Jeffrey & Gisella Guichard 3/20/2009 wedding review; Chateu Briand, Duet, Mia, Verbena and More....

1st let me begin to say that liweddings made the planning so much easier. You guys helped me find most of the vendors i was looking for. Thank you for all the advice and giving me your time to listen to whatever problem i had.. ALL pics below are Duet's


OK Where do i start. i guess ill start with the first vendor we booked..
Chateau Briand: A-
Booking: I booked with Frank Acerino. He booked other family affairs. He was a pleasure to work with and tired to help us as much as he could with the price. Unfortunately he had to leave for personal reasons. I had to deal with other mangers and that was little annoying... But when ever i had any questions and concerns they were there to help. They helped me when i found out past brides got a free room at the fox hollow and i would not give up until they gave me one. ( I was probably alittle annoying )

The Day Of: My Final sit down was w/ Elmer. When me and Jeff meet w/ him he seemed alittle cold, uninterested in the event. Well that was my take. But everything we asked for he did. Especially our table cards were had a small print and they still did a good job setting the card table up. My only complain about him was i had 3 extra people come to the wedding last minute and i just wanted to tell them... well I should have never done that. Once i said that he said i owe them more money.. I did not have any cash on me. He said he was not allowed to send people in the reception room until they got the money. I was so upset because i did not have any money on me. It was later taken care of but i thought i just spend 15000 dollars on this and i owe 200 more they could have waited. But again its business!!!.. (HINT girls dont ever tell them if you see extra people because it ended up 4 of our guest did not end up coming because of personal problems and i paid for nothing... so please dont make the mistake i did)
Food was ok... i think i was my expectations were too high.. I did eat a little and what i tasted i was not impressed. neither were some of the guests.. The guest told me the best food was the cocktail hour.. but the reception was ok :/ (HINT if you dont like mushrooms do not get the lasagna, packed with mushrooms)
















Dress: EOM/ AMALIA CARRARA A++++ (FM for info)
I didnt know what dress i wanted.. i looked for 3 months. I had my eye on KP dress but too much $$$. Then i went to bridal reflections and found THE DRESS>>> well it was still too much after alterations and bustle.. but MrsLarrea2B told me about this place in jersey... OH man it worked out so well. when i went they took my measruements and had the dress done by january. when i went to my first fitting the dress did not fit because of my hips and butt.. They had fix it and everything came out GREAT!!! She even gave me a little bag to match my dress.. oh Milly Thanks..










Jewelry, headpiece and Garter
Headpiece was from the lady i got my dress from A+. It went well w/ the dress and hair. I bought on from barrons but it was not what i was looking for. Too Princess like... No my style.
Jewelry from Macys and Lord & Taylor A++
I loved my jewlery... Priceless
Garter: etsy seller: gmarasa




Veil: Barron A
Mr. Barron is very helpful and nice. But before you go there make sure you know what you want because they do not do returns, I always change my mind. .. But the veil matched my dress. It was nothing crazy but just some crystals at the edges.



Bridesmaid Dress: David's Bridal..
I really wanted them to get Alivina Valenta dress but you guys know how expensive it is. All my girls have kids and can not spend too much on a dress they will probably wear once. So We went to Davids Bridal. The dress was ok.. Somewhat similar to Alivia Valenta. But It was 99 dollars.. so cant complain. They looked so good though..



tuxs: Dante Zeller A
They were great to work with a decent priced. Jeff got his for free so we can not complain. Everything was there one time. And Jeff lokked so good



Wedding bands: Elsa Jewelry A
I could not a store that had a ring to match mines. So we went to elsa. The process was kinda crazy. you see the mold you designed your self and see it all made.. it ended up cheaper then other stores.


Movado Company Store: A++
I looked around to get the best price for a nice watch.. When i went there they did not have any watches that i though he would like. They looked for 3 weeks until they found something in good price. He LOVED it



Hair & Makeup: M*I*A !!!!!!! A+++++
Oh M*I*A... what else can i say. Her work speaks for itself. But she is also so cool. And so helpful. I changed my mind about my hair about 4 times. also she was there w/ any doubts that i had. i would text her and she would call me or text me back.. I have so much love for her. She really went out of her way to help me. Here are the before and after:




Hotel: The Hampton Inn (Rockville Centre): A++++++
We had to stay at the hotel to get ready because our house was a mess. They were so accommodating..They gave us the biggest room. and made sure we stayed in different floors because i did not want jeff to see me. :) Jeff was having problems connecting his PS 3 and They went all over the hotel to see what tv would work.. They hotel staff spent 1 hr trying to help him. Anything we asked for they did. I cant say enough good things. PS the breakfast was really good for it being free!!!!





Limo: Alexis Limo A
The day before the wedding they called and said that the bently we paid for was in the shop. I was so upset. They replaced it w/ another bently but i liked the spur better becuase its more sporty. Well everything was fine cause that day me last concern was the limo. But the drivers were awesome. They helped me w/ my dress. I was freaking out before walking down the isle and they were there to make me laugh and calm me down. The were there early and everything moved on nice a smooth..



Church: Holy Name Of Mary (valley stream) A+++++++
The last few days before the wedding the thing i was looking forward to was the ceremony. I meet w/ Father Robert. He is super cool. He was there for me when i needed to speak to him about my doubts. I know alittle corney . I was never one to speak to a priest but he makes you feel so comfortable. Picking out the songs was also easy. Mr. Faughley played all the songs and help us make our decision. The rehearsal was stressful. I got bad news from the limo company (will get to that later) and i had problems with the groomsmen. i was a wreck. Oh and it was the day before the wedding. So you can imagine how stressed i was. So i wish i can remember the lady name who managed the rehearsal but she calmed me down. Was very patient with us. Especially when some of the groomsmen were late.. But everything went smoothly.

Day Of: OMG we were running late because we were not already. So once i got to the church there was no one in the church lol.. There was so much traffic at that time people were running late.. Father Robert waited for about 30 min till everyone got there... The mass was amazing. I loved all of it.







Flowers: Verbena Designs A
Jen is a sweetheart. Me and Jeff drove her crazy looking for brown flowers. we changed our minds also a thousand times. But she was really nice about it. We were such a tight budget for flowers. But she worked w/ what i gave her . I loved my flowers.. I thought my church looked nice w/o all the decor so your not going to see much of that. The only thing was the cherry blossom just bloomed so the centerpiece was not as full as would have wanted them..




DJ: Ultimate Sound DJ A++++++++
I have read some negative reviews about them.. Well DONT believe it..They were one vendor i was not worried about. Frank Is such an honest, helpful, and so professional. We meet w/ him the day we were going to book w/ someone else. OMG the minute i meet w/ him i did not feel like he was trying to sell me. He gave me such great advice. He told us about other companies to meet w/ .. also told us about DUET... He gave us the CD demo and we were hooked. I am peruvian and Jeff is Haitian. We needed a diverse DJ. I had Ralphel and Edwin (aka monster) lol.. They did their things.I wanted a club feel to the party. and they delivered. I did not stop dancing the whole night... i mean only for the traditional things we needed. Everyone raved about them..











Photo and Video: Duet A (TJ)++++++++++++++
well i cant rate video yet cause i dont have it..
We meet with Eric. I felt a little pressure to sign but we did. Best decision. TJ is awesome. He is so down to earth. Im not the type likes to be in front of the camera. But he made me feel comfortable. He has such an eye for things. Everything he takes is beautiful. I love love him. He goes out of his way to make the picture look amazing. These are some epics:




We had Sam as the second photographer. He was a little impatient. He seemed like he was getting frustrated because i was uncomfortable at first. I guess i just felt more comfortable w/ TJ. But the pics came out really nice. I have no complaints.
Sam's pics:








TJ pics