BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc) - PROOFS ON PAGE 3!! Added on 6/3/06

LIW – A++++++++
I owe all of the personal touches to all of you! If it was not for this website, I would have never thought to do any of them! Votive place cards, slipper baskets, bathroom baskets, all the links to great websites. Etc…. A special thanks to Jenniesunshine and Kimberlybride - wedding planning would have sucked without you guys!

My wedding day was better than I ever imagined it would be. The whole day I was walking around thinking to myself - this is my wedding? Holy cow - it's really nice!!


Please note that there are only a few proofs on here. All of the other images were taken by friends, or are stills from my video. I will add more pics when I get back the CD of proofs from Duet!

STD’s:
Sonic Stef and Creative Mode - A
www.sonicstefdesign.com
www.creativemode.com
I saw these great STD bookmarks in Weddingbells magazine by Carrot and Stick Press. They wanted $639 for 75 of them!!!! Insane!! So I immediately said I would do them myself. I found great supplies (book marks and stamping ink) at Treasure Island in Carle Place. I had Sonic Stef create a modified design for me. I then had the design made into a stamp from Creative Mode and I stamped the bookmarks that I bought. It took forever to do. I wanted a “thermography” feel, so I bought embossing ink and powder. I had to stamp the design on the card with a tinted ink, then sprinkle powder over the area where I stamped and then I used a heat gun to melt the powder! It was a long process, but they came out great and I got tons of compliments!

MyWeddingLabels.com- A
I ordered a variety of different labels from them. They all came out great.

Invites – A+
Black Tie Invites by Checkerboard from Laura at LA Productions
www.checkernet.com
www.laproductions.net
It literally took me about 8 months to find invites I liked. I ordered about 50 samples, looked all over the place! I wasn’t looking for anything particularly special, but nothing ever jumped out at me. I finally found my invites at a Papyrus store. They weren’t wedding invitations, but I loved them. They don’t discount, so I posted on the vendor board and Laura responded and I got them for 30% off! She was great to deal with. My invitations were ready about two weeks after I approved the proof. To this day people are still commented on how beautiful they were and many people told me it was the nicest wedding invite they have ever received.

Calligraphy - A
www.ArtisticAddressing.com]
It’s been said many times before – they are awesome! Kathy the owner was very responsive and the envelopes came out great. I highly recommend them!

Wax Seals - A
www.fauxwax.com
I ordered faux wax seals, gold stuff to put over them and a mini glue gun. The service was super fast, and guests seemed to like it. It was a PITA to do, but they looked so pretty!


Dress:
Paula Varsalona – A+
www.paulavarsalona.com
The story of my dress…Shortly after I got engaged I went to visit my MOH in Chicago. Since I knew I would not see her that often and that she wouldn’t be able to go dress shopping with me in NY, so she suggested we look at dresses when I was out there. We went to the House of Brides in Schaumburg and I tried on about 20-30 dresses!! My dress is the last one I tried on. I wrote down the info and when I got home, did a search on the Internet. I had never heard of Paula Varsalona and was surprised to find out that she has a bridal salon a few blocks away from my apartment!! About a month later I received an email that they were having a sale and I decided to bring my mom and we went – “just to look.” I was a little apprehensive about going because it was on Madison Avenue and figured it would be 1. Too expensive, and 2. The people would be very snooty! Well, I was wrong – about one thing at least! It was expensive, but they were SOOOO NICE!!! Jude and Pilar were so awesome!! They will even come the day of the wedding and “dress” you!! The service was great and although the dress cost more than double my original budget, I ordered it!! They even gave me my first fitting appointment right then and there. I had two fittings and the dress was prefect. My fittings were at their other location on Broadway and everything was great. I even got to meet Paula on my last fitting.

They told me that the beading took 10 months to do by hand. It wasn't on my dress at my first fitting and I was so disappointed!








Corset
Bra Tenders - B
www.bratenders.com
Paula Varsalona recommended that I get my corset there. I went there two times, once for my corset and one for my mother. All of their corsets are $120. It was a little annoying that you could not look at their selection – they just brought things to you in the dressing room. And it also bothered me that I was never measured, but in the end I found a corset that fit well and was comfortable. My sales person was Christine and was very nice. Even though I didn’t give them an A, I would def recommend checking them out.

Facials:
Mario Badescu – A+
www.mariobadescu.com
I started going here for facials about 4 months before the wedding. I definitely could tell a difference and I just love their glycolic acid facial. I got one 2 weeks before the wedding and I felt like I was glowing. My skin looked great and I plan on keeping it up. Facials are $65 and with add-on’s I think they can go up to $140 or so.

Hair Color
Kazu at Louis Licari – A+
www.louislicari.com
I started going there about 6 months before the wedding. I started doing it myself during my engagement to save money, but needed to start getting it in shape and the right color. Kazu does an amazing job and it’s not as much money as you think it would be. I highly recommend her! I got a full head of highlights the week before the wedding and they looked great.

Makeup:
Maureen Pedala - A+
www.nyweddingmakeup.com
Maureen was my 2nd trial and I immediately knew I wanted her. If I had my checkbook with me I would have booked her on the spot. The makeup looked great and it immediately took 5 lbs off my face!! Who wouldn’t love that ? She airbrushes, which I thought was really cool.

She was about an hour and a half late the day of, but we had enough time and it was not stressful at all. She did me, my mom and 4 BM’s in about 2 hours! She’s great! The makeup was very light and lasted all night. She is expensive for the day of for the bride, ($250), but her trials are free.

Here is my trial pic - my hair was so short!!





Maureen is just so cute!


Hair:
Jenn The Hair Genie – A+
I had a tough time deciding. It was between her and Claudia Pedala. I chose Jenn in the end and was so happy with the results! On the day of I went with something a little different than my second trial and I loved it! I was torn on whether to wear it all up or half up. I went will all up and was so happy – I didn’t have to touch it AT ALL all night long!!









AirBrush Tan - A++
I went to Linda at Brazil Bronze in Great Neck. She's great and I loved that I had some color. I've been back since the wedding - I think I might be addicted!!

Eyebrow Shaping -A+
Butterfly Studio in NYC
A long time ago I read about Butterfly Studio in InStyle Magazine, so of course I had to check it out. It's on 5th ave in the 20s in a loft like space. Frances does my eyebrows and does a great job every single time.

Limos:
Royalty – A-
This is the only limo place I went to and based on all the research from all of you LIW girls. I knew they had the best pricing around and were reliable. I booked them on the spot. We had the Excalibur bridal car for us and a 14 passenger limo for the bridal party. Malachy was the driver or our Excalibur. He was so sweet. The reason they don’t get an A+ is bc the AC in the Excalibur did not work on the way to the church and my Dad and I were sweating. Thankfully it was a quick ride, and it was working after the ceremony.





Bridal Party Attire:
BM Dresses –A+
www.rkbridal.com
www.Netbride.com
I chose the designer, fabric, and color and the girls chose whatever style they wanted. I picked Bill Levkoff in Euro Red. Since the dresses were different styles, I did not have to be concerned with dye lots. We ordered 2 of them from RK Bridal. One of my BM’s did the no-frills program, and the other was measure there. The other 2 BM’s ordered them from Netbride. Their prices were actually a few bucks cheaper than RK. My girls wore styles 201, 502, 222 and 355. Both places were great to deal with. We also got the flower girl dresses from RK Bridal. The prices ranged from $105 – 134 and then the girls got them altered on their own.







Flower Girl Dresses and Jr. BM Dress –
RK Bridal – A+
My 6 year old cousin wore a dress from www.venusbridal.com. Her dress had a red sash and she looked so cute!

My other 16 month old cousin a dress with a red sash from www.US Angels.com

My Jr. BM wore a dress in Cranberry from www.EdenBridals.com– it matched Bill Levkoff’s Euro Red perfectly.

All dresses were brought through the no frills program at RK and were all around $100 each. The service was great and so was the selection



MOB Dress - A
Charmet in Bayside. They have a pretty big selection – my mom found her dress there on her second visit. She had a couple fittings and in the end she looked great!! Their prices include alterations which is nice.


“Day Of’ Coordinator – Laura from LA Productions – A+
WOW!!! Is all I have to say. If you think you don’t need one, think again!!!! I decided 5 months before the wedding that I had so many things going on that I needed help! I had so many personalized touches and I didn’t want my bridal party to have to “work” all night. I just wanted all of us to just have to “show up.” If you can make room in your budget – go for it!! Laura is awesome!! The day after the wedding, but husband said she was the best money we spent – and that meant A LOT coming from him since he was totally against getting a DOC!

Laura hard at work!


Favors
I did full size bottles of wine per person. My Dad found a wine that is called Red Bicyclette and thought it would go great with my red theme. Originally we were going to do one per couple, but we got a great deal on it from a family friend and we had to buy a lot of it to get the great price, so we had enough to give one per person. I ordered personalized stickers and tags from myweddinglables.com and red sheer organza wine bags from Paper Mart. I stole this idea from Soon2beMrsZ. Thanks Maxine!

Cake – A+
Audrey’s Bakery in West Sayville
MY wedding cake was included in the cost of my reception and I had the choice of 2 bakeries – Black Forest and Audrey’s. I chose Audrey’s because I found more positive reviews of them then with BF. Thomas, is the NICEST guy ever!!! He spent about an hour with me. He was awesome – so passionate about his work. He really made me feel special as opposed to just another number. I highly recommend him. When I walked into the ballroom and saw the cake, I almost started crying. It was perfect and I was checking it out all night long!




The Bourne Mansion
Pre-Wedding – C
I just wanted to point out that in my ratings a C is average. Not good, not great, just average. Ben was my salesperson from start to finish. I thought he was just ok. He did his job, but never went above and beyond. He was slow to return phone calls and emails that I sent and he felt more like a typical sales guy, and I felt like a number. When I went to pick my menu I was really annoyed. We went into his office and he looked at his computer and said – oh – you are bringing in bottled beer right? Um, no – why do I have to bring my own beer? I was like W T F? He asked me a few other questions in which I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about and then after about 3 minutes, he’s like – you are Meghan, aren’t you? Um NO!!!!! I’m Christine. I was so annoyed that he didn’t know who I was. Hello – we had an appointment. Couldn’t he have looked at my file before I walked in? It just seemed really unprofessional and after all the money we are shelling out, he could at least been a little more prepared. I know I am not the only bride he has, but come on!!!! I also felt a little rushed as he just went down the list of menu items asking me what I wanted off the list. But all in all, he was okay. The not knowing who I was situation just really bothered me, but I would still recommend him!

Day of Wedding – A++
Steve was my maitre d and Danielle was my bridal attendant. I had heard a lot of negative things about Steve before hand, so I was a little apprehensive. I met him for our final meeting and I thought he was great. He was AWESOME the night of the wedding. He was on top of EVERYTHING and kept the night on schedule. The service throughout the whole night was great and I never had to ask for a thing. The Bourne was everything I envisioned and much more. My guests were floored and still talk about the location and how great it was. I was lucky enough to have perfect weather on my wedding day, so the outside was opened up for cocktail hour and they had a bar and the raw bar set up outside. I wish I could have enjoyed it more myself! So if you are having your reception there – please invite me!! LOL

Our First Dance - and our only "Moves"
ANd you could still never see my shoes!








Church
St. John Nepomucene, Bohemia - C
This is not either of our parishes. We chose this church because it was close to the reception. Throughout the whole process they were very nice, but a lot of things bothered me. We took our FOCUS test at the parish in September of 2004. We are still waiting for the results!! We asked for them numerous times in the last year with no success. After that we decided to do pre cana in NYC in a day instead of trekking out there for 6 Friday nights. The one day stint was great, but the Parish kept calling me to set up pre cana, although I told the woman multiple times that were not doing it there! Father Jim is who married us and he was horrible at returning our phone calls. He was a great guy, but soo hard to get a hold of. Our final meeting with him was great and I felt really comfortable about the service. We also met with the music director that day. He would not let me walk down the aisle to Canon in D, so I settled and compromised, but it still makes me mad! The day of the wedding Father Jim’s robe or whatever you call it had coffee drips all down the front. I thought it was gross! He also screwed up two of the readers. The thing that infuriated was at communion. Since I had a personalized runner, guests had to walk down the side, not the main aisle to get communion. Not a big deal, right? Well, right before communion, he made this big announcement saying that since I had to do things differently, my wedding planners would be directing people to communion! I was mortified that he announced my planners!! Come to find out that before I got there when he saw the personalized runner he said “oh, I see they brought a little bit of Manhattan to Bohemia.” Oh – and to top it off they lost our first check to them and they still haven’t cashed the replacement!













I made our unity candle!






Band
Michael Hart Band by Hank Lane Music – A+
www.hanklane.com
I LOVED my band – I thought they were great and worth every penny! I have heard a lot of negative things about Hank Lane, but I thought dealing with them was the easiest thing ever and had no problems with the contracting process. The dance floor was packed all night and the guests really got into it. Michael had such high energy! I would highly recommend the Michael Hart Band. At the end of the night my Maitre ‘D asked what band they were bc they were the best he’s heard. One of the girls in the band has previously been on that show, “Making the Band.” I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher was our first dance song and I danced to In My Life by the Beatles for the Father/Daughter Dance.

Video
LJ Morelli – A+++++
www.ljmorelli.com
Someone my DH knows used him and we saw their video and it was FANTASTIC! I loved the samples John sent us. We LOVE our video - it is so cool! I HIGHLY recoomend John!

Photography
Duet – B
I am very happy with my proofs, but I feel that there are a lot of pictures that are almost identical and not that much variety. They also didn’t get any pictures of the Bourne Mansion which still boggles my mind nor any of me and my grandmother alone. But oh well- too late now! I actually may use one of my own shots of the Bourne Mansion in my album – I have to send it to them. I though the customer service throughout the planning process was fantastic. Nicole or Sue always emailed me back right away and there was no language barrier whatsoever. I had Jay, Matthew and some other guy the day of. They were so much fun and easy to work with.

Flowers –
Flower Michele – A+++++++
www.flowermichele.com
It’s all been said before. John is great and so much fun to work with – by far my most favorite vendor. Originally I was planning on doing a fall theme, but then switched it to Red and Pink. I had huge, tall CP’s and the vase was filled with plums – they were AWESOME!!! My bo-k had cherry love roses, pink callas and burgundy dahlias. The colors were so vibrant andthey came out graet in the pics! My girls bo-k were inspired by Britney Spears’ bm bo-k’s. They were cherry love roses and black baccarat roses. I also got each girl a monogrammed bo-k jewel from Bouqet Jewels I thought it looked really cool.
www.bouquetjewels.com

I helped John unload the truck before I got my makeup done! He thought I was crazy, but I was just so excited to see my flowers!



Pew decorations - roses with Ivy.


Here's my cousin's reaction when she got her flowers!




Filigree Monograms – A
www.filigreemonograms.com
I got my bo-k wrap, toasting flute ribbons and a monogrammed runner from this website. I loved all three items. The customer service was good and the quality of the products was great.

RD
Riverview Restaurant - B
www.riverviewoakdale.com
After going to a couple restaurants in the area we chose Riverview. It’s a very nice place and the food was good. The only complaint I had was that the service was a little slow especially with drinks. A bunch of teenagers were servers and they weren’t really paying attention that much.

Groom’s Cake
Audrey’s – A+
I got a Yankee themed cake from Audrey’s. Thomas was great to work with and the cake was so yummy! It was chocolate filling with cookies and cream filling and chocolate icing. The only thing that was a little disappointed is that DH didn’t seem phased by it at all which was annoying bc I had been keeping it a secret for months.

Jewelry
Well- I could not make my mind up about my jewelry – I had a few sets – earrings from Saks, then a set from Carolee. I wound up wearing a diamond heart necklace that my grandfather gave to my grandmother when my father was born (my something old) and pearl and diamond earrings that I wound up getting at my last fitting! The bracelet I wore I got at Macy’s – I think it was Charter Club – I love it and have worn it a couple times since. Tiara – I bought my Tiara at Macy’s. It took about 6 months to come in which was annoying, but I really liked it.



Shoes
My shoes were $35 at Wedding for Less. I saw the exact same ones at Casa Di Mario's for $68!! I also bought white flip flops from Baker’s that I changed into. www.weddingsforless.com



Custom Aisle Runner
MadeByE
I loved how the runner turned out. The reason Erin gets a B is bc of her lack of communication!!

Details – I will post pics once I get some!

votive placecards, how we met/traditions tent cards, Polaroid guest books, slipper baskets, bathroom baskets, OOT boxes, menus, programs, runner, monograms

I know I probably forgot some stuff, so I will add things as I remember them!

I will add pics asap!!

Ok - here are some pics-

I'll start with m favorite E-Pic (by Jay from Duet)



Sample CP by Flower Michele - the real ones looked even bigger and better!





FG Basket:


Bathroom Baskets:




Bo-K Wrap from Filigree Monograms:


I made this heart wreath. It was hung behind our sweetheart table:


Memorial candle for my brother and DH's mom. You can't reall read it, but it had a nice poem. I got it from personalcreations.com


Personalized Matchbooks. I got them from MyJeanM.com, and got the glass containers from Michael's.


I got this for the night of the wedding and I brought it on the honeymoon. I can't remember where I got it, but it was from an LIW vendor:


'Mint to Be' Tic Tacs. I ordered the stickers from MyJeanM.com and got the tic tacs from Costco:


Save the Dates:




Rehearsal Dinner Invites - I got them on mygatsby.com and I printed them.




Invites:






Rehearsal Dinner:




Some pictures one of my friends took:























Raw Bar:




Regular Bar




Blurry Pics of CP




Menu




Real plums in the vase!


Wine Favors:


Sticker on bottle







The only proofs I have scanned so far!












Here are the OOT boxes I made.
I ordered the gable boxes from
Paper Mart and I made the labels and tags myself in Word.











Programs: I had a friend at work design them and then I printed them. I had my monogram printed on vellum, and then 3 engagement pics on the next page. I loved how they turned out!








The girls scuffing their shoes


Here's the drink menu I made on designergals.com

Message edited 6/4/2006 12:04:56 AM.

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05

great review. i'm a red and pink bride too!!! cant wait to see pics of all the details!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05

Great review I'm glad you have a good experience with Audrey's that where I'm getting my cake from

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05

Great Review!!!! Can't wait to see pics!! Oh... Congratulations!!!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05

great review thanks.

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05

PICS????

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05

Yay!!! I'm so happy to read your review Christine. I remember the invite saga that we both went through trying to find the "perfect' ones and how we met for the first time to trade all the samples we'd been ordering Everything at your wedding was fantastic and beautiful - it was a really wonderful day. My favorite part of the reception (since you know how I'm a U2 nut) was when you and Dan were introduced to Vertigo!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

Great review Christine. Everything looked beautiful...

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

Everything looked absolutely beautiful.

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

you guys look great

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

You are beautiful!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GORGEOUS! It really looks like all the time and effort you took in trying to make the wedding YOURS really paid off. Congratulations! (And LOVE your Paula Varsalona gown! )

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

Great review Christine, and Congrats!!! Your pics were beauitful.

Sorry to hear about the Church. If you don't mind me asking, why wouldn't the music director allow you to walk down the aisle to Canon in D???

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

beautiful pics!!!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

Great review! Gorgeous pics!!!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

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Posted by nicpizzo

Great review Christine, and Congrats!!! Your pics were beauitful.

Sorry to hear about the Church. If you don't mind me asking, why wouldn't the music director allow you to walk down the aisle to Canon in D???

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Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

Thank you so much for your review. Looks like you had a beatiful day!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

please FM me where you got your beautiful runner!!! so pretty ...can i also ask $$? TIA BEAUTILFUL WEDDING!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

hey christine!

lovely pics! can't wait to see more! my musical director told me the same thing about canon in d--- that's it's more appropriate for the bridal party b/c it's so long...

but i put my foot down --- i love that song and wanted to walk down the aisle to it

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

what a great review Christine! You looked so gorgeous! I love your gown! it's absolutely stunning!

Congrats again!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

great review

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

Beautiful Pictures, you looked very elegant. Where did you purchase the vase for your center piece? Please send me FM.

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

You looked gorgeous!!!

I love the Bo-K wrap and I will be looking into one for myself...thanks for the info!
Also, I love the working on your reception card...so classy! I may borrow that!

Re: BOURNE MANSION REVIEW - 10/01/05 (Flower Michele, Duet, Royalty, LA Productions, Hank Lane Music...etc)

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Posted by Backinneyork

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Posted by nicpizzo

Great review Christine, and Congrats!!! Your pics were beauitful.

Sorry to hear about the Church. If you don't mind me asking, why wouldn't the music director allow you to walk down the aisle to Canon in D???

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LOL - he said that no one would know it's a wedding....I guess the fact that i was going to wear a big white dress didn't make a difference!

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