My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

My wedding was awesome and exceeded my expectations. I am so happy with pretty much all of the decisions I made and I am so lucky to have married the man of my dreams and my best friend. He’s my own personal Mr. Darcy (as played by Colin Firth ) but even better. Being married is so wonderful, and now I feel like I’ve been able to quit a part time job since the wedding has been over.

I didn’t post a lot during the planning process, but I did find the majority of my vendors through my coordinator who I found through this site. Thank you ladies for being so open and honest about your experiences and posting through all of the feelings, happiness, and uncertainty that goes along with planning a wedding. I benefited tremendously from the reviews on this site and I’ve tried to be as thorough as possible in writing mine. I’m sorry for the delay, but I didn’t start writing it until after the wedding was over.

So without further ado, here’s my review!

Rehearsal Dinner – The Family Restaurant – Forest Hills- A+
We really waited until the last minute to do the rehearsal dinner. DH’s parents graciously offered to pay for it and we waited to look for a place until 2 weeks before the wedding. Our first choice was Parkside in Corona but it turns out that they do not book large parties in the evening. We had about 25 people. Based on the reviews here we chose the Family Restaurant. I spoke with them over the phone, they were nice, the prices were reasonable and I booked it sight unseen.

We paid around 30 per person and that was a 4 course meal with dessert, and unlimited wine, beer, and soda. Due to the blackout at our hall we had people arriving an hour before we were scheduled to be there and they were extremely welcoming and accommodating. The service was excellent. I would highly recommend them.



DIY PROJECTS – ME! A++++++++
At the last minute I got it into my head that I wanted things really really personalized. With less than a month to go I made programs, favors, menus, table numbers, and added place card frames. I was up until 5:30 am the night before my wedding which is why at the end of the night we look seriously tired. LOL!

Here is the breakdown of what I did:

Programs
I got the cover paper from lcipaper.com. It was their handmade Spanish paper. I got the inner paper from paper source and cut it down to size. Ribbons came from Michaels. My brother in law who is a really talented graphic designer did a monogram for us.

We had an interfaith ceremony so I explained the different traditions from both religions that we would be incorporating, I printed the names of everyone, a memorial to our deceased family members and a thank you to everyone for supporting us. On the back cover I did an illustration of my puppy Charlie with him thanking everyone for coming. We also had that illustration printed on the envelope of our invitation. People loved the programs. So much so that there aren’t any left over!




Favors
Our wedding was on St. Patrick’s day and I wanted our theme to be something based loosely on luck. I got white chocolate dipped fortune cookies shipped to me with personalized fortunes and put them in clear boxes from paper mart. Then I tied them with blue ribbon and attached a favor tag that said how we felt like the 2 luckiest people in the world today and wanted to share that luck with our guests. I also attached a lucky 7’s lottery ticket to each one. I honestly expected for someone to win the lottery at our wedding since we bought so many tickets but although people did win little amounts here and there, no one won the big one. People had a good time with those.


Menus
These were something I started the night before the wedding. I had ordered the paper from Kate’s papery but never got around to doing them. It was fairly painless and I thought it helped to make the tables look good.


Table Numbers
We are obsessed with our dog. I knew for a long time that I wanted to incorporate him into the wedding, but I didn’t know how. I saw a couple of brides on here use their pets for the table numbers and that’s what I had been thinking of doing so I went with that. I printed big letters in the script font that I was using for everything else and then cut them out of foam core. This was the most time consuming process. The pictures were taken the day before the wedding and printed on photo paper. I would have liked them to look a little more “finished” but when I got to the hall on the day of my wedding I was so happy to see framed pictures of my little Charlie on every table. I am glad I did these.



Placecards
I was going to go with the ones the hall gave out, but in my bridal frenzy at the last minute I ordered frames from favorfavor.com. Linda was great about getting these to me on time, and then I just printed out all the names and numbers and cut them with my paper cutter. People loved these.


I do want to say though, that all these little touches while nice, were not necessary. I don’t believe that people would have had any less of a good time if I didn’t do these projects, but I knew that I would always regret it if I looked back and didn’t add these elements. It was a really personal thing, it must be because I went to design school or something, but I really wanted to be hands on about some things. So anyone out there that is going though unnecessary stress, I wouldn’t sweat it. All these halls look lovely anyway…

Wedding Dress – Melissa Sweet from Priscilla of Boston A++++++++++
Great job. I had searched high and low. I went to Kleinfeld’s, Bridal Reflections, RK Bridal, Macy’s, and Wedding Atelier, before winding up at Priscilla of Boston. In each of the other places not only did I not find my dream dress, but I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the staff there. In some places they were rude, in some we were rushed, in some places they made me feel like my budget was too small. I think $3500 for a dress is a generous budget! The staff at Priscilla of Boston was amazing. I knew I didn’t want a large ballgown and they seemed to have the biggest variety of mermaid type dresses. When I found my dress they let me hang out in it as long as I wanted to. The place is small so there aren’t tons of brides all trying on dresses at the same time.

My dress came in with more than enough time to do alterations, and Svetlana the seamstress who I worked with was nothing short of amazing. She worked on the dress and made it so that I wouldn’t bounce around in it at all. My dress was my dream dress.





Headpiece and Veil - Denise Leli A+++++++++++++++++++++++
One of my favorite vendors. I didn’t shop around for a veil and tiara at all. Time was always short so when Francesca told me that Denise would be at her house I went there and they were in my budget so that was that. Denise and her daughter are so sweet. I was adamant about not wanting a tiara or a blusher. I just wanted a little sparkle at the top of my head and a long veil. I was really into this whole Priscilla Presley thing and her and her daughter totally went with it. Denise does these awesome bendy type pieces that can just lay flat on your head. I loved it and now that the wedding is over I can have it made into a comb or a necklace. The cost of the veil and the headpiece were a fraction of what it would have cost to get just a veil from my bridal shop which was about $1000. I paid $500 for both combined.

Here is where they go from great to amazing. I had ordered my veil in diamond white, completely forgetting that I ordered my dress in ivory. When I went to the first fitting and saw my dress I had a nervous breakdown. It was so ivory and because it was against the white veil it looked downright yellow! I was so upset. I told Francesca, she told Denise, and they went to make me another veil in ivory. I had gotten a color swatch from the shop to give them but it was actually a little whiter than my dress was. Denise called me the week of my wedding before my last fitting and said that she had the veil completed but she was really concerned that it might be too yellow. At that point I didn’t expect anything more from her (she had made me another whole veil with crystals on it and everything) so I said that it was ok and that I would deal with it and tried to set up a time when I could get my veil from her later in the week. She wouldn’t hear of it and she and her daughter actually came to my final fitting with the 2 veils to see which one would work better! When I first met her she said that her brides do not cry in fittings and that whatever happens don’t worry about it, it can all be fixed. She really stands by that.





Jewelry – Gemelli Jewelers – Grand Avenue in Queens - Rings, Rolex, FG & Ring Bearer Gifts, Groomsmen Gifts – A++++++++++++++
A friend of my moms recommended that we go there for our rings. DH had gotten my ering in the diamond district but it was tough for us to get to the city and we wanted someone more accessible.

Jon is amazing. He custom made my eternity band and I love it so much. We got a great deal from him. FH decided that he wanted to have some diamonds in his ring as well and he got a great deal on his. He took the time to explain about all the different metals, and even convinced me to go with white gold instead of platinum on my eternity band. You just get a sense that you are dealing with someone that really likes what they do when you go into his store and that’s really refreshing. In the pics you will also see that I used a simple white gold band as well. DH gave it to me 7 years ago as one of my first gifts. It's funny because it could totally be used as a wedding ring an it has a really sentimental value to each of us, so I used both rings in the ceremony. I figured that as the yeard went by I might want a sinple band at some point to wear so I wanted to use this one in the ceremony as well to make it an 'official' wedding ring.

My mom then was so pleased that she bought herself some huge diamond earrings to commemorate the wedding and we got another great deal!

When I came up with the idea to get DH a Rolex, Jon was the first person I called. He really educated me about watches and presented me with a good selection to choose from at a great deal.

By the time I got around to BP gifts I was pretty strapped. I had a low budget but of course I wanted something amazing. I went to Jon to pick up the watch and mentioned to him that I had 3 flower girls and a ring bearer and I wanted to get them each something special. Again Jon came to the rescue and he had 3 white gold necklaces with a stunning flower charm that he had made. They were out of my budget but he worked with me to bring them down to what I could afford. For the ringbearer I got a white gold id bracelet and he engraved it on the spot. For the 5 groomsmen we did Collibri cufflinks but he had enough of a selection that I was able to choose a different style for each guy. Again, with budget he really worked to stay within what I had designated. I was almost ashamed to tell him how little I could spend when I walked in there and he made me feel great and not embarrassed at all. I would recommend them to anyone and will definitely be buying 100% of my jewelry from here from now on.








Hair – Eli, Coral Beauty Salon A++++++++++++++++++++
I’ve been going to Eli for years. His shop is now on Union Turnpike but we used to even go to his house to get our hair done before he opened it. What I love about Eli is that he is not afraid to be dramatic. He will take an idea and run with it and is not afraid of a challenge. (I used to be a bit of a DIY’er when it dame to hair color and Eli always got me out of a jam. I once tried to bleach my hair a few weeks after I dyed it black and he spend like 8 hours working on it to even it out and restore it. Ah, the high school years.) When I came to him with my original picture he knew exactly what to do, and I think he did an outstanding job. My mom goes to his salon all the time and she will just sit in the chair and say “Do Your Thing” and he just takes the ball and runs with it.

On the day of the wedding I was completely exhausted in the morning. I had been up until 5:30 am finishing all my last minute DIY’s (Unfortunately this is par for the course for me. I am the queen of all nighters.) There was so much ice on the ground from the storm the day before and I was just a little out of it. Eli came to my house and immediately turned the music on, got us dancing, got us gabbing, and was a great energy to have around to jumpstart my wedding day.



Makeup – Lia A++++++++++++++++++
I don’t even know her last name! If you would like her info please FM me and I will send her number to you.

Lia did 2 of my friends makeup for their weddings so I was already confident in her abilities. They had a little more subtle look than I did. I told her that I wanted a very dramatic, Priscilla Presley look for the wedding. Lot’s of eye makeup and light on the lips. My trial was also my shower and she did a great job but I just wanted it a little more toned down for the wedding.

She nailed it for the wedding. She did me, my mom, and one of my bridesmaids. Another thing is that she is wonderful to be around. She is probably one of the sweetest people I’ve ever encountered but she’s also got a bit of an edge. I enjoyed spending time with her. You can see in the pics that I am laughing a lot while the makeup is getting done because we just had such a pleasant time.

I highly recommend her and will use her again. Sometimes I wish she could just get me ready for work every day LOL!






Flower Girl’s Dresses – everythingnicefinechildrensclothing.com (Everything Nice Kids) - A+++
I had 3 flower girls and I wanted them to wear blue. They all live pretty far from each other so I knew that I wanted to get them online because it would be near impossible to get everyone together to go shopping and have fittings, etc.

I originally fell in love with a dress online but it had to be custom made, and was over $200 and I just imagined spending all this money for dresses that we couldn’t return if they didn’t fit right and having to come up with a fast replacement at the last minute.

The dresses we wound up going with were a fraction of the cost. We had a little ordeal because it was selling out quickly and the moms of the kids were a little slow in ordering and the site owner was kind enough to put some aside for me. Also, the dress as it was on the site originally had a brown sash and she changed the flowers and sashes to ivory for us.

You’ll notice that one of the girls has a white stripe around the bottom of her dress. That was added on by her mom after receiving it because the dress was a little short. I think it looks lovely. The girls really enjoyed wearing their dresses too.

I highly recommend this vendor.



Bridesmaids Dresses – Charmet in Bayside – Jim Hjelm Dresses – A
Every wedding party I’ve been in or seen always has someone complaining about the dress selected. I can be sensitive about things like that, and I also wanted the girls to look and feel HOT at my wedding. I love black so I chose about 11 different dresses from Jim Hjelm and let them pick whichever they wanted to wear. My girls are all so different (from my punk rocker cousin with piercings, to my friends who have children themselves, and everything in between) and they were so happy about this. I made them a little catalogue called “Danielle’s Diva’s” and put in the dresses, the style numbers, prices, store contact info, and let them pick.

One of my bridesmaids got pregnant and was going to be 8 months at the wedding but luckily Jim Hjelm does maternity dresses and she looked adorable. The dress was chiffon while the others were satin, but you really can’t tell in any of the pictures.

As part of my gift to them I gave them each a brooch to wear on the day which would be a unifying element. Each one of them put it in a totally different spot and I was sooooooo happy with the way they came out. You can’t see all of them with it in the pics because some of them had it in the back.

Charmet was very accommodating especially since each dress was different. They didn’t have all in house for the girls to try on but they helped us to find dresses that were as close as possible to the ones I picked so the girls could get a sense of how they would look. My mom bought her dress off the rack and she took it to them for alterations and they were also great. The great thing about that shop is that the prices of alterations are included in the dress. The lowest dress was about $215 and the highest was $279, but there were no additional costs. I’ve been in bridal parties when I’ve had to spend more than that and then pay for alterations on top of that.

The only thing was that as the day was approaching, I was annoyed to find out that the dresses had been sitting in the shop for a couple of weeks already and they never called to let me or the girls know. That lead to some last minute scrambling and me even having to go pick up my MOH’s dress in the blizzard the day before the wedding because she lives far and traveling was insane.

I didn’t ask my girls to do anything specific regarding shoes, makeup, or hairstyles, they could use their discretion on that.

I also wanted to mention that I had one bridesmaid who never wears makeup and she didn’t wear any on the wedding day either. I’ve seen a lot of threads regarding this issue on here, so please feel free to look at the pics and see if you feel it makes a difference. It didn’t bother me at all.

I would recommend Charmet, but I heard that they are closing down, so I guess it doesn’t matter.




Tuxedos – Bell Formals – A+
This was one of the most painless parts of the wedding. DH and I went about a month before the wedding armed with a list of places to go. We started on Bell Boulevard close to home. We went in and DH saw a picture on the wall of a Chaps tuxedo that he liked. He tried it on, it looked great, and we were done.

I will say this, only my DH and the best man went to get measured. Everyone else because of distance faxed in their measurements and every tux fit perfectly even our little ring bearers.

We had DH in a gray vest with black tie, the groomsmen and ring bearer with gray vests and ties, and the dads with black vests and ties.



Mom’s Dress – Lord & Taylor in Manhattan – A+
My mom kept losing weight and waited to get a dress until 4 weeks before my wedding. We went everywhere, all the bridal shops and she didn’t like anything. There were even dresses that she still had time to order and she didn’t like any of them. One day we decided to go into the city and we went to Saks first. She didn’t like anything and was starting to get really upset.

We then went to Lord and Taylor’s and were totally amazed at the selection of dresses that they have. There was so much variety, and my mom looked and felt fantastic. There were really only minimal alterations needed and a little reinforcement of the beading and we got that done at Charmet. The pricing was way under her budget too.

My mother in law also bought her dress from Lord & Taylor's




Officiants – Interfaith Clergy – Rabbi Paul Swerdlow and Father John Malone
A+++++++++++++++++++
We had an interfaith ceremony. Actually one of my first posts on this site was about the drama that was ensuing about our decision to do this. I found the interfaith clergy network on the knot and contacted them. They recommend Priests and Rabbis that work together normally.

We went to meet with them both, and the Rabbi told us that no Catholic parts of the ceremony conflict with Jewish wedding requirements in any way, and the Priest told us the same about the Jewish parts. The two of them work together all the time and they had a terrific chemistry during the ceremony. I am still getting compliments about how beautiful it was. There was a moment when we were reciting our vows when DH’s yarmulke kept falling off and the priest came around to hold the microphone for him and to hold the yarmulke on his head while he spoke. So many people have told me about that moment and how symbolic it was.

I highly recommend them.


Photography – 12th Night – A++++++++++++++++
We met with a lot of photographers and we knew we were going to be picky about it. Francesca suggested 12th Night because she felt that our personalities would match. We met with Dominick and loved him, but he wasn’t available on our day. We had his brother Mike as the main photographer and Anthony as the photojournalistic.

Dominick did our engagement shoot and we really enjoyed working with him (pics in my album). It was one of those freezing days, and we had our dog Charlie with us. He was great and we had a good time.

The day of the wedding Mike got there right on time, and spent a little time talking to my mom and Francsca and got right to work. You are with the photographers for HOURS!!! I think he got there at 2 and the ceremony didn’t start until 7. That’s 5 hours of hanging out, walking around, taking pictures. Because our ceremony and reception were at the same place there wasn’t even any travel time to account for. Mike was really pleasant to spend an entire day with, and he takes some great pictures. He even stood in for DH during the rehearsal since we didn’t have a real one because of the blackout.

I also want to mention that I hate a lot of pictures of myself because I do this weird thing where I bend my neck inward and it kind of gives me a double chin. He really gently pointed that out to me to make sure that the pictures would come out nicely.

The guys had Anthony. They loved him! We are a pretty relaxed group of people that don’t really like posing for pics and that sort of thing. The guys had a blast and he got really great shots. Anthony was the photographer for the reception and I hardly remember him being there at all, but he captured practically every moment of it!

We got a disc from the with 1400 pics on it, and a second DVD with the best shots from all the rolls of film set to music. They gave us 3 so we gave one to each parent and kept one. It’s been so much fun to watch them with everyone.

One comment that we got from everyone in our families was that the photographers were not annoying or pushy at all, which seems to be a big complaint from a lot of previous weddings that they'd been to/in. I recommend 12th Night very highly.




DJ – Hart to Hart – A+++++++++++++++++
I am 30 years old now, and Hart to Hart DJ’d my Bat Mitzvah and people still tell me about the good time they had. LOL. For me music was the most important thing for the whole wedding. I love to dance, our friends and both families love to dance, and I was looking so much forward to basically having everyone I know and love dance the night away together. Some of my happiest moments in my lifetime have been dancing with my girlfriends, and DH is really particular about music too. So after meeting with a few DJ’s that I wasn’t feeling comfortable with at all, I decided to check and see if they are still around and they were!

DH and I met with them and felt really good about them. Marco one of their Mc’s was there and we instantly agreed that if we book them we would book with him too. The one thing I wasn’t sure about was their lighting. I couldn’t tell if it was my thing. They said they had some footage of subtle lighting that they would send me and I could wait until they did that. They never sent it. When I hired Francesca I told her about Hart to Hart and that I liked them but I was concerned about the follow up. She vouched for them and came with me to meet with Mario who is one of the owners. Mario apologized and we saw that they were in the middle of moving so that might have had something to do with it. I booked them and also booked Marco for the MC. I didn’t book the lighting.

That was the last I heard from them until a few weeks before the wedding after they had moved. It was time to do our song selections. DH and I dragged our feet on this one and the week before the wedding we stayed up one Saturday night and put our whole list together (Please Play, Do Not Play, Entrances, Ceremony, Cocktail Hour, Dinner Music – I told you we were particular!)

We went out to meet with Marco, and went though everything we wanted in sooo much detail. Basically it was that we wanted everyone to have an awesome time, but a bride who’s never done this before like me feels the need to explain about said awesome time for about an hour. He sat there, listened, was pleasant, played with my dog (we bring Charlie everywhere). We asked about the lighting again, and in the giddiness that we were feeling before the wedding, wound up booking not one but 2 of their lighting packages! We were very specific about the colors (I only wanted blue and white).

Fast forward to the day before the wedding, and Hart to Hart calls while I am battling the blizzard without a cell phone (I had lost it the day before), and tells DH that Mario is violently ill and we will have someone named Rocky as a replacement. I remember coming home from getting my wedding dress covered in snow and DH telling me that and it just being the last straw. I threw my dress on the floor (luckily it was in a garment bag) and just sat down and started crying! I told him I was out, done, and we will just elope in Bermuda. I was feeling very dramatic that day. I came on here and posted and of course all the LIW girls made me feel better. THANK YOU!!!!!!

The day of the wedding I met Rocky and he seemed really nice, he explained that he heard how upset I was and that he promises I will have a great time. That day I was so excited and feeling much better. My brother and DH went over the ceremony music with him and just to be safe we brought CD’s of the music we wanted played.

Processional – All you need is love (the love actually version)
Bride Walks In – Instrumental of Bitter Sweet Symphony by the Verve (my brother is a DJ (for clubs, not weddings, and he made the track for us)
Recessional – God Only Knows, by the Beach Boys

For the entrances we did:
Bridal Party – Right Here, Right Now, Moby
Bride and Groom – don’t laugh, the clean version of X Gonna Give it to Ya, by DMX (it’s a private joke between me and DH) For this, we wanted special timing on it, and Rocky did it PERFECTLY. I think that’s the moment I relaxed about the DJ.

First Dance was I Cry by Macy Gray

The only thing that we didn’t want to have was the bridal party join in the first dance. That just feels awkward to me especially since all of the wedding party had a date or spouse with them and they still would have been dancing. But Rocky did ask that the bridal party join us on the dancefloor. The bridal party didn’t mind at all, and it was the only thing that was a slip up on their part.

The whole party he was excellent. They gauged the crowd and the dance floor was packed the whole time. Another really important thing is that DH doesn’t really like to dance. He’s not someone that would respond well to being singled out to dance or anything like that and if a dance floor is empty he’s not going to get out there and get his groove on. That was a point that I had really stressed to Marco, and I was nervous that Rocky would not know about it, but he really followed through and as a result DH danced the night away with me because he was a bit insulated each time and not made to feel like he was being singled out. He even was inspired enough to do an entire impromptu dance by himself across the dance floor to get to me to take my garter off! I love my husband!

So many friendships between our guests that didn’t know each other were made on the dance floor, even people that are keeping in touch now! They had to basically ask us to leave at the end of the night because the staff was ready to go home. It was just the vibe that I was looking for.

At the end of the party I told Rocky that he did an outstanding job, and he told me he was so happy because his bosses were really concerned and sorry about the last minute switch.

I recommend them and would definitely use them again!





Flowers & Décor – Flower Michelle
Before Wedding – B-
Day of – A

Neither DH or I are very particular about flowers, but I really wanted the place to look spectacular and dramatic. DH is allergic to flowers too so we were pretty much limited to orchids because they don’t really have a scent. (I know because I hid some in his office to see if he would get congested). We both love candles, and I was thinking candelabras, Phantom of the Opera and Pride and Prejudice when imagining the décor.

Francesca took me to see Flower Michele and Pedestals. I was so torn but wound up going with Flower Michele because the price was slightly better and they could include lighting on the chuppa and candelabra rentals within my budget.

Barbara was the one working on our account. She and I hit it off well and I booked them. A couple of months before the wedding I was supposed to go see my sample. I called Barbara the week before to ask if she has email and checked it and she assured me that she did. I stayed up until 3am one morning putting together a document of exactly what I wanted. I had found pictures of chuppas, centerpieces, bouquets, boutonierres, pretty much everything I wanted. Not only that, I really thought it out and put a lot of time into it. I sent it to her. That Friday was my sample appointment, and while I am in the car on the way there (I work in Westchester), she calls me because she can’t remember if we are using calla lilies or orchids in the centerpieces. I was livid. Obviously she didn’t even look at the document. When I got to the shop the centerpiece was puny and looked like it had been put together last minute. I don’t have a picture of it but it was shockingly bad. Even Francesca was surprised. This was around the time when there were some posts on here about how they might be overworked and I was so upset. I didn’t go ballistic or anything because I wanted them to do a good job. Luckily I had my lap top with the document on it with me. John came over and I showed it to him and I could see that he was really surprised too.

He told me he would be taking over my account, and he would do another sample for me. He even said that I could have peonies for my bouquet and he would do his best to find some even though it was out of season. I left feeling better but not great. I wrote to Francesca describing just how upset I was about it, and I think she must have gone back and had a really serious talk with them. At that point, DH seeing how upset I was was ready to just go with someone else regardless of what had been already paid.

The next time I went back to see the sample was amazing. The flowers were incredible. I was so happy I wanted to cry. We drew the chuppa together, talked about positioning of the candelabras on the aisle, etc. The night before the wedding Francesca called me to tell me she called all my vendors again to tell them to really come with their game face on because I was so upset about the DJ and the snow. She said that Jon as going to throw in even more candles, and that’s where the ones along the floor at the ceremony came from.

On the day of I was amazed at the work. The centerpieces were even better than the sample that he had done. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I chose lisianthius for the bridesmaids bouquets but I wish I had just let them suggest something because I was not crazy at the way those came out.

Overall I would recommend Flower Michele and I think they did a great job. John is a great guy and he really cares a lot about his clients. We get so many compliments even now about the flowers.










Coordinator - Francesca – Dazzling Affairs - A+
I started planning the wedding on my own and was feeling overwhelmed after accomplishing only a few things (hall, officiants, dress). I had just started to shop for flowers and the prices were insane. Then I found LI weddings and one of my first posts was about a wedding coordinator. I posted on the Vendors helping Brides board and Francesca was the most professional and timely. I also can’t really talk on the phone at work for personal calls. I own the company but it’s not an example I like to set. Francesca was diligent with following up with me and after a serious game of phone tag I felt at ease when we finally did get a chance to speak. I met with her and hired her.

I had a good idea about how I wanted the wedding to be but I had no time to find vendors and price shop. Throughout the entire wedding planning process (over a year) I took 5 days off work including the 3 days I took the week of the wedding. Francesca kept me on a timeline, found me vendors within my budget and I felt really acted as an advocate for DH and I. There were times when I was unhappy with things and I would let her know about it and she would take care of it with the vendor. This was a concern because I wasn’t sure how it works with coordinators and whether they would be more on the side of the vendor or the bride in the event of an incident and I am happy to say that she came through for us in that department.

The one thing I will say is that there are certain times when I spoke with her when it would be obvious that something minor was forgotten. (Like asking me if I booked my officiant yet several times throughout the planning process when it was one of the first things I did on my own). This doesn’t bother me at all now, but during the craziness of wedding planning it was upsetting.

During the final menu meeting my DH, mom, and I had a little blowout in the banquet manager’s office about the meaning of Kosher Style. I think it was nerves getting to us all or major burnout. Either way Francesca really stepped in and diffused things and got us through it. Without her I can guarantee that I would have gotten up and walked out of that meeting.

The week of the wedding there was a blackout at my hall on the date of our rehearsal dinner. My banquet manager called me about 30 minutes before people were due to arrive, all of them were already on their way there. I panicked but instead of figuring it out with my mom I called Francesca who was almost there. She dealt with the hall; she called the restaurant to see if we could do it there, and called me back with a plan. With 2 days until the wedding and an impending blizzard there is no way my mom or I could have dealt with that rationally.

The night before the wedding my MC gets violently ill and hart to hart leaves a message for DH that they are going to replace him. I was in hysterics almost. I think it was because of the stress of the day and everything taking hours longer than it should have because of the snow, but that was just the last straw. I called up Francesca crying my eyes out which I never do. I think even she was taken aback because I was pretty calm throughout. She made me feel better, assured me that everything would be ok and was basically on health watch for the MC that we originally had. We didn’t wind up getting him, but I know that she stressed to Hart to Hart how upset we were because the MC told me at the end of the night how concerned his bosses were for me.

The day of the wedding Francesca was invaluable. Do yourself a favor and get a DOC at least if you feel there is anything at all that may go wrong. I myself was an hour late to the hall where I was getting my makeup done. The ice outside just made everything move more slowly. She was great at calming us down and was terrific at keeping everyone on a schedule. I bought DH a Rolex as a wedding present. I wanted the groomsmen to surprise him with it before the ceremony and she coordinated it so that the videographer and the photographer were there to capture it and then came back and told me how happy and surprised he was.

My mom also noticed little things, like the candelabras were overtaking the aisle a little bit so she moved them, or that she was on top of getting family members together after the ceremony for pictures. This could have easily doubled the time it took to get pictures done, and I didn’t want any of my BP or either of our moms having to run into the cocktail hour to pull people out.

She kept all of our envelopes together, and if we had more than 2 in our hands or my moms hands she went and put them away. During the reception there was in incident between the banquet manager at my hall and my DH (explained below in the TOTP section). She did a great job at keeping me out of it but my mom and DH felt that she could have been more helpful and vocal during it.

I will say that some of the bridal party felt she was a little pushy at times during the wedding day, but we are very much a “don’t sweat the small stuff” group of people. Somebody has to! I myself got to the hall an hour late, and a lot of the bridal party was there an hour after me (2 hours behind our timeline). One bridesmaid lost her bouquet within about 5 minutes after the ceremony. LOL! I don’t care about that kind of stuff, but I would much much rather have a coordinator who is on top of things than is going to take her cue from me and let things go.

At the end of the night she made sure we were all packed up and sent us on our way. All in all a great decision to hire a coordinator and I would recommend her.

Terrace on the Park - B (would have been A+ if it wasn't for Ken, our Banquet Manager, and the General Manager
I grew up in Bayside and always loved the way TOTP looked. I had been there a few times and always remembered it being great. When DH, my mom, and I went there for the first time we booked it right away. The price was great because of the time of year, and I loved how Victorian the rooms looked. We initially booked with Severo one of the Banquet Managers there. That was the first thing we did with regard to wedding planning over a year in advance and then that was that.

During that time we moved and I lost my contract in the shuffle so I didn’t have the payment schedule with me, and to be honest the wedding was a little bit on the backburner in my mind since I can get really busy with work. Summer came and time was starting to close in and I realized that no one from TOTP had contacted me in a while. Then I found this site and it seemed like everyone was in touch with their halls all the time, and even worse, there weren’t any TOTP brides on here at all. I started to panic, I felt in over my head and I hired Francesca. She advised me to call them and when I did I had missed a payment! I went and dropped off a check immediately, but it would have been nice for them to be a little more on top of things. Francesca called them to schedule an appointment and as it turned out, one of her old friends Ken was working there as a BM so we got switched to him.

We went to meet with Ken and he seemed great. He answered all of our questions, showed us around, even took us to the penthouse which is way more expensive but he would work with us if we wanted to upgrade. Normally you have to guarantee 150 people up there and we were a little shy of that. So we felt great about it.

We went to do our menu and again Francesca was there. We went back and forth about a few things because we were doing kosher style so there were a lot of questions about what qualifies for that. All in all I would say that it was a decent meeting.

We were still undecided about the Penthouse and Ken assured us that unless someone books it, we can switch at the last minute.

2 weeks before the wedding its time to go pay the final balance. I didn’t feel that Francesca needed to be there for that since it should have been a quick thing so I told her she didn’t have to come. Well, the difference between Ken in front of Francesca and without her there was mind boggling. He was rude, he was obnoxious, and all 3 of us (mom, DH, and I) thought he was hungover or something from the way he was acting. We asked him if there was going to be another party next to ours and his exact response was “If I can get more money out of the party downstairs there will be”. Totally inappropriate. We went to go look at our room again and my mom asked him where the placecard table would be and he just walked away from her. I asked him about the Penthouse and he said forget it because there is a renovation going on up there.

Then, as we are writing the huge final check he says to bring the tips to the rehearsal so I don’t have to “handle cash” on my wedding day. At that point we were so disgusted that it wasn’t worth it to speak with him any further and I figured I would just deal with him through Francesca. I wrote her an email about everything and she called him and then told me that it was the anniversary of a personal problem that he had and that’s why he was out of it. I am a sensitive person, but I also really don’t care to tell you the truth. Don’t come to work if you won’t be able to function. Why should I have to deal with his personal problems 2 weeks before my wedding when I am paying him tens of thousands of dollars.

She also told me there was no way I was bringing the tips to the rehearsal and that its never done that way.

Thursday before the wedding was our rehearsal and I get a call from ken 30 minutes before that there is a blackout at the hall and there can’t be a rehearsal. I was annoyed but I guess there is nothing we could have done to prevent that.

DAY OF THE WEDDING
I have to say that everyone that we dealt with at TOTP other than Ken was an absolute pleasure. The waiters and MaitreD were outstanding. The bridal attendant was wonderful. Every time I turned around she was right there making sure that everything was going smoothly. Even our guests commented at how absolutely accommodating everyone was.

Here is the worst part of our dealings with Ken. Our wedding was going great. We were contracted to go to 12:30 AM. At around 10 my husband (I still get a kick out of saying that) comes over to me and says Ken wants the tips now. I said nope, they get them at the end of the night. I also told my mom and she said the same thing. Then at around 10:30 Ken pulls my brand new husband off the dancefloor and tells him he wants the tips now and that he wants to leave. My mom sees this and runs over to see what’s going on and why this guy is bothering her new son in law. He asks her for the tips and she says no. Then he starts getting really loud with them and my mom says to come to the bridal suite. Francesca goes with them. Apparantly, Ken cursed at my mom and DH and called them cheap and really went off. He still didn’t get his tips. DH told him he wanted to speak with his boss and Ken’s response was that his boss will not care. Francesca diffused the situation and my mom and DH came back to the party, and then Ken’s boss apparently told him to leave. And to top it all off, we gave GREAT tips because the service was excellent! I gave the bridal attendant $100 myself before we left because we were so happy with her. I didn’t know any of the Ken situation because nobody wanted to upset me. I made DH tell me on our honeymoon because I kept raving about how great TOTP was and I could tell something was up.

When we got back DH called TOTP and asked to speak with the boss there and you know what? Ken was right. They really do not care at all. The guys response was, Listen, you had a beautiful wedding, Ken is a good employee and he’s been going through a rough time personally.

So….I had an amazing time at my wedding, out guests were really impressed, the food was terrific. People thought the cocktail hour was the dinner. We got soooo many compliments on the dinners, and we did a really cool thing called an intermezzo which is a scooped out lemon with sorbet in it between courses because I didn’t want another food course like a pasta where you have to stop the dancing. The views were spectacular, the place is gorgeous, and it felt like we had that whole huge place to ourselves. I didn’t see a guest that wasn’t part of my party let alone another bride. But, the whole thing is overshadowed by that monster Ken who cursed at my mom and my brand new husband at my wedding.



Minimoon – Pompano Beach Club, Bermuda A++++++++++
DH and I own a business together, and it is a hard thing to do for us to both be out of the office at the same time. I’ve got confidence in everyone, but it’s like our baby that we started from nothing, so we are really overprotective about our company and worry about it all the time. In the 5 years since we started it, this would be our first vacation.

We chose Bermuda the week before the wedding. (We are such last minute people it’s insane). We chose it because it’s less than 2 hours to get there and this place had the best reviews on travelzoo.com. We were originally going to go to Miami or something, but it was spring break time and everything was so expensive, and there were no more direct flights. (Thank G-d we didn’t!!! We got to the airport and there were tons and tons of college kids waiting to get on the flights to Florida with acoustic guitars, playing hackey sack, and all the other things that are totally unrelaxing to a couple that is ready to veg out. LOL)

We went for 3 nights. This place is so accommodating and wonderful. We will definitely be going back as soon as we can. The meals were included, 3 course breakfast, 5 course dinner. The place is somewhat small. There are about 70 rooms in total, all right on the ocean. There is a beautiful beach, or the heated pool, or 3 really heated hot tubs. They have a couple of bars, a gaming room, and some lounges. They also do an afternoon tea that we never got around to going to.

DH and I got there and unfortunately there was a family with little kids right above us. We called to the front desk and they moved us immediately. Not one person would accept a tip! Because it’s small you get to see the staff and guests a lot (but its not crowded). They have some evening activities if you want to take part, or you can be totally secluded. We did a little of both. I can’t comment too much about things to do in Bermuda because all we really did was lay by the pool and drink pina coladas and workout. It was just what we needed.

I highly recommend this place, and it’s the kind of place that we would also go back to with kids or on a family trip. It’s small enough that I would imagine a parent would be less nervous than when vacationing in a big resort with tons of people. We talked to people that had been coming back there for 30 years!

I’ve got pics that I have to upload once I take them off the camera.




So there you have it, that’s my wedding! To sum up, it was one of the best days of my life.

Please FM me if you have any questions about any of the specifics or prices.

Thanks for reading, I know it was long!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, and more

wowee you were a stunning bride! Congrats to you and your new husband!!!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, and more

I love your dress, hair and make up!!!! You looked beautiful Congratulations

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

beautiful!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

WOW! Everythign was GORGEOUS! you were a stunning bride! congrats!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

gorgeous dress!....pics are beautiful!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

very beautiful!! congrats i love your centerpieces

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

You looked absolutely GORGEOUS! WOW!!! Congrats!

Your dress is one of the best I've ever seen! I love it!!!!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

omg you are just stunning...your dress is just beautiful and so unique. i love it

everything about your wedding was very classy and just gorgeous

congrats!!!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

wonderful review!!! you looked AMAZING!!!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

You looked gorgeous! What a lovely wedding. Congratulations

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

Thanks for a great review! You look amazing and handled the drama with the RH very well. Love your puppy, too! Congrats on the wedding!!!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

You made a beautiful bride!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

Wow amazing review! You looked wonderful. I loved your dog pictures as your table numbers - FH and I are thinking of doing that as well!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

Looks like a beautiful wedding! What a great review!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

what a great review!! I'm also booked with Francesca & Flower Michelle- thanks for the feedback!! and congratulations, you looked stunning!!!!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

What a great review!
I really loved your dress!!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

Wow - you looked great, smiling in every pic.
Congrats !

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

Beautiful Bride! And great review...thanks!!

Re: My 3/17/07 Very Detailed Wedding Review - 12th Night, Terrace on the Park, Dazzling Affairs, Hart to Hart, Flower Michelle, Denise Leli, Penny Lane and more

OMG you looked BEYOND INCREDIBLE! What a gorgeous wedding!!! You were stunning!!!

LOVE your doggie table numbers!