Donna Hewitt

I am at least one of the brides that Susan is referring to.... And I can't agree more with everything she has said here... I would have to say, the worst thing about my wedding day was Mr. Phil Steingard. Don't get me wrong - I love my photos! But the stress that he caused on MY day - was in no way worth it... 1. He was also late meeting my husband in the lobby - I got a phone call saying he hadn't arrived at 10am as well - He was a half hour late, but on your wedding day - you don't need that. 2. He arrived in my bridal suite - basically upset that we hadn't ordered him food, there was fruit... We were actually not allowed to order food to the bridal suite, so I had to get my mother to take time from our day to go and get food for Phil from the buffet. 3. After the "meeting" photos, we continued to take photos, dragging the wedding party around up until the seconds before the wedding... even though, I said I wanted to go back to the suite and chill out for a bit with the wedding party ... He was VERY forceful about wanting photos... and even when you say enough, he doesn't take the hint. I appreciate that he wants to get amazing photos, but he should know after doing SOOO many weddings (as he doesn't forget to mention how terrific he is), that we still want to enjoy the day and its not HIS day... and to chilll out especially when specifically asked to stop... Take some candids! 4.I had made it clear that we were doing the photos before the wedding in order for us to be able to enjoy our cocktail hour with our guests... This did not happen - There were photos that were necessary, like family photos and beach shots... But he took us off on our own again to take more artsy photos, by this time we were getting upset... All of our family and friends were enjoying the party we had planned on the beach - and we COMPLETELY missed it! My husband told him enough, even though Phil protested, and we headed to the beach. By the time we got there, the appetizers and cocktails were finished and people had started heading to the reception. Not Phil's fault - we got some rain... so our party was delayed... things were wet - added a bit of stress... But we eventually got there, had our entrance.... AND 5. NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING - We hadn't sat our bum down on our chairs and there was Phil standing in front of us, upset that he thought we hadn't paid for his dinner... I knew we had because he had made this point VERY clear in our phone calls - It was just a mix up - But, not really fair the way he handled it - He came at us... almost angry - no bedside manner AT ALL. Anyways the coordinator cleared it up.... and then 2 seconds later he was right in our faces with the camera... My husband had to be stern with him and told him ENOUGH. We did get all of our photos... and for the most part I was extremely happy with how they turned out... Maybe would have preferred more shots of the guests rather than 1400 of me and my husband... And perhaps more candid shots - rather than ALL poses... But, I do think they turned out well. The problem was Phil himself, his arrogance and lack of listening to and understanding his customer... I honestly think he has a vision and routine and he honestly doesn't understand or care what his customer wants. Perhaps in a traditional wedding back home, this system makes sense... But in my case - I hadn't seen most of my guests in years and I made it clear that I wanted to be able to spend time with them.... and that wasn't his focus - like how he ignored Susan's request about photos with her children. My advice to Phil would be to learn to ACTUALLY listen to your customer and treat each one like they are the only one - not just another number on your tally.

They didn't get my decorations back to me either - They must have quite to stockpile hidden away somewhere!! haha And I didn't get guests talking on my video - that would have been a cool idea! Just us the whole time, a bit of a bore!

Thanks! I was really happy to find them, after looking FOREVER! I found them on DHGate I think, and for a reasonable price, less than $20 each I think!

Thanks! I brought the robes - As gifts for the Bridesmaids... Totally worth it for the pics I think!

OK Ladies, As promised - I FINALLY got my photos, and here they are - I tried to pics some out of the venue - I got ready in the Bridal Suite, then Beach wedding, and Pool reception.

I used Phil Steingard. And my pictures were ready fairly quickly - My wedding was Jan 26, and they were posted out to me on Feb 21... Maybe he's busier in April?

Can you believe I'm STILL waiting???? I live in Korea, so its understandable... BUT - Its been TWO months - Getting to be a bit ridiculous - I'm morphing back into Bridezilla! haha

I had the wedding coordinator book mine, or you could contact the preferred member services if you went preferred... I booked space for 50 and it wasn't a problem, and there was still plenty of room.

Also - Room service is a bit on the slow side... So, you may want to order what you need an hour or so ahead of time - They will only deliver about 4 beers at a time - and we had a REALLY hard time having any other sort of alcohol delivered to our room... After my FI had a HUGE fight with the Preferred service people they finally gave us some wine... Without a cork screw!!! The suite also came with 2 bottles of champagne and the buffet is right next to it - so its easy to get food and booze from there and bring over... Congrats and good luck!

@Sabs12 - Thank you! I did bring the pink fabric with me, the package only came with the white... I wanted a bit of colour - So we brought just a long piece of pink fabric - gave it to them, and they did what they did - I was very happy with it! I also brought the chair sashes, and some damask table cloths - Saved a bunch of money! @Jesswins - I was supposed to have Sylvia, worked with her for a year before we got there and then when we got there found out she was sick... Obviously not anyone's fault, but you can imagine - I was a bit stressed... We were given Luisa, she had a folder of info with emails from me... She was nice... But, I must say - I found her a bit distracted(understandably) ... And there were a few things that got messed up, like number of boutennieres and forgotten flowers for flower girl... I think though, that if I had been dealing with her all along - this may not have been the case... In the end I was happy how things turned out.

No worries! I was the one stressing last year and this place helped me SOO much! The club was good - yeah, pretty nice - it has an open concept... Got quite busy at night - The music was good - they had games and stuff... We tended to hang out more at the sports bar downstairs from there... But its open till about 2am I think and then the sports bar was open till about 4 I think... Lets just say, I never felt like I couldn't get a drink! haha

@brownskingirl - I travel a lot - and it just didn't make sense to keep it! I must say, it was a sad goodbye... (Glad I didn't spend THOUSANDS on it!) I'll always have the photos!!

@Jennifer - I've traveled quite a bit and I would say that I felt extremely safe there - airport is nice and open, lots of employees around to help out - We were on a bus through our package, and they were excellent... The drive to the hotel is about 20-30 minutes. The guys went with a Dominican they found working at the resort... He was their escort and there was a group of them... So they felt safe, you may not want to be wondering around at night with just two girls or anything... @Jesswins - We had a 4 year old, a 2 year old and an infant... They all had a wonderful time! There is a kiddie pool there for them, but I would also suggest bringing floating thing - water wings and tubes... My niece never got out of the water - The kids club looked awesome - Always had things going on... and the staff were all great with the kids! I'm sure your daughter will have the time of her life!

Hi RFFL! I didn't offer to pay for my bridal party... I wasn't too picky on what they did, so some chose to get their hair done and some chose makeup (they leave all the MAC makeup out in the Bridal Suite), but I know they were charging about $50 for hair and $40 for makeup... My girls threw me a Bachelorette on the resort - We had drinks, dinner and then danced the night away at the disco * Side note - You will be threatened to be removed from the resort if you take your clothes off and jump into the pool in the disco! haha The boys went off the resort, and to this day - I still don't know where they went! To be honest, we were so busy - we didn't really have time to leave the resort... And then on the day before we left we all went out on a Party Boat (organized through the resort at the beach - I think $40/each), which was an ABSOLUTE blast... until... One of the Groom's girls broke her neck being thrown in the water... not even kidding - Terrible way to end an AMAZING vacation... MAKE SURE ALL YOUR GUESTS HAVE INSURANCE!