Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding (Venetian Yacht Club, Blue Daisy, Couped up Productions, Afresh Approach, LA Blossom, Thomas Knoell)

RECEPTION HALL
The Venetian Yacht Club
www.venetianyachtclub.com
494 Fire Island Ave
Babylon, NY 11702
(631) 422-2400


This was the first hall FH I looked at together. I remember standing in the lobby, seeing the fireplace and the marble tile, thinking this place is gorgeous. A worker walked past, the doors to the state suite swinging open briefly, just enough to catch a glimpse of the sun’s rays sparkling across the water on the great south bay. I was about to tell my fiancé we should just leave, there’s not way we could afford this, but we figured it couldn’t hurt, just to go inside.
Soon Daisy, the VYC banquet manager, who would later become our favorite reason for choosing VYC met us, led us to the State Suite. The view was breathtaking… I started imagining us taking pictures by the water… Dan & I went for a walk on the beach on our first date the summer before, being near the water seemed to be a consistent theme for us. I only needed one afternoon to convince Dan this was the place.


I love the layout at VYC… our cocktail hour was downstairs which had access to the outdoor patio and wrap-around balcony while our reception was upstairs.
Our BM Daisy was a godsend…she was organized, approachable and professional. Every time FH & I went to make a payment, we would say “Thank goodness we booked here.”








Day of: Our Bridal Attendant was awesome! She was nice, did everything for us, got food from the cocktail hour and had it ready for us in the Bridal Suite (I scarfed everything down in 2.5seconds b/c I didn’t want to miss any of the party) and was even able to bustle my dress in less than 10 minutes. She made sure my mom & mother-in-law always had a full glass & plenty to eat. She was amazing. At the end of the night, she had everything packed up from the bridal suite (my perfume, my extra shoes, etc.) in a box waiting for us outside so that we didn’t have to worry about cleaning up.


Food was incredible….our extra stations were the Roasted Pig (which was a big hit especially with my Filipino family!) the raw clams, oysters & shrimp cocktail boat and the asian station. There was so much food at cocktail hour that a lot of our guests thought that was it, and then were surprised when they were led upstairs for the actual dinner!!



Dinner options included the Duck Jubilee with a port wine cherry reductions, Chicken Toscana, Chateau Briand, Salmon and Vegetable Wellington. I had the Duck and the Vegetable Wellington which was really really good!




Ladies, I wish I had eaten more at my reception. I took a few bites of everything b/c I was just running on pure adrenaline, but looking back, I spent so much time planning (ie: obsessing) everything, I should have enjoyed the food more.

Dortoni Bakery in Levittown
Fantastic tasting cake. Had a red velvet pirate ship groom's cake and a dulce de leche on vanilla wedding cake....so yummy and easy to work with! I love them and nothing ever dissappoints.

MUSIC
MME Entertainment
www.MMEEntertainment.com
(516) 679-5353

MME was AAAMMMAAAZZZZIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG!!

Our DJ was Keith and our emcee was Mikey Mike, and they made it ssssooo fun! All our guests said our music was amazing, my college friends kept asking me how I found them, even my relatives from the Philippines where weddings are generally more conservative said our wedding was very 'happy.' I was afraid the music was too loud or wild (not really the line-dancing kind of wedding, which my fam is used to.) but they loved it.

At one point, I saw my SUPER SHY cousin on top up the stage, microphone in hand, singing to black eyed peas. My husband got to go up & DJ and scratch, and DH actually stage dived off the little stage/speaker and a bunch of the guys caught him & started bouncing him up & down.

MME really made the wedding what it was. I had 2 cousins tell me they skipped the viennese b/c they didn't want to stop dancing. I mean, it was just ridiculous how much fun people had, thanks to MME.





FLOWERS
LA Blossom
www.LABlossom.com
Email [email protected] –Laurie couldn’t have been nicer. About 2 wks before the wedding when we were finalizing details, I said I was a little disappointed with myself since everyone had pressured me to do all low centerpieces. She wrote me back saying it’s my wedding and she wouldn’t want me to look back and say why did I listen to them instead of getting what I want, so she agreed to do high centerpieces last minute and even found the spiral candle holder stands that I specifically wanted.
My bouquet was beautiful…even better in person than in pictures. On the day of the wedding, Laurie gave us a few extra flowers to wear in our hair and upon arriving at the VYC I saw a few little extras that I didn’t expect: A vase with flowers in the ladies room and a little dish with flowers and floating candles on our Dais table. Her work is amazing!!!!






FAVORS
Jeanne
(formerly of Morgan’s Bay Confections)

Afresh Approach LLC
Gourmet Candy Shoppe
82 Park Avenue
Bay Shore, NY 11706
Phone: 631-647-3535
E-Mail: [email protected]

I could come up with a Top Ten List why I love Morgan’s Bay. Not just for wedding favors, I plan on using them again for favors whenever I get a chance. I’m personally addicted to their maple-walnut and cookies & cream truffle. Our favors were bride and groom brownie-pops and they’re yummy! Totally worth the drive to Babylon just for chocolate, and Jeanne was really a pleasure to work with. The groom pop was a oreo-brownie covered with dark chocolate and the bride pop was originally a blondie covered in white choclate with white chocolate swirls. I’m not a fan or blondies or white chocolate, so Jeanne made for us a oreo-brownie, covered with milk chocolate and white chocolate swirls. A few days before the wedding, we even came by to drop off a payment and Jeanne’s husband showed us some brownie pops that were in the “baby stage” meaning, they were rolled up but weren’t decorated yet. I thought that was really cool!
If you’re looking for awesome candy and/or chocolate favors def. contact Jeanne. My friends are still telling me how yummy my favors were!

INVITATIONS
Long Island Wedding Planners
www.liweddingplanners.comI can’t say enough nice things about Bridget who works at LIWP, she was phenomenal. She never rushed me, and I think she would have let me go through every book in the store if I wanted to. She had so many good ideas for graphics, layouts and fonts, and she even stayed past her regular hours once so we could order a proof. 4 proofs later, I got my invitations wrapped in tissue paper and they were gorgeous!! Even my most guys friends from college texted me to say my invitations were gorgeous.


: PHOTOGRAPHY
Mariann Szucs
Bluedaisyweddings.com







Mariann was nice, her work was extensive and I always knew that photography was something worth splurging on. Mariann was nice in person, and my friends told me everytime they turned around, Mariann or her assistant was taking pictures....she was so good, you hardly even noticed she was taking pictures.
She consistently emails me back promptly, and I can't wait to see my album.

LIMOUSINES
Royalty Limo
Royalty did 2 weddings we had been to and one bachelorette party. Our driver was sssoo nice, escorted me into the church while my bridesmaids went it, helped time my entrance with the videographer. We actually booked a 30 passenger limo-bus & ended up with the 50 passenger limo-bus on the day off (complimentary) b/c the airconditioner wasn’t working that well on the smaller bus, so they upgraded us for free!!

Prior to the day of, the women that work in the office was very helpful, asked all my questions, and helped everything run smoothly.

CALLIGRAPHY
Mary Ann Goodhue – www.goodhuedesigns.com
Again, one of the best decisions I made. Mary Ann’s prices were really good, she was quick to respond to emails and within a week I had my envelopes completed…they were fantastic! I chose the “Lydia” style which had a whimsical, fairy-tale look to it. They look even better in person than in the pictures, and I especially love her capital “E” it looks like a little bow or a little flower! Everyone was asking me where I had my calligraphy done.

The Finishing touch: I had gold envelope seals form Invitations by Dawn to seal the envelopes. Really glad I spent a little extra for these since they kept the envelope nice and shut & I didn’t have to worry about the glue not sticking and the inserts falling out. My envelopes had gold writing and the gold seals really were a nice touch. My friends said they didn’t even want to open the envelopes, lol.
Menus –DIY
Bought non-watermark specialty paper at Office max, printed 2 per page and cut them down evenly using my friend’s guillotine paper cutter. Scanned my invitation with a hi-resolution scanner and used the motif from my invitation for the menu. Total cost: $20. Time: 2 hours (spent a lot of time doing layout)
PLACECARDS –DIY
Votive wraps –Very annoying to do! I bought clear glass votives from cudge.net and double sided tape and vellum paper from Michaels. The difficult part was cutting them….the votives flared just slightly enough, so we had to cut the paper into a wide diamond so that the vellum didn’t stick out. I also had to make sure it was lined up perfectly. Time consuming, but overall finished project looked awesome! Total cost per votive = $2.25



MAKE- UP
Jacqueline Nicole
www.prettyme.com and
Andrea
Lola Loves Make Up .com
The most amazing make-up artists I've ever met!
I kept looking at my bridal party and thinking, 'damn, everyone looks so good.' They made everyone look so pretty, Jacqueline picked the right colors to make my friend Erin's green eyes really pop, and Andrea made my sister look amazing. I've had experiences when Make Up artists put on too much make up, but this wasn't the case at all. Andrea and Jacqueline Nicole are highly professional, arrived on time and I couldn't be happier.

OF JEWELRY
Thomas Knoell


Loved his stuff. I really shopped around and nothing even compares. For my sister, I got the Juliet Earrings and I got the Barcelona Earrings for myself. I also got a large orchid hairstick that I saw the bride wearing at TWOTY which was fabulous! Halfway through the ceremony, the hairstick fell out and I stuck it in my bouquet. FH also got his cufflinks from Thomas Knoell, and a week later they were featured in a bridal magazine. I went to a bridal show about a month after I already picked up all my jewelry and Thomas saw me in the crowd and went out of his way to say hi. This is a company that puts a lot of heart into their work and it shows. If that wasn’t enough reasons to get your DOJ here, I just want to say that I think my TK earrings really showed up well in my pictures.

Tejani
I bought my bracelet at their Manhattan showroom. Everything is custom made in India and shipping is complimentary. Gorgeous work and b/c everything is custom sized, so if you have small or big wrists, they will make the right sized bracelet for you. A nice thing they offer is if you’re giving bracelets to your bridal party, they can send you a sizer like this: so you can order the right size for everybody.



Flower girl gifts
Frassanito Jewelers Sterling silver flower with a little blue topaz. The saleswoman quoted me $56 per necklace and even wrote it down on a business card saying specifically $56 for blue topaz, but when I returned to buy them, they were $60, and I because I didn’t want to look cheap, shuffling around my purse for the business card, I just paid the asking price.
Things Remembered.I bought silver jewelry boxes, engraved with each flowergirl’s name. I think my niece got more of a kick out of this than the necklace.

Bridesmaid GIfts
Blue Topaz & Tanzanite rings in 14k gold for BM, Aquamarine ring for MOH. I purchased these on 2nd to last day before Fortunoff closed and got in a verbal altercation with another customer who was upset that I bought a whole case of jewelry. This woman actually said “She’s taking all of them!!!” and started shoving me aside to get the saleswoman’s attention. Luckily, the saleswoman (who had just sold me 10 swiss army watches for our groomsmen) already knew she had made the sale swooped them up and wrapped them for me! I had all the rings sized to each Bridesmaid’s finger at Gold Alchemy at Tri-County Flea Market. I put them all in a little gift bag along with MAC lipgloss and everyone loved them.

Groomsmen Gifts
Swiss Army watches from Fortunoff’s.
GROOMS GIFT
My FH needs a second hand for this work watch, so I found Movado with a second hand at the Movado store at Tanger Outlets. Yay.

EXTRAS
Channa Plaque www.my-sweetmemories.com
Good communication with the seller, and the price was very affordable.

WHAT WENT WRONG:
Dortoni Bakery delivered the bottom 2 layers of my cake and not the top 2. My Maitre-d at VYC was able to call them and had the rest of the cake delivered.

After the wedding, VYC packed up all our things, including the top of the cake in a box. We had a lot of people at my parents house after the wedding and this box was somehow pushed aside underneath a table once we got home, and we couldn’t find it until a week later. Guess we won’t be eating the top of our wedding cake on our anniversary.

Our Tuxedo place had a great price & a great selection, but the day of the wedding, half of our groomsmen had long ties and half had bowties, so at 1:30pm (ceremony started at 3:30pm) my husband was driving all over wantagh, hicksville and levittown looking for 5 black bowties. In the end, some guys had dark grey bowties, some had black, and none of them matched. But it all looked the same in pictures, so I wasn't going to freak out over this.

I didn’t eat enough. I really regret this, b/c there was so much good food, and I had been looking over the menu for months, dieting and holding out for so long, and the day came, and I just didn’t eat.

Most important things to remember, that I wish someone had told me:
1. Let MIL take over & act like it was her wedding. I look back now & i'm like, why did I even let her be a part of the planning process? When you give someone an inch, they'll take a mile. She wanted to pick my favors, wanted to have a specific centerpiece on her table (I had highs & lows) she wanted her table close to the dias table (I put my foot down there, I wasn't going to let her 5 little grandkids who want to run around to be NEAR my cake...she was annoyed about that but she got over it, b/c that was a damn good reason!) and insisted that we do the Tarantella. Well I don't know what the tarantella is, I don't know how to dance it, & I didn't want to everyone looking at me & wondering why I wasn't dancing...in fact, if they had played it, I would have felt completely out of place, like I was at someone else's wedding, so I'm glad they didn't play it.
Well anyways, so she got her favors, but NO Tarantella, No centerpiece she wanted, and she had to sit at table 2 instead of 1 (ps, my parents didn't sit near the dias anyway) and you know what?? She got over it. So don't let anyone bully you into having their way, even if they're helping you financially, gifts do not come with string attached. ITS YOUR WEDDING, NOT THEIRS AND THEY WILL GET OVER IT while you will kick yourself for not getting what you really want on the one day in your life that its ok to be selfish b/c its about YOU. Go ahead. Be selfish. You're the bride. Screw 'em.

2. I didn't eat enough. Just stop and eat. I was too damn excited and I wish I ate all that yummy food.

3. Don't obsess over details. I know its hard. I had to have the exact shade of pink in my bouquets, drove my florist crazy. Thank goodness she was understanding. But everything works out fine. Don't stress too much over details.

4. Spent too much $$ on FG gifts. My niece like the $10 jewelry box with her name engraved on it more than the necklace I got her. She's a kid. I shoulda gotten her a barbie & the jewelry box.

5. Bring gum. 'nuff said.

THINGS I DIDN'T WANT BUT I'M GLAD I DID
1. Videographer -caught so many things I missed.
2. Bridesmaid I had out of obligation -she was a childhood friend that I'm not that close to anymore, but she ended up being the most help to me that day.
3. Relatives that I'm not close to I had to invite, and I'm glad I did. My family is spread out between Europe, Asia, & North America, and people that hadn't seen each other in 10yrs got to see each other & they were really happy, and thankful to me for having an event that brought them together. Their happiness at my wedding made all the stress I went through worth it.

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

wow what an awesome review!!! i really love the bottom part of what went wrong (nto that im glad it did lol), what your glad you did etc

your pics look AMAZINGGGG you were a stunning bride!!!!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

Great review - Thanks for posting!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

great review. thanks for the lessons learned!!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

AWESOME REVIEW!! You looked so beautiful!!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

Great review! you looked awesome!!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

You look so beautiful! What an amazing wedding- VYC is gorgeous!!!

Congrats!!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

great advice and unbelievable pics!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

awesome review! you look beautiful! so glad you had a great time!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

Amazing pics and great review!! Congrats!!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

Great review! Beautiful pictures!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

Loved your review. Congrats!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

you look gorgeous!! and Im sorry u didn't get to eat enuf!! :(

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding

What a stunning bride!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Everything looks AMAZING!!!!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding (Venetian Yacht Club, Blue Daisy, Couped up Productions, Afresh Approach, LA Blossom, Thomas Knoell)

GREAT Review!!!!


I LOOOVE your shoes, flowers, rings, and your favors were sooooo cute!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding (Venetian Yacht Club, Blue Daisy, Couped up Productions, Afresh Approach, LA Blossom, Thomas Knoell)

Great Review!!! Everything looked FABULOUS!!!!! the high centerpieces were gorgeous!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding (Venetian Yacht Club, Blue Daisy, Couped up Productions, Afresh Approach, LA Blossom, Thomas Knoell)

Great review Pauline! You looked beautiful!!!!!!!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding (Venetian Yacht Club, Blue Daisy, Couped up Productions, Afresh Approach, LA Blossom, Thomas Knoell)

saw your pics on Marianns website! they are beautiful!! shes sooo amazing!!

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding (Venetian Yacht Club, Blue Daisy, Couped up Productions, Afresh Approach, LA Blossom, Thomas Knoell)

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Posted by brideiam

you look gorgeous!! and Im sorry u didn't get to eat enuf!! :(

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lol, its ok

Re: Pauline's Springtime Waterfront Wedding (Venetian Yacht Club, Blue Daisy, Couped up Productions, Afresh Approach, LA Blossom, Thomas Knoell)

i bought my jewelry from Tejani as well. Yours was beautiful!