I used to be an avid poster on this board under a former name (DoubleAS)... I changed it a few months back but never posted much. I figured I would write my reviews since I picked up so many reccos from this board and it was so helpful. Hopefully my reviews can help future brides.
Venue: The Newark Club. Absolutely amazing. For brides looking for a chic modern feel (it's a penthouse location), not an overly wedding looking feel, with views of the City, this venue is for you. I am so overwhelmed by how we were treated like such royalty, by the way the managers worked with us in every way, answered every email within minutes, the bridal assistant was by my side the entire evening even wiping my sweat from dancing so much, our guests were floored by the amounts of food, the quality of food, how large the dinner portions were, the VH was so over the top intense I couldn't believe my eyes, etc. This venue doesn't advertise much, it's seriously a diamond in the rough... I am eteranlly grateful to the person who reccomended it to us. Artie Wassif and the rest of the staff have my husband and our business for life. We will with no doubt host every party there. We can't thank them enough for such an outstanding performance!
Florist: S&K Floral Expressions. When we told Stephanie of S&K our visions she seriously listened. She was completely attentive and gave her point of view, without taking over, and pointing us in the right direction. Our flowers were absolutely stunning, my bouquet was over the extreme top, like I asked, they were so fresh... I seriosuly couldn't have been happier that day. I actually cried when I saw my bouquet! I can not reccomend Stephanie enough! She also works by word of mouth.
Photographer: We used Michael Dempsey. Again, Michael doesn't advertise (seems to be a trend, haha). Our epics were amazing, so we had faith that Michael would make our day memorable! I have not seen the pictures yet, but from what we did see at the wedding (his assistant had a MAC set up with the pre wedding photos) we were SO thrilled! I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures!
DJ/lighting/photobooth- If you don't use Elite Sound Entertainment, you will be sorry! We had 6hours of music from ceremony to reception, full room of uplighting, intelligent lighting, and the photolounge with a scrapbook person. They were so easy to work with, our DJ was on top of his game, he listened to us in every single way, we were seriously impressed with our enterence since we were very specific and him and his lighting tech nailed it, the lighting was just gorgeous and seriously set the tone! DJ Jay G, THANK YOU.
Hair: Dana Robitz of Salon Bellezza in Glen Rock. She is normally my hairdresser and I couldn't have been happier with ehr day of work.
Makeup: Gina Brozon. Holy hell, thank you to theKnot for this recco!! Gina is so out of this work wonderful I can't put it into words. Her and her asst flawlessly finished me, my mother, mil, and BP in 3 hours. She did such a gorgeous job I couldn't thank her rnough. Gina Brozon, you're amazing!
Invitations/Place cards: Set The Date in Nutley. Cute little shop with the friendliest girls who do the cutest work! I can't wait to work with this tag team again!
Hair piece and cake topper: Wedding Factory Direct. Great prices and beautiful stuff!
Attire: La Belle Boutique. I found my dress at Park Avenue but was not happy with the service. My poor parents were standing for three hours while I tried on gowns. They were also very pushy with us, which I was not happy with. I went to La Belle (charming place, one bride at a time, just not in the best area) to "keep shopping" but I couldn't get my gown out of my head. I described the gown to Virginia at La Belle and she said that the sound of it was very familiar... After a few hours of her searching she was able to track down the designer of the dress. She ordered it for me, gave it to my parents for 25% less then Park Ave was charging, and threw in free alterations and bustle. She made my wedding day dreams come true!
Grooms attire: H wanted a custom tux so he ordered his from Sarar in Paramus. The guys went to Tony Conte's in Hawthorne. Everything was great but they did forget to give one of the groomsmen their suspenders. Thanks to the photogs asst, he found a tux shop in the area, bought suspenders, and delivered them to the hotel!
Rings: Our jeweler who made my e-ring made my wedding band as well. It took longer than expected (6mos) but the turn out was worth it. We ordered it 9mos in advance anyway. We also bought my Hs ring through this dealer. Jewelery By Alex- Paramus Jewelery Exchange on Rt4.
Travel Agent- Melissa Pavlick of Hillsdale Travel. AMAZING. She covered everything for our Honeymoon from top to bottom and then some. We had not a worry in the world spending almost 12 days in Asia.
I am sure there were a few things I missed but this was what I could remember right away! Hopefully this review will help other NJ brides.
