BOARD

vendor review for 11/05/05 wedding at Puck Building (I've been meaning to do this for months!)

From: EJR

Date: 4/4/2006 at 6:09 PM

Hi ladies--I've been meaning to do a quick review for my November wedding for months now, but I was actually pretty happy to unchain myself from the knot for a while! But here I am, and here are my reviews!

Reception and Ceremony Site: The Puck Building, Grand Ballroom.
The Puck was a great choice and they ultimately made the wedding what it was. Jamie Zales (who may now be on maternity leave) was my day of coordinator, and she was really on top of things for me leading up to the big day. She connected me with Heidi, of Food Matters, and Heidi was absolutely amazing. She really wanted me (and my fiance and my dad) to be really happy with what we put together. The menu she created was delicious. The lighting at the Puck was breathtaking on the day of, for both the ceremony and the reception. The "whole package," if you will, truly exceeded my expectations. I was blown away by how beautiful the room looked.

Florist: Flower Gallery, Elmwood Park, NJ

I chose this florist because they do both silk flowers and fresh flowers, and my opinion of their work is split between those two types. Our personal flowers were pretty, but they were not the colors I thought we agreed on and they were poorly constructed. They must have had an off day, because I got good references for them. But my bouquet fell apart before the ceremony even started, with no rough handling on my part (she fixed this at the Puck when I returned from picture taking, but it was scary). And every single boutaineer broke at some point during the day/evening, as did two of the wrist corsages. On the OTHER hand, the silk flowers were out of this world. My centerpieces were huge and gorgeous and so real looking, and so were the big arrangements that adorned the reception room. Everyone commented on them, and no one knew they were fake! So I'm not really sure what the deal with this place is. The fresh flower mishaps were a real source of stress for me on the day of, and a source of stress for my Mom, and they weren't cheap. But the silk flowers made the room look gorgeous.

DJ: Joe Shane, Mobile Music DJ's

Joe was outstanding. Everyone danced all night, and a few even requested the "soundtrack" of our wedding. He played all we wanted and none of what we didn't want. He stayed well in the background (which is what we wanted) and responded well to our guests. He played the ceremony music for us, paying great attention to detail. He was one of our favorite vendors. Everyone should use him!

Photographer: Angelica Glass

Working with Angelica was a pleasure. And more importantly, her 600+ pictures of my wedding blew me away. Really, her work has far exceeded my expectations. The photos are gorgeous and artistic and funky. I love them. And working with her on the day of was so nice--she's funny and comfortable, easy to work with. There was a little delay around the holidays, in terms of me getting my proofs, and to make up for it she threw in some free reprints. She's just great. Go to her website and take a look at her work--you can't beat it if you like an edgy, photojournalistic style.
www.angelicaglass.com

Dress: I used RK Bridal. My dress was cheaper there than just about anywhere else, and when I found one place in the city that head it for less, RK matched the price. The dress came in way early. And my alterations were a bit of a struggle--they took too much in after my first fitting and fixing that became a problem. But they dealt with the problem, ultimately working on my dress for over four hours after my second fitting, while I came in every 45 minutes to try it on again. Stressful, yes, but it all worked out ok. So if you do alterations there, be firm and specific about what you want exactly. Some of the people in alterations don't speak English, which was part of my problem, as our ability to communicate with each other was hindered by this, despite someone helping us understand each other. This can all be worked with, just be vigilant! The prices there can't be beat.

And that's it for now! Feel page me with any questions!