Vendor Review - All The Details

You hear this all the time about just about everything: beauty is in the details. Details, details, details! And when it came to my own wedding, you can bet your bottom that I put a huge emphasis on the details - and while almost all of them were DIY, some were most certainly not! I wanted absolutely everything that was at the wedding to flow with everything else. There was no "color-theme" so to speak, but the aim was for a particular "feel". We wanted all of our guests to feel as if they were joining us for a big Sunday dinner - a very elegant, ethereal Sunday dinner. And while we wanted the wedding to be elegant and ethereal, we also wanted it to be comfortable and personal.

Consider it mission accomplished - and all because of the details!

In this post I'll talk about rentals, seat numbers, and all of the attire for the bridal party....

First off - rentals really are what made the day happen. The location was a totally raw space so we had to bring in everything from chairs, to tables, to a whole extra tent for the dancing area. We used Broadway Party Rentals for all of the china, flatware, linen and chairs. For the rest of the decor we brought in the tent pros from The New York Tent Company. They provided us with the draping, chandeliers/lighting, heating system, and they also constructed the entire dance tent and floor for us. The New York Tent Company was absolutely fabulous to work with, they were affordable, the staff was incredibly sweet and very knowledgeable, and they definitely helped alleviate a lot of my weather stress. The original plan was not to have a tent over the dance floor, but as the threat of rain loomed, we decided to put one up. Boy, I am so glad we did because the tent really made the dance area seem like a "club" and provided the most beautiful backdrop for all the lighting!

The Dinner Tent

The Dance Tent

In the dining tent, each and every guest was assigned a specific seat. This was no easy task, but it helped make the 178 guests feel a bit more intimate. I used little white paper tags, from Michelle Jeffrey Cards on Etsy, and hand stamped them with each seat number. The tags were attached to the chairs so that guests could find their seats.

Look closely and you'll see the tags on the back of each seat!

Now, let's talk fashion. My gown, veil and headpiece were all purchased at Lillette's Bridal, which is where my mom bought her gown 30 years ago. I tried on around 7-8 gowns with the style I thought I wanted, and then my mom pulled the last one, which turned out to be "the one". It was totally not what I had originally envisioned, but once I put it on I knew it was perfect. The staff at Lillette's are all friendly, although I did have some issues during alterations. My seamstress spoke barely any English, and refused to let me go bra-less during my fitting (despite the fact that my gown had a corset). The bra she gave me was clunky and huge, which made the entire top of my gown too tight. I begged her to let me take it off, and she simply would say "no", so I told her I wouldn't pay for the gown because I didn't like how it fit...and then in pops the manager. When I finally explained to the manager what the problem was, she told me that my seamstress is very old fashioned and didn't understand why I wouldn't wear a bra. When all was said and done, the manager spoke with the seamstress and I had to make another appointment to re-do the entire fitting (without the bra). They gave me a discount on the alterations for the hassle, and the manager was very close by for the fitting rounds two and three. My gown ended up fitting perfectly, and I advise all brides to SPEAK up during your fitting if something isn't perfect.

The gown was designed by Midgley Sottero

For the bridal party we wanted something that had the same ethereal and soft feel as my gown. The girls and I went to a few different stores in Manhattan and all fell in love with the same gown almost instantly. We chose a Bari Jay gown in orange, which I talk about why in this post, and I think they were absolutely perfect. They had a flower detail at the waist, which went so nicely with a similar detail on my gown.

The groomsmen chose a classic tux with a vest and tie from Sal's Fashions. They all looked so handsome in simple black and white.

Alright, that's it for the non-DIY details! Stay tuned for the DIY details and the rest of the vendors!