I mostly lurked during my engagement, but I got so much from the knot that I thought I should give back by posting my reviews. I got married in the Husdon Valley but used some NNJ vendors. Older knotties may remember me from about two years ago, when I was an active knottie (under another name) but called off my wedding. Thankfully, I made the right choice this time and we had a great day and felt we were really lucky with our vendors. We tend to be pretty picky customers and were overall very happy.
Venue: The Garrison (Michael Elbe)
We could not have been happier with the Garrison. We worked with Michael, who was always patient and responsive. Day of, he and our DOC (reviewed below) had everything set up perfectly. I feel like every bride says this, so take it for what it's worth, but guests came up to me all night telling me the food was the best they've ever had at a wedding. Overall, I was very pleased with my experience with the Garrison and can't really point to any negatives. We visited a few venues and researched pretty much every NNJ and Hudson Valley venue and the Garrison was the best value for the price, considering the beauty of the site and the service we received.
Photographer: Geri Nelson
From the moment we met Geri, we felt instantly comfortable with her and knew she was the right choice for us. Her style is very romantic, and her prices are very reasonable, IMO, for her level of talent. One thing about Geri - she is passionate about album design, which made us change our minds from purchasing coverage only to a package with a photo guestbook and parent/wedding albums. When she showed up the day of the wedding, it was like seeing an old friend. She is very easygoing (so no danger of photogzilla!) but always has her eye on getting the bet shot. So far, I've seen a couple of teasers from the wedding and been very pleased with those and our engagement pictures (one of those teasers is below).
Video: IMR Films (Tim Lawrence)
I found Tim on one of the knottie vendor spreadsheets that was floating around last year. We wanted a video of our wedding, but didn't want to spend a lot and didn't really want some edited masterpiece - that just was not our priority. Tim suited our needs perfectly. Obviously, I have yet to see the video, but I was very pleased with him both pre-wedding and day-of. He was so easy to deal with and very responsive, and the day of he was so unobtrusuive, my bridal party thought we'd skipped video! I met him for the first time on our wedding day, and in person, he was just as easygoing as over email.
Hair: Michelle Lo Conte
Michelle was one of the few vendors that I carried over from the last wedding. I booked her last time and did a trial with her, and then started using her salon for my regular cuts and color. So, she was an obvious choice for my wedding hair! Michelle and her assistant were actually 45 minutes early, and did a fantastic job on my bridesmaids, DH's mom, one of our readers, our flower girl, and me. They were able to replicate photos and everyone's hair looked great. I had a half-up style and paid Michelle to stay to make it an all-up do after the first dances, because I knew no half-down style would survive me dancing to "Rump Shaker" later in the night. Both hairstyles were gorgeous and I could not be more pleased. As an additional plus, Michelle brought my regular hair dresser for the touch-ups, so it was like being surrounded by friends in the bridal suite!
Makeup: Jillyan Scarpa
Jill was my 3rd makeup trial. My other trials were either all wrong or just too expensive. Jill's prices are very reasonable (her prices include airbrush and false lashes, no extra charge), and she did a great job on my makeup without my having to give her excessive direction. She is meticulous and takes her time, and if you don't like something, she will change it, no questions asked. She is a total sweetheart and was a pleasure to have around on the wedding day. She also showed up about 20 mins early.
Band: Aisle Five
Aisle Five is a Jersey bar band whose lead singer is a friend of mine. We got the idea to hire them for the wedding after seeing them perform in Morristown, and I'm so glad we approached them to do it! They are very tight, musically, and know how to play to the crowd. Pre-wedding, they were a pleasure to deal with - very responsive, willing to learn songs for us, etc., and day-of they delivered a fantastic performance and worked really well with the DJ. Everyone at the wedding loved the band and loved having live music. They were really an asset to our wedding and I can't recommend them highly enough.
DJ: The DJ Company
The DJ Company provided audio for the ceremony (mics for MH and the minister), lighting, and a DJ/MC. They were very nice and reasonably priced. Initially, we worked with Ryan, who agreed to DJ our event and seemed to "get" my vision with lighting and the atmosphere we wanted to create with the music. He was very responsive, but as the wedding got closer, the communication began to drop off. About 2 weeks before the wedding, I got a call from one of the other DJs, Jason, who explained that he would be doing our event. I was upset because this was not what Ryan and my husband and I had agreed upon, and, in addition, all of our event details were wrong in the company's system. Jason was a sweetheart and patiently worked through the details with me until everything was right, and Ryan was apologetic, but it was disappointing to go from working with someone who knew what we were going for to having to explain it all to a new person 2 weeks before. Something gets lost in the translation. However, day-of, everything worked out fine. Both Ryan and Jason showed up for the event, played 90% of our requests, worked well with the band and kept the dance floor packed. I think that the DJ Company is a young company that may be experiencing some growing pains, and I would still recommend them.
Ceremony Music: Royal Strings
Royal Strings was the other holdover from my "other" wedding. They are a violin and guitar duo and they will play pretty much anything you ask them. For me, they learned the Police, Jeff Buckley, and the Lemonheads. They were exceptionally responsive and were nice enough to honor my deposit from last time. They arrived on time and performed without a hitch. I can say without reservation that their music added so much to our ceremony, I was absolutely blown away when I heard it. They played "Into Your Arms" by the Lemonheads when my husband and I walked back down the aisle and I seriously felt like we were in a movie - the happy ending of a great romantic comedy or something.
Cake: The Pastry Garden
This is the shop the Garrison uses for their cakes. They were fantastic to work with. We gave them a picture and they replicated it precisely. No extra charges, no hassle. The cake was moist and delicious.
Dress: Bridals By Roma
Roma's gets mixed reviews on the knot, and I think it depends on your salesperson. I shopped there for my "other" wedding and was really turned off by their high-pressure sales tactics. I only went back this time because they were the only shop in the NY/NJ area that had a sample of a drss I wanted to try (and it actually ended up being my dress). I dealt almost exclusively wit Joanne, and she was great. They were very accommodating with fitting appointments (I've heard some shops will not do them on the weekends, which would have been terrible for me because we moved to NY midway through wedding planning) and my bustle held the whole night.
Veil: Ocanassey Designs
I ordered two custom veils from Ocanassey, and both came out beautifully, exactly to my specifications, and were a fraction of the price of veils from bridal salons.
BM Dresses: Jim Hjelm from Nonchalance
We worked with Kristin at Nonchalance, who helped me choose the right dress and worked with the company to have it made in a different fabric. The dresses came in on time, and when one bridesmaid ordered too small (against the advice of the shop, of course), Kristin actually went to the BM's alteration appointments (at Flair - Nonchalance doesn't have their own seamstress) with her to ensure they would have order the right amount of fabric, etc. I was very impressed. One thing about the dresses (not Nonchalance's fault) was that the pockets ripped on two of the dresses the day of the wedding, so the BMs' lipgloss, etc., fell out onto the dance floor. Not what I'd expect from a $220 dress.
Florist: Connie Reimer
Connie was the only florist we met with. I loved her work and she had done a great job for so many other knotties. I met with her twice, once early on and again when I had all my ideas solidified. I know she offers a centerpiece trial, but I didn't insist on one because we live in NY and it's not so easy to get to NJ on a weekday. She was very accommodating and could reel off the details of my order from memory. She was very detail-oriented and has a great personality. Day-of, the bouquets were gorgeous, as were the ceremony decorations. The centerpieces were just what I asked for, except that the roses were more fuschia than purple-y, and that surprised me since our wedding was very very purple in every other respect. However, I didn't ask for a trial, so I take part of the blame for that. The only other thing that bugged me was that Connie put flowers on the cake (the same fuschia-ish roses on our light Lavena cake, which totally clashed), when I never asked her to do so (and we had a cake topper). The venue put the topper next to the flower-decorated cake, which I thought looked kind of dumb. I had the venue take the flowers off the cake midway through the reception and put the topper on, so it was no big deal, but the roses left some holes in the cake and it just annoyed me as being unnecessary. But, if that's the biggest issue at your wedding, you're pretty lucky, right?
Shuttle: West Point Tours
I changed the shuttle schedule a million times and added a shuttle the month before the wedding without issues. Julie at West Point was responsive and friendly. The only weird thing is that they use a combination of number of trips and hours to calculate your rate, so every time we added or changed a run, we had to call them for a re-quote. Day-of, I didn't have to think twice about the shuttles, everything went off without a hitch, and the drivers were friendly.
Hotel: Hotel Sierra Fishkill
The Hotel Sierra was another standout vendor. They are the nicest hotel in Fishkill and their customer service was great, start to finish. They offer a free hot breakfast for all guests and gave us the option to have two hours of a private breakfast buffet for our wedding guests (not just those staying at the Sierra) at a relatively nominal charge. I was actually surprised at how good the breakfast was - there was an omelet bar, eggs, potatoes and sausage in addition to cereals and pastries. I was very impressed, and I was happy that we were able to give our guests a nice meal and a change to visit with one another again at such a low cost to us. They even gave us robes and a bottle of champagne on our wedding night!
Limo: A.N.N. Transportation
A.N.N. was great with pre-wedding communication and had very competitive prices for the area. We just rented a Rolls to take my grandfather and I to the venue and for photos. The car was on time, pristine, and the driver was great. He showed me how to get in to the car with my (big) dress and helped my grandpa in. He managed to crack with windows in a way that kept me cool in the 80 degree weather and didn't mess up my hair (there are only 2 AC vents in those old cars).
DOC: Madison Affairs
I hired Madison Affairs pretty early on in my planning, and
Gisselle was to be my DOC. Fortunately for her
, she found out she was expecting and due right around the time of my wedding and offered to either refund my deposit or assign me someone else. Having the utmost faith in
Gisselle, I knew she'd leave me in good hands. She assigned Newsy (a former
knottie) to my wedding and she was great. I was lucky enough to have both
Gisselle (before she delivered) and Newsy work on my wedding beforehand, and Newsy was on top of everything day-of. Having her there made my day stress-free.
Rehearsal Dinner: Bird & Bottle Inn
We had a large rehearsal dinner (70 people, mostly MH's family who traveled quite a distance), so we needed something more than the back room at a restaurant. Also, since the Garrison had a wedding that day, we needed rehearsal space. The Bird & Bottle has a tent in the back, which they walled off to fit our party. We had a 4 hour cocktail reception and they allowed us to customize our menu but also provided guidance when we asked. The owner, Elaine, was great to work with and even let us bring in a karaoke setup at the last minute. Everyone had a great time and I thought the food was really good. Also, karaoke rehearsal dinner is a much better idea that one would think, initially...
Paper Products: Jessica's Design Shop
Another knot recommendation and another absolute standout. Jessica and I worked together for a full year, from STDs to programs, and I cannot say enough good things about her. I was unsure of what I wanted and she developed the design with me. When it came time to tighten up the copy, she dealt with both MH and me, who each had to proof everything a million times. She is very responsive via email, and an absolute sweetheart in person. Her prices are very reasonable for such gorgeous custom work, and I was thrilled with all of our paper products. She even made us favor tags with lobsters on them to go on our chocolate lobster candy favors. Guests commented many times on how gorgeous our stationary was. Jessica's work was one of the things that really made our wedding.
Tuxes: Marty's Formalwear, Cortlandt Manor, NY
To every Hudson Valley bride who wishes there was an alternative to Men's Warehouse for out of town groomsmen, Marty's is the answer. We had groomsmen from all over the US and even in Europe send in their measurements and John at Marty's went over them with a fine-tooth comb, checking them for any inconsistencies. All of the tuxes fit really well and looked great day-of.
We had a bad experience with another calligrapher and were left with absolutely no time to get our invitation envelopes done. Jen was recommended to me by another knottie and swooped in to save the day. She worked quickly and her prices were much more reasonable than other NYC-area calligraphers. She literally had the first half of our 110 envelopes back to us in a few days, and was able to meet MH in the city during work hours to do the exchange. Jen does gorgeous work and was able to work with our lined metallic envelopes without a problem.
I had good experiences with White Aisle for jewelry,
ForYourParty for matches and napkins,
Etsy vendors for hairpieces, ring pillow for the dog (she was in the wedding and a total cutie!), and cake toppers, as well as Fetch Pet Care to taxi the dog to the Garrison. I also used Kamila Harris for b-pics and All-American Karaoke for the RD, so please feel free to message me if you'd like more detail on any of these.
