Well I'm back I've officially been a married lady for 10 days! I have some great reviews and some bad reviews so here they are
Forget me Not Florist in North Haven- They were fabulous I had to run and pick up my cake flowers the Thursday before the wedding and bring them to the bakery which was in Branford. When I got there the flowers hadn't come in yet so they told me that they would deliver the flowers along with my cake topper so I didn't have to wait around. Now the day of my wedding my brother in Law went to go pick up my flowers and bring them to the hotel and when they got there they where so stunning! My bouquet was more then I could have asked for and my girls flowers where just so pretty. They even gave me extras in case something happened somewhere along the way. I would give them an (A+) and tell everyone to go there.
Spring Hill Suites by Marriott in Milford- I have NOTHING good to say about this place! I booked my hotel room months and months before my wedding as did my out of town guests. When I went for my check in at 1pm on Friday they day before my wedding, the place was a mess! There was food all over the place the lobby smelled and the elevators were not working. To make matters worse they had given my room which was to be on the first floor to someone else who didn't want to walk up the stairs. No big deal I waited patiently for them to find me another room. Finally 45 minutes after I was supposed to check in they had a room for me on the 4th floor I go up and immediately go back down. They had given me a single when I paid for a big room big enough for myself and all of my girls. Now while I was on the phone with my father trying to figure out what to do next the manager comes out and talks to the girl behind the counter and before I even get off the phone with my father they had checked me out of the hotel and told me they didn't have any other rooms to accommodate my needs and we would have to go somewhere else. i was so stunned I left in tears with no place to get ready for my wedding! So a big fat (F) for them!
Hilton Garden Inn in Milford- After making several calls to my bridal party the photographer, the limo driver, my soon to my mother in law, my mother and fiancée to tell them not to go to the hotel the next day I got on my phone and started called every hotel within a 10 mile radius. The Hilton Garden Inn went above and beyond. They gave me a junior suite and also let us use a conference room to get ready inn the day of the wedding. They even brought us down a mirror, supplied cups, plates, utensils, and music for us to get ready. Not to mention they price matched the other hotel and allowed everyone who had booked rooms at the other hotel to come stay there instead. Sonia was awesome! (A+)
CTLIMO-We booked the limo really last minute like a week before the wedding. My mother-in-law talked us into it. I have nothing really horrible to say except the limo had a few dents in it and could have stood to be washed. The inside was clean and the driver was really nice. He was a quick thinker too! When the runner started to blow away he opened the trunk of the limo and took out two umbrellas and stuck them into the ground to hold down the runner. It was hilarious and we got some great pictures of it. (
Duck Pond Milford- We held our ceremony at a local duck pond in Milford. There's a waterfall and its right behind the city hall. Its a nice place if you don't mind all the duck poop all over the place. It was great for pictures.(A)
JP William Healey- Very nice man. Met with him two times before the wedding to go over everything he was helpful sent me emails with what he would be saying at the ceremony and gave us step by step instructions so the day would run smoothly. Now on the day of the wedding he was 20 minutes late for the ceremony! All our guest where getting restless and wondering if we where going to get rained on and I was sitting in the limo waiting with my girls and when he finally showed up he didn't even apologize or give an explanation just told me to get ready to come out. So for that I give him a (C)
Lucilles Bridal Shop in Orange- After fighting with David's Bridal about my dress for months (they lost it and had to reorder it) I didn't want to have my gown fitted there. This place was recommended to me by my brother in laws mother. They are very expensive but they did a great job. I had to have my dress fitted 3 different times because I kept losing weight and the dress didn't fit. The bustle was a little bit hard to do for my sister even after being shown twice what to do and some of the hooks where missing, but all in all a good job. I got a lot of compliments on the dress. So a (
Pastry Fusion in North Branford- What an amazing job these guys did! I can't say enough our cake looked stunning and people where amazed by it. It was a teal cake to match the girls dresses with black ribbon and ivory pearls, and the flowers where Ivory gerbera dasiys. The cake topper looked amazing with the cake. Lets not forget to mention that the cake itself was so good people went back for two or three slices!( A+)
Country House Restaurant in East Haven- This is where we had our reception and from the very beginning we fell in love! The wedding Planners are amazing and the owner sure knows how to throw a good party. Not only did they do everything asked and we must have gone over the details at least a dozen times, when I would call up to make changes they where right on top of things. When I walked in the place looked amazing. Our tables where set up just how we asked the colors where perfect, the DJ which came with out package was amazing (Marco Silva for Local Motion Entertainment( A+), he played every song we asked and really took what we wanted to a new level and everyone was always on the dance floor). The food was so great and I even got to eat some of it the staff made sure we got to go first, we had a buffet. We had an open bar and the bartender was great she got a lot of compliments throughout the night! The only draw back to the evening was a malfunctioning chair on which my husbands elderly and fragile grandfather was sitting on was so wobbly one of the legs came off and he fell on the floor. I would recommend this place to anyone! Great service, great price, great staff!(A++)
GUS Johnson the Pros Photography- Now I left the worst for last! I mean he was horrible. I didn't get to meet him before hand and I heard both good and bad things about the pros. Now a friend of mine from high school had actually used him and she liked him and said her pictures came out great so I didn't worry so much. I got a phone call from him two days before the wedding to go over what we wanted picture wise and he found the new hotel ok. He got to the hotel maybe 10 minutes before 3pm. He was due to come at 3 to start taking pictures of us girls getting ready and the guys in by the limo before they left. He took awful pictures of my dress you cant even tell the details of it and there was a lot of detail. He got more pictures of my bridesmaids getting ready then he did of me. Then he never took the pictures of the guys by the limo! Instead they where inside by a TV that was on with other people in the background. Not to mention they where blurry. At the ceremony he wasn't talking any pictures while waiting for the JP. Finally he started when the limo door opened for my girls and I to come out. I asked for a specific picture of my father helping me out of the limo. Now he took it mind you but the picture is horrible he took it of my fathers back and didn't bother for another shot. I was so disappointed. Now I didn't really want staged formal shots and he argued with me and told me that's how he took them. So I did what he asked and stayed standing in the same position for all my shots with all the families and what not. Then when it came time for the wedding party to do out shots I wanted some spontaneous shots of us. He did then grudgingly and some of them where really good, but it was like pulling teeth and I had to like put my foot down. Now at the reception he didn't do the table shots as asked so there's not pictures of everyone at the wedding like I wanted. He would disappear for an hour of half an hour here or there. My guest where complaining about him because he was yelling at them for taking pictures (even though he wasn't) there are no pictures of my husbands and I first dance, there's a bad one of the cake cutting, an ok one of the flower toss and garter toss and then its like he was done for the night. Hardly any pictures of anyone on the dance floor and to make matter worse he left early! Now that pushes my buttons because I paid extra to have him there for the whole reception and they wont refund any of my money! So to all the brides out there thinking that this is a nice cheap easy way to get a photographer for your wedding beware you get what you pay for (even though I had an expensive package) do not even consider the pros! (F---)
Sorry for the long winded reviews but informed is better then not and I hope this helps someone along the way!