The Brides' Review - Winter Wonderland Wedding on Christmas 2008

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Winter Wonderland Wedding on Christmas 2008

vika111 Posted: Dec 30, 2008 08:56 AM+

vika111 MEMBER SINCE: 8/07 TOTAL POSTS : 1462 WEDDING DATE: Nov 22, 2007

Posted: Dec 30, 2008 08:56 AM

Winter Wonderland Wedding on Christmas 2008

This is a review not from the eyes of the bride, but from the eyes of the Maid of Honor and organizer of the wedding.

My best friend's wedding took place on Christmas. It was a gorgeous setting of snow in New Jersey, when the limosine left her house. The bridesmaids stayed over her house to get ready, starting at 5 in the morning. Make up took from 5AM to 10AM for 3 bridesmaids, the bride, and the mother of the bride.

Natasha, who'd also been the make up and hair stylist at my wedding, was the vendor here, too. I give her an A++++. She came on time, with an assistant, and used her imagination to create these beautiful styles.

Here are pictures of us getting ready:

As part of the Winter Wonderland theme, we'd chosen a restaurant that is already decorated in white and blue, which fit our theme. The restaurant, Metropole, is in Brooklyn. SInce this is a Russian-style catering hall, the food is family style, constantly carried out onto the tables. The cocktail hour took place before the ceremony.
I give the restaurant and A+. The waiters were attentive. The food, which included everything from shrimp, sushi boats, chicken, beef, etc, all the way to a dessert table, was delicious and plentiful.
The band and MC were included in the package, as well, although I was not thrilled with the music.

As the bridal gifts, the bride gave out pajamas to the bridesmaids (with our initials ironed on in rhinestones). To the MOH, she gave a snowflake necklace to wear on the day of the wedding.
All girls also received snowflakes pins for the hair.

The night before, we decorated our own ornaments for the tree. These are the bride, MOH, and bridesmaid ornaments in the picture. It was a really cute surprise for the bride, since she loves her tree.

At the restaurant, as part of the theme, when guests walked in, they immediately saw a large Christmas Tree, with many ornaments. These snowflake ornaments were their placecards. Each guest collected his or her snowflake, which can be an ornament for a tree, or a magnet for a refrigerator, and a picture frame. This was a hit since everyone really got into the game of searching. Of course, I had the bridal party present by the tree to help everyone find their placecards, so that there wouldn't be a crowd of people in one place.

As people walked in to the cocktail hour, they found a waiter handing out champagne and a slideshow, with music, of their baby pictures. This is a nice background for guests.

Dress: (Bride's note - she is putting this dress up for sale, with the underskirt and tiara) - The dress was purchased at Monica's Bridal in Brooklyn. It is a Maggie Sottero. The bride added all of the rhinestones and decorations to the dress.

Photography/Videography: D-
I was really unhappy with this vendor! I would rather not post the name, but FM me if you plan to book a video/photo person in Brooklyn, and I'll let you know who this is.
The vendor was great at the pre-wedding shots done in the summer (as I'd done before my wedding, the bride and groom took their photos on the day of the trials, too, to make sure that a full day would be devoted to their photos in many locations, without being afraid to run out of time).
However, on the day of the wedding, he seemed to be lazy, or something, because he took one photo of the bridesmaids and dismissed us, so we had to take some of our own shots. Actually, even at the wedding, he'd just sit down. During the cocktail hour, I saw him eating and drinking.
The videographer was attentive, but the stand for his camera was always in the way, even when we had to walk down the aisle. We had to walk around it.

So we took pictures with our own camera:

Florist: A++++
Natasha from Brooklyn
She was fantastic. Everything looked great. The centerpieces were the perfect image of the bride's idea. The Chuppah, created similar to the one that I had at my wedding, but customized to the winter wonderland theme, looked stunning!

Cake: Master Sweets Bakery in Brooklyn. Henry, the pastry chef and owner, has a great imagination. The best cake is passion fruit mousse flavored. Yumm! The florist decorated the cake stand with the feathers.
http://www.liweddings.com/mywedding/album/i/313320.jpg