Sunday, February 4, 2007
Band
We knew which band we wanted right away, because we'd been to a wedding where they played. They are called Hank Lane (www.hanklane.com), and work for a lot of celebs. They have 10 bands within the company. Ours is called Park Avenue band and we chose to have a 6 member band. What they do is, each band has a set number of people that the band can "build" up to. Depending on pricing and accomodations at your reception, the event coordinator (ours is Kim) will suggest what s/he thinks is best for you. You will also write down all music in each genre that you'd like and they will match a band with your style. All musicians have to be very highly qualified and have some special event on their resume. They then go through a trial and probation period (3 years I think?) for training. So each member is very skilled. I heard demos and they were awsome! My friend had Hank Lane band (the guy who started the company) with 10 or so members. I love having the musical instruments at weddings. It brings an elegant feel. They also sing everything and anything you could hear on the radio (and they actually sound great!) which is awsome. Special requests are allowed too! :)
The dress
I will not reveal my dress number for unsuspecting eyes, but it is a Demetrios from Macys...I knew it was the one when I tried it on. Actually, I bought my dress before I booked my hall :) After only going twice to try dresses on, I think I did pretty well! I will be wearing white on the big day!
The Palace at Somerset Park
After much searching, I finally found the hall of my dreams!....no ugly rugs or chairs that need to be covered up. No necessary add-ons needed. Almost everything I could dream of! I love the ambiance and decor of The Palace (you can see it here: http://www.palacesomersetpark.com/). I will definitley say that I really did not want to spend this much money on a reception hall, but it was beautiful and I knew I had to have it as soon as we walked in. And I'm not sure how much I like working with Kevin, however, he has been ok. I've seen much nicer event planners stick their necks out for me within a matter of 2 minutes of getting to know them. I just feel like if you're paying them that much money, then they should at least call you back the same day that you leave a message! It's a good thing I'm so organized and on top of things that I really don't need to call that often. Anyway, I'm still so much in love with The Palace and can't wait until my wedding day!
Although I have done much searching, in most of northern and central Jersey, some other places I would highly recommend, but did not like for these reasons are:
The Villa at Mountain Lakes-Very nice to work with and good dessert from what we sampled. But they never got back to me, and I wasn't in love with the layout. They were only able to fit about 175 people at the ceremony outside so it was too small for me. They were wonderful with working with our menu and perhaps outside caterer.
Brooklake Country Club-Loved, loved, loved working with them! And a spectacular view! However, I wasn't too impressed by the rugs, although they are renovating right now. I just didn't want to take the chance in case I didn't like what they have done with the place. Great prices and very very flexible.
Westmount Country Club-Very modern, sophisticated, and unique. A bit on the expensive side and we found out that our friends were having their reception here, so this put it automatically out. This would have been my second choice, though, had our friends not gotten to it first.
Valley Regency-Nice layout and loved the staff. Very nice. Great prices too! Just a bit too dark in the ballroom, and I didn't like that it was right off of the highway. FI loved it though, and this was his first choice. Of course, I won though! :)
Although I have done much searching, in most of northern and central Jersey, some other places I would highly recommend, but did not like for these reasons are:
The Villa at Mountain Lakes-Very nice to work with and good dessert from what we sampled. But they never got back to me, and I wasn't in love with the layout. They were only able to fit about 175 people at the ceremony outside so it was too small for me. They were wonderful with working with our menu and perhaps outside caterer.
Brooklake Country Club-Loved, loved, loved working with them! And a spectacular view! However, I wasn't too impressed by the rugs, although they are renovating right now. I just didn't want to take the chance in case I didn't like what they have done with the place. Great prices and very very flexible.
Westmount Country Club-Very modern, sophisticated, and unique. A bit on the expensive side and we found out that our friends were having their reception here, so this put it automatically out. This would have been my second choice, though, had our friends not gotten to it first.
Valley Regency-Nice layout and loved the staff. Very nice. Great prices too! Just a bit too dark in the ballroom, and I didn't like that it was right off of the highway. FI loved it though, and this was his first choice. Of course, I won though! :)
Introduction
So Eton finally proposed on his birthday (very surprised and unexpected!), November 12, 2006, after 6 1/2 years! Our wedding date is September 22, 2007. I know this is Yom Kippur (NOW!), but it was not brought to my attention until about a month later. Only one Jewish attendee :(...I hope this blog will be very informative because I am now full of lots of knowledge! Thanks to everyone for being so helpful and making it so easy to plan (well almost!). Here goes!.....
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