My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

The weather - A

Other than my dress stressing me out, this was sooo stressful up until the wedding. The 2 weeks leading up to the day, every other day was rain and sunshine. Then a few days before called for thunderstorms. This would have been so lame because our ceremony and CH were supposed to be outside! Fortunately mother nature cooperated and the weather held out, giving us sunshine all day :)

Sonora Restaurant - Rehearsal Dinner - A+

I think everyone raved more about the food at Sonora than at the Surf Club. The drinks were awesome and people had a great time. It was so nice to unwind the night before the wedding with great family and friends. They gave us a private room and were super accommodating. I highly recommend Sonora as a restaurant or a place to host an event.


Village Bridal - My dress and bridesmaid dresses

Customer service - C
Alterations - F!!!!

I have already posted about this topic, but I am going to reiterate. As many of you know, there was a ton of drama surrounding my dress alterations. I was a total Village Bridal cheerleader until it came time for my fittings. The seamstress totally underestimated how complicated it was to take in my dress because my dress looked very simply (just beading around the waist). She totally distorted it and ended up having to take the dress completely apart and resew the entire midsection. It didn't end up perfect, and it definitely did not look the way it was supposed to when I wore it for my wedding. And although it ended up looking beautiful and you probably couldn't tell that there was ever a problem, she caused me so much anxiety and stress during what was supposed to be a happy time that I would never, ever recommend having your alterations done by VB if you get your dress there.

I should also note that my bustle broke within 5 minutes of my reception, that when I took my dress home and looked at it there was a large black ink mark on it and the bridesmaid dress alterations were also a total disaster.

Red Oak Transportation - Limo and Shuttles - A

Despite very poor organization and spotty customer service, their prices were way better than anywhere else, limo was impeccably clean and shuttle was on-time. Drivers were great. Would highly recommend, just make sure you stay on them and communicate exactly what you expect.

Renaissance Westchester Hotel - Room Block - A+

Melissa was so great to work with. Our rooms were fantastic, they were so accomodating. If you're getting married in Westchester, definitely get a room block here. There is a bar in the hotel available for an after party. They also gave my husband and I champagne and chocolate covered strawberries for our wedding night. My mom left some items at the hotel and they mailed them to her. Amazing customer service.

Chrissi from Fairy Tale Events - A+

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Chrissi. DH was very hesitant about having a DOC at first, but he warmed up to the idea during the planning process and towards the end I think we both realized we could't have done it without her. Chrissi is fantastic. She coached me through so many stressful situations. She immediately felt more like a friend than a vendor to me, which level of comfort I think was extremely important on the day of. Chrissi met and exceeded all expectations on our wedding day, taking care of issues that came up (big and small) so that DH and I could enjoy our day. I think a DOC is a small expense for a big yield, and if she is available, HIRE CHRISSI.

Stacy Pitt, Styles on B - Hair - A+

I love Stacy. She is amazingly talented and can work wonders with every hair type. She did my hair, my mom's hair and my bridesmaids' hair. Everyone's hair looked amazing and stayed perfect all night. Her prices also cannot be beat.

Christy from Christy Ann Cosmetics - A+

Another total gem. I have to say, Chrissi, Chrisy and Stacy were my favorite vendors. Christy is such a sweetheart and made everyone look fantastic. She is great to communicate with, so professional and I cannot recommend her enough.

Mike from Esquire Tuxedos - A+

Extremely flexible and wonderful to work with. FH bought his tuxedo but had the guys rent their and was very specific about what he wanted. Mike was able to special order everything at little additional cost to the GMs. He also gave our fathers and my grandfather discounted rates on their tuxes since we had such a large group.

Giovanni Photographic Artist - Photographer

I am going to reserve grading him until we receive our proofs/album, but Giovanni is a true artist. From what he showed us on his camera, the pictures looked awesome. He was on time and very professional.

Laura Pennnace - Pennace Photography - Second Photographer - A+

I found Laura on WeddingBee when I was looking for someone to shoot our engagement pictures for free. Laura was just starting out at the time and looking to build her portfolio. The girl has an eye for photography and is beyond talented. When we got the pictures back from our engagement shoot, we knew we needed to have her at our wedding as well, even though we already hired Giovanni. She also shot our rehearsal dinner the night before. Much like Chrissi, I considered Laura more of a friend than a vendor through the whole process, since she was there with us from start to finish. Her work is truly amazing and am so happy she was able to share our day with us.

Alesca Video Productions

We had Alesca shoot raw footage only because we wanted to capture mostly our vows, speeches and interviews. Domenic worked within our budget, was great to communicate with and very professional. Again, I am going to reserve grading him until we receive the DVD.

Surf Club - B+

From the second I walked into the Surf Club, I fell in love. I had to have it. The venue is beautiful, the food is fantastic. The customer service is... crappy.

All of us Surf Club girls have vented about Carlo so no surprises there. He would make promises that wouldn't be kept or put in writing, or would turn out to be impossible to be fulfilled. He often did not return phone calls.

And the owner's son, Chris, rough around the edges. Not very accommodating. I always felt like I was bothering him when I asked questions or called, I didn't feel like a client as much as a pest. He nickel and dimed us on everything, which is a huge turn off.

However, Artie and John were totally wonderful to deal with. Unfortunately, they didn't carry as much weight as Chris. I just felt that we were paying them all this money and we were a client that we should have been treated a little better... the way Danny, Sweet Lisa's and our other excellent vendors treated us.

In the end, our wedding was fantastic and I would not change a thing about it. The Surf Club put on a great wedding even though there were a few snags along the way (thank God for my DOC who took care of issues that came up better than they did).


Jimmy Dee - DJ (live percussion) - A+

Our MC was Richie and he was great. DH and I are super picky about music so we gave him some rules about music to play and not play, etc, and he did not disappoint. He responded to emails promptly and kept the party going.

Ryan Kaplan, Special Ceremonies - F

All along I was nervous about him since many times I would email with no response. But he is a Knot vendor and came highly recommended from girls on the Knot boards, so I did not trust my instincts and continued to work with him. We paid Ryan a LOT of money for a personalized ceremony, met with him twice and he even came (VERY LATE) to our rehearsal.

On the day of - no call, no show. He sent his dad in his place. I have reason to believe (from Facebook stalking) that he got a more lucrative job as a photographer for a wedding on the same day, so instead of keeping his word to us, he decided to double book himself and send his father in his stead. Not cool. I was literally panicking minutes before I was supposed to get married - wondering if the man he sent was an actual, licensed officiant (he seemed very confused and didn't know what he was doing signing the license, etc.). Not only that, part of the reason we hired Ryan was because he was a Rabbi and could sign a Ketubah. So, this random non-rabbi man signed our Ketubah instead.

Needless to say, if you're looking to hire Ryan Kaplan with Special Ceremony as your officiant or his studio, Small Moments for your photography needs, think twice. This is not a man of his word and he lacks integrity, will sell you out to make extra money and is nearly impossible to reach. Take your business elsewhere.

Sweet Lisa's - Cake - A+

This is the bakery the Surf Club uses. They were awesome. They let us come in and try a few different cakes, choose any design we wanted and didn't charge us extra. After the tasting, they even sent us home with a whole cake! If you're getting married at the Surf Club, definitely go to Sweet Lisa's for the tasting, it was a great experience.


Westchester Floral (Danny) - A+

I only have wonderful things to say about Danny and Westchester Floral. He is a sweetheart and lived up to his reputation. He worked really hard to keep everything within our budget, and our bouquets were the most gorgeous I have ever seen. The CPs lasted almost 2 weeks after our wedding. They are the best.


E V E N S T A R P A P E R I E - A

The invitation process was another big stressor for me. Our original invitation person's husband was transferred overseas by his job after we had spent months working with her. E P was a lifesaver. People told me they had never seen such gorgeous invitations. I received so many compliments and she was awesome to work with. I am actually going to miss her weekly contests on her blog now!

Kristina Nicole - Card Box - A

I wanted a card box that looked like one from FTMB but at a fraction of the cost. I found Kristina on Etsy and showed her a picture of the style I liked, explained my wedding colors and she created an awesome cardbox for 1/3 of what it would have cost me to get from FTMB. I drove the girl crazy trying to match the color of my bouquet flowers to the flowers on top of the card box - she is a real perfectionist! She was always super pleasant to work with. Only reason she doesn't get an A+ is because some of the beading fell off the box during the reception around the card slot (probably due to people forcing the cards in).

Dulce Desserts (www.dulce-desserts.com) - Bridal Shower Favors - A+

Kella designed small chocolate wedding cakes to match the wedding cake on our shower invitations. She even wrapped them in adorable little bags with ribbon. They looked and tasted fantastic. I HIGHLY recommend working with her.


Lisa at Power Travel - Honeymoon to Italy (Rome, Florence and the Amalfi Coast) - A

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We worked with Lisa at Power Travel in Plainview to book our honeymoon. Lisa is super responsive and great to work with. She also got us upgrades on our rooms. We were treated so well everywhere we stayed, greeted with champagne, etc. If you're thinking about using a travel agent to book your honeymoon, I highly recommend contacting her.

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Great review Beautiful pics and the dress look good.

Ryan Kaplan, Special Ceremonies

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Great review!

So sorry about your dress (which I knew about) and about your Rabbi! That stinks!

But i am so glad you had a beautiful day otherwise

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

I'm glad your review was so positive despite so many stressful situations...

Was your hair all down? It looks beautiful from behind. I would like to see more pics to show my hairdresser.

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

GREAT review!! Thanks so much!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Gorgeous pics!! Thanks for the great review!!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

You look stunning! Congrats! And thank you for the great review!!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Great review with wonderful pics!
Congrats!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Everything looks great..sorry about your officant

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Gorgeous bride Congrats!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

great review, you looked beautiful

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Thank you so much for sharing all of this information. I met with Carlos from Surf Club and am now happy that I didn't have to work wtih him.

Also THANK YOU for sharing the Christyann Cosmetics information!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Great review date twin! Guess I need to get my sh!t together and get mine up!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Beautiful! i'm happy you had great weather!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

thanks for the great review! you looked gorgeous!

sorry about the snafu with your dress and the officiant, that stinks

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Great review!
Love the pics


I now want to eat paella!!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Great Review! Thank you! You looked gorgeous!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

great review, congrats!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

Congrats!! Great review!

Re: My 6/5/2010 Surf Club Wedding - Styles on B, Christy Ann Cosmetics, Fairy Tale Events

hi! sounds nice....
could not view your pics... i am debating whether to have my wedding at the surf club or not...