The Brides' Review - My Amazing 8.10.07 Wedding at the Royalton!

Pele301 Posted: Aug 29, 2007 11:07 PM+

Pele301 MEMBER SINCE: 3/07 TOTAL POSTS : 29 WEDDING DATE: Aug 10, 2007

Posted: Aug 29, 2007 11:07 PM

My Amazing 8.10.07 Wedding at the Royalton!

I really haven't posted very much on here, but because I was always hoping to read reviews of the Royalton and there were so few on here, I figured I would do this for all of the other Royalton girls out there!

WEATHER - B/C
So...it totally rained on my wedding day and was gorgeous the next day!

But...it really was fine. It never rained too hard it was more of a drizzle and of course it always seems to happen this way but as soon as we got out of the church it stopped raining.

I honestly have to say, it really didn't matter at all - we still took pictures outside. The only one who freaked out a bit was my bridal attendant - she was worried about my dress! How cute!

CHURCH OF SAINT AIDAN - No Grade
This was my husband's church...and he never really went much after his confirmation. I kind of think that if we were regular parish members we would have had better luck with them. They were extremely difficult to get in touch with. In fact, they even booked our wedding time wrong, which ended up working out okay in the end, but it really caused a lot of aggravation and upset when we first found out.

BRIDESMAID DRESSES (BariJay) - A+
I LOVED these dresses! I ordered them at a bridal store upstate (where I'm originally from) but obviously they could be ordered anywhere.

FLOWER GIRL DRESSES (Pegeen) - A+
I also loved these dresses. Pegeen sends you what seems to be unlimited swatches for free! For the indecisive bride (like ME) this is a dream. I basically requested everything. I believe the dresses came in pretty quickly and customer service was also very good.

FLOWER GIRL SHOES (Kenneth Cole) - A+
I can't take credit for these, my Husband's Aunt found these. They were so cute and a little different from the usual shoe since they were gold.

TUXES (Foresto Tuxedo) - A+
Foresto is an old family friend of my husband, but even if he wasn't - everyone in that store is just so professional and a pleasure to work with. The tuxedos are high quality and fit all of the guys and ring bearer really well.

FLOWERS (Stefans) Before - B/C Day of - A
This was really the vendor that I had the most trouble with. First of all, we wanted to keep to our budget on flowers, and were limited to Stefan's and Spitz and Peck. I really wanted tall floral branch centerpieces in pilsner glasses with votives hanging from them...and when I first saw my centerpieces they were horrible. They were so far from what I wanted and what I thought I showed the person I was working with. I was definitely disappointed. When I was clearly not happy, he turned it around and said what I wanted wasn't in the budget...which he should have told me before he said he could probably do it?! At any rate, I'm not very good at speaking up for myself, so I told my MIL (who is very good at that) and she went with me to fix the situation. I ended up not getting the arrangements I wanted, but settled on some very pretty low arrangements that I was happy with in the end. I decided to drop my original vision because I decided that the person I was working with really didn't 'get' what I wanted and how to execute it. Anyway, the day of the wedding - the crew arrived at the Royalton promptly and decorated everything beautifully and really made all of the arrangements and bouquets look great. The main overall issue is being locked in to these 2 florists. I would have liked to check out other florists on the island, but couldn't. I have to say in the end it was really okay. The flowers were lovely and created the ambience I was looking for, but after seeing the bouquets and the centerpieces for the first time that day, I was too busy to notice them the rest of the day!

INVITATIONS (Carlson Craft) - A
I liked my invitations. They were simple and elegant but a little different (tea length). I also ordered these upstate which I think was actually good because I think they were a little cheaper than they would have been down here. However, I found out that I could have ordered my invites on line! And I actually did order a few because I wanted some extras.

MY DRESS (Impressions) - Bridal Suite of Huntington - A
I looked at what seemed a thousand places both upstate and down here, and finally (even though it wasn't on the list) my mom suggested we check out the Bridal Suite - and there it was! The ladies who work there were very sweet and not pushy or anything. My dress seemed to take forever to come in, but it really was only 8 mos. I had a few things changed on the dress and the company was able to do them with no trouble.

ALTERATIONS - Bridal Elegance/Phyllis - A+
This was a great find that I actually found on LIW. I said earlier that I had a few things changed when I ordered the dress, but Phyllis did my beautiful bustle, added my sash and added a small lace trim around the bodice. I also ordered my veil from her. She was very thorough. I had 4 fittings. Also, I was finishing my masters degree in CT (crazy!) and wasn't available during the week for any fittings, and she was happy to schedule me for all of my fittings right away on the weekends. That was great.

FAVORS - Candles/Personalized Mints
Candles - Tommy and Friends – A+
I was looking for cheap beeswax candles and found Tommy's business on ebay. He was so nice to work with and his prices were amazing! I definitely would recommend him to anyone.

Mints - Oriental Trading - A
Great fast service and again the price was great! At this point I wasn't so fussy about how the tins looked because the candles were the main favor - there were much prettier designs out there for more $, but I was happy with these!

LIMOS– Royalty Limos – A+
Great company to work with! We got a Rolls Royce for us and a stretch Escalade for the party. The cars were clean and the drivers were on time and friendly! They were so helpful at the church getting everyone organized and ready to walk down the aisle.

SHUTTLE BUS – Classic Coach – A+
We hired a shuttle to transport all of our OOT guests from the hotels to the church and to the reception and home from the reception. We also used the shuttle to transport guests to my MIL’s house after the church for light refreshments before the reception since we had a few hours to kill before it started. The bus was really nice and from what I hear the driver was great too!

PHOTOGRAPHY - Roma Photo - A+ (so far)
Alex is great! He really gets the job done and is quite funny. We really liked working with him. Also a bit expensive, but his work is top notch. I can't wait to see the proofs!

MAKE UP - I Make Up You/Jackie - A+
SOO talented!! She really knows what she’s doing. I believe she is another LIW vendor, though I checked her out because my MIL had actually heard of her from another wedding she attended.

HAIR – The Bridal Touch by Elena – A+
I found Elena literally at the last minute on LIW. It was amazing that she still had my day available. She was terrific and so sweet! My hair on my wedding day was different than we did in our trial, but I really liked how it turned out. She wasn’t afraid to try something different. A couple times I asked her to change a few things and she was happy to make the changes. She really makes sure you are happy with the results!

BAND - Heart and Soul - A++
Such a great band!! Joe and I are music teachers, so we knew we wanted live music that was impressive. This band was perfect!! We found them at a Bridal Expo where we had heard quite a few disappointing bands and DJs. Then while we were waiting to see if we had possibly won a vacation to Hawaii (which we didn’t - haha) Heart and Soul was the last band to play. 30 seconds into the first song we just looked at each other and were like “that’s our band.” The vocalists are so talented. At some points throughout the wedding I almost forgot that I wasn’t listening to a recording! Our guests could not get over the band - they were obsessed. The dance floor was packed from the moment we entered the room until the last dance. They're a little pricey, but totally worth the money. They are managed by Franklin Wayne Music who has a few other bands that I've heard are also quite good.

THE ROYALTON - A+++++
This is the best place ever! I was in love with it when we first saw it and never felt any different since then. I loved that not many people had ever heard of it. I loved that it wasn't on a busy street. I loved that it was practically brand new. I loved that it looked like a beautiful house. So...I guess I'll start with the morning. We decided to get ready there and that was great. I was in the bridal suite with my girls and Joe was in the groom's room with his guys. They served bagels and soft drinks and champagne in our room and then later heros. Joe's room was stocked with beer and drinks and other food. He then asked if they had any junk food and they brought them plates of chicken fingers, fries, and mozzarella sticks. It was a great morning/afternoon. Even after we came back from the church they brought the bridal party more drinks and fried food! At one point our little flower girls and ring bearer were watching a DVD on a portable player while they waited for us to be done with pictures before the reception and they brought them a big bowl of popcorn and sodas! At the reception the food was as everyone else who got married here said - AMAZING. The cocktail hour blew people away. Joe and I got to eat quite a bit. Faviola (the amazingly sweet and wonderful bridal attendant) and Michael insisted that we eat after pictures before cocktail hour so they brought us up a sampling of all of the stations. It was great! She literally locked us in the bridal suite until we had eaten something because they knew we’d be so busy talking that we wouldn't have time to eat. For dinner I had the swordfish. I am really NOT a fish person but I was obsessed with their swordfish! I ordered it for my dinner and it tasted as good as the day we had our tasting. He had the filet - which was also perfect. Our guests were SO impressed by the service. It was almost funny how often their napkins were refolded and how their glass was NEVER empty. One of our groomsmen was on the dance floor and just LOOKED at his glass on his table and then at his waiter and the waiter not only refilled it but brought it to him on the dance floor! After we cut the cake they brought us back into the cocktail room which had been closed during dinner to show us the Viennese table. It was crazy! It was like dessert had exploded all over the room! When they opened to doors for the guests everyone went wild! They thought they had died and gone to heaven.

Our guests had such a good time at our wedding and that was really important to me. Many of them kept saying that it was the best wedding they had ever been to. Really, anyone who books the Royalton will not be disappointed. They definitely know what they are doing. They take care of everything – things you might not even think of. And if there is anything you need/want – just ask and it seems to magically appear!

I have a few non-pro pics in my album - I'll try to post a few more!

BNBride60 Posted: Aug 29, 2007 11:24 PM+

BNBride60 MEMBER SINCE: 5/07 TOTAL POSTS : 3665 WEDDING DATE: Mar 20, 2004

Posted: Aug 29, 2007 11:24 PM

Re: My Amazing 8.10.07 Wedding at the Royalton!

YAY!!!!! Heart and Soul is my band too!!!!!!

GinaZ Posted: Aug 30, 2007 08:17 AM+

GinaZ MEMBER SINCE: 12/06 TOTAL POSTS : 10861 WEDDING DATE: Mar 28, 2008

Posted: Aug 30, 2007 08:17 AM

Re: My Amazing 8.10.07 Wedding at the Royalton!

Congrats on your big day!!!

lrusso1979 Posted: Aug 30, 2007 08:44 AM+

lrusso1979 MEMBER SINCE: 2/07 TOTAL POSTS : 167 WEDDING DATE: Dec 22, 2007

Posted: Aug 30, 2007 08:44 AM

Re: My Amazing 8.10.07 Wedding at the Royalton!

Congratulations----You both look so wonderful and happy!
Thanks for the review---I've been waiting for a Royalton review!

aprilv Posted: Aug 30, 2007 09:45 AM+

aprilv MEMBER SINCE: 3/06 TOTAL POSTS : 286 WEDDING DATE: Jul 28, 2007

Posted: Aug 30, 2007 09:45 AM

Re: My Amazing 8.10.07 Wedding at the Royalton!

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I lOOOOOOOOOVED The Royalton and knew they would throw a great party! The decor is so beautiful. Just a tad out of our budget for a Sat. Good. Congrats to you and your husband.

knm1204 Posted: Aug 30, 2007 10:07 AM+

knm1204 MEMBER SINCE: 1/06 TOTAL POSTS : 549 WEDDING DATE: Jun 01, 2007

Posted: Aug 30, 2007 10:07 AM

Re: My Amazing 8.10.07 Wedding at the Royalton!

Congrats on your wedding. I am a Royalton bride too. I never did a review but the service, the food everything there is amazing. Future Royalton brides have nothng to worry about.

Dee606 Posted: Aug 30, 2007 03:57 PM+

Dee606 MEMBER SINCE: 7/06 TOTAL POSTS : 4371 WEDDING DATE: Sep 29, 2007

Posted: Aug 30, 2007 03:57 PM