My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

Hello all. I haven't posted on this forum that much, but believe me I used it soooo much.

As a quick intro, we are a couple who were already legally married... for immigration reasons (turns out you cannot renew a student visa if you are engaged to an American, and they ask it on the form!). But we had a wedding in Turkey in April to celebrate with my family and friends (which my parents planned all by themselves, we just showed up), and one on Long Island where my in-laws live. In addition, we live in Boston, which made it a bit of a challenge in the end. All worked out great, and we had some absolutely great vendors - thanks LI weddings!

So, here I start:

Weather: A
It was raining and stopping all week, we were very worried we wouldn't be able to get any pictures in the garden of Swan Club... But it was nice and dry, and we had sooo many great pictures. Soon to come.

Wedding dress and BM dresses: Manhattan Bridals in Dedham, MA - A++++++++++++++++++
They were so great and helpful. And my dress was absolutely gorgeous. It was a brand new model from Alfred Angelo, I was in fact the first to try on the sample. And I was soooo lucky to get to wear it twice:)

Invitations: My artistic sister - A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yes, she designed the invitations very special for us. Everyone seemed to love it. We modified the design to prepare our RSVP's, thank you cards, menus, programs... The printing, we did some in our home printer and some on Vistaprint (highly recommended)

Veil: occanseydesigns.com - A++++++++++++++++++++++
They were quick, very affordable, completely customizable and beautiful. What else is there to say? It was great.

Shoes: Sears - A+++++
They were $8 on sale, and were comfortable for over 6 hours. I was incredibly lucky.

Officiant: Monica Weiss from Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island - A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was easy to find an officiant in Massachusetts - go to City Hall, ask for the list, make a phone call. Much trickier in Long Island, it seemed, to find a Justice of the Peace, someone who will not mention God in the ceremony, which we were very adamant about. Ethical Humanists, who believe that people should be good, were perfect for us. Monica was amazing, very sweet and helpful, gave us great ideas and advice on what to put in the ceremony, and went over every detail of what she was going to say word for word.

Swan Club: A++++++++
They have such beautiful grounds, so we have amazing photos. Christian was very helpful, even though he was sort of hard to reach by phone at times. So was Mike, who dealt with us in the beginning. Karla, the bridal attendant, was so amazing and helpful too. The food was great. And for the people who have doubts, the cake was very pretty too. The only problem we had was during the ceremony - the AC started running and completely drowned what we were saying for people sitting further back. Maybe the microphone was not on either (I didn't even notice a thing).

Flowers: Colonial Flower Shop: A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Claudio really knows what he is doing, there is no question. He gave us a great price, and designed something that was just perfect for us. He showed up exactly on time on the day of the wedding, as promised. And the flowers were absolutely beautiful on the day as well, each rose was absolutely flawless.

DJ: After Hours Music: A++++++++++
The music was a lot of fun. He played all the songs we asked for, including Turkish and Jewish music.

Photo and video: Dan Wagner - A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We haven't seen the video yet, but the photos are so pretty, and we didn't even notice he was taking them most of the time. He's extremely enthusiastic; he had a hard time stopping the pictures so we could eat :) But it was well worth it.

Guest shuttle: Alert Buses - A+++++++++
They were on time and very cordial. Also gave us a good price.

Hotel accommodations: Best Western Woodbury - B
Jessica, who arranged the guest reservations, was great, and she let us keep the group rate even though we didn't make the minimum number of rooms. The rooms were also ok, comfortable and clean. However, the front desk staff was not always so helpful: Some assured us that we could check in early easily, while the person in charge that day kept causing problems. He was rude to my best friend who tried to check in early, and forgot to give some guests our welcome packages. The lady during the night shift was very helpful and nice, so it depends who you get I guess.

In short, pretty much everyone was great, and highly recommended.

I will probably add some photos once I have them.

Edit: I still don't have the photos, but you can check out Dan's blog for a few: http://www.xanga.com/danwagnerphotography

Also, how could I forget:

Hair: Metro Hair Modes: A++++++++++++++++++++++
They did my hair, and gave blow-outs to my mom and sister. Their prices were amazing (they charged for an up-do, not 'bridal hair'), and gave us lots of gift coupons and a shampoo sample. They did a great job, I think, I loved my hair. No trial either. They also do make-up, but I did mine myself (a bit of a control-freak there).

Thanks:)

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

Great review! Congratulations! I can't wait to see your photos!

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

I LOVE YOUR PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!

I fixed your link YOUR PHOTOS

I love the photo of the two of you dancing -- you guys are good!!!!! Did you take lessons?

We're using Dan too. I can't wait.

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

congrats!!!! Sounds like it was a great day! Post pics when you have them!

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

Thanks so much for fixing the link! I used to do a lot of latin/ballroom dancing, so I taught him a bit of rhumba and some chacha (the move seen in the picture is called, funny enough, the New Yorker). He picked it up so quickly:)

As for Dan, he was just great, I am sure you'll have great photos. Best of luck planning:) It was a great day, and it feels sort of nice not having to worry about planning now. Just many thank you cards to write.

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

So beautiful! If you don't mind me asking: can you explain the lei of roses that wrap both of you during the ceremony. It was gorgeous!

Congrats

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

Dress is totally unique! LOVE THE RED! Super hot! Great review! Thanks for sharing!

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

The flowers for the ceremony were the standard set-up of Swan Club - it was included. The thing is, we had never seen that pavilion set-up for the ceremony before actually walking in (they also do receptions in there). It was beautiful, inside but with all the windows it felt as if you were outside.

As for the dress, it's an Alfred Angelo. I was very lucky - it was the latest model, and at the bridal shop they said I was the first to try the sample on. I love my dress:)

Thanks for everything. We got the photos (like 1000 of them), I'll pick some, make them smaller and post tomorrow probably.

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

This is great, we have one hotel booked but are looking for a more affordable one as well. I think we are going to offer the Best Western Woodbury as an option.

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

Here are some photos...

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Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

Some more pics

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Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

And some more...

The hora with the chairs was scary (as you can see from my face), mainly because 'there were not enough butch strong guys around' as my brother in law said.

And some Turkish dancing. That's me and my best friend, my parents (well, dad and half of my mom) in the background to the right.

Our cake was great (not that I ate a lot, but looked great, and the one bite tasted fine too).

Finally, I love my dress.

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Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

you look great! thanks for the review.

Re: My review: 7/5/08 - Swan Club, Dan Wagner, After Hours Music, etc

Love the review, it's always great to hear wonderful things about SC