5/22/10 Vendor Reviews (Long - sorry...)
Although I spent nearly a year and a half planning our wedding, and reading the New Jersey board, I didn't post very often. However, I always found your advice and reviews very helpful, and wanted to share my own. Sorry for the length - obviously not busy at work today...
Venue - Oyster Point Hotel - A+
There is not much that I can say about the Oyster Point other than it was perfect for us in every way. We wanted to have the reception in a hotel, but not one that felt wedding factory-ish. We had heard that the Oyster Point was undergoing major renovations about a year before the wedding, and it had a wonderful reputation for food and service, so we decided to go look at it. Bill Murray, the catering manager, treated us with the utmost respect from the second we stepped through the door. Everytime we visited we were offered anything we wanetd from the bar, and escorted to the lounge for a proper meeting. With Bill, no request was too major. For example, my husband's favorite food is chicken parmesean, and he came up with the idea of trading in the carving station during our cocktail hour for a "parm bar." Whereas many other venues would have (1) said it was not possible or (2) charged a major upcharge to do so, Bill's reaction was amazing - he explained how much he also loved chicken parm, and said he would take care of it - no extra charge. We also asked if it was ok if we created a "signature cocktail" - and that too was no problem and included in our open bar. Gery, our maitre-d, was just as wonderful. He made sure we always had drinks in our hands at the wedding, and was even there setting up early the next morning for a breakfast we were having for the overnight guests. Truly he could not have gotten more than a few hours of sleep. Moreover, as I have a habit of taking off my shoes when they get uncomfortable, which I did during our cocktail hour, he went and chased down my shoes so that I would have them for our entrance and first dance. Not to mention that the venue was beautiful - the renovations are amazing - everything is incredibly modern looking, and the rooms were fabulous - the suite they put us in for the wedding night was bigger than my first two apartments - and had 2 bathrooms.
Additionally, as one of my few posts dealt with my ceremony location drama, I should mention that the place we ultimately used as our ceremony location came as a recommendation from Bill. I called him once our first location fell through (6 months out), and at the time, he gave me a few places to look at. A few weeks later, I received a voicemail from Bill saying that he was thinking about my dilemma and came up with the perfect place - and he was absolutely right. It was incredibly thoughtful, and much appreciated.
Band - Daddy Pop - A
I haven't seen anything written on Daddy Pop on the boards, but they were incredible. They book through 107 Productions, and prior to booking, I requested an online demo from the group, and had it emailed to me within a few hours. They give you an option for 7 piece or 10 piece band (we did 7). Booking was easy, and I received a call from the Band leader the day before the wedding, just to confirm everything that we had discussed via email a few weeks before. Rather than playing on their keyboard, one of the band members played on the Oyster Point's grand piano during the cocktail hour, and he was fabulous, and the rest of the band followed suit, keeping our guests on the dancefloor the entire night. The lead member even approached me one or two times in the evening to make sure that we liked the stuff they were playing, and at one point in the night when there had been mostly fast songs and everyone was dancing, he gave me a thumbs up or down signal to see if we wanted a slow song thrown in, but because we were having fun and many of our guests came without dates, we gave him the thumbs up to keep the tempo going, and that they did. I would highly recommend them.
Hair - Theana - A
Theana, who works out of Brush salon in West End, has been doing my hair since I was 3 years old. She is amazing - nothing else to say. She came to my mother's house the morning of, and had everyone done well ahead of schedule.
Photography - Heyn Photography - A+
AMAZING. I have known Marissa, my lead photographer, since I was little, and only once engaged did I find out that she is now a wedding photographer. Knowing how comfortable I would be with her, and seeing the work she has done on Heyn's blog, I knew she was the perfect choice. Words can't describe the pictures she, her second shooter and assistant took the day of our wedding, nor could they express how calm they made me feel, or how much fun we would all have. And - to my surprise - they set up a digital picture frame at the wedding and uploaded about 30 of the pictures they took earlier in the day to play for our guests during the reception, and I can't tell you how big a hit that was. It was wonderful to see the pictures for the first time with our friends and family, and they carefully picked which ones to put on the frame so that I didn't look ridiculous in any of them (which is easier said than done i'm sure).
Photobooth - Snapshot Photography - A-
We did a 3 hour photobooth, and the girls who were working it were friendly and helpful, and did a great job helping our guests create the scrapbook (one copy for the scrapbook, one for the guests). However, there was a misunderstanding as to time - I thought the photobooth was starting at 7 (after cocktails) and going to 10, but it started at 6 and went until 9. Because our guests were at the cocktail hour, it was not used until 7, so we essentially lost an hour, which was disappointing. It was a last minute booking, and the start time wasn't on the contract, so it could have easily been a misunderstanding, and I was incredibly pleased with them as a whole, so they still get an A- in my book.
Day of Coordinator - Nicole Chambers (Anna Soiree) - A+
My mother and I really wanted to do most of the planning ourselves, but didn't want to have to worry about all of the little things day of, especially since our ceremony was not at a location where someone would be there to set up chairs, etc., and my mother was officiating. I interviewed a few people before choosing Nicole, but we just clicked when we met, and her price was well below others. Truly, even if her price had been higher I likely still would have booked her because of how comfortable I felt with her. She did not disappoint. I emailed her every couple of weeks with different questions as to vendors she recommends in the year leading up to the wedding, and we spoke constantly the month before. She just made everything so easy - we dropped everything off to her the day before the wedding, and she assembled everything better than we could have ever imagined. On the day of, she even picked up bagels from my absolute favorite bagel place (which was next to the florist where she was getting our bouqets) and brought them to my mother's house. My mother and I are convinced that she is the best thing that happened to the whole day, as many little things came up last minute and didn't know a thing about them (groom was arriving to the ceremony by boat, and the dock at the Oyster Point was being fixed after that huge storm we had - just imagine what could come up just with that).
I should also mention that Nicole's shop, Anna Soiree, did my invitations, and I LOVE them.
Makeup - Elena who books through Melissa D'Aloia - A
I had major makeup drama leading up to the wedding. Based on a few recommendations, I had originally booked Rick from the MAC counter at Monmouth Mall to do my makeup. When I originally called him, he said he booked 6 months out, so I called back 6 months to the day. He said he was out and didn't have his book and would call me back, but he never did. That should have been my first red flag. I called a week later and got ahold of him, and he quickly took down my name and phone number, said the date was fine, and to call him a month or two before for a trial. A little over a month before the wedding, my mother called him to set up a trial. He said he was in the middle of doing prom makeup and took down her name and number and the date of the wedding and said he would call back - no call. A little over 2 weeks out I called him at the MAC counter to see if I could stop in for a quick trial, because I originally told him I didn't need a full trial, and the woman on the phone tells me to hold on. She gets back on the phone and asks for my wedding date - I tell her and all of a sudden Rick gets on the phone, tells me he left my mother a message the week before and when he didn't hear back, he booked another bride. There was obviously no message from him, and it's clear that he double-booked, and tried to wiggle his way out by making it "our fault." I was ticked that it happened, but more than anything I was incredibly upset by how nasty he was to me on the phone, especially cancelilng on me 2 weeks before the wedding. WARNING to anyone thinking of booking him - if he messed up it would have been understandable, but no one should treat you like that in a service business.
That said, I went on the hunt for a new makeup artist, and when they say everything happens for a reason, it DOES! I got Melissa D'Aloia's number through someone I contacted who was already booked, and although Melissa was booked, Elena, who works for her, was available. Melissa was unbelievably nice and helpful, and followed up with me nearly every few days. Elena came out the next weekend to do a trial, and it was fabulous, as was she, and she did 9 people the day-of. It was truly the best makeup i've ever seen done on me, my BMs and the mothers (maybe i'm biased, but it was that good), and I couldn't have been happier.
Cake - Ye Olde Pie Shoppe - A
This shop is down the street from where I grew up, and was always my favorite, and it just so happens it is the shop that the Oyster Point uses for its cakes which are included in the price. It was delicious, beautiful, and Tom and Eileen are the nicest people in the world. They didn't even mind that a few weeks before the wedding I changed the design. And the best part is they make you an anniversary cake with your wedding cake flavors to be picked up one year from your wedding date, for free! (In addition to freezing the top if you want.)
Grooms Cake - Pink Cake Box - B+
I wanted to surprise DH with a grooms cake of a poker table, since he plays a lot and loves it. Pink Cake Box was so easy to work with, and although a bit pricey, it was definitely in the range of what I expected for a grooms cake. The cake was ready on time for one of the GM to pick it up, and it looked better than I could have ever imagined. DH was floored when he saw it, and even though we put it out at the wedding, we instructed the Oyster Point not to cut it, and instead to have it at the breakfast the next morning, which was surprisingly a big hit (but who doesn't love chocolate cake for breakfast?) My only negative review is that they charged me $15 for a tasting of their cake flavors when I went to pick it up, and in my experience, that fee gets credited if you end up booking with a place, but not there. Not a big deal, but seemed like bad service.
Florist - Petal Beach - A-
Bonnie was great to work with and even let me buy my own vases and rocks to bring to her for the centerpieces to cut down on my costs. Everything was amazing, and some of the most beautiful flowers i've ever seen. The only thing that was a little off (and I say that because they still looked great) was the boutineres. I had given her a picture of this orchid boutinere that I loved, and I thought that's what we ordered, but it ended up being little dendrobium orchids instead of the bigger ones, which i'm not a particular fan of. But as I said, they looked great, so it was only me that noticed. She also gave me the biggest phalaenopsis orchid for my hair which was the single most beautiful flower i've ever laid eyes on, at no cost, so at the end of the day, I still consider her fabulous and highly recommend her.
Trolley - Long Branch Trolley Co - A
Tom was so great to work with, and he showed up ontime and had a huge smile on his face the whole day. We couldn't have been happier.
Cigar Roller - Cortez Cigars - A
We got Luis' name from Nicole (day-of coordinator) and he's amazing. We got to know him a little during the year before the wedding, as DH would stop in his shop to get a cigar every now and then. He is from Cuba and learned to roll cigars there, and he does a great job at weddings and other events. We had him create shorter cigars so that we could ensure they would be done within cockail hour, and they wouldn't keep people outside and missing the party for too long, but as a surprise he also make some little coffee flavored ones for people who don't usually smoke to try. They were a much bigger hit than I could have imagined, and I had a few guests tell me that they just talked to him for awhile when he was rolling and learned so much from him and found his history incredibly interesting.
Linen Rental - Rentablecloths.com - A
I just wanted to order black tablecloths, as we had a black and white theme, and this website had great prices, and they were very nice to work with. The tablecloths were supposed to arrive no later than Friday morning for a Saturday wedding, but they came on Wednesday, not wrinkled at all.
Re: 5/22/10 Vendor Reviews (Long - sorry...)
Hey punkinpy (love the name)! We're having a similar problem finding a ceremony site (reception is in Long Branch)...would you mind sharing the other potential sites Bill recommended to you?
I thought finding the reception venue would be the hard part and the ceremony site would be easy. Not so much!
Thanks!
Monmouth County Parks (the problem with most of them is that they limit your guest count, many as low at 30 guests - seriously - and the others do not let you bring chairs, so everyone must stand, but if you don't mind that, some are really beautiful)
Calling nearby towns that have parks with views of the water (something I really wanted) like Rumson, Fair Haven, Oceanport and Highlands (Red Bank does not allow ceremonies in their parks - no exceptions - I petitioned the town board and still lost - and I found our location before trying the other towns, so i'm not sure whether or not they would let you)
Rutgers Gardens (too far for us)
Brookdale Community College
Calling local towns that have boardwalk pavillions, like Belmar, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, etc., to see if they would let you use it (loved the idea but didn't get to calling these either)
Hope those help! Please let me know if you need any more suggestions - just let me know where your reception is.
Thanks for replying, that was so helpful! Our reception is at McLoone's Pier House in Long Branch. We'd prefer to have the ceremony outside, but I have the worst luck with rain (seriously, my family has never had a sunny graduation!) and I know if we didn't have an indoor backup it would guarantee a hurricane that day.
Places we've looked so far:
- Two River Theater in Red Bank - I have a friend who works here and they definitely will rent the space for weddings, but their annual gala is the day after our wedding and they can't do rental the day before because of setup.
- Monmouth Co Parks - Just like you said, limits on the number of people and no chairs
- Monmouth U - Same deal as you, we're non-alumni. They didn't even give us a rental fee, they just said NO non-alumni can use the site, period.
- Algonquin Theater in Manasquan - Booked on our day already
- Chapel at Sandy Hook - My mom was told that since Merri-Makers runs it now, you can't have only a ceremony without a reception. I did email to find out about using the Fort Hancock Theater which is also at Sandy Hook. Haven't heard back yet.
- Twin Lights - We looked at it and there'd be no way all our guests could fit there, even if they allow ceremonies (we didn't get far enough to ask)
Other ideas I'm looking into:
- Parlor Gallery in Asbury Park rents for ceremonies ($150/hr). They said their max is about 125 though, and we'll probably have more than that.
- The boardwalk at Pier Village - it's pretty, but one of my reasons for not having a wedding on the beach is I don't want strangers staring at me the whole time, and that's a pretty public location.
I was going to look into a park in Red Bank, but you saved me the trouble. Rutgers is too far for us as well. I'll look into Brookdale - I think the Monmouth Museum is on their campus?
Your site looked gorgeous - I can honestly say I would never have thought of a retirement home as a wedding site! If you don't mind sharing, who did you work with at the Atrium? I looked at their website and couldn't really figure out who you'd talk to about it.
Ah ok, that makes sense. Maybe I'll give the museum a shot first because of the indoor aspect, then check with Atrium. Thank you!!!
I am getting married at the Arts Center in Holmdel and I was wondering if you could tell me more about your cigar guy.... Cortez Cigars. My fiance and his groomsmen/friends enjoy a good cigar and was hoping to surprise him with something along those lines....
Was someone on site rolling them, or were they pre-made and on a table? How much did it cost? If you could fill me in with any info I'd greatly appreciate it!!!
TIA
Thank you so much for all the info! I will definitely have to look into that and see if I could budget it out. Sounds like it would be a great hit!