Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

Hello everyone,

I'm so glad I found this site. I just got engaged, and am starting to think about what type of wedding to have. I'm probably going to have about 150 people, and I'd like it to be a Saturday night. Some places I'm considering are : The Carltun, Oheka and Atlantica.

I'd like to do a live band for the first 2-3 hours, and then end the night with a DJ. Has anyone done that? Did it work out well?

I'd also like to hire a coordinator. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'd love to hear all about your experiences!

I think I'm a bit overwhelmed and don't even know where to start... what did you guys do first??

TIA!
kate

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

Congrats and welcome to LIW!

I know how you feel, we all do My advice to you is, go to Borders ASAP and buy yourself a Long Island Wedding guide magazine. It is loaded with venues and local vendors. You should buy some regular bridal magazines too.

Good luck!

PS: I’ve heard that Atlantica is AMAZING!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

first, hello and welcome! you will find some great info on the places you are looking, do a -search- there is a button at the top

my day of coordinator (doc ) as you will fnid it referred is Rosalie- she is wonderful and even though she is a DAY of ...she has been helpful in my planning!

my band is heart and soul- a franklin wayne band, they have a few bands, daybreaks night is great too- you can listen on their website...

i dont know about 2-3 hours but it wont hurt to ask

good luck

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

Congrats!! If you check on the Brides Review Board you can see reviews for the venues you mentioned. LIW is so helpful in terms of reviews and recommendations!

I would start looking into photographers and video co. first and book that and go from there to take care of major stuff like flowers, limos, music, even hair and makeup pple get booked over a year in advance now! So its never too early to start booking anything!

If you mean a day of coordinator, I hired Rosalie and was very pleased! Shes a vendor on here. www.expressions4u.net.

Good luck!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

First, welcome and congrats..I'm sure that you will find that you will get a lot of great advice from very smart and saavy people here.

As far as the band dj combo, I did this..when you are ready to look into it, I will be happy to give you the details..

Congrats again! Happy planning....

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

Hey Kate!

Congrats on your engagement!

I am newly engaged, too (it's just been a little over 3 weeks), and we are now in the process of trying to finalize a date with our church and the reception place of our choice.

I did not look at Atlantica or Oheka, but I've heard great things about both. We DID look at The Carltun, and it's really beautiful. I loved it, and if not for other practicalities (like their minimum guest requirement on a Sat. night) that would be my first choice.

Just a word of advice -- if you are pretty sure you will be expecting around 150 guests, it can really affect where you focus your search efforts for a reception site. We were in the same boat. We want a Sat. night wedding and plan on inviting around 180-200 guests, figuring we'll get around 150-170. I always wanted my wedding to be around that size, and I thought that was an 'average sized' wedding (not small by any means).

But since I've started looking around at some places with my FH, I've learned that so many places have minimum guest requirements that they ask you to guarantee, and for a Saturday night, they are pretty high (I know The Carltun wants you to guarantee 185 adults on a Sat. evening). Other places, such as the Carlyle on the Green, have minimum guarantees of 200 guests on a Sat. evening. The minimums are lower on a Friday or Sunday, but because we have guests coming from all over, we really needed the Saturday. I know that a lot of places are much more flexible with price AND minimums in Jan-March (the 'off-season'), too. I just wanted to point this out to you, because until I started looking, I NEVER knew of this whole minimum guarantee issue. And weddings are so expensive that you really don't want to be paying for 20-30 guests that aren't there! My FH and I are focusing on places that do one wedding at a time, but if you are willing to be at a place that holds multiple events at one time, I doubt the minimum guarantee issue will come into play (since those places have different sized rooms, etc.). Just something to keep in mind.

As far as being overwhelmed, I hear you! I feel like wedding planning can be a full time job (well, actually it is for some people, but you know what I mean!). Just try to break it down into little pieces. Right now, we are focused on getting a date with the church and finding a reception hall (and, fingers crossed, we will probably book on Sat.). We did a little registering and will try to do more this weekend, only because people have been asking. Once we have the date and place, we will pick our bridal party, start thinking about bands/photographers (the band is really important to us), and I will start dress shopping. But that's all on the back burner until the date and place are nailed down. Once you get that, I think it all starts coming together. In the meantime, you can search the threads on this board (I've been lurking on here for a few weeks and I've gotten so much great info), and read bridal magazines galore!

My other little tidbit of advice that I've found already is that nothing is going to be totally perfect. In our reception site search, we found that there are little drawbacks and tradeoffs to be made with EVERY place, even the ones we loved, so you just have to figure out what's most important to you and then let some of the other minor stuff slide.

Good luck and have fun!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

welcome and happy planning!!!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

We first made a list of about 8 places we wanted to look at, by the 5th we knew it was the one. Then we moved onto the church, although fyi they don't like to hear that you booked a reception hall b/4 the ceremony (the most important part in their eyes, and I guess it is)! Then we booked our band, we loved them at a friends wedding. Then we met with about 6 photographers, this was a little draining, but after a few you know what you want exactly, and this board helped me to find ours!

Next I went looking for dresses, within a week I figured out exactly the style I wanted, narrowed it down and brought my Mom with me. She was the final decision (cry factor)!

We just decided on the BM and MOH dresses today, and we bought the FG (flower girl) dresses right b/4 I bought mine.

Now, we take a break, research Honeymoons, flowers, rings, and limos. But this stuff can be done with time.

If you need any more tips, feel free to send Forum Mail.

Welcome, you will have all the answers at your fingertips here!

Congrats!

Karen

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

First thing you should do is relax!! Enjoy being engaged then decide what type of affair you want to have! It is all so overwhelming at first but after a few days it becomes fun!! The places you are considering are beautiful! I have been to a wedding at the Oheka and it was beautiful!!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

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Posted by kateh

Hello everyone,

I'm so glad I found this site. I just got engaged, and am starting to think about what type of wedding to have. I'm probably going to have about 150 people, and I'd like it to be a Saturday night. Some places I'm considering are : The Carltun, Oheka and Atlantica.

I'd like to do a live band for the first 2-3 hours, and then end the night with a DJ. Has anyone done that? Did it work out well?

I'd also like to hire a coordinator. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'd love to hear all about your experiences!

I think I'm a bit overwhelmed and don't even know where to start... what did you guys do first??

TIA!
kate

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Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just looked at the Atlantica last weekend, beautiful!!! Just note they only had 1 Saturday night left in October for 2006. FM if you want me to give you more info.

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

Congrats and welcome to LIWeddings.com

Best of luck with the planning!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

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Posted by kateh

Hello everyone,

I'm so glad I found this site. I just got engaged, and am starting to think about what type of wedding to have. I'm probably going to have about 150 people, and I'd like it to be a Saturday night. Some places I'm considering are : The Carltun, Oheka and Atlantica.

I'd like to do a live band for the first 2-3 hours, and then end the night with a DJ. Has anyone done that? Did it work out well?

I'd also like to hire a coordinator. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'd love to hear all about your experiences!

I think I'm a bit overwhelmed and don't even know where to start... what did you guys do first??

TIA!
kate

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Congrats and welcome!

The first thing I booked was my hall. I've heard wonderful things about all three venues you are interested in, only The Carltun and Oheka were out of my league price-wise. I think Oheka sent me a CD-ROM with info on their venue, if I still have it, I'll let you know.

I actually like the idea of the band, then DJ but I haven't seen anyone comment that they did this before - definitely original!

I'm not using a coordinator, but I know some gals on the board are and I'm sure they can post recommendations.

Good luck and have fun!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

COngrats and welcome!!!!! Enjoy every minute b/c time is going to fly!!!!

My #1 advice... set the guest list asap for 2 reasons...
1. It can be a difficult task trying to make a list with both sides of the family, do it early and get it out of the way.
2. It will help guide you through the entire plannig process esp. in the beginning when you are looking for your venue and setting a budget.

Good luck and best wishes!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

Good luck! I did reception hall and church first, and we quickly followed that up with DJ, photographer, my dress and honeymoon and then took a break for a little while. Good luck and enjoy planning!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

I would get the hall and church or temple first. Because from there you have the date, style and locations of your wedding, and all the other vendors will need to know that information!!!

My advice is this: EVERYONE will have an opinion on what to do. It is yours and FH's (future hubby) day and no one else's. Do what you want to do. This is the best advice anyone has given me. And you DON'T have to go with every vendor your reception hall recommends.

Some things that can wait on the backburner in planning I believe are the limos and flowers. But don't wait longer than 6 months before the date.

As for gowns, be aware that some take a year to come in from date of order. Something to consider when choosing your wedding date!!!

Welcome aboard, and you will be a part of the addiction like many of us!!!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

Welcome! and good luck with your planning!

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

I think its really funny that this post was just brought back more than 2 years later.

Re: Hello everyone! Just starting to plan... need help and advice!

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Posted by Cacarina

I think its really funny that this post was just brought back more than 2 years later.

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yeah, a limo vendor posted posing as a bride, on like 4 different threads from 05, but they all got yanked!