Here's my grading scheme (And I'm a tough grader so no grade inflation here):
A: Went above and beyond what was in our contract/agreement
B: Did a good job for our contract/agreement
C: Did the bare minimum to fulfill contract
Fulfilled contract/agreement but with issues
F: Failed to satisfy agreement/contract in full
Place: Mill at Spring Lake Heights: I'm going to split this up into three parts since these are each different elements were based on independent people:
- Sales staff/pre-wedding coordination: B : When we originally booked the Mill in June 2009 our point of contact was Jennifer. Around January 2010, we found out that she was no longer working at the Mill. We only found out because I had sent Jennifer a few emails over a three week period and had no response so I called to see what was up. Our new point of contact was Sara Rose and she told me she had never received any of my emails (which were supposed to be forwarded). However, no one even contacted us to let us know that our point of contact had changed. Sara Rose was very helpful when it came down to the end but there were a few instances where I sent an email with a few questions and her responses would fail to answer the entire email. The other issue I had with them pre-wedding was in regards to the tasting. They do one tasting ever 6 months or so for the upcoming weddings and its in the middle of the week. When we were contacted for the tasting it was about 2 weeks before the date which wouldn't have been a problem if we lived in state but we live in Pittsburgh (which is about a 6 1/2 hour drive to Spring Lake). I explained the situation to Jennifer and they wouldn't budge on trying to work something out for us since they gave us such short notice (I'm not sure if this is because this was right before she left the Mill or if this is standard procedure). I will say that there was one thing that I wanted to include on the menu that wasn't at the tasting and when I contacted Sara Rose to try it she made sure to make arrangements for it to happen.
- Day of coordinator: A : Lynn was awesome. My father likes to try to control things and at the rehearsal he was trying to give Lynn some pointers. She graciously listened and made him feel like she listened and then went back to running the show. Also, she made sure that it was MH and I that were making the decisions (and not others) on what would be going on the day of. On the day of I heard that she was awesome because we had all of our guests arrive in a coach bus shuttle so she had about 100 people to seat in a very short amount of time and she managed to pull it off. Also, during the reception she arranged for everything we asked of her.
- Staff on day of: A- : They were very helpful and packed up quite a bit of food not only for us but also for our guests. My only complaint was that they were vacuuming the atrium during the speeches.
Photographer: Jason Rhee: A (Pending photos): When we originally started looking into Jason in June/July 2009 we were emailing around to his previous clients since no one on the Knot seemed to know of him. They all said the same thing: He's awesome and a diamond in the rough. Since we live far away I sent my mother to meet with him and she said exactly the same thing. We decided we were fools not to hire him and we never looked back. His package is great and he's just an all around great guy. He was always quick to get back to me and he made us feel at ease during both the engagement session and the wedding day. Right before the engagement session MH and I were really stressed out and once we got going with him for the pictures he made us really relaxed and we had a good time. During the wedding it was the same thing; he was able to relax my nervous parents and to get the little kids to behave for pictures. As I said in a previous post, a few of my guests thought he was a "photo ninja" and "expected him to be flying from a trapeze" because he was just everywhere during the ceremony and reception (in fact, at one point I saw him climbing through the bushes). I have nothing but good things to say about him and I never had a doubt about hiring him. Also, we had him make our guest book and we thought it looked great and got quite a few compliments on how cool it was.
Videographer: Daniel Lee Video: D (Pending final video) : We also never met with Daniel because of the distance. He did have a phone meeting. Based on reviews and our phone meeting we decided to book him. MH called him the Tuesday before the wedding to confirm and everything was all set. On the day of, a nice guy by the name of Ben showed up at my door (right after I returned from getting my makeup done) and told me that Daniel had overbooked and was in San Antonio. Ben told me that he had known for two weeks and was shocked I didn't know and felt badly for dropping the bomb on me about an hour before the ceremony. I called MH to confirm that he did indeed confirm with Daniel and he said this was the first he had heard of Daniel not being there. If he had been sick or had a family emergency we would've been fine with it but hearing that he was overbooked, asked Ben to come two weeks before the wedding, and didn't tell us when we talked to him 3-4 days before the wedding has not sat well with us. Ben was very good though; we had asked for unobtrusive videography and that's exactly what he did. The only time I really noticed him all day was when he was setting up some lighting for the dance floor. This review may be upgraded once we see the final product, but right now the only reason Daniel Lee has a D is because Ben did such a good job the day of.
Ceremony Musicians: Rose Trio : B : From what I know they did a good job. They were hired for the ceremony and cocktail hour. Since I missed most of the music before my entrance at the ceremony and the cocktail hour I can only attest to what I heard, and everything I heard sounded great. They were also really flexible. MH and I had seen the Planets and wanted to include an excerpt from one of the movements for our unity candle. They said no problem.
DJ: Chuck Russo: A : Another vendor we only met over the phone. MH is INCREDIBLY picky with music and we knew this would be the one challenge. We wanted just music and didn't want a flashy DJ or an MC or anything like that. We talked with Chuck over the phone and got a really good feeling from him so we decided he was a good choice. Day of he was great. He made sure that the music wasn't too loud, he played all the music we asked of him (some of which was very obscure), and had the timing for everything down perfectly. The dance floor was also packed for most of the night (except for the obscure ones which only had the people that knew them dancing).
Flowers: Keller Flower Studio Shrewsbury, NJ: A : Another great vendor. I know nothing about flowers. I had a very vague idea in my head and Kathy made it come to life. We were also very cost conscious so she was scoping out all the different ways that we could save money and making sure that we were aware of it. All the bouquets, bouts, and centerpieces looked fantastic. Also, about a week before the wedding we contacted her because we realized we were over our heads with what we wanted to do for the escort card table. She took control and it looked fantastic.
Officiant: Father George Lucey: A : MH was raised lapsed catholic and I'm a unaffiliated mutt (my mother is catholic and dad Jewish) so we didn't want to misrepresent ourselves or our beliefs and we didn't want to make any of our families feel like we weren't including the religious elements. We took this recommendation from our original coordinator at the Mill who said if she ever got married Father George would be the one to do it. Father George was incredibly accommodating and worked with us to make sure that we accomplished this. Also, we really liked the fact that he's a Ph.D since both of us are studying for our Ph.D.s so we felt like he knew where we were coming from. We met with him 2 times and we contacted him numerous times via phone and email. He was never tough to get in touch with. Also, he was great during the ceremony with his sermon and also with helping out to hide us when we lit the unity candle with a lighter since the tapers kept going out. He was very friendly, very accommodating, very accepting of what we believed differently from him, and very, very intelligent. When we were trying to work in our families religions he was able to come up with readings off the top of his head that captured both.
Hair: Renarde Salon Wall, NJ: A : Kerry was my stylist and she was great working with me to try to find a style I wanted. I went in back in April for a trial and she used a curling iron that was too wide and just not enough spray. My hair fell out within two hours. I called back and said I was disappointed and Jill and her didn't hesitate to work with me to reach a solution and offer me another complimentary trial. Day of she was great too. The makeup guy kept running his makeup brush through my hair and caused the front of my hair to go flat. I came back in and asked if they could touch it up and they squeezed me in no problem.
Makeup: Juli Mei Spring Lake, NJ: C/D : There are a number of reasons why I was unhappy with them. All in all I had my make up done and it (hopefully) comes out ok in the pictures. I went in in May for my trial with Lina and she was great. We spent about three hours going through with the make up and perfecting exactly what I wanted. I left very happy with the result. The week of the wedding Juli called me and said she wanted Timothy to work with me since he was their "bridal specialist" and that he had gone through all of my paperwork with Lina. I figured since she spoke highly of him and he was aware of my trial that it would be fine. Day of my BMs, mother, and I got there he never asked any of them what they wanted and barely spoke a word to anyone. I didn't think anything of him putting the makeup on the girls because I just figured Lina had noted something in my paperwork and he was doing it heavier for pictures. When he finished up with me I realized he didn't ask because he just does whatever he wants. First, the makeup was MUCH thicker than my trial, which I would've been ok with if it was just that because I was thinking maybe that's just how it should be done to show up in pictures. But it seemed as if he hadn't even skimmed through the paperwork from my trial. He put this makeup on me that he referred to as "dewy" which I thought made me look sweaty and made him take off and I had worked on a more dramatic eye at my trial and he barely put any makeup on my eyes. Also, as I mentioned before he kept running his brushes through my hair which made it drop flat. When I got back to the house I was staying at I noticed that the eyeliner I made him put on after he originally did my makeup was all in the creases under my eyes and were prominent because of how much makeup he had caked on, that there was a distinct makeup line under my jawline (which I had specifically worked on at my trial because I hated it), and that my blonde eyelashes were half black and half blonde. I just couldn't believe that they would pull something like that where the makeup guy disregards what the bride had worked on at her trial and just do whatever he wanted.
Dress (purchase): RK Bridal, NYC: A: Aisha was my consultant. The dress I ended up getting was the 76th dress I tried on (not all in one day). I knew what I wanted but I just couldn't find it at that point. Aisha managed to make it appear just when I was about to give up hope. She was great too because she was more concerned about me being happy with the dress than the commission associated with the sale.
Dress (alterations): Belsey's High Bridge, NJ: B : Belsey is just a small shop and I wanted to find something close to my parents house and didn't know of anything. She did a good job since the dress needed to be taken in about 2 inches on either side. I was very nervous since I only was supposed to have one fitting put she did a good job. It was slightly tight in the bust but it ended up working out well in the end because I wasn't concerned about falling out of the dress. Also, I had pleats on my dress which in some places didn't match up perfectly but no one could notice other than me.
Veil: Etsy seller MARISOLAPARICIO: B : The veil arrived very quickly. I was looking for a veil that had a satin edge and that was how this veil was marketed. When I received it I noticed her "edge" was basically the edging glued on the tulle. Again, another thing that only I could tell but I was slightly disappointed.
BM Necklaces: Etsy seller foreverafterjewelry: C : I ordered my BM necklaces and earrings back in April. The seller had some serious family issues and was difficult to get in touch with (before I knew about this). After she informed me, she said she would get them out in early May but still no word. I was very nervous up until the beginning of June when I finally received them.
Limo: Andiamo Limo: (Can't grade): My FIL and MIL dealt with all this. We got a limo and a coach bus for a shuttle. From what I've heard everything went off well. The only hiccup was that it took the driver awhile to make the return trip from the Mill to the house I was at which led to me being about 5 minutes late to the ceremony
Honeymoon: Reach Resort, Key West, FL: A : Awesome. Its a sister resort with Casa Marina which is much, much bigger. It had a much smaller and intimate feel. The location was also great, only a few blocks from the southernmost point and a little over a mile from Mallory square. Since I told them it was our honeymoon they made sure we had a room with a great view and there were a few things they did for us over the course of the week we were there. The staff were all great and helpful as well.
I can review some other stuff out it Pittsburgh if anyone else is interested but theses are all the reviews for everything in NJ.