Michelle & Ben
All photographs taken by Marie Labbancz. Please do not copy.
Michelle & Ben
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Ceremony Location - Saint Patrick's Church
Father Mackle and the rectory staff are a little disorganized, but in all fairness they deal with a high number of weddings a year and are not “a wedding vendor”. My DH and I were not members of the church, but were able to be married here with a letter from my church in NJ. We were also able to attend pre-cana in NJ. The ceremony ran smoothly and was short and sweet. Father Mackle was easy going regarding where the photographer and videographer could set up and shoot during the ceremony, which made for one less worry the day of.
Reception Location - The Racquet Club of Philadelphia
The Racquet Club is truly a hidden gem within Center City. I was attracted to the site due to the club primarily functioning as a private facility as opposed to a wedding facility. If you are looking for a location that offers a unique set up, beautiful architectural detail and art work this is the place for you. I was a little worried about how our guests would react to the cocktail hour, dinner and dancing taking place in different rooms. However, our guests really embraced this unique set up. Guests loved that they could stay in the cocktail room if they didn’t want to dance, smoke in the smoking parlor or spend all night on the dance floor.
Caterers - Jeffrey Miller Catering
We had a number of issues the day of the wedding that I am currently awaiting a response. Until then, I reserve judgment. Page me if you have specific questions you want to discuss off line.
Florist - Sheesh Events
Alicia does not get much mention on the knot, but she certainly deserves to. Throughout the planning, Alicia was enthusiastic and full of ideas. I asked for monochromatic purple arrangements with little direction and she went with it to create arrangements beyond what I could have ever imagined. Everything looked so fresh and vibrant the day of the wedding. Guests raved about the floral arrangements. Also, Alicia was a huge lifesaver when our caterer made a major error. She went out of her way to help us on a Sunday afternoon to rectify the situation.
Photographer - Marie Labbancz
Long before I became engaged, I saw Marie’s work and knew I would hire her to shoot my wedding. Her work is truly fine art. Aside from being a talented photographer, Marie is incredibly friendly and caring. She blended in so well the day of the wedding, I forgot at times that she was there. The package we paid for included a second shooter and lighting specialist. I highly recommend hiring a photographer that includes a second shooter. While one event was taking place, such as our first dance, the second photographer would be busy capturing our parent’s reaction, etc. This made for truly great pictures. Some other features of Marie’s work that I appreciate is that she gives you all the pictures on a DVD, all the printed proofs in leather bound archived books and shoots an unlimited amount of film. She shot over 1,500 pictures the day of the wedding. The pictures were ready in less than two weeks after the wedding. Marie is more expensive than most wedding photographers, but she is worth every penny.
Videographer - Walsh Video
Walsh Video is a husband/wife team. Like photography, I highly recommend hiring a videographer that offers two cameras because there is too much going on the day of for one person to shoot. The Walshes arrived early and began shooting immediately. Like Marie, they blended in so well the day of the wedding, I hardly noticed them there. They worked well with Marie, capturing the day without affecting her work. The equipment they used was inconspicuous and they did not use any bright lights at the reception. Most of our guests didn’t even notice we had a videographer there.
Musicians - CTO Tribeca
From start to finish, everything was professional and flawless. The bandleader Andrea was always accessible via e-mail and phone. The night of the wedding the band kept the wedding flowing and people entertained. The band played everything from Sinatra to Bon Jovi. So many of our guests raved about how they had never heard a band like CTO Tribeca at a wedding before. Even my 80-year-old grandmother was impressed! We saw so many friends and family members dancing that never step foot on a dance floor. The band finished the night with Journey’s “Don’t stop believing”. Our guests went crazy. It was a perfect ending.
Transportation - Philadelphia Trolley Works
The trolley driver George was on time and friendly. After the wedding, we took the trolley all over Philadelphia for photographs without incident. The trolley had enough room for myself, DH, bridal party, photographer, videographer and assistants to travel together comfortably. We even ran a little over the time we booked, and he was not concerned about charging us for overtime.
Invitations - Robin K Design
I hired Robin to create everything from our save the dates to menus. I found a number of invitations I liked in magazines, Kate’s Paperie, etc., but these places were unable to make edits to these paper products to fit what I was looking for. Robin was able to take my rambling ideas and make them a reality. Her work was precise. Although Robin lives minutes from me, we communicated mostly through e-mail. She was willing to tweak ideas and examples as many times as I asked until it was just right. She also came up with great ideas such as ribbon menus in lieu of traditional paper menus that our guests raved about. She was also a huge savior of my sanity the last few weeks of the wedding handling the paper products I had no time to DIY. I highly recommend Robin if you are looking for someone who is creative, organized and can offer more than traditional wedding paper products.
Rental Company - Lighting- Eventions Productions
Lighting makes a huge impact. The lighting made such a difference to the tone of the professional pictures and added a lot of ambiance to the wedding. We hired Brian Toner to do pin spotting of the centerpieces, up lighting around the dance floor, a band and stair wash and a custom gobo of our monogram created by Robin K. Brian’s team did a great job hiding the lighting apparatuses so that it wasn’t visible in pictures and to guests. If you have the budget, I recommend hiring a lighting specialist.
Jeweler - Robbins and Engelwood Jewlers
We ordered our wedding bands (mine Ritani and his Artcarved) from Robbins due to location and reputation. The staff was very friendly and professional. They carry an extensive number of wedding band manufacturers and offer competitive prices. Engelwood Jewelers offers a great selection of Rolex and other fine watches. The owners are really knowledgeable and did not push me to purchase DH's Rolex. The store also offers a ton of gorgeous pieces I would not hesitate to look at in the future when purchasing jewelry. They even shipped DH’s watch to NY so I could save on sales tax!
Tuxedos - Saget's Formalware
DH and I decided to order DH’s, the bridal party and family tuxes from Sagets after too many sub par experiences with national chains like Afterhours. Jimmy, the owner, was extremely helpful meeting with us for over 2 hours to try on samples and offer suggestions. I wanted DH to wear a suit tux in lieu of the traditional bow tie/vest combos. Jimmy really embraced this idea. Jimmy dropped off and picked up the tuxes, which was especially helpful since everyone was from out of town. All the tuxes arrived pressed and in the ordered sizes.
My Dress - Melissa Sweet "Daphne" at Priscilla of Boston
I initially booked an appointment with Priscilla to try on the ever popular “Lia” dress, but through my consultant wound up finding my dream dress. The staff was always helpful and friendly. They offered a 10% discount along with no sales tax. Deanna did the alterations. She did an unbelievable job taking in the dress and fitting it perfectly to my figure.
Bridesmaid Dresses - Vera Wang at Nonchalance
My bridesmaids initially tried the dress on at Vera’s flagship salon in Manhattan. Due to the fact that Vera does not alter their maids gowns, I sought out a different salon. Nonchalance not only offers alterations (with a $60 cap), but also offered a 15% discount and there was no sales tax. The dresses all came in on time in perfect condition. They also did a fabulous job on the dresses they altered. For those bridesmaids that were out of town, they shipped the dresses directly to the bridesmaids with no incidents.
Hair Stylist - Claudia Seyler
Claudia is fabulous! The day of the wedding she was quite ill, but she arrived timely and was able to do hair and makeup for myself, mother, grandmother and 5 bridesmaids on schedule. Everyone looked great. My hair and makeup turned out just as I had envisioned and photographed wonderfully. On top of being a talented hair and makeup artist, Claudia is also a lot of fun to be around.
Other Vendor - Rehearsal Dinner- Branzino’s Restaurant
The price and location cannot be beat. The restaurant is BYOB, which allows you to serve a full bar without the open bar per person rate. We were able to bring the wine and beer to the restaurant ahead of time so we did not have to worry about it the day of. Also, they kept the leftover alcohol, which we picked up after the wedding. The food was excellent and plentiful. My only gripe is that it is a very small restaurant. Due to the space constraints they could not accommodate our party until 8:30 pm. When we arrived the night of the rehearsal, they were still setting up causing our guests to have to wait on the sidewalk for over 20 minutes before we asked to come inside irregardless of the set up in progress.
Other Vendor - Cigar Roller- CF Dominicana Cigars
By far, the cigar roller was the biggest hit of the wedding. The roller and an assistant were there from 9-11 pm. The company brought pre-rolled cigars in order for guests to smoke as they watched the roller (you cannot smoke recently rolled cigars as they are too damp). The company was even able to place the monogram Robin K designed onto a band around the cigar. Our guests are still talking about how unique the roller was.
Other Vendor - Favors- Cutie Pie Cookie Company
Thea, the owner of Cutie Pie, recently started her business. She was excited to incorporate my monogram onto cookies as favors for our guests. We were able to work out the design over the computer, and then met in person to taste test prototypes. The cookies fit in perfectly with the table set up, and were a big hit amongst the guests.
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