AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

LIW –
Thank you so much for creating this great forum where brides can connect and bounce ideas off of each other. This was such a great outlet for me in so many ways. My wedding was even better thanks to this site!

Engagement Party Invites/ Engagement Photos- Chuck- Artisan Photography A+
Loved our invites!!! We used a picture of the gazebo in Cape May from the weekend we got engaged (Deacon Proposed Right Behind the Christmas Tree), and in the corner we had a picture of us right after he proposed. Inside Chuck chose to use some other pictures from that weekend in Cape May. They were really pretty and it clued in our guests that we were having a Christmas In July kind of e party!! These invites were beautiful and I am so happy with how they came out and really happy that Chuck added some of his own touches!!
For our epix, I think we were really lucky. We were able to go to 2 different locations. We took some pix at CW Post and we went the Milleridge Cottage. Chuck knew that there was this pic that I had really wanted through a window and he recreated it for me!! It came out great!! These pix were super important because we used them for our table numbers, CD Favors, Save the Dates and they were displayed at our engagement party!! Here are a few….plus our invitation!!







Engagement party favors – EZ Calligraphy, Michelle A+
Back in 1985, my aunt got married in November and gave red ornament balls as her favors. On the ornament it had their names and wedding date. Every year around Christmas, I am still putting that ornament on my tree. Obviously after throwing a Christmas themed party, you need to give a Christmas themed gift. So I bought red and silver balls on clearance and it was very affordable. The issue was finding someome to paint on them. I called so many places!!! Michelle from EZ calligraphy, said we have never done that before, but we will try it out. They did and the rest is history. They now sell ornaments with calligraphy on them thanks to yours truly!!



Engagement Party, Centerpieces, - Mom A+
These came out so pretty!!! I made sure I kept one!! I bought pinecones with some greenery, and various ornaments. And my mom arranged them in baskets I bought from Michaels and viola!! Perfection!! Oh, I also bought white lace runners from the dollar store and some pretty votive candle holders. Love them!!!



Maine Maid Inn – A+
It’s such a shame that MMI went out of business. It had such a great feel. We had our eparty in July. But we wanted to recreate our engagement in Cape May, which happened around Christmas. We asked MMI, if we could decorate the room in Christmas Décor. They agreed and we even brought in a fake Christmas tree!! It really looked beautiful!!We opted for the buffet (we didn’t want to do a sit down, we wanted something different than what the wedding was going to be like), and the food had to be refilled multiple times!! It was soo good!!






Bridal Luncheon – Milk & Sugar, A++++
I had wanted to do something special for them the day we went to order the dresses. Three of them came from Jersey some people didn’t know others that well. So we went to get measured and then ate like pigs at Milk & Sugar!!! It was sooo good!!! We definitely indulged!!! I also gave them their tanks that day! We made smores!!!


FG Party – Once Upon a Time, Commack A
I had 5 flower girls. Two were from NJ. I wanted a chance for the girls to get to know each other. So I found this place and it was so reasonable. The girls, danced, played freeze dance, had iced tea, & pizza. They also made pocketbooks, and had their nails painted with a facial!!! The facial was yogurt with cucumbers!!! They loved it!! It was so cute!!! Unfortunately they do not do these parties anymore.

Bridal Shower – Elisa’s in Bellmore, B, Tiffany Lee – Photographer, A
Love this place! Perfect for a shower. We had the whole restaurant to ourselves!! They closed it down for us. It was surprise and they got me good. I looked like a bum that day!! But, I am giving them a B because, the food was served lukewarm and they never cleared off my table. I was having cake and my appetizer was still there!! But the food was good!! Everyone liked it!!
I heard of Tiffany Lee from one of the girls here. She is a photographer who is just starting out. She was looking for special events to book to help build up her portfolio. I emailed her and she came to shoot my shower!! I feel so lucky to have had a professional photographer there, no one had to worry about taking pix, everyone could just enjoy themselves. She did a really nice job. As a thank you gift to one of my BM’s, Tiffany is going to do a family portrait session for her!!! Also one of my friends just used her for their wedding thanks to my referral!! She was so nice!!! I am sure she will be very successful!!! These are some of her pix from the shower!! Please excuse my mess, it was a surprise and yes I was surprised!!






Bachlorette Party – Ummm……Rock of Ages, MJM Salon, Awesome 80’s
I was originally supposed to go to the spa with the Bridal Party in the morning and then Awesome 80’s that night. I did end up going but not at planned. The day of the actual bachelorette party, I ended up seeing Rock of Ages with DH. Great show!!! Highly recommend if you are an 80’s metal head like myself!! We went out to dinner before the show at this Italian place next door to the theater and Constantine was there eating too!!! He is the star of the show!! I have had a small crush on him since American Idol, so that was really cool!!
The day of the rehearsal dinner, my mom, a BM and I went to MJM Salon in East Meadow. I got a pedicure/manicure, facial and my hair and makeup done. They did a good job!
Then in October after my wedding, a few of us actually made it to the 80’s prom. That was a blast!!! Perfect for the 80’s nut!!







Rehearsal Dinner – Milleridge Inn Restaurant – A+
This was a gift from DH’s parents. It was very nice, the food was good. We had a private room upstairs. The Quaker room. We had a fireplace and a beautiful big window!! What a great night!! Everyone was so excited for the wedding!!



BM Gifts – Overstock.com, Kohls, Bath & Body Works, Tessa, Old Navy, A
We really hooked these girls up!!! And they deserved it!!! We really had very little drama throughout our wedding planning. We got the girls marcasite lockets from overstock.com. They were really pretty and vintage looking. The chain was a little weak. I had planned on getting a new chain, but never got around to it. We liked the locket idea because they all are mom’s and thought they could put a pic of their kiddies in there. I was lucky enough to find matching earrings at Kohls. Used mad coupons!! These were a hit one of my BM’s wears these earrings on a regular basis. From B&B, I bought them a stress relief basket. It came with a candle, bath salts, room spray and some kind of oil I think. I have a friend who worked there and I had a coupon for $10 off. My friend let me get $10 off each basket!! Sweet!! From Tessa, I actually got them little note pads, I actually got them from Tessa’s sister. They were pretty and because I purchased them, I got something free from Tessa. From Old Navy, I got them flip flops to go with their tanks. I bought them when they had the $1 sale.


GM Gifts – Raybans, A+
DH took this job very seriously. We had GM’s that are all ages and we figured sunglasses would be perfect. It was a summer wedding and we also wanted to use them for pix!! So he searched all over for the perfect pair. And we found them!! All of the guys loved them, even my 15 year old cousin. And they looked great on all the guys!!!



FG Gifts – Amazon, Things Remembered, A+
We got the girls a book called When I Was a Flower Girl from Amazon. It is really cute. It is like a scrapbook of the wedding. It is a really nice keepsake. From Things Remembered we got them an engraved trinket box. It is shaped like a star and it is really pretty. We also bought them tanks too.



RB Gifts – JC Penney, Dollar Store, Tricounty,Amazon A +
One RB is 8, the other one 2. We got the 8yr old, his first grown up watch. It was cool and hip. It has an orange face with a rubber band and it glows in the dark. We got that with coupons at JC Penney. He loved it. We got the 2 year old, a large personalized piggy bank with trucks on it from Tricounty. We bought them both sunglasses from the Dollar store, cause they they needed them for pix too!! We got both of them a book about being a ring bearer from Amazon.




Parent Gifts – All over!!
I took my mom to see the broadway show Mamma ***. And I also got her a basket of goodies for her to open at the rehearsal dinner. This includes a precious moments figurine, bed sheets, picture frames, perfume, and MOB t- shirt. For my stepfather, we got him a watch and had it engraved from JC Penney. For DH’s parents we got them gift certificates for an overnight stay at the B & B where we got engaged.



Health/Beauty - Cleansing Concepts, Vanessa - A++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I was obsessed with losing weight!! I did everything!! I did the package of three colonics with Vanessa at Cleansing Concepts. Without going into much detail. The office is small and clean. Vanessa is truly wonderful!!! I love her so much, I have been back a few times to take her up on other services!!! I love the sauna!!! Which is a shock because I hate the heat.. but it was really nice and refreshing actually!! I also went to see her the day before the wedding for a foot spa and she told me it was my wedding gift!!! She is so sweet and gives tons of advice regarding detoxes and nutrition. She is worth every cent and I can't wait to go back!!!

B- Pix/Day After Pix- Marianne, Blue Daisy, A++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What an amazing talent!!! As soon as I saw her pix, I knew I had to find a way to work with her!!! I had already booked my wedding photographer, but I had to work with her!!! She just makes everyone look so beautiful!!! She is so creative!! I was intrigued with the whole b pix idea. I was chicken, but when I saw that she does them and they were affordable.. that was it!!!! That was my way in!!! LOL!!! I knew I had to do bpix!!! She has such a great style!!! They were so tasteful yet sexy. It was a great experience!!! I highly suggest doing them!! I would love to do it again!!! I made an album on shutterfly for only $50!!!! I was so pleased with the Bpix, I wanted to work with her again!!! So I researched prices for Day After Pix. I knew months before the wedding I was doing these pix with her as well!! They came out fabulous!! It was a great day!! We went to a few locations and were able to get some pix that we couldn’t get on the wedding day due to time restraints!! I even went in the fountain at the planting fields! Marianne is so humble and sweet. She is so good at what she does!! I love how colorful and vivid her pix are!!! Now when I have a baby, I will have to have her do a newborn shoot!! No wait… maternity pix!!! Deacon is going to kill me!! But I am just obsessed with her pictures!! Its like a drug!! I want more!!




Day After pix will be at the end of the review....

Invitations/Placecards/programs – Tessa – Invitations A, Placecards/programs B+
I heard of Tessa through this site. I looked at her work and found it to be pretty amazing. It was so unique! I was intrigued with the idea of having an original invite. I was originally going to order invites from a catalog. I really didn’t want to spend much money. I was drawn to the pocketfold style, but didn’t think I was going to be able to afford it. Everyone was saying how reasonable Tessa was, I figured I would give it a shot. I have to say she gives you a lot for a fabulous price. She was super easy to work with! She always returned my emails quickly and did a few different proofs for me with no problem. I love the way my invites came out!! I got so many compliments!! My MIL actually brought it to work to show her co-workers!! I got so many compliments, that Tessa asked me if she could use “my” design for another bride!!
The reason why I am giving her a B+ is for the placecards and programs. I had emailed her about 2-3 months ahead of time about the programs and place cards. She told me to wait, till about a month before. Well when it was a month before, I still didn’t hear from her and basically I felt like I was rushed. They came out Ok, but not what I had expected. I was not crazy about the cover of my program and I wasn’t happy with the font on the place cards. These are minor complaints, I know. I am just being honest. I felt they were on the pricey side as well. And with only a few weeks before the wedding, I felt I had no choice.








Save the dates/Rehearsal Dinner Invites – Vistaprint A
I had heard of vistaprint from the lovely ladies on this site. I decided to check it out. I had an idea of what I wanted after looking around. I tried to create it myself on vistaprint. I am not that crafty so it wasn’t coming out too hot. I saw that there was an option where you could pay $19.95 to have their creative services department create your design, so I did that. I don’t know if I just got lucky, or if they always do this, but I actually had a creative services rep on the phone for about an hour, and we were going back and forth showing me different designs!!! So I got exactly what I wanted!! I ended up paying about $60 for 125 small magnets. That price is including the $19.95 creative services fee. It was worth every penny, I was very happy with the result! I also chose the cheapest shipping (3 weeks to arrive), however I would say I had my magnets in about 2 weeks. The only thing is, I had to order the envelopes elsewhere.
As far as my RD invites, it was a last minute decision, and I only got them because they were free!!! Yes free!! Vistaprint is always running excellent sales!! They were very cute and I only needed about 20 and those I created myself. I had also ordered the matching envelopes and DH printed them out at work!! They were soo cute!!



Weather – A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If anyone remembers, it rained for 2 straight months!!! Up to the night before our wedding!!! It was a monsoon!!! Well the day of, we had a freakin miracle!! Blue skies, nice breeze, not too hot. I hate sweating, I get flushed when I sweat and really didn’t want that look on my wedding day!! But that day it was perfect!! Not one drop of sweat did I shed!! I feel like that was my Dad’s wedding gift ( He passed away when I was six). Look at this blue sky!!!



Milleridge Cottage – A+++++++++++++++
When I started looking for a RH, I wanted a place where no one I knew had gotten married. I was also looking for a place where there was only one wedding at a time. I wanted a cozy, elegant feel. I visited over 15 halls, and the cottage had it all!!! I worked with Kristy as our BM and she truly was wonderful!! As you all know my cousin was sick and we were unsure if she was going to be able to make the wedding. Kristy told us not to worry and they had place settings for them just in case. I had also asked for something poker related for DH but I didn’t want to pay for a grooms cake. So I had asked for the fruit carvings to be poker related. When they realized it wasn’t going to work out, Kristy added in a mash potato bar and a grooms cake!!! The cake was amazing, I was so impressed!! They made a poker table!! I had no idea that the Milleridge bakery did that kind of stuff!! It tasted so yummy too!! I had also brought in supplies for a candy bar and they set it up beautifully!! They actually took pix of it to show other brides!! I had a lot of extra’s and Kristy was on top of everything!! When we brought our stuff over we took up her whole office!! They were just so wonderful and easy to work with through out this whole process!! They made accommodations and did things that were “out of the norm” for me without any hesitation!! This truly made our wedding day special!! The day of the wedding we had Pam as our Maitre D. She was wonderful too!! She was there waiting for us, and she was just so calming. During the cocktail hour, we didn’t go, but I wanted to see the reception room all set up. So she took us out the side door and through the kitchen so no one would see us!! It was great for us to have the moment of peace and just take it all in!! My family still can not stop raving about Pam!! She took care of them all night!! She also bustled my dress in like 15 seconds!! She even sent us home with our entrees, and all the pastries from the chocolate fountain!! We are just so happy with our choice of RH!! The food was delicious!! The atmosphere was cozy, personal and just beautiful!! I don't have too many pix scanned sorry!!












Dresses – Me -Maggie Sottero’s Victoriana BM’s – Alyce Designs– Burton’s A
When it was time for dress shopping, I actually found my dress at another salon. But that salon was just way too far for me to go back and forth for fittings. So I called around looking for the dress at other salons. When I called Burton’s they also said do you want to know how much it is? So I said, sure. To my surprise the dress was bout $300 less at burtons!!. I decided to continue calling around to see if I could get an even better price. But no, Burton’s price was the best and they were close to the house. Sure enough friends of mine have also bought their dresses there as well so I felt better. I was afraid there was a catch because the price was so good!! Carole is great. She is a bit sarcastic, but she is down to earth. I had no problems with her. She got me a swatch of my dress no problem. The alterations were great as well and were under $200!!! They even steamed my veil for me and I didn’t purchase it there. The only thing is they do not have a large selection of dresses and they are not a “salon”. There are no fancy chairs or tons of fitting rooms. I can sacrifice that for having more money in my wallet!!
When it was time to shop for the BM’s dresses, I went out with my MOH and a BM and we went to Bridal salon in Centereach. They are very nice there and have a huge selection!!! Finding the dress was actually quite easy!! I was surprised I thought we weren’t going to agree. I saw this dress on the rack that was so different. It was chiffon and it had an empire waist. I thought they were going to hate it. They LOVED it!! All 6 of my girls were very happy with that dress!! That was a shocker!! When it was time to order I called good old Carole and asked for a price and as usual, her price was about $60 less than the other salon. Plus we also got another percentage off since I bought my dress there as well. So the grand total for my girls with their alterations was under $200!!!










Flower Girl Dresses - Mygirldress.com – A+
I didn’t want my flower girls to wear white. I also didn’t want them in cranberry. I thought light pink would be perfect. I did tons of research. I had an idea of what I wanted. I wanted something simple. I wanted the kids to look like kids. I found this dress at mygirldress.com. I thought it was too good to be true. It was exactly What I was looking for and the price….$30!!!! Unbelievable!! So since I was skeptical, we ordered one to check it out. It was perfect, good quality, good color, pretty dress, but the flowers that were on it… weren’t very attractive. So one of my BM’s changed the flowers with nicer ones and it was just perfect!!! They even had slips for the girls to put underneath.. they were about $20!!! I have heard so many stories about how the FG dress cost more than the BM dresses. There was no way I was letting that happen, I had families in my wedding party. Many people bought their dress, fg dress and tux!!1 So I think we really lucked out with this dress. The kids loved it!!! One of the dresses arrived slightly damaged, had a tiny stain on the ribbon, so they gave me the dress free!!! I couldn’t ask for more!!! I was thrilled with these dresses!!!





RSVP TUXEDOS – Bay Shore, A+
I had no idea what I was doing in this area. One button, two button.. who cares!!! I just didn’t want the guys in cranberry or pink. I also wanted a paisley design on the vest. We actually went to one place, and when I told them I wanted paisley, they said nobody does that anymore!! That was so rude. We left. Once at RSVP, they had such a large selection, I was actually excited!! We ended up going with a taupe/champagne paisley colored vest and it was perfect for our Victorian theme!! Deacon wore ivory and he looked HOT!!!! They were very knowledgeable there, super friendly and easy to work with!! Everything came out great! They even let us pick up some of the tuxes a day early to accommodate our gm’s who were OOT!!





Sandy’s Shoes – My shoes – A
I lucked out there!! I got the shoes I wanted for 10% off because there was a scuff mark on them. And then they dyed the shoes ivory, so you didn’t even see the scuff!! The shoes killed my feet though!! They even stretched them for me! SO I ended up in flip flops, that I bought online (forget where – sorry). But anyway everyone at Sandy’s was very nice and helpful. I had my girls sign the bottom!!




Craft Shoes – BM, FG, MOB shoes & pocketbook and my Aunt bought a pair of sneakers!! B
Huge store in Commack, probably the largest selection of bridal shoes. I had actually
went there first for my shoes. I felt incredibly pressured to buy a pair, so I did. I then went back and returned them because I had buyer’s remorse (ended up buying the same pair from Sandy’s anyway – but that is besides the point!). They work on commission there, so they are your typical salesmen. Be prepared to get attacked as soon as you walk in! We only went back there because of the selection. I actually had to argue with them over getting the shoes dyed. They wanted to charge us after we had just purchased 20 pairs of shoes, a pocketbook and a pair of sneakers!! So we ended up getting that fee waived. But I have to say, I was pissed!! But in the end everyone’s shoes fit good, my mom’s pocketbook was perfect and my Aunt loves her sneakers.



Barrons – Veil – Tricounty A++++++++
I LOOOOVE my veil!! I had actually seen it at a salon first. It was a cathedral with some beadwork on it. At the salon the cathedral itself cost $450. I thought I would never get it. Then I went to Barrons. I had brought pictures of my dress and he pulled out the same EXACT veil!! He also had the matching fingertip veil!!! So I ended up purchasing the cathedral, fingertip, blusher and tiara for …..$500!!! A+








DOJ – Earrings, Ebay seller Megamede, Bracelet, Mummy’s Jewels, Tricounty A+
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on jewelry. I looked on ebay at a seller where I had purchased from before and found the perfect pair of earrings. They matched my dress nicely and the best part; they were $13.00!! I had some trouble finding a bracelet. I had actually bought quite a few until I found the perfect one at Mummy’s Jewels. She had to size it for me and it came out great. It was $60.




Wedding Bands – Tri-county flea market, Gold Alcemy (Fred) A++++
I have a three stone emerald cut e ring. I wanted a band that I could wear on the same finger. However, I wanted it to sit flush against my e ring. SO it had to be custom made. Fred did an incredible job!! It fits like a puzzle!! I was so afraid that I was going to be a ton of money because it was “custom”, but I have to say for both our rings it was around $1000. Fred also set the stones in my e ring. He is now our jeweler!


Morning Attire – zazasmyonestopblingshop A+++++
This was one of the things I purchased first. I had been shopping around for hoodies with the crystals. They were like $70. Then I did a search on ebay and found this seller. I bought all tanks for my girls, flower girls and for me. Plus I also purchased a hoody all for $150!!! The tanks were around $10 each and my hoody was $28!!! These were for crystals!! I was eve able to pick the colors and font that I wanted.






Makeup ( Me, Mom & MOH ) – Oksana A++++++++++++
Believe it or not makeup was very hard for me to decide on. I did about 5 trials with different artists. I didn’t know what I was looking for. It was really hard to describe a look. But when I had my trial with Oksana, I was like WOW!!! I felt like my eyes popped and I felt like me, but a top of the line most gorgeous me!! I went and did 2 trials with her, because the first time I went she did my makeup for a party I had, so she added blue eyeshadow. So I went back to get an idea of my wedding look. The second time I went I was there for 2 hours!!! We kept trying different things, and I was trying to describe what I wanted… little did I know, what was in my head would look absolutely awful on me!! The third time I went to her was for my b shoot. She did a very sexy sultry look with false eyelashes and it was perfect. We actually went with a similar look for my wedding day!!! On a personal note, she is just a great person to be around!! She is so down to earth and was so calming the day of. She was just like one of the girls!! She even took some pictures for us!! And she did some make – up for my flower girls as well!.. I am going to attempt posting some pix from each trial I had with Oksana, they were all beautiful and different. I couldn’t recommend her more!! I have some friends who are going to use her as well!! She did my makeup for the Day After pix too!!







Hair – Diane at Cactus in Deer Park A+++++++++++
I have been going to Diane for years. She does amazing color and always gave me a nice cut. When it came time for my wedding hair all I knew was I wanted it half up. That’s it. I never wear my hair up, so I definitely wanted it mostly down. But I have to say, I couldn’t explain what I wanted. I wanted some height on top, but nothing too crazy. I had done a few trials and none of them were that great, but honestly I blamed myself because I didn’t know what I wanted. And then I was saved… Elysemichelle had posted her hair trial pix and I was like PERFECT!!! That’s it!! I printed out all 20 pix she posted!! So glad she posted so many and took them to Diane and she nailed it. It wasn’t exact (my hair is curlier) but it was perfect. The day of the wedding it was even BETTER!!! Diane is so cool, very laid back and a good person to have around among the chaos. I got tons of compliments on my hair that day!! I was so nervous!!!





Garter – Some online website, A
It was simple and pretty. It had a blue swaorski crystal and it was my something blue. I got it in ivory to match my dress. It was so pretty.



Bridal Flip Flops – Some online website, B
This was actually difficult!! I had to get flip flops that had a 3 inch heel so my dress wouldn’t drag on the floor. And they had to be ivory to match my dress, plus I wanted some sparkle on them. Once I found them, I called the company and they were so sweet, they stayed on the phone with me for a while, while we figured out what size I needed. But what stinks is that they weren’t comfy at all!! Plus the rhinestone piece fell off before I even left the house that morning!! And by the end of the night half the sequins were gone too!! I guess it doesn’t really matter, I am never wearing them again, but they were on the expensive side.


Transportation – Party Bus & 1940 Caddy, Sir Oliver, B+
I was referred to Sir Oliver from a few friends who had used them before. I feel that using a referral for transportation is important, because it shows that they were reliable. I was very impressed with their cars. They were so clean and they have the only party bus on Long Island with seat belts which was important since we had kids in our bridal party. The drivers were so sweet too. The reason why I am giving a B+ is because of the owner. We had a problem when we went to the planting fields, our driver got lost he was expecting to get escorted. So we lost some time and our photog freaked.. He was panicked and blew up at the driver. We know that’s not cool..but I guess the driver felt bad and told the bosses. When we had called Sir Oliver to set up our appointment for our honeymoon drop off, they complained to us about it. This bothered me more. I found it unprofessional for them to complain to us about another vendor and of course I defended my photog and eased the situation. But if there was an issue they could’ve contacted the photog or handled it another way. They put us in a weird spot and I didn’t like that. I HATE it when vendors bad mouth each other. I find it very unprofessional. Our photog felt bad and told us he was sorry he blew up. I understand why he freaked, we were on a very tight schedule and he wanted to do his .job. Other than that, Sir Oliver was great. Unfortunately, I don't have many pix of the cars. Here is mostly the pix we took on the bus!! We LOVED the bus!! It was so roomy and so nice to actually be able to stand when getting on.. The kids loved it too!! As you can tell the stripper pole got a lot of action!! Phil was the bus driver and he was so sweet!! I took a pic of him!!









Flowers – Flower Michele, John A+++++++++++
My MOH got married in 2003. Till this day she says her favorite part of her wedding was her flowers. She used Flower Michele. So before I even started on LIW I knew that Flower Michele was going to be a contender for my flowers. I always wanted color in my wedding. I love bold jewel tones, but I was afraid they were going to look too fall for my summer wedding. I had met with other florists and they just weren’t on the same page as me and some were super expensive. When I met with John we just clicked. I felt that he REALLY wanted to do my wedding. I felt like it wasn’t just a job to him. It made me feel really good. He totally brought my vision to life and he didn’t say no to anything I wanted!! He was so affordable I was even able to afford pew bows!!! I cut costs by alternating the centerpieces, I had some high, low and some candle. I purchased all the candles and glass and John set it all up for me!! For practically nothing!! The first time I met him I was there for 2 hours!!! We were just brainstorming ideas!! I had really wanted to decorate the staircase at the cottage, but it had seemed rather costly. So we decided to take the pew bows from the church and then use them for the staircase. It was going to be my cousin’s job to bring them from the church to the cottage. I was a little worried about this…. Well to my surprise the day of….John himself showed up at my house and delivered the flowers!! And then he said he would get the pew bows and set them up at the cottage because HE HAD ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD!!! I was soo happy!! I had nothing but compliments on my flowers!! He did a fantastic job!! I am so happy with my choice and I was just thrilled with the final product!! The flowers give such life to my pictures!! I am so sad that I don’t get to see John anymore : ( he is just so much fun!!! SOme of the pix I am posting are scans, so the colors look alittledull.. but they weren't!! Trust me!!







Floral Preservation – Keepsake Floral B+
I was unsure about doing this, simply because of the price. It was a ridiculous amount of money. But I figured if I didn’t do it, I would regret it. The colors in my bouk match my dining room anyway, so I was able to justify it ( in my eyes.. LOL!!) I was very impressed with Keepsake Floral. They were very easy to work with. They send you the box and detailed instructions for packing. The bouk came out beautiful. I had a memory charm of my Dad & me on the bouk. It was slightly torn ( I had done that, by accident), but they repaired it somehow and that really meant a lot to me. When I received the finished product, I also received another set of detailed instructions on how to clean it. I haven’t done that yet, I am afraid!! The only reason why I am giving them a B is because of the price and the frame. It feels like plastic. Looks very nice. But I expected it to be stronger, I guess. Especially because of all the money I spent.


Church – St. Paul The Apostle, Brookville, Father Bob Clerkin
What a wonderful man!!! He reminds me of Dr. Phil, he is just so relaxing!!! This church isn’t our parish. Our parish was booked 18 months in advance. It was difficult for us to find a church to marry us. But we really lucked out with St. Paul’s. It was only a mile away from our RH. And it was beautiful!!! I have some really great pix of Father Bob during the ceremony. There is one where he is giving us a thumbs up as we kiss.





DJ – High Voltage, Vinny – A+++++++++++++++
Music is very important to me. I always knew that I would feel bad for my DJ cause I could be a PITA!!! Vinny was just perfect!!! He was able to give me EVERYTHING I wanted!! I didn’t think I would be able to afford it!! And with other DJ’s I wouldn’t have gotten it! So going with Vinny was a no brainer. One of my easiest decisions, I have to say. I got 2 DJ’s, gobo, zap shots, piano player for cocktails, drummer for reception, 2 plasmas and montage!!! He even helped us SAVE money. We ordered the gobo ourselves (which worked out sooo much better, because we were able to have it custom made to match our logo) and in all of Vinny’s packages there are 2 DJ’s!!! So we were able to get the basic package. He was also so easy to work with. There were a few things that I wanted specifically. Like when we were being introduced, I actually wanted 2 songs and I was specific as to where I wanted one to stop and the other one to begin. He nailed it!! And also we had a very special mother daughter dance prepared. My mom and I were starting off to dance to a slow song and then the song was to “scratch” and then we were going to bust out into a choreographed dance. He did that perfect too!! And he had to “pretend” he messed up!! The zap shots was something that I thought would be nice to have, but I would can it if I couldn’t afford it. And I was so happy I was able to get it!! I have over 60 more pix and they are great shots!!!! It really was a nice touch. And the montage!!! I am such a montage junkie!!! At first, Vinny said no more than 60 pix. So I was struggling. We wanted to do three mini montages. One for the deceased, one of just us, and one with us and our family and friends. Then Vinny said, well if you make it yourself it really doesn’t matter now many pix, all I have to do is play it!! Well, I learned how to use windows movie maker and FH and I made a beautiful montage!! We put the music on it and it was just what we wanted. The guests really loved it to. They clapped when they saw pix of my dad (he is deceased) and they loved seeing themselves on the screen. After all is said and done, Vinny was highly professional, yet down to earth and such an incredible value. I highly recommend him!! He did an awesome job and had people on the dance floor the whole night!!! And he even sent me a thank you email the day after saying I wasn’t that bad to work with!!! He always teased me!!! Here are some zap shots!!! Plus a pic where you can see the gobo...







Photobooth – Partybooths.com, A+++++++++++
This was something, I always wanted but really had no way of justifying it. It was the last thing we booked!!! We did it a month before the wedding!!! I had to convince DH to do it!! And we both are SOOO GLAD we did!!! I don’t like the traditional guest book thing. It is boring and a waste, in my opinion. I love pix and would just much rather have this photo album as a memory. I had went to a few bridal expos and saw the photobooths there, but they were way to expensive. I remember Kerri talking about partybooths.com and I contacted them. Everything was really easy and affordable. I got the booth for the entire party and I added the scrapbook option. This was the photo album. Two copies of the pix would print, one for the guests to keep and one for our photo album. We also got to choose the color of the photo album and the color of the background in the pictures. Plus we were able to include our customized monogram on the bottom of each pic!! The guests LOVED it!!! Many people went in more than once!! Even the wait staff took pix!!! And the DJ’s!!! Those are my favorites!!! I remember that night looking through the album and just laughing and smiling. It was the best add on we could’ve done!! It really captured the essence of the party!!!






Joanna B. – Table Numbers, Signature Drink Signs, Slipper Basket Sign, CD Favors, Monogram, Unity Candle, Menus, A+++++++++++++++++++
Joanna’s husband actually works with DH. She is a graphic designer and we were so blessed to have her. I never met her. We did everything via email. She was quick efficient and patient. There were some decisions that I had trouble making. In the end everything that she did for us came out way better than I could’ve imagined! The CD’s were incredible!!! I was really impressed!! They came out sooo professional!! She designed and printed the booklets. We had a pic on the front with the logo she made, inside the booklet was his version of how we met and my version of how we met with some pix, and on the back of the booklet was another pic with a thank you. On the back of the case was another pic with our song listings. I LOOOOOOVVVVEEEE IT!!!! Our guests were impressed!! I always knew I was going to have a CD as our favor, and since we met in a music store it was perfect!!! She made a ton of logo’s for us before I picked one!! And that logo was used on our menu’s, Cd Favor, Signature Drink signs, Slipper Basket, Gobo, Photobooth pix, Unity Candle and candy bar labels. SO that was a very important little logo!! She really stuck to our theme when creating our all of our signs. She is really creative and I found her to be reasonable in price. She does very good high quality work!!! Here are some pix of what she made for us. FM me if you want her info!!














DIY – Flower Girl Baskets, Petal Cones, Letters for Candy Bar, Slipper Basket, Petal Cone Basket, Program Basket, Flower girls Hair Accessories
One of my favorite parts of wedding planning was doing these projects. I am not very crafty, but one of my BM’s is. What I loved the most was getting together on a Friday night bonding and having pizza and hanging out. These are memories I will cherish forever. I was actually very sad when we had no more projects!! I was looking for things to do!!
Anyway, the flower girl baskets…I had 5 flower girls, I wasn’t spending $15 on each basket. I bought them at garage sales. I spent maybe $3 on all five. They were a little different, which was cool. We sprayed painted them with ivory pain and then we decorated them with pink roses and ribbons from Michaels.
The petal cones were made with doilies that we cut in half wrapped like a cone and threaded burgundy ribbon through the top. To finish it off, I had purchased seals that had our monogram on them. The leftover seals I used for the candy bar bags. Everything was purchased from Michaels. I bought the seals from an ebay seller. I don’t remember who sorry!!
The letters for the candy bar were purchased from AC Moore. They were about $1 each. We spelled out “Love is Sweet”. We used acrylic paint in our colors to paint the letters and I purchased some rhinestones and stencils from AC Moore as well.
The slipper basket was the very first DIY we did!! We bought the basket, tulle, and crystals from Michaels. I bought the slippers from a local dollar store and the wine sized organza bags were from myorganzabags.com… awesome prices! I purchased 50 pairs of black Chinese slippers and I had 4 pairs left!! I am selling the basket FM me if interested.
The petal cone basket was a basket that I had bought at a garage sale and I purchased the ribbon at target on clearance after Christmas.
The flower girl hair accessories were made my one of my lovely BM’s. We just used pink flowers and ribbon from Michaels. They all has something different ad they looked so cute!!!








Videographer – Treasured Memories, A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Video was one of the most important things to me!!! I am a movie buff!! I will definitely watch my wedding video repeatedly!! I can’t IMAGINE not having one. So if your budget is tight, please do NOT cut video. My MOH never had a video and she regrets it big time. So anyway, since it was so important to me, I did meet with over 10 video companies. I chose Tim from Treasured Memories because his work had it all. It is movie like with cool effects and the cinematography is amazing!! Even though it was very intense, I found his work to be fun and very celebratory which is what I wanted. But the one thing, that no other company does is make a Wedding Day Music Video!!! This is what sealed the deal for us!! You choose a song and you lip synch it like a music video! Tim tries to get everyone involved, we had our bridal party, family and friends all singing Happy Together!! During the reception, Deacon and I got in the middle and all the guests formed a circle around us and we all were singing and dancing!! It was definatley one of the highlights of the evening!! Tim was so excited!!! We are so excited to see the finished product!!! We have to wait a loooonnnnngggggg time!! That stinks.. but hey, its good to have something to look forward to!! We are so happy we chose Tim to shoot our day! He was SUCH a great guy!! So easy to get along with!!! I just can’t say enough about him!!! He really loves what he does. So energetic and really just makes everyone feel so comfortable!! He goes above and beyond!! In one of our meetings, I was telling him how we were going to do Day After Pix/ Trash The Dress. He asked if he could come and film it!!! Hell yeah you can!!! He had never shot a TTD session and he wanted to try it!! I am so grateful I was his guinea pig!!! I am getting all of this amazing extra footage in our video for FREE!!!!! Can’t wait, Can’t wait!!!! So I am giving him A++++++++++++++++++++++++ already without even seeing the finished product, that is how much confidence I have in him!!! And that is such a great feeling!! This pic is from when we were singing our song for the video and everyones is around us!! It was so fun!! the energy was amazing!!! The second pic is from the TTD shoot!! Tim got in the water with me!!!



Photographer – Artisan Media Group, Chuck, Rav & Lynn – A +++++++++++
This is weird to give them a review. They are like family. Chuck introduced me to LIW. I will be forever grateful for that. Chuck was the one who designed my engagement invitations. Chuck was the first vendor booked for our wedding. I just felt I couldn’t let him go. I met with 10 other photographers. I felt that Chuck was the best value and I just really wanted him at my wedding!! Even aside from taking pix!! Like I wanted him to be a guest!! I just felt if I went with someone else, I would miss him there!!! So weird. But we definitely clicked. I fell in love with his albums, he is very creative with his layout. I am really looking forward to see what he does with mine!! His pix are fabulous too!! He has a nice mix of traditional and photojournalism. He definitely didn’t try to oversell me with anything. He customized his package to our needs. We were also originally booked with him for video as well. He was very understanding when we went elsewhere for that. We wanted that movie type of video. I had a large bridal party with 7 kids. Finding someone who I felt would be patient with them was very important to me. And he really was great with them. One FG would tend to go off on her own, and he still found a way to work her into the pix. I have to admit, I had a LOT of requests and Chuck worked his butt off!!! He had limited time and we had some minor obstacles. Even after the wedding was over, Chuck was willing to keep shooting…Deacon said no more…looking back, I wish we took more : (. But oh well. Did he get all the pix I wanted? No… but am I upset about it.. no… I totally understand and honestly I can’t complain…. We got 1304 proofs!!!! Many brides look back on their wedding day and say, oh we didn’t get this or that shot… I think that is normal. The day of you are in another world you will no way remember. Chuck was always looking out for me, he held up my dress when walking over grease and such. It was a pleasure!! I am very happy with my proofs!! But I have to say I got even more excited after I met with Lynn to do our album layout. I was there 5 hours!!! We went through each page, we laughed, we cried, we got stumped…bottom line it was so much fun!!! I am so excited to see how it comes out!!! Once again, I have to admit I am a PITA with certain things. I am dead set on a particular album cover that they currently do not possess. They are looking into seeing what they can do. I have to say honestly from the bottom of my heart. They really, really, really, want their customers to be happy. I was upset with some things here and there (minor stuff), they over compensated me and I couldn’t be happier. Here are some of their pix….It's hard to pic just a few! Please keep in mind these are scans. The colors are soooo much brighter in person!!




















Travel Agent - Dawn Dorr, Cruiseone A++++++++++++++++++
We have never used a travel agent before. But with planning the wedding, I just couldn't plan the HM too. We had never been on a cruise and Dawn is an expert. She was super sweet and actually helped us out on our HM. We had some issues at Animal Kingdom Lodge and we called Dawn and she took care of it right away!! She also sent us some treats to our cabin on the cruise. We felt that we could call her anytime and that was a huge comfort to us!! Her number is now on speed idal on our cell!!! Definately reccommed her!!!

Honeymoon – Disney, Animal Kingdom Lodge – B, Carnival Cruise to Bahamas, St. Thomas & St. Maarten – A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
When deciding where to go on our honeymoon, we wanted to go to someplace we knew we loved and someplace we never went. We love Disney so that was a given. Unfortunately, the weather, didn’t love us. It wasn’t terrible, it was cloudy and rained on and off. So we missed out on a few roller coasters. We did go on dumbo in the rain!! We made the best of it!! This was the first time we used the photopass. We loved it, we had fun finding all the photogs to take our pix. We also did a professional shoot at the Grand Floridian. I wanted to stay there, but Deacon wanted the Animal Kingdom Lodge. That was ok, minor mishap with them when checking in. Wouldn’t stay there again. So we did the pix at the Grand Floridian. I love how they came out!!! That was fun!! This time in Disney was also the first time we made food reservations. I went overboard and made too many!! There was one day, I got sooooo sick from all the eating!!! And the scale has not been in my favor since!! Help!! We had a great time though!! I mean its DISNEY!!! We also made it to universal 2 days too!!! I wish we had more time in the parks though! We were so tired!!!
We never went on a cruise and we never went anywhere tropical. We are not beach people and we were concerned if we went somewhere tropical for 2 weeks we wouldn’t have enough to do. That’s why we felt a cruise was perfect and it definitely was!!! We had those seabands and we didn’t even open them up!! Carnival was fun, but it was kinda like a floating frat house. People drinking 24/7. Sometimes they got real loud we would hear them on our room. We were still able to sleep though. We slept like a baby!! We needed to catch up after Disney!! Our first stop was the Bahamas, it was ok. Atlantis was nice. We did the Dolphin encounter there and that was really fun!!! We never did that before!! The trainers were soo cool. They made you feel really comfortable!! But if you want pix you have to buy them and that was a rip off. We bought them of course!! We needed them for our honeymoon montage on our video!! We had fun buying postcards and stuff for our video. Next stop was St. Thomas. St. Thomas was beautiful. It was an overcast day though. We went snorkeling for the first time and we saw a shipwreck!! The guys who ran the boat were sooooo much fun!! They were young and soo full of energy!! On the way back to shore they made this super strong rum punch. And they filled bazooka’s with tequila and were shooting it in people’s mouths!! It was nuts!! We had no idea that these Caribbean Islands were well known for their jewelry, so I was pleasantly surprised to see all the shops. I fell in love with blue diamonds!!! My lovely DH bought me a blue diamond ring!! So gorgeous, so unexpected!! Our last stop was St. Maarten. That was our favorite!!! Maybe because we had such great weather that day, but the sky was so clear and the water was so blue (just like my ring). We just hung out, had lunch outside, while listening to the steel drums, having a co

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Awesome review, awesome wedding...congrats

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

wow wow everything looks great you are soooo beautifulllllllllllll congratsssssssssssssss

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Everything was beautiful! Great Review Dana!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

thanx so much for the review. Your wedding looked amazing!!! you looked beautiful!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

everything was beautiful!!!! Awesome wedding Congrats!!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

I LOVE ALL YOUR MILLERIDGE PICTURES!! i'm sure i'll be FM-ing you details as it gets closer to my wedding!

thanks for sharing!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Great review Dana!!! Everything looked beautiful!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Beautiful review....we had so many of the same vendors.

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Great review!! You're wedding looked amazing!!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Great review Dana. Thanks for sharing. Now you giving me an idea for tuxs.

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Great Review

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Really awesome review!!! Your pictures are amazing!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Beautiful and congrats!!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Great review, very detailed! You looked beautiful! I love your flower colors too, very different! Glad that you had a wonderful time!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Looks great Dana!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Beautiful!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

great review

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

WOW! Amazing review!!

Re: AZAILIA'S- 6/27/09, WEDDING REVIEW!!! FINALLY!!! MIlleridge Cottage, Artisan Photo Group, Treasured Memories Video, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Oksana, Burton's, Blue Daisy... so much more!!!

Dana, I love it all!!!!! Beautiful pictures, great review!