Rhode Island

9/23/11 Vendor Review (Towers, Blackstone, Sayles Livingston, etc.)

Hello! Early in planning the reviews here were very helpful to me, so I thought I would give a quick recap of our vendors. If you are interested in reading more about any parts of the wedding feel free to message me, and I do blog here at the knot: http://wedding.theknot.com/special-wedding-features/wedding-blogs.aspx

Wedding Date: 9/23/11
Weather: Rainy mess.

I planned from New Jersey, so most of my communication with vendors was via email. I can't give a grade or rating because it was my wedding and I think it was perfect. I hope my narratives help.

Towers: I loved getting married here and would choose it over and over again. Our cocktail hour had to be moved inside because of weather. I was sad about not being able to use the courtyard, but it was okay. It was the perfect spot for our Rhode Island wedding.  Kate can be hard to get a hold of, but in the end, she does know what's going on and everything was fine. She was flexible about letting my family put up lanterns the day before, which I thought was going to be a problem.  

I would say, however, that it was really hot in there. It was a rainy muggy day, so it was hard to keep the windows open for long periods of time and I was really sweating. The fans were on, but still, it was really hot.  I am not sure how people get married there in the summer months. If you get married here be clear about whose job it is to do things - like open the windows.

The First Baptist Church in Wickford: Reverend Ginny was very nice. The ceremony was simple, but I would just make sure to be really clear about the order of things during the rehearsal. They are strict about the music, though. We wanted to play All I Want is You (Barry Louus Polisar) for our exit and they said no. We went with a string trio for all the church music. It was lovely, but they played for several minutes between parts of the ceremony while we just stood there. It was akward and hilarious.

Blackstone Caterers: I choose between Blackstone and Russell Morin. I went with Blackstone because they were more willing to give us everything we wanted for the price we could pay. A lot of vendors try to get you to pay more for things, but Danielle was the opposite.  She was amazing and she made me feel comfortable rather than silly for thinking I could have the things I wanted. She made me feel comfortable from the beginning and really took charge of things.

All the food was amazing. It was not nasty wedding food at all. It is expensive, but it was worth it for us. Everything was delicious, creative, and very Rhode Island, which was what we were going for. We also got our cupcakes and mini-pies from Blackstone, and it was all delicious. They were also willing to make mini Awful Awful in shot glasses for us. They also made the chalkboard menu for the dinner.

The only (very small) thing that bothered me was that the waiters didn't use the names of the signature cocktails. They just called them Pear Martini and Mojito, which is fine, but the silly names we made up was kind of the point. Also, one waiter kept calling the Awful Awful milkshakes, which again, misses the point of having them. But those are really small things, and I was completely satisfied with all aspects of the wedding food.

Sayles Livingston: Sayles is wonderful, and I immediately knew she would do a wonderful job with our wedding flowers. She worked with me on the pricing a bit so I was able to have everything I wanted within my budget. The only negatives were that there were roses in my bouquet when I asked for none and one of the flower balls for the flower girls broke almost immediately. She didn't even carry it down the aisle. Also, the bouquets are huge - like really big, so if you want something smaller, be specific. Again, overall completely happy with the flowers. She took my vision for the reception and put it together perfectly. I actually cried when I walked in the room.

Alan from Moondance: So, we didn't want to pay a lot for a deejay and that's why I chose Moondance. A friend recommended him saying he was fine, not annoying and followed directions, so I went with it. Overall, he was fine. There were no major mishaps (unless you count playing Baby Got Back at your reception, which I kind of just laughed off), but he did start to play my special song for my groom while he wasn't on the dance floor. He stopped and started later. I didn't mind, but I know it would bother some people. I've read here that he does ask you questions during the wedding, and that's true. It didn't bother me, but maybe if you are more specific right up front with him it will reduce that. He was affordable and did a decent job.

Hair - Molly from Kenneth Cote in East Greenwich: Amazing. Can't say anything bad at all. My bridesmaids had their hair done here as well with different people. All of their hair stayed in and looked nice.

Makep - Her name is Nicole and she comes right to your house. She did 4 bridesmaids, me and my mom and everyone was beautiful. I can give you her number if you'd like.

Hello Love Photo- Casey shoots with her husband, and although I don't have my pictures yet I love her overall style. http://hellolovephoto.com/ I have a picture tip though: make a list of all the pictures you want ahead of time. I am kicking myself for missing things and not planning better for rainy pictures.

Rockstar Limo - Nothing bad to say. They come on time and the limo was clean, so that worked for me.

Good luck planning!

Re: 9/23/11 Vendor Review (Towers, Blackstone, Sayles Livingston, etc.)

  • i2012doi2012do member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    These reviews are great, especially because we are usin the towers, blacks tone and hello love. I'd love to hear a bit more if you don't mind emailing me at jcorvese at gmail.com, I have some questions about Kate, etc
    www.weddedeverafter.blogspot.com
    167 Invited image 34 Attending image Declined 4 image Still Waiting 129 image
  • edited December 2011
    Where is Rockstar Limo? I have read different reviews and some said they are based out of Newport, Bristol, Cranston - do they have multiple locations b.c I was thinking of contacting them as well - do you know if they have just regular cars for me and FI to ride in after ceremony?
  • edited December 2011
    Here are some of my photos from Hello Love's Website. http://hellolovephoto.com/?p=2150

    Re: Rockstar - I believe they are out of Cranston, but I am not positive. They could have several locations. I don't know about the cars. My husband and I rode in the limo with some of the groomsmen and my bridesmaids went with their spouses/families.
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