My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

I’ll start off by saying what an AMAZING day. Everything came together so nicely and went off without a hitch. And we even got incredibly lucky with the weather. It was a beautiful and special day all around.

Everyone who’d told me that the day will fly by was right – after a year of planning, it was over before we knew it. It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again for the benefit of future brides: Make sure you enjoy every moment of the day, and don’t let anything stress you out! Some things will go wrong, but it’s not worth letting them get to you when you only have a few hours to enjoy your special day.

Although I don’t post here often, I did a LOT of reading and research on these boards, and it all paid off. Not only did I find many of our vendors here, but I’ve also received so many compliments on what a good job I did with the planning. Honestly, with LIWeddings.com as a resource it was never even that difficult. So a big thank you to everyone here! And with that, here goes…

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Ceremony & Recpetion: Riviera – A+
We are SOOO happy with our choice of the Riviera for our wedding. From the moment we got there it felt like the right fit for us – it’s very homey and comfortable, much more our speed versus some of the “fancier” places out there. Everyone has been raving about how wonderful everything was, especially the food and the setup with the outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour. My family couldn’t stop talking about all the food at CH, including a lot of stuff I had no idea they’d even be serving. The chocolate fountain and Vienesse have also been getting rave reviews. Michelle was our Banquet Manager and she was very helpful along the way. Tuu was our Maitre D’, and did such a good job the day of the wedding. Anything we asked him about, he took care of immediately. Any minor bumps that came up were either quickly resolved, or just that – minor. This was the perfect place our wedding and I HIGHLY recommend it.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Photographers: Twelfth Night – Day of: A+/Photos: A++++
We had Mike and Vicki as our photographers and were so happy with them. They were able to meet us at different locations and different times, and both arrived early. They were very professional and easy to work with, and took SOO many pictures. These guys were great, they were even helping out with non-photo-related stuff.
UPDATE: We got the photos in and they are AWESOME! There are sooo many of them and sooo many good ones. Using Twefth Night was definitely one of our best wedding decisions.

DJ: Then Til Now – A+
Steve and the DJ did a fantastic job, and struck just the right note from beginning to end. The music for our outdoor ceremony sounded perfect (Steve played all my choices just as requested), as it did for the outdoor cocktail hour. During the reception they played a good mix of fast and slow songs, as well as good dinner music. All our special songs were also perfect, and they played many of the songs off the list I gave them - not even a “must-play” list but ideas of stuff we like. Steve was also very friendly and easy-going both times we met with him beforehand.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Hair & Makeup: Gorgeous Faces – A+
Sarah and Jillian were great. They showed up a few minutes early (at about 7:40 AM) and got right to work. They’re both so friendly and I was so happy with the way my hair and makeup came out. I spent a few months trying to figure out how I wanted my hair, and Sarah nailed it when I went for a trial. I had a separate makeup trial with Jillian and that also went well. Definitely recommended!

Invitations, Favors, Flowers: Designs by Rose – A+
Rose and Doris are super nice – we ended up using them for multiple things and it all turned out well.

Invitations – We ordered our invitations through DBR and were very happy with how they came out. There was a problem when they came in (a typo by the invite company resulting from my submitting the text in an italic font), but it was corrected very quickly with no issues, and we had our new invites within a week. Prices were reasonable.

Favors – We gave out heart wine stoppers and had them all wrapped. The quality of the wine stopper was good, and the wrapping looked great. This was so easy for us. These prices were also reasonable.

Wrapped favors:

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Flowers – Our hall included centerpieces, so we used DBR just for Bride & BM Bouquets, Corsages & Boutonnieres. They dropped these off early in the morning at the hotel and everything looked so nice.

My bouquet:


Bridesmaids' bouquets:


Centerpieces: Tim’s Floral – A+
They provided the centerpieces through the Riviera. We decided to upgrade by adding a few extra roses and using caspia instead of baby’s breath. Everything was correct and looked beautiful. These guys were also easy to work with.


Videographers: Classic Video Enterprises – Day of: A/Video: TBD
Fran & Lou (husband and wife team) have been good to work with. They were low-key and unobtrusive at the wedding. I can’t wait to see the finished product!

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Cake: Black Forest Bakery – B
They provided the cake that was included with our Riviera package. It tasted WONDERFUL. I don’t know how long the top layer is going to last in my freezer (a whole year? Come on!). The only thing is, the cake looked quite a bit different than the picture we picked out from their book. Although I don’t remember exactly what we picked, this wasn’t it. There was some confusion over which of the two cakes they dropped off was ours, and which was for the later wedding. I thought the other one was ours, but the bakery confirmed it was this one. The filling seemed right – maybe they got the outsides swapped? Luckily I wasn’t too picky about the cake, so it wasn’t a big deal, especially given how yummy it was.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Gown & Alterations: Macy’s Bridal (Herald Square) – C
These guys were very hit or miss all along. Although there were a couple helpful and friendly people here (usually managers and seamstresses), others I encountered were snobby, rude, and rather inept. At one point, I called to confirm if my alterations had been done prior to my scheduled fitting (they’d had months to do them). First there was mass confusion about what I was asking (does it sound like an odd question to you?), and then was told they couldn’t find my dress. This was a Saturday and they were going to keep looking but never called me back, so I went in Monday and luckily they tracked it down before I started to freak out about it.
Alterations were expensive, although I suspect that’s the case most places. I was very unhappy with my bustle, as it came undone pretty much everytime I moved, let alone tried to dance. I’m still debating whether to contact them about this - it was a significant problem and for $150 I would have expected better. In hindsight, once the problems started I should have just safety-pinned the thing and forgotten about it.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Veil: Ebay vendor - honeymooneve – A-
The veil looked very nice, especially considering the price I paid. Only a couple little complaints: 1) It came unglued from the comb. This was months before the wedding, so I fixed it with super glue and it lasted until I pulled it out a little into the reception, at which point it started to come unglued again. 2) The comb was extra large and thick, which made it a little harder to insert into my ‘do, and one or two of the teeth really poked into my head. Overall though, it served its purpose and looked good. No problems with the Ebay transaction.

Veil:


Bridesmaid Dresses: R.K. Bridal – A
We ordered 2 bridesmaid dresses through their “No Frills” program, which was very easy. I liked that we could go in and look at and try on dresses with no appointment and no fuss. I always went during the week, so crowds were never a problem. The No Frills price seemed very reasonable. The one girl who had her dress shipped to her out-of-state did say it arrived in a beat-up looking package, but the dress was fine.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Tuxes: Esquire Tuxedos (Brooklyn) – A+
We were looking all over Brooklyn for tuxes and kept finding that places were either closed (either permanently or anytime we wanted to go), or not places we wanted to deal with. We were driving to a place recommended by a random bridal shop when we passed Esquire, which was truly a stroke of luck. The guy we worked with was very friendly and helped us figure out what we wanted within minutes. DH and his best man had no problems when picking up the tuxes, and Esquire even did a quick alteration for the BM (apparently the measurements he’d received elsewhere were a little off). The guys looked great. Returning the tuxes was also no problem. Given all the tux-related problems I’d seen on here, I was really happy with Esquire.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Officiants: Msgr. Lisante & Rabbi Applestone – A+
We wanted an interfaith ceremony with both a priest and a rabbi. Msgr. Lisante came highly recommend by DH’s (Jewish) family – what a great guy, very down to earth and personable. The interfaith pre cana we did through his church was a good experience. He recommended Rabbi Applestone, who was also very nice. We’ve received so many comments on how beautiful our ceremony was. They worked together well and really did a great job of incorporating both faiths & traditions.

Hotel: Hilton Garden Inn Westbury – A
We blocked 10 rooms here and also stayed ourselves. I was very happy overall, and everyone seemed to like the hotel. Only minor problem was that a couple of my guests encountered some difficulty when making reservations. One got an employee who couldn’t find the block, and another had to talk them into giving the discounted rate after the block was released (this was how it was supposed to work, pending availability). It all worked out fine though. The rooms – especially the jr. suites - were very nice, and the whole hotel was clean and well-maintained. Breakfast was good.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Rehearsal Dinner: Sergio’s – A
I found this place recommended on the message boards here. Mike, the owner, was great to work with and it was very convenient to the Riviera. The food was good and well-priced. No problems.

Save the Dates: BridesandBells.com – A
After considering a lot of different options, we decided to order magnets from this online store. As I recall I was able to find some sort of discount online and ended up getting a pretty good price on these. They turned out looking very nice and we got tons of compliments. Only problem some might have is that they were a little thin – I wasn’t too concerned about it.

Rehearsal Dinner invites: iPrint.com - A
At the last minute, I decided to make my own invite with Photoshop, then had to find a place to print them quickly. I think I found these guys through Google, and they ended up working out very well. Uploading the invite I’d made was fairly easy, as was ordering. And the price was great. Everyone loved them.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

congrats on your wedding

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Attendant Gifts:
Although most of our gifts came from known retail stores, we ordered a couple random things online.
Ebay vendor: engravedgifts – A
We ordered an engraved lighter and it came out very nice, no problems.
FansEdge.com – A
I bought my brother a Florida State stainless steel thermos from these guys. Looked good, no problems.

Wedding planning software: iDo Wedding Couple Edition (Elm Software) – A+
After a couple months of keeping Excel spreadsheets, I checked download.com for wedding software and found this. I started with the free trial and quickly decided to pay the $30 to upgrade to the full version. I used this to track my guest list, invitations, responses, seating chart, vendors, budget, and gifts. Although you could do most of this stuff in Excel, the program is MUCH more user-friendly. It also lets you export reports. This was definitely worth the small cost.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

ARUBA HONEYMOON

We went to Aruba for a week and had a great time. Overall, Aruba was very pretty, it seemed safe, and people were nice. It’s an easy place to travel - everyone speaks English and US dollars are accepted everywhere. We didn’t really do any sightseeing – just relaxing and eating. There are a lot of good restaurant choices, although most are on the expensive side. We’d heard this ahead of time, but I figured being from NYC it couldn’t be too bad. Prices did feel high though, with entrees at many restaurants ranging from $25-$38 (and up). Oh, and if you’re going to Aruba, listen to the advice about getting to the airport 3 hours before your flight. We waited in an hour-long line that wrapped all around the check-in area, and then spent another hour going through security checkpoints and customs.

Radisson – We were extremely happy there. We’d booked a Gardenview room and were upgraded to a Partial Oceanview. The room was nicely decorated, clean, and rather large. Not your typical, generic hotel room at all. The beaches and pools (2 of them) were very nice, as are the grounds themselves, with lots of foliage, waterfalls, exotic birds, etc. (cont. in next post)

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

(Radisson cont.) Getting a palapa on the beach between 9-10:30 in the morning wasn’t difficult. The casino is on the small side but we had fun playing poker there. For our honeymoon we got a bottle of champagne as well as a discount card with offers at various restaurants and companies around the island (see below for some examples). We’d originally booked at the Hyatt, but decided to switch once we realized how much we could save by going to the Radisson instead. I’m so happy we did – we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything by not staying at the Hyatt.

Aruba Restaurants:
El Gaucho – Argentine steak house - Probably the best steak I ever had (the El Gaucho Steak), and an excellent meal all around.

Gasparito – Good Aruban food. We sat outside and had the patio practically to ourselves– very romantic. Service was great, and we got a free bottle of wine with the honeymoon discount card.

Aqua Grill – Seafood – Trendier restaurant, on the pricey side, food was very good but somewhat unremarkable. DH and I both got the lobster and scallop special and it was good, but somewhat bland/boring. We got free glasses of champagne here with the card.

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Smokey Joe’s – A more casual place known for their ribs. I got their “4-way Rib Combo” and was shocked by how much food was on my plate – 4 racks of ribs. And it was DELICIOUS. Great food for more reasonable prices.

Sunset Grille (at the Radisson) – We went for their Sunday jazz brunch, which is apparently not being continued after May. Everything was very good, although I did notice a lot of the same foods I’d seen previously at the other hotel restaurant.

Laguna Fish Market (also at the Radisson) – We ate a couple breakfasts here, which were a little expensive, but somewhat worth it. Especially when compared to the other breakfast buffets nearby that we went to, which didn’t measure up at all. They also have a different dinner buffet every night, so we went on seafood night. It was good – a lot of food.

I guess that covers just about everything. I hope this is helpful, and if I think of anything else I will add it in later!

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Congrats!! Great review.
I will have the same photographers and I can't wait to see your pics!!

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Congrats!!! I have Then 'til Now, too! I'm so happy you gave them a rave review! Can't wait to see pics! The Riviera is GREAT!

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Thanks for the wonderful review, especially the honeymoon, FH and I cant wait to go to Aruba

Re: My 5/13/06 Review - Riviera, 12th Night, Gorgeous Faces, Then Til Now, Designs by Rose, Classic Video, etc & Aruba Honeymoon!

Wonderful review! Congratulations on your wedding, it sounded so nice!!!