I got married at 5pm on Sunday, October 9th at Arbor Ridge in Hopewell Junction. We were very lucky and had great weather and an amazing day. Here are my reviews of the local venders:
Arbor Ridge Banquet Hall: A - My husband and I decided on Arbor Ridge because of what they had to offer. We signed a contract in 2010 a year and half before our wedding, so the prices may vary now, but we got an all-inclusive deal for $102/person. This included the cake, center pieces, the dj, the photography company already picked out, a stay in the inn for free, and an open bar. It was definitely worth the price. Kevin, who owns the place can come off somewhat abrasive, however he did a fantastic job on our wedding day and I was very thankful for his expertise. He's been in the caterering business for 25 years and it shows in the quality of the work he and his staff provides. Everyone complimented the food (chicken marsala, grilled steak, and tilapia. The caterering hall was clean, and the wait staff was polite and very helpful.
Inn at Arbor Ridge: C+ - My father called me a few weeks before our wedding to tell me that the inn had some poor reviews. I looked at it once again with my mother-in-law and it looked fine. I spoke with Victor, the new manager, and he said they need to redo some carpets and need to fix up some rooms. The inn is perfect for a place to sleep for the night, and I had no real problem with the honeymoon suite. It was beautiful and spacious. However, the rooms do not have any peep holes or chain locks on the doors. One of my guests told me they "lost" their reservation. The rooms were clean, however my father found a bottle cap on the floor in his room, and I told the maids Sunday morning (I slept in the room Saturday night to get ready Sunday morning) that I noticed one of the pillows did not have a pillow case. They never got one for us, and after we returned to the room after the wedding at 1am, I had to ask the guy at the front desk for a pillow case. Since it's a king bed and had larger pillows, he didn't have a large pillow case, so we had to put a sheet on the pillow. Like I said it wasn't bad for an overnight so that guests who are drinking, don't drive home, but the place could use some improvements.
BG Entertainment: C - The DjJ, Bill, and I met about a year before our wedding. We discussed his work and all the options. I called him a month before the wedding and he said to email or call him a few days before. I emailed him and he never returned my email. I called him the Friday before and we discussed some of the music and that I wanted microphones and speakers at the ceremony site, since my husband and I are not very loud. I noticed there were no speakers or microphones at the ceremony. When my family was taking pictures during the cocktail hour, Kevin from Arbor Ridge approached me to ask who my DJ was. BG Entertaimentn was not there! In the meantime while we were still taking pictures, s few guys from the company showed up and set up. So, no one actually knew that they were late. I wrote down the bridal party names with Kevin and he gave that to the DJs. However, they mispronounced our last name and even some of the names of the bridal party. They played the songs I had requested in my email and when Bill showed up he apologized saying since I didn't sign a contract with him he accidentally double booked the day. He made it up to us at the after hours party and played for 1 hour free of charge, but at the end of the hour asked us if we wanted them to continue. Everyone loved having the music there, so we couldn't exactly say to pack it in. The problem I had was that the downstairs bar at Arbor Ridge isn't huge and they played house music really loud. I left the room and spoke with my guests outside in the hallway because it was just too much. Others seemed to enjoy it, so that is why I didn't say anything about the choice of music.
Homestyle Bakery: A- We LOVED our wedding cake. We ordered a pound cake with almond filling and buttercream. It was amazing. Everyone loved it. It was definitely the best cake I have ever had! We had a fall branch full of maple leaves going up the side of the cake made of fondant. The only problem we had with the cake was the design was melted when we got into the reception. I do not know if this was the baker's fault or the caterers fault. Some of our guests thought that it was supposed to look that way. I can't argue too much because it tasted amazing and the cake did come with the package. We paid $50 for the design, and since it was melted, I am thinking of bringing a picture to the baker and asking why that happened and if they can do anything for us. Perhaps a free anniversary cake or something?
Floral Memoris by Judi: A+ Judi comes with the Arbor Ridge package for the centerpieces, however I decided to use her for the bouquets as well. Her work is absolutely amazing. Guests were asking who did the arrangements. I had 2 different centerpiece designs: a small oval vase with roses and calla lilies which Judi added glitter to and made them amazing, and a cylinder vase with a single calla lily and a candle on top. We used burnt orange, peach, and some dark red colored flowers (my colors were red and orange). Everything was beautiful. I loved my bouquet and Judi was easy to work with. She met me on my side of the river and we would correspond through phone calls and texts easily. The centerpieces had an additional charge since I went above and beyond the Arbor Ridge design, but overall for all of our flowers we were charged just over $1000; keep in mind part of the cost was covered by the all-inclusive package. But, Judi did a truly amazing job. She was supposed to be moving soon, but I just found out she is delaying the move for a few years. Let me know if you need her contact information. She works out of her home, so you may not find her online.
Lauren Weber (makeup): A+ Lauren did an amazing job on my makeup and my mother's makeup. I worked all week and did lots of last minute stuff, so I did not sleep well the week before my wedding and Lauren made me look great. I am uncomfortable with makeup application, but Lauren made me comfortable and we had great discussions. I met her for a free trial at the Westchester at MAC and then she met me at Arbor Ridge at 10am. She was on time and fully prepared. She brought everything she needed and then some, which was good, because I had some changes to to makeup.
Karen Conjura (hair) A+ I have known Karen for a while. She has been doing hair for 30 years and she was able to make my ridiculously thin hair that always falls out look great. Karen did both mine and my mother's hair and both looked good.
Digital Weddings: A+ The photography company Digital Weddings comes with the Arbor Ridge package, but you have your own independent contract with them. We decided to have 2 photographers for the day and to buy the rights to our photos rather than doing an album. We also did not have a video, which they can do as well. Bob and his sons were on time, extremely easy to work with, and had great eyes for shots. They were patient with our very late bridal party (traffic on Route 84 that day) and during the reception when guests randomly took pictures of each other, they took a few of those shots as well so we have them. We are still waiting for our pictures (it's only been a week and a half) , however we are supposed to get them in about another week. Bob provides a basic thank you card (that saves money) and thank you photos as well. He also gave us an engagement session a year ago and made a great guest book out of the pictures. Our photography bill was $1700. Digital Weddings was totally worth it.
Weddingpaperdivas.com: A+ I loved my invitations. There was a misprint when I got them in the mail, which was in less than a week. I called the company and within a week I had the new cards, free of charge. We paid about $350 for invitations,response cards, and inner and outer envelopes. I thought they were easily to deal with and would use them again in the future.
Kevin Grace (bagpiper) D - I had a verbal contract with Kevin to play as guests arrive, and to pipe my husband and I into and out of our wedding. He also said that he plays during the cocktail hour stays for a drink, and some pictures. The day of the wedding he shows up 4 hours early. He played for the guests and our ceremony, but after our receiving line (he did not play during it) I saw him walking to his car. I literally ran after him and asked where he was going. He said he had another event. I said I thought you stayed and played for the cocktail hour, and he said he couldn't because it was indoors; part of the cocktail lounge has an outdoor patio. My husband and I never had any pictures taken with him either. Luckily my father messed up the envelopes and gave him the wrong one, shorting him $100. That made us happy, but we were still disappointed.
Father Richard Hasselbach: A+ I loved Father Rich. He's a very intelligent man and I had great conversations with him. He wrote out a beautiful ceremony and although we tried to stick to Catholic traditions, he allowed us to pick whatever readings we wanted. I through in a Buddhist reading and a Native American prayer as well. The only problem we had was that Father Rich got very sick the day of our wedding, however he sent Fr. John and he was able to marry us. I still think Father Rich was awesome at getting someone on such short notice who was there by 4pm and was able to go over our ceremony with us before it started. I was very happy with our ceremony.
Reginella Bridal (Montgomery, NY): A- I loved working with Rita and her girls. Everyone was very sweet and extremely helpful. When I went looking I had a very bad experience at K's Wedding Center in Middletown and called Reginellas and they were able to see me that day. They asked what I was looking for and my budget. The first dress they put me in I loved, thought I tried on a few others. They carry Casablanca dresses, which is a really nice line. I ordered the dress in Nov and it came in June. Even my bridesmaids got their dresses there. I think my dress came out perfectly and Rita had the seamstress but colored buttons on the bussle so they girls could tie it correctly. The only problem I had was the price for each fitting. Rita said that all the work was $89, but I realized that only applied to the bridesmaid dresses. Every time they took in my dress or put another stitch in, it cost me. It was about $200 in the end added onto my original dress cost, veil, shoes, and bra. However, if I could do it over again, I would still go to Reginella Bridal. I loved the service I got there and I adored my dress.
Favorwarehouse.com: A+ I got maple leaf candy dishes from them. They came in quickly and people loved them. No complaints.
Robibero Winery: A+ We had our rehearsal dinner here and it was awesome. Robibero provides a site and wine, and you have to provide your own food. You can use their kitchen facilities if needed. The winery is a modern winery and it's new (2010) so it's gorgeous. I got dark quick with the fall, but they have a nice deck and a great party room. They were easy to work with and were great to all of our guests. We love their wine and have an entire case full now.
Peggy McMahon (trainer) A+ - I have worked with Peggy the last few years at my gym. She is an amazing personal trainer. She will train people inside or outside and will worth around your schedule. Peggy had me doing interval training, TRX, weight training, and lots of cardio to get in shape for my wedding. I was in ok shape when I met Peggy, but she definitely helped me get into amazing shape. She is one of the most inspiring and motivating people I have ever met, and I am so happy she was able to help get me in shape and even be part of my wedding day. If you need her contact information, please contact me.
Sandals Grand, St. Lucia: C+ We went to St. Lucia for our honeymoon. It was a typical Caribbean Island, however watch what airport you fly into. We had an hour and a half drive to our resort. The time did not bother us, but we felt sick from the drive. It's extremely mountainous and the roads are paved, but there are not as many driving laws. The resort was ok at best. The beach is much smaller than it appears on the website, and the food is alright. The seafood place, Gordons costs $140 for a meal there, unless you have one of the highly priced butler suites, then it's free. The food was not Caribbean at the resort, but American, yet not. If you ask for ketchup, you get packets. A bottle of wine costs $40 at the cheapest price. The stores are over priced as well. We were disturbed often in our room (we didn't put up the sign) but we were asked if we needed drinks, towels, etc. in the evening. One day we left the please clean sign out and were gone for 6 hours, and they never cleaned up the room. We got a phone call the second day asking if we got the honeymoon package. So the second night they brought us champagne. We asked our travel agent (Liberty Travel) for an ocean front room, only to find out it's an ocean that is a garden, parking lot and road away. I would suggest the swim up room. One night they ran out of steak and shrimp at one of the restaurants and chocolate ice cream at the dessert place. The Columbian Emerald International jewelry shop is in the hotel and that was nice and the swim up bar was great. I had an amazing massage there as well. However, like I said, it was an ok resort. The food could use some work and the beach towels they have have bleach spots and some have holes. There was plenty to do at the hotel if you never wanted to leave the resort, but we paid $112/person to go to Soulfriere and see the Pitons, a volcano, a botanical garden, and snorkel. It was totally worth it. The candlelight beach dinner ($170) is worth the experience, but it will be the same food you can get at one of the restaurants. Sandals has 3 resorts (stay at 1, play at 3), but we never went to the others. Perhaps there restaurants were better.
