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Church: St. Francis De Sales……… A+
We picked our reception location first but we knew we were going to have our ceremony at a catholic church. As soon as we stepped foot in this church we knew we would get married there. The stained glass window above the alter was dedicated to an event that happened on September 19th (our wedding date) over 100 years prior.
Ceremony Music: Terressa Birchen (my sister)…………. A+
We are blessed that my sister is a professional opera singer. Yes, she is available for hire so FM me if interested.
Reception Space: The Onteora Mountain House……….. B
While we had an amazingly beautiful wedding, the hardest vendor to deal with was our actual reception space. If anyone is interested in the location please FM me and I’ll speak with you privately. They get a B because in the end what we remember is how ridiculously gorgeous and private the space is. There is no view in the Hudson Valley like the one you get from the deck of this Bed and Breakfast.
Caterer: New World Home Cooking………..C
It is hard to tell if the food problems we experienced were the fault of the caterer or Onteora. We paid extra for a seated dinner as well as we ordered over 100 of the Argentinean filet. The staff did not ask any of our guests how they wanted their steak cooked, nor did they serve enough. The reason that I put this more on the caterer is that most of the steak was over cooked as well as served cold. They even served my husband over cooked steak as well as a very small portion.
Cake: Maxine’s Caterers………………………A+
Not only did our cake flavors taste amazing, they looked exactly how I intended them too. I can’t say enough about Maxine, she is awesome. I told her my idea for one of the cake flavors I wanted and while I didn’t have a recipe she found one and it came out better than I had expected. That flavor was: apple spice with brown sugar butter cream. We also had two of those cakes as well as two chocolate cakes with different flavors of cream. You also can’t beat Maxine’s pricing.
Flowers: Steven Bruce Design…………………………………A+
I can’t say enough about this husband and wife team. They rock! I met with them and spoke with them on the phone more than any of my other vendors. They totally got what I wanted for the feel of my wedding and went out of their way time and time again to get me what I wanted at the price I wanted to pay. I think the photos of the décor speak for themselves. Oh and they got me anemone’s in late September! They are full service event design at an extremely reasonable price.
Photography: Angelica Glass…………………A+
It’s been said here, time and time again how awesome Angelica is. Well, I can attest to that. I was blown away by the pictures she posted on her blog three days after our wedding. Yes, three days after our wedding she edited and posted over 60 images on her blog (all in my bio). There are a few shots that were missed but in the end we have so many to choose from. Angelica stayed with me the entire day and we had our proof book and images on CD by the time we returned from our honeymoon. We haven’t done our album yet but I will be sure to post pictures when it is finished.
Hair: Stacy Pitt from Stylesonb.com…………………A+
I love Stacy and have hired her as my normal hair stylist, that is how good she is. I had ridiculously long hair for my wedding and she worked with me to come up with a style that I know no one else could have come up with. She also was on time and by herself styled me and 8 bridesmaids in less than four hours. She is amazing! Her style is modern so keep that in mind. I love that about her.
Makeup: Dorothy Carlton of Pretty Bird Bridal…………….A+
My makeup was one of my favorite things about my look. For the price Dorothy offers, she is so worth it. She travels so don’t worry about that. She was also very quick and her airbrushing was flawless and stayed for over 10 hours without a touchup.
Band: 39 Mariner...............A++++++++++
I can't say enough about this amazing jersey shore, young, amazing band. They were refered to us by a friend and they made our party. They are all 30 something and not to mention affordable. They brought with them a dj, sound people, and lighting. They also played our cocktail hour. Look them up, they rock!
Dress: Pricilla of Boston........................B
The dress style is Melissa Sweet, Liliana. I did not have a favorable dress experience. My dress was the first thing I did once I got engaged 13 months prior to my wedding. I bought my shoes a week before I bought my dress so that I would have them because I knew I would buy a cut to measure gown. This is important because my dress came in 4 inches too short. My alterations cost me a total of $900 including the cut to measure and the day of my wedding my dress was still an inch too short. They did the best they could to fix it but this shouldn't have happened. It was really disapointing. However, looking back, I still love the dress despite the issues.
Bridesmaid Dresses: POB in NYC.............B
This was a huge debacle. My girls were charged incorrectly and it was an extreme mess. I do not recomend it even though the quality of the dresses are supurb. The dresses are Melissa Sweet.
Acessories................A++++++
-Veil: My veil was from Brideshead revisited in NYC. Amazing, amazing veil with intersperced hand applied rhinestones. It is a bubble veil with the bottom is also a bubble like the bubble dresses. I loved it.
-Brooches's: Haute Bride. One is on my dress the other was on my bouquet. Both are the same.
-Bracelet: Haute Bride. I loved it!
-Earings: Nadri, bought at Bloomingdales for $50
-Wedding Bands: DH and I bought matching plain platinum bands from weddingringhotline.com They have amazing prices. Both our bands combined totaled about 1k.
-Hair facinator: Holly from Artikal
-Bolero: Elizabeth Dye Designs
-Shoes: Miu Miu
-I DO shoe applique: Heidi Weiss
-Shoes #2: Shannon Britt
Engagement Ring: Mark T. from engagement rings direct for the center stone and Tacori for setting. I wrote a review on this in the engagement section previously. The review is here: http://www.liweddings.com/chat/topic.aspx?ID=585656&Highlight=ring
DIY items:
-Pew mason jar lanterns
-Check in table birch decor
-H&K moss monogramed signs
-Birch covered chalboards for table names
-Photobooth for guestbook
-Reception, cocktail, thank you signs
-personalized water bottles (AMAZING)
-Check in gift bags
Favors: Firelily Chocolates......................A
Other than a mix up in the flavor choice these things were amazing and affordable. Two truffle cones individualy packed in a custom canister for $2 a piece. Our guests loved them.
We were actually featured on the wedding channel a few weeks ago. Here is the link:
http://weddings.weddingchannel.com/wedding-planning-ideas/who-got-married/September-2009/Heather-kenneth-phoenicia-new-york.aspx
