Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

I cannot believe its time for me to begin writing my review! We got engaged a little over 3 years ago, and have been saving up and planning together ever since. I work in event planning and am very meticulous about the fine details and I know I drove many of my vendors crazy. But in the end, they all worked so hard for us and everything on our day was perfect. I could not have hired a better team – everyone went above and beyond and I commend them. Many of my guests told me that I should be a wedding planner professionally. I had a ball doing it and do not regret a single decision I made. Regardless of the reviews you read, go with your gut and work with people who will work hard to make your dreams come true.

Venue: NYIT DeSeversky Mansion-A++++++++++++++++++

I am starting with my favorite vendor first. We are so glad that we booked here – this place is where everything came together for us. We knew that we wanted to party in a mansion, something that really felt like a home, and not your typical catering hall. We looked at just about every mansion on the island and hands down, NOTHING compared to the DeSeversky Mansion. Nothing. Everywhere else felt like a catering hall – this was the only venue that really truly felt like a home. It has been loved and cared for all of these years and is beautifully maintained in pristine condition. We loved that it was off of the radar, so to speak; that none of our guests had ever been here before or some had never even heard of it. We booked over two years in advance and it was a little more out of our price range, but we were determined to make it happen. I ended up cutting corners elsewhere (saved a ton of money on my dress, used more affordable invitations, etc).

In the beginning we booked with Eric, who was so accommodating to my endless requests. I know I drove him CRAZY updating my contract but it was important to us to have everything in writing. We have had so many of our friends screwed over by well known catering halls, that we were worried the same thing would happen to us. In the end, I see that it wasn’t necessary. The sales team is so professional and honest – they had everything covered. Eric also lent us antique candelabras from the house to use as our centerpieces, which I meticulously cleaned for about a year (OCD event planner here). I still cannot believe we found the mansion of our dreams that would let us use the house antiques as well. You don’t find that ANYWHERE! We also worked with Gabrielle to iron out the fine details in the end. She is AMAZING! She literally responds to every email, no matter what time of day it is. Eric and Gabrielle are such a great team – I am so glad that we hired them – they are by far my favorite vendors and I miss working with them (aka driving them crazy!).

Day of – Damian (our MatireD) and his team of professionals were so wonderful to us. Damian runs a tight ship and everything went flawlessly that day. He works so hard to make sure that everything runs smoothly - i dont even think he took a break the entire night. The staff was so accommodating to our guests and on top of their every request. My bridal attendant helped my mother bustle my dress and brought me a tray of hors d'oeuvres during cocktail hour, which I thought was so sweet. Our guests raved about everything that night: The food (best wedding food they had ever had), the drinks (we upgraded our bar which was sooo worth it! highly recommend doing it), the service and on and on. I had quite a few people tell me they thought cocktail hour was dinner and didn’t realize there would be more food later on. And so many of them told me it was the best wedding they had ever been to.

We ended up choosing the Sea Bass, Duck and Filet of Beef entrees – all of which were incredible. DeSeversky has an executive chef on hand – which basically means all of the food is incredible. Many of my guests commented on how great the cuts of meat were for both the cocktail hour and the dinner entrees. They were surprised that any wedding facility would do that. We also had the desert café (Viennese hour) in the Library, which was so much fun. We had cupcakes, cakes, pastries, and fruit. Looking back, I probably would have taken out the additional cakes served at desert; since we had not only a wedding cake, but a grooms cake as well. Too much cake! De Seversky also printed up our menus, so we didn’t have to worry about that. They had a book of about 10 different designs to choose from, which was great.

I cannot say enough good things about this place. If you want the wedding of your dreams, look no further. We are so lucky to have found them and we’re so happy we did.














Ceremony: St Patrick’s Church, Glen Cove – A++++

I absolutely adore this little parish – they are so pleasant and were so open to us when we were non-parishioners. St Patrick’s is the oldest Catholic church on long island and has so much history and is absolutely beautiful. It was built by the Irish and sits on top of a hill overlooking the town of Glen Cove. And the gothic gargoyles outside are amazing. We originally started going to mass here a few years ago. Since then, all of their priests were transferred out simultaneously and we were worried about their replacements, since we adored each of them. However, the new priests are wonderful and we’re so happy they were able to marry us. This was the most important part of the whole day and we had a lovely ceremony. We asked Father Daniel to do a few prayers in Latin (me loving all things traditional) and he was very enthusiastic about it - he said the entire eucharistic prayer in latin, which was so amazing. We also absolutely loved the music director, Fran - she was a doll to work with and so helpful in choosing our music. We tried to get a children’s choir – but it was too difficult around the holidays. But it all worked out, because we had such an unbelievably beautiful ceremony.








Photographer: Laura Pineda, Alternate Angles, Newport RI – A+++++++++

Laura is family, so of course I’m biased. Her work speaks for itself and is featured throughout my review. Her photographs are some of the best I’ve seen and we were beyond thrilled when she offered to be our photographer. It is a dream come true to have such a renowned wedding photographer in the family. She is so enthusiastic about her job and an absolute pleasure to work with. Since I uploaded photos to my facebook page, every single one of my friends/family who were tagged in photos used her pictures as their default photos - each of them receiving tons of compliments. I knew our photos would be breathtaking, but I had no idea how hard she'd hit it out of the park. I am completely at a loss for words everytime I look at them.
For anyone looking for a really great journalistic style photographer, please consider her – she has traveled all over the world for weddings and would be so happy to be with you on your special day. Please tell her Sarah recommended you!
www.alternateangles.com

DJ: Djs Unlimited (Hart to Hart), Woodbury – A++++++

Another one of my absolute favorite vendors. We booked Pierre as our MC after attending a wedding a few years ago at the Woodlands. Years later I remembered what a blast we had at that wedding and how much we danced our butts off. I called Pierre and scheduled an appointment and actually hugged him immediately upon meeting him. He is so much fun and an absolute blast. I not only wanted him as my MC but wanted him to attend the wedding as a friend and guest. Our Dj was Mitch, who was also great. I was thoroughly impressed with the fact that they knew each of my vendors by first name - including my photographer (who is from out of town). They were so comfortable at our celebration, it was really nice to see them make themselves at home. I am glad they felt like part of the family - they fit right in.
My new little niece and nephew caught the bouquet and garter – which was somewhat of a sticky situation, since they’re brother and sister (and their father is a col in the marines!). Pierre had no trouble easily navigating us out of this one – he simply blind folded our nephew and had my husband replace our neice. It was very comical to see our nephew all confused when he removed his blindfold.
I had a few people tell me that they were the best DJ/MC they’ve ever seen at a wedding. Pierre and Hart to Hart are very highly respected in the industry and I can easily see why. Thank you guys so much for everything!



Florist: Flowers by Brian – A+++++

We worked with Joe Campbell and were beyond thrilled with our experience here. He has such a great eye
for floral design and is so animated about his job. During our first meeting, he took us in the back to see their production and designers, which was amazing. He pulled together a bunch of flowers for us to get an idea of what we were looking at and we booked him on the spot. I went back two more times to finalize my plan. At the time I was a little nervous since we had such a large order and our order form no longer looked legible. Joe joked and said he does that purposely so that his designers come to him with questions to clarify so that they don’t screw it up.

When we saw our sample arrangement, our linen rental company dropped off a sample and we brought in one of our antique candelabras to get the full effect. It was beautiful – I cried on the spot. I read some reviews about how the sample arrangements were better than on the day of the wedding, which made me nervous - but we didn’t have that problem. Our flowers were huge and extremely lush and gorgeous. My bouquets were beautiful and so were my centerpieces. I wish I had gotten the names of our delivery team, but they were phenomenal. They literally had flowers everywhere – mantelpieces, stairwells, tables, etc. They worked so quickly and everything was so beautiful. My husband had a small issue when he picked up the boutonnieres – he wasnt sure what was what - and the receptionist was a little nasty to him. We created labels for everything so that we would avoid any confusion for him. Luckily, the delivery guy was right there to assist and again, saved the day!











My mother also surprised me and ordered arrangements for the fireplaces at my shower. Flowers by Brian didn’t disappoint - my flowers are one of the most memorable experiences for me. We were beyond thrilled with our entire experience with them and I highly recommend them. (photos in album)

Limos: Camelot- B

We were beyond thrilled when working with them throughout the entire process. I have found the sales team and the office staff extremely friendly and knowledgeable. We booked the new 18 passenger Audi, which was beautiful and our driver was so professional and extremely helpful to me that day. He arrived early and was there whenever I needed him. When we arrived at the church, he went inside to help everyone walk in and set up, which I really appreciated. He completely calmed my nerves that day - i think I would have been a wreck without him.
Our only issue was with the groomsmen’s limo – we booked a simple 10 passenger black stretch for the guys to pick them up and drop them off at the church. Im not sure what happened here, apparently this car was a piece of junk. It was hot, and made a lot of noise and was extremely dirty and smelly. I was extremely disappointed to hear this from our guys, but they made it to the church on time and it didn’t break down lol. Overall I would definitely use them again and we were very happy with our experiences there.

Wedding & Groom’s Cake: Leonetti’s Bakery, Greenvale – A++++

We went to 3 different bakeries for our cake. DeSeversky is probably the only venue on long island that doesn’t include a cake in their package. But this was definitely one of the more exciting adventures for us. I found exactly what I wanted in a wedding magazine – the decoration on the cake actually matched the architecture of DeSeversky (who knew?!). We first went to Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken (Cake Boss!) to get pricing. We received a free consultation (they normally charge $100 – crazy!) because they were at a wedding expo I attended. We met with Mauro from the show, who is a total sweetheart but out of his mind. For a 4 tier fondant cake, two flavors (with fresh fruit), they quoted us $2000++ to feed 175 (which was more than what we needed). Next up, we went to Black Forest Bakery in Lindenhurst, which is used by many of the catering halls on long island. The woman was sweet, but they don’t use fresh fruit in their cakes and for the same cake – they wanted to charge us half of what Carlo’s quoted (getting better). We also didn’t think it tasted as good as Carlo’s.

Finally, we met with Savario at Leonetti’s in Greenvale and fell in love. I have gone to this bakery many times over the years (very good pastries and gelato) and knowing the area, I figured it would be out of our price range. Savario was willing to make the exact same cake as Carlo's, but with an additional flavor – all with fresh fruit and fondant decoration which would feed 150 people. On top of that, he also was going to give us TWO mock up tasting cakes for decoration and flavor. In addition, he said that a year after our wedding, we could come in and bring in our freezer-burned top tier for a fresh one. NOONE DOES THAT! The cake tasting was a great idea, because we decided not to go with any colors on our cake (they run when you cut into them and stain your mouth) and we changed our flavors slightly as well. For the wedding cake, I decided to go with white fondant, ivory decoration and went with vanilla and chocolate cakes with fresh strawberries & chantilly cream and fresh raspberries with chocolate mousse. To make my groom happy, I decided to give him his own cake with the flavor he wanted – chocolate cake with peanut butter cream with nuts and caramel. This was so great, because my fiancé is also a huge horror fan and I knew he would flip out over a zombie cake. This was such a hit with our guests – everyone freaked out over it. BOTH of our cakes were phenomenal – we had a few of our guests tell us this was the best wedding cake they ever had. The cakes were freshly baked that day and were so moist and delicious. We were beyond thrilled with our choice to book here. And the price for both cakes, was still over half of what Black Forest wanted to charge us. If you have the opportunity to book an outside bakery – definitely go stop by Leonetti’s and meet with Savario and his team.






Custom Linens: The Finishing Touch- A

I went here not really expecting to fall in love with much, since my tastes are very old fashioned. I was expecting bold colors and loud patterns. We dug around the shop for about an hour before I finally found the perfect linens. I also really appreciated them dropping off and picking up linens for my sample arragements at my florist. I wanted to get the real feel for our arrangement and this worked out perfectly. Originally we were quoted for linens, napkins and sashes but I found that it was cheaper to buy this stuff online, rather than rent them. The table linens were one of a kind and I couldn’t find them anywhere but I was able to buy enough napkins and sashes for about $200 online. The only problem is that I had to steam/iron all of them because they were extremely wrinkled. If you're willing to work for it, in the end, its worth buying over renting. But I am extremely glad we rented table linens. Everyone at the Finishing Touch is very friendly and personable. Highly recommend, if you can swing the cost.



Save the Dates, Invitations & Thank Yous: MagnetStreet.com – A+++

I loved working with them. They were so affordable (definitely sign up for coupon offers) and the quality was great! I thought the papers would be basic, but they were good quality linen and had some texture to them. Plus everything matched our inviation suite so this worked out perfectly for us. The customer service team was really great too – they accepted all of my (many) revisions without a problem. When I ordered my invitations, I used a high discount code (25% - I've only seen 30% once - probably around black friday) and wasn’t really ready to finalize it so they held my order for another 4 months without a problem. I highly recommend them. (more photos in album)



Nostalgic Impressions – A

I ordered a wax seal of our initial and glue gun wax sticks to seal my inner envelopes. This was so easy to use and I had a lot of fun using them. I was surprised that ALL of them came out great – not one was screwed up! My guests confirmed that they survived the shipping process – if you use them, you should only seal your inner envelopes – outer envelope seals won’t survive modern post offices.

DOJ: Tejani – A+++

My mother and I schlepped into Tejani’s NYC location for my earrings and I’m so glad we did. I found a pair online that i thought would look great, but werent as nice on me as I thought they would be. However, I found a great unique pair and bought them on the spot. They were a little pricy, but they totally complimented my dress and were perfect. If you consider them, definitely try to hit up their store before buying online, as its always great to try them on first.



Macys – A+++

I bought my bracelet at Macy’s – after spending a lot on the Tejani earrings, I didn’t want to spend a lot on a bracelet. Found a pretty one that went well with my dress – not too much bling –it was perfect.



RB Pillow: Christmas Tree shops – A

$5 – done deal.


My Dress and Veil: Village Bridal, Babylon – A+++++

Dress shopping was great – I previously went to Renate’s (love them), David’s Bridal and tried on what felt like hundreds of dresses. There were a few I liked, but nothing I was in love with. One day, I received a card in the mail about Village Bridal’s Tent Sale (for discontinued dresses) and knew I had to go – and get there early. I got there when they opened and fished through the racks and tried on probably 10 dresses before I found the one. I mentioned to my saleswoman that I was looking for something classic and elegant and her eye’s light up. She pulled my dress and ran into the dressing room with it and I knew it before I had it on that it was the one. My mother absolutely loved it as much as I did it and the best part was that IT WAS ONLY $300. I have told everyone I meet how much I spent on it – because I was so thrilled at finding such a bargain. I spent a little more on the alterations but all together, came well under budget for my dress. I figure you’re only wearing it once, why spend a fortune on it? The only problem with the tent sale is that they wouldnt hold my dress, I had to take it home. Which is fine – but my mother and I spent the next year and a half caring for it. The girls at Village were great – they also did my alterations and I had no problems with the fittings. Despite some negative reviews I found here on their alterations dept, I had no issues. I would highly recommend them. I also went back a few months later and purchased the only veil I could find that really complimented my dress. I bought it off the rack and saved some money on that too, so that was good.







Undergarments: Mary’s Corsetiere – A++++

My dress was pretty low in the back, but I still wanted to find a corset just for the added support. I went in with my dress and the girls knew exactly what I needed and what size I was, just by looking at me. I also brought my moh there who is plus sized and was uncomfortable in most lingerie shops. She bought her bra for her own wedding and a few every day bras as well. The bras were surprisingly affordable and great quality. The saleswomen there are great – I highly recommend them. There’s a reason why they’ve been in business forever!!

Shoes: Zappos – A

Badgley Mischka Lissa’s in purple. Matched my bridesmaids dresses perfectly and were gorgeous. Plus I had a $100 gift card so buying them didn’t hurt so badly. Zappos was great, as always.





Hair & Make up: NuBest Salon, Manhasset – A+++++

I worked with Gloria, the floor manager to book all of my appointments for my girls. We had 9 girls needing updo’s and 7 girls needing make up, so I knew this would be the best place for us. The salon is HUGE and has at least 40 people on hand at any point in time. Gloria was fantastic – she gave us the best people for the big day and easily coordinated our numerous appointments. I had my hair done by Mervat, who was excellent. My trial went well and she gave me a few pointers for the day of. The morning of the wedding she actually re-did my hair 4 times before getting it picture perfect, but I was glad she wanted it perfect. She also did my mother’s hair which looked incredible. Jessica did my make up, and she was wonderful. I went with the false eyelashes and she used a finishing spray to hold the make up all day. Charles worked on the majority of my girls for make up – and he was great too. I cant believe how quickly he worked - and how beautiful everyone looked. All of my girls had their hair & make up last all day long and everyone looked fantastic.






Hair Clip: Barron’s Tri County Flea Market -A+

I found the most perfect clip to compliment my dress here. I had a problem during my hair trial – she bent my clip to fit around my hair better and it broke. I went to Barron’s and asked if they could fix it and he gave me a new one, no questions asked. It was very sweet of him to help me and I really appreciated it. I highly recommend to anyone who doesn’t want to spend a lot of money.



MOB Dress: -Nordstrom’s - A+

My mom had a bit of a hard time finding her dress – especially since most of these dresses look dated and “mom-ish.” We went to probably 10 different stores before we finally found it at the bridal shop in Nordstroms. She tried on a Tadashi Shoji and we bought it on the spot. I was so happy for her because she said she’s always wanted a Tadashi. Plus she looked great in it.




Suits: Gino’s Tuxedo’s, Farmingdale - B

We went to a few different shops before we found Gino’s. I was having a hard time finding vests with pockets (for our pocketwatches!) to match our Bridesmaids. Gino’s was the only place that had them. We also went to Foresto’s (loved them a lot too) and Victor Talbots but everyone else carried the same colors/styles. We ended up booking Gino’s on the spot and were very happy with them. We had no issues personally, but my groomsmen had issues when picking up their orders. Each of them told us that they were a rude to them when they came to get their orders right before the holiday (I suppose everyone has a bad day!). Overall, I was very pleased with them.




Flower girl Dress: capesforalloccasions (Ebay) – A+

Was so excited to find exactly what I was looking for online. We bought the dress for $20 and it looked fantastic. It held up all night and she looked like a princess! I was very pleased with them!




BM Dresses: Alfred Angelo – Renate’s Wedding Boutique, Lindenhurst – A+++++

It was really important to me that my girls not spend a million dollars on their dress, since I was in a few weddings and spent close to $400 on everything. I absolutely adore the salesgirls at Renate’s – and I wanted to give them the business since I know they work very hard at what they do. I chose Alfred Angelo as my designer because I loved the quality of the material, their Eggplant and Victorian Lilac colors, and the array of designs they have. I let each of my girls choose their own dress and they all looked fantastic. My bridesmaids wore Eggplant and my MOH was in Victorian Lilac. I was so happy with how beautiful they all looked. I highly recommend Renate’s to everyone. Dee and her team are fantastic and so helpful. And their alternations department is really great.



Wedding Bands, Groomsmen & Parent Gifts: Kay Jewelers, Riverhead Outlets – A+

First of all, I really wish I remembered to look at Macy’s first because with your registries, you get coupons on top of coupons for fine jewelry. That being said, we hit up a few jewelry stores in the Outlets to try and save some money. We have always laughed at the cheesiness of Kay and their commercials but I have to say, no one else had anything we liked more. We worked with a sales girl named Heather who ended up giving us major discounts for our rings and some of our bridal party gifts. We also bought pocketwatches for our groomsmen, as well as necklaces for our moms. These were all such a huge hit. The pocketwatches were legit and not the flimsy ones you can get online through the knot or things remembered. They were definitely well worth the money and we saved about 20% off on them. Our mothers also loved their necklaces, which again we saved on. My wedding band closely matches my engagement ring, which was very unique and we were unlikely to find something to go with it anywhere. My husbands ring is titanium and looks great! Everything arrived together in about two weeks and it was exactly what we wanted. We were very happy here.





Bridal Party Gifts: Macys & Coach – A++

I was so stoked to find a freshwater pearl set for my girls at Macy’s – bracelet, necklace and earrings. The set normally retails for over $100 and I bought 4 of them on sale for $35 each. I love Macy’s and their coupons. I also went to the Coach factory in Riverhead and bought my girls silver clutches to match their shoes. I bought each of them for $40, which were perfect for them.

Registries: Bed Bath & Beyond and Macy’s – A+

No problems with either location but a special shout out to the adorable older women in the registry department at Macy’s Roosevelt field. They’re hysterical and hooked it up many times with coupons for us. They were also extremely knowledgeable about the fine china patterns, etc and very helpful to us when shopping for our registry.

Bachelorette Party: Spa 190, Mineola – A Blackstone’s Steak & Sushi, Melville - A

My girls threw me the best bachelorette party – they knew exactly what I wanted. We started off hitting up Spa190 in Mineola first. I have been going to this place for years so I knew that we would be treated well. Its fairly small – only have 4 rooms (5 beds) but it was nice because we had the place to ourselves and the service is top notch. I have been going to see Stacy for facials for a while because my skin was breaking out really bad and I wanted to make sure that I would be clear for the wedding. She is INCREDIBLE. She is so well read and knowledgeable about skin care – I am really very impressed. I definitely spent a lot of money here but it was worth it. Today my skin is in such good condition and I owe it all to her. Blackstone’s was great too – none of us had ever been but the food was incredible and I really enjoyed how the waiters didn’t rush us out. I think we were there for about 3.5 hours all together. The portions were huge and the prices were fair. Definitely a great spot for anniversaries or private parties too.


Rehearsal
Dinner (and Thanksgiving!): La Pace with Chef Michael, Glen Cove - A

Our wedding was going to be the day after Thanksgiving and we found that we wanted to celebrate the holiday with our out of town guests. The hardest part was trying to book a place big enough to accommodate us for two private parties back to back and that would be open on the holiday. I had a hard time getting any place to consider my request, since I was calling them about their holiday menus in the Spring! We needed to have something booked for the holiday so that we could include an enclosure card with our invitations to our out of town guests – not an easy task. Most restaurants don’t want to think about the holidays 6 months ahead of schedule. We found La Pace thanks to a recommendation from a friend. We ended up working directly with the chef and owner who is an absolute sweetheart. When I called him in the springtime he quickly drafted up two menus for us, one for our rehearsal and one for our holiday party. The pricing was good and the restaurant was beautiful. I really wanted someplace with a warm atmosphere – they have fireplaces and a classic décor throughout. I also really loved that the wait staff are all very mature and dressed in tuxedos. They are very attentive and pleasant. The Maitre D here is wonderful – he also runs a very tight ship and he is so friendly. The only small issue we had, was that it was a little more than we expected – they charged us for valet parking which we weren’t aware of. But it was minor in the end – the food was good and our guests were happy both nights. Everyone at La Pace was a pleasure to work with and we’re so glad we found them.

Shower:
Hidden Oak Cafe at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum - A++++++++++++

My mother and bridal party threw me an amazing shower - exactly what i was hoping for. we had a tea party in a private room at the Hidden Oak Cafe, which was so much fun. I have a ton of pictures in my album - feel free to browse them there. The service and the food here was excellent!

Hotel Blocks:

Viana Hotel & Spa, Westbury – A+ Hampton Inn, Jericho Westbury – A+

I couldn’t believe how hard it was finding hotels near our reception hall/church. Not only hotels, but nice clean hotels. Thank god for both of these, which are practically across the street from one another. We had no issues at either spot – all of the rooms were extremely comfortable and the staff very friendly. We had no issues with anyone getting bumped, especially due to hurricane Sandy recently hitting the area. I loved that the Hampton Inn had a free hot breakfast and a pool – this was great for those with kids. Both of the sales teams at the hotels were also extremely helpful and friendly. I was also very pleased that everyone received an out of town bag (I expected there to be issues).

We booked at the Viana for our wedding suite. We had the king suite which was extremely spacious and beautiful. It was the perfect spot to wake up the morning of the wedding.


DIY: Placecards, Programs, Table Names, Cardbox, purple & black lace wrapped votives, map for out of town bags

DIY always scares me – I’m my biggest critic. But I think I did very well with all of my projects and I had a lot of fun doing them.

Placecards/Favors – we found the Kate Aspen Black Baroque mini photo frames for our place cards/favors online through Bed Bath & Beyond. They allowed me to use 15 $5 off coupons on my order, so I got each of them for a $1. Bonus! My mother and I designed the layout and I think they came out beautifully and fit into our theme perfectly.


Programs – my mother and I designed them and worked around the pattern we used on our wedding website. They weren’t easy to design and were a little time consuming, but they came out beautifully and im so glad we worked on them together.




Table Names – so much fun! I wanted to do classic American authors, my husband wanted horror directors. This was a riot – we ended up designing them with the names, a photo and a quote. People loved them! Authors – Poe, Shelly, Whitman, Stoker, Emerson, Poe. Directors – Kaufman, Romero, Carpenter, King, Craven.



Cardbox – I found these beautiful handmade Victorian birdhouses (they all looked like Victorian mansions) at Homegoods. I found one the perfect size for a cardbox and a friend cut an envelope hole into the roof. I swamped out the red flowers on the front and made them purple instead. Easy breezy!



Candles – Christmas Tree Shops – saved a ton of money here – plus no shipping!




Purple & Black Lace Votives – I found purple lace in the city and black lace at Joann’s. I measured and cut them to size and used a hot glue gun (spray glue didn’t work well) to dab a few dots on them. I wouldn’t recommend a glue gun for any hot candles; we used LEDs and placed them on the stairwell and mantles.

Out of Town Bags – Bought the bags and tissue paper at Oriental Trading – very easy. The bags were definitely of a cheaper quality, but they worked out fine – I just didnt overload them. We bought everything for inside at costco (love!). Worked out well!




Map – This wasn’t hard but took up a lot of my time. But I found this forum to be extremely helpful: http://www.weddingbee.com/2009/04/06/making-your-own-map/. We ended up creating a whole map of things to do in the area, favorite hotspots, etc. Our out of town family commented on them and said they were extremely useful – so im glad I spent the time doing it.

Honeymoon: Liberty Travel – A+; Ireland – A+++

We knew we would have to use a travel agent when planning our honeymoon since neither of us had ever been to Ireland before. Nor did we have any family or friends familiar with the country. We ended up booking about a year in advance and got such a great deal. Plus it was super helpful having everything included and getting it paid off before we left. The staff at Liberty was super knowledgeable and helpful – and very patient with my many questions and upgrades.

Ireland – was fantastic. We originally booked for 9 days – starting out in Dublin and traveling down South and up the Western coast. We upgraded for two castle overnight stays and our hotel in Dublin. We stayed at the Shelbourne in Dublin – Highly recommend this place – so elegant and historic, great food and service. We also stayed at Balleyseede Castle outside of Tralee – which was by far our favorite spot the entire trip. It was a smaller family run castle – the staff was so friendly and treated us like royalty. We definitely want to stay here again (whenever we can afford our next trip haha). Finally we also stayed at Ashford our final night in Ireland. We also recommend this one – it was beautiful but definitely on a more commercial scale, than Balleyseede. Ireland was so beautiful – such a fantastic romantic spot for a honeymoon.

Thank you so much for reading my lengthy review! I hope future brides find it useful! I would be happy to answer any questions via fm.

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

What a gorgeous wedding! Congrats!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Excellent review! So glad you had an amazing day, congrats!

Re: Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

so beautiful!!! great review
congrats!!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

GREAT review! Everything looked so beautiful...congratulations! Thanks for all of the great tips!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Beautiful! Congratulations!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Everything looks beautiful! I love all the details. Congrats!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

great review! We loved De Seversky also but decided against it because we had too many people to do the traditional dining and dancing. Everything looked beautiful. Congratulations!

Re: Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Amazing review! You looked beautiful and everything looked fabulous!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Thanks for the great review. Your wedding looked beautiful!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Congrats! Your pictures are gorgeous and I love the detail on your dress! Beautiful flowers too! Everything looked great

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

wonderful review! the bargain on the dress is amazing!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Gorgeous - thanks for the wonderful review! We are thinking about naming our tables with singer/songwriters and I'm glad you did something similar - this proves it can work! Congratulations!!!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Everything looks amaing! I LOVE your menus!!! Did De Seversky make them for you?

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Beautiful!!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

thanks everyone - we had such a great time planning it all out.

hedwards - yes, de seversky printed them! they had a bunch of different styles to choose from.

ricciardi - definitely do it! we thought it would be complicated but everyone found their tables soon enough. they had fun going around and reading other quotes at other tables.

and thank you lauren xoxo

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Yay you finally posted!! I have been stalking the review boards LOL Great review and very thorough. Hope you are enjoying married life!!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Amazing wedding and great review! We have the same colors so you gave me some inspiration! Were your shoes comfortable? That's what I plan to purchase as well.

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

Double Post - Sorry!

Our 11.23.12 Wedding - DeSeversky Masion, Flowers by Brian, Camelot, Alternate Angles Photography, Leonetti's Bakery, Djs Unlimited (hart to hart) and more!!!

WOW! This wedding looked AMAZING!! Congrats!
P.S. Love your card box!