Grading System
A: Extremely happy with their service. Vendor went above and beyond my expectations. Would highly recommend.
B: We were very happy with their work. Vendor did the work as per contract. Would recommend.
C: Vendor did ok work. Wouldn’t recommend. You could find someone better.
Unsatisfied with their service. Vendor would not be recommended. Do not use.
F: Run away now.
Venue: The Rockleigh- A-
We had both our ceremony and reception at The Rockleigh in the Bristol Room. We worked closely with Rockni and Rachel and felt confident that our wedding would go smoothly. The venue is beautiful and everything was just stunning. The only reason I’m giving an A- is that there were a few glitches behind the scenes that day with the maitre d. Otherwise, the night was smooth and amazing.
Pros:
· Beautiful room & grounds.
· Our bridal attendant was awesome and took care of us all evening.
· Our guests were wined and dined. They loved the food and the service.
· Lighting- the Rockleigh installed lighting in their ballroom and it was beautiful. We chose to light the room with a purple hue that created an elegant ambiance.
Cons:
· More than one wedding at a time (Supposedly the owner’s son was married the day we got married and we felt it.) Our Maître de was disappointing, especially since The Rockleigh charges the highest service charge of every other venue we looked at. Our guests were taken care of, although we felt the VIPs (our parents) were not. After taking pictures, she made it very difficult for me and my husband to go up to our bridal suite before the ceremony. Our options were to: 1. Walk through our lobby packed with our guests before they saw us or 2. Walk through a back passage of the other wedding. After my complaints, they snuck me and my husband through the back passage, but left my parents, my in-laws, and my brother and sister-in-law in the hallway. They had to stay there for 30 minutes until the ceremony started. This was unacceptable in my opinion and with some organization should have been avoided. Beyond this mishap, our maître de wasn’t present and wasn’t very helpful throughout the reception. And they served our cake VERY late.
Band: The Dreamteam (of NYC Swing) A
My husband and I went to see a showcase featuring The Dreamteam and were hooked! They had such a fun energy and could cover a wide expanse of musical genres. Joe Shane was their band leader and was easy to work with. They provided our ceremony music (popular rock songs arranged for piano, guitar, and flute) as well as our reception music (jazz trio for cocktails and rock/R&B/etc for the party). The dance floor was packed the entire night and people raved about their music. Some of the older guests thought that the band was loud, but my husband and I weren’t bothered by it! They created a beautiful arrangement of our first dance (“Thank You” by Led Zeppelin). I loved them and would highly recommend them!
Florist: Crest Florist A
We worked with Matt from Crest. They did an incredible job and worked within our budget. I especially loved my bouquet and the centerpieces. He listened very carefully to what my favorite flowers were and the feeling we were going for (romantic and garden-like). The flowers were amazing and I was so happy with their work!
Photographer: Kenny Pang
Still waiting for wedding day photos.
We hired him for engagement photos and they came out beautifully. Kenny is upbeat, positive, and keeps you laughing. For engagement photos, I give him an A. He was punctual, creative, energetic, and had our proofs to us within 3-4 weeks. I’m still waiting to give my final review until I receive the final proofs of the wedding day!
Hair: Shannon Mcloughlin- A
Shannon is a superhero. She was punctual, did the hair of 9 women, and kept a smile on her face the entire time! I was nervous about having only one hair person work on so many people, but she assured me she could do it! Shannon did an amazing job and made everyone’s hair look beautiful. My hair stayed put all night, as did everyone else’s! I highly recommend.
Make-up: Sally Duvall- A
I chose Sally as my makeup artist because I loved that she used airbrushing and that her brides looked so natural. On a day to day basis, I don’t wear a lot of make-up and I didn’t want to look too made up on my wedding day. She did a fabulous job and I loved my makeup. It lasted all day and night long! She made me a touch up kit to take with me. Beyond her artistic abilities, she is really chill and mellow; a great person to have around on your wedding day!
Wedding Dress: The Wedding Salon of Manhasset- A+
I searched high and low for my wedding dress and traveled throughout the tri-state area. The Wedding Salon was recommended to me by a coworker, so I decided to schlep out to Long Island to check out their dress selection. The salon was beautiful, had a large and diverse selection of wedding dress, and sweet staff. Noreen was an extremely knowledgeable salesperson and was attuned to my style. There was absolutely no pressure; only incredible service.
My fittings went very well. I was originally assigned to one seamstress, but I felt like she didn’t feel confident making the necessary alterations. I then asked for another seamstress and worked with Casey. She has been amazing. She has made my dress fit beautifully! I’m so happy with their overall service and highly recommend this wedding salon.
Bridesmaids Dresses: Bella Bridesmaids- A+
We ordered Amsale bridesmaid dresses from the NYC boutique and worked closely with Eva. She was a delight to work with and the dresses only took 3 months to come in! To help save on taxes, we had them shipped to their store in Madison, NJ. I would HIGHLY recommend this salon. The staff and service were great! Easy to work with, friendly, positive, and just awesome!
Invitations and Wedding Stationary: Graff Paper- C
Joanne runs an invitation business out of her home in River Vale. We were recommended to her by my mother’s friend. She has a large assortment of invitations to choose from, but doesn’t do any custom work. We loved the invitation we chose. In the end, everything came out beautifully. We ordered invitations, menus, programs, place cards, table numbers, and thank you cards from Graff Paper.
The reason why I’m giving her a C is because she wasn’t very easy to work with. 1. She didn’t have good customer service. She didn’t explain the process or set deadlines and then if something went awry, she would blame my mom or me for being too slow. 2. She isn’t a problem solver and doesn’t ask the right questions. We decided to order our invites and stationary with Joanne because we trusted that she would have a certain expertise and experience that we lacked. Unfortunately, we didn’t feel like this was true. 3. Lack of creative vision. I assumed that someone selling invites would have fun and creative wordings for response cards, programs, etc. This was not so. Luckily I did my own homework and in the end, wedding blogs were much more helpful!
Calligrapher: Calligraphy by Maria (Westwood, NJ) - A+
Maria did a beautiful job on our invitations (outer and inner envelopes) as well as our place cards. She was punctual, had minimal errors, and was just a pleasure to work with. She is moderately priced and does beautiful work. So many people praised her work and couldn’t believe that the calligraphy was done by hand on our wedding invitations. I highly recommend her!
Tuxes: Men’s Warehouse- A
My husband organized the tuxes worn on the wedding day. He tried on tuxes and chose everything at their Brooklyn store. Although our groomsmen live all over the country, everyone had an easy time getting their tuxes. There were no problems or mishaps (there were 7 groomsmen and 2 dads). They looked very handsome. I’d recommend this company.
Rehearsal Dinner: ‘Il Fresco, Orangeburg, NY- A
My in-laws threw us a lovely rehearsal dinner at ‘Il Fresco in Orangeburg, NY. We had about 30 people attend the rehearsal dinner and therefore we reserved the upstairs private dining room. It was a beautiful room with great light. The food was really good, although the portions were HUGE! Our menu included family-style first course (hot antipasti), a salad, and then a choice of three entrees. Everything exceeded our expectations.
Wedding Hotel: Woodcliff Lake Hilton A
After encountering problems with the Pearl River Hilton, we decided to block rooms at the Woodcliff lake Hilton. Their service was awesome! This hotel has an outdoor pool (which I heard our guests enjoyed). My mother-in-law planned a beautiful brunch the day after the wedding. The only problem was that my MOH was late in checking in and they didn’t have a room available (even though she had a reservation). The hotel was totally sold out! Luckily her parents live close by and the hotel paid for her cab to her parents’ house.