Hi Ladies,
I've been MIA as I got sick prior to and after my wedding
However, I used the Knot a lot during my planning, so I wanted to get on here and put up my reviews. We had a BEAUTIFUL day, even though I was in the hospital up until the day before my wedding.
Kari
Florist - Lord's Florist A+ (Maybrook, NY)
Cindy at Lord's florist was great to work with. We only did bouquets, boutonnieres, and one arch, but everything was beautiful. The prices were affordable, she listened to what I wanted, and it came out just as I envisioned.
Photography - Uplift Photography A++
I can't say enough great things about Jade (& Tim) of Uplift Photography. We actually didn't look at any other photographers because I fell in love with Jade's photos from her website, and when we met with her it sealed the deal because she's so sweet. They were so easy to work with, and we got a preview of our photos and I am in love with them. I also felt her packages were extremely reasonable, which was the icing on the cake. I put a link to our preview below.
DJ - Destry Entertainment (Tom Destry) A-
Tom (& his wife) were very easy to work with. We had unusual ceremony music (LOST soundtrack), and Tom had no problem getting the music and editing it for us, and it was beautiful to walk down the aisle too. I give the - only because a few songs requested he didn't have, but due to my being sick we didn't give him a play list of any sort, so I can't complain too much. A few song choices I didn't like, but for the most part the dance floor was packed all night and we had a great party. The price was extremely reasonable, and we enjoyed working with them.
Dress - David's Bridal B
I fell in love with my dress at David's Bridal in Colonie, NY. The service wasn't too great, the girl we had was not very helpful. I am not a teeny tiny girl and a lot of the dresses I saw in the catalog didn't come in my size, so that was frustrating, but once we got past that, and my bridesmaids started finding me dresses, the day was fun. My dress was reasonably priced, came in quickly, and I had no problems with it. My cousin got alterations at the David's in Middletown, and the dress did not fit her correctly the day of. However, she got it alter the week before and didn't try it on after they altered it, so they might have been able to fix it for her given more time.
Venue - Arbor Ridge Caterers (Hopewell Junction) A
We fell in love with this venue, it had everything we wanted, a ceremony site on the same property, a hotel next door, and it was beautiful. We were not disappointed. They answered my questions during planning, and things went smoothly the day of. The food was great, my friends and family still talk about it! We had minor snafu's, like my guest book not being set up correctly or use, but they didn't really take away from the day at all. Service was great, food was great, bartenders were great! My mom mentioned the hotel rooms were not wonderful, but the rates were reasonable, and it was in the same parking lot. The bridal suite was absolutely gorgeous though.
Photo Booth - Party Time Productions A
I waited until last minute to book the photo booth, but boy am I glad I did. The photos are hysterical, and people had a blast. The quote of the night was "Now when I go to a wedding, if they don't have a photo booth I'm going to be disappointed." The setup, service, and take down went smoothly. The first disc of photos they sent didn't have all the photos, but I called and they corrected the issue and sent the full disc shortly after.
Officiant - Norma of One Heart Ceremonies A
We paid for the personalized ceremony and it was so beautiful. Norma was so sweet, and great to work with. I had many guests comment on how beautiful the ceremony was. She was able to work in things that were important to us, as well as be sensitive about the religious aspects of the ceremony (I am not religious, my husband is Catholic, and my mother is Jehovah's Witness). The only drawback is that we wanted to video the wedding and have it live online so my husbands mother could watch (she's in a nursing home and was unable to attend), and Norma asked that we not do that because of copyright issues. However, we were able to video tape it normally.
Makeup - JK Flashy (Jill) A
I LOVED my makeup the day of (and at the trial). There was a scheduling issue, which threw things off a little, Jill booked a client the same day as my wedding so we had to rush a little, but aside from that the makeup went smoothly, and the girls looked fabulous. Jill is such a sweetheart, and I really loved the way I looked that day. I'd definitely recommend her, but book early, she's super busy!
Hair - Bella Cappelli Salon (Pleasant Valley) A
We had 4 stylists working on 8 people. We brought food and drinks with us, and everything went smoothly. The girls looked beautiful. Anita, the owner did my hair, and I loved it.