell u that i love the fact that u are the groom and u actually took the time to write a review. its nice to see things form a guys perspective!!!
Congrats on a great wedding day!

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

great review. nice pic of you both!!!!

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

you two look very happy. so sorry to hear about your experience with elegancia...they were great with us, but i guess eveyrone has an off day...so sorry it was on your big day!

congrats!!

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

congratulations you looked gorgeous together

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

I forgot to mention MAS music for the ceremony. Marie Stack is absolutely superb when it came to correspondence. She is a sweetheart and a true professional. I was super nervous because she lived so far away we and met her for the first time on my wedding day. We heard a CD she recorded and were really happy. She came back to our bridal suite after the wedding to wish us luck. Her prices our great and she is really open to working with you. We had her play Elton John's ' Your Song' because my wife loves Moulin Rouge and it sounded really nice on the piano and violin. I highly recommend her. I think she's a vendor on here.

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

you two look very happy. so sorry to hear about your experience with elegancia...they were great with us, but i guess eveyrone has an off day...so sorry it was on your big day!

congrats!!
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yeah- I didn't expect it either. It goes to show you never know. I'm glad things went well with you. They spoke highly of you guys during our visits.

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

Congrats.. great review!!!

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

such nice photos ;)

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

congrats!!! Your pictures are beautiful!!!!

Re: Friday Feb. 16th 2007- Leonard's, Timeless Treasures, Elegancia, Camelot

Thank you for the review. I really commend you in getting so involved with your wedding planning. You & your bride looked gorgeous.