May 30, 2004 wedding review!

Hi guys,

This board really helped me plan my wedding, so I wanted to write up a review of my wedding to help others planning their wedding. Here it goes:

Harrison House F/ A+++++

Ok, I have to give the HH 2 ratings, one for the planning and front desk (F) and the other for the day of (perfect). I, like some others, had problems with the sales people at the HH and switched coordinators from Bill to Carmella. Carmella we liked much better, but still never thought we received the service that we should have. The F rating, however, is for the front desk which has been has absolute disaster to work with since day one. Some highlights: telling several of my guests that all the rooms from my block were sold out when there were not nearly, giving diffent guests different rates for the rooms, waking me up at 6AM on the day of my wedding, mistakenly telling me that my hair/makeup people were there(it was for another bride that was getting married at 11am), when my hair and makeup people did arrive at 10am, they had no idea who i was, since the name of the room was booked in my fiancee's name(they couldnt figure this out?), leaving my hair/makeup people waiting for 40 minutes until I turned on my cell phone to see that they had been calling. Finally, and still to be resolved, they gave away my cake to someone else?? and they told me that they delivered all of my wedding gifts to my room(didnt receive one). This is a big problem and we are still trying to work it out.
However, the day of the wedding, everything was PERFECT. The place is just beautiful, the operations staff and service is top-notch. The food was great and not one thing went wrong during the whole day. I do have to say, that if i had to do it over again, despite the problems, I would have definitely picked the Harrison House again. I dont think you can beat the courtyard where we got married, overlooking an expanse of green lawn, the cocktail hour by the pool the old-world mansion feeling for a wedding(imo). Between the beautiful grounds, the guestrooms right there and a charming pub upstairs, it was perfect for me and exactly what I had envisioned for my wedding day.

Band: Arcadia A++++++
The best!!!! Nearly every single person I have spoken to could not stop raving about the band. They made our wedding so much fun that we actually extended the party due - nobody wanted to stop dancing! What more can you ask for?

Hair and Makeup - Maureen and Claudia Pedela A++++++ Simply wonderful. Professional, talented, and so nice. They give free trials and send you both printed and digital pictures. They did all 7 of my bridesmaids hair and makeup and every one of them were happy and looked great. Both Claudia and Maureen stick around and take pictures of you and touch you up before you leave for the ceremony.

Photography - B rett M atthews A++
Hard to say here since I have not seen my pictures yet, but they have been nothing but professional since I booked them a year ago. I was surprised to see the harsh reviews of them on these boards. I had Ray as my photographer, and I have seen the proofs of my engagement pictures and they were great. During the wedding, we were a bit crunched for time, and Ray was accomodating, and kept everything on track. I cannot wait to see my wedding proofs!

Florist- Pedestals A++
We started out working with Natalie but she left the company and we worked with Joseph. I didnt spend all that much time with this vendor but the flowers were beautiful. The only small problem is that the BM bouquets were wrapped in the wrong color ribbon...we asked them to redo it and they did.

Officiant - Rev Janine Burns A+++
We loved her. She meets with you at least 2x before the ceremony and bascially helps you organize the whole thing. She did a great job at our ceremony and we would recommend her to anyone that wants a non-religious but somewhat spiritual ceremony as we did.

Videographer - Bellarino - TBD
I really dont know what rating to give them yet as I have not seen their work. However, so far, so good. He was unintrusive and worked well with my photographer. He even came early for us since the day was so beautiful, he wanted to get some extra shots. I think he will be getting a stellar rating as well, just need to see the work.

I think thats all for now. Pls FM me with any questions!!

oh yah- Honeymoon was Tahiti- I will write up that review later!

Re: May 30, 2004 wedding review!

Sorry to hear about your experience at the Harrison House. Thank you though for your honest and helpful review.

Congratulations!

Re: May 30, 2004 wedding review!

congrats...