Wedding Reviews We were married July 3rd and had a lovely day- the weather held out and we were able to be married outside! I’ve tried to be as honest in the following reviews because I think it’s important to give all the details so other brides can make informed decisions. I found many of my vendors on these boards and was so thankful to have the knot during planning. If you have any questions, please just page me. To all you ladies planning, good luck! Venue: Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club- B Overall, the day was lovely and our guests had nothing but wonderful things to say about the venue and the food. However, behind the scenes, we had a few problems. When we chose the venue, we were working with Sam. However, at some point during the fall, Sam relocated and Scott took over. The Yacht Club never notified us of this change- I found out because I called the Yacht Club after numerous emails to Sam when unanswered. When I booked the venue, I had issues with the chairs and Sam told me we could cover them (included in our per person cost) or pay $6 a chair for Chivari chairs. We finally met with Scott to do our tasting in April and we were told that chair covers were $5 per chair. When we told him that Sam let us know they were included in the price, he told us that he would “throw them in.” Imagine our surprise when the week before the wedding, we get an invoice showing the $625 plus a 20 % service charge and tax for the chair covers. We quickly responded via email that he told us he would cover them and he responded with “Please contact me regarding the chair covers.” When we called him, he told us that the owners would not allow him to “throw them in” and then told us that he would discuss it with them and get back to us again. Well, a few days go by and we get a new invoice (without a phone call) for ½ of the price of the chair covers. My mother had to call him; he said that he would “pay for half the cost out of his own pocket.” I just found this entire situation incredibly unprofessional. He should have honored his word of “throwing them in” and if not, he certainly should have called us once he knew that they were on the invoice instead of just sending the invoice and hoping we would just pay for them. We also had an issue when it came to tips. When we inquired, we were told about the service charge and that they suggest we tip in the following way: “The 20% service charge is a labor fee. Not a gratuity. It is to cover the production costs relative to the set-up labor, cleaning labor, servers, bartenders, coat check, valet parking, bar backs, housemen, kitchen preparation and production line staff and stewards. We suggest Bartenders (2) at $125.00 each, Coat Check $40.00, Valet Parkers (2) $20.00 each. Supervisory Gratuities are suggested for Myself, The Maitre D’, The Executive Chef, we pool our gratuity and share it with key team members that have the responsibility to assure successful events. We recommend one supervisory gratuity of between 5-7% of the final invoice. “ When I started to calculate all these tips, I realized that they were much higher then anything I had ever seen or heard of before. Just the 5% alone for the “supervisory gratuity” amounted to about $1000 for our 125 guests. If anyone else had suggested tips this high, please let me know. Lastly, on the day of the wedding, he got into a disagreement with our Justice of the Peace regarding the processional right in front of me. I was a calm bride and this was by far, the most annoying part of my day. They should have handled this issue in private. If you are looking at this venue, I wouldn’t cross it off your list. I would, however, inquire about tipping and all hidden costs ahead of time so you can avoid the headaches we were faced with the week before the wedding. Florals: Arcadia Floral- B Any issues I had with Arcadia occurred with their customer service. We worked with Jen and when we chose them and did the trial centerpieces, she was very responsive. My biggest issue is who they handle their “final invoices.” I called 2 weeks ahead of time to make a small change and Jen told me someone would call me the Monday before my wedding to do the final invoice and that I could make the change then. I called again the week before the wedding because I wanted to pay via check – and you could not do this the week of the event. Again, I was told someone would call me the Monday before my wedding to do the “final invoice.” This was frustrating for me because I was just trying to cross stuff off my list of things to do and did not want to have to wait around for them to call me the Monday before my wedding. That Monday, I waited until 3 pm and then called them. The woman on the other end of the line was not that friendly and she got annoyed when I told her about the change I wanted to make. Overall, it was just frustrating all I wanted to do was pay my bill. Also, we paid $125 to decorate the gazebo and it looked like they stuck a few pieces of leaves on it and we spent $100 on rose petals for the aisle which were never laid down. Entertainment: A Starry Night DJ- A Carol was one of my favorite wedding vendors. She was easy to get a hold of and very responsive to our emails. The night of the event, she helped to move things around a bit to make sure things flowed well. I definitely recommend her. Justice of the Peace: Mary Pugh- A (CT vendor) Mary is a wealth of knowledge, open to your thoughts and easy to work with. You could plan a wedding from the “access only” section of her website. I loved that everything was customizable. Well worth the cost. Dress/Alterations: The Bridal Suite, Stamford – A- I purchased my Paloma Blanca dress from them and had a good experience. The price was right and I liked how laid back they were (as opposed to other stores I looked at like Kleinfleds.) Only issue we had was with alterations. They forgot to complete my mom’s dress so it had to be brought to the house the morning of the wedding. Make Up: Color Make-Up Studio – A Christine was great. She worked with what I wanted and understood my fear of “Sparkle.” I did airbrush and it was worth every cent. My mom and sister looked awesome as well. Hair: Gianina Contin – A Gianina was awesome. I’d recommend her but she’s relocating to CA. After a meeting with Stratos that left me frazzled, Gianina totally put me at ease and did my hair just how I hoped it would look. She also did a great job on the updos that some of my bridesmaids asked for. Transportation: Lincoln Limo/J&R Tours- A Lincoln Limo handled the limos for the bridal party and J&R did the bus transportation. I can’t say anything negative about these vendors. We’ve used Lincoln Limo for years in my family and J&R were on time, professional and clean. Photography: Ryan Brenizer - still waiting for online proofs The few images we have seen are great! We are still waiting for proofs so I’ll update when we get them. Hotel: Hyatt Regency, Greenwich- B I loved working with Jessica. She was easy to contact and very responsive. The hotel was clean and the lobby is beautiful. However, the night of our wedding, there was another wedding in the hotel and from what I gather, things got quite out of hand- so much so that the Greenwich Police were called. When my husband checked out, the person working the front desk complained to him about the behavior of the wedding guests (in the OTHER party.) Something I found VERY unprofessional, especially considering that over the course of the weekend, we booked about 60 rooms. We later found out that this same desk clerk complained to some of our other guests about the same thing. Also, my mother in law was surprised to find another guest entering her room during the 2nd day of their 5 night day. The front desk let her know it was a “mix up” but she was frustrated because she worried about what might have happened had she not been in the room when the strangers entered. Rehearsal Dinner: Hostaria Mazzei- A Hostaria did a wonderful job for our rehearsal. We had about 30 people and were in the “Equestrian Room.” We customized our menu and they stayed well within our budget. The food was fantastic and I highly recommend them!