Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

Adding in: I don't know how to post pics here BUT, if you go to
www.blissproductionsny.com

you can see a few of our pics that our photographer put up. its Jessica and Jerremy - June 21, 2008 ( we are like the 4th couple down or something)

Hi there... I was never a HUGE poster here on the site, but I did always like to read the reviews of the other brides. So, a month after our wedding, I would like to do the same, for two reasons: I think its great to give fellow brides to be a place where they can read the truth about vendors, and also because if your vendor is great, I think its nice to give them that additional applause for doing such a great job on our special days. Enjoy

The Dresses: Wedding dress and Bridesmaid Dresses
Bridal Reflections (Massapequa Location)
Grade: A-

I have to say when looking for my dress I had a certain style in mind (ball gownish)and couldn't see myself in anything else. When I went for my first appt I told the ladies when my wedding was and what designers I liked. i didn't get to pick my own dresses but the lady who was assisting me came into the room with about 6 dresses, that she picked herself. Some WAY OFF, some nice...and then THE ONE. I have to say when I saw the dress on the hanger I wasn't too thrilled but she insisted I try it on and once I did i was super happy. I looked around a bit more but eventually went back and got the dress I tried on which was a Maggie Sotero dress and the style name is Selena. I got it in Diamond white. As for the service with my dress I didn't have too many issues and was pretty happy The reason Im giving them a minus instead of an A+ is because my bridesmaids were less than thrilled with the service, and I must admit I did get better treatment then my girls did. First they never told me when I was inquiring about getting my bridesmaids dresses there that they charge an additional $40 dollars if the girl goes over a certain size, which is 16, if they measure higher than a 16, they will get charged 40 dollars, I was never told this. We found out the hard way . When I had the girls getting fitted for their dresses. To add to this issue, two of my girls both measured 18, and were charged 40 dollars but oddly enough their total prices were different. When I inquired about this the lady was rather rude, and was like 'well I can't deal with this now, Im going to have to call you later' I basically told her I better get a discount because its not my fault one of your employees did their math wrong. She did call back later and discounted the girls $15 off both of their dresses, but I must admit I didn't love how they tried to make excuses instead of just apologizing. Otherwise, the dresses came out great, as ordered with no other MAJOR issues.


Day of Jewelry
Entrra Jewelry in the city (manhattan)
Grade: A

Im not too sure I spelled it right, but its basically one of those wholesale/retail stores in the city, it was ALOT cheaper than buying it at Bridal Reflections. I just wore some long earrings and a bracelet, and it tied in great wtih my dress, and it didn't break or anything, so Im super happy about that.


Hair and Makeup
Red Carpet Brida Beauty: Zena Dixon
Grade: A+ AMAZING

Zena is AMAZING! I got her from Elaine, my wedding planner. She super sweet, very talented and very professional. She came to my house for my trial, and we played around with ideas and she did 2 different styles for me, both updo's as that is what I initally wanted. She also did my makeup, which consisted of airbrush foundation. I booked her immediately, and that was that. As the date got closer, I decided I wanted my hair down and emailed some pictures to Zena of what I was thinking. She was very accomadating, and had no problem at all changing up the do. Day of the wedding, I was super sick and Zena was soo great about it. She was patient and attentive. I had to stop a couple of times during my hair and makeup to use the rest room (full story further down) and she was so great about it. She made me look GREAT!!! and the makeup lasted ALL NIGHT! I was so impressed, I thought for sure with me feeling like crap and all that the makeup would fade before the night was over, but NOT AT ALL. Really a wonderful girl to work with! She does great work, and I was super happy :)

Tuxedos
Mens Wearhouse
Grade: C-

First, our reason for choosing Mens Wearhouse: My two nephews and my husbands friend all live in Florida, and were in our wedding. So we needed a place that had locations in Florida so that it would be easier for them to get measured and what not. So we go to Mens Wearhouse, and set up our group account, and my husband picks out his tuxedo and those of the groomsmen. Then we go to pick out the tuxes for my two nephews, a jr groomsman and the ring bearer. In this process, we were helped by 3 employees, and we asked if the tuxedos for the children were going to cost less than that of the adults, and all 3 employees said YES. So we finish the transactions, and in the midst of everything the young lady forgot to give me the total for the cost of the childrens tuxedos. We had left when I realized this so I call the store and some guy just says Im really busy can you call back later. I didn't think it was a HUGE issue at the time so I let a few weeks pass, finally I call to get the prices, and again a guy picks up and asks me to call back. I said, no I can't I need assistance. So I tell him I need the prices for the tuxedos of the adults and children, and he gives me the same price for both. I said ' you must be mistaken, I was told the children prices were less' and he basically said OH WELL, the girl who told you that was wrong. I explained how not 1 but 3 employees told me the same thing and he should honour it, and he basically said NO. Well at this point I WAS FUMING, so I called corporate to file a complaint. The regional manager got back to me, and LONGER story short, he discounted the price of the children's suites, but I had to go through a week of complaining and talking just to get it. Not to mention, that they expect you to return your tuxedo the day RIGHT AFTER YOUR WEDDING, or else they charge you 20 bux, which we refused to pay and didn't. The suites did all fit and looked nice on everyone (which is why I gave them a C- and not an F), but the customer service was less than impressive.


Cufflinks
Cuffdaddy.com
Grade: A+

We wanted to have the guys wear skull heads for cufflinks, and my husband wore skull and crossbones. They looked great and I gave cuffdaddy an A+ because I waited until the last minute to order them and they came right away, and the cufflinks looked exactly as they did in the pictures. So we were happy about that too

Wedding Planner
Exquisite Events: Elaine DeLuca
Grade: A+ AMAZING

I found Elaine on theKnot.com and called her up. She got right back to me and we met with her. Now quick background, my husband and I are hispanic and were very particular about the kind of music we wanted for our wedding, and Elaine assured us she could deliver and she did! Every vendor I used was recommended by Elaine, and she was right on the mark every step of the way, which was pretty awesome. We decided to work with her as our wedding planner as well as day of coordinater. Its was the best decision and investment I could have made. Our engagement was a little over a year, and the only things we booked before we booked Elaine was our church and our Reception Hall Fox Hollow. During our whole engagement I didn't have to stress about any of the vendors. If a question or an issue did arise, Elaine would either answer it or have the solution. She was also very creative in coming up with cool ideas that were original and fun, like our church favors(i will talk about those later on). Now, fast forward to the week of the wedding, I got SUPER SICK with a kidney stone, and any of you ladies reading this, who have suffered from this or know someone close to you who has...you know what I mean when I say its NO JOKE. Its the absolute WORST pain you can imagine, and I lived through this pain for the first time the Monday before my wedding day, and again on the morning of my wedding. Yes thats right, on the morning of my wedding I was in the most excruciating pain of my life, and I am NOT exaggerating. When this first happened I briefed Elaine on my issues and she was AMAZING (this word will be used alot in the review, I just want to warn you) She took over all the last minute paper work that the hall makes you do, on the day of the wedding she briefed all my vendors about my condition, she handled all final payments for me with envelopes I had prepared for her in advance. I didn't have to do anything but feel my pain, get dressed and get married, and feel better. She was and is just absolutely AMAZING. I could go on and on with all the things she did on that day but it would make this review way too long. So to keep things as sweet and to the point as possible. WE LOVE ELAINE! She's a sweetheart, who doesn't mess around, she gets things done, and when an unsuspected situation like mine came along, she was calm, collected, and organized, and she took great care of me, when I was in tears and balled up in pain, and for that alone, I would give her an infinite amount of recommendations. and if after this, anyone would like to learn more about her please don't hesitate to contact me

Save-the-Dates
Forgot the Company name but we bought them through Elaine DeLuca, our wedding planner
Grade: A+

My husband and I are not overly traditional, we like to be silly and have fun and really wanted everything in our wedding to reflect that. We decided to do STD's because our wedding was the first day of summer and knew that people tend to travel and what not. So Elaine showed us some samples, from this great company in California that she sells for. And our STD's were pretty awesome! (will post picture when I get one) They were small cards two sided. The front was a math equation 'J+J = 6-21-08' and the back had the info of our wedding location. We had them made in our colors which was Green on white stock with a green envelope, and they were a HUGE hit. We were very happy with the quality and design of it, and the J+J thing actually ended up flowing throughout our whole wedding which was really nice and unexpected.

Invitations
Also got them through our wedding planner
Grade: A+

WE LOVE OUR INVITATIONS! They were dramatic, yet simple, and TOTALLY UNIQUE...and we got so many compliments on them it was crazy. Our cake designer (Cake Obsessions: will review her later) loved them so much she encorporated the design of our invitations into our cake, and it looked AMAZING! Absolutely AMAZING. (will try and post pictures of this also).


Flowers
Metro Florals In Great Neck: Adrian
Grade: A+ AMAZING

Elaine picked Adrian out for us, and we went to meet him and we really liked what he had done in the past and the price he quoted us for his services. Now just to compare, she even got us an appt with the famous Flower Michelle. John was SUPER nice and sweet, but his price wasn't (at least not for our budget) So we worked with Adrian, and it was the absolute best decision ever. We not only got all our flowers with him for the church, reception and cocktail hour, and also the bouquets, but we also rented linens for the tables and chairs. We did the whole sample and saw our centerpieces, and I LOVED THEM, they were beautiful and just what we had wanted. Now fast forward to the day of, now you know I didn't get to see a sample of my bouquet, I showed him some pictures and he showed me some flowers he would be using. But OMG, when I saw my bouquet, it was absolutely exquisite, the colors, the flowers, the size, the impact it made. It belonged in a magazine, it was one of those bouquets you see in a bridal magazine and say WOW i wish my bouquet can look like that, and MINE DID! the girls flowers were beautiful too, I had asked for peach flowers because their dresses were a dark green, and they were beautiful, simple, yet elegant. PERFECT. Our church flowers...AMAZING, he decorated the pews with beautiful lillies, and I had asked for to arrangements for the front of the church, all I can say was WOW, when I saw them, BIG, BEAUTIFUL, CLASSY, EXQUISITE! and that was only the church. At the reception, after the room is set up, they called us in to give everything a look and approval, and I almost cried when I walked into that room, our flowers were AMAZING, I don't know if he felt bad because he heard I was so sick earlier that day, but Adrian truly outdid himself. We had alternating centerpieces, high and low, he made our high ones, bigger and more beautiful than the original sample, We loved our low ones because they were so unique and different. We originally hadn't planned to have a large arrangement for our table, but he created the most GORGEOUS arrangement for our table it was crazy, how beautiful it was! we also had rented a stand from him to hang our birdcage, and the way he decorated it was just jaw dropping, you couldn't even tell that there was a metal rod under it. IT WAS CRAZY BEAUTIFUL, and so well done, everything was elegant, classy yet different! Which is exactly what we were hoping for.

DJ and live Trio Band
Elegancia Entertainment: Jose
Grade: A+ AMAZING

At first we were interested in booking a live band but given the space in our venue, we decided to go with a DJ. Elaine set up our appt and we went to meet with Jose. The company itself is hispanic which is a SUPER PLUS for us because, when your talking about Merengue Bachata, Cumbias, Salsa, there needs to be a mutual understanding of artists and styles of music, otherwise I feel, you waste too much time trying to explain things to one another. Well Jose was SO SWEET! he was professional but not stiff, he made us feel at home. and as soon as we started talking about our wedding, how my husband is Dominican and Im mexican and colombian, He got it. We also spoke about how we were going to book mariachi's for the cocktail hour and he recommended his FANTASTIC Trio band. He showed us a video of their work, and they were perfect. Just the right flavor to impress and delight the old school crowd, if you know what I mean. On top of that, Jose showed us their light show....which was pretty awesome! So WE BOOKED! As the date got closer, He sent us our music package, which is basically so that they can have the correct names of everyone on the wedding party. Also, to make a note of what kind of music (specifically) you may want to hear or may not want to hear. Then about a week or so before the wedding, we met again with Jose, we went over first dance music. He was great at helping us pick some things like the mother/son song and also the music that the bridal party walks in to. He played music for us, so we can make final decisions, and even made some suggestions which were right on. OH YEAH! and I forgot to mention we also hired two percussionist. So in all we had, The MC, which just happened to be for us, Jose, the DJ, two percussionist. A light show, and the Trio band, that played at our cocktail hour. The day of the wedding, Jose did not miss a beat. All the right songs were played at the right time. He was interactive with the crowd when he needed to be but NEVER intrussive or annoying, it was just right for what we wanted. The DJ WAS PHENOMINAL, and I want to apolgoize for not remembering his name right now. But lets just say I have been married a little over a month, and Im STILL getting compliments on how PHENOMINAL my DJ was, AND THE TRIO GROUP. They were so DIFFERENT, and UNIQUE, and a super pleasant addition to the cocktail hour. We couldn't not have had a better DJ or MC, or live band, I mean they truly shined and just had everyone on the dance floor the whole night.

Photography/Video
Bliss Productions: Michael, Jerry, and Mark
Grade: A+ AMAZING

I must say that this was the MOST IMPORTANT part of the planning for me because, its my memories. I also figured that in wedding planning, you get one splurge, and this was it. TOTALLY WORTH EVERY PENNY AND THEN SOME. Once again my fabulout planner Elaine set up my appt with Michael, who is the owner. We met Michael and right away, Jerry and I loved him. His work is impecable. He has a very laid back personality, which we liked, but understood right away what we wanted. As for video, I work as a video editor, and so I HATE CHEEZY WEDDING VIDEOS!!!!! Im sorry but I do. I don't want 1985 crap graphics exploding over my video, with cheezy transitions. So when I saw Michaels work, I HAD TO BOOK HIM. There is a certain style that Bliss Productions uses, THAT NOT ALL WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHERS USE. His style matched our taste perfectly. So WE BOOKED. Now day of the wedding, just a quick bacground: A week before the wedding i was feeling sick....5 days before the wedding I was in the ER, and found out I had a kidney stone, 4 days before the wedding, I suffered the MOST EXCRUCIATING PAIN ON EARTH, those who have suffered from kidneys stone know EXACTLY what Im talking about. Fast Forward to DAY OF THE WEDDING, I woke up fine, but at about 10AM, I was in that pain again...IT WAS HORRIBLE. Elaine quickly informed all vendors arriving to my house of my condition (Zena was there and saw it start, and Michael and Jerry arrived around 2) But despite my pain, anxiety, and frustration, Michael and Jerry(the camera guy) were AMAZING, soooo unbelievably understanding and PATIENT!!!! I never felt like they were in my face, and at times I totally forgot they were there, but they were. And everyone tried to make me feel comfortable and at ease, amazingly enough. They were just fantastic, kind, patient ,and so understanding to my unfortunate situatiion, and THEY MADE IT WORK! which was great, my pictures look awesome, and you cant even tell how awful I felt! I just am so grateful for their professionalism, and kindess through out the whole day. Even after the wedding, Michael has been a pleasure to work wtih, if I have question, he's answers it with no problem. I got my proof book and its AMAZING TOO!!!! Such GREAT quality all around. I can't even say enough good things, only that, if you want Impecable quality, great guys to work with, AMAZING IMAGES, and want to feel like you are amongst friends instead of VENDORS, CHOOSE BLISS, they are sooo worth it :)


Limos
Royalty Limos
Grade: A

What can I say, Elaine picked them for us, we went, got a tour of all their limos, we close an old school car for us ,Im horrible with car models so please bear with me, I believe it was a 1936 caddy. That car carried me and my parents to the church and then after the ceremony took me and my husband to the reception. We choose an expedition, to carry the bridal party, and a basic white lincoln to take my immediate family to the reception, because they don't have a car and we had out of town family members. So i wanted everyone to be comfortable and not worry. They were RIGHT ON TIME, we got all the cars we asked for, my driver WAS SOOO NICE!!! he too knew I was sick going to the church, and was very attentive, and kind. I had no real problems, my bridesmaids said their driver was a little attitiudy with them at the church, which is why I only gave them A, because I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what happened, or what was said. But seriously, great company, great service, maybe that driver was having a bad day ,who knows. I was happy! and their prices seemed very fair. We also had a limo pick up my family at the end of the night ,and we had a car pick us up the next day from our hotel room, on time, no issues.

Our Wedding Cake
Erica De La Fe for Cake Obsessions
Grade: A+ AMAZING AMAZING and DELICIOUS

We got Ericas info from Elaine. We went for our tasting at her home in the city, she was just the sweetest thing ever! And her cakes! OMG. For our wedding cake, we wanted something, not just tastey but we wanted it to look amazing also. We sat with Erica and tasted three of her flavors, Almond amaretto, Lemon, and chocolate. They were all great tasting. moist and flavorful. We went with the almond amaretto because it was such a different flavor. We talked about the design. We wanted white fondant, and green,aside from that we had no clue what we wanted... Well, Erica came up with a design but told us, once we get our invitations, to send her an image of it, so we did. She loved our invitation and told us she was going to incorporate the design of the invite to our cake using a new technique she had. When I saw my cake, I almost cried, it was sooo beautiful, and PERFECT. My husband was so impressed. Everyone LOVED OUR CAKE, she did an amazing job, It was elegant, clean, and unique! She used the initals from our invites and recreated the whole scroll design on the cake, creating like a plaque. Then she used the scroll work to create borders around the other layers. JUST AMAZING, if i ever figure out how to post pictures here I will. Definitely going to be a knot.com pick! I just know it! Erica and Cake Obsessions is truley a hidden treasure!




Reception Hall
Fox Hollow
Grade: A+ AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING

We booked the Fox Hollow the same day we saw it. As soon as you walk into the premises you don't feel like you are in a RECEPTION HALL. Its not THEMED, or GIMICKY, which was very important for us. I loved that they had their own natural garden, which they upkeep very well, their grass is always green, they have a bridge with water fountaln, natural paths, and gazebos, nothing is 'staged' its all naturally placed within their grounds. The package, I feel was fair. We used our own cake, so they gave us extras instead, like our seafood boat, and a vodka and caviar station in the cocktail hour. Ken was the guy who set us up, he was ok. I barely dealt with him so I can't say much more about him. Anne Marie, assited us in finalizing everything at the end, she was a sweetheart.

The day of our wedding, we arrived a little early because I wasn't well at all, and so as soon as we got their, Elaine told our matrieD and my bridal attendant, about my situation, and they IMMEDIATELY handled the situation well, they got me to my bridal suite, set up a nice buffet for my bridal party and family, by the outside gazebo, so that I could have privacy in my room. My Bridal attendant, and I feel horrible that I can't remember her name right now. But she was so great, when we got to the bridal suite, they brought me some food and juice so i can take some medicine, Elaine, helped me out of my dress, and my bridal attendat sat with me, while my husband and Elaine, went to check out the cake and the room. After about a half hour, I was feeling GREAT! so I strapped myself back in my dress and we went to meet everyone for pictures.

We had mentioned that we wanted to go to our cocktail hour so we went for about 10 minutes or so. Our cocktail hour was in the WGP, and it was AMAZING, we had the trio band playing a plethora of delicious food, the seafood boat was SUCH A HIT with everyone! All the guests just raved at how great the food and service was.

In the reception room, The Briar fox room, everything was PERFECT. Don't let the low ceilings worry you, I thought it would be a problem, and not at atll....The service was impecable, the food, delicious. And it wasn't just that the service was great, it was soo well coordinated, you never felt like anyone was in your face. My father who has worked in a restaurant for well over 30 years commented that the manner in which the fox hollow executed everything was just AMAZING, they have it down to an art, every meal, every pick up, the refills, everything was just perfect. Even towards the end of the night when we got our mini vianese, which was pretty big I thought, the way the set everything up on the dance, floor, just impecable, no fussiness, we never felt like OMG they are all over the place. IT was great! Just FANTASTIC! I even had guests come up to me and tell us how much they loved everything and how they felt that the room was so inviting and intimate, truley a unique experience. And it really was.

The food, was SO DELICIOUS, we didn't get a food tasting, and some people might get worried about this, but, to be honest the the scotto brothers own so many restaurants, and in our case at the Fox hollow, their chef at the restaurant is the same chef and kitchen used for the wedding. Everything was just EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT!

I think that just about covers all the major things.

I hope my review was helpful, I will try to post pictures as soon as I figure out how.

xoxo
jessie

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

im having my ch and reception in the same rooms!! thanks 4 the review!!!

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

CONGRATULATIONS! Your photos are beautiful! Everything looked perfect and you were such a gorgeous bride!

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

beautiful!

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

i'm glad you liked the fox hollow, I can't wait! congrats

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

awww thank you for the kind words :)

I can't wait to get my albums and video :)

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

thanks! it sounds like everything was wonderful.

Also, thanks for mentioning the briar fox room, I was so worried but now I feel better!

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

Great review!! The photos on that website are beautiful- you looked great- I never would have guessed that you passed a stone earlier in the day! Good for you for not letting it stand in the way of a wonderful wedding! Congrats to you and your new husband!!!

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

your photos came out amazing....congrats!

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

Congrats! Ur wedding sounded amazing! I am using elegancia also & getting married at fox hollow. Ur review was soo helpful!

Re: Wedding Review, 6-21-08 Fox Hollow, Cake Obsessions, Bliss productions and more

Hi date twin, you look gorgeous! Congrats