My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Reading all of the reviews from past brides has helped me SO much in my wedding planning, so I only thought it fair to add my own after my wedding. Without LIW I wouldn’t have found half of my vendors, or have gotten such great ideas, or have met such amazing people… so thank you LIW!

This review got VERY LONG so I won’t be insulted if you just look at the pics.

My Shower: Soundview at Glen Cove Golf Course – A++
My mom and my bridal party did a great job of planning my shower. The room we had it in was beautiful and overlooked the whole golf course. The food and cake were really good too! I couldn’t have asked for a better shower.




The Rehearsal Dinner – Mill Creek Tavern, Bayville – A++
This restaurant is kind of out of the way since it’s up in Bayville, but since that’s where our church is it made sense to have it there. It’s owned by the same people who own Mim’s so the menus are very similar. We got a great price, had a private room in the back and all of the food was DELICIOUS!! And the owner even came out when we were doing the gifts and gave us a $100 gift card! I thought that was so sweet. I def recommend them if you’re ever up in the Bayville area.




My dress: Private Label #1226 – A+++
The store: The Wedding Plaza, Floral Park - C
I went to 6 or 7 bridal stores before I finally found my dress, but it was at RK Bridal in the city. I had another contender at The Wedding Plaza so I went back there to decide between the two. I decided I liked the one at RK Bridal better, but the Wedding Plaza said they could match the price, so at least I didn’t have to keep going back and forth to the city. I was sold.

When my dress came in I was so excited to see it – until I tried it on and noticed it was short! Not ridiculously short, but short enough that I def couldn’t wear any big heels with it. Even the seamstress asked me who measured me. That wasn’t a HUGE deal, but kind of limited my shoe selection. And then when I went for my fitting, I couldn’t get the bustle I wanted bc it was too short for that too. So that was kind of annoying.

All of the staff there were very nice, but I always had to wait when I went there, even when I had an appointment. The seamstresses were nice and did a good job with the alterations, even though I think they sold me a bra that was unnecessary and didn’t sew it in to the dress. They offered to steam my veil too while they were doing my dress – but then BURNED A HOLE IN IT!

I was upset, but since I’d gotten my first veil for pretty cheap I wasn’t devastated (but what if it had been borrowed from my mom or a friend or something?!?) They did replace it for me, and although it didn’t come in until 3 days before the wedding it was really beautiful so I guess I can’t complain too much.

(You can see my shoes in this pic just bc of the way I was standing.)






BM dresses: Impressions #1635 in Midnight/Fuchsia - A++
The store: The Wedding Plaza, Floral Park – A
I ordered my BM dresses through the Wedding Plaza too and I really have no complaints in this department. The girls were all measured really well; 2 didn’t need any alterations at all and 2 only needed minor changes. Only 1 girl had to have a bunch of things fixed.

We did navy dresses with a fuchsia sash and I LOVE the way they looked. My sister had a white sash since she was the MOH. All of the girls were really happy with their dresses – one of them has already worn it again to another wedding!




Tuxes: Bonaventure Tuxedo, Garden City – A+
Everyone was so helpful and we had zero problems with tuxes. They do all the alterations there, so that was a big help. The tux prices were the best of anywhere we went AND we got two free on top of that!




Engagement/Wedding Bands: Marvin with Brett Harrison Jewelers – A+
FH did an AMAZING job and got me the perfect ring… I couldn’t have picked a better one myself. And it was appraised at $3k more than what he paid for it! Our bands were exactly what we wanted too, and WAY less than we thought they’d be.


DOJ: WhiteAisle.Com and Brett Harrison Jewelers – A+++
DH surprised me and got me a BEAUTIFUL diamond bracelet to wear for the wedding so I wouldn’t have to borrow my mom’s. I loved it but then felt guilty he spent so much money, so I went the cheap route and got fake earrings from whiteaisle.com. They matched really well! My hair was covering my ears the whole night so you never even really saw them anyway.

Invites: She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, Even * - A+
Although she’s not an LIW vendor I never would have found her without this site. I knew I really wanted pocketfolds but they were way more than I wanted to spend, so instead I had the next best thing: the organization of the pocketfold without the price tag!

I was probably one of the brides that she hated since I’m so indecisive, but I loved the final product! We got so many compliments from people who said that they’ve never gotten an invite like that before.


I won table numbers and place cards from her too and since they were free I wasn’t expecting much, but they were perfect and exactly what I wanted.


Weather: A+
Every day, up to and including the morning of the wedding the forecast said thunderstorms from 4pm – 8pm, exactly the time I did NOT need it to rain! I was freaking out bc we were taking all of our pics at the Swan Club and didn’t have a backup plan. It ended up being a beautiful day, like 82* and sunny. As we left the church for a few minutes it looked like it might rain, but by the time we got to the SC it was nothing but blue skies.

I love this pic my dad took – I’m staring at the sky bc I was sure it was about to pour!


Church: St. Gertrude’s, Bayville. Before Wedding: D, Day Of: A
Dealing with the church was one of my biggest headaches when planning the wedding. Basically at one point they had our wedding date scratched out in their appointment book; it took me 10 phone calls to get in touch with the woman who schedules rehearsals and then she was on vacation the week of our wedding anyway. Also the priest that we originally met with left the parish, so we had a brand new priest.

But the day of the wedding the doors were unlocked, the AC was on, Father Brigandi did a short but sweet ceremony and it was perfect. The outside of the church was just re-done about a month before the wedding too.






Reception: Swan Club, Roslyn (Camelot Room) – A+
We had gone to 6 different reception halls and when DH and I walked in to the Swan Club we loved it. As we walked around I didn’t want to get my hopes too high because I was afraid it was out of our price range, but we were SO excited when we saw the prices that FH actually kicked me under the table! We loved everything about it, and every time we went back everyone working there was SO nice and friendly.

We got lucky and had a beautiful day, so we were able to use the grounds for pictures. We won a platinum package upgrade at one of their showcases (good for 100 people) so we took full advantage of it – and the seafood boat was a GIANT hit! Everyone couldn’t stop talking about it. I barely ate anything that night but everyone assured me that the rest of the food was good too.

I loved the Viennese hour and our cake was beautiful! Pretty much all I told them was that I wanted it to be round with our flowers on it, and it came out amazing. Our bridal attendant (I’m a horrible person and I forget her name) was great too.

I feel like I have to mention this even though it didn’t really affect us THAT much, and it was handled the best way possible. While we were taking pictures, a woman drove into a telephone pole right outside the entrance to the Swan Club.

The good part: The road was blocked off, and IMMEDIATELY staff from the Swan Club were on the computer printing out an alternate route and stood outside handing it out to all of our guests that were detoured. Someone told me that it was actually one of the owners who was standing outside!

The bad part: It knocked out the AC in the cocktail hour room. We were very lucky that it wasn’t a super hot day, but it was definitely warm in there. I know SC obviously couldn’t have done anything about the accident, but I thought that’s what the backup generators were for? But I would still 100% recommend the SC, they were great.








Hair and Makeup: Bridal Touch by Elena – A+
Elena was awesome. She got to my house early and brought a ton of stuff with her – we had a mini-salon in our living room! She did the hair and makeup for me and 2 of my BMs and everyone looked great. One of my BMs wasn’t sure if she liked her hair at first, so Elena re-did it for her, and another one of my BMs got her hair done somewhere else but by the time she got to my house it had lost its curl, so Elena re-did hers too!

After crying at the church and taking pics outside in the July heat, my makeup last ALL day and night! I normally get super shiny and have to re-apply makeup every few hours, so I was amazed at how long it lasted. I would def recommend airbrush makeup and especially Elena!






Photographer: Creative Compositions, Oyster Bay A++++
When we first went to see Creative Compositions we knew they were probably out of our budget, but we’ve had family portraits taken there before so we knew they were good. I fell in LOVE with their slide show, but they were definitely out of our budget. My mom loved them just as much as us though, so she paid for it as our wedding present.

We took our engagement pics with David and really liked them – and he was super nice. It was great that we got to work with him so we already knew him before the wedding.

For the day of the wedding we had David, Jovanna and their assistant. They were so much fun to work with and I am IN LOVE with our proofs – I narrowed it down to 200 and it’s going to be so hard to pick 60 for our album!



















Video: Halo - A
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend the extra $ on video, so we went looking for one of the cheapest packages possible. I’m SO glad we did though bc it went by so fast and I feel like there’s so much we missed!

Our video was great; all of the moments that I couldn’t wait to see were captured. And it was long – about two and a half hours worth! I was very happy with everything.

Flowers: Pedestals, New Hyde Park - B
We worked with Robert at Pedestals. He was really nice… my only issue with them was that we met them about a year before the wedding when we still didn’t know what our wedding colors were going to be, so we just settled on blue and yellow for flowers. When the wedding was like 3 months away, I called them to schedule an appointment to talk about our colors since they’d changed to fuschia and navy, but was told that they will make you a sample, they don’t meet just to discuss colors. I thought that was weird, but told them about the color change and then left a message telling them again. Well… we walked in to see the sample and it was blue and yellow. They fixed it right away though, and called to confirm everything twice after that.

The flowers for the wedding were beautiful, though not exactly what I had envisioned. Most of that is my fault though; I should have been pickier when I saw my sample CPs. I did love all of the bo-ks. (see above SC pics for CP pic) Also, originally in our contract we were supposed to have orchids in both the bo-ks and CPs, which I know are more expensive than roses. Somehow along the way the orchids were taken out (bad on my part for not realizing sooner) but I think that should have been reflected in the price somehow.





DJ: Music Machine - A
I was a little worried about the DJ since they were friends of FH’s and I didn’t really see them “in action” at all before the wedding, so I had no idea what to expect. The dance floor was PACKED from the first song to the last and everyone had a great time. My only complaint is that they didn’t play a few songs on my “Must Play” list, but since everyone was dancing the whole time I guess it didn’t matter too much.

The music also stopped in the middle of a song at one point and it was my worst nightmare coming true. But because of the power issues from the earlier accident, there was no backup power for them. Luckily it was fixed within a minute or two but it was the longest 2 mins of my life!




Limos: Camelot, New Hyde Park
Limos: A+; Shuttles: D?
We got the Rolls and the 14 passenger Navigator. Both drivers were SO nice, and got to us a half hour early. The cars were clean and well taken care of. Nothing but good things to say about the limos!

The shuttles were another story. I’m not really sure if this was Camelot’s fault, the Swan Club’s fault, or just a bad coincidence. Basically, there was another wedding going on at the Swan Club that also used Camelot and was ALSO staying at the Glen Cove Mansion. The shuttles were both at the Swan Club on time, and the other wedding ended a few minutes before ours. The other wedding was directed to get in to BOTH shuttles, but then refused to get out when we came out! One van was full, but the limo only had the bride and groom in it. They still refused to get out. So the shuttles had to go all the way to the Glen Cove Mansion and then come back to pick us up. We had to wait in the parking lot for almost 45 mins. That kind of put a damper on everyone’s good mood, even though we did have a dance party in the parking lot.

There wasn’t any real resolution – Camelot blamed the Swan Club for putting people in both limos, but shouldn’t the drivers have been more assertive and said no, I’m only supposed to take people from X party? And shouldn’t the other party not have been a$$holes and gotten out of OUR limo??

Just kind of ended the night on a sour note since the hotel bar was only open until 2am and by the time we got back to the hotel it was like 1:30.


Favors: BeSpoke Chocolates, Brooklyn – A+
http://www.bespokechocolates.com/index.php
We knew we wanted to do something edible but weren’t sure what until my MIL suggested BeSpoke. One bite of their Pretzel-Covered Sea-Salted Caramels and we were sold! It was more money than we’d originally planned on spending but they were SO good – we did one Caramel and one Columbian Dark Chocolate Truffle.

Everyone loved them – people were eating them in the middle of the reception!


DIY: Me and FH! A+
I am realllllly not a crafty person, but I hated spending money on things that I knew I SHOULD be able to handle myself. I designed all of the things myself (except for the logo, which I got from FTMB thanks to BeLissa) and then we printed and cut everything out.

Programs:


Our Menus:


Photo Cards:


Bridal Party Gifts:
Our bridal party was all either family or friends we’ve known for 10+ years. The BMs all got Coach wristlets, (I was SO EXCITED when I saw them – they matched perfectly AND were on sale!) their DOJ (SIL used to work for Tiffany’s and makes amazing jewelry, so she made it even though she was a BM ) and a gift card to use for their hair/nails.




We got all of the GM matching Kenneth Cole watches from Macy’s, and DH decided to get a matching one too. We took full advantage of the discount on bridal attendant gifts, and opened a CC so we saved even more.


Hotel: Glen Cove Mansion: A+
The rooms were great, we got an amazing rate ($159 a night, normally around $250) and the hotel bar was fun even though it closed at 2am while it was still packed. The breakfast buffet in the morning was delicious!!

Honeymoon: Sandals Grande, St. Lucia A+++
I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about St. Lucia, but I have to say that DH and I had the best time ever. It was our first “real” vacation together and we loved every minute of it. The food was good, not amazing but we had a lot of really good meals. The water is SO blue, there are a lot of things to do (although a little $$) and I would def recommend it to others. I did get sick our last day there and it lasted like a week, so just be careful with what you eat!

I wrote a longer review of the HM here if you’re interested. http://www.liweddings.com/chat/topic.aspx?ID=628240

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Kristen, I looooove your review! Your pro pics are gorgeous! You were such a beautiful bride!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

GREAT review...thanks so much for sharing!! Your wedding looked awesome and you looked gorgeous! Congrats!!!!!!!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

great review kristen. I love your color scheme. You looked beautiful congrats to you and DH

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Oh yay, I love this review!!!! I've seen your pictures a gazillion times but they really are so lovely. Congrats once again!!!!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Great review!! Everything looked absolutely amazing! I read every word AND looked at the pictures

Congrats!!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Great Review Kristen!! You were a beautiful bride!!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

I'm sitting here in tears and I don't even know you. You look beautiful and I am so happy you had such a great experience. These reviews make me even more excited about my upcoming wedding.

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Amazing review!!!! Lovely wedding and you two are stunning!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

everything looks gorgeous! great review!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

All of your pics look amazing!! Congrats! And thanks for the review!!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Great review! Your wedding looked amazing! I'm also a SC - Camelot bride and was soooo excited to read your review! Congrats!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Fabulous review! Congrats!!!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Awesome review!!! You were a beautiful bride and sorry to hear about the shuttle.

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Great Review and congrats you looked amazing!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

beautiful! congrats again! great review!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

what a wonderful review!!!! u both looked gorgeous and I loved ur colors! also ur DIY's looked very professionally done, great job
I am using Halo as well, so would love to know how the final product comes out

congrats again

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Great Review!!!!! AND you look great! Congratulations!!!!

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

Your review was great!! And we are prob using the same colors so I copied most of your pics for inspiration!! (hope you don´t mind!)

Re: My 7/24/09 Review with lots of LIW Vendors - Swan Club, Pedestals, Creative Compositions, Camelot, Bridal Touch by Elena, Bonaventure Tuxes, Halo and more!

great review!!!!!!! u looked like a fairy tale princess congrats!!!!!!

ps your hubby is adorbale and looks so fun in all your pics