orchid24's st. aidan's/crest hollow country club review

Hi girls! I got married on 09/04/05 and was blessed with wonderful weather that weekend. Nothing majorly wrong happened. Here is my review, but I'd like to preface it by stating that I am picky, and was disappointed by a few of the vendors that got/get rave reviews on here. I'm just being completely honest with what I experienced, and this is not to deter you from using these vendors. It is just a heads up of what to look out for. My one piece of advice, besides the cliched one of standing back and taking things in, is to be VERY specific about what it is you want, and make sure it is in the contract! Ultimately, the contract is what the vendors refer to, and the vendors cannot remember 'what you talked about' or 'what you showed them.'

I am rating everyone from 0-10 with 10 being the most satisfied with their service, and 0 being the least satisfied.

ENJOY! and just letting you know, it's a little long...

CHURCH OF SAINT AIDAN: 9
St. Aidan's is a beautiful church and I was lucky enough to get married there since my mother knew Fr. Bruno. Many Roman Catholic churches will not let you get married if you are not a parishioner. I didn't like my church where I grew up and I live in Chicago now, so I had a bit of a problem finding a church. They were wonderful for the most part in planning. They give you a packet which outlines anything you need to know, do, etc. I was disappointed in the musical director, because I wanted my friend to sing the responsorial psalm, and he said it would be no problem. He was supposed to go over the song before the wedding, but according to my friend, he didn't seem interested in 'bothering' with my friend. So my friend ended up just reading it. I was really looking forward to this b/c I love my friend's singing voice. The musical director was also a bit hard to get in touch with.

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CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB: 9

Crest Hollow was wonderful. We fell in love with the place when we walked in. Loved the pool and the gardens. The room we had (it was the last one available that day when we went to book) was the Suburban room upstairs. We liked the woodwork and big mirrors, and how the ceilings were a little on the low side to create intimacy. My banquet manager Sharon was such an easy person to get in touch with--via phone or e-mail.

Crest Hollow's service was great---we had three rolling bars, and between my bridal attendant, maitre'd and rosalie (DOC), things ran smoothly. Really the only thing I can think of that I didn't like, were the ferns on my cake. I had requested not to have ferns on the cake table, since I know that is what they use to decorate, so I *assumed* that ferns would not be anywhere. I should have told my bridal attendant to remove them as soon as I saw them, but I didn't. I just don't like the way they look, but oh well, it's really not an end-of-the-world thing. Also, I had my toss garter in one of the boxes I handed into Crest Hollow, which was stupid on my part. It got misplaced in the shuffling, and my DOC ended up having to intervene.

Other than those two things, really, they were wonderful to us. I wanted to add that the guests raved about the food and said there was too much of it! A lot of out-of towners thought the cocktail hour food was it, and were surprised when they got a choice of three entrees at the reception!. I keep hearing about the lamb, which I never got to eat!

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NATASHA STASZAK PHOTOGRAPHY: 9

We stumbled upon Natasha's ad in a bridal magazine and decided to just make an appointment with her, knowing her prices were a bit out of our budget. She was the last of the photographers we met (5 total) and we knew as soon as we saw her portfolio, that we wanted to book her. Her pictures were photojournalistic, not boring, but but not too artsy. Just right for us. She has the ability to capture emotions. My co-workers who didn't attend the wedding commented on how calm and collected I looked that day as they were looking through my pictures. That is exactly how I felt.

We were able to negotiate a package not including albums with Natasha to fit our budget. She was a nice, laid-back presence that day and was able to keep order of all the group pictures without 'barking' at us. My mother, at the last second, wanted table pictures of some of the guests, and though initially I told Natasha we were not going to do them, she was very flexible and worked them in. She gets a '9', because I would have liked a few pics that she did not get. For example, the whole Rolls Royce (we have some inside the car and by the hood), by the pool at CHCC, which may have worked out later on in the evening, since there were other parties going on poolside, and the favors my mom made. Also, there were no pictures of the cocktail hour, but to be fair, during the cocktail hour, she was with us in the gardens, taking fabulous pictures of the bridal party. Her pictures came out wonderfully--- here's a link to my community album with some of her proofs:

natasha staszak photos

Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

Congrats, Daphne! You were a beautiful bride and your wedding looked fabulous. I love the photos! Best of luck....

Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

BLISS PRODUCTIONS NY: 10 (so far)

The video is what we're looking most forward to. Jerry's work was exactly what we were looking for. A video to capture the day, no cheesy effects, nor cheesy music. We wanted a 'movie-like' video. After viewing his samples online, we made an appointment. We knew he was the one we were going to book, but wanted to just check out one more. Nope, that other one didn't come close. So Jerry it was, and he and his assistant were so unobtrusive. I hardly remember him being there, except I know he was, seeing amateur video taken by one of our relatives. Jerry was filming all the action. It'll take a few months for the video, since we still have to hand in pictures, and music. But we have no doubts, judging from seeing his portfolio, that ours will be a piece of art as well.

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HEART AND SOUL BAND (FRANKLIN WAYNE MUSIC): 9

What a band. I was a little nervous, since most of my friends had DJs at their weddings and weren't really into bands. It was my mother's only request, to have live music, and we went with it, because, we love live music ourselves. We thought it would bring a great energy to the party, although, my relatives, and his don't need much help with energy when they have have a couple of drinks in them.

They played our first song 'By Your Side,' by Sade wonderfully. Michael Clark really got the crowd going with his Michael Jackson performances. The guests kept commenting how much they sounded like the original singers. I'm most happy that the band was able to play such an array of music, that everyone could enjoy the songs that night.

The one thing that bugged me looking back was that they pronounced a few of my relatives names wrong and my husband's last name wrong as they announced our entrances into the reception. They kept repeating it, since many of my husband's relatives have that last name. You'd think the band leader would check to see how to pronounce it (I don't think it's too unique in the first place) or that someone who knew us, would correct the band leader, but no one did. After we came in, and I had a chance, I approached them and let them know how to say it. It was okay after that.

No worries though--- they will keep your party movin'! My friends who had Djs at their weddings actually told me, 'We want to get married again and have your band as the entertainment!'

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ALL STAR LIMO: 10

Nothing much to say here except, all the cars we got were clean, on time and had excellent and friendly drivers. We got all the cars we requested. The Rolls Royce was beautiful. When it came time for our pick-up at Crest Hollow back to the Marriott in Uniondale, the driver was so helpful with lugging all our crap back to the hotel. He did ask us which way to turn when we exited the highway towards the hotel, but other than that, it was fine.

If you don't want any headaches as far as transportation, they are the way to go.

Here is a non-pro pic of the our Rolls, which we loved--- and a pro pic inside the car.

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Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

So glad to see your review! I just have to ask before I finish looking at the photos -- Where did you get those shoes?? They are gorgeous! (Are those dark beads supposed to be a cluster of grapes?)

ETA: Just finished seeing the rest. I love the one of your flowergirl peeking into the limo :)

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FLOWER MICHELE: 7.5

Oh, I wanted so badly to give John a higher score. But I was disappointed...

I'll show pics of what I had asked for and what I got. I wanted green orchids in my bouquet, which I got. All of my flowers were fresh, and the smell of my garden roses was lovely. I can still smell them when I think of my wedding day. My mother is an avid gardener and thought the flowers were gorgeous.

Unfortunately, I felt my bouquet was smaller than the BM bouquets (isn't the bride supposed to have the biggest bouquet?). My altar arrangements weren't at ALL what I had asked for. In the pics below, Flower Michele gave me the white flowers in the baskets, (the church already had the arrangements with the pink, red and yellow flowers). I had asked for the tall arrangements with curly willow and orchids on this website:


stemschicago
[Click on corporate, and it's the box in the third row from the top, second from the right}

Lastly, he forgot my toss bouquet. My DOC had to use the jr. bridesmaid's bouquet as the toss bouquet.

I still have yet to write John about the above. His flowers were fresh, but because of what I experienced, I cannot whole-heartedly recommend him. And I feel badly about that because I know a lot of girls on here love him and John is such a fun, friendly and bubbly person. I'm hoping he just had an 'off' day.

To add: We did love our centerpieces---see below. To our fault, the low ones did get kinda 'lost'

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Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

BM bouquets and mine---

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Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

ANNA AT HAIR SALON 51: 8.5

I loved the way my hair turned out, but she too 'forgot' what my hair was like at the trial. My mother came and saw my hair a quarter of the way after Anna started and told her, it wasn't looking the same way as the trial. Anna is my mother's regular hairdresser, so my mom had no qualms about telling it as it was. So Anna started again, and it came out beautifully. I wished she had hair sprayed it more on the bottom as it started falling out by the time we cut our cake, but I did dance a lot, and had a lot of hair. Here are the best shots I can find with my hair comb I got from Left Bank Jewelry in Chicago:

left bank jewelry

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COLLEEN FOR ELIZABETH ARDEN: 10

Colleen is my mother's co-worker and works part-time at the Macy's Elizabeth Arden counter. I absolutely loved my makeup that day. It was just enough to show up in the pics, and not caked on. I used regular makeup, not airbrushing, and it stayed on all night. I just had to touch up the blush and lipstick from kissing and hugging the guests.

All you have to do is buy $40-50 (I think) worth of makeup at the counter and the trial is free. I got Colleen to come to my house as well as the hair stylist, and girls, it's worth it to pay extra if they request traveling fees. It just makes your day that much calmer.

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ROSALIE FROM EXPRESSIONS (DOC): 8.5

Rosalie is awesome! Her personality is great---she got along really well with my whole family and just clicked with my mother. She helped my bridesmaids iron their dresses last minute, made a garter with her handy hot glue gun, when the toss garter was misplaced. She also thought ahead and used my jr. bridesmaid's bouquet as the toss bouquet when the florist forgot to give me one.

She missed my rehearsal at the church due to personal reasons--- but made it to the dinner in time to meet our families. I think it's great that she usually goes to the rehearsals to meet everyone beforehand.

I had also hoped she could have decorated the church pews with my pew cones that my husband and I made, but she had another wedding Saturday nite and couldn't.

I was kinda irked that the band leader pronounced husband's last name wrong and had requested Rosalie to make sure they pronounced it right. But she assured me that the band leader would come and ask us how to pronounce names correctly, and the band leader never did. GRRRR.

I recommend Rosalie as she keeps everything going in a timely fashion, and she is so funny and easy to get along with. She's also so easy to keep in touch with! And she even checks up on how you're doing!

Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

you were a beautiful bride! I love your pics! I'm happy to hear your experience at the Crest Hollow was good! My wedding is there in 3 weeks!

Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

BRIDEPOWER.COM: 9.5

I ordered my Reem Acra sample from Bridepower.com and couldn't have been happier. I had seen the dress in magazines and knew it was the 'one.' Bridepower.com has a store in Massachusetts called VOWS which sells all sample designer gowns. I got my dress for a third of what it retailed for. Granted, it was from a few seasons ago, but I didn't care. I wanted a dress with sleeves, because I got married in church, and wanted to be covered up a little. The gown took about a month to come in and it needed alterations, but for the quality (which was excellent for a sample gown), it was a steal!

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LOEHMANN's FOR SHOES: 10

Yay! I love shopping at this place. I found my shoes a year before the wedding. They were sitting on the clearance rack. The shoes are beaded Alberta Ferretti's, have kitten heels and are slingbacks. I didn't have my dress at that point, but thought they were so elegant looking, and with my shoe fetish, I thought 'why not?!' If they didn't work out, I could just sell them. They ended up costing me $51.00, down from almost $200 retail. Gosh, I love a bargain.

They were comfy and stayed on my heels the whole night.

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Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

Thanks for a great review. I love your pictures!! Congrats!!

Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

SEWDEB FOR VEIL: 10

I had bought two veils on e-bay, both of which I didn't like the way they 'fell' or 'sat' on my head. Then I saw eogara's and bethsiar's veil on here and decided to go the SewDeb route. She's a lady who orders the silk tulle from the U.K. (which is cheaper than here) and hand makes the veils after receiving the silk tulle directly from either of the two fabric companies---hansson's or crowning glory. I chose cream silk tulle from hansson's (more 'flowy' from what I hear).

SewDeb was so easy to contact. She advised me to order in the winter before prom and wedding season would start. I ordered my veil 9 months before the wedding I think and it only took a couple of weeks to come in after she had received the tulle from the U.K.

My veil was my favorite accessory--- it matched perfectly (I got the cream silk tulle) with my diamond white dress and just looked so pretty in the pictures!

Her website: SewDeb

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Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

AFTER HOURS FOR TUXEDOS: 8

If you can, try not to order from here. We felt we didn't have much choice since our groomsmen were from all over the country so they're who we went with. My brother was supposed to have a wing-tip collar, and didn't. One other GM got the wrong size shoes, but luckily, checked before he left the store, so exchanged it without incident. That was pretty much all that went wrong. My husband loved his tuxedo, which he got from an Illinois After Hours. The one that made the mistake with my brother's tux was the one in Roosevelt Field Mall. They just seem disorganized there and not very customer-service oriented.
Another groomsmen had to cancel his tuxedo, because he came down with an illness and almost didn't make the wedding at all (he's from Illinois). Thank God he was okay and was discharged from the hospital in time for him to fly into NY right after the ceremony.
But I think in the end my husband looked handsome and the GMs looked great.

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Re: orchid24's st. sidan's/crest hollow country club review

you look amazing. Congrats!