Wedding Blog: “Importing” Wedding Invitations From Holland (Designs)

January 26, 2015 by Leave a Comment

It’s been some time since I’ve written a wedding blog, but I think there will be some more since we’re choosing more vendors. Today, I’ll be talking about my experience with choosing wedding invitations.

Papery of PrincetonAfter dining at the Witherspoon Grill last week, Beth and I went to The Papery of Princeton just down the road. I was told by Beth that it would be a long process and boy was it!

It took a couple of hours to look through all sorts of books from a variety of companies who make wedding invitations. They were pretty helpful since they had a lot of different styles to choose from. They even mapped out pricing for a couple of invitations we liked.

Holland DesignsHowever, Beth wanted to get a second opinion in spite of how reasonable the price seemed at the Papery of Princeton. That’s where Holland Designs comes in.

They’re a company that actually takes a more customized approach. Beth wanted to see the cost of designing something herself. Or at least based on things they’ve done in the past since other people using a similar wedding invitation means more peace of mind.

Megan StoopI didn’t go to meet with Megan Stoop of Holland Designs since she’s located in Jackson, about 2 hours from where I work. And that caused some arguments. Woof.

But I digress. Beth said she seemed nice and helpful to map out/find an invitation in a style that she liked. After getting a photo of it, I thought it looked good and it turned out to be less expensive than what we would have paid the other place, although the invitation styles were different.

I also learned the proper terminology for how paper is styled, like letterpress (which can be seen in Megan Stoop’s business card). Beth’s so proud that I’m learning so much, in spite of losing part of my manhood cred.

We wound up going with Holland Designs, but I’m not going to spoil what the invitation looks like! Tell me about your wedding invitation experience in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

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Wedding Blog: Wedding Hotel Booked

October 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment

It’s been a little while since I’ve written a wedding blog, but the wedding process has still been going strong. And slightly slow since I’m the man not doing much.

I was in charge of finding a wedding hotel and after visiting the Kenilworth Inn & not liking it, I had my work cut out for me. We wound up visiting 4 other hotels over a period of a couple of weeks.

Hilton Homewood Suites Cranford NJThe winner was the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Cranford NJ. We picked this hotel for a number of reasons, the main one of which is its proximity to our wedding venue Galloping Hills Golf Course. It’ll be more affordable for us to do a shuttle for our guests since it’s about 2 or 3 miles away and 1 exit off the parkway & more convenient for our tired guests who want to go to bed after the long day.

There are also some great amenities offered for the price. We checked out the Hilton Short Hills that was probably too much money for our guests although the available amenities were nicer.

The Holiday Inn in Carteret didn’t offer refrigerators and had a more expensive bridal suite. The rooms and open space at the Homewood Suites were also nicer than the ones at the Hilton House in Morristown.

I made the initial arrangements through Johanna, but wound up taking the tour and meeting with Dyolinda who likes to be called Ms. D (don’t ask me). They seemed nice and helpful, although it took a couple of weeks and 2 attempts to get the text code & link to put on our wedding website.

Let me know how you came to pick your wedding hotel or about your experience with Homewood Suites in Cranford here or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

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Creepy Wedding Photographer and a Marketing Fail

September 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

I usually don’t post about other people’s experiences here. However, this one was so downright weird and creepy that I just had to post about it.

My fiancée Beth went food shopping the other night and noticed a man following her. After a bit of time, he asked her when she was getting married. Apparently, he saw her engagement ring and decided to pounce.

Even when insisting that she wasn’t interested since we already have a wedding photographer, he still proceeded to follow her around and try to strike up another conversation with her about when we’re getting married. After Beth showed even less interest than zero, he fluttered into the night.

Marketing fail. It doesn’t matter how good his photos are or if we had a wedding photographer already since he made a horrible first impression. Based on just that fact, I would recommend you steer clear, but you can’t since he’s probably stalking you.

I’d like to know more about people randomly approaching you in public trying to sell you on something. Tell your story in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

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Wedding Blog: Which DJ Did We Choose?

August 1, 2014 by 2 Comments

One of the major vendors that Beth and I were looking at for our big day is the wedding DJ. We looked at 3 companies in our home state of NJ that we found on The Knot with favorable reviews. I’m picturing a rap battle of some sort, but it wasn’t that cool.

City Sounds EntertainmentCity Sounds Entertainment

This is the first DJ that we visited. We went to their East Brunswick location later at night since Beth had to work. We met with Jon, who I think is the owner of the company.

Don’t quote me on that though. We talked with him for about an hour and a half to 2 hours. It was good to get a lot of initial DJ information from him as the first one we met with.

He was very nice and helpful with everything. Beth was enamored when he spoke about him knowing reality TV stars since he’s from Staten Island. Whether it was a mob wife, a real housewife or a Jersey Shore party animal, he had stories about them all to connect with her.

I wore a Super Mario Bros. T-shirt, so he tried to bond with me over video games like Halo and Call of Duty since he had an Xbox in the office. I don’t play those games and the newest system I own is a Wii. Fail.

Premier EntertainmentPremier Entertainment

This is the second company that we met with, where we spoke with Mike Schaffer. Yes, the guy on the business card.

Anyway, we spoke for about an hour with Mike since he showed us videos of his work, which Jon also showed us.

He spoke about his young family and how he spends the week with his kids while his wife spends the weekend with him.

It was nice to see a human side of a DJ who spends his weekends away, while a lot of “normal people” have the weekend off.

Sounds To GoSounds To Go

The last DJ we met with was Anthony Setaro (not the guy on the business card). I wanted to showcase both sides of each card to show all of their company logos and the services that they promote.

When meeting with him, he seemed a lot more laid back than the other two guys. We discussed pricing options with him (as we did with everyone else) and gave us the amenities and lighting that we were looking for, while maintaining the price we had spoken about (in spite of it initially costing more money).

All of the DJs came off as being good and credible, making each of them a good choice for a wedding. However, we decided to go with Sounds To Go for our wedding since we’re trying to be budget conscious. Premier Entertainment was the second most expensive and City Sounds Entertainment had the biggest price tag for what we were looking for.

Tell me about your experience with these wedding DJs and how did you chose yours in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

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Wedding Blog: Booking the Photographer and Officiant

July 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment

My fiancée and I have been hard at work planning our wedding, which will be taking place in less than a year. Two of the most important vendors that we wanted to consider for our wedding and had to be booked in advanced are the photographer and officiant.

We looked based on our budget and how much the person’s vision was closely linked to ours. And by ours, I mean Beth’s since the wedding is all about the bride. I personally want her to have what she wants since the only thing I care about is marrying her. And eating good food and having a great time with the people I care about most.

Wedding Photographer: Love & Light Photographs

We met with Jessa of Love & Light Photographs at a Starbucks in Red Bank. Beth learned about her through one of her coworkers since they are good friends. Before meeting her, we checked out her photos and liked her work. When we both met with her, she saw the vision that we were going for and let us know about her plans to photograph our big day. Between those things and the fact that she gave us everything we wanted in our budget, she was the perfect choice for our photographer.

She also recommended a videographer, but that’s another discussion (and possible blog) for another day.

Wedding Officiant: Mitch the Minister

We met with Mitchell Magad, known as Mitch the Minister, at the Skylark Diner (which I’ve blogged about) in Edison. Beth previously looked at him and liked what he had to offer. After meeting him in person, I can see why. He talked about his experience, his thoughts on how the ceremony should go (even giving us new ideas about it) and gave input on some ideas we had. I also enjoyed the fact that he said he was sick of the song from Frozen and would beat the shit out of us if we walked out to it.

Ah, good times. Now that those two vendors are squared away, there’s a lot less pressure.

How hard was it to book the photographer and officiant for your wedding? What qualities were you looking for? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

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Wedding Blog: Hotel Hunt… Kenilworth Inn is Out

July 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Kenilworth InnNow that Beth and I have found a wedding venue, it is time to search for more vendors. Whoopie!

One of the most important parts of our wedding experience is the wedding hotel that our out-of-town guests (mostly everybody) will be staying in. We want to ensure that:

1. they will have a comfortable stay in a clean room that gives them enough space
2. a shuttle can take them from the hotel to the venue
3. they’ll be able to get food at the hotel
4. it’s close enough to other places, so they don’t feel trapped in the hotel.

The first wedding hotel that we were looking into was the Kenilworth Inn since it was on the Galloping Hills Golf Course recommendation list. It’s also virtually across the street from the venue.

However, I was told by Beth and Jennifer from Galloping Hills that it had a bit of a bad reputation. We were also told that it had been recently remodeled and the revamp was still occurring. Wanting to keep my options open, I wanted to try it out.

My first impressions from pulling up were curiosity of why there was a gazebo and the fact that the pool area was really nice. Walking in, it looked a bit like a church on the inside between how the fireplace & lobby almost looked like where a sermon would be preached and the fact that the event board looked similar to something you would find in a church.

We spoke with the receptionist and the two people in the business cards were not available (we didn’t make an appointment). However, we did see the rooms and they were pretty nice.

When inquiring about the gazebo, I found out that the Kenilworth Inn actually offers weddings onsite. The red flag went up here. I’m not interested in sharing a hotel with another wedding, especially one that is taking place at the hotel.

So much for Plan A. There are many more hotels that I’ve been contacting and will talk about my experiences with each, so stay tuned!

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Wedding Blog: Wedding Venue Hunt Days 3-5

May 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

My blogging time has been a bit behind lately due to life events shining through. It’s been a while since my last wedding blog. We went to see 2 wedding venues per weekend over the last 3 weekends, so let’s delve in!

Lake Mohawk Country ClubLake Mohawk Country Club

This was the furthest north that we went to see. The view where we would get married from was amazing, overlooking the lake. The indoor space was also pretty nice.

However, the outdoor wedding space was on a boardwalk that was too narrow, the parking situation was a bit off to us and Blake, who was were supposed to see, had a crisis and we spoke with her assistant instead.

Seasons CateringSeasons Catering

Our next stop was Seasons Catering, where we met with co-owner Carl Carfello. While the cocktail hour was amazing (and is per my brother & his wife going to a wedding there), that’s all the wedding venue seemed to offer.

The inside was nice, but a bit too much. The outside we couldn’t get access to because we weren’t a big enough party. Carl also said it would be “his wedding”, not “our wedding”.

Galloping Hill Golf CourseGalloping Hill Golf Course

The first impression I had of Galloping Hill Golf Course threw me off. It’s right by the Garden State Parkway (it’s literally right outside the door, on a separate level of course) and is next to a cemetery.

However, everything else seemed on par, pun intended. The outdoor area was really nice with a separate ceremony area that’s nowhere near the parkway.

The inside space is also nice and gives you more than ample room for the cocktail hour and reception. Not to mention the nice view you get overlooking the golf course and nature in general.

This venue is equally as good as the Brooklake Country Club, but offers a more affordable price tag.

Indian Trail ClubIndian Trail Club

I feel as though Beth chose Indian Trail Club purely because the Real Housewives of New Jersey hang out in Franklin Lakes. With that being said, it was going to be remodeled by the time we had our wedding (which is good since I didn’t like it much) and made it hard to visualize. Even though we made an appointment, Debbie Pagerie, who we spoke with, had no idea we were coming in. Next…

Meadow Wood ManorMeadow Wood Manor

When going to Meadow Wood Manor, we spoke with Mary Ellen Hatcher. She was probably the nicest of the people we spoke with. She really sold the place on us.

Even though the inside was nice and the food options were really good for the price, the outdoor space wasn’t that great. There was also no green space for wedding photos, even though Randolph is a bit out of the way.

Westminster HotelWestminster Hotel

This is the last of the venues and the only one I spoke with. After some misunderstandings with Amy Sukiennik about coming to see the place and the hotel asking for info that we already gave, we looked around.

I wanted to see what a hotel venue was like for the convenience and it probably gave the nicest overall package out there. I also enjoyed the fact that everything onsite was top notch, from the suites to the rooms where the wedding would be held.

However, the outdoor ceremony space seemed thrown together. It was right in front where cars would drive up to check in. Beyond the hedges was highway.

It will probably rain on our wedding day, so all of this stuff we’re looking into for an outdoor ceremony will be all for naught. That wraps up our wedding venue hunt.

Wedding Venue Rankings

1. Galloping Hill Golf Course… wedding’s booked for June 7, 2015!
2. Brooklake Country Club
3. Westminster Hotel
4. Meadow Wood Manor
5. Battleground Country Club
6. Lake Mohawk Country Club
7. Shadowbrook
8. Shackamaxon Country Club
9. Seasons Catering
10. Mayfair Farms
11. Indian Trail Club
12. The Elan

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Wedding Blog: Wedding Venue Hunt Day 2

April 27, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The day after I went to see my first wedding venues, as I wrote about in my last wedding blog post, my fiancée and I saw three more wedding venues. The results this time around were much more interesting and extreme.

The ElanThe Elan

Red Flag #1: We got lost getting to the place.

Red Flag #2: The gazebo was right outside the front door facing the highway.

Red Flag #3: The parking lot was dirty and had trucks behind it from what looked to be another company that has its business behind it.

We literally dreaded walking in there and knew that it was not the venue for us, but decided to see it anyway. We wound up going inside to see nobody around. I literally grabbed all of the business cards in site, including their preferred vendors, and ran for the hills.

Brookdale Country ClubBrooklake Country Club

Brooklake Country Club is the polar opposite of The Elan. The area was beautiful, including the outer grounds and the inside. The menu was great and Stanley Subarsky, the man who we saw and are currently dealing with, was quite nice and knowledgeable.

Seeing this venue immediately made me forget about my horrible experience at The Elan.

Mayfair FarmsMayfair Farms

We arrived at Mayfair Farms and walked in to find nobody around. It looked really old fashioned inside at first glance and we went to the bathroom before actually seeing someone.

We met with Scott Pinck and he seemed like a nice guy. However, we found that the outdoor wedding space was not attractive and wouldn’t be even when trees grew in. There’s a fenced area behind where the ceremony would be that looked like the ground in the woods. Not attractive.

The venue also felt a little cramped, especially since they do two weddings at once.

Wedding Venue Rankings

1. Brooklake Country Club
2. Battleground Country Club
3. Shadowbrook
4. Shackamaxon Country Club
5. Mayfair Farms
6. The Elan

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Wedding Blog: Wedding Venue Hunt Day 1

April 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Last weekend, Beth and I made our first trip out to see wedding venues. It was an interesting experience to say the least, knowing that a huge chunk of money will go into this place hurts my soul a little and the fact that we will start shopping for other vendors once we pick a place.

However, I’m excited to move everything along for the wedding in either May, September or October 2015. I know it will be great no matter where I go because of who I’m marrying. And the fact that I love the food options and open bar.

But I know that you’re here for some juice on wedding venues, so here it is:

Shackamaxon Country ClubShackamaxon Country Club

This was our first venue on the list and we met with Ellen Sherry. We took a tour of the place and thought it was pretty nice. They had some great spaces, including the bar area right by the entrance and the outdoor porch area (that includes a grill) that is good for outdoor cocktail hours. The land is beautiful, too.

However, I was not a fan of the way their outside wedding ceremony location was set up haphazardly. It’s set up on the golf course by a little bridge that you can drive golf carts over.

Not to mention, Ellen would not give us pricing until we went there and seemed to be a bit snooty when it seemed like Shackamaxon was out of our budget. Gee, you think you should have given us pricing first?

Battleground Country ClubBattleground County Club

We went here and met with Liz Zarko, who was setting up for another wedding that day. The Battleground was of the same kin as Shackamaxon, except they had a designated outdoor space for a wedding ceremony. The space was nice, but you can see people’s houses if you look to one of the sides, so I feel like I’d want to rent a wall setup. The cocktail space outside and inside were both nice, too.

Liz was a little bit rushy since she was setting up for a wedding the same day, but she was informative about everything. They would also have another smaller event there (a Mitzvah, birthday party, etc.) and they wouldn’t start at the same time. I also read that her boss, Jean, is hard to work with.

ShadowbrookShadowbrook

We met with Amy Grandinetti and she was the nicest woman of the day. She was asking so many more questions about our personal life than the others. I know this is a sales tactic, but an effective one (as was the complimentary champagne bottle we got to take home). I would love to have someone like her as my attendant for the day.

The ceremony and reception spaces were nice as well, with two different outdoor ceremony spaces (including the one that doubles as a cocktail hour with built-in stations) that were pretty.

The problem lies inside. From the dual wall of fake flowers in the entrance to the various carpeting on the floor and on the walls out of 1975, it’s very dated. The inside has a very old and stuffy feel to it because of the fabric all over the place.

Wedding Venue Rankings

1. Battleground Country Club

2. Shadowbrook

3. Shackamaxon Country Club

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Well, I’m Engaged Now

March 2, 2014 by 2 Comments

Iannelli DiamondsI haven’t blogged in a while because there were a few important life events that have happened. And work also.

But back to the important life events. In some of the blogs that I’ve written, I talked about my girlfriend Beth. Now, she’s my fiancée and we’ll be planning a wedding together.

The first thing people ask: when’s the wedding? Hold your horses.

The second thing people ask: how did he or you, depending on who’s being asked, pop the question.

Business Card BlogWell, here’s how it went down. It was Valentine’s Day. Yes, I did that cliché. After a work happy hour, we arrived home and Beth went to take a shower and that’s when I set up tea lights that said “Marry Me”.

You can see it in the picture for yourself.

Then, I played “Marry You” by Bruno Mars, as it’s one of her favorite songs. She sings it at night also, so I thought it was appropriate.

Wedding BlogNow, let’s talk about the ring. I bought it from Iannelli Diamonds (business card above) on the recommendation of my financial adviser.

Mario Iannelli handled my ring purchase and it was great. He was very helpful in getting me what I wanted. And by what I wanted, I mean what Beth told me to get. But hey, I chose the diamond. I designed the ring. I lost a little bit of my soul paying for it.

Now that I’m engaged, you’ll be seeing some more wedding blog posts. From seeing venues and attending tastings to choosing flowers and music, I will be getting my hands on a lot of business cards.

And for those things that only Beth will go to, I’ll be sure to ask her to get me the business cards and I might even add them to the wedding blog series that I will be writing.

KleinfeldMy aunt and uncle gave me one wedding-themed business card already. Beth loves Kleinfeld based on the reality show “Say Yes to the Dress”.

I don’t think this is the location on the show, but I felt like I should throw this business card up for the fun of it.

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