New here - Belle Mer 10.16.10!

talia.gursky

Hi Ladies,Thanks for posting your reviews - they're so helpful! As of now, I know we're getting married at belle mer on 10.16.10. I know our coordinator is Stuart. Our save the dates go out next week. It seems like I've gotten a lot done already (room blocks are almost finished, so is our website), but I'm totally overwhelmed with all that's left to do. To add to it, we live in Dallas now (my family is in Narragansett), so this is all long distance! I have lots of questions, and would appreciate help on any of them!~ Finding a photographer -- I found a guy whose pictures I LOVED, but then found 3(!!) nightmare reviews about him not coming through with the album/pictures. I'd love photographer recommendations, as I'm now PETRIFIED of making a bad choice. I've looked into Bella Pictures, but have seen mixed reviews about them too...~ What to have Belle Mer book?  -- I've seen other posts where people have explained that this venue books some of your vendors with a mark up of 30%. They will also provide the meals for these vendors... my question is, are there any vendors that I should definitely let them coordinate? ~I'd love to hear about any experiences at Belle Mer - things to be sure to do or to watch out for etc. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!Thanks!t

jkara525

Welcome to the board!  There is lots of great advice given on here - the girls are great!  You certainly have a lot done already...I'm really impressed your save the dates are going out next week.  My wedding is a few weeks before yours and I have not gotten that far!  I am planning my Watch Hill, RI wedding from NYC and I thought that was tough, good luck with the long distance planning from Dallas!!!!  As for photographers, I don't know how much you want to spend but a lot of the brides on here RAVE about Jennifer Leatherwood and Melissa Robotti.  Their work looks amazing.  I am using Kristin Spencer who I absolutely love so far.  We are getting our engagement pics taken in 2 weeks so hopefully I will love the pics as much as I've loved dealing with her so far.  Photographer was a tough decision becuase it's such an important element.  I am currently struggling with florist...have you selected yet? I am thinking of going with Mums...I'm meeting with her in a few weeks so I'm hoping to make a decision after I speak with her.

aylee

Welcome to the board! Wow, you've already gotten a lot done. I'm a Belle Mer bride as well We're planning long distance as well, but not as far as Dallas. Some brides book vendors through Belle Mer for the convenience and/or to meet the minimum. I'm booking almost everything myself. When it comes to numbers, it is more affordable to book vendors yourself if the cost of the service is more than $1008 (quoted from the vendor directly). There are some vendors that you can book yourself without paying the vendor fee.

danamarie421

Hi!! Welcome to the RI board! Belle Mer is such a gorgeous venue! As far as photographers go, Cregg Annarino does amazing work. He was the only photographer that we met with and booked him immediately. GL! ~Dana

aylee

Since photography is important to you, I'd suggest finding the photographer yourself. When you have picked your photographer, you can have Belle Mer deal with everything else after that, if you like. I couldn't book my photographer through Belle Mer coz that would be at least $800 in additional expense.

kappleby

Just wanted to say congrats and welcome! This is such a great resource!

jkara525

Talia -I'm not sure how many times I'll have to go up there...3 or 4 maybe?  I am figuring I'll have to do multiple things every trip I make like coordinate make up and hair trials with menu tastings.  It's not so much of a challenge since we can get in the car and drive up there...I'm sure you will get tons of great advice and vendor recos on here which makes it so much easier for us who are not living in the immediate area.  It's a huge help.

*beachbride13*

Welcome and Congrats ! I am also a belle mer bride ( August ), but I am on the old contract so I might not be much help when it comes to questions you have regarding the new contract, however, I can help you with recommending vendors or any other questions you have about Belle Mer. What room are you in ? We are in the Island House. As for photogs, there are A LOT of fantastic photogs in the RI/MA area so if you aren't sure about the one you are currently looking at due to some bad reviews, def. look around. To me photographers are a very important vendor. We are booked with Snap! Photography. Not sure if you looked into them yet but if not, they are fabulous ! Check out www.snapri.com - you can event check out pics that they are have for other Belle Mer weddings on their blog. They are amazing photographers ! Page me or just Belle Mer brides in general if you have any questions- I know there are quite a few of us on here.

KB_RI

I'm not at Belle Mer but just wanted to say welcome and that you should check out the October 2010 board if you haven't already. Nice to have a way to check against how much others with weddings near yours have done. Also an interesting national perspective. I think there are a few Dallas/FW area girls on there, too. As for photogs, there are some good reccs on this post. We also really liked Faith Dugan and she's in Newport and gives a discount to Newport brides. Also maybe check MKD Photography, Kristin Spencer, Rupert Whitely and A Brilliant Photo. This is a great board and you'll get tons of help planning long-distance!

aishamf

Snap! Photography is all I have to say.  They are AWESOME photographers, great pics, great to work with.  I loved every single photo from our August wedding.  Definitely check out their blog and website.  HTH!

Sharpbride

Welcome! The girls are super helpful here so ask away. My photographer is Olivia Gird. She has a great eye and gave us everything we wanted without breaking the bank. We're planning on having engagement pictures sometime this winter.

legallybride2

Welcome to the board I got married last month and used Zenobia Photography Studios (there's a few pics in my married bio) I loved working with her and was absolutely thrilled with my pictures! Good luck!

kerrijune

welcome! good luck with the rest of your planning!

RoyalOrient

If you have the budget...these photogs are really the cream of the crop. Of course it depends on your taste and style too.Allegro PhotographyEric Laurits Meghan Sepe Kristen Spencer Snap Photography Also talented and very popular on the boards. Melissa Robotti Lisa Rigby Jennifer Leatherwood MKD Ciras

NewportBride710

I'm also a Belle Mer bride living in Dallas, but originally from MA! We're getting married 7/31/10 in Island House. We tried to use Belle Mer to book them for our DJ. Our mouths hit the floor when we got the price because we already had an idea of what it would cost, since we had contacted him before. They marked it up almost 40%!! Almost all the quotes they have given us have been around the 40% mark! We've ended up booking everything ourselves since it's been much more cost efficient.

nicole0827

We are using Jennifer Leatherwood.  I can't say enough great things about her and her work. We just had our engagement pics done and she was so much fun to work with. I can't wait to see our pictures.  Definitely recommend her!

kcabral80

Welcome to the board! my photographer did an amazing job with my photos- Gabrielle Marks. If you'd like to see her work, check out  my pics: http://www.pictage.com/738760

melinda478

Welcome! Nice to see another BM bride!! I got married there in July. We had Stuart as our Event planner as well-cool dude! I used Rupert Whiteley for photographer. Sorry can't help with the pricing questions, we had the old contract. Congrats and Happy Planning. We also planned long distance but not as far as TX! Just book alot of appt's for one weekend. Do alot of email/phone. But don't burn yourself out either with appt after appt. Keep it to 3 vendors per category..makes life alot easier!

eacosta1120

I agree that you should look in to photographers yourself. It took us forever but we narrowed it down to Jennifer Leatherwood and Jenn from Zenobia. After meeting with them and a few email exchanges later, we went with Zenobia. I had an unpleasant email exchange with Leatherwood, which I won't go in to here, but when I posted about it earlier, someone else had a situation with her as well. Sadly, I have a word doc with photogs names and pricing etc. If you want me to send it over, let me know your email.

SummerBoston10

We met with Cregg Annarino and really liked his work.  We did not book him because he did not offer us what we really wanted which was the RETOUCHED photos on a CD/DVD.  All he will give you is the raw photos.  If you want him to retouch photos he will, but you have to order all of the prints through him and his print prices are much higher than other photographers.We ended up going to with Scott Zuehlke because he is giving us what we want for an affordable price.  We are paying $2850 for 6 hours and we will receive all photos, untouched and retouched, on a CD/DVD.  He also hosts the pictures online for online ordering and he will post a slideshow set to music that we can share with family/friensd.He let us remove the album from our package and we can purchase it for the same price at a later date if we so choose.  Check out Melinda's photographer, Rupert Whiteley, as well.  He was booked for our date and actually recommended Scott to us.  I love Rupert's work as well!

KB_RI

I had the same experience with Cregg and there were a few other things. If you want details, you could e-mail me at gorhody95 at gmail.com. But page me here on the board, too, because I only use that account for The Knot stuff and don't check it all the time. I also have a spreadsheet with some photogs and packages up to $4,500 and what they include that I'd be happy to send you.

fitnessgirl630

Congrats on your upcoming wedding!!!