lorsin
Can't believe it's been a year
Member since 1/04 1810 total posts
Wedding Date:
10/30/2004 3:30 PM
Wed. Location:
The Thatched Cottage A+++++
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Going to a wedding at Westbury Manor! UPDATED WITH REVIEW!!
My honest review of my friend's Westbury Manor Reception:
Cocktail hour started at 7:00. The weather was wonderful, so cocktail hour was outside.
They opted for the raw bar, which people were raving over. The chafing dishes had a beef stroganoff, mussels, turkey and an eggplant parm – they were all amazing. There was a little pasta station with some kind of sun-dried tomato sauce, which was also really good. The passed appetizers were awesome. Cocktail hour gets an A+++++.
The bars were amply stocked and the wedding party was mingling around while the B&G did pics on the lawn. The peacocks were roaming around and everything was very pretty.
The bride chose an ice sculpture of the George Washington Bridge to symbolize the years of commuting from NJ to LI. They did a really good job with it - looked just like the GWB.
CH ended right on time, and they ushered us into the room. It was a little confusing to people because there were 3 weddings going on that night. A couple people wandered into the wrong room, but the staff was quick to correct them.
The room looked amazing, they had high floral arrangements on silver pedestals and two tapered candles. I would have probably stuck with votives, because the tapered candles were kind of crooked and with the air on, they were dripping and getting blown out. It was VERY cold in there. I think the majority of women had their date's jackets over their shoulders.
The band was Arcadia and while they were fantastic, they had one MAJOR snafu. When it came time to announce the B&G, the band announced Mr. & Mrs. Brian Manning – NOT the right names AT ALL. The crowd was confused, the B&G entered anyway and the Best Man had to run up to the mike to tell the MC what he did wrong because they were already launching into the first dance song. They stopped playing, apologized and reannounced them with the right name. It was really embarrassing, but it will make a good story for her kids.
The first course was strawberries, which I thought was very unique and yummy. The salad, however, was some kind of cheese, walnuts, mixed greens and one tomato. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that no one at my table ate it. A couple folks ate the tomato, but in general the salad was not a big hit.
The choices for dinner were Filet, Herb Crusted Salmon, Lamb, and Chicken Romano. Everyone oohed and aahed over the Lamb option I heard the lamb was really good. I had the filet, which I hate to say was cold when I got it - seemed like most of the filet people had the same problem. But it was still tasty. FH had the salmon, which he loved. No one I talked to had the chicken, so I can't really say how that was.
For some reason, no one ever asked us what we wanted to drink, so it was up to us to go to the bar, but other tables seemed to be getting served. Not a big deal, but a little odd.
The dessert tray of cookies and mini-pastries was good, the hazelnut mousse was outstanding and I don't think I ever saw wedding cake get served to the table. I saw them cut it, but maybe I was dancing and missed the cake.
I was very impressed with the bathrooms - they were immaculate the whole time - especially with 3 weddings going on. And I never saw another bride at the same time as my friend. Except for some of the confusion mentioned above, you wouldn't have known there were multiple weddings.
So overall, I give it an A+. CH was outstanding, the drinks were good, and dinner was mostly good. Arcadia was incredible - you would have thought you were listening to the actual artists. And their selection and range was unbelievable. Everything looked beautiful and was clean and organized. Even the valet service at the end of the night when everyone was leaving was really efficient.
Westbury Manor brides have nothing to worry about!!!
Some general wedding lessons I learned:
Be on time – the bride was 30 minutes late to the church and some people had planned on going home in between to get changed (like us). We had to leave at communion or risk missing the whole reception.
If you are sitting at all during your ceremony, practice how you are going to sit. She kept sitting on her veil and having to have someone help her with her dress getting caught, etc.
Make sure you have someone sit in the pews and look at the positioning of the floral arrangements – they were so large that they actually blocked the view of the readers and bridal party.
Try to manage your table time at the reception. She spent so much time with some tables on the groom’s side that she never got to the last couple of tables on her side and people were ticked that they only got 10 seconds with her at the very end of the night. She barely got to dance and really enjoy herself (she had 200 guests).
If there is anything I missed or anything you want to know more about, feel free to FM me!!
Message edited 9/12/2004 9:50:17 PM.
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