4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

I cant believe how many months have gone by and that I am now married and sitting down to write my review. Our wedding was absolutely incredible. I thoroughly loved the whole planning process and sharing everything with my friends, family, and you girls. Of course there were little bumps and bits of stress here and there but it all disappeared on the wedding day. I woke up so happy and excited and can honestly say that nothing went wrong. I worked with some amazing vendors and I am so grateful to all of them; they were the perfect people to have around on our special day. I’m hoping this review helps out some future brides so if you have any questions about anything feel free to FM me. Before I get started I just wanted to add one more big thank you to the LIW community. Everyone was so helpful and supportive and I know it wouldn’t have been the same without you.

Here goes…..

Photographer – Aaron Almendral – A++
Aaron was one of the first vendors we booked and one of our favorites. I stumbled across him by looking through another LIW and loved all of her photos. I hesitated to contact him as I was afraid he would be out of my price range but I am SO happy that I did. He was reasonable, professional, and very approachable. We decided to do engagement photos to get used to being in front of the camera and make sure we would be happy and we were blown away. We had a lot of fun running around the village with Aaron and he was excellent at giving direction and feedback (we told him we would need that) and the photos came out so amazing! We went back and forth a lot before the wedding for ideas, questions, timeline, etc. and he always replied right away. On the wedding day he was full of great ideas, efficient, receptive, and we got a ton of amazing photos. All photos were taken by Aaron except the rehearsal dinned and as noted.

Engagement Photos:




Tuxedos – Black Tie Tuxedo – A
We shopped around at a few places for tuxedos and weren’t finding what we were looking for. Then as we told Mark that our wedding theme was “Old Hollywood Glam” he got all excited and new exactly what we wanted. I thought they had a better selection then the other shops and Mark was great to work with. All the orders seem to have come in on time and without a hitch (I didn’t hear any complaints from the guys and everyone looked great) so overall it was a great experience!

Dress Alterations – Fantasia Bridal – B
I bought my dresses from other places but brought them to Fantasia Bridal for alterations after reading raves about their seamstress Maria. Overall I was pleased with the experience. The staff was friendly, there was a long wait on a few occasions but they were generally sweet and professional, and Maria did seem to do beautiful work where she took in my dress. I had some trouble walking in my gown the day of and I’m not sure if it was a little too long or it was just me. I also had straps put on my second dress and they looked great and held up for ¾ of the reception but one of them snapped in the last hour.

Monogram – For the Modern Bride – A+
We won a giveaway on facebook so for the Modern Bride designed a custom logo for our wedding. The whole process was incredibly fast and smooth. Communication was excellent, and any revisions we wanted to the design were handled extremely fast and perfectly. In the end we received a beautiful logo via email which we used to create our own printed products for our wedding. The file is large and high quality and I love how the final products came out. The logo really helped to tie everything all the designs together! You can see photos of the awesome monogram in the DIY photos at the end.

Hotel Block - Marriott Residence Inn Plainview – A
Overall this was a perfect location for us to have our hotel block. There were a couple of small hiccups in terms of confusion with some of the reservations, but we were always able to straighten them out immediately with Marlene, the Sales Manager. The hotel staff was so sweet and accommodating the day of. We provided OOT bags for our guests which all seemed to be distributed properly. One of the reasons we chose the hotel because there rooms were all very spacious suites and we were planning on getting ready at the hotel. This worked out perfectly and our suite was practically transformed into a salon in the morning. There was plenty of room for 7 of us to get ready along with hair stylists, MUA, photographers and coordinators. I also thought a lot of the spaces would make for great indoor photos and the hotel was awesome about unlocking spaces for us and letting us have our run of the place to take pictures on Sat. morning before the wedding. My MOH arranged for rose petals to be scattered in our suite and housekeeping had no problem making that happen. The staff was flexible and accommodating about early check-ins and late checkouts, and the breakfast on Sun. morning worked well as a laid back way to spend a little more time with our guests before heading out.


Rehearsal Dinner – Baldino’s – Marriott Residence Inn – A
We had a small dinner of just the bridal party the night before. We thought it would be a great chance to unwind, have the bridesmaids meet the groomsmen, give out the bridal party gifts and spend some time with our amazing guests. Baldino’s was perfect. They gave us the little private room in the restaurant, printed up personalized menus for us, and the food was delicious. We hung out in the lounge afterward which was great. We were the only ones in there and it was a great way to spend the night before the wedding. It was also super convenient since we were staying right upstairs.

Personal photos:



DOC – Piece of Cake Events – A+
Christine was amazing! Our wedding involved a lot of DIY which meant a lot of outside coordination and setup. On top of doing a ton of other things Christine and her sister/assistant Lisa helped make sure this all went smoothly and turned out just how I had envisioned. She was so calm and organized and a great person to have around on the wedding day. There were some slightly scary situations that came up the week before and she followed up on them as many times as needed to make sure we didn’t have any issues on the big day. I think another thing that was among the most helpful was working on the timeline with me and then helping to make sure we stayed on track. The day just goes by so fast and without her I think we really would have fallen behind during a few of the earlier stops. We also had a ton of contact before the wedding itself and she helped me to track down centerpieces (I finally picked ones I wanted and then they were discontinued from the provider so she managed to get them through the manufacturer), provided some vendor recommendations, and gave me advice and input along the way. If you’re on the fence about a DOC, it really is a huge help and great piece of mind and I definitely recommend Christine!

Hair – Laura from Hot Hair, Coram – A+
Laura and her girls were incredible! Laura has been doing my MIL’s hair for a number of years so she recommended her. I went in to the salon for a trial and loved it. She completely understood the look I was going for and ran with it. On the day of the wedding her and her girls showed up at the hotel bright and early and went to work on us. They had 7 people to do but no one felt rushed and everyone looked incredible. I highly recommend her!



Makeup – Nicole from MAC in Macy’s at Smithaven Mall – A+
Nicole was so sweet and I am so glad I got to work with her! I was having a lot of trouble finding a MUA that was reasonable and that I liked. I decided to stop at MAC for one last trial and am so glad that I did. Nicole was incredible and so sweet – a great person to have around the morning of the big day! She showed up bright and early as well and brought along some extra help just in case. I loved the way my makeup came out and highly recommend her too!


DJ – High Voltage Sounds – Planning – C, Day of – A
I want to start this off by saying that it is so hard to give a mediocre review because everything felt so perfect and my DJ needs were unusual. We booked a band to play the reception however I wanted something different for the ceremony and cocktail hour so I contacted a number of DJs. At the time HV Sounds was the most reasonable and understanding about our need so we booked them. I met with Vinny about a month before the wedding to go over the songs we had chosen and with the exception that Crest Hollow had not yet received his insurance everything still seemed great. However I tried to follow up with him regarding the insurance and at the point all communication basically seemed to drop off. Apparently there were some extenuating circumstances but I was at the point where I was not really sure I would have music for the ceremony and cocktail hour. I made backup arrangements just in case but it was probably my biggest source of stress. In the end his partner showed up, on time, with all the right music and like I said everything went perfectly. If you would like more info send me a message.
Band – Double Down – A+
It was important to FH and I to have a swing band at our wedding. Swing dancing is something that we love and the wedding theme was kind of built around that. We went in to NYC to Swing 46 to listen to Double Down and loved them right away. We had a great night dancing to them and thought they would be a great energy level for the wedding. They learned a couple of new songs for the wedding by request (including our first dance song) and they sounded perfect! Everyone is still talking about how great the music was and how much fun they had. If youre looking for something classy, fun, and a little bit different check them out!

Crest Hollow Country Club – A++++
Crest Hollow went above and beyond and we were thrilled with how amazing everything was! We were treated like royalty the entire night. When we arrived there was food, drinks, champagne, and sushi set up in the bridal suite. I was introduced to Diane, our amazing bridal attendant (more on her later) and we were whisked off in a golf cart to double check that we were happy with the ceremony set up and location (we were, it was gorgeous). We were then driven around the property in the cart for photos until it was time for the ceremony. After the ceremony we were sent back into the bridal suite where cocktail hour food was waiting and where we could spend a few minutes alone together before the whirl of the rest of the evening. Cocktail hour was mostly spent mingling so we missed a lot of the food and decorations but we were told by everyone that it was incredible. We were then taken to have a look at the ballroom and were totally blown away. As I mentioned the wedding involved a ton of DIY so we did not know exactly how it would come together but Crest Hollow did an amazing job at making it happen! When we walked into the ballroom there were people everywhere making sure things were set up perfectly! And the chair covers and uplighting were amazing final touches to the look of the room. The reception was perfect, they made sure Jason and I had a chance to have some food, and our ice tea glasses were always kept full (we formed an addiction to CHCC ice tea early on in the booking process). Everyone raved about everything but the tartufo dessert seemed to be the biggest hit. Everything went smoothly and we were so happy have Crest Hollow play such a big role in our wedding day.



Bridal Attendant – A++++
I can’t say enough about Diane. I had no idea what I would need a bridal attendant for but she was amazing! She was always there when we needed her, smiling, and happy to help! She helped me with a ton of things, from carrying my train and bouquet, my ‘costume change’…just every little thing we could possibly need. Thank you!!!!

Limo’s - Lancelot Limo – A+
All I wanted for limos was an antique car to take DH and I from the hotel to CHCC, a 5-10 minute trip. Since I am planning from OOT I asked my parents if they could help me out with coordinating and booking this. Christine referred Lancelot, my parents met with them, booked them, and I thought we were set. It turned out that Rob, the owner, is an incredibly thoughtful and involved guy. It was killing him that he was playing a part in our wedding and we never even talked. After playing phone for a while we finally chatted the week before the wedding and I was very impressed and reassured by our transportation choice. He told us the car we were using had just been restored and that we were going to be the second people to use it since it was redone! The car was beautiful, showed up early, and we got to CHCC without a hitch. But Rob wasn’t done. He had planned on sending a return car to bring us back to the hotel after the reception. We were expecting a small towncar but instead Rob himself showed up to drive up in a 6 person limo! It was a fabulous way to end an incredible night. Thanks Rob!
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/394675_674916764406_17503400_33854065_40409347_n.jpg'>


DIY
I think just about everything else was DIY. I went a little overboard but I’m crafty and enjoy it. I think the most intense undertaking was the invitations but honestly I’m glad I did everything the way I did. It made it feel special and personalized and people couldn’t stop talking about all the details which was really nice. My advice to other crafty DIYers is just to keep focused and organized. I started to feel overwhelmed at one point so I broke all the projects out into a monthly checklist which really really helped. Just for fun, here are all the projects again

Invitations (personal photo)

Bridesmaid Clutches (personal photo)

OOT Bags (well, a couple of items anyway. Personal photos)


Bouquets



Bouts

(Personal photo)

Corsages
Pomanders

Hair pieces

Escort Cards


Note Cards and Tray (photo from Christine)

Cake Topper

(photo from Christine)

Table Numbers (photo from Christine)

Menu
Favors



And tons more photos (sorry if its TOO many)! Thanks for reading/looking!


(swing dance lesson at the end of cocktail hour...everyone seemed to love it )


(personal photo)

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Amazing photos and loved all of your DIY projects. You are very talented!!! Congrats!!

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

everything looked Beautiful!!! CONGRATS!!!!

i had to giggle when i read about the iced tea, cause i think that was a big reason we booked there too lol SOOO GOOD!!! lol

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Everything looked beautiful! I love your theme! Great review!

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

congrats!! everything looks beautiful
i love your centerpieces- so simple.
i've always wanted to learn how to swing dance lol

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Great review...everything looked beautiful!

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Great review! I also have my block at Marriott in Plainview, and Marlene has been so great to work with.


Also love that you were in my Empire Room

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Amazing review thank you, everyhthing looked soooo beautiful...I am also blocked at marriot and getting married at crest hollow and your review wass very helpful

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

I love all your DIY stuff! For the paper goods, where did you get them printed?

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Thank you so much! It was fun to write and go through all the pictures again

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

---

Posted by kitt6katt

I love all your DIY stuff! For the paper goods, where did you get them printed?

---

Thank you! Are there any you're looking at in particular? I did some at vista print, some at home, and some at staples, lol

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Honestly? Gorgeous! The DIY all came out beautifully and I would never think that the DIY are DIY!
I don't think I ever saw a pic of your 2nd dress before this so i have to say it looked awesome on you!
Congrats - but hope you start posting more on the NW boards

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

gorgeous!!! love it all!

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

---

Posted by Moonmist09

Honestly? Gorgeous! The DIY all came out beautifully and I would never think that the DIY are DIY!
I don't think I ever saw a pic of your 2nd dress before this so i have to say it looked awesome on you!
Congrats - but hope you start posting more on the NW boards

---

Thank you so much! And I will, I promise! I miss you all and I'm catching up on all of your amazing reviews now.

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Amazing DIYs and gorgeous photos!

Congratulations on a job well done and being a wife!

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Great review! Beautiful DIY items, you are very talented.

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Great review and awesome photos!! I love your reception dress!!!

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Great photos!! And love all your amazing DIY!

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

Everything looked beautiful I love your bridesmaids dresses and of course you know how I feel about your table number still waiting for a reply

Re: 4/30/11 CHCC red/black/white vintage glam wedding review!!! W/ LOTS of Pics!

---

Posted by Sweetpea1

Everything looked beautiful I love your bridesmaids dresses and of course you know how I feel about your table number still waiting for a reply

---

You have FM