The Brides' Review - My September 16th Full Wedding Review (Added more pics; see 2nd link)

adioguardi Posted: Oct 12, 2005 10:17 PM+

adioguardi MEMBER SINCE: 2/05 TOTAL POSTS : 1382 WEDDING DATE: Sep 16, 2005

Posted: Oct 12, 2005 10:17 PM

My September 16th Full Wedding Review (Added more pics; see 2nd link)

Even though I had a million things to do today, I ended up sitting at the computer for the last four hours scanning and uploading the rest of my wedding proofs. I added the link to the ceremony and reception album - enjoy!

Although I wasn't a frequent poster, this site has been a big part of my life and my wedding planning since my Eddie and I got engaged on New Year's Day 2005. I always check the Bride's Review Board to read about everyone's wonderful dream-come-true day and I rejoiced with each and every one of you! May God bless you all with long, love filled marriages!

I will begin with my hall because one of my main reasons for choosing Ariana Waterfall was their inclusive wedding packages. My husband and I are an older couple both marrying for the second time. It was, however, my first wedding so I was not very familiar with all that goes into wedding planning. I am a full time worker and a full time student and I have two teen-age children so I knew that I would not have the time or the energy to do all that would need to be done, so I took any short cut I could find. Ariana offered a reasonably priced wedding package which included the hall, the DJ, the table centerpieces, the photographer, videographer and a 10-passenger limousine. Although wary of the quality of these vendors at first, I was very attracted to the fact that I would not have to shop around for these amenities. I will rate each of them of their own accord ...

Ariana Waterfall B+ - Ariana is located on a very busy, very ugly street in West Hempstead, but inside is an absolutely beautiful place to hold a wedding. All my guests were very impressed with the loveliness of the place. They have beautiful marble floors and a soft pink decor. There is a beautiful lobby (where we ended up taking most of our pictures due to the rain) and an even more spectacular bridal suite. Ariana gave us a door person to lead our guests to where they needed to go and valet parking. Tony (the owner) has a spectacular food spread with which all of my guests were satisfied. When we found out we were going to be 15 people under minimum, Tony threw in two ice sculptures for us and two huge beautiful flower displays for the dais table for free. The day of my wedding turned out wonderful and I was very, very happy. All of my guests told me what a wonderful time they had as well. The reason I did not give them an A+ is because of a few things I found out later. The day before the wedding, Eddie and I went there and dropped off our favors, our slipper basket, our kissing bells and our programs. I left a detailed list of how I wanted everything set up and when I entered my reception everything was the way I requested it to be. That would be thanks to my sister and my DOC, I discovered a couple of days later. Fifteen minutes before the reception was due to start, my DOC noticed that my cake was not yet decorated, the kissing bells were not put on the tables and my favors (wine) were still in the box! She grabbed my sister and the two of them got everything ready for the reception. I was also not given any food at the end of the evening which I was told I would get nor the top of my wedding cake. Unfortunately, I didn't realize we didn't have these things until the next day, but I think Ariana should have remembered to give them to us.

Regal Bridal A+ Regal Bridal is the vendor that supplied the DJ, the photographer, the videographer and the limo. We also bought our invitations through them. Regal is a family-owned business and they are just wonderful! We got beautiful invitations for under $300. Right before our wedding, they had just purchased a brand new 10 passenger (forgot the brand name) limo and that's what showed up at my house! It was beautiful and clean and fully stocked! Our driver was great as well. Our plan was to take pictures in the park before the ceremony. As our photographer waited at Hempstead Lake Park for us, it began to rain. He called our limo driver to take us directly to Ariana. Our limo driver then called our entire posse that was following us to let them know about the change in plans.

Spotlight Photography and Video A These guys were just great! Non-intrusive, funny and very professional. I'm very happy with our proofs and I can't wait to view the video!

Satisfaction Guaranteed Entertainment A+ - When we met with SGE in a showcase back in March, we spoke to Jason and booked him for our MC (mainly because my teenage daughter thought he was hot). When we were finalizing our ceremony and reception music a week before the wedding, we met with Vinny and we fell in love with him. This guy has such a sense of humor, he had us rolling on the floor at that meeting and he gave us wonderful suggestions for a great event. At the end of that meeting, DH and I were regretting that we didn't book Vinny. Vinny assured us however that we would not be disappointed with Jason. Flash ahead 3 hours before the ceremony. I'm posing for pictures at Ariana and who do I see in the parking lot? Vinny! When he saw me, he came up to me and gave me a big hug as if we were old friends. I told him how happy I was to see him, but what happened to Jason? He told me that Jason had a family emergency and Vinny agreed to switch gigs with him! We were not disappointed!! Vinny and the DJ (I did not get his name) had the crowd on the floor all night! He is such a character! One of my cousins who is an event planner, loved him and got his card and spoke a little business with him, she thought he was great!

Dennis Rigas Flowers A+ - Dennis Rigas did the flowers for our centerpieces which were included in the Ariana package, so I decided to visit his shop to see about the rest of my wedding flowers. They're located on a very busy street in Richmond Hill, Queens with very little parking availability, but the trip was worth it! We dealt with Maria who is a gem! Our bouquets were stunning and just what I wanted, boutinneirs and corsages were perfect! I ordered two vases of the pink rosinis which matched my daughter's (MOH) bouquet to go on the favor table and the placecard table and they also did the two beautiful flower baskets that Ariana threw in for us. The flower bill was less than $400, our biggest bargain of the night!

David's Bridal A - We got my dress, my daughter's MOH dress (in the Carle Place location) and my niece's FG dress (in the Allentown, PA) location at David's. Although their customer service leaves a little to be desired, I really had no problems with them. Even when theylost my daughter's dress and had to reorder, they took care of it in a timely and apologetic manner and got her a new dress with plenty of time to spare. Our dresses were beautiful and inexpensive. We also got the alterations done there and our seamstress Angela was a doll - and her work was extraordinary. She made me a beautiful bustle which lasted all night!

Men's Wearhouse A - We dealt with the Men's Wearhouse in Bay Terrace, Queens. Men's Wearhouse did not have the best rep when it came to tuxedo rentals and I was a little afraid of using them, but I had gone to a bridal expo in Manhattan and they gave me a wonderful deal of $59.99 for every tuxedo rental I needed and being that we had a small wedding party, I decided to risk it. We rented 3 tuxes, one for my son who was escorting me down the aisle, one for my DH's stepson who was escorting the mothers, and one for DH's brother who was his Best Man. DH decided to buy his tux and only rent the vest and tie. The only glitch we had was the BM tux. BM lives in Tampa and ordered his tux there and asked them to ship it to my house in NY the day before the wedding. They agreed to do it. The tux never showed up! I called them at 6:30 that night as I was getting ready for my pre-wedding dinner. They looked up the order and saw that it was shipped out of the Tampa store and then right back to the same Tampa store! Of course, I panicked! The girl on the phone though was great - she assured me that they would have it overnighted to the Bay Terrace store by 11:00 AM the next morning (my wedding day!) Talk about cutting it close! I worried about it the entire night - but they did not let me down - as I was getting my hair done in the salon that morning, my future sister-in-law (wife of the BM) who was at my house, called to say that they delivered the tux to the house and it fit perfectly! Thank God. That's why Men's Wearhouse gets an A from me.

DOC Rosalie from Wedding Expressions A+ - Rosalie was a godsend for me. The day of my wedding, I had a houseful of people and everything was chaotic! Rosalie decorated the birdcage, polished my niece's fingernails and helped me get into my dress. She took care of the details that Ariana didn't - and none of these foul ups were ever brought to my attention that day. She was with me the entire day, she made sure that I ate and drank and had the day that I dreamed of having.

Makeup - my sister Ryann - A+ - Ryann works for MAC makeup and made me absolutely gorgeous! I have bad skin but in the pictures you would never be able to guess that because of the wonderful makeup job she did. We kept her busy too - she followed me all night to make sure my makeup stood in place but DH and I were so happy and we were kissing so much, but Ryann kept reapplying that lipstick-she was great!

Our favors we bought online from Specialty Wines - we got mini bottles of White Zinfandel (my favorite!) They had a personalized label and I wrapped them in pink tulle and tied the personalized ribbon (bought at Party City) around them.

I bought plain white miniature bells at Party City which my daughter decorated with pink ribbon and glitter glue.

Slippers were purchased at Aqueduct Raceway in Queens - my talented mother decorated a big white basket that she had in the house, came out beautiful and the slippers were a big hit!

Christie's Salon in Bayside is where my daughter, niece and I got our hair done - my stylist Maria is an absolute artist! I got many compliments on my hair.

Last, but not least ..... the honeymoon!

Liberty Travel, 41st Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan A+ - Our agent was Robin and she was just great! We went in there knowing we wanted a cruise but a little wary because of September being the peak of hurricane season. Robin suggested Bermuda instead of the Caribbean which sees more hurricanes at that time than Bermuda does. Initially, DH and I were looking at the Norwegian Cruise Line but Robin suggested Celebrity. She said they're more upscale and that they were the best cruise line she had ever used. We took her advice and had the absolute best time ever! Robin worked with our price and got us a wonderful deal in Celebrity's Concierge Class where we were treated like royalty. She even had a bottle of wine sent to us with her regards.

Celebrity Cruise Ship Zenith and Bermuda A+ - We loved this trip! We had 7 nights on this beautiful ship; I cried when we turned around for home. Bermuda is absolutely gorgeous; our weather was perfect, everything about this honeymoon was absolutely amazing!

Proofs
Ceremony & Reception

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MrsA814 Posted: Oct 12, 2005 11:36 PM+

MrsA814 MEMBER SINCE: 2/04 TOTAL POSTS : 4669 WEDDING DATE: Aug 14, 2005

Posted: Oct 12, 2005 11:36 PM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

congrats and great review

JanuaryBride06 Posted: Oct 12, 2005 11:45 PM+

JanuaryBride06 MEMBER SINCE: 4/05 TOTAL POSTS : 13015 WEDDING DATE: Jan 01, 1995

Posted: Oct 12, 2005 11:45 PM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

congratulations - you looked beautiful

LovelyChas Posted: Oct 13, 2005 12:39 AM+

LovelyChas MEMBER SINCE: 5/05 TOTAL POSTS : 1270 WEDDING DATE: Apr 30, 2006

Posted: Oct 13, 2005 12:39 AM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

Congrats

Happybride2005 Posted: Oct 13, 2005 08:41 AM+

Happybride2005 MEMBER SINCE: 5/04 TOTAL POSTS : 15930 WEDDING DATE: Sep 18, 2005

Posted: Oct 13, 2005 08:41 AM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

beautiful proofs angela. who was your photographer. we also had vinny as the mc. everyone loved him

hmpena Posted: Oct 13, 2005 12:40 PM+

hmpena MEMBER SINCE: 1/05 TOTAL POSTS : 14745 WEDDING DATE: Jan 15, 2006

Posted: Oct 13, 2005 12:40 PM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

Congratulations!!! You looked stunning! Thanks for such a detailed review.

Soon2BMrsA Posted: Oct 13, 2005 03:32 PM+

Soon2BMrsA MEMBER SINCE: 11/04 TOTAL POSTS : 2855 WEDDING DATE: Jun 18, 2005

Posted: Oct 13, 2005 03:32 PM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

Congrats!!

Pookiesangel Posted: Oct 13, 2005 07:59 PM+

Pookiesangel MEMBER SINCE: 2/04 TOTAL POSTS : 3500 WEDDING DATE: May 07, 2006

Posted: Oct 13, 2005 07:59 PM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

Great review, you looked beautiful!!! Congrats again!

seta Posted: Oct 14, 2005 11:31 PM+

seta MEMBER SINCE: 6/05 TOTAL POSTS : 3927 WEDDING DATE: Oct 21, 2006

Posted: Oct 14, 2005 11:31 PM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

thanks for sharing..congrats and best wishes!

Nadia Posted: Oct 14, 2005 11:59 PM+

Nadia MEMBER SINCE: 5/05 TOTAL POSTS : 2884 WEDDING DATE: Apr 23, 2006

Posted: Oct 14, 2005 11:59 PM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

Congratulations

adioguardi Posted: Oct 15, 2005 09:24 AM+

adioguardi MEMBER SINCE: 2/05 TOTAL POSTS : 1382 WEDDING DATE: Sep 16, 2005

Posted: Oct 15, 2005 09:24 AM

Re: My September 16th Full Wedding Review

Posted by Happybride2005

beautiful proofs angela. who was your photographer. we also had vinny as the mc. everyone loved him

Our photographer's name was Tony. He was very good - had been in the photography business for a long time and is now retired and works for Spotlite here and there.

PegaLega Posted: Oct 16, 2005 01:54 AM+

PegaLega MEMBER SINCE: 6/05 TOTAL POSTS : 29798 WEDDING DATE: May 25, 2007

Posted: Oct 16, 2005 01:54 AM