My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review! Newest pics added to original Link 8/19/04

All I can say is wow...... no matter how muuch you plan & freak, it will happen the way it is supposed to happen.
OK...so here's the review.....

Wingate Inn:A++ we stayed at the hotel the night before the wedding to get ready with my girls, then stayed for the weekend with my new hubby. They are very professional & clean & were rey helpful to my OOT guests. Also, they made certain that no maid staff went into the room while my dress was there (before my wedding)....top notch service, indeed. Cynthia Bevington is the sales manager & was in constant communincation with us throught the whole process.

Limo Commection: D- I was a bit disappointed in our Limo. It was not the one he showed us when we booked, and the heat didn't work. This was a huge problem since it was 6 degrees wwhen we left for the church. The driver, I found out later on, forgot to put down the runner & my dress was trashed by the time I reached the altar. Also, he was begging for a job from one of my guests while he was supposed to be pulling the car around for me & DH! He began a bit of a tiff with the coordinator of the church & completely screwed up the BP entrance. I am glad I found this all out after the wedding, or I would have flipped!

St. Matthias Church B: We got there in well enought time to organize everyone and take pics & they were very disorganized & did not even know which room I was in. The attendant actually thought I pulled a 'Runaway Bride' maneuver. The priest was wonderful & the rest of the church was perfect. Very nice & very overwhelmingly beautiful, and the organist & soloist were fantastic.

Empyreal Strings: I was not pleased with their performance or professionalism....if you would like details, please FM me.

AAA Bestway Limo: A++: Our BP & immediate family shared a 26 passenger Excursion. The car was clean & our driver Moses is the BEST!!!! Not only did he get everyone where they neeed to be on time, but he is very friendly and really communicated well with everyone (& made grandma laugh a lot!!)

Princess Bridals: F: of everything that I ordered through them, only my girls dressses came in correctly....unfortunately everything came in MONTHS after they promised. The girls' fittings were the week before the wedding. My veil and headpiece came in wrong multiple times & they were very costly. My dress was FINALLY done the Monday before my wedding, and my sister's dress had to be remade because they ordered an 'unavailable' fabric that we matched all the other girls to. All of our shoes were wrong & my sister had to run out & buy shoes of the rack 2 days before the wedding. Also, I had to pay $50 to a shoe store the day before MY WEDDING to dye my shoes to match my dress. PB insisted that my shoes were nopt dyeable I am STILL WAITING FOR A GARTER I ordered in April. Very unprofessional & extremely complacent about the satisfaction of their brides. I had a multitude of screaming matches in that shop. LUCKILY the seamstress was amazing, because she had to work quickly & had 10 dresses to complete for my wedding. Hats off to Philomena for that!

***********: A+++++++: My flowers were amazing, the centerpieces were amazing, and like aliciahelene, Jack gave us an extra gift of a centerpiece for the sweetheart table & also some cake flowers. The church flowers & bows looked amazing as well. The BM at the Harbor Club was blown away by his presentation & professionalism as well. People are still talking about my unusual & beautiful winter centerpieces. We got to see Jack at the hall before our guests arrived as he was finishing his gorgeous display & DH was FLOORED! He was decorating the piano just in time for my pics! KUDOS TO JACK!

Jennifer from Fairytale A+++++: She & her friend Rosemarie were so on the ball. They were on time (at 6:30am!) and were set up & ready to work within minutes. My makeup & hair came out better than I ever thought & it stayed from 7am until 2am when we finally returned to the hotel. She is amazing. My mother's & sister's makeup was also gorgeous & Rosemarie did an amazing 40's style hairdo COMPLETELY OFF THE CUFF! She did this impromptu hair design & it lasted all day & night. Amazing service & even better personalities. It was easy to stay relaxed with Jenn - she is such a sweetheart! She kept making me laugh b/c I was so calm & she asked if I was feeling alright. She was shocked at how serene I was thet whole morning!

Artie from Art-istic Images & Carol A+++++ He was very creative & went the extra mile to get the best shots (even hanging from the railing!) They also were very unintrusive & I forgot that they were there most of the night!
----> I got my proofs back & they are GORGEOUS! I did not cry the entire day of the wedding, but I was bawling like a baby when I saw my pics. I cannot wait for the album <------------- I finally finished composing my album & it is gorgeous. Any picture that had to be edited was done so well you cannot tell what is retouched and what was original. And the large pics for the wall came out amazing. I would highly recommend Artie to anyone.

Mike & NIck- Castle Entertainment: A+++ with an 'off the hook'
These guys are amazing as well. From the 'First Dance on a Cloud' to the snow machine to the traditional dances, they were awesome. When DH forgot the music in the limo for our intros & our dances with his parents, the DJ immediately looked through his ridiculously huge CD collection & found them all (including some very bizzare songs that we though only we liked!) They played almost everything we asked & played nothing that we didn't. People were RAVING about how awesome the DJ was.....DH danced all night!
++I recently went to a wedding as a guest & Mike & Nick were the DJs. They really did an amazing job of keeping the dance floor packed & adding a touch of fun to the wedding. It was great to see them again & to see it from a guest POV.++

The Harbor Club: A+++++++: I am still getting phone calls from guests saying how amazing everything was. Even the haters were stunned. People approached me during the reception & asked me how I planned such a gorgeous wedding while I was working FT & going to school FT. I really can't take the credit, b/c the Harbor Club went above & beyond to find all the little extra touches and details that I wanted. They even helped me with my invitations & the monogrammed fingertip towels for the bathroom. They welcomed the untraditional ideas & respected the traditional ones. They really helped my throw the party I always dreamed of to celebrate my wedding.

And the viennese hour was well worth it. I usually think the viennese is a bit of a waste, but people stayed for it & even ate most of it. The presentation & professionalism of that staff is second to none. Also, I did not need to worry about where was my cake cutter, or when do we do this or that... they are very organized & extremely helpful. They were constantly letting us know what was happening & what we were going to do next, etc. And when DH & I did not get to eat our main course, they sent us home with our dinners & some viennese to enjoy at the hotel. Even after we microwaved it the food still tasted amazing!

Diedre, my Bridal Attendant & Scott my maitre'd A+++++++++++: I have never seen two people so on point. I never needed to ask for anything, or had to search for someone to help me if I needed it. Scott even went out of his way to personally serve ice cream to DH grandmother b/c it is her favourite. He wanted to make every guest feel special & he did it.

Diedre is also a Bride to Be, so she was very intune with what needed to be done & even reminded DH & I to take a walk by ourselves when the wedding got overwhelming. She packed up my entire wedding & had us on our way in no time once the night was through & was very careful to remember everything. She really was a gem that day!

Dem Brooklyn Bums: A++++++: Rob & dem bums were amazing. This was one of my presents to DH...this was the first band we saw together on our first date, so I hired them to play for the hour before the viennese. DH was stunned & still is wondering how he can make it up to me (it was a surprise & very hard for me to keep the secret from him!)....al of our guests really enjoyed their music as well as their wacky stage performance. We asked them to hang out with us & they stayed as guests at our wedding after their performance. They were very cool & mingled with our guests & even danced a bit! It was a very cool thing!

Feldman Esquire Tuxedos: A++++ They did an amazing job. All the tuxes were immaculate & ready when promised, and when MIL dropped them all off, they were very quick to check them all in. Steve gets a major thumbs up for helping me rent a Zoot Suit behind DH back for him to change into during the surprise Swing Hour. He is very sneaky & gave me a great price for everything!!


Holden from Multi-Media: F F F F F Not only have I not yet received my video, but Holden did not contact me to confirm thet he received my HM pictures or my CD of songs for my video.....I am not very pleased
++UPDATE++I finally got my video back 4 farghing years later. It is awful, and none of my HM pics are on there & the childhood pics are a mess. The DVD did not work & he told me that it was the quality of my DVD player. After trying 5 different DVD players, a Macbook and a professional editing DVD player I finally got him to remake it. He was horrible to work with and did NOTHING that I asked him to do & EVERYTHING that I asked him NOT to do. He interviewed people, went table to table while people were eating, took my BP from their CH in the bridal suite...all of which I explicitly told him NOT to do. He also recorded and played 4 hours of dancing, which I told him not to do & did not edit when my very drunk friends were cursing & dropping f-bombs all over the place. That was fun to watch with my grandmother Worst.Vendor.Ever.

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

It sounds like you had a great time. Congratulations on everything. I can't wait to see Jack's work at my wedding, he sounds like he does fantastic work, Loved your review Especially loved the retrospect on what you would change, very helpful to future brides.

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Congrats! Sounds like a wonderful wedding.

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

congrats! i am so happy your day was fantabulous (love that 'word')! I cant wait to see pictures!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

With a few exceptions, sounds like a wonderful wedding! Congrats on become a Mrs!

Now the big question...

PICTURES PLEASE!!!!!!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

WOW!!! Sounds amazing!!! Congrats and I can't WAIT to see the pics!!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Congratulations! Sounds like you had a great day!!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Congrats!! Sounds like the awesome vendors made up for the not-so-awesome ones! Can't wait to see pics!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Congrats!!! Sounds like your day was wonderful!!!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

OOPPPSSS... I forgot the Tux guys....


Thanks everyone!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

CONGRATS

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Sounds like you had a great day !!!!!!!!! Congrats!! I can't wait to see pictures!!!!!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Thanks for an honest review! Sounds like you had a great time and I also cannot wait to see the pictures!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Congrats Mel!! Can't wait to see you!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Congratulations!!

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Congrats. Can't wait for pics.

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Great review! Thanks! Can't wait to see pics! Congrats

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Congratulations! I, too, cannot wait to see the pics.
Glad to hear good things about Jack and Rose and Holden, they are both vendors we are using.

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

Congrats Melani

Re: My Jan 9th Winter Wedding review!

YAY.. COngratulations!!!!!!!