Well it's taken me 3 months, but here's my review. Finally. I apologize in advance for any typos or odd grammar. I forgot to spell check before bringing everything from Word to LIW and I'm not going back to do it now. :)
Before the review, a little story about my morning:
The weather forecast for my wedding day was iffy to say the least. When I went to sleep the night before there was an 80% chance of rain, beginning in the morning. Imagine how I felt when I was woken up by sun streaming into my room, and birds chirping. I have never been so elated to see the sun in my life. I called my husband-to-be and left a message saying that all of our loved ones who had gone before were smiling down on us and that we were going to have a magical day. I was right.
Now, not everything was perfect. It did rain at one point. My flowers weren’t what I expected, and a host of other things managed to go wrong. But it really didn’t matter. I married the love of my life, surrounded by the most important people in my life, and that made it perfect.
So, the day started with me running through the house, and literally out into the street, cheering for the sun. I was calm and relaxed. I had some coffee, ate some food, and waited for the day to begin. Unfortunately it was not a typical October day so it was way too hot to wear the “Soon to Be Mrs.” robe and sweatshirt my mom got me. I wasn’t prepared for the hot, humid conditions, so I really had nothing to wear to get ready. At one point I borrowed a summer dress my mom had, with every intention of changing into something more ‘bridely’ when the hair & makeup people arrived. But things happened pretty quickly after that and I never managed to change. I think it’s hysterical that I am wearing some random Hawaiian dress while I get ready for my October wedding.
Shortly before my hair & makeup gang arrived, my sister’s boyfriend John, showed up with some gifts from my soon-to-be husband. First, he handed me this thin little thing the shape of a large book, and I was instantly confused. I opened it and found a picture of Snoopy howling at the moon (I’m a HUGE, diehard Peanuts fan). After a few seconds of chuckling, I read the note that went along with it, explaining that what I held in my hand was a replica, but that I was actually going to be getting the original print that Charles Schultz created. Needless to say I was shocked.
After I finished oohing and aahing over the print, John handed me another gift, almost as an after thought. This time I opened a CD that appeared to be a mix. I was told I had to listen to it before I put my makeup on. I thought, “Oh so sweet. Probably a mix of our favorite songs.” I went and called FH to thank him for both gifts. The call was short as he urged me to go listen to the CD before I got makeup done, which was going to be in about an hour. So, ok, I put on the CD. I heard the first few chords and realized it was one of my favorite songs, “The Luckiest.” The intro sounded a little different though and within a few seconds I realized it was FH singing. It turns out that he had recorded 5 songs for me, one of which he had written me for our 6 month anniversary. I proceeded to cry my eyes out until I was pile of tears. Hence, the reason FH was so insistent on me listening to it before makeup. Smart boy.
On to the vendor reviews:All pictures from here on out were taken by Jordan Matter, his assistant or the second photographer, Jeremy Saladyga.
CEREMONY
St. Aloysius Church, Great NeckThis church is very special to me and I feel blessed that we could be married there. It’s the church where my fraternal grandparents got married, where my father and all of his brothers made all of their sacraments, and where there is a pane of glass in one of the windows bearing a family name. The last few times my family gathered in the church were for the funerals of my grandparents. It meant so much to me to be able to bring the family together there for a joyful reason. This fact was not lost on anyone.
I hired four musicians through the church to perform all the music at the ceremony, (an organist, a trumpet, a soprano and a bass) and they were wonderful.
RECEPTION
The CarltunOverall the Carltun was wonderful. The food was great, the cake was outstanding and the service was good. People are still raving about the place! If you want more detailed info feel free to send me an FM.
FLOWERS & LINENS
Matthew Robbins for ArtfoolOverall, my flowers were beautiful. I can honestly say they were not what I had envisioned, even after many meetings and specific notes and requests about everything. But they did look terrific and I got many compliments on them. So despite the many things that weren’t exactly the way I’d want them, I’d recommend Matthew because he’s terrific to work with and his final result is beautiful. If you want more info what went wrong, feel free to FM me.
MOH bouquet
Bridal bouquet
Centerpieces
MUSIC
NYC Swing Well, they sounded amazing, kept people on the dance floor all night long and 3 months later, people are still talking about them. So I for those reasons I’d say they were wonderful. However, things like coming up to my dad 5 minutes before our dance and telling him they hadn’t learned the father/daughter song, is unacceptable. They messed up almost every important song, and played more songs off of my “do not play” list, than my “play list.” A few times I had to leave the room because they were playing songs that I told them I hated and didn’t want to hear at my wedding. I can’t say I wouldn’t recommend them, but I’d proceed with caution. FM me if you’d like to know more.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jordan Matter/Jeremy Saladyga (of Gruber Photography) Here’s where we hit a home run! I have adored Jordan since the first day we met with him. He is a fantastic guy! He was a pleasure to work with and was a really was a calming presence on the wedding day. He works with a friend for larger weddings, and they both captured exactly what we wanted… a documentary of the day through photographs. He is less of a traditional wedding photographer in the sense that he doesn’t pose many shots. He just captured the day as it happened. If you are a bride that needs to give the photographer a shot list with 100 different permutations of family portraits, etc… he may not be the photographer for you. We got our portraits, but the bulk of the day was captured through candid moments, which still bring a tear to my eye after viewing them thousands of times. For those who like details, we had 2 photographers and an assistant, got 700 digital proofs and 1200 film proofs, and all of our negatives. There are no books, thanks you’s etc… included. He takes the pics, develops them and then leaves it up to you to do the rest. He did make us an album of his favorite pics though, that told the story of the day beautifully. If I had no other album I’d be happy. I HIGHLY recommend Jordan!
VIDEOGRAPHY
Bliss Productions I haven’t seen my final product yet, but I can’t imagine it being anything less than spectacular! Jerry and Mike were simply wonderful on the day of the wedding and I am confident that our video will show that. I worked with Jerry in the morning as I got ready, and he was funny, professional and totally unintrusive. He was also the only person in the house who ended up knowing how to put on a boutenniere properly. So he pinned it on my dad. He and Mike also showed up at the rehearsal the night before to kind of scope out the church, which I thought said a lot about them and the kind of work they do. So far I HIGHLY recommend them. I’ll give an update when I have the DVD.
LIMOS
White Star LimousineThey showed up early, the drivers knew where they were going and the limos were clean and beautiful. That’s all I could have asked for. I surely recommend them.
