Just wanted to post about all of the great vendors that I had for my wedding on Saturday - only one vendor that I am still unhappy with but overall the party was incredible. I knew some of the vendors would be good because they came highly recommended by friends, family, and knotties.
The Venetian - everything at this reception venue was top notch. Everyone kept telling me how amazing the cocktail hour (and Seafood Extravaganza) was, even the palate cleansing sorbet was good and looked beautiful the way it was presented. The Viennese Extravaganza They made sure everything went smoothly the entire time and brought us an amazing spread of food from the cocktail hour to the bridal suite so we had a chance to eat. So many people told me this was the best wedding they had ever been to.
Le Petit Gateau/A Little Cake - the cake was delicious and beautiful - best cake Ive ever had at a wedding and heard that a lot. Only complaint was that I told them specifically that I did not want flowers on the top of the cake and even showed them my cake topper and picked a cake with no flowers on top but somehow wound up with flowers at the top of my cake. The Venetian relocated the flowers and still used my cake topper though.
McKay Imaging - these two photographers are amazing and are worth every penny. They took tons of photo and took interest in every detail large or small. They made sure that we had photos with all of the people that we wanted without taking away from us enjoying our day - a challenging task since we did not have a big gap for photos and did not do any first look pictures. The two of them, a husband and wife, were so good at keeping everyone calm and relaxed. I can't wait until I see my photos!!
Wild Rose Video - our videographer was great! Af first, I will confess that I did not want video - I was mostly focused on the photography, but now I cannot wait to see the video. Our videographer was amazing and bonus is that he was on the Sopranos so we had a celebrity at our wedding!!
Fantasy Productions - Our DJ Bob Albrecht was wonderful!! The selection he played was great because we were able to get so many people on the dance floor. We had the party package that came with favors and it was so fun! He took extra care to find a song that we wanted for our anniversary song, changed my father of the bride song 2 days before the wedding, and also even did a sound check with my close friends who sang for our first dance song (they were amazing too). Thank you knotties for recommending this great DJ.
JB Lighting Productions - they did my gobo and it was perfect! My contact was a bit unresponsive at first but on the day of it was pure professionalism and I was happy that I did it. Our technician even gave me a copy of our monogram at the end.
Go Festive! - The photo booth was great! This was one of my special touches and I got tons of compliments on it. My photo guestbook turned out great especially with all of the fun costumes and props. The only thing that I would do differently is that I kept this as a surprise but I wish I had told more people to go/gone in more times myself. My fiance's friend used this vendor but this was also a knottie rec so thank you.
Once Upon a Chocolate - this was our vendor for our wedding favors. Great-tasting product, arrived on time, and customized tags etc. were excellent. I will deifnitely think of her again for any other party favors in the future. It just felt as though she really care about pleasing me with my order.
Santos flowers - the flowers that we received were beautiful, but I made a change at the final meeting we had to the bm bouqets that wasn't incorporated but actually I think the bouquets looked better than they otherwise would have so how could I be upset about that...the centerpieces the changes I made at our final meeting were incorporated. Thanks knotties for this pick.
Limo and Shuttle - I have to find out the names of these vendors who my husband was in charge of. Our limo driver was absolutely amazing - he went way way above and beyond, even going into the churchand standing in front of the glass door to make sure no one could see me inside. He put out a red carpet for me and even had us do a champagne toast. The shuttle was prompt and drove us quickly to our destination.
La Sorella - Mandy and her assistant are the best. She and her assistant arrived at my hotel at 5:45 am ready to go for my wedding. When she heard I was having a morning wedding, she even offered to come an hour earlier but I told her 6am start would be fine. In the end, all of her hairstyles were beautiful and there was not one person who was unhappy with her hair. She also finished at least 45 minutes ahead of schedule. My SIL told me she would like to use her. Thanks Knotties for this recommendation.
Vanity and Mascara - my makeup artists. They did an amazing job. They had to do a bunch of people with different complexions etc - absolutely no problem. I got tons of compliments on my makeup and a friend getting married next month says she now is thinking about canceling her MUA to use mine. Great job and prompt and efficient. They also finished about ten minutes early - even though I was skeptical that they could do five girls in an hour and a half. My mother and I did airbrush but the standard makeup was done on the other three and they all came out beautifully.They also do hair and I've heard it's nice.
Impress Me Designs - my invitations and thank you notes were so beautiful. Celeste did everything exactly the way I wanted. I got tons of compliments on these, which perfectly matched my color scheme. My husband's friend is also engaged and he said that the cost of his invitations doubled once they saw how nice ours were. I even heard my cousin took it to work to show everyone.
East West Bridal - the dress was very very beautiful and the alterations were good at the end but it was a process. Whatever you do, do not be a moron like me and pick up your dress the day before the wedding - don't do it because you will be regretting it. I had planned to pick it up at 1 go to the hotel and drop off all of my stuff and then head to my rehearsal dinner....instead i was late to my nearby rehearsal at 5 from the dress place and picked it up from the seamstress's house at 10 pm. There is a reason that the Knot tells you to pick it up early. I will say that I would rather have the seamstress take the extra time to fix it than have her give it to me on time but do a bad job.
David's Bridal - the bm dresses were fine but they did put my wedding date in wrong, making it harder to order the flower girl dresses. Also I went to the Manhattan store arund 23rd Streeet. I had a long wait despite having an appointment with my girls. I called about a specific dress in a specific color to which they said sure no problem. When I go to the store, I was told the bm dress wasn't made anymore in that color so for an hour we looked for other stuff - then it turned out that they did make it in that color but there was not even one available to be tried on. The manger went downstaris and found a dress in that color that had been ordered and they showed it to me. In the end, they were okay, just be prepared if you use them.
Mens' Wearhouse - okay so I think this was the only vendor that I was really pissed off with. We used them because the colors match David's Bridal. We had twelve tuxes for the wedding - 8 gms, 2 dad's, my husband, and my ringbearer. They have you pick up your tux two days before - my husband and his dad went and it turns out they had been mismeasured because neither tux fit (the fitting was about two weeks earlier) and some were wrinkled, even though my fi had lost 5 lbs since his last fitting it was like 3 inches too small. Also, one of his groomsemn had a tux that was totally wrinkled and he threw a fit in the store because they ddin't want to press it. The next day new tuxes for both - my FIL had the wrong color vest and tie his matched the groomsmen and not my dad. The sleeves on my husband's jacket were too long. And his white bowtie was dirty. My SIL took down the appropriate number to make a complaint because they werej totally unprofessional. I would not recommend using them to anyone ever but if you do just make sure that you have the guys try on their tuxes immediately - do not wait until the day before the wedidng. So much for their guarantee. I am definitely calling to complain about these people
Hope these reviews help all of you planning your weddings!!