Bio

vendor reviews

church-st. vincent depaul - a+
We really liked Father Harrity. He was easy to work with and has the whole marriage process down to a science. The church is beautiful and the staff was very helpful and well organized.

reception venue-river east art center - a+
We loved this place the minute we walked in. It had everything we were looking for. You don’t get much for your money other than the space, but you do get exclusive rights to the space for the evening, and it does have a big wow factor. Their staff was great to work with and very accommodating and helpful.

caterer-food for thought - b
This one is a hard one for me to write. We only had three caterers that we could pick from since River East gives exclusive rights to those three. We ended up picking Food For Thought b/c they had by far the best reputation and b/c we had an amazing tasting with them. They are by no means cheap, and EVERYTHING with them is an upgrade. I can overlook all of that though. What really bothered me was how difficult our representative was to work with. She was awful at returning emails and phone calls. It got to the point where I would just send her the same email over and over again until she would finally respond, usually 2 weeks later. She just seemed unorganized and a bit disinterested. Three days before the wedding she sent me an email (not a phone call, an email) that the chairs we had chosen 10 months earlier and paid an extra $5/chair for were sold out for the weekend and so were some of the linens we had chosen, and what did we want to do? Chairs and linens are really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but three days before your wedding things suddenly do become a big deal and I did not appreciate the manner in which she choose to address the issue, plus my patience with her by this point was painfully thin. Also, the chairs and the linens had been picked back in November and she waited until the very last minute to reserve them and by then they were all rented out. She never apologized. Also, while the food was great the day of, it was definitely not as great as our tasting. The appetizers were amazing, but I thought the actual dinner was so-so (then again I am probably the harshest critic). The girl we worked with only does events at River East so unless you are getting married there you will most likely have another rep from FFT.

doc - an urban affair - a+
Keely, the owner was our DOC and we LOVED her. Really she was much more than just a DOC though, since she helped with things all throughout the planning process. THe actual day of she was a godsend! She and her three (yes THREE) assistants were great about letting me know what was going on. I never even thought about anything, I just enjoyed every minute of the day. We also had a bit of a debacle with the cake and I never even knew about it until days later when Keely told me. If Keely had not been there we wouldn't have gotten our cake in the end. She was amazing and a virtual weath of wedding knowledge and advice.

florist - anthony gowder - a+
I had never heard of Anthony Gowder but decided to use them after my DOC recommended them. One of my best decisions during the whole wedding planning process! The two women I worked with , Suzanne and Stephanie, were so knowledgeable and accomodating. They listed to what I wanted and pulled it off perfectly. They even hunted down my beloved ranunculs in off season and fount the biggest white roses I have ever seen. They were so detail oriented and meticulous they far surpassed my own obbsessive compulsive standards. We thought our flowers wer gorgeous and unique and we got so many comments on them. Oh, and I had a mild obsession with my bouquet.

photographer - dennis lee - a+
I haven't even gotten the pictures back yet and I know I will still give Dennis an a+. He was amazing. Lots of people even called or wrote me to say what an outstanding photographer he was. He arrived early and was by my side all day, yet he was somehow still so unobtrusive. He was calm, patient, and fun. After the ceremony he basically took charge. I left it entirely up to Dennis to pick places for pictures and he took us to some great spots. He had everyone laughing, and even sat with the trolley driver to give him the fastest route. By Sunday afternoon he had already sent some gorgeous teaser pics. He was organized, responsive, and so easy to work with. A guy after my own heart.

dj - fig media - b+
Great company, very established and professional and they know their stuff. They really took some time to get to know us and then matched us to a dj whoes style fit us best. They were always responsive and helpful. Our dance floor was packed, really packed all night long. I thought some f the songs that were played though were a bit strange and if our friends and family weren't such big dancers (and drunk) I think it might have cleared the dance floor. Also, we asked that later in the night more current songs be played, but that never really happened. Still a great dj.

makeup and hair - sonia roselli and livia corporale - a+
I love, love, love both Sonia and Livia. I had my trial with them, booked them on the spot, and then never worried about them again. I loved my hair and makeup the day of our wedding (which has to be a first since I always hate how my hair turns out when I have it done) and everything lasted so well despite the sweltering heat. Also, they did an amazing job on my bm's and my mom. Everyone looked so beautiful and yet still looked like themselves. Sonia and Livia were amazing to me, tru professionals and lovely ladies.

cake - the sugar syndicate - ???
Stick with me on this one....We were REALLY picky about the cake. A cake from Bittersweet was included in our package with FFT, but after a tasting we were not impressed so we dicided to take a credit and book and outside vendor. We tasted a lot of cakes and the sugar syndicate's were by far the best, and they were like works of art. The owner, Cathay was so sweet and enthusiastic.

Here lies the problem. The day of the wedding Cathay had signed up for a delivery window between 3-5:15. 5:00 rolls around, and there is no sign of the cake so our DOC decides to call and check on things. She gets a hold of Cathay and she says she is all set to deliver the cake tomorrow. That's right, she had the days mixed up. All of our paperwork clearly had the correct date on it, she just somehow mixed it up in her head. Somehow, Cathay pulled everything together and managed to get the cake to the River East by 6:30 (I am sure she was freaking out), and we were none the wiser until a few days later when our DOC told us the story. The cake looked great and tasted incredible. but if I knew then what I know now I might have looked a little closer at the cake to see if it looked a little thrown together. Honestly, though it tasted so great and almost everyone I talked to commented on how it was one of the best cakes they had ever had. Had the mix up not occurred I would be singing her praises from the highest mountain top, but that is a pretty big mix up. and I would hate for it to happen to someone else and not have it turn out as well. So you ladies will have to make up you own minds on this one.

more reviews to come....