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Let me start by saying that I’m a perfectionist and a micro-manager (not my best personality traits but what can I say). My DH was very worried that I’d turn into bridezilla and be really stressed on our wedding day. I’m between jobs since our relocation and wedding planning became my 9-5 job. I had a lot of details which Kim and the Millennium team executed perfectly. I had no idea getting married could be so fun. We had the most perfect day on 10/10/10
VENUE: Millennium Bostonian Hotel – highly recommend
We visited 7 venues during a 3 day trip to Boston (we relocated here about 4 months ago): Millennium, State Room, Hyatt Harborside, Boston Harbor Hotel, Renaissance, Liberty and the Seaport. Our musts: a modern ballroom with a view and package pricing (we didn’t want a surprise bill after the wedding). The Millennium had all of this. They just remodeled last year so everything is brand spanking new. I do have to admit, this made me a bit nervous. I searched the internet and the Knot for reviews but there weren’t many. One bride said she had a wonderful brunch and that made me feel better. We also felt very confident with our coordinator Kim Ehrhardt. We met her for our tour then worked with someone else (who we also loved). She left about a month before the wedding but, since we already knew Kim, we were very comfortable with the change (turnover seems to be an issue at all hotels so it didn’t surprise us). Kim was really great to us. She even came in on her day off to our ceremony rehearsal.
We had our room block, ceremony, cocktail, reception and day after breakfast all at the Millennium. The space is great and the view is spectacular (obviously not the State Room but still exceptional). The ballroom has a greenhouse type of roof so, at night, you can see all the illuminated buildings, including the clock tower from your seat. The State Room was a top contender but it had too many moving parts (pricing wise), was too isolated and we didn’t particularly like the smaller room. Since 99% of our guests were traveling, we wanted it to be an easy, all-inclusive weekend for them.
Pricing was very good. We paid pp for the entrée, open bar and that’s it. Our cake, cocktail hour (drinks and hors d’oeuvres), chivari chairs (usually $5-$7pp) were all included. We had a free bridal suite, two room upgrades for guests and we got to use two conference rooms for pre-ceremony stuff and kids.
After our first tasting, we couldn’t decide so they allowed us to have another free tasting. We also didn’t like their house wine and they had a wine tasting for us and allowed us to upgrade for $4/pp more. It was totally worth it because we got compliments on our wine selections.
People are still raving about the food. I was very concerned there wouldn’t be enough food at the cocktail hour but I’m glad we didn’t add more (at an additional cost) because there was plenty of food. We had a few guests with gluten allergies and they were taken care of. We ordered gluten-free cupcakes for those guests and the baker didn’t deliver them. Without worrying me on my wedding day, Kim asked the chef to make a chocolate mousse and served that instead. I didn’t even find out until after the wedding.
The only slight issue we had was our room block. In order to have a large number of rooms, we had to sign a contract. We didn’t want to do this because of the financial responsibility (guests can be flaky). They said they could block 10 rooms without a contract. Unfortunately, some key people in our family waited and didn’t make the room block. I called and they extended it but at a higher price. It was our family’s fault but it made my life a bit stressful. I bring this up because I ended up creating another block at the Marriott Long Wharf with no contract and a large amount of rooms. It was so simple unlike at the Millennium. No biggie but something to think about if you need a big room block.
FLORIST: Jeri Solomon Design – highly, highly recommend
I came into the planning process at a very late stage, we got engaged in April, found out we were moving in June and set our date at the end of June. I used the Knot to make a list of florists and called a bunch of them. Most were booked. I made appointments with two florists and choose Jeri because of how she worked with me before I signed a contract. While I was still in Wisconsin, Jeri and I had a conference call to discuss my ideas. I sent her inspiration photos and she was able to send me examples of her work via email while we were on the phone! She also took the time to remember names of family and the bridal party. The other florist wouldn’t get too specific until I signed a contract. I also had to communicate through an assistant which I found very annoying. Jeri spoke directly to me and was very responsive. She even sent an email out before her vacation to let her clients know she would be unavailable for a week.
Jeri made two samples of centerpieces for me (this was included in the pricing) since I was debating between two ideas. I’m so glad she did because I ended up choosing the centerpiece that I hesitated about.
When she delivered the flowers on my wedding day, I couldn’t believe how beautiful they were. My bouquet was stunning! The centerpieces were beautiful. She exceeded my expectations.
I think she may have been a bit pricier than most local florists. I read on the Knot that some brides got tons of flowers for less than $1500. I paid closer to $3000 with taxes, delivery fee, etc but it was well worth it.
Oh, and five days later, the flowers are still pretty.
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PHOTOGRAPHERS: The Feds (James and Kate Federico) – recommend pending photos
Again, I had the same situation as with the florist. I had a list of photographers and started calling. I was very concerned we wouldn’t find someone available on 10/10/10 but we got lucky! We were looking for photographers who would do candids (photo-journalism style) and we liked what we saw on The Feds website. We chatted on the phone because we weren’t in Boston yet and signed our contract thru the internet. We loved that they were willing to work with us long distance (we had another photographer tell us that they didn’t like to book until they met us).
We had trouble getting together for our Love Shoot but when we finally met James and Kate, we loved them. It felt like we were hanging out with old friends. Kate was great at making us comfortable and coaching us with poses. They spent over two hours with us walking around downtown and taking photos. James had great location ideas for our wedding day photos.
On our wedding day, they were on time and great to be around again. They made a few awkward family moments easy (we didn’t want my brother’s girlfriend in all the pictures so James called out names for the photos hoping that she wouldn’t feel singled out).
The only reason I didn’t put highly recommend is that they were tough to get a hold of. Responsiveness is key for me. I know they had a lot going on but it made me very nervous when they didn’t respond to an email within a few days. I did voice my concerns and James called me immediately. The week of the wedding, I reviewed the timeline with James so I was very at ease at that point. I have to say that meeting them made up for their lack of responsiveness.
It also took a while for us to get our Love Shoot photos and we expect it will take a while to get our wedding photos. When we did get our Love Shoot photos, they were great!
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HAIR/MAKE-UP: Special Event Beauty (Kerry and Marianne) – highly recommend
Everyone talked about Special Event Beauty so I was surprised when we actually booked them about two months before the wedding. I was a bit nervous when I realized that Kim and Rachel weren’t the ones doing my hair/make-up and I didn’t see a lot of reviews for other team members. But, I had nothing to worry about. Kerry and Marianne were great!
I was very surprised by the amount of make-up was put on my face. I get that brides want to look nice for pictures but it was also important for me to look good up close. I didn’t want to look like someone else. I ended up doing three make-up trials. First with Marianne, then with Grace Mahoney to compare (she had great make up review but poor business reviews). She piled on even more make-up. I guess it’s the industry standard. I had a second trial with Marianne and, in the end, I asked Marianne to go very light on the airbrushing and she was happy to work with my concerns. My mother and MIL were also very nervous about the make-up and both ended up raving about Marianne’s work.
Kerry did all of our hair. We had lots of different hair types and styles and everyone was happy.
Both Marianne and Kerry arrived on time (actually 20 minutes early) and worked all morning to get us ready. Kerry was very responsive too. I had both her email and cell number and she always responded.
MANICURE: Lisa at Giacomo and Rondi (Kenmore Sq)
I found Lisa at the last minute because this salon is right around the corner from me. She did a fantastic job! I chose dark nail polish instead of the traditional light pink. I had my nails done Saturday morning and they still look good almost a week later. $20 well spent!
