My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

LIW-A
I found out about LIW through a vendor at a showcase. Once I got on the website I was obsessed right away. I have met so many amazing girls & love LIW for that. LIW has been great to me, I won $1000 at TWOTY in January 2011, $500 towards flowers at PWP Florals at the Girls Night Out LIW G2G in June 2011 (which I decided not to use), a free trash the dress video session with GT Modern Creations at our LIW 2012 Bridal Shower in November 2011, and a 5 hour DOC at TWOTY in January 2012.







North Ritz- A+++
I looked at 15 reception halls in my search. I fell in love with the North Ritz. It was one wedding at a time and I loved everything about it. Nadine was our banquet manager and she was fabulous! I could call her at any time and she would always be there to answer all my questions. George was our maitre’d.
Our wedding day there was absolutely everything I wanted it to be. George always made sure we were happy throughout the night & my bridal attendant wouldn’t let me do a thing. She carried my train and boK and changed my shoes for me too at one point. She also did my bustle. Everyone RAVED about the cocktail hour food. At dinner they came around with plates offering people to try something else or have more of what they got. Our guests loved that. There was not one bad thing said about the wait staff or food. Everyone we talked to loved the place.
A few minor mishaps, I got a phone call the morning of the wedding stating that the purple napkins I picked at our final meeting 2 months prior were not available & they wanted to use eggplant instead. Luckily I didn’t care but thought it was odd it took them 2 months to figure that out. We picked up our stuff the next morning & a few things looked like they were thrown in the bag and a little banged up.









Engagement Pics- Patken –A
We took out epics at their studio in Lindenhurst. I wasn’t crazy about them because I hated the way I looked in every pic. Some picture poses were a little out of the ordinary for us so it was hard to decide on pics or our STDs. Patken was a pleasure to work with. They emailed me the STD they made and I had my pics within 2 weeks (I think). I was very happy with them in the end.
*A week after we got engaged we went to Cedar Beach with my sister & she took pics of us on the beach. She is not a professional photographer but has an eye for pics. I think they came out great, so I made my own magnets too.




Engagement party- Coram Fire House- A
We have had multiple parties here & again it worked out well. My mom decorated and both our mom’s made the food. The only downfall was one of the ovens was broken, which we didn’t know, & a few family members had to run the food over to the other firehouse to heat it up.





E-party Favors- Gold Canyon candles- A
My aunt was selling candles & I thought it would be a great favor. I made the labels myself on the computer and printed them on sticker paper. I think my aunt purchased the little hearts hanging off at Michael’s. The candles smell great & of course it is a favor that everyone will use.


E-Party thank yous- Vistaprint- A
very happy with the way they came out!

Boudoir Pics- Jenerations- A
Jen was a pleasure to work with. Diana did my make-up & she was AMAZING!! I booked 2 parties with her 4 months in advance and she kept in contact by email. She takes fabulous pictures! I honestly believe she can make the most insecure person feel great about them selves. Her work is proof of it all. I only did this because I was getting a great deal by booking the parties. Otherwise, I would not have been able to afford it. Although her prices are a little higher than others, I do believe she is worth it. I am so happy I did this for FH.



Wedding website- wedsite.com- A
PaulandKerri2012.wedsite.com. It wasn’t a free website but I loved it anyway. I found a coupon on google & saved, I think, $10 or $20 for the 2 year membership I got. I posted the link on our STDs and people asked us months after we gave out our STDs if we had a wedding website! Oh well it is what it is. I didn’t really use the site that much.

Rehearsal dinner- Crossroads Restaurant in Hicksville- A+
FILs picked the place. I have never been or never heard of it. It was FABULOUS! We had our own private room. I think we had 4 or 5 dinner options. The food was so good! I think we had about 30 people & there was plenty more room there to fit another 10 or so. I would definitely recommend it.




Photographer/ videographer- PATKEN-A++ (pending album & video)
Jessie was our photographer. She also had an assistant. I saw a 2011 bride’s pictures and chose Jessie based on that. Jessie was AMAZING. She clearly knew what she was doing the day of. She remembered who we wanted pictures with and remembered the few specific pics I asked to take. She was calling our BP by their first names and was so fun and pleasant to work with. Our families were very happy and very impressed with how efficient she was.
Our videographer was Tim. He also had an assistant. We completely forgot he was even at the wedding.










DJ- BodyRock- A
Ronnie was our MC and he kept the party pumping. Everyone raved about how great he was. He kept the dance floor packed all night. I thought the music was okay. I would have like more updated music but I never specified that so that’s my own fault.




Photobooth- Ovation A+
Fun, Perfect, professional and the scrapbook that was made was SOOOO FUN!!! We loved it!



Photobooth picture frames- eBay A
Ebay seller was patrice8285. I purchased them in 1/2011. Great price, Great shipping. No complaints.


Invitations- My Custom Wedding Shoppe A+
Kristyn was awesome to work with. I found invites I liked somewhere else but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something people were going to throw away. I sent her a picture of what I wanted & she made exactly what I wanted. Not only were her prices so good, but she was very easy to contact by email. She sent me a sample at no charge & I had my invites very quickly. I was in no rush since I ordered them about a year before the wedding but she still got them to me quickly.
My mom added some sparkles & diamonds to give it a little touch.
My grandma addressed all the envelopes.



Flowers- Flowers By B*U*R*T*O*N – A+
Flowers weren’t very important to me. When I met with them for my final meeting I gave them a few ideas I had and basically let them tell me what kind of flowers would work. BoKs were gorgeous and looked perfect. Centerpieces were absolutely GORGEOUS, we got half high & half low centerpieces. John was very nice and easy to work with.






Limos- Serenity- B
The 40 passenger party bus was a huge hit and perfect. They arrived on time and were very professional. The driver of the Rolls Royce was talking on his cellphone during our drive to the church. I personally don’t mind but my mom was in the front seat & she didn’t like that at all. He didn’t use a “hands free” device which I thought was a little unprofessional. I also asked for an aisle runner when I booked and also confirmed it a month before the wedding and I never had one the day of my wedding.





DOC- Cloud Nove- A+
I won a 5 hour DOC at TWOTY. Regina was a pleasure to work with from day one. My easiest form of communication was email and whenever I would email her, she would get back to me ASAP. Regina & Patryk were so sweet and by my side if I needed anything the day of. Regina even added in an extra hour at no charge just to make things easier for me on the wedding day. She delivered the boutonnieres and made sure the church & RH were setup correctly before the guests arrived. She is such a sweetheart & I would recommend her to everyone.

Church- Our Lady Of Mercy, Hicksville- B
The communication with the church in the beginning was a little scary. Phone calls weren’t returned. We made an appointment to meet with them & when we showed up they said they forgot about it. Our rehearsal was a little scary. The person that usually does the rehearsal wasn’t there and they had a custodian run us through our rehearsal. Needless to say Father Thom walked us through everything on our day as it was going on. Lol I would say it turned out okay.






Pre-Cana- St. Patrick’s Church of Bay Shore- A+
I was dreading this for the longest time. We did a weekend pre-cana, Saturday 9:00-4:30 & Sunday 9:00-1:00 for $75. I thought it was going to be a weekend of reading from the bible. It was such a fun experience. This church made it a lot of fun. There were approximately 50 couples. They offered full breakfast & lunch & plenty of drinks. We met with married couples & talked about experiences and we also sat as a group & heard couples speak. As far as I know, I don’t believe this church is doing pre-cana for couples outside their parish anymore. I got the name from someone on LIW. It was a WONDERFUL experience.


DIY- Bridal Party invites, LOVE cake letters, Table Numbers (frames-Michaels), place cards, bathroom baskets, menus, cardbox










Cake bling-Amazon-B
I paid too much money for what I wanted but I was desperate & no one had cake bling when I was looking for it.
Cake topper- Wedding FactoryDirect- A
Shipping was a lot of the cake topper was exactly what I wanted.



Candy bar- such a big hit. We had it in the lobby on the way out of the RH.
Candy we got at BJ’s Wholesale Club. Bags were from oriental trading. Labels were from Vistaprint.






Car air fresheners- weddingairfresheners.com A+
I got the recommendation for this off of LIW. I dealt with Carl for everything & he was great. We spoke through email. I sent him a picture of what I wanted & he made the air fresheners look exactly like I wanted them too. I received them in the mail within 2 weeks of my order just like he said. I love them!! There weren’t any leftovers after the wedding. I ordered 100 for 175 people. The valet people put them in the cars. The guests thought it was the COOLEST idea!


Cocktail napkins- The Knot A+
Perfect & everything I thought they would be. Make sure you get them on a day when they have a sale!



Bride Hanger- Etsy (rhlcreations) A
Exactly what I wanted! Love it



Matchbooks- eBay B
They didn’t come out as good as I thought they would. They didn’t offer a picture of what they would look like before you buy them so I guess you just have to hope for the best.


Guest Book- Shutterfly- A
We did a photo shoot just for the guestbook and card box. I used a coupon for a free 8x8 book so it only cost about $8 and that was for shipping. It came out perfect. Not too many people signed it but it was good to have.

Dress- Helen’s Bridal in Commack –
(due to a threat to pursue legal actions I am not allowed to write my negative review about Helen’s Bridal on here)
Sottero & Midgley “Adorae”




Veil/Hair piece- I purchased my hair piece at the Atias Fleamarket & my veil my mother made for me.




DOJ- A
Necklace- I got this at Pzaz in Selden. I fell in love with it but didn’t want to spend as much as it was. So after 3 months of dreaming about it, I went back with a coupon & it was still there.
Bracelet- I got this at the Atias Fleamarket
Earrings- Fantasia Bridal in Rocky Point has a small jewelry shop inside there store called “Isn’t She Lovely”




The Rings- Zales, Atias Fleamarket, & KOHLS-A
E-ring: I picked my engagement ring at Zales at the Smith Haven Mall. I’m not sure if FH got a sale or deal. All I know is if I ever had a problem with a loose stone or anything they would do it for me right then & there. I could get it cleaned at anytime too.
My wedding band: I knew I wanted a 5 stone band around 1 ct but only wanted to spend a certain amount & nothing more. The Atias Fleamarket is a great place to haggle with people. I got the exact ring I wanted for even cheaper then I wanted to spend.
FH’s wedding band: He didn’t want anything expensive or something he would be worried to wear. He works with his hands all day & wanted something durable & something inexpensive just in case something were to happen to it. We went to Kohls with a 30% off coupon, got a sale on the ring, and used a couple gift cards. In the end he definately spends more on gas in a week then what we payed for the ring.




Grooms cake- Create A Cake, Port Jeff Sta- A+
I ordered this the week of the wedding. I gave them a picture of what I wanted but they couldn’t do a 3D in that short of notice. So I basically said do what you can & I will hope for the best, I was so impressed with it. It was such a huge hit when it came out! He was very surprised too ?



Makeup- Tracy Leshaw at Katherine Jon Salon in PJS


Hair- Tracy Leshaw at Katherine Jon Salon in PJS



Cake- A+
our RH supplied the cake. They made it in house. I gave them a picture of what I wanted and that is exactly what I got.


Channa Plaque, Thank You plaques & parents gifts- My Sweet Memories- A+++
Very easy to work with. Responds quickly & of course the product came out fabulous! What more can I say <3 great price, great communication, FABULOUS vendor!!



BM Dresses- Fantasia Bridal, Rocky Point- A
*Jordan dress style 954 in color- Pansy*
This place had the cheapest price for the dress I wanted so that’s why we went there. Alicia was so sweet & very nice. I had a few issues with BMs and the staff was very helpful. My pregnant sister/matron of honor had a little issue. She spent 2-3 hours in there 2 days before the wedding trying to get her alterations. Every time she tried on the dress it didn’t fit right so they had to keep fixing it. She got fitted last minute bc she was pregnant but for some reason every time she put on the dress it was wrong. You also have to make an appointment to pick up the dress. You can’t send someone in there to get the dress for you.





Tuxes- Mens Warehouse, Lake Grove- D
Guys looked good on the day of but what a hassle to get there. My dad & 3 groomsmen had a problem with sizes. Pants were too short or too long and pieces were the wrong sizes. My dad & BIL even were told to come back hours later the day before the wedding to pick up the fixed tux!




Flower girls dresses- Burlington’s in Lake Grove-A
We went dress shopping for them at the end of February and all the Easter dresses were out. It was perfect timing. We needed 4 FG dresses and we were able to find the same dress in all 4 sizes. We went with a coupon and they wound up being $20 each!!!


BM Gifts- A
DOJ from Kohls
Bridesmaid ornaments- I bought them at half price after Xmas at the Ornament Shop in the Smithaven Mall and wrote on them myself

Lotion & perfume- Victoria’s Secret
MOHs- also got bracelets from justjewelry.com

GM Gifts-
Money clips from pcolaweddingcreations.com, easy to deal with. Great price.
Cigar holders from Things Remembered in Smithaven Mall. DH filled them with cigars too.
Best Men also got beer mugs from Things Remembered

FG Gifts- They each got a Bride Barbie which I got from Target. I also got them small hair clips & necklaces from the Atias Fleamarket, FG shirts which I got the iron ons from ebay.

RB Gift- GC to Gamestop & DC sneakers from Bob’s.

Honeymoon- Carnival Cruise to Southern Caribbean-A+
We didn’t use a travel agent. We booked through the Carnival website. They were running a special so we jumped on it. Everything was perfect. We visited 5 islands on our 7 day cruise.

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Great pictures...you looked beautiful. Congratulations

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Great review! Thanks for sharing and congratulations!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Really Great Review! Love the pictures and you had great ideas.

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Great review Kerri. Thanks for sharing. you looked beautiful. Congrats!!!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Such a beautiful wedding!!! Thanks for the great review, congratulations again!!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Great review! Congratulations on an amazing wedding. And the pictures are very beautiful.

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Great review, beautiful bride. thanks, everything looked perfect.

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

amazing review! congrats!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Love all the pics! Congrats Kerri!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Loved your review Kerri!!! Everything is beautiful!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

awesome review Kerri!!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Beautiful wedding....congrats!!!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

wonderful review! So glad it was everything that you hoped for and dreamed of

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Amazing review date twin!!!!! Everything turned out beautifully! Congrats!!!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

great review and amazing pics!!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

beautiful!! congrats

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Great review!

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Hi Kerri! Congratulations! Your pictures are beautiful. I LOVE your BM dresses. Thank you for the great review.

Re: My Perfect Wedding! 5/4/12 North Ritz, Patken, B*urtons, Serenity, BodyRock, Ovation

Congrats! You looked amazing!