Hello, fellow upstate NY brides! I was just married this past weekend in Latham, NY, and the wedding was a smashing success. I found this board pretty helpful when I was choosing my vendors, and now it's time to pay it forward!
Venue (Inclusive of ceremony and reception sites, catering, cake, ice sculpture and hotel room block) - Century House, Latham, NY
Rating: A
I had originally added this place to my list of venues to look at as an afterthought, because I was completely convinced I couldn't afford it. Then I went there, and was very pleasantly surprised, both by the cost and what we got for our money. This venue is a GREAT option if you're looking for a place that will do it all. What they don't do on-site, they 'outsource' to a partner vendor. So rather than setting up seperate contracts with a venue, a caterer, a baker, etc., you can do it all in one shot. They were also very willing to custom-create a package for us with the options we wanted, and were flexible about making changes right up until just a few weeks before the wedding.
The ballrooms at CH are beautiful, and the outdoor ceremony site (they do have an indoor ceremony room as well, but it works better for smaller weddings than ours) is very simple and pretty with the fields and nature trail behind the venue acting as a backdrop. Lots of great spots for photos. Directly behind the main banquet hall is a smallish mid-range hotel with very comfortable rooms and a great breakfast buffet included. Their "apartment" suites are a great place to get ready the day of, even if you have a larger bridal party. H and I were given a free room for the wedding night as part of our reception package, and they had all our gifts from the gift table at the reception waiting when we got there, plus a bottle of champagne and our toasting flutes! I didn't even notice them taking this stuff during the reception, and it was a very nice touch.
The really outstanding thing about CH is the food. The first thing anyone around here says when you mention Century House is how good the food is. I heard from some of our guests that it was the best food they had ever had at a wedding, and I believe it. They contract out to two bakeries in the area to do their wedding cakes and I'm not sure which one did ours so I can't give proper credit, but it was also amazing!
The only problems we had:
- The coordinator we booked with retired a few months later and the changes in staffing got a little frustrating for awhile, but it had pretty much all settled down by the time we got to the wedding.
- There was another reception going on at the same time as ours, and staff seemed to be spread a little thin. Some of our guests had a little difficulty flagging someone down to get water or coffee later in the evening.
I would also like to give a brief shoutout to Charles "The Iceman" Jones, who did our ice sculpture. He also contracts through Century House so we didn't work with him directly, but he still did a great job! The ice luge we got for our signature cocktail was a huge hit.
Rehearsal Dinner - Wolf's 1-11, Colonie, NY
Rating: A++
Wolf's has been a favorite of H and I since we first started dating, and probably gets overlooked for banquets and parties more often than it should. The banquet manager is a great guy, he really went above and beyond for us and gave us a lot of personal attention. Everyone loved the food and had a great time!
Photography - Tim Greer/Camera Famosa
Rating: A++
By far my favorite vendor to work with throughout the planning process. Tim is very down to earth and easy to work with, as is his wife, who also acts as his assistant/second shooter. He offers a very simple and affordable photo package and doesn't try to pressure you into buying overpriced albums and prints. H and I weren't planning on doing an engagement shoot because we were worried about feeling awkward, but it was included in the package so we decided to give it a whirl. Tim immediately made us feel comfortable and there were times we even forgot he was there! On the wedding day, we got through the formal photos so efficiently that H and I even got to catch the tail end of the cocktail hour. The engagement photos csme out great, and I can't wait to see the pictures from the wedding!
DJ - Bruce Tallini Mobile Entertainment
Rating: A-
Bruce may not always be the most organized guy in the world, and that got a little frustrating at times. But he is very personable and easy to work with. He ran both our ceremony and reception music for a pretty good price. I picked out some pretty obscure ceremony music and he was able to come through with all the songs we needed. The music was one of the things that made our ceremony perfect in my mind, and got a lot of compliments from our guests. And he has a knack for getting people on the dance floor and keeping them there like no other DJ I've ever seen. He's like the crowd whisperer - he knew exactly what our guests wanted to dance to and played it till we were ready to drop!
Hair and Makeup - Lipstick and Lashes
Rating: A+
These ladies are very professional and they do fantastic work. The only problem we had was that the makeup artist was a no-show for my originally scheduled makeup trial, but the salon owner addressed it immediately and got us someone else to work with. We had 2 hairstylists and a makeup artist the day of the wedding; everyone arrived on time, worked efficiently, and got all of us not only looking fantastic, but ready ahead of schedule! They were also very accomodating - one of my bridesmaids has very short hair and didn't sign up for hair services because, well, she didn't need them. They styled her quickly and free of charge. My aunt also decided she wanted her makeup done at the last minute, and that was no problem either.
Flowers - Price Chopper, Latham, NY
Rating: A-
Flowers from a grocery store that you would never EVER guess came from a grocery store, and the price just can't be beat. All our bouquets, bouts, and corsages were perfect, and the loose flowers my stepmother ordered for DIY centerpieces and ceremony decor were of great quality as well. However, communication with this place is NOT the best. If you work with them, be sure you're speaking directly to either the manager or the floral designer (Adam was the one we worked with, and he was great), because the rest of the staff are pretty much idiots. There were some frustrating problems with my stepmother's floral order being processed because of this, that could have been easily avoided.
Wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses - David's Bridal
Rating: B+
I had heard so many mixed reviews about DB that I wasn't intending to go there at all. But low and behold, the dress I wanted was one of theirs. The Colonie, NY store is not a bad bet if you know exactly what you want and don't need a lot of staff attention. But if you want that personal attention, go elsewhere. While the staff was polite and personable, they WILL leave you hanging, especially if the store is busy. Using them for bridesmaid dresses was very convenient for my WP, as I had 6 bridesmaids in 6 different cities and anyone who couldn't travel was easily able to get their dress close to home. They also all got a discount because I got my dress from DB, which they really appreciated because most of them were on a tight budget. I was scared to get my alterations done there because I heard a lot of bad things, so I can't speak to that piece.
Alterations - Nitaya Custom Sewing, Albany, NY
Rating: B+
Nitaya does good work, and quickly. She turned my dress around in two weeks; it fit perfectly after needing to be taken in three inches, and looked great. My bustle kept coming unbustled, but I don't blame her for that...people kept stepping on my skirt, including me! At least all the loops held up through that and nothing broke! I didn't give her an A because she took my mother's dress in too far and it went from being too big to not zipping at all when she went to try it back on. She did fix it, though, and it fit well when all was said and done.
Tuxedos - Men's Wearhouse (Colonie, Clifton Park and Utica stores)
Rating: C-
By far the worst vendor experience we had. H's only request with his tux was that he get a vest with a full back instead of the 'apron' kind. It was the first question we asked when we went in, and I sorely wish they had just told us "No, we can't do that" instead of saying it would be no problem and then giving us the run around. It took H a lot of groomzilla-ing and two calls to corporate to get them to deliver on what they had promised. And when the tux came in, it was STILL wrong! His pants were too big, his vest was too small, they tried to tell him he owed money on a tux that was supposed to be free in the first place, and then once again tried to make him settle for the apron vest 4 days before the wedding. The staff was very disrespectful to him throughout the process. They also gave us 2 days notice to get all of our groomsmen fitted when the vests we chose for them were being discontinued. Overall, we got a lot of mixed messages, confusion, and flat-out LIES from the Colonie store, and they will never get our business again. I have since heard that others have had the same experience at the Colonie store - lesson learned. However, the tuxes were nice when all was said and done. And I can't fail the chain outright because my stepfather used the Utica store and FIL and the best man used the one in Clifton Park, and they had much better experiences. If I had to make a recommendation, I would say go ahead and use them...just do NOT go to the Colonie store. Use Clifton Park, the extra drive is worth the difference in customer service!
Photobooth - Time Capsule Photobooths
Rating: A+
I feel like I contacted every photobooth company in the area when we decided to do one, and these guys were by far the most responsive, the friendliest, and the best priced. The photobooth was a big hit at the reception - a lot of our guests used it, people were dancing with the props, everything worked well and the photos were hilarious!
October 2012 December Siggy - A Favorite Wedding Photo
