My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

Hi ladies. I wasn't a very avid poster but I definintely was an avid reader/ topic searcher, so I feel like posting this review is definitely the right thing to do to help some of you along in your wedding planning journey.




Elite Affairs- Lisa Scully A+

I'm not going to go crazy with A+++++++ type ratings but if I was she would get one of those. Lisa was on my team and on the ball throughout this whole process. Before the big day she did a walk through of our hall and came to the tasting with us. She helped to choose linens and menu items. In the week leading up to the wedding she confirmed with all my vendors and made sure everyone was up to date and on schedule. She even came to our rehearsal (which was held under a carport at my in laws' house since we got married at the hall and had nowhere to practice...) The day of the wedding she was our rock. I didn't have to hear about ANYTHING going wrong b/c she swooped in to fix it- and there WERE some problems that I NEVER knew about until after our wedding (which seemed to us and our guests to have gone PERFECTLY) I also had a TON of DIYs- slippers, bathroom baskets, bubbles, home made programs, jordan almond flowers, votive candle placecards- she executed all of it.Everyone in my family commented on what a good job Lisa did. She also brought along two babysitters for our children's table. They kept the kids busy and in control. You wouldn't even have known they were there... The mothers got to relax and enjoy the night without worrying. Financially Lisa was very affordable and to be honest she really pretty much paid for herself when lucky for me she was present when our banquet manager told us the 'suggested tip' and it was hundreds of dollars above what Lisa informed us was actually the norm. My DH and I would not have really known 'the norm' and would have over-tipped. Oh, how could I forget- she also scooped up a crying toddler at my ceremony and took her into the children's room within like 5 seconds of initial waaa outburst. Definitely cool. Thank you Elite Affairs!!


Lisa's Review on her Blog- some images of DIYs

The Fountainhead A-

Okay, I had the MOST extraordinary wedding but I am not going to sugarcoat EVERY detail like I feel some girls do. I HIGHLY recommend the FH. Many of our guests said that it was the most delicious food and extraordinary service they had ever had at a wedding. Obviously I think it is beautiful there (I booked it, right?). The chapel is phenomenal with the skylights shining down, the ch room is a gorgeous atrium complete with waterfall, and the ballroom seats something like 400 wih insanely high ceilings and really classy (read not tacky) decor. I mean, back to the food- people were RAVING about CH it was like they couldn't even believe how much and how good. What really drew us into FH was the filet mignon. When we visited out first time there was a sweet 16 going on and the banquet mgr said, hey you guys hungry? How nice was that? The steak MELTED in our mouths and we gave a deposit on the spot. Oh, and the cake was unbelievable. It was SO beautiful- everyone thought we brought it in from outside. My mom's 50th was a few days after the wedding and the FH was nice enough to make her a bday cake so we could sing to her. Oh, and I TOTALLY loved getting married at the RH b/c all 200+ people were at or ceremony (and dressed up not in t-shirts and shorts like a lot of people come to church in as if it's just some informal get together). On the flip side all those faces made me NERVOUS.

Okay, so why the A- right? Well, there were a few downfalls and I feel that they should be mentioned so that future brides can look out for them. And remember, I recommend the FH whole heartedly- but these were imho the minor flaws. I heard that there were no refreshments during the 'hospitality' time before the ceremony as promised. I didn't witness it as I was in the suite getting ready- but I asked a few people. At dinner many people found their steak toooo rare to eat. Yes, I know that over-cooking a steak 'ruins' it- BUT I did see my cousin's steak and it was BLOODY like only someone who orders 'extra rare' would enjoy. I thought it was a fluke but heard the same thing from others later on. I read another FH review where the bride said the waiters asked guests how they wanted it done but not at my wedding. Two other little things... If you go for the 'post party cart' you get a choice of zeppoles, italian ice, or pretzels. I went w/ zeppoles. Well each guest was given ONE tinnnny zeppole in a paper bag. Honestly, it looked silly, I would have not gotten the cart at all. I'm sure people looked in the bag and made a comment- I know I prob would have... Now last one, I DON'T like being told what to tip. My father and fil were tipping ALL night and then tipped the maitre d. Lisa told us our tip was the norm and after the wedding I asked 2 of my friends who recently got married at a similar calibre place w/ a similar number of people AND they tipped the same/less. The BM was not happy with the tip and I thought it was a crock of bs.

OOH and My bridal attendant Lydia (I think that was her name..) was AWESOME. My bustle broke like 17 times b/c DH kept stepping on it and she just kept pinning and re-pinning. She was always there asking if I was thirsty etc. She was really good- you should ask for her. We made sure to give her a really nice extra tip.






Arcadia Floral- A+

Arcadia made my dreams come true. I love pink roses and my wedding made me feel like lI was walking through a garden of them in full bloom... Everywhere you looked were big beautiful pink titanic roses. In the chapel the aisle had 5 arrangements of 5 dozen roses on columns on each side and then I think 4 more columns at the altar. There were also arrangements pinned up around the altar and tons of flowing tule. My cps were all high in clear vases with floating orchids. Each one was made up of 5 dozen pink titanic roses and baby's breath. They were breathtaking. It was my favorite part of the wedding. I know that sounds crazy but it was. My bouquet was a darker diff kind of rose. I wanted to go all the same but I'm glad they talked me out of it. The different tone of pink gave the pics better depth. Anyway, I highly recommend Arcada. Oh word of advice- if ur having ginormous cps have a plan for them to be broken up at the end of the night. A lot of ours were left on the tables b/c people didn't know what the heck to do with them...









Top Class Limosine A-
Limo bus showed up on time and was very clean. Driver was nice, I guess that's all you really want, right? Oh, and he knew where to drive, lol. The - is for a bit of discrepancy as to my paying in full beforehand- which basically reared it's head at the drop-off when the driver handed us an invoice. But they figured it out. I will say that although I paid EVERYONE in full there were 3 vendors who thought otherwise and had to 'double check'. Watch for this b/c it is so easy to just fork over the cash with the flow of the day.

Rabbi Broden A+
Met with us, emailed us a few ceremonies, and I did a bunch of cutting and pasting until I got the ceremony I wanted. Awesome rabbi for an interfaith couple who isn't really in touch with their religion (to try and say it nicely haha). He also is a cantor and sang a little which was beautiful. We really had a mixed crowd at the ceremony and he made the jewish parts (my parts lol) really easy to understand and universal. I think a lot of my DH's crew came out with a bit of a different thought on what us Jewish peeps are like. Ohh the best part was when I read some of my vows in Italian (to honor my FH and his fam) and the rabbi started speaking in Italian!!! How cool was that???

Father Rich- F for being a no show
Did not even have the courtesy to call/email me or Lisa to tell us he was sick or whatever. He even confirmed with Lisa I think the night before... He seemed like a REALLY nice guy and I had a little bond w/ him bc we're both lawyers... Well, idk wth happened but I found out he wasn't coming when I saw some random guy putting on the priest robe and asked, who are you??

Random Priest who actually showed up- A?
I will never know your name and you married me. You did a nice job considering the circumstances. I am SO THANKFUL that I am neurotic enough to have had our ceremony literally written out like a script for a broadway play so you only had to read whatever followed, 'PRIEST:'. Anyway, thanks for marrying me. I will always sorta remember your face...

Marie Stack (MAS Music) A+
Awesome piano during the ceremony (I was realllllly nervous but listened better when I watched back the video) and awesome strolling violin during CH. She knows the Ice Dance from Edward Scissorhands (enough said). She was RIDICULOUSLY affordable and easy to work with. I really left it all up to her and she made great choices for everything. I will also say that there was a certain ensemble that I also requested info from when I was making a decision about who to use and they made some dumb comment about Marie not being like of their caliber or something and hence the cheaper price... I think putting other businesses down is a PI$$ poor way to get clients... I am SO glad I chose Marie- she was awesome and having a strolling violin at CH looks superrrr fancy lol.
ETA That since I wrote this review that other company sincerely apologized which is nice. I wish them luck in the future and hope they realize that great credentials stand on their own.

Couped Up Productions- Rob A+
Video was inexpensive and imo looks just like a fancy dancy $$$$$ one. Ask about his 'recession special' lol. Seriously though he was on time, courteous, and not in anyones way. I hate when a wedding feels like the oscars or something with all the camera equipment. He made himself scarce but still captured all of our moments, By the way we got the video back like 3 weeks after the wedding, which was pretty cool. Rob was really an afterthought b/c I hate looking at my bulbous body on tv but I am SO glad we got it in the end. So many moments I missed (especially watching my FG go down the aisle). Thanks Rob.

Sound Plus Entertainment (DJ) A+
Johnny from Sound Plus is a family friend and he did a great job. The motivator was really good too- it was almost like he was on crack. He kept the party going. I don't really dance and I just had to flip him the bird ONCE for him to realize that he should stop calling me up to the dance floor. Impressive. Seriously though, I asked to keep it pretty low key i.e. no jumbo screens everywhere and no smoke and he did it like I asked, Lots of good music and a ton of fun. We did an anniversary dance and it was really sweet.

Susan Farley- Photog- B+ maybe A- see below...

Well, Susan is known I believe for her photojournalism/ candids and we have many extraordianry ones. Some of our formals are imo lacking (see below of DH and I where there is an unsightly background). We had some trouble with the albums but as of now idk if that was the photog's fault or the photo lab that makes the actual books. Susan promised to make it right so I would probably give an A- if the books end up like they should. Overall, we have a lot of great photos to work with and if you love candids she is a great choice but you might want to think about supplementing with a formal/ portait photog or maybe do a lot of prep work yourself ie backgrounds/ photo lists to ensure a good balance- but it's hard on the day of to do this stuff...







Screaming Queens (living tables) A+
Alex from screamingqueens.com was awesome. Just an intelligent and easy guy tro work with. I told him what I wanted- a candy girl and a cigar buffet girl. He provided them. It was BY FAR the highlight of the wedding and the most talked about/remembered aspect. If you're thinking about it- DO IT!!






Marco's Ozone Park- Antonette- (hair) A-
My hair came out great and lasted all night. I was indecisive but decided to go with an updo in the end since I get sweaty. It came out beautifully ornate with little braids and things. Too bad my veil covered it a lot. Maybe I should have taken it off 1/2 way through... My only qualm (and ladies watch out for this) is that she inadvertently sprayed the $hit out of my headpiece and it made it much duller which I didn't realize until I took it off and it almost looked yellow. So maybe you could cover it during the spraying... Maybe with some tissues or something.



Makeup- ME- A-
Well, I did trials and only like one a lot. The girl was a total flake and I decided to cancel bc I honestly felt there was a 50/50 chance of her showing up. I bought a ton of MAC from her and just used them myself. I think it came out pretty darn good but eyes could have used more depth- but eh that's the kind of thing you really need the mu artist for.


Matteo's Howard Beach- Bridal Shower A+
Awesome food and service. I had a pretty big shower of about 80 women and everyone raved about the food.

Johnny Utah's NYC- Bachelorette Party A+
Also awesome. We ordered some platters of apps but did a regular cash bar. I rode the bull... for a few seconds haha. It was def fun and not like a sleazy place at all. It was good girl fun without being too 'bachelorette-y'.

Honeymoon- A
Carnival Valor to grand cayman, Honduras, Belize, and Key West. We had the big suite and it was sweet! (okay cheesy haha I thought that was funny). Anyway, we had a blast and I CAME HOME PREGGO!!!!! Thanks Carnival, haha.

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Arcadia, Top Class + More

great review and congrats on marriage and pregnancy

I booked with Lisa and I always love to hear amazing things about her

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Arcadia, Top Class + More

Great review!!!!!!

Congrats on your wedding.... .....and

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

Love the cigar idea!
Congrats on the wedding and upcoming addition to the family!!

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

Your wedding looked beautiful! Congratulations on being a newlywed and the pregnancy!!

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

What a great review and congrats on marriage and pregnancy.

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

Awesome wedding!! Congratulations on you wedding and baby!!

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

Great review!!! Congratulations on getting married and on the pregnancy!!!!

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

such a detailed review!!! tnx so much!
everything looked amazing, including the m/u (great job on that) and what a cool idea w/the strolling tables! if u can, can u FM me their prices, I am looking into doing something extra like that

and the biggest congrats of course on the baby / !!!

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

great review, thanks so much! and CONGRATS on your pregnancy!!!!

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

Great review. I love your centerpieces the flowers are beautiful. Congrats on being pregnant hope you are doing well.

Re: My 6-6-09 Review of Fountainhead, Elite Affairs, MAS, Couped-Up, Arcadia, Top Class + More

Great review! Congrats on your wedding and pregnancy!