Weather A+++++++++++++++++++++++Beautiful, sunny / blue skies & hot. BUT gorgeous on the water. What a breeze on the Great South Bay. My July 14 – 16 brides freaked out awhile there. The 10-day forecast predicted rain the whole weekend & the entire weekend turned out to be beautiful. Never trust weathermen! Don’t look until a day or two before or you will stress yourself out!
Venetian Yacht Club - A+We booked our hall in September of 2004. We knew that we wanted the water view for our summer wedding. He proposed to me on his boat on the Great South Bay and wanted to celebrate our marriage on the same water. We chose “John Anthony’s on the Water”. We met with Daisy, our banquet manager back in 2004 & got a lot for our money. At this time, many brides on LIWeddings were not getting married at this hall. There were rumors of bankruptcy but DH & I fell in love with the view & the menu. There was also a sentimental value attached to John Anthony’s – my DH took me to his cousin’s wedding there in July of 1999 during our first month of dating and introduced me to his whole family at once. We had a great time.
John Anthony’s was bought over by the Makkos family (they own Terrace on the Park in Queens & the Battery Garden Restaurant) and Daisy kept telling me how wonderful it was going to be. We figured with all the money going into it, it could only improve & we loved it the way it was!
During the next 18 months, the place literally transformed into a palace! Elegance & classy are the words that come to mind. We were able to pick from the old and new menus since our contract was John Anthony’s. Daisy worked with us from day # 1 and everything was honored. I got married on a Friday night & was the only bride and affair going on that night. We had beautiful weather, so the view was breathtaking. My cocktail hour was upstairs, main reception downstairs, and the Viennese was in the side downstairs room. I got to use the entire place – all rooms, the outside deck, and both bridal suites! Guests are still raving about the cocktail hour – we had some upgrades: vodka & caviar station / Asian Station. Our Viennese was like a scene out of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory – ice cream, waffles, cotton candy, candy apples, candy carts, chocolate covered fruits, pastries, soufflés, etc. People kept raving about it! There was one thing missing – which wasn’t a big deal in the scheme of things & my guests didn’t realize but I added it in my review to illustrate the superb service. My maitre‘d (Lisa) and the wait staff worked to have it added before the night was over. Joanna was my bridal attendant and she was AMAZING! She and Lisa were wonderful – they helped me the entire night with feeding me, fixing my bustle, and keeping our drinks filled. My wedding was exactly what I pictured since I was a little girl. DH & I had a blast – we drank, danced, & partied! VYC is highly recommended.
Patken – photography & video A + for the day of (still waiting for proofs & video)We also booked Patken in 12/04. Vinnie did our engagement pics and they were amazing.
We chose Vinnie because of his personality. He was easy to connect to & we got along very well. His work is superb! We did a “Meet & Greet” in June to touch base before the wedding and to go over the final details. I only had a few “Must-takes” because I wanted all the regular type of pics. He got all of my must-takes throughout the night. He did a test shot at my house in the afternoon just to see how my make-up photographed & he was able to handle such a HUGE bridal party. Patken doesn’t come with a huge team - only 1 guy- but he was able to capture all the special moments. DH & I just wanted to make a majority of our cocktail hour and not have cameras in our faces all night. That is exactly what he did for us. We took pictures at my house during the day, Vinny met the guys the church to do the GM, we took pictures at the church after the ceremony, pictures on the water at the VYC, and candids the remainder of the night (except for the cake cutting, dances, bouquet/garter toss, etc.). He was perfect and I highly recommend him!
Raymond was our video guy & he was so nice as well. I never felt Patken in my face but you knew that they were they capturing all the special moments…can’t wait for the final product!
DJ: HIGH VOLTAGE – VINNY A+
HOWIE BONGO (PERCUSSIONIST) A+We also booked HVS back in 12/04. I met a lot of big time DJ companies & Vinny was the one who we connected with most & didn’t try to sell me everything under the sun. Vinny had to deal with me for the last 18 months & I give him credit (so does DH-LOL)! We wanted dance music played for the last hour – right after Viennese and had specific music requests. Throughout the entire night, we wanted a mixture of music with mostly Top 40. He followed our Must-play & Do Not Play list EXACTLY. I didn’t get a MC because we had a dancing & party crowd, so Vinny did the announcements PERFECTLY! We did all the traditional bouquet / garter toss & Vinny took care of all that for me. Every song was exactly what we chose. There were some mixed reviews on LIWeddings this past year about HVS – don’t always believe what you read…remember there are always 2-sides to a story & Vinny is the best! We met with him about 4-5 times since we booked & he was never annoyed just helpful & understanding. He was great & my dance floor was jamming the entire night. Even after the bridal party introductions, he let my bridal party just dance crazy for about 2-3 minutes before he started DH & I first slow dance. That was just the vibe of my wedding. Thanks Vinny for making our day perfect!
Howie was great. I wanted to bring my wedding to that other level & the percussionist was just the answer. He added that ‘little something’ without being ‘too much’. He used to play the drums in some clubs back in the day & works with some DJ companies. People keep telling me how much they loved it! My great-uncle even starts jamming on the drums at 1:00am. So great!
FLOWERS: LA BLOSSOM – LAURIE: A+I met with only two florists, two big LIWedding vendors, and I honestly was torn between the two. They were both reputable and similar prices. I chose Laurie in the end because the individualized attention I would get from her. She listened to my ideas & helped me see things in a different way. I wanted PINK & boy, did I get pink. It was exactly what I imagined. My bouquet was all medium pink roses with white stephanotis. She put crystals on my roses to match my Eve of Milady dress. GORGEOUS! I saw Laurie do a similar bouquet for a 2004 Gtsgirl & loved her flowers. My CP were pink roses with rhinestones on the petals. It was in a square vase with pinkish sand and she put votives around the centerpieces. (Votives were frosted with hearts on them & my mom bid on them from EBay for CHEAP!) I loved all of the little touches – a stephanotis on my DH’s rose boutonnière (sp) and even rhinestones on the throw away bouquet. Laurie was great & easy to work with. No wonder she won 2005 Vendor of the Year!
