I bought my dress in CT but I took it to Mary Linn's for alterations. Although the alterations were significant (I dropped about 2 1/2 sizes between ordering my dress and getting it altered), and they were done well (the dress looked gorgeous), it was SOOO expensive and they kept tacking on hidden costs (like an additional $125 charge for getting the dress pressed after the alterations, which no one mentioned until my third fitting). I was also quite annoyed when I went to pick up my dress the day before my wedding and the women couldn't seem to find it. Then it turned out that, although the dress had been pressed the day before, someone had put it back into the bag, and I had to wait 30 minutes while they pressed it again. As if I didn't have anything better to do the night before my wedding...

We absolutely adored our wedding cake, and got tons of compliments from our guests (quite a few of my friends told me that it was "too cute to eat" or that it was the "cutest wedding cake" they'd ever seen). I actually didn't get to eat any of it at the wedding, but we had the top layer left over and instead of waiting a year to try it I dug in the next day. Although I found the outer frosting a bit too sweet for my taste, the cake itself (a very light lemon flavor) and the strawberry mousse filling were amazing. Oh, and the price was significantly lower than that of the other bakeries we checked out.

We had the 8 piece studio band and they were phenomenal! We asked them to play jazz during dinner, and then dance music when dinner was over. As soon as our guests finished their dinner, the dance floor was PACKED. I kept looking out at the tables to see that no one was there. The band did such a great job of playing music that appealed to everyone, from our grandparents to our parents, to our young cousins. The female singer was all over the dance floor, letting people sing into the mic with her and dancing with our guests - it was so much fun!

Beyond that, when we asked 5th Avenue to provide the music for our ceremony, Jack was completely honest and told us that we would be better off using CDs given our music choices (Alison Krauss, U2, and the Allman Brothers) because no one could do those songs justice without having to pay a full band. We really appreciated his honesty, as his recommendation saved us quite a bit of money (that would have otherwise gone to his company).

If you're willing to splurge on a live band, I highly recommend that you contact Fifth Avenue.

I just had my wedding at the Athenaeum and everything was WONDERFUL. All I heard from the guests was how beautiful the venue was and how great the food was. I really wanted to have an outdoor wedding and reception, and the Athenaeum really was perfect. Nellie is such a pleasure to work with and really helped to make our day exactly what we wanted it to be. I highly recommend this venue.