Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

Hi everyone! I am sick today, so I decided to work from home and take a break to write up my review. I tried to post a few weeks ago, but something was wrong with the website and I think I lost everything I posted. My apologies if there is an incomplete review somewhere on here for my wedding.

I got married June 21, 2008 at Chateau La Mer. It was a near perfect wedding with gorgeous sunny weather. I am so glad I picked Chateau La Mer! I really wanted a beach themed wedding, but wanted to wear the big fluffy gown and was worried about the potential for bad weather. So, I picked Chateau La Mer because it is a gorgeous hall right on the bay. There is no sand, but I figured with wanting to have a really formal wedding, it was probably better not to have girls in long gowns and heels in the sand.

We looked at almost every location on the water and liked Chateau La Mer the best. The problem with a lot of the places is that they have neighbors smack up against the property. One place I went to even had a neighbor's dog run through the ceremony area while I was there. Chateau just seemed more private and more pretty. I have to say I love the chandelier in the entryway, the live palm trees, the waterfall on the outside patio, and the stained glass windows with nautical pictures.

One of the places we looked at was very pretty, but it was gold everywhere and it almost looked a little too gaudy for my taste. Some of the places we liked were on water, but it looked more like a river than the ocean, which would not have worked for our beach theme.

For those of you who are wondering they actually just remodeled the entire place at Chateau La Mer. They repainted and carpeted both ballrooms and put a new marble dance floor in the downstairs, which was just gorgeous! The paint is a creamy pale yellow with white trim and the carpet is black with small white, pink, and yellow flowers in it.

I was worried that the new look would not match with turquoise, but it looked really good! I was also worried the work would not be done in time for my wedding, but it looked fabulous and no outside construction going on during my wedding either!!! They are planning on vaulting the ceiling in the upstairs ballroom too, which will be really beautiful!

I picked the upstairs ballroom because it was about $3,000 cheaper at the time that I booked and we could not afford the downstairs even though we thought it looked prettier. Actually, I am really glad we got the upstairs room because after they painted and recarpeted it, it was beautiful and actually I feel the view is better from up there. I had a small wedding too and I think it would have looked stupid having just a few guests in the downstairs room.

Just a word of caution though. They currently do not have an elevator, so guests and vendors have to go up a spiral staircase to get to the upstairs room. It was difficult walking up the stairs in a big fluffy gown. I do not think they have many stairs, if any to get to the downstairs room, but you should double check on that if you have guests in wheelchairs or with walking difficulty.

We did get married outside on a deck in a gazebo overlooking the water. It is next to a boat dock, so we had sailboats in the background. There was some noise outside from boats and planes, but nothing too crazy. (I say this because one reception hall that we looked at actually shook when a plane would fly overhead and it was so loud you thought you were at the airport.)

Chateau La Mer imports live palmtrees during the summer, which gave it that tropical resort feel that I was looking for. They also have the option of having the ceremony indoors in case of bad weather. They have a beautiful chapel room for this purpose.

The reception is indoors and you can pick one of two indoor ballrooms. The cocktail hour is half indoors and half outdoors, which is nice in case of bad weather or if it is really hot that day and you have older guests. In my case there was a light breeze and it was in the low to mid 80s.

The only problem we had with the weather was that it was a little too sunny for our morning wedding. We decided to take pictures before the wedding, which I highly recommend. That way you can enjoy the cocktail hour and reception. We staged a reveal where my husband had his back to me out on the boat dock and I came up and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw me for the first time. It was great because it was a private moment that we shared, which was caught on film and video. Doing it this way saved time and eliminated some of the nervousness during the ceremony.

The only problem was that since we were taking pics at 10:00 a.m. when the hall opened, it got very sunny and everyone was squinting. So, the photographer decided to do the family shots indoors in the chapel room where the lighting was better. He was planning to do the outdoor pics at 12:00 noon when the cocktail hour started, but it was still way too sunny. So, he waited until after the salad was served at the reception.

The only problem with doing this was that firstly, there was another bride getting married later in the day and he had to make sure to avoid her outdoor cocktail hour and that she did not see us and secondly, everyone had already been dancing and drinking and did not look very fresh. Plus, they were ready to party and did not feel like doing pics at that point. It was a real struggle to get everyone together.

I felt bad for my bridal attendant too because I heard she got yelled at for allowing my photographer to take outdoor pics right after the other bride's cocktail hour was over. I guess they were concerned that the two brides would cross paths. I never saw the other bride except when I came down the stairs and saw into her ballroom. Hey, it did not bother me. I was wondering who my RH twin was. She never posted on LIWeddings to my knowledge.

So, we did morning pics in the chapel room out of view of the incoming guests, which was great. My wedding was at 11:30 a.m., but on the invites I put 11:15 a.m. I figured I did not want people there before 11:00 a.m. because nothing would be ready, but I also did not want people arriving just as I was walking down the aisle.

The hall and the florist took care of all my decorations and they did a gorgeous job!!! I was really happy with the way things looked. They also brought me into the room to ask for my approval before the guests came in, which was great! I was really worried they would get it wrong and I would be disappointed when I walked in.

The great thing is that the Thursday before the wedding, we had an appointment with the hall and were able to meet with management to drop off all decorations and tell them where we wanted everything. I recommend making a list of what you are bringing and a diagram of where you want it to go.

We did an ocean theme and my colors were turquoise and pearl. I had a lot of trouble finding table linens and ended up not using them. I contacted two different companies that both had turquoise overlays and chair bows and had reasonable prices. I ended up not using special linens at all because the companies I dealt with had such poor customer service and I was worried they would get my order wrong.

Instead of a turquoise overlay I ended up buying turquoise smooth glass beads at the craft store and had the hall sprinkle them over the white table cloth to give it some blue. Chateau La Mer has beautiful linens and chairs anyway, so you really do not need to waste money on renting linens.

Now for my flowers, I used April Flowers in Lindenhurst. They were absolutely AWESOME!!! I cannot say enough good things about the florist! We got centerpieces for all the reception tables, flowers for the bridal party, and ceremony flowers all for $1,500!!!!

My husband and I had gone to several flower shops in the area. One shop was very expensive and the man told me that the flowers I wanted looked like funeral arrangements and that I would never find what I wanted in my $1,500 price range. Boy was he rude and boy was he wrong!!!!

Do not get swindled by cookie cutter florists who want to do the same thing for every wedding and charge you a fortune!!! This place was a small mom and pop shop and they had the best ideas of all the florists we went to and the cheapest prices! They really got my vision for the day!

I had asked for white starfish and shells to be in the arrangements. They covered them in glitter and they looked amazing! Also, we used all white flowers, roses and some tropical looking flowers and they sprayed glitter on those as well and tipped the tops of the roses in a turquoise paint. They were absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, I was so impressed because the owner delivered the flowers directly to my room at the hotel on the day of the wedding, so I could approve of them before they left. They even brought water vases that my girls could put their flowers in to keep them fresh until the ceremony. My only problem with the flowers was that a flower or two fell out of my bouquet, but I just popped it right back in and it was fine.

We used the flowers with the seashells in the center of the reception tables, had white sandcastle candle holders from Party Lite Candles on either end of the tables, since they are long tables at Chateau La Mer. Then we had the blue glass beads sprinkled in between the flowers and sandcastles kind of like a runner down the middle of the table. We also threw some white glittery shells on the tables. It looked so beautiful!

We bought the shells from a seashell shop in Delaware that we found online. Even with the glass beads, seashells, and sandcastle candle holders, we still spent less money than if we would have bought table linens and it looked amazing!!!

We thought it would be neat if we named our tables after tropical islands, so we found this company that for about $50-$60 printed up gorgeous table name cards for us with turquoise seahorses and our names. I highly recommend them! It is a lot of money to get them to print escort cards, but if you just need table cards, it gives a really nice professional touch to the tables and it is something unique.

O.K. I am writing a lot today and do not want to lose it all again, so I will post this and then come back on.

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

Thank you for a GREAT review! Congratulations!

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

O.K. That worked! Yay! I'm back!

So anyway, I really recommend going to this company's website, www.documentsanddesigns.com to get table names and numbers designed by a graphic artist!

Also, we had the flower girl sprinkle freeze dried rose petals on the aisle and had the guests throw freeze dried petals at us as we exited the ceremony. This made for a really neat picture! We did not get the petals from our florist because they use second quality petals and I wanted nicer petals even though I was stepping on them.

Originally, I wanted to get a custom designed aisle runner with our initials and a big seahorse on it, but the staff at Chateau talked me out of it. They have a white all weather runner that they use. Plus, you are outside there and if it rains it could ruin your runner and what are you going to do with it afterwards? It will be torn up from walking on it. I think if I did a church wedding I would get one, but it was not worth it for the outdoor wedding when the hall provides one.

Going back to the rose petals, fresh rose petals are expensive and do not hold up well. Freeze dried are better than silk because they are natural. You do not need to worry if they fall into the ocean. I researched some companies online and we got our petals from Flyboy Naturals. We got organza petal bags from Petal Garden, another online company. They were way cheaper than going to AC Moore or Michaels.

As I said before, we put glittery shells on the tables and we found those at www.seashellcity.com. They have really pretty shells. We did spend about $200 on shells, but found out we kind of over ordered and did not need so many. I would also recommend buying a glitter spray at a craft store and spraying them yourself or having your florist do this as it is a lot cheaper than buying shells that already have the glitter on them.

Since we did an ocean theme I got a white treasure chest card box. For the flower girl basket, ring bearer pillow, toasting flutes, cake serving set, guest book and pen, and garter I got a set called the Beach Wedding Bridal Collection. Everything is white with starfish on it covered in diamond dust and swarovski crystals.

Even though I wanted a beach wedding I wanted it to be more formal and less on the cheesy side, so I thought that set was the prettiest for my theme. I found it online. You can save money if you shop around for this set and try Froogle or the Google Product Search.

For my other decorations for the cake table and where the guest book was, I used more of the turquoise glass stones sprinkled around. I also found some neat white candle holders at Target. They had a seashell, sea urchin, and coral and you put tealights in them.

For my cake I used Black Forest Bakery and they did an amazing job!!! I gave them a picture of how I wanted my cake to look, which I highly recommend and they copied it exactly right. I had a white cake with white chocolate shells, starfish, and seahorses all over it. Instead of a topper, I had a giant clam shell with more little shells inside it kind of piled up and around it. Then I had bought a cute porcelain bride and groom topper and had the hall put it at the bottom of the cake instead and put starfish tealight candle holders around the bottom.

The cake was also delicious! I choose banana creme and vanilla mousse for my two flavors. They alternated these two flavors within each individual slice of cake. At the end of the night Chateau La Mer boxed up the top layer of cake for us to freeze and have on our first anniversary. Since we live in Pennsylvania, the cake accidentally flipped over in our car, so we decided to eat it now instead of waiting. Freezer burn does not taste good anyway!!

I was very upset when I tasted the top layer, which was supposed to be key lime, and found it was banana like the rest of the cake. Other than that though, I have to say Black Forest did a really good job! They called me when they could not find the topper I wanted and had tried every place imaginable and what I wanted did not exist. They were very concerned that I was not disappointed with the cake and I have to say it was a breathtaking cake.

For those of you who are having your wedding at Chateau, they no longer use Black Forest. They use Campbell's Bakery instead. I am not sure how Campbell's Bakery is. I know they have good pastries and cookies, but never tried a cake from there. If you want Black Forest or another bakery, I do not think Chateau will have a problem with that; however, you may get charged a cake cutting fee. Check into it. If they promised you Black Forest when you booked, I would demand it unless you are o.k. with Campbell's.

The cake table at Chateau is beautiful. It is wooden and has flowers and bows carved into it, but it did not match my theme. They were able to put a white table cloth over it and I gave them some turquoise silk flower petals that I got at Michaels and sprinkled those on the tablecloth to give it some blue color.

For my programs, I found a bride and groom walking along the beach and the groom is holding the bride in his arms in her big fluffy dress. There is a Bible verse on there that says, 'Love Extravagantly'. I found these online, but it was actually cheaper to buy them at a local craft store.

I wanted to do a petal toss, but I also really wanted bubbles, so I ended up having my fiance's cousin's little boy pass out the petals in the organza bags and tell everyone when to throw them. He gave them out along with the programs as the guests entered the ceremony site. My cousin was helping with the programs, so she could assist the little boy if necessary. She was also asking people to sign the guest book. I did not have time to do a verse about what to do with the petals on each individual bag, so I put a cute verse in the programs instead telling guests when to throw them.

I did the bubbles thinking guests could blow them as we exited the reception, but by that time most guests had left since a lot of them came from other states. So, that was probably a waste of money; however, we sat one at each place setting on the table, so guests got to take them home as an additional favor and it added blue color to the white tablecloths. You can get bubbles for pretty cheap and then we went to craft stores for decorations for them.

I got turqoise ribbon with my husband and my name and wedding date in silver. We wrapped turquoise tulle around the pearlized bubbles, then did a bow with the ribbon and hot glued a small brown and white seashell in the middle of the bow.

For the programs and the bubbles we needed a way to display them, so we decided to buy white baskets at a craft store. My mom got some gorgeouse turquoise, white, and pearl sparkly ribbon and made bows for the baskets using her Bowdabra machine. Then she hot glued sparkly white starfish to them. They looked gorgeous!!!

For my favor I decided to do something beachy that guests could take home that could also be used as an escort card holder. So, I got white adirondack chairs that contain little tealights. I did not light the tealights in the chairs. The chairs were made of plastic, but it looks like wood. They have a slot in the top where I was able to slip everyone's name and table name.

You can get these with your name and wedding date printed on the back of the chair. That is what I thought I was getting, but when they came they had punch out tags with our name and date that we had to tie around the arm of the chair. They were cute tags, but not what we expected so be aware if you order these off of the internet.

We needed a neat way to display the Adirondack chairs, so my dad and I went to Home Depot and got some wood and he built a small sandbox. We painted it turquoise and put sand in it. Then we lined up the chairs in rows and sprinkled small shells around them. It looked really cool! Getting something that large and cumbersome to the hall proved to be difficult, but somehow we managed it. We also had to make sure it was the right dimensions to fit on their tables.

My mom and I did up a bathroom basket for the women's restroom. It was a white basket with turquoise bows and glittery starfish hot glued to it. Inside were tissues, clear nailpolish, nail file, tampons, pads, panty liners, pain reliever, a small bottle of cologne, spray on deodorant, bandaids, etc. I think there was more in there, but I cannot remember what.

We did not do a guy's basket because we asked the hall and they said they really do not have a counter in there. I also thought since the women's restroom has a restroom attendant that they would have something like this already, but they didn't.

What is the restroom attendant supposed to do anyway? My guests said she did not turn on the water for them, offer them a towel, or offer them anything in my basket, which kind of made me mad. Also, my guests did not realize that I had done up the basket, so if they did not have money to tip the restroom attendant they felt wierd helping themselves to the basket.

Also, we somehow forgot the basket when cleaning up after the wedding. We called the next day and they did not have it. I was kind of upset because they said they probably threw it away. I think probably that restroom attendant took it home with her. It had some nice stuff in it!

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

My review continues...

I should back track and talk about my hair and makeup people. I hired Jill Harth to do my makeup. She has her own makeup line, which is worn by many well known celebrities. She was absolutely fantastic!!! I just love her!! She is the sweetest most upbeat person and did an amazing job on my makeup!

The makeup looked great and stayed put all day! The colors really made me look good and were very complementary to my skin tone, type, and coloring. I also have problems with eye allergies and the makeup seemed very pure and I did not have any problems with red eyes that day. She was also very careful not to use contaminated or germy makeup. All applicators were clean. She is also very gentle and really takes her time to make sure it looks right. She makes sure that you are done in time though, so you are not late for the ceremony.

Jill does a consultation with you months prior to the wedding and will keep trying colors until she gets something that you like. I liked what she put on me first, so I would say she is pretty good at knowing what looks right on people, but will work with you if you are not immediately happy.

I also like Jill because she is able to do the fake eyelashes and the airbrush makeup, which gives you the flawless finish. She has assistants that she can bring along if you have a large bridal party. I got her to do my mom, me, and all the bridesmaids. Everyone looked fantastic!

One of the best things is that since Jill has her own makeup line, she gives the bride a brand new set of all the makeup she used on her for the wedding, so that you can do touchups throughout the day. Jill also gave lipsticks to all my bridesmaids for touchups. All of this was included.

Jill can be a little pricey compared to what you might pay at your local salon, but I totally think she was worth it! I mean, this is your wedding day and a lot of girls plan everything down to the last detail, but forget their hair and makeup. Although her prices were a little more than what I would pay in Pennsylvania, I have to say that she was much cheaper than I thought she would be due to the quality of her work and the type of clientele that she has. (She takes credit cards too!)

Jill also will come to you on your special day, so you do not have to worry about driving anywhere. She was at my hotel around 5:30 a.m.!!! She is very professional and will make you feel beautiful with her upbeat attitude!!! I highly recommend Jill Harth!!!

As for Roseanna Amador at COSMO NY, she is so very talented at doing hair!!! This lady is absolutely amazing! When she was done with me I looked like a fairy princess. She is very professional and sweet and will come right to you on your big day. She also does a consultation. Like Jill, she does charge for a consultation, but I can see why because she really takes her time to make sure you get what you want.

Roseanna can do almost any style you can dream up because she has her own line of hair extensions! I was so excited because I was growing out my hair for the wedding, but it just was not quite there yet. With the extensions I was able to have my dream hair do on my wedding day! Plus, I got to keep the extensions! She got a pair of extensions for me that matched my natural color so perfectly that you could not tell it was not my real hair.

Roseanna has assistants, so she is able to do larger bridal parties, moms, etc. Both Jill and Roseanna always make sure the bride is done first and they do the bride themselves. They are very quick and good at what they do, so you will be done in time. No worries!

Roseanna was featured on Regis and Kelly and has also been in many bridal magazines, which is what really impressed me! I love it that she gives the bride a cute emergency kit to take on the day of the wedding with a nail file, lotion, chalk for dress stains, a needle to help latch your gown in the back, a sewing kit, a gadget to scratch the bottom of your shoes so you do not trip, bobby bins, hairspray, etc.

Roseanna will even come and do touchups or switch your veil/tiara for an extra charge, but she was honest enough to tell me that I did not need this and my bridal attendant at the hall should be able to do it for me.

Roseanna charges very reasonable prices, but if you get into the extensions it can go up quickly. Still, for the quality of her work, she is very worth it!! Just remember you get to keep the extensions! If you are going to splurge anywhere, splurge on the extensions! You will look and feel like a princess!

It was so worth it to have these ladies when my groom saw me for the first time and said, 'You look soooooooooo beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' You could tell I took his breath away and I could not have done that on my own. He was so not expecting the hair extensions, fake eyelashes, and airbrush makeup and he absolutely loved it!!!!

One word about hair and makeup. I got dressed for my wedding at a hotel and luckily I had a suite with two rooms. All the girls rotated coming to my suite to have hair and makeup done. The professional blow dryers that were used were too much for the outlets and we actually lost power the morning of the wedding!!! I started to panic, but luckily we tried some other outlets and they worked. The hotel also offered to switch us to another room, but by that time we were fine with using the second room in the suite. Just something that could go wrong that you do not expect.

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

O.K. I have a lot more to talk about, but am not feeling well today, so more about my awesome vendors later. Plus, I am still waiting on my video and my pics, so I definitely need to add them on when they arrive. Thanks to all you ladies who read my long review already!!!

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

great review- Ive been checking for the updates all day. can't wait to see photos!!!

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

great review! id love to see pics - i am using roesanna for my hair too! im also thinking about checking out jill for makeup - do u have any trial pics or wedding day pics of your makeup?

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

congrats!!!

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

I'm back!! Thanks all for the congratulations! I need to mention my totally ROCKIN entertainment!!! I had Phil Vollaro from After Hours Music and Entertainment. Phil is the owner of the company and he was my Emcee for my wedding. We got a package that included a DJ to spin the tunes, an Emcee to make announcements and get the crowd going, a two man steel drum band, and a wedding singer.

Phil was absolutely phenomenal! He is probably the best vendor we had and the most important because he kept the party going. We were concerned that since we were having a morning wedding, nobody was going to dance. Well, Phil made sure people got out there and had a good time even in broad daylight!!! He also was honest enough to tell me I did not need to spend money on fancy light shows because they would not show up with the windows and curtains being so open at Chateau La Mer.

We picked Phil because he made us feel really comfortable. He seemed similar in personality to Fred and me. We thought our guests would really relate well to him. As an Emcee he was awesome! I gave him a list of what announcements needed to be made and he delivered them beautifully.

I am not sure what DJ Phil brought along, but I have to say he has a team of people he works with and from viewing tapes of all of them, they are all outstanding no matter who you get!!! I had given Phil a very extensive list of songs to choose from because I can be kind of picky about my music. He was really good at sticking to my list, but picking songs I liked that people could dance to and mixing it up enough to please all the generations that were there. He really does whatever the bride wants.

I would highly recommend giving your DJ a list of all your special music and putting all the special songs on a CD in order and labeled. That seemed to make things run a lot smoother and your DJ will appreciate it. We did this in advance of the wedding day. Also, give your DJ an idea of the type of music you want and what you definitely do not want. You may not want to do an entire list like me, but at least let him know that you really hate rap and country, but love 80s and club music or whatever. That way you will be very happy with the music on your wedding day. Phil is also very willing to make song suggestions if you have no idea what to use for your ceremony or reception music. He has good taste too!

The one thing that impressed me about Phil is his ability to improvise. I had given him music to play as people were being seated. I timed the music and had it down to half an hour before I walked down the aisle. The problem with doing this is that by the time everyone gets lined up and ready to walk down the aisle, it may be 5-15 minutes later than what you anticipated and your music will run out.

So, Phil improvised. He brought along his own background music and just started playing that when mine ended. Also, I found out that the Wedding March is a really short song and at Chateau La Mer the aisle is extra long and winds around, so my song ended when I was not even close to getting to the gazebo!!!! No worries! Phil was able to keep playing the Wedding March over and over until I got there.

One thing that we did that made our party unique and added to the theme was to hire a two man steel drum band through After Hours. They did a totally awesome job and it really added to the tropical beach feel of the wedding! Plus, I was able to pick the songs they played as well. They dressed in Hawaiian shirts and really looked the part. We had them play outside on the deck overlooking the Bay during the cocktail hour.

Additionally, we decided it would be fun to hire a wedding singer to entertain our guests while they were eating the dinner courses. So, we got Charlie Grange through After Hours and he coordinated very nicely with our DJ/Emcee.

All I can say is WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooo glad we hired Charlie! He has such an amazing voice that at first when he started to sing nobody looked at him because they thought he was a recording! Charlie did all the standards like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, etc. He really interacted with our guests, which I was not expecting, but the guests LOVED IT!!!

He culminated his performance by having everyone stand up in a circle and sing New York, New York along with him. It was an amazing moment that I will never forget and it turned into an awesome video opportunity.

Fred and I thought about hiring a band, but they were really expensive and we like to hear the original songs by the original artists. So, we compromised and got the wedding singer and steel drum band. They were much less expensive and still added a touch of uniqueness to our wedding. Our guests really liked the variety! Also, I really looked at a lot of musicians and found out it is cheapest and easiest to hire them all through the same company.

We decided to get the package where the Emcee hands out leighs (did I spell that right?) to everyone, beach hats, maracas, etc. That was really fun. Phil brought out his limbo stick and we had a great time!

Also, Phil is able to play your ceremony music. He also can provide a microphone for the groom, so everyone can hear the vows. I know Fred had his on, but for some reason people said they could not hear us. I think we may have had some wind interference though.

If you are looking for an awesome party customized to your tastes, definitely hire Phil Vollaro and you will be a very happy bride!!!!

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

congrats to you and DH!!! You had a beautiful day. Sunny, but beautiful. We had the same problem taking pictures that day.

i was at the other wedding the same day as yours. It's FH's cousin. I saw you and your girls walking up and down the stairs. I've already apologized to your mom for not coming up to say hello! and no, his cousin was not an LIW bride.

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

That was an excellent review. Thank you so much!!! I am so happy your day turned out perfect.

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

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Posted by bigrd37

congrats to you and DH!!! You had a beautiful day. Sunny, but beautiful. We had the same problem taking pictures that day.

i was at the other wedding the same day as yours. It's FH's cousin. I saw you and your girls walking up and down the stairs. I've already apologized to your mom for not coming up to say hello! and no, his cousin was not an LIW bride.

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Tell the other Bride I said Congratulations!!!! She looked beautiful and her wedding was HUGE!!! It looked like a lot of fun!!! Aww...too bad you could not come up to say hi. It was so wierd how fast the day went. Everytime I wanted to dance I got called to take pictures and everytime I wanted to eat I got called to the dance floor. I kept trying to enjoy myself, but its tough when your are the hostess. Anyway, I am sure you had a fabulous time. Her wedding looked awesome! Good luck and thanks for saying something! I was wondering who my RH twin was all this time.

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

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Posted by 2007 Crescent Bride

That was an excellent review. Thank you so much!!! I am so happy your day turned out perfect.

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Thanks so much! I will be posting pics and video soon and have much to add.

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

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Posted by beachprincess

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Posted by bigrd37

congrats to you and DH!!! You had a beautiful day. Sunny, but beautiful. We had the same problem taking pictures that day.

i was at the other wedding the same day as yours. It's FH's cousin. I saw you and your girls walking up and down the stairs. I've already apologized to your mom for not coming up to say hello! and no, his cousin was not an LIW bride.

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Tell the other Bride I said Congratulations!!!! She looked beautiful and her wedding was HUGE!!! It looked like a lot of fun!!! Aww...too bad you could not come up to say hi. It was so wierd how fast the day went. Everytime I wanted to dance I got called to take pictures and everytime I wanted to eat I got called to the dance floor. I kept trying to enjoy myself, but its tough when your are the hostess. Anyway, I am sure you had a fabulous time. Her wedding looked awesome! Good luck and thanks for saying something! I was wondering who my RH twin was all this time.

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Yes her wedding was big! That's how my wedding will be since it's the same family! lol...it was fun, but i'm sure yours was just as much fun! i know it must have been hard running around saying hello to everyone and trying to enjoy yourself. i'm dreading that fact. i really want to be able to eat a little and enjoy the dance floor without being pulled in 100 directions! congrats again!

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

congrats! Great review you are writing!

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

Congrats!!!! Thanks for this wonderful review and I can't wait for the rest of it!

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

I can't wait either, to see the rest of your review Debi!!!!!!! Love, Mom

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

Why didn't you get the cake from CLM? Are they that bad? This isnt the first I've heard that people arent taking their cakes even if they come with the package deal.

Let me know. FM me if you prefer.

Thanks

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

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Posted by JoannaLisa

Why didn't you get the cake from CLM? Are they that bad? This isnt the first I've heard that people arent taking their cakes even if they come with the package deal.

Let me know. FM me if you prefer.

Thanks

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Hi, Joanna!!! debis and donnasmom here!!! Debi and Fred booked CLM early on, and at that time, Black Forest was their bakery. Debi liked BF, and CLM said it was ok, because Black Forest was the bakery at the time Debi and Fred booked CLM. I'll alert Debi to your post in case she has anything to add. Mary MOB

Re: Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

Thanks for the detailed review & congrats!