New Jersey

My reviews 6/11/11 wedding

You know it was an awesome wedding when the band thanks YOU for having them there cause your guests were so much fun. Absolutley amazing day and so many of our guests keep telling us it was the best wedding ever. A few of my aunts yelled at me cause they said theres no way they can top this wedding and now my cousins expectations are too high haha. Great time!

Here are my reviews- my day was amazing. If you have any questions, just let me know. I highly recommend all of my vendors

Arlenes bridal- bridal gown - A

I love the staff here. They are so incredibly sweet and always remembered exactly who I was every time I came in. I worked with Allie, Jaime, and Debbie. There was a bit of a misunderstanding when I went for my final fitting and my dress wasn’t actually done, but Debbie the salon owner was fantastic and got my dress finished and ready to go ASAP. My dress was amazing and the price was so reasonable. Everyone thought I spent thousands more then I did. They also have a great selection of dresses available.

Jos. A Bands - tux - B-

I think every men’s tux rental place has issues. I don’t think anyone in our wedding party didn’t have a problem, but the worst was them sending the grooms tux to the wrong store and instead of telling him, just kept telling him it wasn’t in yet when he kept calling the store it was supposed to be at. Good thing my dad asked about the grooms tux at the other store and we found it. No one’s tux fit right, so they all needed more time to be fixed, but the day off, they were all fitted and fine. They did forget to give my now husband a tie though, so his dad gave him his and went out and bought another one. Not a great experience, but I don’t think it would have been much better elsewhere.  At least the grooms tux was free and the colors all matched.

Santos Limo- A+

Fantastic! Eddie was our driver and he was amazing. Showed up early, even packed the limo with the ridiculous amount of bags the bridal party had, carried my dress train, and was a huge help in the church. Just an overall super nice person and really made our day very enjoyable!

Saint Francis De Sales Roman Catholic Church- ceremony A+

This is my church and I knew they had some strict rules when it comes to weddings. Overall, the rehearsal and ceremony ran great, we had a beautiful ceremony and everyone was raving about it. Our priest Father Boland couldn’t have been nicer to me when I was upset over a situation that happened early in the day and he even fixed my flower girl’s flower ball when she broke the handle after repeatedly beating it against the pew. Ellen the wedding coordinator is wonderful to work with and has an amazing voice (she is the music coordinator too). We also had the organ and harpist, which made the music sound incredible.

Hamilton Park Hotel- reception venue A+++++++

INCREDIBLE!!!!  Joanne, Kate, Scot, Tara, Jessica, and everyone on staff here made our entire wedding experience phenomenal. From the 1st day we came to look at the hotel, we loved the modern look of the venue and the ballroom and just how incredibly organized the staff was. We originally had started working with Kate and after she changed positions, we worked with Joanne. I cant even put into words how helpful she was. She knew absolutely everything we wanted on our wedding day and made it happen. It was the most beautiful wedding ever! Joanne even went out of her way to color coordinate the cocktail hour flowers for me to match the rest of my wedding. I had quite a few DIY items I wanted displayed in certain ways for our wedding and they all were absolutely perfect the day of. The staff listens to every single concern and request you may have and makes sure they take care of it. On the day of the wedding, every single guest was attended to right away, the food is out of this world amazing, and the wedding ran absolutely perfectly thanks to Joanne and all the wonderful staff. And we LOVED having our wedding at this hotel- we had an amazing afterparty at Vanderbilts so the party didn’t have to stop and everyone was able to have a beautiful (and delicious) breakfast the next day in the hotel as well. I felt like we had an amazing wedding weekend with all our guests instead of just a rushed reception. I would HIGHLY recommend having your wedding here- you cant go wrong and they will make sure you have an absolutely amazing day!

Crystal Springs- Grand Cascades Lodge- Rehearsal A+

We held our rehearsal dinner in the Garden Room of the Grand Cascades Lodge. The food was wonderful, the staff was great and super attentive, and the views are amazing. I also loved they had the outdoor patio and grounds that our guests could go outside and enjoy and take photos, etc. Beautiful all around- just pricey to add in the alcohol (they charge per hour per person). They were also super flexible with a last minute headcount change and only needed a 25 person minimum for the room.

AW flowers- A+++++++++++++++

AMAZING!!!!!! Adam did the most fantastic job on my flowers- they were better than I could have ever imagined! I literally jumped up and down when I saw the ballroom decorated. Hes an amazing artist, great personality, and so flexible with any changed I needed to make. I had a bit of hesitation booking since the price seemed too good to be true, but he out did himself and everyone was raving about the flowers and thought I paid 5x more than I did!!! Thank you so much for making our wedding so beautiful! Looking at the room, I felt like David Tutera had been there haha My bouquet was also amazing and the altar arrangements were HUGE and exquisite.

JB lighting- uplighting and gobo A++++++++++++++++
Jim was so terrific to work with. I really loved the look of uplighting & thought it would give our ballroom an extra special touch. Jim went above and beyond and made the room look amazing!!! It was better then I could even image and the gobo was terrific as well. He was so easy to work with and was so flexible when I made a few last minute changes. Thank you so much for making our wedding look so wonderful! 

Veronica Martell Entertainment A+++++++++++++++++

AMAZING!!! What can I say-  1st Veronica is the most wonderful person to work with. Incredibly organized, efficient, and just sooo nice. The band is out of this world! They are just amazing to listen to and every single guest was asking us where we found a band so incredible. They sound just like the original artists and I loved that they come out on the dance floor and really get the crowd going. The dance floor was packed all night and we didn’t want the party to end! We used Veronica 6 years ago for my sister’s wedding as well and they are even more amazing now (and our family still takes about how great the band was at her wedding as well). You cannot go wrong booking this band- they will make your wedding the best ever!

Jimmys Artistic Creations A++++++++

Jimmy created the most amazing Chicago Bears football themed martini ice luge for our cocktail hour. It was incredible! It looked just like I imagined and everyone loved it! Huge hit and a great way to serve our signature drink!

Makeup- Michelle A

Originally both Jillyan Scarpa and Michelle from Skin Bar and Paint  were booked to do our makeup on my wedding morning. The night before poor Jillyan got rushed to the ER. I was nervous we wouldn’t be able to get everyone done with just one person, but Michelle did an amazing job. She was right on time, made everyone look incredible and actually finished everyone early! Our makeup and lashes lasted all night – that’s so much for making us all look terrific!

Cake-Palermos   A++++++++++++++++

Our cake was included from our venue and we went to Palermos for a tasting and to pick our design. The cakes taste delicious and even though I only had a bite of our actual wedding cake everyone was saying how great it was. My now husband picked the design and I wasn’t crazy about it, but Palermo’s explained to me how we could dress it up with ribbon banding, rhinestone broaches, etc and on the day of the wedding it was the most beautiful cake I had ever seen! I also loved that they didn’t try to upsell us. Some of the stuff I wanted on a cake they told me would cost an extra $500-$1000, but they explained to me how we could use ribbon, etc to get the same look and they were right. Amazing cake!

 Photo/Video

Based on the day of, I fully expect our photos and video to be amazing, but I will post a full review once I see the pictures/video J

Re: My reviews 6/11/11 wedding

  • edited December 2011
    If u want to check out photos of the flowers, lighting, dress, band, venue, et I have over 500 guest photos on our website at www.weddingturtle.com/erinandjohn and the password is wedding  :)
  • edited December 2011
    Glad to hear everything went really well for you!!!
    BabyFetus Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    Congratulations!  So happy for you!  I can't wait to have my reception there in October:)
  • edited December 2011
    Your gonna love it!!! The ballroom was really transformed and I literally jumped up and down when I saw how pretty it was w/ the lighting, flowers, etc. If you have any questions let me know. I HIGHLY recommend having the martini potato bar and lamb chops at cocktail hour and the meditarain vegetable tart for an appetizer. Have you had a tasting yet? That thing is like an awesome gourmet pizza- amazing! haha
  • edited December 2011
    gymchick did you go to aruba on your honeymoon?
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  • edited December 2011
    Yes! Sorry I forgot to review the honeymoon- we stayed at the Divi Dutch Village which is an AI and includes the Divi/Tamerjan/Dutch Village/Golf Village so it included over 11 restaurants and amazing beaches and pools. The resort was terrific and even though its a short walk, they have golf carts to take you all over the resort if you want to get places faster. The food was amazing, the beaches were beautiful, and all the people were so friendly. We did the jeep tour of the island, the snorkeling excusion, and the moonlight cruise- all of them were great and everything included a full open bar- even snorkeling which started at 9am and I was boo'd when I asked for water haha. We also had dinner one night at Windows on Aruba which is has amazing views and at the Flying Fishbone which was awesome but the mosquitoes were eating me alive. Overall an amazing time and 50 Cent was on our flight on the way there haha.
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks for the reviews!  Can they be added to the vendor review site?  And, if so, with or without your knottie name?
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  • edited December 2011
    Hey peaches- sorry meant to include that sure you can list them and include my name Thanks!
  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_reviews-61111-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:aa43fbf3-875f-4879-8852-33562b5380cbPost:bc94e10c-c03d-4b4e-ac5f-4bc943ed85db">Re: My reviews 6/11/11 wedding</a>:
    [QUOTE]Yes! Sorry I forgot to review the honeymoon- we stayed at the Divi Dutch Village which is an AI and includes the Divi/Tamerjan/Dutch Village/Golf Village so it included over 11 restaurants and amazing beaches and pools. The resort was terrific and even though its a short walk, they have golf carts to take you all over the resort if you want to get places faster. The food was amazing, the beaches were beautiful, and all the people were so friendly. We did the jeep tour of the island, the snorkeling excusion, and the moonlight cruise- all of them were great and everything included a full open bar- even snorkeling which started at 9am and I was boo'd when I asked for water haha. We also had dinner one night at Windows on Aruba which is has amazing views and at the Flying Fishbone which was awesome but the mosquitoes were eating me alive. Overall an amazing time and 50 Cent was on our flight on the way there haha.
    Posted by gymchick05[/QUOTE]

    awesome thanks for the review!!!  That is so funny 50 cent was on your flight!!!  I can't wait to go to aruba almost at the one year countdown!!
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  • edited December 2011
    Love your pics!
    BabyFruit Ticker
  • altimat873altimat873 member
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I cant wait to look at the pix, just wanted to say congrats and welcome back. I am going to Palermos for a tasting in 2 weeks and the included package I was afraid I wouldnt like - so looking forward to seeing pix of your cake.

    EDIT: love the cake!!!! did you pay anything extra for that or was that part of the package? I love all your photos!!!! So beautiful
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks so much! We only paid for the broaches- $50 (which is silly but I figured we were there we'd just get them there). If you want broaches, I just listed my for sale stuff and Im selling them for $25 (the pair) or $15 for the one. I was so happy w/ how it looked- and the florist adding flowers helped too. The original picture I brought in they told me would be a $3k cake :( And the cakes in the window are just as pricy- even a fondant bow was another $300. Crazy! But Im very happy to report it was just as pretty w/o it- I was shocked at how nice it was :)
  • altimat873altimat873 member
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2011

    Who put it all together like th roses and the brooches - the venue or the cake place? Are those fresh flowers or fake? Yes Ill take your brooches too - you are making my life very easy hahahah

  • LissyM83LissyM83 member
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Comments Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    You looked beautiful! My friend's wedding at Crystal Springs (Grand Cascades) last October. Everything was beyond beautiful... my only regret is that we missed the happy hour (I heard that was the best part). Entrees were delicious though!
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  • LissyM83LissyM83 member
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Comments Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    You looked beautiful! My friend's wedding at Crystal Springs (Grand Cascades) last October. Everything was beyond beautiful... my only regret is that we missed the happy hour (I heard that was the best part). Entrees were delicious though!
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  • cindyn9178cindyn9178 member
    1000 Comments 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_reviews-61111-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:aa43fbf3-875f-4879-8852-33562b5380cbPost:41189001-b5ca-4202-9509-65d6dd99c51b">Re: My reviews 6/11/11 wedding</a>:
    [QUOTE]I cant wait to look at the pix, just wanted to say congrats and welcome back. I am going to Palermos for a tasting in 2 weeks and the included package I was afraid I wouldnt like - so looking forward to seeing pix of your cake. EDIT: love the cake!!!! did you pay anything extra for that or was that part of the package? I love all your photos!!!! So beautiful
    Posted by altimat873[/QUOTE]
    We had our tasting at Palermo's awhile ago and we didn't have a problem picking a cake from the included ones. I don't think you'll have a problem :)
  • edited December 2011
    The broaches and ribbon were put on the cake by the bakery and the florist added the flowers. The venue added the cake topper - so it was a team effort. Im pretty sure the rose petals were also from the florist :)
  • cindyn9178cindyn9178 member
    1000 Comments 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    I just noticed you mentioned that Jillyan was rushed to the hospital the night before.. not to bash her or anything, and if she was truly sick, I hope she is ok....but... that is now the 4th time that I've heard of her cancelling/bailing on a bride at the last minute.
  • edited December 2011
    I know and Ive heard some info that makes me think she wasnt really at the hospital that night, but I really dont know and wasnt there so I cant judge, if she was in the ER I feel terrible and she did the best she could to notify me and send a replacement, but I just have a gut feeling some of the cancellations she has made may b due to placing commercial work above bridal, but I dont know and cant say for sure one way or the other, just the feeling I have
  • cindyn9178cindyn9178 member
    1000 Comments 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_reviews-61111-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:aa43fbf3-875f-4879-8852-33562b5380cbPost:31e4e959-2b55-45e6-aba0-4f34aa1dddc1">Re: My reviews 6/11/11 wedding</a>:
    [QUOTE]I know and Ive heard some info that makes me think she wasnt really at the hospital that night, but I really dont know and wasnt there so I cant judge, if she was in the ER I feel terrible and she did the best she could to notify me and send a replacement, but I just have a gut feeling some of the cancellations she has made may b due to placing commercial work above bridal, but I dont know and cant say for sure one way or the other, just the feeling I have
    Posted by gymchick05[/QUOTE]
    That is very interesting. ...
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