First off, congrats to all the other 2008 brides (those married already and those coming up!), and of course to all the past brides from last year and years before....and good luck to the 2009-10 brides- your year will be here before you know it!!
So I am not a huge poster here on LIW, but I know how helpful these reviews can be for brides-to-be. So I hope you all enjoy it and please FM me if you have any other questions about my vendors or anything else- I would be happy to help! So hear goes the review of the best day of my life!!
Some of the pictures below are no-pro...but most are take by the fabulous Peter Doyle!
WEATHER
We couldn’t have gotten a better day for the first weekend in January. It was sunny and brisk, but not too cold. Everyone traveled safe and dry and we were able to take some pictures outside without freezing our buns off!
RECEPTION HALL- Tribeca Rooftop
I could not have dreamed of a better place to have my wedding! I never would have thought I would have a city wedding. I always thought it would be on the beach or a vineyard, or at least on Long Island! But as we were looking for a place, nothing really caught my eye. Most of the reception halls on the Island are beautiful, but not really my taste. I am not into the ornate, ballroom like setting. Its just my taste- nothing against it. When I saw Tribeca Rooftop, I knew it was the place. It was simple and had almost a blank palette that I could design with flowers and other details. It was perfect! And of course theres the amazing views, and not to mention the food, which is out of this world! They are part of Lovin Oven Caterers, which also owns Lands End, Flowerfields, and Audrey’s. Prior to the wedding, I worked with Tracey who was great and in the few weeks leading up to the wedding and the day of, we worked with Oleg, the event coordinator who was great as well. The service was impeccable and the food was amazing. My only complaint was that they didn’t have the bridal suite area ready for me when I got there. Granted I was a bit early, but not that early. I wanted to catch some pictures outside before it was completely dark so we got there about 25 minutes early. We also had to pay extra for the bridal suite since it is actual a photo studio leased by a photographer who rents it out for brides who want to. So back to the food- we had so much to choose from, it was so hard to decide on our final choices. The cocktail hour was amazing, there was passed hor-doerves, a martini bar, a raw bar, sushi bar, and a cold anti-pasta bar. We missed most of it unfortunately (due to DH’s refusal to see me before the ceremony!) but they gave us our own little personal one in the bridal suite before we ran out to take a few pictures. We ended up choosing a roasted pear salad, and a choice of two entrees- a filet mignon and Chilean sea bass. Both were delicious and people are still talking about yummy it was. Me and DH actually did get to eat it too! For desert it was the wedding cake (delicious, more below) served with vanilla ice cream in a godiva chocolate cup. And on the tables there were assorted gourmet chocolates and chocolate covered strawberries.
CAKE- Audreys/Lovin Oven Floral
Audreys is part of the company who owns Tribeca Rooftop, so I had no choice on the baker…but given a choice, I would have choosen them anyway!! The cake was beyond delicious and it was exactly what I asked for (design wise). Keyth from Lovin Oven handled the flowers on our cake. I told him what I wanted- and he worked with Audrey’s to make it happen! We can’t wait to eat the rest of it next January!!
FLOWERS- Lovin Oven Floral
What can I say about Keyth? He was amazing, as was Caroline. There were absolutely no problems during the planning stages or day of. Everything came out perfect- the pictures can speak for themselves. We used candelabras wrapped with flowers for the ceremony which came out very dramatic and lovely. Our centerpieces consisted of a tall vase in the middle with flowering branches with clusters of flowers around them. Each table had the branches and 3 additional vases (all different sizes) with bunches of 8 different types of flowers. No two tables had the same exact arrangement. Keyth balanced my colors perfectly and everything looked great. I highly recommend them whether you are looking for low or high, simple or dramatic. You can tell that Keyth truly loves what he does!
RINGS- Malakov Jewelers
My engagement ring and wedding band both came from Diva Diamonds (aka Malakov Jewelers). They are located in the Diamond district in NYC. It’s a family owned business- we worked with the son. He was beyond friendly and extremely helpful. Both of my rings were custom made by them. It took about a month for each one from the time of the order. We had no problems whatsoever.
JEWLERY RESTORATION: Restore Great Grandmothers Ring- Mayfair Jewelers
Another family owned business….located in Commack. Very friendly and helpful. They did an amazing job on my Great Grandmothers ring. I wish I had a before picture, because you could not even see the stones, or what color the metal on the band was. The entire ring was completely black. I cried when I opened the box and saw it sparkling like a brand new ring! They also Engraved both our wedding bands.
DRESS- Priscilla of Boston
Everyone at Priscilla of Boston was very nice and helpful every-time I was there. The seamstress who worked on my dress was amazing! I bought a sample dress at a sample sale – which I recommend to anyone---you can sometimes find a sample that has hardly been tried on or never been tried on at all! I saved about 80% on my dress and it looked brand new. I was a little worried about it in the beginning- I am tiny (5’1) and as many of you know, sample dresses usually come in size 8 and 10s. the dress was falling off of me when I tried it on, but nether the less, I fell in love with the design and details of it. They assured me that they would be able to fit to me, so I went for it! In the end, the dress fit me perfectly and was comfortable all night. My only complaint was that it was a little tight on top- but I did ask them to make it tight as I was worried about it falling down.
TUXES- Mens Warehouse
Personally, not a fan of Mens Warehouse- but I understand completely why guys don’t want to buy their tuxes or suits or whatever- DH took care of all the groomsmen stuff- but there was no problems- he looked great and all the groomsmen’s tuxes fit great
