***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

First, a big “Thank You” to everyone on here! I worked with some really great people thanks in part to the reviews and feedback from LIW (I probably wouldn’t have done b-pics otherwise!). Our wedding was amazing but it wasn’t easy getting there. I was so indecisive about so many things and when I did make a decision I usually changed it. I became really emotional and cried at the drop of a hat. My family also became slightly crazed and fights happened. None of my BP was close (and some of them cared more about themselves then anything else) so it left David and kind of frustrated and doing a lot of work by ourselves…all that and I am a true Virgo perfectionist. I’m saying this because it’s normal to go through it but in the end it’s absolutely totally worth it. Everything went off perfectly day of and there were no hiccups! We got so many compliments from the littlest details to the RH itself. Here are some of the awesome people who were involved in the day:

Hair: A++ Angela from Angela’s hair design

She was awesome and affordable (note hair at the end of the night still looked amazing and I danced my butt off!). We did a few trials to get the exact look I wanted because I kept changing my mind. I felt so glamorous! She did 6 peoples hair effortlessly!


Makeup: A++ Andrea, Lola loves makeup

Totally Flawless. I wish I had my own airbrush device!!


Dress and Jacket: A++ Fantasia Bridal

Alicia and team were absolutely wonderful. I lost three dress sizes for the wedding – from a 14 to an 8 (well 8 before the honeymoon…LOL now I’m hovering close to a 10). Maria was able to take my dress in perfectly. My mom wanted me to wear a jacket in church. We wound up finding this Demetrios couture jacket at Fantasia that went perfectly. They were creative in helping me achieve the “blingy” look I was going for!!


Tuxes: A Esquire Tuxedos, Merrick

Mike was great to work with, had great prices and the guys looked great!! The fit was off on a few of the guys but Mike was fast to fix it.

Ceremony Music: A++ Leiann Mcgrory – String Quartet

Music was really important to me so I was really finicky about this (and the DJ). I really wanted a string quartet that I could: A. Hear in person beforehand and B. Give a pretty long list of contemporary music to. I was able to have everything I wanted within my budget! I gave them a stack of piano music and was able to sit in on a ‘dry run’. I walked down the aisle to “He’ll Make Me Happy” from the Muppets Take Manhattan and had my BP walk in to “Seasons of Love” from Rent. For the preludes they covered well known artists like the Beatles, Alicia Keys and Bette Midler. I can’t describe how amazing everything sounded.

Dance Lessons: A+ John – Ballroom Dance LI

John was great and easy to work with. I wanted to learn the dance from “Dirty Dancing', however; David (who I have since affectionately dubbed “Frankenfoot”) was not going for it. John was able to create a dance that included lots of spins, dips and a lift. It was great and we were awesome. Come the day of and everything went out the window…Frankenfoot froze up. LOL. Lessons were still great though.

Flowers: A++ Numa's florist, Wantagh

This was hard for me! I didn't want to spend over 1200 and I didn't want a cookie cutter approach (you get roses and hydrangeas for x price, etc.) or a skimpy feel. We went to some of the common places and it was a little too wedding factory for me. Then I found this place locally. Miguel was great and sooooo patient. I changed my mind three times (I don't know what possessed me to pick flowers so early on!). I told him what colors I was thinking and the flowers I didn’t like and he literally built a centerpiece in front of me! The flowers were perfect and lasted about a week and a half after. Lots of compliments and best of all he worked with my budget! The flowers looked better than I could have imagined!


Invitations, Programs, etc.: A++ Laura at Eloquently Designed

I went to a few invitation places and even considered the DIY approach. After tallying up costs I was really worried that what I wanted was going to break the bank. Then we met Laura at a showcase in Roslyn. Laura was totally my savior!!! We did invitations, menus, programs, candles, etc. I wanted the crystal buckles on my invitations and my monogram on everything. She helped me with etiquette, assembled everything (ribbon, bling and stuffed envelopes), made my programs, seating scroll and menus. She even attached crystals on my menus! She delivered everything to the appropriate places. She was very reasonably priced, patient and best of all…comes to you! She even listened while I vented about out of control
family members and offered to help us wrap favors!


DOC/Photobooth: A Fairytale Events/Big Apple Photobooth

We worked with Christina and she was very nice. Looking back, I should have worked more on my day of timeline with her. I think I was retentive enough that I didn't need that much help beforehand. She did come in very handy the day of making sure things were dropped off/picked up/set up, etc. She did makeup checks and had almost everything to survive an emergency in her purse. Fairytale Events also provided the photobooth. It was very cool. I thought the props were going to be cheesy but they turned out to be really fun! Everyone had a blast with the photobooth and they were definitely the most reasonably priced I could find. They took a few weeks to post the online gallery but other than that all went well.


Limos: A+++ Joe from Camelot Limos

Enough said. LOL. The reviews on here and every other site are 100% accurate!! He was great, they were punctual, had clean cars and a fair price. The one thing David really wanted was the Phantom and Joe made it happen. We got a free trip back from the airport after our honeymoon and Joe surprised us with a limo (he knew that I never rode in one before)!! Such a pleasant surprise. Would definitely use again!!

DJ: A+++ Phil from After Hours

I was really careful with this because music can really make or break a reception. From the minute we met him we had so much fun with Phil. He had so much energy and such a great sense of humor. We didn’t want the fist pumping type of feel that other DJ’s can exude. His timing was spot on and his choices were great! He respected our wishes for everything (do not play list, who can/can’t make speeches, requests, etc.) Everyone was up dancing until the end of the night. He played everything on our playlist and was able to blend the perfect songs to create a flawless night.


Photography: A+++ Lighthouse Photography

This is one of the most important things to me. The night goes so fast and your eyes can only catch so much! We met Florio and booked on the spot. We paid for everything ourselves so we had a tight budget and he was able to work with it. We decided to add a second photographer down the road and I am glad I did. We had almost 3000 pics and I can’t wait to see our video. They gave us a combo of the traditional poses and a photojournalistic approach which was exactly what I wanted. Turnaround time is also important and we received our pics in two weeks!! Florio, Ceci and Steve were fun to work with!


Rehearsal Dinner: A Piccolo Bussola

The food was great but the space was really, really cramped. They didn’t cut the grooms cake properly so it tasted funny (I had a layer of peanut butter mousse and a layer of chocolate so it should have been a peanut butter cup type of taste but people got either one filling or another). They figured it out about half way through and fixed it.

Cakes:
Grooms Cake: A++ Dortoni Bakery, Levittown

I loved his grooms cake. He doesn’t obsess over anything like the Yankees or cars or anything so I came up with this (he does play pool so I put the date on pool balls). The cake was perfect! Delicious and absolutely beautiful!


Wedding Cake: A- Francesco’s Bakery, Hicksville

I like Franco and love his rainbow cookies so I was excited to hear that Westbury Manor uses them for the bakery. We did our tasting and decided to upgrade to fondant and pay a little extra for quilting on two of the tiers. I really wanted cake bling but couldn’t justify the cost so I went with ribbon. The cake was pretty good. We did yellow cake with vanilla custard and raspberry filling. I felt like the quilting was sloppy in spots but from a distance it wasn’t too bad. If I had to do it again I would have saved the $300+ upgrade charge to fondant and just done a smooth buttercream.


Hotel: A++ Viana Hotel and Spa

I really didn’t like most of the hotels I found (and felt they were overpriced) until I saw Viana Hotel! I met Rita, in the sales group, at the 2010 LIW showcase and toured the property shortly after. The hotel is just gorgeous and in the perfect location for Westbury Manor. We booked enough rooms that we were able to get a free shuttle for our guests to and from the RH (provided by none other than Joe from Camelot!). The entire staff was absolutely wonderful and really accommodating. I had a large suite with a kitchenette the night before and there was plenty of room for everyone the morning of. We switched to the honeymoon suite the night of and they had security move our things to the new room for us. They surprised us with rose petals in the shape of a heart and a bottle of champagne the night of. The amenities are great too! There is an adult game room with Xbox and a pool table. There is a full spa, pool, workout center, etc. Such an elegant hotel!!

Reception Hall: A+++++ Westbury Manor

From our first visit we were totally blown away with service. We met Pam, a matire’d who was filling in for a BM on vacation. After touring, looking at the menu and eating a delicious chocolate fondue, we eventually met Felicia and booked on the spot. We were on a really tight budget so to sweeten the pot Felicia threw the Martini Ice Slide. We booked the Garden Room but didn’t like that the cocktail hour started at 8pm. They were able to give us the Executive Room upstairs for a 7pm start and told us they would be set up ready to go for 6:30 and they were. We made a payment at least once a month so we got to know the staff pretty well which was really nice the day of as most of them came by to congratulate us! We also basically hand picked who we wanted to work the event which was very cool. On our menu meeting we decided to add the intermezzo, which I thought was a nice touch. We also opted to cut once station during cocktail hour and add a pasta course, which was a HUGE hit (and no one missed anything during CH). When we arrived after the ceremony, Pam (MD) and Naomi (the bridal attendant) were waiting for our cars. They immediately took our drink orders and, upon my request, had a plate of pigs in a blanket ready for David (gross, I know, but he loves them!). We were treated like royalty from then on! We took our pictures outside then went up to the photo studio on the 3rd floor for family pictures. There they had a small spread ready for the bridal party AND surprised me with homemade sangria! It’s probably the best I have ever had and we couldn’t afford the upgrade so I was touched that they finagled it there for us! We went back outside during CH and took tons of pictures on their beautiful grounds! I did have a peacock encounter but he wouldn’t pose with me…lol. I was worried about the room setup/tables as 1. we didn't do traditional table numbers instead we cities we have been to and 2. we decided to alternate between flowers and floating candle centerpieces to save money. The floating candles had to be set up on every other table along with 4 votives on each table. They put everything together for me and it was honestly a dream come true. The room looked just breathtaking and the rest of the night went off without a hitch.


Honeymoon: A++ Vegas and Hawaii

Who doesn’t love a good vacation?!? At first, I didn’t want to do Hawaii because I felt it was kind of cliché. David really wanted it though and I figured if we didn’t do it then we probably never would. We took a JetBlue flight from NY to Las Vegas the day after the wedding. We spent 2 nights at the Venetian. I have been to Vegas before and I love it. It was the perfect way to break up the long flights to Hawaii. We took a day trip to the Grand Canyon and it was very cool. In the end, I left down $20…could’ve been worse! We flew Hawaiian Airlines and they were great. Definitely gets you in the mood for Hawaii!


Hawaii:
The Big Island: B+

There are basically two sides to the Big Island, Hilo and Kona. Thankfully we picked the Kona side and stayed at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott. The hotel was very nice and right on the water. It was about a 20 minute drive from Kona Airport (through these lava ‘fields’). There was a nice shopping area close by with a few cute restaurants, a Tiffany’s, Macy’s etc. The island was pretty but not the “relax on the beach” kind of place. We were able to see black sand beaches and a green sand beach – that was insane. Its about a mile hike or a really bumpy, off-road adventure to get there. There were sea turtles everywhere! The beaches were nice but the water was chilly. The weather on our side of the island, Kona, was fantastic (apparently Hilo rains just about everyday). We did a Kona coffee tour at Hula Daddy and I tasted the best cup of coffee ever. We pretty much saw the whole island. You definitely have to rent a car as there is a LOT of driving here! Overall, it was nice but I don’t think I would go back.


Kaua’i: A++

This island was our last stop and we spent about 5 days. This was the opposite of the very volcanic Big Island. Kaua’i is known for its lush, tropical jungles and it did not disappoint. We stayed at the Marriott here as well and the hotel was just amazing. I miss my 12:00pm Mai-Tai’s the most! LOL. We did a helicopter tour with Blue Hawaii tours and it was so cool! We saw tons of movie sites (including the waterfall in Jurassic Park). We did a snorkel/sail up the Na Pali coast and learned all about the islands history. We swam (open ocean) with a monk seal, dolphins and sea turtles!! We did a luau and some other tours here and there but mainly spent a lot of time pool/beach side. We took a direct red-eye back and flew Continental to Newark. Flights were great and I would definitely recommend spending a little extra for that flight. It’s 9.5 hours but you sleep most of the time and we really didn’t have jet-lag.

Overall, Hawaii was very nice but very, very expensive. We were sad to have to go back to reality!

Thanks for getting through my review. I wanted to put it out there because there were so many times I was on the fence about an idea/vendor, etc. and these reviews helped me.

Good luck in your planning!!!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Great review!!! Beautiful pictures, Congratulations!!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

You looked BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! Congratulations

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Beautiful pictures! Great review!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Everything looks so great! LOOOOVE your makeup. You were such a beautiful bride!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Great review! I'm using so many of the same vendors...Angela's Hair Design, Phil from After Hours, Camelot, I'm thinking of using the Viana Hotel, and we're also going to Hawaii and Vegas! I feel even better now about my choices in vendors....thank you Hope you had a great day!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Your review is great!!! Very helpful too!! I am taking that same trip to Hawaii and taking the flight from newark. We are nervous, but you calmed me down a bit.

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

So gorgeous. I love your dress! What a beautiful review.

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Looks like you had a beautiful day. Thanks for sharing your experiences =)

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

I have been dying to hear an updated westbury manor review. I am so happy you had a good day and they were good to you. I got that feeling right off the bat they they would do what they can to make us enjoy our day :)
YOu looked beautfiul. We are also going to Hawaii :)

Thanks for the review!!!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Beautiful! Congrats!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

I loved your review and the flowers were gorgeous!!!! Congrats!!!!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Great review and beautiful pictures!! You got me so excited for my westbury manor wedding and hawaii honeymoon! :) Congratulations to you and your husband!! :)

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Love the pictures!!!!!! Im having my wedding at the westbury manor and i cant wait...i love the centerpieces and i was going to do the same thing low not high..and i always wanted to know how it will look .....it looks great!!!!!!!!! Very nice
Congrats again!@

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Thanks for sharing! i am using the same hair and make-up

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Love your review! Congrats! You looked amazing!!!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

great review! you looked beautiful!

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Great review..yeahh for Hawaii Honeymoons! =)

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

Congrats hall twin ! You looked beautiful ( I especially loved your makeup). Your hm looked amazing too !

Re: ***3/26/11 Westbury Manor Garden Room Wedding!! **Picture Heavy** Lighthouse Photography, Fantasia Bridal, Camelot, Lola Loves Makeup, Angelas Hair Design, After Hours and more!

we just booked our trip to Hawaii for our one year anni ...... can't wait!!!!