Mini-Review of My NYC Wedding

Hi all...

I am not planning on writing a full review, since most of my vendors were in NYC but I wanted to write something short in the event that someone else might be using them.

There are non-pro pics in my album, and I will try to add a few more.

Venue - New York Botanical Gardens (Bronx)/Abigail Kirsch.

They are really wonderful there. NYBG is a stunning venue. The gardens are so beautiful and there are an endless number of places to take photos. Abigail Kirsch is the exclusive caterer there, and they really go above and beyond to make your day special. The food looked great and their menu ideas are so varied and creative. They have their reputation for a reason, and it is well deserved. Please FM me if you have questions about either NYBG or Abigail Kirsch. I would highly recommend them to anyone, and their other venues are fantastic as well.

Dress - Vera Wang - Madison Avenue

I absolutely loved my dress on the day of my wedding. Leading up to the wedding and even during my fittings, I had moments where I was still having some doubts. But my tailor took my dress which was already beautiful and made it something even better than I ever imagined. That said, I had some customer-service issues with them that were a little odd, but all in all it was a wonderful experience.

Shoes - Christian Louboutin - Madison Avenue

Not really a vendor, but loved my shoes and every pair of shoes there. The boutique on Madison is generally less picked through than the department stores, so I'd recommend checking it out.

Florist - Atlas Floral Decorators - Manhattan

Abigail Kirsch restricts your choice of florist to a list of 6, and only 3 were in Manhattan so I knew I wasn't going to be shopping around too much for this vendor. I went into wedding planning being kind of indifferent about flowers. Atlas completely changed that and made me SO excited about my flowers. Now that the day is over, it may have been my favorite aspect/vendor. Everything they did was so beautiful and we got a million compliments on the centerpieces, ceremony setup, bouquets, etc. I still have my bouquet even though it is completely dried out because I loved it so much. They are very expensive, but I would HIGHLY recommend them as they are worth every penny.

Band - Russ Bennett Band - Hank Lane - Manhattan

The band was awesome. Like many others, I was a little nervous because we had not seen them perform live, nor had we seen a video. We were relying on Hank Lane's reputation and we were not disappointed. The band was young, lively, and did an amazing job. The bandleader Russ was super nice and checked in with us repeatedly to make sure we were happy. I would highly recommend them as well. Nothing but professionalism from Hank Lane.

Photo/Video - Sherwood Triart - Woodbury, NY

They were pretty on top of things during the planning process, and we were really impressed with the work that we saw there. The photographer and videographer were by my side all night, so fingers are crossed that they captured all of the great moments. If anyone is interested, FM me and I will write more once I get some proofs back.

Invitations - Judy Paulen at Bloomingdales NYC

Had some issues with ordering the invitations, which caused me a lot of stress for a while. It all worked out and they came out amazing, but that was really due to the fact that the letterpress company is awesome (Smock is the company - loved them).

Hair and Makeup - Fresh Face Forward

Stacey and Sabrina were awesome to work with, and I loved how I looked. All of my bridesmaids had their hair and makeup done by them too, as well as the moms, and everyone looked really beautiful. They were very professional, on time, and very pleasant to share the day with. My makeup lasted all night, but my hair started falling out while dancing. By the end, I pulled the whole thing out but because she had set it in rollers beforehand I still loved the way it looked and it was not a big deal. I would highly recommend both of them.

RD - Capital Grille - Chrysler Building NYC

I just added this in - but if anyone is looking for a great place for a RD in midtown, we loved Capital Grille. It is one of our favorite restaurants (they have great steaks and I don't eat red meat, but the fish there is excellent). They have several lovely private rooms and the staff was really great and treated it as though it were a private dinner, and not an event (it was not catering-ish at all). It was a bit pricey, but well worth it as our guests felt spoiled and really enjoyed it.

One more thing - realized I forgot a major one

Officiant - Rabbi Renee Feller - NYC

If anyone has the option of working with Rabbi Renee, please do so. She is unbelievable. Such an interesting woman. She met with us many times leading up to our ceremony and it showed. People are still talking to me about how wonderful she was and how it was the most personalized ceremony they have ever seen. She is super liberal and also does tons of interfaith and even non-Jewish weddings. If you have the privilege of getting to know her, you absolutely must.

I think thats all of the major stuff, please FM me if you are interested in any of these vendors and I can tell you more. Thanks to all of you ladies, even though I didn't post much your advice and thoughts were much appreciated during my planning process. Good luck to all of the 2010 brides!

Re: Mini-Review of My NYC Wedding

Aww this was a great review! Thank you!! We were going to check our Abigail Kirsch at the BG but booked before we got the chance... happy to see you had a great time!!!

Re: Mini-Review of My NYC Wedding

thanks for reading! updated b/c I forgot a few major vendors... oops

Re: Mini-Review of My NYC Wedding

I think you should post an entire review!! I got married in the Hudson Valley and have recieved a ton of questions about the vendors that I used. Since we are all so close I think others would benifit from hearing your experience.