(UPDATED W/SOME PROOFS AT THE BOTTOM) MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

I will post professional pictures next week. Be warned my review is LONG.


HOUSE OF BRIDES - DENVILLE, NJ
A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I cannot say enough great things about this place!! Judy (the owner) is an angel to say the very least. I went into the store determined to find one particular dress but instead ended up with something I NEVER would have given a second a look to at her suggestion. Me, being the most indecisive person I know, knew the minute I put that dress on it was the one. It was only the 2nd dress I put on 15 minutes after I walked into the store (on my FIRST OUTING). However, I was uncomfortable with the fact it was strapless and as soon as she told me Jasmine Desinger could custom make the dress anyway I wanted, I was thrilled. I actually got to design the dress of my dreams and after months and months of waiting it came in and it exceeded my expectations.

Judy goes that extra mile with her brides. At my last fitting, she gave me dancing lessons (how to dance in my dress), how to sit in my dress. She made me practice over and over until she was satisfied. She really and truly is amazing.

BRIDESMAID DRESSES - MACY'S BRIDAL, MANHASSET, NY
B-

Our experience there was just okay. I was told the dresses would be in on a specific date and then they actually didn’t come in for another 4 weeks, cutting it close to the wedding and barely giving the girls enough time to get the fittings done. One of my MOH’s lives in Massachusetts and they had to ship her dress to her once it came into the Manhassett store. I asked my sister who lives in Manhasset to help me out and give them a call as to the status of the dresses arriving and they wouldn’t even speak to her because she was not the bride, even though it was HER dress that she was paying for. I found the service to just be mediocre.

LILAC FLORIST
A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We didn’t book the florist until a couple of months before the wedding. They were actually my biggest headache because I wasn’t getting that she was understanding exactly what I wanted even though I had pictures for her. The day of my wedding however, I was completely blown away by the flowers. They were the most amazing flowers I’ve ever seen at a wedding. When I saw my bridal bouquet and my BM’s bouquet as well as the corsages, I nearly cried they were so beautiful. The Chuppah was so magnificent that even the Crest Hollow called her a few days later to tell her how the other two weddings that day were raving about them. DH and I couldn’t stop talking about the flowers on the honeymoon. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. I will post additional pictures (from chuppah, and reception) as soon as I get them. They really were magnificant!

BAND/ORCHESTRA - KEN JAMES PRODUCTIONS
B++

DH and I are Classical Music and Opera lovers and we wanted to incorporate a lot of that into our Ceremony and Reception. We gave a lot of different music to the band leader to have his people learn and they did do a fabulous job with the pieces. Our entrance to the reception was amazing, and the ceremony music was stunning. We got a lot of compliments on it. However, we had some very specific requests that were not honored at the wedding. We were adamant that during dinner we only wanted classical pieces (and we gave them a large selection of music) because we both hate that when we’re at a wedding and we’re eating our main course when there is someone signing in the background you can’t hear what people at your table are saying. Well, they only played 3 pieces and then had the singer singing easy listening songs. I also had a special request song I wanted them to play from me to DH as our second dance later in the reception and they never did it. Overall they were amazing and our guests are still talking about how great the music was. They had people dancing all day, and the singer was out on the dance floor a lot with our guests. He was very interactive with the crowd.

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Message edited 12/27/2005 1:59:15 PM.

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

HAIR – JENNIFER ZIEGELMEIER
F (would not recommend for various reasons)

(LONG, but please read - I am being as fair as I possibly can be)


I really don’t know where to start on this review. This was an unfortunate circumstance, which ended up putting us 2 hours behind and upsetting the entire timeline for the day (the circumstance even affected another bride, read on…) After searching and researching for someone to do my hair for the wedding, I booked a trial with Jennifer and booked her on the spot. She was to do my hair and my 4 bridesmaids very early on Sunday morning, as we were all supposed to be dressed and ready for pictures by 9:30 am at the Crest Hollow. Jennifer was to be at the hotel in Melville at 6:00 am as our limo was picking us up at 8:30. I didn’t start to really worry that she wasn’t there until about 6:30 am. That’s when the make-up artist (a friend of Jennifers) tried to call her on her cell phone. (My sister had called her at 6:15). There was no answer and a message was left for her. Between 6:30 and 7:30 I called her twice and Joanne the make-up artist called her I think maybe 4 times. 3 on her cell and once at her home number. To make a long story short Jennifer was a no-show, no phone call or anything. THANK GOODNESS, my sister knew someone (her sister in law) that is a hair dresser and at 6:45 she called her and she raced to the hotel from the Eastport area getting to the hotel at 7:30. At this point there are 5 of us that need our hair done and only an hour to do so. I was first getting my hair done at 8:15 with the limo coming 15 minutes later. We ended up not leaving the hotel until after 9:00 am with only my hair done. My sister’s sister in law followed us to the Crest Hollow to finish the other 4 girls. DH and I and our families were going to take all our pictures before the ceremony, unfortunately because of the late hour I got to the Crest Hollow, we could not do that and had to do them separately. As it was my youngest sister was the last to get her hair done and wasn’t ready until 20 minutes before the ceremony, so she missed taking pictures with the rest of my family so she is not in any photos. And because of the long time delay, we ended up having to take our formal family portraits during our reception while our guests were eating. That ate an hour out of our reception for us. Just not fair. In addition to our delay, there was a ceremony immediately following mine that ended up starting late because we didn’t start for almost an hour later than scheduled.

It wasn’t until 2:00 in the afternoon that Jennifer called and left a message on my cell phone. In her message she indicated that her brother had been in a car accident (I’ve been told he’s okay). (And… I hope I don’t get heat from this from any of your ladies for what I’m about to say, but please put yourself in my position – 6:00 am on a Sunday morning, hairdresser is a no show and if it wasn’t for my sister’s sister in law, what would we have done??) Although I feel terrible that her brother was in an accident, the way she handled the situation was by far extreamly unprofessional. In her message she indicated that she called and left Joanne (the make up artist) a message in the morning. I don’t know if it was at her home or on her cell, but I know that Joanne’s phone never rang when we were in the hotel. HOWEVER, I feel that I am the one that hired her, I’m the one that signed a contract with her. It was her responsibility to call ME, the bride, the person who employed her to do a job. She had my cell phone # and she knew where we were staying, she should have without a doubt called ME, and as a hair stylist, I’m sure she knows other hair stylists that she could have called to take her place and not leave me hanging on my wedding day.

HAIR - MY SISTER'S SISTER IN LAW (FM me if you want details)
A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My angel of the day was my sister and her sister in law… I don’t know what I would have done! She did my hair in no time to get me ready, and followed us to the Crest Hollow to finish the rest of the bridal party. I seriously don’t know what I would have done if it had not been for her. She deserved every penny my father gave her for saving the day. Everyone looked gorgeous!

MAKE-UP- JOANNE (FRIEND OF JENNIFER Z)
A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Joanne did an amazing job on all of us. She is a perfectionist as well as she should be, and my make up was flawless and lasted the entire day. She even helped polish off my two younger sister’s who I didn’t schedule for make-up. Everyone looked beautiful!

PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY - JAY SIBRISKI
Cannot rate at this time

I can’t remember exactly how I found Jay, but when we went for our meeting with him back in April and were looking through this portfolio, we came across a picture of a young girl at her Bat Mitzvah which turned out to be one of my step-sisters. I had vaguely remembered him at the party (it was 3 years ago), and immediately called my step-mother to get the album. I loved his work and booked him the next day. Since I am a VERY detailed person, I had a very detailed list of pictures I wanted. Because my parents are divorced and my father is re-married and my mother has a significant other, we really had 3 sets of pictures to take. But because of the 2 hour delay in the morning, a lot of our pictures couldn’t be taken (otherwise we would have missed the entire wedding reception), but he absolutely did the absolute best he could have done under the circumstances and still managed to take about 800 pictures. DH and I hadn’t met the videographer until the wedding day, he is someone that Jay works with and we saw his work when we interviewed Jay. Needless to say he was terrific! We’ll have the raw footage DVD on Monday when we meet with Jay. I’m sure I’ll have more to add after our meeting.

CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB
C-

I’m actually surprised that I have to give the CHCC such a poor rating because I love the place and think it’s a beautiful venue for a wedding. My sister got married there 3 years ago and it was amazing. Although our guests knew nothing, and my wedding was still beautiful and the best day of my life. The day was unorganized and chaotic. We had known that there was a 2nd wedding going on the same day as ours, but found out only a few weeks before the wedding that there were to be 3 weddings going on at the same time. Our ceremonies were only 30 minutes apart – Bride #1 at 12:00, My Ceremony – 12:30, Bride #3 at 1:00. Everything was rushed and because I had a very religious and traditional orthodox ceremony there were a couple of pre-ceremony, ceremonies that took place. They moved where DH’s pre-ceremony was and never told us, so nobody knew where it was for the first 30 minutes DH said there were only 3 people there. My father, his father and the Rabbi. When DH came in to the cocktail hour for the veiling ceremony he couldn’t find me… because they put me in a different part of the room as what they had told us. He found me rather quickly, but was very confused at first. Also, as part of this veiling ceremony the groom comes in with his father, the brides father and the rabbi. Well, his father was not there at the time when the Crest Hollow was ready for DH to come in, (but again, communication had broken down and nobody knew what was going to happen or when it was supposed to happen) In any event, they wanted DH to go without his father! DH put his foot down and said he wasn’t going without him. Prior to this, I had made my entrance into the cocktail hour, and typically I’m escorted by my mother, mother in law and BM’s as well as the musicians. Well the musician’s weren’t there, and when I told the bridal attendant to get them I was told we just have to go. I refused until she got the musicians. Also, the photographer and videographer were not in the room and they should have been. Again, the Crest Hollow was supposed to communicate with them when I was coming in, and that never happened. So now, one of the things that meant a lot to me to have footage of, I have no pictures or video of.

Off to the Ceremony –

Earlier, the Matire’D came into the Bridal Suite to go over the program with me and the wedding procession with me. We went over everything in detail and he wrote down detailed notes. At the ceremony, they disregarded everything and sent everyone down in pairs. The groomsmen, the bridesmaids, etc…. They even sent down my two ring bearers and my two jr.attendants (flower boys for lack of a better term) all at the same time. I protested when they did that and the Maitre’D told me that it said all 4 of them in the program. I then got snippy and asked him if his program was the special one that said that, because none of the other one’s did. I think they did what they did because we were delayed.

Bridal Suite after Ceremony – In the Jewish tradition, it’s required to have “alone time” immediately after the ceremony, it’s usually for 6 or 7 minutes minutes. But we could stay in the suite alone for as long as we like. Since DH and I had to fast in the morning, this was our opportunity to have some quiet time alone and to eat something. DH had made some specific requests for food in the Bridal Suite, but we didn’t get anything we asked for. No big deal really, but it would have been nice to have what we had asked for.

The Reception –

The Maitre’D and staff knew that we along with our parents and siblings were going to take pictures during dinner in the back of the ballroom, they also knew which tables were the parent and sibling tables. They served the dinners, but ended up taking them off the table before anyone could eat anything. So when they all got back to their tables their dinners were gone. During the Best Man and Maid of Honor speeches we were told the Microphones weren’t working so nobody other than the tables next to us could hear. We didn’t know this because they were standing right behind us, so we were able to hear.

All in all, my day really was amazing, gorgeous and everything a wedding should be. But I was disappointed with the Crest Hollow. I think there was just too many weddings going on at the same time for it to be organized. Poor DH didn’t even have a Suite to use. They stuck him in a spare office.

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Message edited 10/9/2006 7:56:09 PM.

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

I'm sorry that you had those problems. Thanks for the review!

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Congratulations
You look so beautiful.
I am sorry about what happen w/ crest hollow.

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Congratulations on your wedding!

Very very very sorry to hear about what happened on your wedding day with Jen Z. I honestly don't think you should hear any slack from anyone. EVERYONE if they were in your situation would freak out! I know I would have been a mess. We're all sorry about her Brother and pray he's alright, but she should have had some sort of a back up plan available. Definitely a good note to all future brides...make sure there is a back up plan for all vendors!

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Aww I'm so sorry my date twin!! I myself, would have had a major heart attack--you actually look calm in the hair pics-you looked beautiful!!!yay

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

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Posted by Reesa

Aww I'm so sorry my date twin!! I myself, would have had a major heart attack--you actually look calm in the hair pics-you looked beautiful!!!yay

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Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

sorry to hear of the mishaps! hope you and your new husband have a wonderful future together and that someday you can laugh at all of this!

best wishes!

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Congrats!!

So sorry to hear about Crest Hollow and your hair artist! I would've been freaking out as well! Im glad you were able to find someone at the last moment though.

You seem like you made the best of your day and thats what counts! Best Wishes!

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

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Posted by Soon2BMrsA

Congrats!!

So sorry to hear about Crest Hollow and your hair artist! I would've been freaking out as well! Im glad you were able to find someone at the last moment though.

You seem like you made the best of your day and thats what counts! Best Wishes!

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Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

For all the truely unexcusable mishaps of the day although your hair turned out great...next..

congrats to you & your Hubby

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

You looked beautiful and your hair came out great. Sounds like you had a good attitude and did not let any ot these issues ruin your day. Congrats!

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Michelle, I am so happy for you!! CONGRATS to you and your DH!! you looked so beautiful! LOVE the hair!

Can't wait to see more pictures

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Oh Sweetie, I am really sorry that all that happened to you.

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Picture of my Bo-k

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Message edited 12/5/2005 6:58:30 PM.

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

WOW...I am so sorry that you had all of the problems and that they were handled so poorly

Congrats on your wedding!

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

You looked gorgeous regardless of the headaches!

Re: MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

You ended up looking gorgeous regardless! congrats!

Re: (UPDATED W/SOME PROOFS AT THE BOTTOM) MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Thank you ladies for your kind words.... I'm so depressed over my wedding right now and the quality of my proofs (I know I gave the photog. an A++++ rating, I need to change that, but just can't stomach it right now)

Anyway... here are some of my proofs:

Re: (UPDATED W/SOME PROOFS AT THE BOTTOM) MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

I am so sorry this had to happen to you. Vendors that host more than one wedding at a time should know how to handle things. I went to the crest hollow five years ago with my FH for one of his cousins weddings. Everything about the hall was wonderful. I didn't like how the limos were all lined up and bride after bride were standing next to one another. The looks the brides gave one another was priceless.

Re: (UPDATED W/SOME PROOFS AT THE BOTTOM) MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

Michelle-

I don't know how I missed your review! You looked stunning and the dress is simply amazing!! I am so sorry that things didn't go as you planned. Your pictures look beautiful (even though you're not happy with them).

Congratulations on marrying the man of your dreams!

Re: (UPDATED W/SOME PROOFS AT THE BOTTOM) MY CREST HOLLOW COUNTRY CLUB NOVEMBER 13TH WEDDING REVIEW

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Posted by hmpena

Michelle-

I don't know how I missed your review! You looked stunning and the dress is simply amazing!! I am so sorry that things didn't go as you planned. Your pictures look beautiful (even though you're not happy with them).

Congratulations on marrying the man of your dreams!

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