This review won't be too extensive (hopefully!) since I'm headed to the airport in a few hours, but I got a lot of help from this site and everyone here and wanted to give a brief review of those vendors who made my wedding so wonderful. Some are popular here, some have been mentioned a few times and some haven't before, but I hope this is useful. There are also a few non-pro pics in my
album.
EDIT: I just picked up my proofs from Natasha last night. She took over 1,000 photos, and I am totally blown away by her work!
Pro pics. These are only a few, mostly from the album she designed. The only drawback is the album she designed has more pages than we budgeted for, so we might have to edit it down a little, which will be tough!!
Anyway, I thought I'd take the opportunity to expand my re-cap a bit.
First off, weather: I often get annoyed when bad weather messes with plans, so I was afraid if there was the threat of rain on my wedding day, I'd be a wreck. Well, I guess you can surprise yourself, because the day before while we were getting our manis and pedis, and it was pouring, I was calm as can be. I think it's the realization of course that you can't control it, and that you're going to be marrying the one you love, etc. I was very fortunate, though, that even though the sun only just peaked out a bit on Sunday, it was dry and people were able to go out and enjoy the vineyard.
Since I planned my wedding over a year and a half, when the weekend finally came, it was surreal. At four days to, my stomach was in knots with nervousness and anticipation, I got stuck in an insane downpour in the city before a massage appointment with now-DH and had to deal with the rain and public transportation getting back to our apartment and to the LIRR (kind of negated the massage a tad) but Saturday was definitely much calmer, maybe because the day was approaching and we were traveling out east, so I was “there” and it was going to unfold and that was it.
The morning of the wedding, one of my favorite memories was sitting with my MOH and bridesmaids and mom, getting our hair and make-up done and watching “Save the Last Dance” on TV in our room in the inn. Everyone was so calm, and that was really the best way to start the day.
I know everyone says the wedding day flies by, and while it somewhat did for me, I can truly say I feel like I took everything in. (Though I am definitely glad I got that video!)
Now, on to the reviews!
(Review of invite designer added at the end.)
Venue Wolffer Estate 10/10
My DH and I first visited this south fork vineyard in 2001 with his best man and his wife. We thought it was so gorgeous, and it was the first place on our list when we started planning at the end of '04. Sue, the event coordinator there was so sweet and she helped us envision the perfect set-up. The wine, of course, was one of the best things. Their rose, chardonnay and sparkling wine is some of the best I've tasted and my guests agreed. While the do have a pricey site fee, we had three separate families, plus DH and I, contributing, so it worked out. It felt like we were in Tuscany and there was a real family atmosphere. Another possible drawback is that the 'dance floor' in the tasting room is separate from the patio where lunch was served, but that was OK for me because it meant people had ample opportunity to talk without shouting. Also -- and this is key -- they expanded the patio on one side, so since the grounds were still a bit wet from the day before, we had the ceremony on the covered patio and still had the great view, but everyone's feet stayed dry! We will be back on our year anniversary.
Caterer Food and Co. 9/10
One of Wolffer's preferred caterers. Absolutely delicious food (and they were nice enough to grab me a plate of cocktail hour food for after our brief photo session). They made these amazing eggplant fritters and mushroom risotto in phyllo as passed HD's, and we chose to have antipasto, normally used as a station for the CH, as a first course, already out on the tables for people to share. It was a big hit with our guests, and the presentation was amazing, with real vegetables, garlic, etc. lining the center of the long tables. Michelle, the caterer/planner, was so organized, set up the tons of stuff we brought (programs, petal cones, guestbook cards, etc.) so beautifully, and really helped me stay sane in the weeks before the wedding.
Hair Denise Venti 9/10
I found her about 3 months before the wedding and was so fortunate she was free since I hear from this site she books up months in advance. She was so nice, on time, and did such a fantastic job on everyone's hair, even the members of my bridal party who really weren't sure what they wanted. My hair was exactly how I envisioned. Like I said above, the morning of the wedding, our room where we were getting ready was like this oasis of calm, the men in the house couldn't believe it! I think Denise helped contribute to that atmosphere.
Make-upClarin Cohen 8/10
Another vendor I found through this site. Like Denise, Clarin was on time, a sweetheart and worked quickly. After my trial and a few weeks before the wedding I panicked because I thought she might have used too much makeup and my DH had commented it looked like a lot. So before the wedding I e-mailed her and told her I would like it a bit lighter on the day of. She definitely fulfilled her promise and everyone looked great.
Photographer Natasha Staszak 9/10 for day-of. 9/10 for photos
Everytime I visited Natasha's studio and met with her, I remembered why I hired her -- she is so low-key, sweet and down to earth. She was exactly that way on the day of, not pushy and even though I was itching to join my guests in the cocktail hour during the posed photos, I had a good time. She was everywhere, but not a niusance at all. When we were between courses, she asked me if I'd like to go out front of the building for some posed photos because some sun had come out -- and my MOH was there and said they were going to be some of the greatest photos. She and her husband stayed until the last dance.
Videographer Ray from Timeless Treasures 9/10 ? for video
At first, I wasn't even going to hire a videographer and was just going to have a friend record the ceremony. But DH's friends who got married last summer convinced us otherwise, so I did research here and contacted Ray. The price was right and he seemed great and low-key. Well, on the day of I can honestly say the all my fears of an intrusive videographer were quelled. He was so inconspicuous, and the only time I really felt like I was being filmed was on the dance floor. He used a light, but it was fine and people didn't seem to care or shrink away. I am REALLY looking forward to seeing the video, especially the ceremony since we were looking at the rabbi the whole time and I want to see the guests' reactions, as well as have the poem that my friend wrote and read recorded. Even my mom, who really didn't want a video either, was blown away by how unobtrusive he was.
Band Lapis Luna 9/10
We had this quartet play for the ceremony, CH, first dance and dinner. They do classis 30s and 40s standards, and when we found a song for our first dance ('Dance Me to the End of Love' by Leonard Cohen, performed in the version we like by Madeleine Peyroux) they already knew how to do it and had played it for a first dance before. The lead singer, Shawn, is sweet and great to work with, and so down to earth. We met a few weeks before the wedding to go over t hings and just sat on the floor at Barnes and Noble, and I felt like I was chatting with friend and not a vendor.
DJ Gabriela, A Starry Night 8/10
The only problems I had with Gabriela (and they were small) was that it was hard to reach her in the month before my wedding because she was in the process of moving. That caused a little anxiety, but was fine because the owner Carol Moore took care of a lot of stuff like getting our play and do not play lists, etc. Gabriela got there on time and was great with being ready for cake cutting, parent dances and an awesome hora (our timeline for that stuff was somewhat tentative, but she came through and we communicated with her about it). Another drawback was my grandparents' song was not the right one, BUT it is a very hard song to find (my mom years ago spent ages looking for a record of it and so I had a feeling it would be hard). Not really her fault as she only had a couple of weeks to find it and several songs have the same title (You're My Everything). The only songs that weren't so popular were ones I requested! Oh well!
Last, but not least:
Cake Kathy Burton 10/10
I had my heart set on pistachio cake because I love the pistachio cupcakes at Sugar Sweet Sunshine in the city. She had never made it before, but when we tasted a sample she made us, it was PERFECT. It was covered in a french buttercream, and some layers had that as a filling while others had chocolate mousse. She decorated it with beautiful buttercream grapes. Delicious, pretty and Kathy was an absolute doll.
Only other vendor I think that's left is my florist. He's a family friend and is based in NYC (he even stayed out at my DH dad's house in the Hamptons the night before because he did the flowers for the 'rehearsal dinner' that they held). Even though there was some trial and error with the colors in the months before the wedding, he got everything the way I wanted and I couldn't be happier! You can FM if you would like contact info.
Also, invitations: We used a friend of a friend (she also designed someone's invites on this site, since she was a cousin of the bride's FH). I'd give her a 10; we had a gatefold invite with a floral paper strip down the inside, and many people commented to my parents that they were very unique. We used a vine image she placed on the front (she gave us the file) on our programs, menus, favor cards, etc.
