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NY/NJ Brides: Questions about hiring a band that can play Jewish music in the NY/NJ area

RainLaurelRainLaurel
First Comment
in Jewish Weddings
Hi!I am getting married at Crystal Plaza in Livingston, New Jersey on a sunday afternoon in June.  Does anyone have any recommendations for a band that can play great Jewish music as well as secular, American music?  Also, if you have, how have you catered to a mixed Reform and Modern Orthodox group of guests?  My fiance's parents would prefer that there not be a female vocalist, but my parents would prefer that there be a female vocalist.  I don't mind not having a female vocalist because of costs.  We can barely afford a band to begin with, but would like this over a DJ.  I know that Orthodox Jews often will not listen to a woman sing in public because it is seen as sensual.Bands that are somewhat in our price range include Sirius Orchestra, Robbie Scott and the New Deal Orchestra, Manhattan Rhapsody, Nafshenu, and The Smokin' Section.  These bands have all said that they have experience playing Jewish music.  Has anyone ever seen any of these bands play or heard of any of these bands?  If so, what have your opinions been?Thanks!!
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Re: NY/NJ Brides: Questions about hiring a band that can play Jewish music in the NY/NJ area

  • Knottie_22381855Knottie_22381855
    edited December 2011
    I also got married at the Crystal Plaza on a Sunday afternoon in June!!!!!  I'm so excited for you and wish I could come just to experience a wedding there, lol!!! I've heard of some of your bands, but, don't know enough about them to comment.  We used The Time Machine and they did a great job, but they have several female singers.  You can also look into the various Barry Hermann bands. Honestly, most bands you're going to find in the north jersey area are going to be capable of playing the jewish stuff!
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  • slbriz34slbriz34
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats - I'm glad you finally decided and went with Crystal Plaza.  If were had opted to go the NJ route, this definitely would have been near the top of the list!
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  • RainLaurelRainLaurel
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi!  Thanks for the info!  In your experience, did you think that a band was better than a DJ for Crystal Plaza?  I'm thinking a band might be nicer on a Sunday afternoon. 
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  • RainLaurelRainLaurel
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hey!How are you?  How is wedding planning going?With which caterer have you decided to go?
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  • JReneeJRenee member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    http://www.mitlasproductions.com/ Sally Mitlas herself did our wedding..they are based in Phila. area, but do go up that far. Phenomenal with both Jewish and secular parts of the affair. She outsources other groups as well. Worth checking out.
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  • Knottie_22381855Knottie_22381855
    edited December 2011
    Well, I'm the wrong person to ask because I ALWAYS think a band is classier than a DJ for a wedding, but, I honestly couldn't imagine a DJ at a Crystal Plaza wedding.
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  • RainLaurelRainLaurel
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    By the way, was your Crystal Plaza wedding everything that you hoped that it would be?  Do you have any words of advice about having a wedding there?  I am amazed by what Crystal Plaza is offering us.  Do they really deliver as much as they promise?
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  • Knottie_22381855Knottie_22381855
    edited December 2011
    They did for us!  4+ years later people still tell us that ours was the best wedding they'd ever been to, specifically with regards to food.  We had a kosher wedding. My ONLY complaint about the whole day is that I felt that the person assigned to us, not the coordinator but the one that was supposed to make sure we had drinks, etc... wasn't very attentive.  Honestly, I went the whole reception until he came over to me with a drink.  But, he was young and I chalked it up to inexperience and, frankly, I wasn't looking around for him either as I was very content the whole time!  I just didn't realize how thirsty I was until he brought me that glass of water! But, that is seriously the only thing I can complain about.  Everything was just perfect!!!!
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  • Knottie_22381855Knottie_22381855
    edited December 2011
    What florist are you using?
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  • RainLaurelRainLaurel
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Yes, one of the main reasons that we chose Crystal Plaza is that it was the best place that we could find for a glatt kosher affair where we didn't have to bring in catering from outside in reasonable driving distance from both families.  My fiance's parents are modern orthodox.  We haven't started looking for a florist yet.  We are going to go light on the flowers.  Do you have any suggestions for florists?  I was thinking of possibly Vaseful because they hire people with disabilities.  So, I think it is a good place to support. 
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  • shirz903shirz903
    First Comment First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    I will also be using Sally Mitlas...Eddie Bruce is also really good
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  • Knottie_22381855Knottie_22381855
    edited December 2011
    The CP will likely recommend Debbie's Designs.  My experience wasn't great, although the flowers were absolutely beautiful.  Spitz and Peck does a great job.
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  • RainLaurelRainLaurel
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    LBR NJ, thank you for the information on the florists!slbriz34, I'm glad that you found a caterer with whom you are happy!  Main Event did seem to have a better menu than many other kosher caterers.  The only problem with Crystal Plaza is that we don't get to do any tastings, but I'm still excited about it!
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  • ABH2105ABH2105 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My parents are pretty secular but my husband and I, and our friends, all had very traditional Jewish weddings. We heard this band at our friend's wedding and we loved them. So much so that we flew them down to FL for our wedding. The are THE BEST at doing an AMAZING set of simcha dancing/jewish hora music and then can turn around and do great secular, American music - which was very important to my parents.  Everyone LOVED our band. The band has a female vocalist but we did not use her, and nobody missed it.  The band is very open to price negotiations. Ask to talk to Ari Green, the band is BaRock Orchestrahttp://www.barockorchestra.com/
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  • Knottie_22381855Knottie_22381855
    edited December 2011
    Trust me - you won't need the tastings!!
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  • RainLaurelRainLaurel
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    That's great to hear!  What, in your opinion, were some of the guests favorite foods at the party?
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  • RainLaurelRainLaurel
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Also, how was your wedding cake if you got it from Crystal Plaza?
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  • Knottie_22381855Knottie_22381855
    edited December 2011
    Our cocktail hour was a huge hit.  I'd say some of the biggest were the baby lambchops (which we had as a stations, not passed), the mashed potato station, sushi bar, the panini station, and the vodka station.  Also, it wasn't on their list of stations, but, we added a jewish station - stuffed cabbage, kishka, etc....  We had the flaming chicken crepe as our appetizer and people said it was delicious.  Oh, and the CP's Vienniese Table is just remarkable!!! Our cake was absolutely delicious!!  I know that wedding cakes have to be made a few days in advance, especially for a kosher Sunday wedding.  Given that, someone had recommended doing a carrot cake wedding cake, since it's so moist, and, that's what I did and, I have to say, it was incredible!  Now, if we didn't have the Viennese Table with all of the other pictures, I might have not done a carrot cake wedding cake, but, since there were so many other options, it worked perfectly!
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  • RainLaurelRainLaurel
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks for sharing!
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  • RainLaurelRainLaurel
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    What is at a vodka station?  Did you feel that there were enough of each type of passed food for everyone to try it?  I think that the Jewish station is a great idea!  Was the chicken crepe actually flaming?  We don't have room in our budget for the Viennesse Table, but we are having passed desserts in addition to the plated dessert.  Do you know if Crystal Plaza makes their cakes in house or has a bakery make their cakes?
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  • Knottie_22381855Knottie_22381855
    edited December 2011
    The vodka station was an ice bar where they served different kinds of vodka drinks.  We also had a martini bar.If this link works, you can see some of my wedding candids and I know there are a couple of pics of both stations mentioned above:http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8GaMmrNi4Y5MAs for the passed hors doevres, all I know is that everyone raved about eveything.  I wasn't in my cocktail hour, so, I really don't know how much was passed, but, I know the list of what would be passed was very extensive!    
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  • Knottie_22381855Knottie_22381855
    edited December 2011
    Oh, and, yes, the crepe was flaming.  I believe they have their own in-house baker, but, don't hold me to that.  I'm almost certain I remember them telling us that.
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  • hklingerhklinger
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Jrenee, I am also have Sally Mitlas for my wedding. I having her 747 band. I am really excited to have her! My parents went to a wedding with 747 and they said they were great! Were you happy?
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  • hbrynnhbrynn member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    The band that I used played some Jewish music and the band leaders/owners are Jewish.  The Franklin & Alison Orchestra out of Princeton.  They were amazing at our wedding.
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  • eglucroft eglucroft member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    i'm also up in the air about band vs. dj - so will need to read through all these posts later. but quick question for slbriz34 - we're using main event as well, always nice to hear other people making the same decisions as me! do you know much about their cakes though? we're doing a dairy/fish dinner so we can have a cake with real butter and serve it with ice cream, and i'm just worried that their cake won't be amazing (it's the one thing i'm being super fussy about) and i've actually found a local woman who does dairy kosher wedding cakes - we have a tasting over thanksgiving, but her pictures look amazing. anyway, i digress. . , i'm fine with main event doing the cake, as long as it's what i want. thoughts? will they be offended if they don't do the cake? thanks for any input! ~elyse
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