My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review - with more pics

Wedding Review
I was not able to write this until now because of lingering feelings of anger and disappointment towards certain vendors. I also was waiting to see our wedding video to have proof of certain things before I wrote about them. Most of the day was wonderful but a few things were not at all what I wanted for my “perfect day” and still really upset me now.

Dress: Davids Bridal : A-
I went to the Carle Place Davids. My biggest problem with them was that the directions on their website were wrong, and I got lost going there from Brookyln. We called them and they held my appointment for the half hour we were late. The sales people were fine – I went through the dresses and pulled out the ones I wanted to try on. I found my perfect dress the first day I went looking. I got my dress altered on my own, not through DB.

BM Dress – RK Bridal : A
All the girls got the no-frills plan – you enter your own measurements and have any alterations done on your own. The dresses all came in 3 weeks, to my delight. They all looked beautiful.

Save The Dates: Vistaprint.com : A
I found this site from LIW. I had magnetic STD cards made. Great site, easy to use and tons of different choices. They arrived in a timely manner. They were a little smaller than I expected, but they were really cool.

Invitations: Patchogue Floral Fantasy Land : B
This place has a huge selection. Mostly reasonably priced. Once we selected our invites, we had to work to flag down someone to help us – and we went on a weekday whe there were no crowds– on weekends it’s a zoo. In my opinion, they could have been a little more helpful - I had some questions on some wording and they didn’t really have any answers.

Wax Seals: Seal – Patchogue Floral fantasy land: A
Wax – floral fantasy : B/ Michaels : A
I loved the wax seal look. Fantasy land didn’t have enough of the color wax I liked, so we had to get more halfway through. For some reason, Michaels wax was not as thick and took the imprint better than the wax we got at Floral fantasy land. My tip is to practice on about 10 before you start.

Birdcage: Patchogue Floral Fantasy land : A
I loved our birdcage – it was so cool. It was a $20 deposit and you could pick it up the day before, and had to return it the day after.

Direction Cards for church- Kinkos : F-------------------------
The church gave us these huge direction cards. I didn’t want to fold them, so I went to Kinkos to have them reduced, and write the directions on the other side. When I went to see the proofs, the wording was crooked, and when I pointed it out, the woman said it was because it wasn’t centered correctly on the page, but the cards would be fine when I picked them up. Needless to say, the wording was crooked, and they made me pay because the proofs looked the same. I left in tears, the bi-atch behind the counter said Have a nice day, and I vowed never to go to Kinkos again.

Direction Cards for church from Staples: A
I couldn’t deal with direction cards anymore, and gave them to DH to take care of. Staples did a much better job, and all was fine.


Limo: Mayfair Limo: A+
These were the best of all our vendors. They came on time, they didn’t get lost, they obeyed traffic, the drivers were really nice. We got 2 eight person limos and 1 Rolls Royce. Me and my dad took the Rolls to the church and me and DH took it to the reception. The Rolls was really cool – they had the chilled champaigne in a cooler for us. I loved them and give them the highest marks of all our vendors. There was a town car for me and DH for after the reception to take us wherever we wanted to go.

Flowers: Flowers Michelle: B
Michelle was really communicative with me and very accommodating to my requests.When we first went to meet with her I had an idea of what I wanted and she immediately pulled up pictures of similar things on her computer. I emailed her pics of alter flowers I wanted and on the day of, they looked just like I wanted and were beautiful. The only problems were the centerpieces were too pink (I had specified NOT a lot of pink and more burgundy) and some of the boutenierres went to the wrong places.


Photographer: Marcos in Holbrook: F
Marcos was recommended to me by my MIL’s hairdresser, who got married at the same place I did and used Marco himself. Marco was unavailable, so I got Richie.
The good points: Richie came on time and was nice to work with.
The not so good points:
1)The proofs were not of the same quality as were shown to me in their studio. I think, as a professional photographer, Richie could have picked far better locations to take pictures than he did.
a) In the hotel where I got dressed, all the pictures had the same ugly lamp and ugly hotel wallpaper in the background.
b)In the garden in front of the hotel, all the pics of me and my bridesmaids has the parking lot in the back – had he moved to the left or right the cars would be hidden.
c)He missed a lot of pictures at the church – like DH and I kissing at the alter, and us exchanging rings.
d)We got married at John Anthonys on the Water (now Venetian Yaht Club) which overlooks the water – the reason we booked there. I asked Richie that morning to take lots of pictures with the water in the background. About 95% of the proofs were in front of either bushes or a trellace, not the water as I asked.
e)Out of all the pictures taken at the reception, my mom is in 2 pictures total. Including the pictures of me getting ready, she is in maybe 6 pictures.
f) He took us away from about 40% of the reception time. We missed all the cocktail hour, which was ok with me, but I got mad when I was missing a lot of the reception time too. I feel that for the money we spent, there should have been a lot better pictures.
2) When the proofs were ready, no one called us to say they were in. I called 5 weeks after our wedding to find our when we could see them and I was told they had been there for 2 weeks already. They said Richie had told me this on the wedding day, I must have forgotten.
A) NO he did not tell me this and
B) my WEDDING DAY is not the time to tell me new information.
3)We got 258 proofs, which I thought was a really low number. I called to ask if there were any more, and why my mom is in so few. The girl told me they do not hold any proofs back and she did not know why my mom was in so few. Marco himself never called me back.
Luckily, we have lots of beautiful pictures that our friends and family took with their digital and disposable cameras.
In hindsight, I should have much more vocal about backgrounds and things I was unhappy about. But I didn’t think I needed to tell a professional photographer about good backgrounds – this is his job, I thought he knew what he was doing.

Videographer – Marcos in Holbrook:
Video: A / Marcos: F
Marcos outsources the video, so I don’t know the exact name of the company that did such a good job. Marcos had in our contract that we could add honeymoon pictures within 2 weeks of returning from out HM. We did not get around to doing this, so we believed the video was being made, just without the HM pictures. Five months later, when we called to see if the video was ready, they told us “No, we have been waiting for you to bring in honeymoon pictures”. I was LIVID. Our video was still sitting there, had not been started, and no one called us after 5 MONTHS to see if we were aware they were still waiting for us to drop pictures off.
When we did see the video, it was beautiful. They captured moments that the photographer missed, and got lots of funny candid moments. The video looks great.
Marcos only offers 1 DVD for the bride and groom, and offers VHS tapes for the parents. I think VHS tapes are becoming obsolete, and hopefully our DVD will last and not get scratched.

John Anthonys: A –
The Maitre D was fabulous and the bridal attendant was great too. The area looked great. They had just gotten new tables and new linens, which were beautiful. Great marks all around. The reason for the A minus is that the favors were not put on the tables, but were set out during the cocktail hour. As soon as I told the Maitre D this she set them out on a table so guests could take one as they left. And the guest book was not prominently displayed, and few people signed it. I didn’t care too much about the guest book, but the favor thing was weird, since I submitted a chart the week before with how many favors were supposed to go on each table. The maitre D spoke to the Photog when I got mad at him, telling him to quit pulling me out for pictures and let me enjoy my day.


Church: St Francis in Patchogue: A
Looks beautiful, although the clergy, organist and church secretary are hard to get in contact with.


Band: Heart and Soul: C-
They sounded great, but they hardly played any songs from the list I sent them. Proof of this is on my video. They sent me a detailed form asking for songs I wanted played. I sent them back a 3 page list of songs I liked, along with a Do Not Play list. I didn’texpect to hear ALL the songs I requested, but certainly a good amount of them. Those were ones I would have had fun dancing to. I heard about 3 songs from my request list, about 3 or 4 from my Do Not Play list. They got the main dances right, but I don’t know what happened with the rest of the list. This resulted in me barely dancing, because I kept hearing songs I don’t like.


Honeymoon: Sandals Regency -St Lucia: A
Gorgeous, beautiful , wonderful. An all-inclusive resort.
From NY, it is a 6 hour flight. Ours was 2 hours to Atlanta and then 4 hours to St Lucia. The bigger airport is about an hour from the Regency, and the roads are VERY twisty and hilly – so bring Dramamine. Once we got there, we went right into the pool.
We went on several excursions, including a tour of the volcano, a whale and dolphin watching tour, and I got a massage at the spa. There were plenty of daily activities you could join, such as pool volleyball, or you could sit at one of the 2 pool bars and drink the day away, or sit on the beach and drink the day away. There are 7 great restaurants on the resort. Two you have to make reservations for – the Japanese and the French restaurant. You have to make them quick, because they get booked fast. We didn’t go to either, bc DH doesn’t like Japanese, and it was too hot for heavy French food. There is also an Italian restaurant, and a Carribean restaurant, and several snack bars. The different bars are open at different times of the day, during the day it is mostly the pool bars that are open. It is HOT there! Bring at least SPF 45, and reapply about every 2 hours! We still got burnt. There are several night activities for after dinner. There was a Steel drum band night, a Kareoke night, a talent show night, etc. And there is a Sports Bar that turns into a Dance Club after 11 pm. We went there once, because honestly, after spending all day in the sun, you are TIRED. I made sure to drink as much water as I could, constantly, because I was afraid of becoming dehydrated.

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

link to pictures

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

Thank you so much for posting your review. I'm sorry to hear about the vendors who disappointed you. You looked amazing - I love your dress.

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

I love your dress. Beautiful pics.

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

BEAUTIFUL!!

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

Congrats!! Great Review!!

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

I'm so sorry about the photos and some other issues. BUT--you looked so beautiful and I'm glad the actual reception was amazing for you.

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

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Posted by lanabean

I'm so sorry about the photos and some other issues. BUT--you looked so beautiful and I'm glad the actual reception was amazing for you.

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I totally agree. YOu looked beautiful and the pics you posted are great. There are many photo programs where you can change the actual image (if the pics are digital). This way you can brush out the ugly lamp or other things that are bothering you. I don't know if this applies to your pics, but I hope so!

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

Congratulations

and I'm so sorry about the photos but you looked absolutely beautiful.

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

Thanks for your honest review! You looked so pretty. I know how disappointing those vendors were to your special day but the main point is that you are married and with DH!

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

You also have FM

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

You looked beautiful! Congrats!

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

You looked beautiful- I really like the pic of you two with the invitation.. I used them also and as I have already FM'd you that I was disappointed and I had Marco as my photographer. The video did come out great though. I am now waiting for my album so we have yet to see.

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

You look beautiful!!!! CONGRATS!!!!!!

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

Thank you so much for the review. I am so sorry that anyone disappointed you. You are a beautiful bride. Your pictures look amazing that you posted.

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

Hello wedding twin!! Thanks for posting your review. I loved looking at your pictures. I love the one of you and your BMs and you and the whole bridal party. You look just gorgeous.

I think it is kinda neat that 3 of us May 21 brides had men in uniform in our bridal party that day! (Me and Bluesash's husbands, and your groomsman!)

Don't let the disappointing vendors ruin your good memories from that day. Everything looked beautiful and you and your DH make a great looking married couple!!

Congrats!!

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review

I added a few more pics.

I changed the pics to B&W myself on my scanner

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review - with more pics

Very interesting thanks for teh tip especially on VistaPrint.. I al thinking about using them. Thanks :)

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review - with more pics

Wonderful review, I am sorry to hear about your video and photography. You looked beautiful in your gown.

Re: My 5/21/05 John Anthonys Review - with more pics

beautiful pictures, sorry for your troubles but it looks like you had a great day!!