It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Hello Ladies,

Sorry it took so long for me to post my review. After the wedding and honeymoon, my husband has been going none stop. We finally sat down this weekend to work on it. I hope you all find it helpful. I have also included some pictures for you all to see. P.S. We will post information about our honeymoon at a later date.

Review of my Wedding Day, August 6, 2005.

Weather: A
The day was wonderful. There were reports earlier in the week that there was a potential of thunderstorms, and then high heat and humidity, but the day ended up being sunny and beautiful, not too hot. We couldn’t have wished for a better day.

Wedding Coordinator/Invitations
Jodilynn DiPiazza – Simplicity Planning: A++
Jodi was wonderful! I do not know how we could have had a wedding without her. We all just loved her. My husband and I both grew up in Brooklyn and our parents still live there. We had moved from the area and settled in Maryland and Virginia. Jodi helped us find many of our vendors and keep all these matters together. Jodi always listened to what we desired and helped us get what we wanted for our wedding day. She has such a great deal of knowledge and experience with weddings that it was such a pleasure to work with her. Any questions or problems we may have had, she was always able to give us a good answer or solution for that situation. The best thing with Jodi was that she was always able to keep us calm and to let me know that our wedding was going to turn out great. She was so right. On our wedding day, my husband and I had no worries and just truly enjoyed the day.

Jodi also helped up with our invitations. We had an idea of what we were looking for and she was able to find it. She helped us with the wording and layouts. They came out great and many people complemented us with our choice. The invitations came to us in a timely fashion and we able to send them out and get our responses in enough time to give our numbers to the reception hall. We got so many complaints for our invitations and they really gave the sense of what our wedding was about.

Many people question the need to get a wedding coordinator. Based on our experience, we definitely recommend getting a coordinator to make the planning process easier, and to make the day of your wedding worry free. We especially recommend Jodi as she helped us make our wedding day all we could dream of!

Reception Hall
The Riviera (located in Brooklyn): A++
All I can say is WOW!! Everything was wonderful. Our guests still to this day can’t stop talking about how they had such a wonderful time and how great the hall was. The hall’s owners Pat and Zack were so kind. They were always so helpful. They were present doing our reception to make sure everything went well. Our maitre d’ was always attentive to our needs. He was wonderful. Our guests were made to feel so special. All of their needs were taken care of. I can’t say enough about the food. It was plentiful and soooo good. I only regret is that I did not get a chance to eat more. Our cousin told us a story of how one of our guests dropped and broke a glass at a table next to him, and moments later when he turned around to check on the damage, the hall attendants had cleaned up every trace of the glass.

My only wish is that I hope I know someone that is holding their wedding at the Rivera in the near future so I can be invited just to experience it all over again.

Photographers
Infinity Photographers: A+
WOW! Moe, Mike and their assistants were wonderful. They were so friendly and kind. Moe just made you feel so relaxed. They arrived on time at each location and just started taking pictures. We had one photographer that took pictures in color, and the other took them in black and white (he was a photojournalist). They took shots of everything. I don’t think I ever smiled so much in my life. We received the proofs about 3 weeks after the wedding. We had almost 900 pictures!!! The proofs are wonderful and I don’t know how my husband I ever will ever be able to pick from all of the choices.

(More details in a few months after we build and receive our final albums…)


Video
Video Illusions Productions (VIP): A
Mike the video man was great. I don’t think I was really aware that he was around taking the video. He was really friendly. They also did a video montage that was shown during our reception. It was great. All of our guest loved the presentation and have asked us for copies.

We received the uncut video (roughly 2 hours and 40 minutes) about 5 weeks after the wedding. We were very pleased with the coverage. He was able to get the majority of the great moments of our wedding. (We have to go back to NY and sit down with the editors to create the final version of the video. More details about the final video in a few months…)


DJ
Never Stop Jammin: B+
Ron did a great job of keeping the energy up during the reception. We really did not get a change to enjoy the music during the wedding because we were pulled away to take pictures. Our guests all stated that they had a great time and we could see from the video that they were up and dancing. They all seem to be having a great time. There were just two things we would have corrected: (1) my husband and I had given the company certain songs to be played at certain times and it did not happen the way we planned and (2) it was difficult to hear the names of our wedding party announced during the entrance to the reception. Other than those two items, we were very pleased with the work Ron’s and his team’s performance at our Reception.


Flowers
Flowers by Emil: A+
Carmine did such a great job. All of the flowers were beautiful. My husband and I along with Jodi, our coordinator, meet with Carmine and we all talked about the flower arraignments. As we were speaking, he created a prototype of what we wanted, and gave it to us to take with us. The day of the wedding, the flowers were ten times better then the prototypes. My bouquet was beautiful, better then I imaged. The Church and reception hall looked great, the flowers just added to the beauty of the both locations.


Make-up
Zena Y. Dixon: A+
Zena did a wonderful job applying make-up on my mother, my honors, and myself. We all look very fresh and natural. The make-up lasted the entire wedding. Prior to the wedding date, Zena traveled to Maryland were I lived and did my make-up trial. She really took time to listen to me and worked hard to give me the look that I wanted. Zena arrived at my house and did one of my honor’s hair and then applied all of our make-up. She is so friendly. We all look like princesses.


Magic Touch (Beauty Shop): A+
The stylist (I am sorry that I can’t remember her name right now.) did a wonderful job on my hair. I have known her for several years and she always told me that she wanted to do my hair for my wedding. We sat down and talked about the type of hairstyle that I wanted. I did not have a picture of the style but explained that I wanted a half up-do. She really captured the look that I wanted. She also did my mother’s hair and we she made my mother beautiful.


Limousine
A Class: A+
A Class did a wonderful job. The drivers arrived on time and were so professional. We had the Chrysler 500 and the wedding party was in the Cadillac Escalade. The limos were so clean and beautiful. Both drivers had such a wonderful personality and were so funny. My driver was so helpful in getting me in and out of the limo. They even assisted me in getting ready to walk down the aisle.


Shuttle Bus
Golden Touch Transportation: D-
I was extremely disappointed with the service that I received from Golden Touch. We hired the shuttle company to pick up our guests from the hotel, bring them to the Church, then to the reception, and then finally back to the hotel. The bus arrived at the late to the hotel, church, and to reception hall. I found out later from my guest that the driver did not know how to get around Brooklyn. He became lost multiple times and the driver would not ask or follow directions. Actually, it was one of my guests that used to live in the area that told the driver how to get around. Due to the fact the bus was late arriving at the Church, everything else fell behind schedule. We tried to contact the manager multiple times after we returned from the honeymoon, but it took 4 weeks to finally return our phone call. We would have given them a lower score, but they did get all of our guests to the location safely.

Tuxedos
After Hours: B+
Our wedding party was spread throughout three different states. After Hours was the best company for us to use because they have so many locations at all these different states. All but one of the men were able to find a location close to them and get fitted and pick up their tux for the wedding. The other one was able to call in his measurements and have one of the guys pick up his tuxedo for him. The only problem occurred when my husband scheduled his tux to be picked up a day earlier in VA than the rest of the men in the wedding party since we had to travel to NY. The tux was not ready as promised in VA (which caused some nervousness because the groom MUST have his tuxedo), but we were able to pick it up the following day at an After Hours in NY. After Hours worked out well for everyone.

Dresses
Beautiful Bride: A
They did a wonderful job helping with my wedding dress as well as for the dresses for my wedding party. I was able to find my dress in less then an hour, and my honors and bridesmaids found their dresses quickly too. Just like the men, the women were spread though three different states. I was able to get all of the ladies measurements and get their dresses ordered. They dresses came in without any problems and in plenty of time to make any alterations we needed and for me to ship the other dresses to my out of town bridesmaids. All of the ladies in the shop were very friendly and helpful.

David’s Bridal: B+
All the junior bridesmaids’ dresses and accessories were ordered from David’s Bridal. There was some confusion with one of the dresses, as one of the girls had to go to a couple of locations because the first store said they could not find a dress to fit her. We went ourselves and had no trouble finding the correct dress. All the dresses looked beautiful and all the girls were happy with their dress.

Cake
Mona Lisa: A
My husband and I wanted a cake that was a symbol of our union as well as a cake that was somewhat unique. Our wedding theme as hearts but we couldn’t find a picture of a cake that emphasized that theme. We went and spoke with the baker, Mike, and were able to explain to him that we wanted a layered heart shaped cake. The cake we received was all that we wanted and more. It was beautiful and expressed everything we wanted. Not only was the cake beautiful but also tasty. We only got to get a small taste of the cake when we did the cutting of the cake. Many of our guests told us how good the cake tasted.


Ring Bearer Pillow/Garter/Flower Basket
Carol: A
Carol is a good family friend. She told me that she wanted to make my ring bearer pillow and anything else that I may have wanted. I asked for the ring bearer pillow, garter, flower girl basket, and money bag. I told her what my theme was and the colors and then she went and made each item by hand. Oh my gosh, they were wonderful! She put her whole heart into these items. They were so beautiful, I could not have asked for more.


Pianist
Michael (Husband’s Cousin): A+
Michael is my husband’s cousin that is a very talented musician. He did a great job listening to the type of songs we wanted, and did a great job working with the soloist to make the whole ceremony wonderful.

Soloist
David Buckner: A
We hired David to sing for our wedding. If you saw David, you would not believe that such a deep and rich voice would come out. David sang as I walked into the Church, and it was so special. He then sang throughout the entire ceremony. When David sang the “Lord’s Prayer” it really touched my heart. He did a wonderful job and I know that our guest really enjoyed his performance.


Hotel
JFK Radisson: B
We booked the Radisson Hotel at JFK for our out of town guest. I asked for them to hold 40 rooms for our wedding. They did this with no problem. Our guest had until thirty days to book their rooms before they would release the block. Just before the deadline, I saw that many of our guests had not reserved their rooms. I called the hotel and asked if they would extend the deadline and they did for TEN more days. We also were able to get our wedding night room free since so many of our guests had reserved rooms with them. They were very helpful and our guests seem to have enjoyed their stay at the hotel.

Wedding Bands/Engagement Rings
Tiffany: A
My husband purchased my engagement ring from Tiffany. He said he had an idea of what type of ring I wanted, and after looking at engagement rings at several ring stores, nothing compared to the ring he saw at Tiffany. He was right; the ring he purchased was perfect. When it was time to look for wedding rings, we went to several stores, but we ended up getting my wedding band from Tiffany because it had the best ring that complimented my engagement ring. Plus that was the ring that I knew that I would wear for the rest of my life.

Charleston Alexander: A
My husband initially had a hard time finding a wedding band we both liked. After a while, all the rings we looked at started looking alike. He went on the web and began searching for men’s wedding bands, and ended up going to Charleston Alexander in VA. The selection for men was so much larger than anything we had seen elsewhere, he had a difficult time picking which one he wanted. He ended up getting a ring he was very pleased with.
Weather: A

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Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

mona lisa where your cake came from....is that the one on 86th st. i love there stuff.

nice review

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

congrats and great review

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Congrats!! You looked beautiful!

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Congratulations!

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Yes, it is the same bakery. They do have wonderful things in there.

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Congrats! I love the Riviera! Great place!!! You looked stunning!!!!!!

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Congrats...thanks for the review......you looked beautiful!

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Congratulations. You looked beautiful.


Love the way you kept saying my husband!!! Can't wait till it's my turn and I can also say my husband!!!

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Thank you all for your kind words. I hope that the reviews come in handy to you all.

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

wonderful review!

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Hi Sandra


You looked amazing, thanks for the review, I am happy that Flowers by Emil and of Jodi did a great job on your day. Please post more pictures

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

I am trying to post more pictures. I am waiting for my husband :) to make them smaller.

Re: It's finally done, the review of my August 6th Wedding

Congratulations - you looked beautiful!