I just got married on Sept. 26, 2014 and wanted to provide some feedback on my vendors, in an effort to help Hudson Valley Brides plan their weddings.
Venue - The Fountains at Wallkill, on the Wallkill Golf Course
Absolutely wonderful!! Throughout the planning process they were available to answer any questions I had. What I liked most is I felt Bob (the owner) really had the best interest of my husband and I in mind. I was planning on a budget and felt that I had an elegant wedding, without breaking the bank. Included in my booking was one round trip shuttle between the hotel and venue, which was great. Made it so there was one less then I had to worry about. The shuttle turned out to be a school bus, but I didn't mind, because I'm a teacher and felt it fit. The Fountains also offers a tabbed bar, where you pay what the maximum bar tab could be, in cash, the day prior, but you are only charged for what guests drink. We wound up getting money back after the wedding. It was great. It was a great way to save money, without having a cash bar for our guests. The food was fantastic. They conduct tastings during weddings, with couples for the tasting tucked away in their grille room. That way you are getting food as it would be the day of your wedding. I loved their garlic mashed potatoes, and chose the chicken dish, which came with rice, but they were more than happy to accommodate my wish to have the garlic mashed with my entree. I highly suggest choosing the strawberry salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Delicious! And the cake... wow!!!! It was such a hard choice because everything was so delicious. We went with two options, a yellow cake with chocolate mousse and a chocolate cake with strawberries. The cake was decorated exactly as the pictures I gave the baker. Joe, our Matre D was ABSOLUTLEY FANTASTIC!!! He was completely attentive to our needs and the needs of our bridal party and parents. We actually had the opportunity to sit down and eat and enjoy our meals. Our bridal party later told us, he was always checking in with them to see if they needed anything and was always bringing them drinks. I can't say enough to how wonderful it was.
Florist - Floral Bliss, Newburgh
Rosalie and Diane are wonderful!! They don't operate in a floral shop, they work from their homes. So you won't get a mock-up of what your flowers will look like the day of. But do not worry, they executed my vision exactly. I was THRILLED!!! I actually cried when I saw my bouquet for the first time. I was able to use flowers in bouquets and as boutonnieres that I never thought I'd be able to use because of their price... but I did and it didn't break the bank. Because they don't have a store front, you don't have to pay extra for the flowers that are used to create mock up bouquets and center pieces. I just loved that Rosalie and Diane paid careful attention to details, using every piece of glassware and extra flowers throughout the reception area. I truly felt they treated me like I was their own daughter. Looking to make my vision a reality, and stay within a budget. I can say 100%, they did. I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out.
DJ - Stylez Entertainment, Wallkill
I love to dance, and feel the music at a wedding sets the tone. Well, Brian didn't disappoint. The dance floor was packed! He was very understanding of my desire to make sure there was music played to stretch the range of guests at our wedding. He took our must playlist and incorporated what he could throughout the night. He worked to make sure he had the right songs we requested. We also were able to order a custom GoBo light for the reception... and Brian made it super easy. After signing the contract, I decided a few months later that I wanted to add in the uplighting, he was able to make the needed adjustments to the contract quickly and even gave me it at a discount, as he had just run a promotion on it. He was also able to provide us with a photobooth - with an attendant and a scrapbook. I couldn't have been happier with that either! The photobooth attendant was so friendly and helpful, ensuring my husband and I had the opportunity to get in & take a few shots! Although Brian was unable to actually DJ our wedding, we LOVED Chris!!! He kept checking in with us throughout the night. He was very receptive to our thoughts and feelings. Best part -- when I got to slide behind the booth and DJ a little bit.
Photographer - Bedinotti Photo, Newburgh
Lou & Leah are great! They worked with us to plan out a timeline for the day of, ensuring we'd get the photos we wanted, as well as be able to have time to spend in our cocktail hour and reception. We opted to take care of all of our pictures prior, so we could take advantage of the beautiful scenery during daylight. The only think I wasn't too thrilled with, was the first look. We did it in the lobby of the hotel, and it didn't seem too well coordinated. I actually had to call out for my husband to turn the corner. I felt like that took something away from the moment. I will say, I like the two camera coverage they provide. We took photos in an efficient manner. I'm looking forward to seeing the proofs, which should be available online this week. When using Bedinotti Photo, you get all digital rights to your photos, the proofs go online, only you get the code to view (you choose who you give it to) you get a CD of the proofs and actual hard copies of the proofs.
Videographer - Artistic Images, Carmel
Jim & Kathy are great! They were easy to work with leading up to the wedding. On the day of, I didn't feel any obtrusion from the camera. We chose the simplest package, only video coverage of the photo formals, ceremony and reception. With that package comes 3 BluRay DVDs. We got to pick the music for the video and also shared childhood photos and couple photos to be used. I'm looking forward to seeing the final video in the coming weeks.
Bridal Shop - Springhouse Formals, Garnerville
At the beginning of the process, they were wonderful, very accommodating. They worked within my budget and pulled a variety of dresses that were within budget and met my style requirements. I am completely in love with my wedding dress. The dress was ordered the end of November, arrived in June and was ready for me to pick up a week before my wedding. However, I needed to wait an hour and a half beyond my appointment time to try my dress on. I also selected my bridesmaid's dresses there as well. The dresses were selected in January and were suppose to be ordered the end of March, delivered the end of May. This is where it goes downhill. The dresses were scheduled to ship July 18th, none of my bridesmaids received a call that the dresses arrived. It wasn't until one of my bridesmaids decided to call in August to inquire about the dresses. The dresses had just recently arrived and she and another bridesmaid went in immediately for a fitting. My other 2 bridesmaids were never called, I had to call the end of August (while on vacation) to inquire about the other dresses. The remaining two girls had fittings on Sept. 6th and the dresses were to be ready the day my dress was ready, as they lived out of state and we had plans to meet up the weekend prior to the wedding for them to try the dresses on. Sadly, the dresses were not done on time, in fact, the dresses weren't done until late afternoon on Wednesday... and my wedding was Friday. NONE of the dresses were altered correctly. Not a single dress fit any girl correctly. This caused me unnecessary stress the day before my wedding, as that was the day my girls had the chance to try on the dresses. To accommodate the late completion of the dresses, the shop agreed that if there were any issues with the dresses, they would drive to where ever we were to get the dresses, make the corrections and return them in time. I will say that they did hold to this promise, however were very rude and insisting that we were wrong about the alterations. They blamed my pregnant sister-in-law's dress not fitting on the fact she is pregnant and her body changed, however I have a fashion background and saw in the seams that they were not taken out in all the places they should have been. In another bridesmaid's situation, the dress was let out, when it didn't need to be... it was recorded on her receipt and one employee tried to deny it, saying it was a mistake on the receipt. The main seamstress of the shop was ill most of the summer, causing them to fall behind on alterations. However, they were not upfront with us on this fact, only letting us know after we began to call and inquire about the dresses. In the end, the dresses were delivered to us about 45 minutes before the girls needed to be ready. All but 1 dress was fixed correctly and the shop did take additional money off of the final balances. I would just say if you use this shop, proceed with caution, and be prepared to stay on top of them about dresses being ordered, delivered and alterations.
Make-Up - Color Make-Up Studio, Pearl River
Christine is fantastic! Easy to work with and very efficient. She traveled from Pearl River to Middletown (with an additional fee) to do all of our make up. She offers traditional make up, and airbrushing. I feel all of our make-up looked very natural, not like it was overly done.
Hair - Shear Magique - Thiells
This is my childhood salon. There was no question in my mind this is where I would be getting my hair done for my wedding. They were able to accommodate myself, my mom, 2 bridesmaids and a flower girl. Ashley did my up-do and it was perfect! I went for a trial a few weeks prior to the wedding, and we worked to get something just right. I had several different photos of ideas. My hair came out even better the day of my wedding than I could of imagined. I have a lot of hair and it is mid-length, but it stayed in place all night, as I danced the night away.
