Disclaimer: Although we booked our hall and all of our vendors in late December 2005 for our March 2006 wedding, we did our research well in advance.

It is such a cliché but our wedding day was the happiest day of our lives. I cannot even describe the amazing feeling of being surrounded by so many family members and friends who love us and wanted to share in the amazing celebration that was our wedding day Being married brought with it such a sense of peace that I did not expect to feel It really is a place of solace when people are on your last nerve For anyone contemplating the thought, the “piece of paper” does make a difference

I can see why so many couples do not write a review. There is just so much to cover I commend those who put up reviews so soon after their weddings

I debated posting a review for a while. I always enjoy reading the reviews, especially those with photos. However, as I’m sure is the case for most posters, I have a love/hate relationship with the chat boards. I love the concept of sharing information on experiences with wedding professionals since none of us has planned a wedding and could use all of the help available. But in the same vein, I hate sorting through the catty, drama-filled threads ---especially the cross-board drama threads wherein some feel the need to round up their “posse” to “attack” another poster for typing something they found offensive or something that they thought was directed at them personally – when 99% of the time it was not even directed at the posters that get their panties all in a bunch over it. I have to admit, those threads do sometimes make for good entertainment before they get pulled by the site administrators.

We all realize that not everyone can “play nice” (not in life and not in cyberspace) but please use the chat boards for their purpose – plan your wedding. And should you decide to post instead of just lurking (which I did for a couple of months before posting) maybe you will make some good friends in the process of the wedding planning Shout out to all my GTG buddies and soon to be GTG buddies

Since I received phone calls, e-mails and FM’s from all over the country from posters that I have met in person and/or have come to know and respect, we undertook the task of putting this together.

Moreover, our vendors did a fantastic job for us and we want to give them all the praise they deserve.

Although some of you will just scroll through this review and look at the photos, writing this was cathartic for us. Putting this together helped resolve some things in my mind that I struggled with during the planning. In the end the emotional aspect of the wedding as opposed to eloping did win out and I am happy that we had the wedding

We hope that this review is as helpful to future brides as past brides have been helpful to us.

Please do not use our photos without express written permission. They are copyrighted. Please, please, please give our photographer credit.




OUR WEDDING STORY

“They look so happy” “Enchanting” “Elegant” “Unforgettable” “We had the time of our life” “A fairytale” “Such a beautiful couple” “So classy” “The food was psychotic” (a good thing ) “Magical” “the gardens are gorgeous” “the music was on point” “Impeccable service” “Gorgeous location” “The coffee was fantastic” “The best duck I ever put in my mouth” “The DJ was off the hook” “The photographer and videographer were everywhere”. These are just some of the things the guests are saying about our wedding It was such a joyous and emotional day for everyone. It goes fast so you really have to take snapshots in your mind as the day progresses. All I can recall is being on cloud nine for the day

Guests are still raving about the wedding and saying how elegant and beautiful everything was that day. I have gotten calls about helping to plan family events and my good friend who planned my NYC shower and made a few of the favors for the shower earned a handsome fee for the creative favors she made for a coworkers birthday party The shower favors were a great advertising tool. She also took some of our wedding items that I made to her office and many coworkers wanted to use my ideas for upcoming weddings

We have had so many people call to say that it was the best wedding they had ever attended and that we looked so happy that day Everyone has been so wonderful and many sent cards and e-mails saying that they were honored to even be invited My dad keeps getting calls and said that every time he speaks to his friends/family who attended they end up talking about the wedding.

I think the most amazing comment was when one of my older cousins told me that her family had the “the time of their life” at our wedding – and she just gave her daughter a wedding in VA in October that I was not able to attend. My friends that were at her table said that she told them our wedding was fabulous and that the attention to detail surpassed her daughters wedding.

DH and I had such a great time at our wedding! Your guests will follow your lead. If you are having a fantastic time, it will show and the guests will have a fantastic time too We really enjoyed the day and did not let anything ruin our spirits We were so pleased to hear that our guests had a great time When we look at our photos and see how happy everyone looked (including us ) it makes us smile

This is possibly the happiest moment of the day - assuming I had to pick just one.



This is a close second


It was just after we were married but before we walked up the aisle as husband and wife I think it was just after I took off my veil – yep, it was off before we even walked up the aisle I loved it but the crystal pins came out when my dad hugged me by the head and then even more so when DH pulled it back to kiss me. I pulled it out the rest of the way just before we jumped the broom and I never had it put back in place.







A cousin took these photos. I thought my daddy was not gonna let me go





As hard as it is to believe, not everyone will be thrilled about your wedding. For some reason weddings seem to bring out the worst in people But there are those who really stepped up and we appreciated it. We were surrounded by only family members and friends who love us and wish us nothing but happiness We invited those friends/family members that could pledge their support and strength to the success and continuing growth of our marriage – which was a portion of a reading during our ceremony.
This is quite possibly the LONGEST wedding review EVER in the history of the boards DH helped me write it since I did not recall everything and he was in the middle of a lot of things while I was getting ready. I am still finding out as we put this review together about things that happened that day Do not plan to read it all the way through in one sitting.
I still kind of feel like the whole wedding planning process is a hazing ritual – especially for those that want to elope and are convinced by married friends (those who had weddings) not to elope. If you want to elope, do it. Planning a wedding causes a lot of unnecessary stress as it is so if you have your heart set on eloping on the beach or something – do it

If we had it to do again, I would still want to elope. DH says he would still want the wedding day. No, I really would do it pretty much the same way but with maybe a few changes to the flow of the day I am glad that DH convinced me to move forward with planning a wedding instead of going off to elope. It was just mind-boggling to be surrounded by so much love that day. We had family and friends travel from as far as 17 hours by car and 13 hours by bus to share our day



We did not share our wedding day details along the way with many people on the chat boards since this is a public site. I know of brides who had others call their hall to try to cancel or call to try to cancel registries or other vendors – out of pure jealousy I guess Not to mention, the number of lurkers on this site is probably 95% more than the number of people who actually post since there is no requirement to even register to simply read the posts

Because we did not publicly share all of our wedding details along the way, we will give a detailed account now.

We had 6 funerals in the 3 months leading up to the wedding (2 in the last 2 weeks before the wedding) and another funeral the week after we came back from the honeymoon . It was bittersweet to keep taking names off of the guest list Attending all those funerals while planning our wedding put so many things into perspective. With so many friends losing loved ones (spouses and parents) it just made us realize that no matter all the planning, anything could happen.

DH and I kept a tabbed wedding planner so everything is here. He was with me every step of the way and at nearly every single vendor appointment – to make sure I did not make HIS wedding “cheesy”.



It was a magnificent day!!!!!! However, once you come to the conclusion that SOMETHING WILL GO WRONG on your wedding day, you will be less stressed. Nothing ever will be “perfect”. The only issue then is if you learn about the problem(s) before, during or after the wedding.

Sooooooooooooooooo, we finally did it. We are all honeymooned and back in the swing of our normal lives.



After all of my back and forth posts about a VA versus NY wedding from late 2004 until probably the week of the wedding when my time for the “It’s Your Week” post came around, I’m sure some of you thought I was never getting married. Well, we had a beautiful day and I enjoyed the opportunity to commiserate with some of you during the stress of wedding planning.

God puts people in our lives at the right time and for a purpose. DH is the man that not even my dreams could accurately portray – the man with all the qualities I wrote out in my wish list for my ideal husband . He has all of the qualities I forgot or was too ignorant to know that I wanted in a husband. I have no idea what took me so many years to look up and notice him although he worked in my office off and on for years But I’m thrilled that DH & I crossed paths in this lifetime – this coming from a woman who kissed a ton of toads to find my prince charming.



I have not posted daily as I once had since I kind of went through my wedding obsession and then got past it – all without therapy or an intervention I think we all go through that phase though - being completely obsessed with wedding details for a bit during the planning. It does pass though and I think I became really laid back about the details after a while. In fact, some of the things I obsessed over in the beginning never materialized when it came down to actually ordering and making items. And some of the items I bought and took to the hall did not actually get used. And you know what, it did not even matter on the day of the wedding.

Be warned again - this is LONG since I am trying to be as thorough as possible

LET THE REVIEW BEGIN …………………………………
First & foremost: www.EbonyBridalPlanner.com & www.LIWeddings.com and www.nycityweddings.com although I did not go through www.nycityweddings.com to get to the chat boards.

Without hesitation, I totally recommend these websites as the ultimate resource for planning a wedding in this area. Who else can one turn to that can help plan a wedding (absent professional help) but other brides/grooms/parents who have been through it or are going through it simultaneously

Shout out to Alana aka lanikai and Sasha aka SomethingBlu Thank you both for reviewing the countless e-mails and FM’s of my various mock ups of DIY projects and for the honor of asking me to play around with your wedding photos to make mock ups of your Thank You cards. I am now proficient enough with photoshop to make some things of my own

I am a transplant New Yorker and had not been familiar with wedding traditions in New York. I am told that our wedding was very “formal”. Some of my family and most of my VA friends had totally different ideas about weddings but I married a New Yorker so I quickly learned everything I never wanted to know about New York City/Long Island weddings on LIW & EBP. I found LIW in July 2004 although I did not post until September…….. so I KNOW there are always lurkers and many people who register but just take there time posting (if they ever post). I found LIWeddings through a google search about wedding halls and was easily hooked in the chat rooms. I had of course tried the other wedding websites but found them very difficult to navigate. When we were planning a wedding in my hometown of VA, I did use another board briefly to get ideas about locations in VA and vendor recommendations. Once I found some LIWeddings brides that were located in VA, I was threw with that other site forever



I was never one of those women who had my wedding all planned out in my mind from puberty. I was on LIW and EBP (once EBP was created) on almost a daily basis for a while trying to figure out the ins and outs of planning a wedding in NYC/LI since all 3 of my MOH’s are single and none of my family members had planned a wedding in this area.

It is easy to lose sight of the big picture during the stressful process of planning the wedding. In spite of all of the things that annoyed me about the chat boards, I want to say thank you to all of the brides, grooms, husbands, wives, parents and friends who have been or were going through it with us and were kind, friendly and helpful to us along the way. Thanks to all of you we were able to get through this process without irritating the heck out of family, friends and our bridal party. In fact, one MOH was asked if I was driving her crazy with the planning by a guest and she told that guest no, that I was driving myself crazy. I really tried not to burden anyone with our wedding and that was probably a mistake since I did get very stressed at some points. I did end up being one of those posters with VENT threads. However, I think it was better to vent on the chat boards than to fight with my bridal party, family or friends. The chat boards really are a great outlet to discuss weddings without making your family/friends want to choke you for talking about your wedding all the time

We also found a lot of vendors via EBP and LIW that we probably never would have found on our own and we even booked a few of them based on LIW & EBP reviews

Friends photo – my LIWeddings bag




An aside:
As most of you who have seen my prior posts know, DH basically had to convince me that we should have a wedding I really struggled with the expense of it all versus the emotional aspect which wedding vendors pray on to gouge us all out of our last penny in search of “perfection” for the day which NEVER happens. I am just a bit too practical for my own good I guess Thankfully we found fantastic vendors and their goal was only to make our day beautiful.

DH absolutely wanted a wedding and I absolutely did not want to spend a lot of money on the wedding but rather on a long honeymoon. Strange right, the woman does not want a big wedding but the man does. I wanted to elope in Mexico at my favorite resort – Royal Hideaway. However, when we started to make those arrangements, family members complained. And they are still thanking us for picking NYC/LI since they would not have been able to attend a destination wedding.

When it came to spending so much on a wedding I could not wrap my mind around it. I mean, you don’t own anything tangible after spending a fortune – except the photos (and video if you get one). You prepare for the day for months (or years) and after a few hours it’s over. After hearing from so many married ladies and recent brides on these websites I knew that the day would be a fleeting memory. I suggested we forgo a wedding and invest that money but DH would not hear of it. He thinks that EVERY WOMAN WANTS A WEDDING All of his friends who eloped have to hear complaints from their wives constantly about not having had a wedding. DH thought the wedding would be an investment of sorts – saving us from future arguments about not having had a wedding



Some family members wanted us to spend our money on a NY party rather than have them spend THEIR money to attend something more cost effective for us like a destination wedding. Many people voiced their opinions and most felt like we should do something small and save our money for a new house. I guess a lot of NYC/LI couples get that advice since a NYC/LI wedding fund can be a pretty nice down payment for a house.

I have a few confessions to make. I ordered my dress BEFORE we ever picked a hall or set a definite date. We got quotes from bands, florists, coordinators and videographers -- all before we booked our hall. We were determined to know a real figure of what the wedding would cost before signing any contracts. It is just necessary to do it this way. How can you set a realistic budget for something you have never done before with no idea of the costs involved I’m sure many of the 04 and 05 posters recall all of the research I did during the planning stages. It was exhausting.

We are planners and we were not going to be surprised at the total for the wedding after tallying up all of expenses after the honeymoon. Too many people are shocked at the end when they realize how much was spent.

Although there are millions of books that say what a bride “should” do and at which points in time all those things “should” be done, we did not follow any particular guide or etiquette about how our wedding was planned. I was told that we were working in “reverse”. But that is okay since it was our day and we did everything when and how WE wanted it done. We followed no guidelines or wedding rule books although there are TONS of them out there for sale just to help drive brides/grooms to the brink of insanity a bit faster

I am so thankful that we did not let anyone dictate any details of our wedding, who would be invited or where it would be held once we decided on NY and not eloping And trust me, we got suggestions on every detail from nearly everyone we know and some people we do not know – as I’m sure is happening for 95% of the other couples planning a wedding.



In the end, after much prodding and hints about his wedding ideas including leaving his sister’s wedding day photo on my computer desk at home and taking me to see all the wedding thank you photos on display at his aunt’s home in Manhattan, we undertook the task of trying to plan a wedding for our nearest and dearest family members and friends. DH really did participate too although I was always told men don’t care about the details. Well, mine totally cared and vetoed some of my so-called “cheesy” ideas. DH went with me to almost every single appointment – halls, DJ’s, bands and even to look at the hotels when we were deciding where to block.

And let’s not even get into the date changes We were shooting for October 2005 as our wedding date after being engaged on 11/1/04. I put off setting the date for months hoping that DH would give up on the idea of a big wedding. When I finally did come to terms with spending a small fortune on a party (an emotional, amazingly fun and beautiful party though ), I became an 06 bride.

I got soooo irritated with people asking me when was the date and what hall did we pick. I did not understand (and still don’t) why anyone cared so much about our wedding date and our hall since they were not friends of ours and could not expect to be invited. I know that everyone starts asking about wedding details the second you get the ring but you really need a few months (or at least a few weeks) to try to just enjoy being engaged.

As for all the people asking about the date and the hall, I know that most of them could care less about our marriage and our building a family together and just wanted to see or hear about the “show” as one person called it. Our close friends and family did not ask as much as the people that we don’t know And I’m sure some did not ask since they knew they were not invited. It got so bad that I probably was fairly rude to some of them when they asked me. But I figured if nobody was chipping in, they would find out the date when they got a STD or an invite – if they got either.

It was just unnecessary pressure to book a date and jump into planning full force and I did not need that kind of pressure from strangers.



We picked March 2006 although DH was/still is concerned about his cash flow from November – March each year due to gifts for our engagement anniversary, our first date anniversary, Christmas, our anniversary of becoming a couple, V-day, then my birthday (late March) and our wedding anniversary. It’s so funny to me that he even thought about that when picking our wedding date

We are one of the older couples on the boards so we expected to pay for everything on our own – and in the end it was worth it since the only input was from us. Since my dad helped me pay for grad school, I never expected him to pay for my wedding (and those who have that option be grateful). Because we foot the bill, we were free to tell everyone with an opinion “Really. That’s nice. When you have a wedding you should do that.” It was very liberating after reading some of the threads about all the drama with family members some other brides had since those people were chipping in or paying for the wedding. We had far too many “suggestions” from everyone and their momma but in the end they all realized we would do what we wanted and ignore all other input.

The closer your day gets, the more stress you will be under and you may even be tempted to snap at everyone. DH hit that point about 2 weeks before the wedding when people on his side were not sending back the RSVP. The closer the day got, the more he agreed that we should have eloped But all of my married friends really got us through it. I think most people think that the RSVP date is on the card just for fun Of course there could be no real reason to need to know who is attending the wedding in advance . Just know that it is not just something you and your fiancé are dealing with on your own. Even Oprah commented on how many people failed to RSVP for her Legend’s Ball and that some celebs sent the RSVP by phone the night of the ball . In that case though, I suppose a lot of celebrities like to leave their schedule open in case a better invitation comes along

***I took the advice of a married friend and suggest all brides do the same. I turned off my cell phone once we left the hotel. The only call I cared about would be from DH and he had a photographer, videographer and the coordinator’s assistant with him if he needed to reach me. I was not planning to field calls from any guests in search of directions (which we included in all invites) or anyone trying to add on a guest on the day of. My friend Kathy told me that when she got her phone back the night after her wedding there were tons of messages from people saying “don’t worry, we are on the way” as if she and her husband were holding up the ceremony to wait on them to arrive

OKAY, BACK TO THE REVIEW:
I AM NOT GIVING RATINGS, PER SE, AND RECOMMEND ALL OF OUR VENDORS If we could go back in time and plan it all over again, with someone else’s money , we would pick the same vendors

I guess it all started when DH (FI at the time) asked my parents if her could marry me
We went to VA that weekend and although we were there all weekend, DH did not ask my dad until about 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. My dad had threatened to kill DH all weekend long and at every chance he got my dad reminded DH about all the guns in the house. He does have a few of them and showed them to DH too. My dad felt like something was up though. I never brought a man home to meet him EVER before He had met some men that I dated when I lived in VA and when he was in NYC visiting but I never brought anyone to VA to meet my daddy.

So, DH woke up at like 4 a.m. on that Sunday and went down to talk to my dad at like 7:30 a.m. once he got up the courage to ask him. DH said they talked for about 2 1/2 hours and the last few minutes was when DH asked my dad if he could marry me. My dad got up right when DH said he had to ask him a very important question. My dad was in the kitchen with DH and looked around a lot as they spoke. DH asked if he was looking for his gun.

From what I gather, it all went very well. Later when we all went out to breakfast my dad saw a friend of his and introduced DH as his "future son-in-law"!!!! He had been introducing him as Mr. "T" all weekend - but I think he just did that to mess with DH. DH also asked my mom for her blessing and she said yes too. He met my maternal grandmother and some of my aunts and uncles too. We hung out with my sister for a bit and her children too. All in all it was a great weekend. I even got to meet a two of DH's nephews who also live in VA, his sister-in-law who was in town (one of the nephew’s birthday) and one niece who was in town too.

The next step was the ENGAGEMENT RING
Good Old Gold www.goodoldgold.com
GOG
5278 Sunrise Highway
Massapequa Park, NY 11762
Phone: (516) 798-5151



I forgot who we worked with but I do recall getting photos sent by Christine at GOG to my e-mail when an LIW bride (and friend of Christine’s) mentioned that I was posting on LIW about having trouble getting a good close up photo of my ring to e-mail to my mom in VA.

DH and I looked at rings for about 2.5 months before we found GOG. We saw a ton of jewelers (friends and those recommended by friends). I found one jeweler that ended up coming by my house and by my office to show us stones. That guy rubbed us the wrong way after seeing 4 - 6 of his stones. I won’t bother to mention his name. I had a few married friends helping me look through at stones that week in the office. The interesting part is I loved a smaller stone and DH told the jeweler he wanted something bigger so men that considered approaching me would know from a distance that I was taken. Ladies, that is apparently part of the reason for a ring – so other men will back off. I suspect most of you have found out that it works in the reverse and you get more attention with an engagement ring.



So, the first jeweler called DH and got voicemail a few times (over a 24 hour period) and then called me. DH was super busy with work at that time of year and had not had a chance to return the message. This was AFTER I picked the two top stones I liked with DH and AFTER the jeweler got a cash deposit. After I picked the stones I liked, I told DH and the jeweler that I wanted to be left out of it after that so DH could have some element of surprise. He thought DH was ducking him as if DH would duck a call from a jeweler that had his cash deposit Instead of waiting for DH to call him back, the guy called me and asked if we were “still getting engaged” as if no ring would mean that a couple is not really engaged I was livid that this jeweler would say something like that since, although we did not do it, I know of many couples who were engaged with no engagement ring or maybe some stone other than a diamond. I was also peeved since I thought DH had already gotten the ring and I had been walking with my digital camera in my bag and wearing nice evening type outfits to work all week long just in case he proposed after work

I relayed the message from the jeweler to DH and I think it irritated me more so than DH. I convinced DH to get his deposit back and then I found Good Old Gold via an LIW post. The goodoldgold.com website is one of the most informative websites about diamonds that I have ever found. And the pricing is very fair. They test out the diamonds and give you every detail so you can make an informed decision. After all of our research, DH and I were able to sort through the AGS reports quickly and we found a few great hearts & arrows stones on the Good Old Gold website and made an appointment to go in and see them. DH put down a deposit that day and we picked the setting too The ring was shipped to one of DH’s 3 brothers – the one in NJ (no tax) It arrived few days earlier than expected.

On 11/1/04 DH said he was going to work but he did not. He drove out to NJ to pick up my ring at his brother’s house. Later that day DH called to ask what time Chez Oskar's closes - a neighborhood restaurant and the scene of our first kiss. I told him the time and he said he wanted to have dinner there that same night. He reminded me that the last time we had dinner there that they had run out of garlic mussels. I had really wanted to try them so he suggested we go that night.



DH saw a friend in the front of the restaurant in a group of friends. DH and his friend spoke briefly and DH asked the host to be seated in the back in a corner booth. We both ordered drinks. His friend came over again to talk (on his way to the bathroom) and then he and his friends left. I ordered lobster bisque and crab cakes & DH ordered a salad. When the bisque and salad came he ate a few bites of it and then pushed it aside.

He looked at me and said "You know what I'm doing?" I said "No." He then told me that he had prepared something and practiced it in the car for the entire drive from his brother's place in NJ - 90 minutes at least. He said it was not coming out right so he was just going to tell me.

He told me that he never thought he'd fall in love again after his last relationship. He never thought he would get married - ever. He was always the one in his group of friends that said they should never get married. He said that since we have been together I have always been there for him. He said that I am always on his side in every situation and that although it took him 3 1/2 years to even ask me out on our first date, he'd gladly wait another 3 1/2 years if it took that long for him to be with me. Then he said "I would be honored if you would be my wife."

Then he pulled out a small white box. I kissed him and said "Yes, I will be your wife." Then I opened the box (a light was inside) and saw my fabulous ring!!!!!

It sparkles like crazy I still find myself staring at it.



ENGAGEMENT RING APPRAISAL
www.justappraisers.com
555 Fifth Avenue
14th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-377-2090
David Wolf and Toby did a great job. I received a very detailed appraisal which was hand delivered to my office. I was very pleased with the results of the appraisals since we already had an appraisal from GOG for the engagement ring and I knew the cost of the pieces I had bought on my own years ago. Since I was already there, I had them appraise my earrings that I had on in addition to my engagement ring and two bracelets that I took with me to be appraised. DH was pleasantly surprised that the bracelet he purchased as a birthday gift for me in 2004 appraised for way more than he paid. In fact, David mentioned that it could not even be made wholesale in the US for the price DH paid. I ended up insuring everything through Jeweler’s Mutual (had been with Liberty Mutual) since it was much cheaper.

INSURANCE FOR THE ENGAGEMENT RING (and other pieces too)
Jeweler’s Mutual
http://www.jewelersmutual.com

The pricing for jewelry insurance is very reasonable in comparison to my prior insurance company – Liberty Mutual. I still use Liberty Mutual for our cars, homeowners and fire/hazard (rentals) policies but the rider for jewelry was over the top. We also considered Chubb but since we live in Brooklyn the price would have been more than Liberty Mutual if I recall correctly - $40 per $1,000 in coverage for Chubb for Brooklyn. Our JM policy is about HALF that price.

Ebay ID spoolofdesign
Of course I had to get a “SOON TO BE MRS” ROBE When it first arrived there were some wide gaps in the lettering but it was promptly fixed when I pointed it out. I sent the robe back. I did pay on my own to have it shipped back for the repairs so I probably would have had a fit to be charged for a third shipping fee but I was not. The robe was sent back to me the second time for no additional fee.





I took my robe all over the country after we got engaged and loved to have friends and family see me in it so much that I would purposely delay getting dressed so they would see me in my robe before going out.

Then we sent out ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
DIY & www.printingforless.com
I was going to have photo card announcements made but in the end made my own announcement. I had shown DH the ideas I had found on-line and he responded by saying that I could probably make them on my own – so I gave it a shot .

I used Microsoft Publisher to format the card and put the pictures in place. I was able to upload the completed Publisher file to www.printingforless.com and I received the 4 x 6 postcards really fast. It came out great!!!! We got so many compliments!



SAVE THE DATES
DIY & www.vistaprint.com
I made my own Save The Date’s (aka STD’s – which still makes me laugh whenever I see a post that says come look at my STD ). I used photoshop after looking at a ton of ideas and getting help with photoshop from VickiC (Thank you!) and MCDO15 (Thank you!). I actually made an STD for a friend first and then tried to make up one for us. I made up several designs and ran them by LIW brides via e-mail & FM (thanks ladies ). I did not end up using them though since our date kept changing and they are to be sent 6 months in advance. Plus, if you send an STD, YOU HAVE TO INVITE THOSE PEOPLE TO THE WEDDING We did not want our list to be set in stone based on the STD. Also, I had ordered some business card magnets from vistaprint.com and within a week about half of them curled up on the sides and were barely sticking to my fridge when I tested them out. This was a total disappointment but the business cards themselves (other than the photo being a bit dark) came out great. In the end only 7 of them actually stayed on the fridge

About a month later, after reading a post on LIW about vistaprint magnets, I put them all back on the fridge (since I had not trashed them) and amazingly enough they did stick I have no idea why they fell off initially but in the end they all did stick to the fridge until I took them off. So maybe before you send them out, test them out for a few days.

I decided not to do magnets or STD’s at all. We just called the busy bodies in the family and told them the date It worked just as well – another wedding obsession bites the dust. I sent an e-mail to some family members and the rest I told in person at the Christmas gatherings. DH called like 2 of his aunts and in a few hours his entire family knew about the date and started calling us The funny thing is I know I spent HOURS making up my STD’s in photoshop – time I really could have used for so many more productive things.

After we booked the hall (discussed below) we had to pick INVITATIONS
Indian Wedding Card (http://www.indianweddingcard.com)
Although some of the photos in this review make it seem like we had a monogram theme, our theme was simply “The Color Purple” – not after the book (or the movie or the play) but because I’ve always loved purple (as does my maternal grandma which I only found out during wedding planning and NOT when I had my first car painted purple when I was 16 years old)

DH and I ordered samples (well I ordered the samples) from all over the world – literally. We had settled on a heavy single panel card with pearl border from Encore or Rexcraft That was until I came across the Desi thread on LIW I contacted Indian Wedding Card and ordered samples – for two it was like $20 with shipping from India. Once the samples arrived DH did not even balk at the price and said they would be a “keepsake” – that was the first time I ever heard him even use the word “keepsake” I ordered a purple silk scroll sample and a navy blue silk scroll sample and DH picked purple (my favorite color) instead of his favorite color. I had free reign from www.indianweddingcard.com to design whatever I wanted on the scroll and all I had to do was e-mail them the Word document and the .ttf fonts I wanted to use. Who would have thought DH would care so much about invites I went back and forth with Indian Wedding card for a while and I always heard back (via e-mail) promptly.

Although I am confident that Indian Wedding card would have done a fantastic job with the scrolls we loved, in the end, we did not order the scrolls. There was an issue with mailing them to NYC friends/family. Many people would have to go to the post office to pick them up (including me since my mailbox is just tiny). Although DH is right about the scroll invite being a “keepsake”, I think that is only for us, my mom, my grandma and a few other sentimental wedding guests. I suspect that had my invites been on spiral notebook paper, my mom and grandma would have still scrap booked it.

We nixed the scroll idea, however, I still wanted something different – not a white or ecru card.

We ordered our invitations via www.myjeanm.com
They were kind of DIY too since I designed them and sent in the print ready artwork.
I nearly jumped the UPS guy when he showed up

My photo - no flash though


They are grape with platinum ink. I loved them

I got a ton of samples from various websites plus I looked at invitation books at Party City and then Papyrus. Then I ordered on-line. I had previously ordered a color kit from Jean M and we picked the Jean M invite months in advance of booking a hall. I even posted a thread about the invites we picked at that time. I ordered samples and made mock ups on the www.myjeanm.com website.

When it came down to choosing something other than scrolls, I just went back to the prior idea. I considered having the Jean M invite custom made by Maryellen (Scarlet Petersen) for a bit less money but at the time Maryellen could not print in silver or platinum and she also NEVER sent me the sample after I requested a sample in February 2005 (around the time we first priced out the Jean M invites). We corresponded by e-mail several times and she did apologize for forgetting to send the sample but then never sent it again after I reminded her in May 2005 I requested a sample yet again around Thanksgiving and after sending Maryellen all the text she requested and noting the colors I wanted, Maryellen NEVER sent the sample. I gave up on using Maryellen and did not contact her again.

Kimberly in guest services at Jean M was very helpful and answered all of my pre-order questions very promptly – and I had LOTS of questions. I ended up sending in print ready artwork that Jean M printed since I had them use specific fonts not available on the website. It was no problem – just a custom invitation fee.

We did not actually order them and send them out before the other things noted in this review but I will just finish up with the invite info here.

My photo - Invite assembly line


The text on the first batch was reduced in size to fit the RSVP card and it came out far too small – to small to even read. I was a bit irritated since someone saw the RSVP cards after they were printed, they decided not to say a word about the reduction causing the wording to be illegible but just sent them out. Kimberly even expressed her shock that my RSVP cards were sent out with no inspection. I was encouraged NOT to get a $20 proof (on white paper not my colored cardstock) since they would reprint the order if I want not happy. I guess they do a lot of reprints

I was told that I would have the new RSVP cards within a few days but that did not happen. The same woman who reduced the font size on my first order, had some question about the reprint order which caused her to place a “hold” on it which in turn caused it not to ship out on the date scheduled. I spoke with several people in her department and not only was the question she had not even mentioned or explained in her notes for my file, but she also did not leave the paperwork such that the reps I spoke to could find it to get my order to me in time. My only choice was to wait for her to call. Did I mention that she left a message at my house, during the middle of the work day – and instead of calling my cell phone number (which I was sure to list and confirm) she just left a message at my house

In the end, when she called me first thing in the morning on a Friday, the question was again about font size and moving something to a second line. I was told that my RSVP card needed to be 7 lines long instead of 6 lines. I agreed to a 7 line RSVP card since she believed that the first line of text was too close to the edge of the card. I am happy that she called and even thrilled that she checked the printed order - but why not call my cell phone Or even try to reach me at work I had prearranged to have my invites hand cancelled first thing on Saturday morning at the USPS by me (since a guy that likes me works there) and was concerned about not getting them in time.

I did receive the “corrected” RSVP cards via UPS overnight service but after all that drama with an alleged 3rd reprinting, I did not received the 7 line RSVP card I did not have MORE TIME to wait on a fourth reprinted order, if it was in fact actually even printed for a third time prior to that. I just want to express my sincere disappointment in Jean M’s ordering process when sending in your own text and/or print ready files. My order was reprinted in flat ink and there were grammatical and punctuation errors I suppose the person who wrote the copy using my print ready RSVP card text was trying to get it done too fast since this was yet another reprint of the same order I sent them out with the flat printing, grammatical & punctuation error and the 6 lines. We did not have time to wait on another reprinted set of RSVP cards Plus they were to all come back to me anyway so I figured only I would have them in the end. For those of you still waiting on RSVP’s to come back, you know this is not the case and that you will likely not get them all back.

I wanted a reprint but DH wanted to get them out since we had so many OOT guests who needed to get the info. We had 22 rooms booked from our block weeks after the invites went out (and some were booked before invites went out). Family members had started to call asking about the invitations

I did get my invites out on the day I planned. I rushed through the renumbering (reserved seats and numbering the cards themselves to correspond with my chart) which took about 90 minutes. I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU NUMBER THE RSVP CARDS (inconspicuously on the back) since you will get back RSVP cards with NO NAMES and it will drive you nuts trying to figure out who sent it back.



Jean M invites are great quality but DO NOT under any circumstances place a special order (something not directly from the web site invite form selections and font selections) if you do not have several weeks to wait on reprints. They will screw up any special order no matter how detailed your instructions. I recall another LIW bride sent in her artwork (and specific spacing to add her own ribbons) and they screwed that up too. Give yourself PLENTY of time for reprints if you decided to use Jean M. Not to say that only Jean M does this since I know Rexcraft screwed up a custom invite order for an LIW bride as well.

I am still annoyed with the errors but they are not horrible – just NOT what we ordered. We did end up hearing back from Jean M a few days after I notified them of the errors with the most recent reprint. I did not wait on a reprint and just mailed out the invites. They offered a reprint but by then we had mailed over 100 of the invites out and I did not want to bother with waiting on getting the new RSVP cards. Instead we opted for a 50% credit for the cost of the RSVP cards to my AMEX account.

Although I was annoyed with the number of reprints and the failure to acknowledge the last screw up with my invites for several days, I was pleased with the invite itself and we got a ton of compliments on them.

The RSVP card issues and the lapse in customer service at the end would not stop me from using them again or recommending Jean M .

CALLIGRAPHY for invitations – DIY project
It took a LONG time to do this since I used text boxes. I decided to do inner and outer envelopes in deep purple ink and in the same font as the invitation. They looked beautiful when I was finished. I had lots of guests ask me where I had the envelopes done

My photos – purposely blurred




United States Post Office
We sent out invites just after the rate hike which was for first class as well as all other postage. I had heard it was only for the .37 stamps going to .39 but that was not the case. We ended up needing .63 stamps and the post office did not carry .63 stamps at the time – as if the rate hike was a surprise to them All it all it probably took an extra 30 minutes to go back and add the extra .03 cent stamps to the invites (plus the hour long wait at my horrid local PO just to buy the stamps) but it would have made life easier if the USPS had been prepared to sell .63 stamps since they did raise the rate.

I was told that my invites would be hand cancelled. They were NOT. It was no big deal since they were not irregular (a risk of being destroyed in the machine) but still, I was told that they would be hand cancelled. I was later told, when dropping off more invites days later, that there was a .90 cent fee per envelope to hand cancel I never heard of such a thing and of course I did not pay it. I was told this by the clerk as well as the supervisor I asked to speak with that day. Unbelievable

I wish the USPS would just become privatized already If anyone from Fedex, UPS or DHL is reading this, I for one am willing to pay a bit more for better service if the USPS is taken over by FedEx, UPS or DHL

MARRIAGE LICENSE
Municipal Building
210 Joralemon Street, 2nd Floor, Room 205
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Telephone Number is (718) 802-4107
We got ours on Valentine’s Day DH had gotten the $35 money order in advance and we went to the office with our passports. It was a painless process but a lot of hurry up and wait It took a couple of hours of waiting in 3 – 4 different lines just to get the info. from the form we filled out input at one window, pay with a money order at another window and pick up the print out (after it was input) at another window It was not really crowded either for Valentine’s Day. Just our tax dollars hard at work While we were there we saw tons of couples coming in to be married (24 hour waiting period after getting the license unless they get a judicial waiver) and all I could think of was wow, one more day & $25 then it would be done :



I had a spastic moment while applying for the license and ran out to call my oldest friend. DH and I had already discussed that I would take his name and use my maiden name as my middle. I have a friend who did that with no hyphen and my plan was to do the same. Well, lo and behold after 9/11/01 old laws were being enforced and I could not get the license issued in the name I preferred but only with a hyphen. I considered not changing my name at all because of the hyphen issue and DH was okay with it – or so it seemed. In the end I hyphenated and DH was thrilled but nobody calls me by Mrs. Maiden-Married name except my dad.

BRIDAL SHOWERS were not next but the wedding stuff is after this so I am putting it here.

The first shower was at home in VA at Gus Mariner’s in the Ramada on 57th St. at the beach.
It was so much fun. Both my grandma's attended as did many of my aunts, cousins and friends - some that could not attend the wedding in NY but were really pleased that I had a VA shower so they could show their support








We had a brunch and the food was sooooo good










My oldest friend (MOH who put together the shower) gave me some......hmmmm....gifts I could not show with both of my grandma's in the room



From my 17 year old niece


heavy bakeware that we registered for and a huge collage frame we registered for in the background


My cousin (about 80 years old) wanted to know where was "the string that goes in the butt" - the thong for what she assumed was a set


A gift from my 80 year old cousin.....who said the salesperson told her NOT to buy gift she planned to buy since the girls are wearing these now (talking about the thong not pictured)


My sister was really overwhelmed and almost had me crying too


The NYC bridal shower was at Park East Grill.
The menu




a few mimosas




salad with mint


dessert


I did not get pics of the entrees since we were so busy eating
Time for gifts


















The obligatory hat of bows




Couture bridal fashion complete with a bubble wrap cape


Gift bags for guests


some of the favors








BACHELOR PARTY
DH had his bachelor party in Manhattan at the Pink Pussycat. He ended up calling me a few times and he went home early since he hates strip clubs. His friends (married or in committed relationships) went back to the strip club since they had used him as the excuse to get out of the house.

RELAXATION
Red Door Salon & Spa
691 Fifth Avenue at 54th St.
New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 546-0200
Fax: (212) 546-0304

Two days before the wedding, my oldest friend (in town from VA for the week) and we went to relax after the hall drop off.

Massage and pedicure. This was the best massage I had in a while. I fell asleep (as usual) and I even fell asleep in the pedicure chair. I had been sooooo stressed and kind of annoyed with some of the planning so after our hall drop off (all of the items) and after touring the hall and everything with my oldest girlfriend, we went into the city to have massages and pedicures. I was undecided about nails at that time so we did not get manicures.

The day before the wedding I had my nails done.
MANICURE
I decided that since my own nails were not looking well enough I would get fake nails. I just went to my normal nail salon (across the street from my house) and had Candy put on silk wraps with some kind of fiberglass powder/gel. She knows that I am not into fake nails and she was surprised that I even let her put them on. They lasted from the day before the wedding until I had them taken off - 21 days later. They had grown out some but the fake nails did not break at all. It took a while to soak them off in some heated acetone. I went through 3 rounds of soaking and having the gooey layers filed off and then the silk removed.





This was my last official night being single and this is the last photo DH and I took together before we were married the following evening. Yeah, I am much shorter than DH without my heels

My friends photo


Our Wedding Day WEATHER
It was an amazingly warm day for March….especially since it had been cold and raining in the days before and the days after. I woke up to camera phones over my head and cameras flashing in my face (after having taken a sleeping pill the night before) and everyone that came in was talking about the great weather. It was warm and sunny

Friends photo


Many of my friends and family commented about the perfect day for a wedding My room was like grand central and I swear 95% of those that stopped by mentioned the warm sunny day I did not make it outside until after 3 p.m. but it was still very warm and I did not wear (or even buy) a jacket for the day. When we picked our date we both said that God would bless us with a warm day and it came to pass

Once I finally got outside I was thrilled


HOTEL NIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDING & FOR OOT GUESTS
WINGATE INN
821 Stewart Avenue
Garden City, NY
(516) 705-9000




We initially met with Cynthia Bevington to tour the hotel and hear about the arrangements to block rooms. I got the paperwork by e-mail and sent it back before Christmas. We blocked 30 rooms and the grand bridal suite. Some of the guest rooms were booked before the invites even went out. We got a price of $139 for our OOT guests which we thought was okay for NY – although I have to say my uncle’s wedding hotel block in Atlanta in August 2005 was like $49 for a double room & $69 for a suite. The $139 price included breakfast for the guests. My MOH’s were with me the night before the wedding and we had our breakfast delivered to the grand bridal suite the morning of the wedding.

Friends snapshot


DH & I had some issues with Wingate prior to the wedding but in the end we (as well as the guests) were happy with the hotel – especially the shuttles and the location by the mall, restaurants and of course it’s close to the reception hall we picked.

We were given one free shuttle van (seats 14 passengers) to and from the wedding per 15 booked rooms. We also got a 3 hour bar package (the bar normally closes at 11 p.m). but we had it open for 3 hours for our after party. The bartender ended up shutting down early – about 45 minutes early in fact - but I was tired after being up all day anyway and did not protest.

I ended up dealing with Jessica Pollaro just after the Christmas holiday since Cynthia was on vacation. It seems that the block agreement I had sent was lost so our rooms were not blocked nor were our suites blocked. I scanned in the new block agreement and sent it by e-mail the second time instead of faxing. It really did not cause an issue for our guests since they were still given the discount rate since our block was in the system but just with no rooms allocated. We did not end up with the suite we blocked for the wedding night but Jessica did give us the grand bridal suite for the night before the wedding and we had the staff consolidate us into another bridal suite for the night of the wedding. Jessica gave us that suite at no charge.

The guys had a lot of down time.





DH took that free time to press his tuxedo and shirt. This was after the photographer and videographer reminded him that the shirt would be hidden under the vest and jacket but DH would know it was wrinkled and it would bug him all day




DH called the front desk for the lint brush


My brother took the opportunity to take a nap


A few weeks before the wedding when our block was nearly all booked, Jessica added 10 rooms to our block so we had 40 rooms blocked for the night of the wedding and she let me know that there were more rooms available for the night before the wedding as well. We ended up with 29 rooms being booked and Jessica was kind enough to give us two shuttle vans although we were 1 room short. There was to be a letter informing guests about the shuttle (I did not do OOT baskets) and the letter was not given out. I only found out when family members that were in and out of my room the night before the wedding seemed shocked at my mention of the shuttle. I called and spoke with someone on staff and a letter was printed. The letter was already drafted and in the notes for our block since Jessica had e-mailed me the letter to review in advance. The letter was printed and given out to late arrivals and the letter was slipped under the door for those who had already checked in.

Champagne and chocolates were in our bridal suite the night of the wedding when DH and I arrived.

We would use the Wingate Inn again and our guests had no real complaints. A MOH left her Memoirs of a Geisha book in the bridal suite and never got it back. She also did not get a call back after calling the hotel and speaking with someone the morning we checked out. She bought another copy just to finish the last 50 pages of the book. DH called about some of our huggable hangers that he left in his room (that he used the night before the wedding) and he never got them back nor did anyone from the hotel follow up after he spoke with someone within a few hours of checking out. All of this is minor and would not stop us from using the Wingate again.



Two of my MOH’s stayed in the grand bridal suite with me the night before the wedding and all 3 got ready there the morning of the wedding. The bathroom is enormous and they loved it



The issues with our family were just as minor. One cousin who booked early was told there were no doubles available. She called me about it and not the hotel She told me that she booked very early. I recall her calling me about the hotel info. before we sent the invites out. The mix up may have been because the signed block agreement was misplaced/not received. I sent it again once I was back in NYC after spending the Christmas holiday in VA & GA. Nonetheless, Wingate said they would put a roll away cot in that room at no charge.

One aunt was not happy about having a handicapped accessible room. It was likely my fault since I told Jessica that my uncle booked 2 rooms (one for his sister & mom and one for him and his wife with MS). I noted that they do not normally request a handicap accessible room but his wife had a mild stroke a few weeks before the wedding and could not use her cane.



I was not sure if they would want a handicap accessible room so I just left it open to them to ask at check-in. They did not request the handicap accessible room and ended up in the standard room and my aunt by default was in the handicap accessible room. I think the hotel was full by that day and in any event my aunt complained enough that she or someone in the family finally asked that she get a different room and my grandpa (her dad) ended up in the handicapped accessible room and had no problem with it.









My daddy was waiting for me in the lobby








Hilton Garden Inn, Westbury
Although we did not get to use them I mention it because but we did take a tour and planned to use them for our guests
Hilton Garden offered us a rate of $125 and over 100 rooms were available at the time. We took a tour, took care of the block agreement and headed back to Brooklyn content with getting something done that day . We learned later that same day (via a call to my cell phone) that they could not in fact give us a rate discount code since some high school team (swim team I think) had called to block rooms (get a rate code) while we were on the hotel tour I guess I am still a bit peeved at this since the Hilton does not even block rooms – they give rate codes so it’s possible that the high school team did not even use all of those rooms.

Interestingly enough, the Wingate had a block for the same group and was still able to give us a block. Many of the students were on our floor and hanging out in the halls. As we left for the ceremony I stopped for photos for one young girl who brought along her camera.

We checked out the Fairfield Inn at 24 Oak Road as the cheaper alternative ($119 per night) but DH was not happy with it at all even though they had just finished renovations 2 weeks before we visited.

TRANSPORTATION
My car
Since we had the ceremony and reception at the same place we did not get limos. Instead, my daddy, my best friend and I just used my car. The best part about using my car and not limos is that it was FREE













PROGRAMS
DIY
I ordered the paper from paperandmore.com. I used purple pinstriped vellum with linen text weight paper. I added our monogram I did do a sample with linen cardstock but it fed through the printer very crooked so I was scared to do them using the cardstock for fear of messing up too much of the paper. I ordered enough paper to make 100 programs. We made about 95 with though since I ran out of vellum. I had used some for samples. I kept one for us







ROSE PETAL CONES
DIY
I used large doilies from Party City and cut them into quarters. They were super inexpensive to make. They were a big hit since my family and friends in VA had never seen them. I only made about 30 of them though since the label templates I made with our monogram would only print correctly once out of five tries and I got annoyed with trying to get them even once on the folded doily. I just gave up and figured only the people closet to the aisle would need cones anyway.





We also had unused favor cones and decided to fill them with some petals as well.







CRY PACKS
DIY
I totally gave up on the idea of having cry packs until I tried to make them one night and realized how simple they were to make. I had been on the verge of buying them for SIX TIMES the price to make them Thanks God for a bit of idle time

They came out great. I used vellum paper from www.paperandmore.com with two tissues in each pack plus a color printer then I got to folding. I topped them off with a clear swarovski crystal left over from my monogram cake topper project.



They were placed on some of the chairs along with petal cones and programs.


PHOTOGRAPHER
Lina Jang http://www.jangweddingphotography.com
Lina Jang Photography Business Office:
The Empire State Building
350 Fifth Ave. (btwn 33rd and 34th St)
Suite 5522 (on the 55th floor)
New York, NY 10118
Cell Phone: 917-584-8631
Office Tele: 212-868-0218
Fax: 212-868-0219
Email: photolina@hotmail.com

“Unbelievable” “Amazing” - the words guests (and coworkers of guests) have used about our professional photos I sent them a link to our preview shots. The preview photos (about 100 of them that recapped the day) were available on-line within days after the wedding We picked up the proofs about 7 weeks after the wedding.

Photos are super important to me so I searched around a lot for photographers with a style that I liked. Lina Jang is the ONLY photographer of the ones we researched that we visited in person.

We looked at so many websites for other photographers and contacted a ton. After looking at the work of all the other photographers we initially liked and comparing prices and packages, we went to see Lina Jang. A plus is her office is in Manhattan so it was like 15 minutes on the subway train to midtown from us in BK We were totally confident in her work based on the website and reviews we read but once we met her in person we were sold.

Lina is amazing and oh so friendly!! She has such a sweet spirit

All my family members and friends were amazed with the photos she took. The night of the wedding she was not only taking photos for us but for our guests with their cameras. She was so gracious when a camera was shoved in her face by our guests asking her to take the photo.

We now know how it feels to have paparazzi. Plus Lina’s and her team were three more people taking our photos


Lina does amazing work and stayed with us all day. She captured so much emotion in each shot. Lina stayed with me from the time I was under the dryer for hair at like noon until the end of the reception when most photographers leave after the cake cutting.



Lina and her team were everywhere and I only noticed her during formals and during posed shots in the ballroom when family stopped us to get pictures. I honestly did not notice O.B. Solinsky, the second photographer, or the assistant Julie (other then for formals) from the time we left the hotel and the end of the night when I was handing out tips - and that is just what I wanted. I am still amazed to look at the photos and I was there.

I had contacted other photographers and one in particular was not willing to do the formals we wanted since they are photojournalist We were fine with PJ style but still needed some formals and not just “15 minutes” as this company suggested I pictured us running all over the grounds trying to get all the formal shots done in “15 minutes”

I had so much fun doing formal pictures in advance with my family and the girls.











Not only were we joking around a lot but we stuffed our faces too I think it helped a lot with any nervousness.







I have to mention that my parents got along soooooooo amazingly well!!!! Lina was doing photos of just the two of them before the ceremony when my sister and I noticed and I commented that they were so nice to each other ---- and I mentioned they had been divorced for about 20 years. Lina apologized for having them take photos together. I was like NOOOOOO take them, take them



This may never happen again They were introduced into the party together and they sat at the same table My parents by no means hate each other but they only became cordial when DH and I started dating and they became downright friendly once DH and I got engaged. I guess the thought of splitting time with potential grandkids is in the back of their minds

DH and I decided not to see each other before the ceremony but we still wanted to get formals done with the family & bridal party in advance. The plan was to do formals separately before the ceremony and then a few more formals with the bridal party & family after the ceremony, then formals with just the two of us (for thank you photos and portraits) during cocktails which was 90 minutes. Everything else was to be PJ style shots. Lina was fine with our idea.

DH does not normally like taking photos but he seemed to enjoy being the center of attention for the day









Although we did not do the formal photos as I had planned due to time constraints beyond our control, we still ended up with 1300 photos. We are getting a 10 x 15 digital album with 60 – 70 pages and 120 – 160 photos but even with up to 160 photos in the album it will be hard to narrow down our proofs to the must have shots.

12/2006 update ****We ordered the 10 x 15 album but with 220 photos. We just could not narrow down the 1300 shots to 160

I love that Lina and her team captured our joy in each shot. Everyone that has seen her photos of the wedding made a similar statement. Our package was for 2 photographers. Photos (and video) is all we would have left to commemorate our wedding day so we took our time researching and we are thrilled with our choice.

As you can Lina Jang’s work is awesome!!!!! We totally recommend Lina Jang without hesitation. DH and the guys really enjoyed O.B. DH said that O.B. helped lighten the mood for him when DH got stressed. Julie got some fantastic shots too

Be sure to tell Lina that you saw our photos

Check out her ******** website: http://www.bellydancephotography.com

FYI – Lina’s engagement shoot is a 3 – 4 hour tour of NYC landmarks.

VIDEOGRAPHER
We saw several videographers.

I saw Timeless Treasures and enjoyed the video clips I saw which included several LIWeddings brides The price was right and Ray was really wonderful and accommodating. He’s a cutie too

I got a sample that we liked from Mittermax and contacted Travis for an appointment via e-mail. He is very creative with the editing and puts together up to 12 chapters of various sequences including a cute groom segment. I heard back from him about an appointment but by the time we heard back a few days later, we had already booked our videographer.

We went to see Duet for video and took a look at their digital albums since we were in the office in midtown. A married friend met us there to pick up something totally unrelated and took a look at the albums and video too. The price for video was super discounted in comparison to others. The editing was not what we expected so we kept looking.

In the end we picked………..
Bliss Productions
275 Hillside Avenue
Williston Park, NY 11596
Phone (516) 294-7007
E-mail: info@blissproductionsny.com

We saw Jerry first but DH wanted to keep shopping

We were going to forgo even getting a video at one point. I fell in love with Jerry’s style (and played the clips on his site ALL THE TIME) so I really wanted to use him. I was on the Bliss website at least weekly watching all the clips I really liked Jerry when we first met him. He is so sweet and very personable. After checking out other videographers, DH gave in and we went back to Bliss to book.

Another plus if you are using Lina Jang is that she and Jerry shared an office before she moved in Manhattan and they work VERY WELL together

Jerry has been doing weddings since high school (according to DH who had tons of downtime to talk) and it shows. Jerry’s work is just awesome!!! He is such a sweetheart too. My family and friends loved him and it was so easy to forget that he was there that I was half naked (putting on the dress) when a few of my friends/family ran over to the front of the bridal suite and started shielding me from the camera. Jerry brought along an assistant (cannot recall his name) and DH thought he was great too DH would not let them film him dressing though (no boxer shots). DH shut the door to the bathroom and came out partially dressed.

Jerry was with us all day and stayed until after the last dance when the lights came up

We did not pick out songs to go with each part of the video. We picked out a ton of songs we like (and sent them on a CD) and we told Jerry to use his judgment (making sure to use our wedding song).

I know the video will be fantastic I am excited to see the finished product
*****I will update this section once we get the finished video.*****

**********UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE**********
We picked up our finished DVD’s today 8/28/06. They were ready for pick up on Friday 8/25/06 but we could not get out to Long Island on Friday or on Sunday and Bliss had weddings to shoot over the weekend. We thought about 6 months from our 3/30/06 wedding date and got the DVD in 5 months instead. I think the fall couples will get video’s faster since the high summer wedding season keeps videographers so busy shooting that they cannot edit much on the weekends.

We have already watched the video twice. We watched most of it at Bliss so I guess we are up to watching it 3 times now I have played the recap (on the videographers site) about 20 times already It was like a do over Even DH got all teary again during the dove release when I surprised him with a reading to honor his deceased mom

12/2006 update **We have watched the video about 50 times now It’s just amazing.

The conversion to .mpeg from the DVD file makes it appear a bit grainy in the links I created but it’s crystal clear in person This is my first time using the service but FYI the youtube.com links work sporadically. The links are not set to private and they were uploaded a while ago. Some family members and friends have been able to view them and some not.

Opening Credits

Dating photo montage

Dancing with daddy

Wedding Recap

Honeymoon montage

I wish I could upload some of the party clips and the Soul Train line clips. They are hilarious Unfortunately, the rest of the video files are so large (547MB & three are .99GB) that I cannot upload them.

Our package included 2 videographers who were with us from preparations at the hotel until after the last dance - approximately 11 hours. We got 4 copies of the edited DVD (90+ minutes) with photo montages (dating montage and honeymoon montage), a deluxe DVD case (by Renaissance http://www.thebookalbum.com) for our DVD, photo packaging for the other 3 copies, the raw footage (2 DVD with 3+ hours of footage) with photo packaging and 5 Thank You highlight DVD’s (50+ minutes) in cardboard sleeves and organza pouches.

Finished package pictured here minus one DVD left in the player






We are thrilled with our videographer choice If you decide to get video (and you should if you have it in your budget) give Jerry at Bliss a call. We had a great time with Jerry and recommend Bliss with no hesitation

DH’s EMBROIDERED BOXERS
I ended up finding a cute idea on ebay and ordered from jlybean1

I have no idea why or how DH even knew about such a thing but he actually requested boxers for him for the wedding day with his name on them. I know, I am still in shock about it myself.

I called him to say they arrived and he said "you really found some underwear with my name on them" I guess he never had anything embroidered





BRIDAL UNDERGARMENTS
Bridal embroidered panty vulcan-moon
After DH requested embroidered boxers, I set out to find a place to buy embroidered panties. They arrived quickly and exactly as requested to match our wedding colors - lavender panty with lavender embroidery.



Bra- didn’t wear one I had a black long line bra with me that I ordered from www.flatteringme.com after having tried on a white one at Bridal Reflections during my gown search. I did not need it since I had a corset built in to my dress. I just put a bit of deodorant under my breasts (tip from our DOC) and went about the day

DH’S TUXEDO
DH saw his tuxedo at the Oheka Castle 9/15/05 bridal show. DH is impossible to shop for and basically buys clothes when he sees something he likes. He struggles to find clothes so he just buys things year round instead of trying to shop last minute. DH did not want to rent a tuxedo since this was for “HIS” wedding day and it had to be perfect and something he could keep. There were sooooo many comments about how great he looked.

We ordered from several stores since he needed new shoes, socks, a vest and cravat, a shirt and of course the tuxedo itself. We used www.buy4lesstuxedo.com (super fast shipping), www.tuxedosonline.com and www.etuxedo.com. We ordered about 4.5 weeks before the wedding . Yeah, yeah, I know the “wedding gurus” say that they are to be ordered much sooner than that but DH wanted to finish getting into “shape” before ordering his tuxedo. He called me from the gym the day he was able to squat 500+ lbs – something he had not done since he was much younger I’m sure I was stuffing my face with Coldstone cake batter ice cream that day too











DH wearing the monogrammed cufflinks I bought for him years ago for our first Valentine’s Day as a couple


It’s the Jean Yves Mirage


CRINOLINE SLIP AND HOOP skirt
www.ebay.com Ebay ID angelsbridal
The crinoline slip I bought arrived on time and as described. Cheap too I ended up selling it though since it was not as full as I wanted. I was going to get a bigger crinoline from an LIW bride – thanks neeniebean86 But my grandma and I decided that I needed a hoop skirt. An LIW Bride offered me her hoop skirt but never sent it and never responded when I asked about picking it up since we both live in Brooklyn I ended up buying the hoop skirt from the same vendor I am so curious about how they fit such huge crinolines and a 4 hoop skirt into a USPS priority mail box. I could never get that 4 hoop skirt back into the box to store it – and I tried a few times The hoop filled out the dress so much better than the crinoline. I got the hoop skirt idea from an LIW bride who posted photos of her fitting in both a crinoline slip and a hoop skirt. Thank you DayBeforeThanksgiving.

My DOC helping me get on my hoop skirt. Tip – if you plan to do big hair just know you will need to put on your slip after your dress. I did not realize this until the day of and had planned to put the dress over my head as we did in fittings I never went to a fitting in full hair (nor had I even done a trial for my wedding day hair) so it did not occur to me that I should practice putting the dress on by stepping into it.





SHOES – Coloriffic, www.Gownfind.com
Phone: (877) 744-9528
GownFind@aol.com
I got my shoes from Phyllis. I had seen them on-line (my inspiration was on a photographer’s website that I had considered) and Phyllis had the shoes for the lowest price I was able to find. I had no idea she even had those shoes. I just happened to notice that she sold Coloriffic shoes when I went to be measured for my dress. She even had some Coloriffic shoes in stock so I could try them on to get the right size.

My shoes






Spare shoes - Capezio Dance Sport ebay.com EBAY ID tntdancedesign
I was concerned about my feet aching after being in 2.5 inch heels for 8 – 10 hours so I bought some ballroom dance shoes. I had worn a very similar shoe as my wedding shoe when I was a bridesmaid in my uncle’s wedding (not Coloriffic) and they were KILLING me and my sister (also a bridesmaid) so I was really worried that my wedding shoe would ache. I had purchased my wedding shoes prior to my uncle’s wedding so it was too late to switch them out once I knew that style would potentially ache a lot.

Capezio is the brand I am familiar with and that my dancer friends wear so I bought a pair of white satin ballroom shoes with a 2.5 inch heel. My dress was huge so I was not worried about the shoes being seen under the dress – although I still bought white instead of a colored dallroom dance shoe.

I did not end up using them at all. The Coloriffic shoes were not painful in the least. They were such comfortable shoes I kept them on until like 2 a.m.

MY WEDDING GOWN
Phyllis at www.Gownfind.com aka Brides Made (per my receipt)
Phone: (877) 744-9528
GownFind@aol.com
If you look at my previous posts, I shopped for a dress for a LONG time.

I tried on all sorts of dresses from Reem Acra to Amsale to Justina McCaffrey to Kenneth Poole to Romona Keveza, Justin Alexander and others. I tried on gowns in VA with my mom, sister and oldest friend and I tried on gowns in NY with my friend and on my own. I even looked at gowns with my daddy in VA to let him be involved in the planning some too

I decided on a Spring 2005 Maggie Sottero gown – Capri - which was only available in white with blush/pink accents and I am not a pink type of woman.

Kleinfeld experience

Bridal Reflections experience

more searching

Watters & Watters idea

Red gown - considered for a split second

When I first found the Maggie

horrible experience with Lestan's - raised the price on me for the Maggie

Once I found THE WEDDING GOWN, and learned that it did not come in all white I contacted the designer to see if she would make the dress without the blush accents and she told me that she would not be customizing that dress. So, I set off on this long process to find someone to remove all the blush beading for a reasonable price (RK bridal wanted $100 per 20 beads) and I even resorted to having a similar dress made in all white. That was a disaster and I got a full refund.

I knew the exact dress I wanted to wear but since it would be such an ordeal to have it altered to my specifications, I bought a dress (Filene’s Running of the Brides sale) that I did not love. I later sold it on ebay.com at a very minimal loss (since I forgot to calculate ebay listing fees into my asking price as it was the first time I sold anything on ebay). The sale was great but I went in the mid-afternoon instead of camping out all night so the Lazaro that I found (one of the left over gowns) was too small I found a nice Romona Keveza at Filene’s that I nearly bought but it was ivory ands not white. My mom would have flipped out if I bought an ivory gown and she told me as much when we first went to look at gowns and I tried on ivory

I happened to be in RK in April or early May with my friend looking at potential dress for her and showed her the gown I wanted, which did not come in all white . I tried it on again – couldn’t resist – and noticed the tag now said white/white. I had RK confirm that the dress was in fact now available in white on white and they said yes I contacted Phyllis at gownfind (for like the millionth time since I kept changing my mind about my dress) and I went out to meet her in person for the first time. I had her again confirm that the dress would be available in white on white and I placed the order with her after she took my measurements. By waiting so long to order the dress I saved myself TONS in beading costs and a lot of stress from what I know would have given me a heart attack if removing the pink beads caused any issues.

I loved wearing my dress!!!! I never doubted my choice for a second When I went to pick it up Phyllis and I walked around her shop arm in arm so I could see how the dress would work with me and my dad.

My sister (a MOH) called when she saw the pictures I sent of my fitting to say she absolutely loved it and said I looked like I was walking on a cloud She even wanted to make my fitting photo into her wallpaper for her home computer










I was up in the bridal suite, covered in a table cloth, having some food from the cocktail hour display.

When the ceremony started I heard audible gasps “stunning” “how beautiful” and “Oh my God!” I had been hiding out until the ceremony started so only a few people had seen me in my dress.



DH had not yet seen me and this was a great moment


DH and my MOH’s had a bet about who would cry first. DH teared up a few times before and during the ceremony but nothing dropped











Family and friends are still talking about my gown One of DH’s aunts who attends a ton of weddings said it was the most gorgeous dress she has ever seen. By the time we were married the dress had been available for some time but I do not think many brides wear the gown with the hoop skirt. That made a huge difference in the look of the gown in comparison to other photos of brides I saw wearing my gown.

ALTERATIONS
Angela Gong
G & G Professional Tailoring
30 Grand Street
(between Thompson & 6th Ave)
New York, NY 10013
212.966.9813
M-F 7:30 - 7:00 pm
Sat 8:30 - 6:00 pm

Initially I planned to have Phyllis at Gownfind do my alterations but I went with Angela. I would absolutely order from Phyllis again though – she had the best price I found. I cannot recall who from LIW told me about Angela but she was listed here – http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/bony/services/2005/11361/

My dress only needed a hem & a bustle. Don’t be put off by the hole in the wall shop. Angela did a great job and she was much closer to me than hiking from downtown Brooklyn to Suffolk County to use Phyllis at Gownfind. I called Angela to get pricing and she told me $60 for a hem & bustle. This was without seeing the dress at all. In the end the price was $85 for the hem and bustle – still the cheapest price of the places I checked.

Did I mention that I LOVED wearing my dress








MY WEDDING VEIL
My amazingly talented Grandma Kitty
I had tried on a few veils at Bridal Reflections (Carle Place), Kleinfeld’s and RK bridal and they were just too pricey and NOT what I wanted. All the edging was rhinestones pre-strung and sewn to the edge or scattered crystals and I wanted Swarovski crystal edging.
My maternal grandma has been a seamstress for over 40 years and she makes wedding gowns, bridesmaids gowns (made all BM gowns for my uncle’s wedding in August 2005 along with the FG dress, ushers, vests, ties etc.) does alterations and in general can make anything.

Picture from my uncle’s wedding


I started looking for a veil about a year before the wedding.
post searching for a crystal edged veil not rhinestones

My grandma Kitty is amazing!!!!

I did not know my grandma made veils until I happened to call her to let her know I was having trouble finding an affordable Swarovski crystal edged veil. She told me she could make it and that was it for me. A free veil that I know would have been $2000+ in a bridal shop due to the hours of labor involved was a no brainer. I bought the tulle I wanted her to use and dropped it off during a trip to try on the BM dress (when I was in my uncle’s wedding) and I sent her Swarovski crystals from www.artbeads.com.

We both love purple and I had my maternal grandma put clear and purple crystals on the veil.


I had given my grandma photos of the veil I wanted and I also sat with her one night on her computer to look at photographers websites that I knew had photos of crystal edged veils. Yeah, my grandma has the internet and she even has a cell phone and she is 70+ She did an amazing job And because my grandma made the veil, I was able to customize it even more than normal. I had her use alternating clear and purple Swarovski crystals.






Grandma edged my entire veil in crystals and she individually sewed on each crystal with a back stitch in case I snagged the veil – that way a row of crystals would not fall off but only the one in the place where it snagged. I told her that this had been an issue with some of the pricey sample veils I saw. Many, if not all, were missing patches of beads. No doubt this was from constant handling by shoppers but still, for $2000 I expect each crystal to be back stitched so patches of crystals will not fall off. No matter since I did not have to worry about my veil at all

My grandma did an awesome job!!!!