Ok – I finally have some down time now.  Exams are over, my official honeymoon is almost over, and everything goes back to normal on Monday.  So between now and Monday, I thought I would write some more about my wedding.  So let’s talk vendors.

Overall, I was realllllly happy with all my vendors.  But here are the details anyway.

Photo/Video – 5 West Studios
I absolutely loved them!  5 people showed up in my hotel room on Saturday at 1:30pm.  Honestly, I could barely remember everyone being there.  I really wanted some pictures of my husband (husband!!!! ) seeing me in my wedding dress for the first time, and they made sure to capture that.  We then piled into a limo and drove to Washington Square for some outdoor pictures.  I had sent Spencer (photographer) a long list of all of the family combos, bridal party combos and other “must take” pics.  He brought the list and made sure everything was captured.  After seeing that teaser of some of the pics, I am absolutely thrilled with his work and I am soooo happy that I hired him!

Final Rating:  A+

Florist – Flowers of the World, Maria Nino
Her bubbling personality was exactly what I needed in a florist!  I gave her colors and styles that I sorta liked, and she came up with the rest.  Every time that I went in for a meeting, she had examples of what centerpieces or bouquets would look like.  This helped, since I wanted to know how the flowers would incorporate into my color scheme.  She dropped off all of the flowers that I needed herself at the hotel on the day of the wedding.  When I got to the venue, everything was done.  She had made extra boutenniers for the men because apparently boys always tend to ruin theirs before the ceremony.  For my petal cones, I bought several dozens of roses in colors that I wanted, and she and her staff picked off the petals for me the night before the wedding.  She stuffed the cones, then laid out extra petals at the program card table and other tables.  The lighting was fantastic!  I loved working with her and I would highly recommend her to anyone!

Final Rating:  A+

Tea Ceremony – Rose Handicraft
The lady who came to help us dress and bow was excellent.  My 3.5 heels got in the way of bowing, but I wasnt wearing any stockings.  So she took off her own stockings so that I wouldn’t be barefoot.  I thought they did a good job on the whole deal, however, the services were slightly different that what they were offering before.  See, both Mrs. Bee and my MOH used this company for their tea ceremonies.  I figured it would be the same.  I wanted my guests to be able to drink and talk, and watch the ceremony if they wanted to.  Part of the new services was an English speaking MC.  He basically told everyone to come and watch, then he talked everyone through the tea ceremony.  I didn’t particularly like the fact that he started off with “anyone know what a paebaek ceremony is? raise your hand”  That felt like he was lecturing, which I didn’t like.  In the end, I think everyone enjoyed it.  But I could have done with less talking. 

Final Rating:  A-/B+ (only because people enjoyed it)

DJ – Manhattan City Music
Let’s see – the tea ceremony was a few minutes delayed because he couldn’t figure something out on his system.  I gave him a Korean CD to play, then the tea ceremony gave him their music and he kept insisting that I had given him something first and didn’t want to play the tea music.  When the venue people told him that it was time for the bouquet toss, he announced, “and now its time for the bouquet toast?”  I had to gesture an actual toss for him to understand me.  He had to start our first dance song over a few seconds into the song….I don’t know why.  He played Bon Jovi wayyyy too early.  He played Eminem, and I specifically requested that he not play hip hop/rap music.  I’m also pretty sure he played a couple of songs more than once.  I had dealt with the owner of Manhattan City Music the entire time, but I think that was a mistake.  Obviously there was some lack of communication between the owner and the DJ.  However, he did not play any of the songs from our “do not play” list, people did end up dancing and having fun, and there were no blatant mistakes.  Plus, he was pleasant to work with.  I kinda with I had paid a little more money for a better DJ, but the other DJ I wanted never got back to me in time. 

Final Rating:  B-

Venue/Food – Twenty Four Fifth
Holy moly – these people seriously know what they are doing.  My MOH told me today that every time I asked her to do something, they were already doing it.  I could not have picked a better space for my wedding, and their service was superb.  The only thing was that I paid 500 bucks for the hot chocolate service at the end of the night, but I don’t think many people saw it.  It could have been more prominent.  Then again, everyone was apparently drunk which is why they didn’t see it.  Alexis, the woman I had been working with, was there almost the entire time.  She was amazing.  When I got nervous before walking down the aisle, she was the one looking into my face going “breathe, its ok, just breathe and smile.”  When my husband (husband!!!! ) and I wanted to rush off to make our rounds, she was the one who made us sit and eat our food.  When I got agitated because I didn’t want people to tip the bar, she was the one who reassured me that her staff knows not to take tips.  When I wasn’t satisfied, she let me put up signs that said “gratuities have been paid for…”  She and her staff scheduled the entire night, so I didn’t have to worry about things being on time.  I have been to weddings where the cake wasn’t cut until way past 11pm, so timing is everything.  The tipping scale at the end of the night was a bit steep compared to other venues, but I felt like I paid for a day of coordinator.  That is exactly what she and her staff were.  So the money was totally worth it!

Final Rating:  A

Officiant – Rev. Jim Covington
Man, am I glad I hired this guy!  Everyone has been telling me how much they loved him.  He spoke so sincerely and he was not boring at all!  Now, I have no idea what he said because the whole time he was talking, I was trying to figure out when we were supposed to say our vows.  I was getting a bit antsy because I just wanted to say our vows!!  But seriously, he was great.

Final Rating:  A

Stayed tuned for reviews on bridesmaid dresses, wedding dress, alterations, tuxedos, hair, makeup and limo services!  And by the way, this limo company was awesome!