Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

I always found the reviews helpful so I hope some bride to be will find my review of some help. I will add more pictures once I get my disc from the photographer - I just don't have the patience to scan the proofs in!

Invitiations - A - Fairy Tale Affair, Massapequa. DH actually picked out the invitations. They were a little more than I wanted to spend, but we both loved them. I did the computer calligraphy for the envelopes myself. Also, you should be aware that square invitations cost more to mail than rectangular ones. Our invitations were $1.05 each to mail.





Flowers by Burton - A+

I was one of those brides who really didn’t care about flowers other than I wanted them to “look pretty.” Burton exceeded all of my expectations. About all I knew was that I didn’t want the traditional white bride bouquet. I wanted fall colors and I wanted them vivid. Burtons did an amazing job on the bouquets and the centerpieces - I loved them. Here are some pictures. Sorry I don’t have a close up of the centerpieces.



The rosary beads that Burtons wrapped in my bouquet were my great-grandmother’s. They served as my something old and something borrowed (my great-grandmother passed them down to my grandmother, who passed them down to my mom). I was so honored to have them with me as I got married. Especially since I have no living grandparents - it was a nice, private tribute.



St. Martin of Tours - Amityville - A
I hate the thought of ranking a church, but I love, love, love St. Martins! They were a little tricky to get a hold of in the beginning but once pre-cana started, it was a great experience. We did our pre-cana with Deacon Ferri and his wife. Deacon Ferri also performed our ceremony, and by that time we felt like a friend was performing the ceremony. It’s a very warm, welcoming church and it’s beautiful on the inside too!

Favorite Thing from Wedding - my wedding streamers! I saw these in a catalog and then searched high and low on the internet to see if I could find them cheaper. I was able to get 60 of them for $150 dollars including tax and shipping. It was so worth it.





MOB Dress - Bloomingdales! My mom was having a hard time finding something to wear. She's a very young 62 year old and didn't want a 'farty' MOB dress. We went everywhere looking for dresses for her. She was just about to order a $650 MOB dress from one of those MOB stores, when I was browsing online at work. I called her up and told her to go to the Bloomies website. They have a whole MOB section. She found a GORGEOUS dress that was appropriate yet not farty and the best part - I had a coupon and it was on sale - $214 with shipping!!! She wore gold manolos (more expensive than the dress) with it and when she walked me down the aisle, she looked HOT!

Veil/Headpiece - Barrons - A+

All I can say is believe the hype! You won’t be disappointed. I had a two tier fingertip veil with crystal edges and scattered crystals. I think I paid $85 for it. I found the woman at Barrons to be nothing but nice to me and my mom too. I’ve read reviews saying they can be difficult to deal with but that honestly wasn’t my experience. The veil was ready in a week. I also got my tiara there - it was $105. It’s beautiful and I wear it around the house when I want DH to remember to treat me like a queen.



DOJ - Estelles - A
I went looking for DOJ at Estelles on the advice of my cousin. I found my necklace and earrings there. I think for both it was $200. I found a matching bracelet online at princessbridal.com. Now I wish I would be invited to a black tie event so I can wear them again!

Shoes - Sandy’s Shoes - Massapequa - A
I fell in love with a pair of Stuart Weitzman shoes but couldn’t justify spending $375 on shoes for one day. I know, I know, I could dye them but still. Especially with the cost of the wedding and the fact that we just bought a home. I went to Sandy’s and got a pair of Dyeable brand shoes - the style was True Love. Honestly, I had them on my feet from 1:30 in the afternoon until 2:30 in the morning and my feet were fine. They didn’t start hurting until about midnight or so. And, I never even broke them in! The first time I wore them for more than 20 minutes at a fitting was the day of my wedding. The shoes had a high heel and a platform (since I'm 5'0' and DH is 6'2' but were very cushiony.

Makeup - Lola Loves Makeup A+ Let me start by saying I’m not a heavy makeup wearer. In addition, at 41, I am older than the “average” bride. I was quite picky with my makeup for the day of my wedding. Let me tell you, the second I met with Andrea from Lola Loves Makeup, I was sold. She just “got” me. I had in my head that I wanted a very “earthy” color palette (browns, etc.). She explained to me that even though my hazel eyes appear mostly brown, they have a lot of green in them. In order to get the green to “pop” she was going to use purples. Let me tell you, WOW!!! DH loves it when my eyes look more green than brown and they certainly did the day of the wedding. I loved my makeup!!!! She showed up early, did me, my mom, my aunt and one of my sisters and all of our makeup held up until the bitter end of the day. It didn’t feel heavy or flaky. None of us had airbrush so I can’t comment on that, but I will say after having a few makeup trials with airbrush, I personally like the feel of non-airbrush better.

Hair - Helen - Salon Fringe, Amityville - A+ Helen is my normal hairstylist. She did a great job for my wedding. She also does my mom and sisters’ hair so she took care of all of us the day of the wedding. It was a nice relaxing experience and my hair held up great.

Limos - Camelot B+ (wish I could give them an A+ but I just can’t). Whatever anyone has written about Joe being the best guy ever is true! He definitely did a great job with our limo and coach buses. We had the new Navigator go pick up the guys at our house and drop them off at the church. Then they came and got me and the girls and my parents and took us to the church. Afterwards, we went to the Huntington Hilton to take pictures and then on up to Thatched Cottage. In addition, we hired a coach bus from Joe for our OOT guests at the Hilton. Joe hooked us up with the party bus no charge and according to my guests, it was a great ride to and from the RH. The buses were actually early too. The Navigator came back at the end of the night to pick up DH and I and drop us off at the hotel. They also gave my mom and my sisters a ride too. I had also arranged for a car to pick my mom up after the church and bring her to the Thatched Cottage since she doesn’t really like driving at night. It was money well-spent. She loved her driver.

My only complaint was OUR limo driver. Let me start by saying it rained on our wedding day. I was very nervous walking out of my mom’s house and holding up my dress so nothing would touch the ground (I’m sure her neighbors got a nice view). In addition, I was trying to make sure everyone had everything (wedding rings, flowers for the guys, etc.). The limo driver opened the door up for me but didn’t help me in the car. As a result, my foot slipped on the step and my shinbone hit the running board - HARD. My leg started bleeding and it hurt like a mother!!! He didn’t say “sorry” or anything. After me my sisters, SIL and mom had to climb in the limo and he didn’t help them either!!! After the church the same thing happened when DH and I were getting into the car. DH was holding my arm and helping but since the dress was in the way, we needed another hand - the driver just stood there like an idiot. Once again, my foot slipped and hit the exact same spot! For our entire 3 week HM, my shin hurt and was black and blue. I was so pi$$ed off, I actually opened up his tip envelope and took money out of it! I will be sending Joe an email to let him know about this driver.

Tuxedos: Esquire Tuxedos - A+ DH and I loved Mike. He was so patient with us. DH had no idea what he wanted and we were having trouble picking out a tie/vest combo with black tuxedos and dark brown BM dresses. Mike spent about an hour with us just going over the various combinations. The tuxedos were ready on time, they fit everyone perfectly and they looked great - what more could you ask for?

BM Dresses - Bridal Reflections, Massapequa - B-. It was hard to rank Bridal Reflections. We went there just for the bridesmaid dresses (I got my gown at Burtons). We went there basically because it was close by. My sisters picked out a dress in 15 minutes. We ordered it, got the style number and then called my SIL down in Florida to tell her. She ordered her dress online from a store down in Florida, so basically Bridal Reflections only had to deal with 2 dresses. The dresses came in on time. One sister picked hers up and took it to her own seamstress for alterations. The other sister had Bridal Reflections do the alterations. When she went to pick the dress up (3 days before my wedding), the hem was wrong. They fixed it while she waited, but it was the exact opposite of what we had requested (and the seamstress suggested). Also, be aware, that they did try to get the girls to order dresses that were too big for them. One of my sisters is a size 0 and the other is a size 2. They tried to tell both of them they needed at least size 12. They both disagreed since they have both been bridesmaids and gone through this a bunch of times already. They signed waivers and ordered their dresses in size 0 and size 2. Guess what - aside from needing to be shortened, the dresses fit perfectly!!! They were Bari Jay style 319 in mink brown and they were beautiful!!!

Burton’s Bridal: A +I got my Maggie Sottero through Burtons Bridal. You don’t get the “frou-frou” bridal experience there but you will get great service and fantastic prices. My dress was Maggie Sottero’s Glorianna in Diamond White. I absolutely loved it. Carol from Burtons was great. The dress came in on time, the fittings were a piece of cake and the alterations were perfect. The only problem with the dress - by the end of the night, DH had stepped on my bustle so many times, it finally broke. I wanted to kill him, but that was his fault and no fault at all of the seamstress at Burtons! The best part - alterations are included. You only pay for the bustle which was $150.

DJ - FM Entertainment - A+. There’s been some negative reviews on these boards about FM - let me tell you I had a wonderful experience with them! Frank was our DJ and I think he was one of our favorite vendors to deal with. Both he and Deirdre were available for any question we had. Frank had the dance floor going all night. We gave him a general idea of what we liked but didn’t give him a specific playlist. Let me tell you - he NAILED it!!!! People at the wedding were actually telling me it was the best DJ EVER at a wedding. At the end of the night, people were actually sad they had to get off the dance floor. Don’t believe the negative stuff you read - FM was great!

Photo and Video - A. A Beautiful Day Photography. We picked Beautiful Day because he has done so many of our friends’ weddings and we loved their pictures. Jack was easy to work with, prompt and courteous. Our proofs were ready the day we came home from our honeymoon. We are actually having a very difficult time right now picking a thank you card because we love so many of the pictures. My only regret is not getting a second photographer (it just wasn’t in the budget) AND not really thinking about a must take list. Jack took every picture I wanted but that day I really wasn’t thinking properly and wish I had done a must take list since I am missing some shots I would have liked. We also got our video through Jack. I haven’t seen it yet, so I can’t review it.

Huntington Hilton, Melville B+. We booked a block of rooms there for our OOT guests. The blocking and reservation process was super easy. In addition, I could go online at any time and see who had booked rooms. We picked the Hilton because they would keep the bar open for us. We definitely made use of it when we got back to the hotel at 12:30 am! In addition, because it was raining the day of our wedding, we took our indoor pictures by the pool there. They came out great. The rooms were comfortable and the bar was good. The only problem we had was that there was another wedding there and two of my guests got their OOT gift bags. They gave DH and I a suite for the basic room block rate and had champagne and chocolate covered strawberries for us.

Reception - Thatched Cottage - A++++++++++++++++++++

My FAVORITE wedding vendor!!! The Thatched Cottage was my first choice for our wedding. I only wanted to see places that had one wedding at a time. I had been there a bunch of times before for work stuff but DH never had. When I took him there, he was sold. Our BM, Andre was great to work with. After we booked, we took my mom back for our tasting and the three of us ate like pigs. The food was amazing.

The day of the wedding, I was blown away by how beautiful everything looked. The food was so good too. I highly recommend the mashed potato bar - it was the hit of the wedding. The second biggest hit was the sushi bar. Usually as guests walk in to the CH, they are greeted with frozen drinks. Since it was November, they recommended hot spiced cider. Let me tell you the smell as you walked into the CH room was just delicious! It set the tone for the whole wedding. Our Maitre D’ was Terrence (a/k/a T-Bone). He kept everything running smoothly for DH - and had us relaxed and laughing. Anything we wanted, he was right there. Our Bridal Attended was Deborah. Honestly, I think T-Bone did more for us, but she was very helpful.

DH and I insisted upon going to our CH. After we got some photos out of the way, we went into the CH room and were blown away. We wanted to stay longer but about halfway through, T-Bone pulled us out and took us upstairs to the bridal suite. We were both kind of annoyed, but they brought up two of every kind of food downstairs and DH and I actually spent about 15 minutes alone just talking and eating. It turned out to be one of my favorite memories of the night. Then they sent in the BP and the parents so we could make our entrance into the main room.

The main room looked great and the champagne presentation and food presentation was really cool. DH and I actually got to eat at our wedding because of the way they serve the meal.

We loved our cake - we did yellow cake with a layer of chocolate mousse and a layer of cannoli filing - yummy. Burtons did a great job of decorating it.



Yes - my cousin actually took a picture of the mashed potato bar:









I hope you find this helpful - I will post more pictures once I get the disc.

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Great review!!! Thanks =) You look beautiful!

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Congrats!!

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

good review, I wouldn't have expected a limo driver to help me in and out of a limo though...But the detail is worth noting!!

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Great review Gina...can't wait to see more pics

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Great review! Congrats!!!

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Great review! Do you remember exactly how far away the Hilton was from the Thatched? Im still debating over our hotel arrangements. Thanks!

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

The bus picked everyone up at 6:30 for my 7 pm CH start. They actually arrived about 5-10 minutes early and it was POURING out.

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Thanks Gina, can't wait for the pro pics.

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Gina...you look gorgeous...awesome review!!!! My sister is considering the Thatched Cottage and I'm going to send this to her!!!
Congrats

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Great review!! Thank you it helped this future bride!

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Beautiful, congrats and great review!

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Great Review!! Cant wait to see more pics!!!

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Great review Gina! Congrats!

Re: Review of my 11/14/09 wedding - Thatched Cottage, Lola Loves Makeup, Camelot Limo, Burtons Bridal and Burtons Flowers and more.....

Congrats everything looks great I am so excited Tc did such agreat job!