The Brides' Review - 9-4-11 Our Amazing Old Field Club Wedding, Hidden Essence, East Coast Band

rmiller2255 Posted: Jun 21, 2012 09:13 AM+

rmiller2255 MEMBER SINCE: 6/10 TOTAL POSTS : 1681 WEDDING DATE: Sep 04, 2011

Posted: Jun 21, 2012 09:13 AM

9-4-11 Our Amazing Old Field Club Wedding, Hidden Essence, East Coast Band

I finally got around to putting this together almost 9 months after! Here it is!!

Sept 4, 2011

We got engaged May 1, 2010 and then realized we had to begin planning. We met in Club Getaway in Kent, CT and I always imagined us getting married there. Unfortunately it was out of our budget and little too far away for people to travel. We have been together for over 9 years and I was so excited to begin the wedding planning process. We looked at over 12 RH’s and couldn’t find anything that fit our personality or how we envisioned our wedding. It was difficult to find a location that was on the water with a natural view/setting with one wedding a day and within our price range. We wanted the feel of our wedding to be vintagey, classic elegance. We chose coral and ivory which I loved but the color was extremely difficult to work with, there are so many different shades and since it’s not a common wedding color we had to customize a lot of things. We didn’t want an over the top event or anything too formal. From the hall to the invites and DIY touches I was completely satisfied with the entire day and it will be a night I will never forget.

LIW
Before LIW, I had no clue about anything related to wedding planning. Andrew and I both have only been to a handful of weddings and were clueless about what to do. LIW was a savior for me with everyone’s great advice and unique ideas and DIY’s…Thanks to everyone for all the help. We found out RH through LIW too!

Save the Dates
We did magnets on Magnetstreet.com, they came out great and everyone seemed to love them. We had our e pics taken by our best man who is an amazing photographer so we just used the picture from that.

Hair/Makeup and Getting Ready Outfit
Mersina did my hair and makeup, and the makeup of my BM’s and my mom. She brought another hair stylist Maria who did the BM’s hair. She was running a little late and I was frantic that we wouldn’t have enough time. We made it within our timeframe and I loved the way my hair and makeup came out. My hair stayed for the entire time and so did my makeup. Everyone loved the way they looked and Mersina does amazing work! Adelz, gave me my day of outfit and I love the way it came out!

Dress and Shoes – Justin Alexander from Bridal World, Baldwin
I got my dress from Bridal World in Baldwin on a sample sale and it just happened to fit me perfectly! It was a Justin Alexander and only $450. I went to 12 different stores looking or the perfect dress and none of them worked. This one was it and I changed the whole thing to make it my own. The seamstress is very direct and sometimes was a little too pushy and aggressive. She did amazing work but while at all the fittings I was very nervous with her. I had her add a sweetheart neckline, pick ups to the bottom, sew on a rhinestone belt and sew a skirt underneath to make it more poofy. I had to do my fittings 3 months before the wedding since I had to go to LA for work for 2 months before the wedding. I ended up picking up the dress 2 days before and it looked perfect!

It was also difficult to find coral shoes and I had my mind set on it. I kept buying and returning shoes and I have small feel so it was even harder to find. I ended up finding coral Chinese Laundry shoes on Amazon on clearance for $20. They were really comfortable and gave me the height that I wanted on the wedding day.

Veil, Custom Flower – Etsy: YesterEra
I had a lot of trouble finding a veil that would match perfectly. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money and wanted something very simple. YesterEra was amazing to work with, she mailed me samples of all her different colors and I matched it with my dress swatch. She custom made my veil and I loved the way it turned out. She was also willing to work with me within my budget and had it shipping and made very quickly.

I wanted something to distinguish my maid of honor since her dress was the same as all the others. YesterEra made me a customized flower that matched our dresses perfectly. I mailed her a sample of the dress and she made me 2 different flowers to choose from. It looked so pretty in her hair and she did amazing work!

Bridesmaid Dresses
I had a lot of trouble finding the right coral color dresses and I wanted short ones. We looked in a bunch of wedding stores and even started looking in department stores to get regular fancy dresses to use for BM dresses. I ended up finding J.Crew BM dresses on clearance online for $84! They were the perfect color coral and I ordered a bunch of different sizes. It was very convenient because we just returned whatever didn’t fit to the J.Crew stores. They’re customer service is amazing to work with over the phone and they really go out of their way to help you. Some of their dresses are made not in the best quality, my MOH’s zipper on the side of the dress was sticking out very strangely but they mailed us a newer style of the dress and lowered the price w/free shipping a week before the wedding. When we got that dress, the difference because the chiffon and under part of the dress was completely crooked. She ended up wearing the original one because we didn’t have time to order another dress.

Invitations – Ella’s Paper
We had a lot of trouble finding the perfect invites, especially since our colors were coral and ivory. Many of the invites that are pre-made online or DIY kits didn’t come in coral. I found Ella’s Paper on Etsy and she had a design which we loved and she customized it with our color and switched the design around a little. She kept mailing us samples until it was the perfect coral color for us. She was very affordable and great to work with. She also made us a business card template which we printed through a different web site to include with the web site information instead of additional inserts to save some money. I would definitely recommend her to everybody, she gave us the vintagey look we were looking for.

Ketubah: Etsy Seller - Jerise
We knew that we wanted a custom made ketubah, something that we can hang in our home. We found Jerise through Etsy and loved that she custom made the designs and wording. We love the way it turned out, its more expensive since it's custom made with the paper cut abut we viewed it as purchasing her original artwork.

She's based in Washington Heights, so she met my husband at work in Midtown and we got it in person. She was great to work with but she's really busy and it took her a long time to get it for us.

We ordered it in May, I thought we would have it in more than enough time but she works in order of the couple's wedding, not when you pay...so we didn't get it until l a week before the wedding, which was fine, but I usually like having everything in advance.

Serenity Limos
We got started a little late because photo and video came late. We had them booked for 3 hours until 4:30, we wanted to extend them a little bit but the driver had to leave exactly at 4:30 because he had a pick up for another wedding at 5:00. I thought it was irresponsible of the company to book someone else so closely back to back without leaving an wiggle room especially on our wedding day. We didn't have as much time to take pictures as I would have liked because of the limo schedule. In addition that our driver was really nice and great except at one of the stops he was smoking, which I wouldn't normally have a problem with except that he lifted up my dress while I was getting into the limo with a cigarette in his mouth. Seeing that cigarette so close to my dress was really nerving and I don't really like the smell of cigarettes...

The price was pretty good and the car was nice, the pickup car from the RH to the hotel was a black stretch limo which was also nice..they just should have spaced out the drivers schedule better. The GM's also said that the limo smelled weird when it picked them up but I didn't notice that. The air condition also wasn't strong enough in the limo and it took a while to figure out the radio. We were on a tight deadline and we were trying to makeup time but he was driving a little hectic to the point where photo and video following couldn't keep up.

Old Field Club
As soon as we walked into the hall we knew it was perfect for us. They have only one wedding a day and the privacy and intimacy was extremely important to us. We worked with the same people and customized cocktail food options as well as little hints of detail. Mary, the matri’d was amazing, the day moving extremely smoothly and she kept us on schedule and was constantly attentive to our needs and made sure that we were always happy.

We had the ceremony outside and we lucked out with the weather. We had the hurricane less than a week before the wedding and there was damage to the hall but they quickly fixed everything up and it was in perfect shape for the big day. They got electricity back 2 days before our wedding and managed to re-do the carpeting in the hallways and fix the place up. It was windy and a little cloudy but the ceremony was set up perfectly. We had a ton of sunshine for pictures so that was perfect!

Unfortunately we missed cocktail hour but everyone raved about the food and the passed hor de oeuvres. The reception room looked exactly how I imagined it to be, we switched our their drawings on the walls for old family wedding photos to give it a more personal touch. The tables looked amazing and we had candles everywhere.

Cake: La Bonne Boulangerie
A 4 tier cake was with the wedding and we paid for an upgrade for he scroll design and our florist added the flowers and ribbon. We loved the way the cake came out, it was exactly how I was envisioning it to look. It also tasted great, we had raspberry and chocolate pudding as a filling. We also just de-frosted our cake and ate it because we’re moving to LA and it was amazingly good! I could not believe how well it held up in our freezer!

Instant Photo Book - DIY
Here's all the stuff I bought and how I did it:
I bought the Fujifilm Instax 210 online from some photo company web site, they sell it all over online. I also bought enough film for 80 pictures, we had one pack of 10 pictures left and we had 96 people. We wanted people to also take some photos home with them and there were about 20 that weren't in the book. I bought photo corners from Michael's and the book from Michaels. I bought a scrap book and replaced all the paper with ivory card stock that I added holes to.

The stamps were really hard to find because I'm not artisty or DIY at all and I didn't know how to even search for the stamps online. They're called Journal stamps and they're actually more expensive then you would think that they should be. I bought them all on eBay, I couldn't find them in any stores.

We thought that a lot of the older people wouldn't take pictures or wouldn't understand how to work the camera but somehow just about everywhere there took a picture and left us a note. We had a frame with simple instructions on how to use the camera and how to replace the film.

Florist – Hidden Essence
Michelle from Hidden Essence was absolutely amazing! We were so happy with the way all the flowers turned out and she went above and beyond anything we could have ever imagined. We looked at 6-7 different florists and everyone was more expensive than Michelle and not as artistically creative. I knew that I wanted a mixture of different types of flowers with a unique look and with different shades of coral. She made me a sample before we signed the contract because I was nervous and couldn’t make a decision of which florist to go with. When I saw our centerpiece I loved it! She brought the boutonnières to the boys first and then came to my parents house with the bouquets. Everything for the ceremony, chuppah, RH, and throughout the hall looked amazing. I loved how there were flowers throughout the halls and it all matched and looked beautiful.

East Coast Band
When we first saw them at a bridal showcase we thought they were talented but it took us going to a bar and seeing them perform live in front of a crowd that sold us. They have an amazing ability to get the entire floor dancing and involved in the party. Lynda, has a wonderful voice and is extremely talented, I really like that she uses a wireless mic and can walk around throughout the room while she is singing and dances and gets involved with the party. They have the ability to sing popular music and classic without sounding like a typical “wedding band”. We were all dancing the entire time and by the end of the night my feet were killing me but I couldn’t stop dancing. They did an encore of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and we were all dancing up and down. They nailed all the slow songs with our parents and our first dance. The announcements of our parents, bridal party, etc. didn’t sound cheesy at all which can tend to happen with some MC’s. DH also sang to me before we cut the cake as a surprise and Lynda worked with him to rehearse during cocktail hour to ensure that no one would know. We worked a lot of with Lynda before the wedding to plan out the songs that we wanted because it was important for us to have a vibrant and energetic party.

Video: Kiss the Bride Films
As soon as we met with Leslie we knew that we loved their work and that we wanted to book with them. They had a unique way of shooting and editing that wasn’t cheesy at all and truly displayed the couples. It was most difficult vendor for me to book because I work in TV. We met with 12 different companies and ultimately decided that Kiss the Bride was the best for us. On the day of the wedding there was traffic since it was labor day weekend and Nadia and Ian who were shooting our wedding arrived late.

We received our highlight video very quickly and Leslie gave us the opportunity to give notes on it and quickly addressed them which we thought was extremely nice of her.. Here is our highlight video:Wedding Trailer

Our full length video is ok and really well edited, there are just a couple of shots that we would have liked to be included which were never shot on the wedding day. They didn’t video tape Andrew’s grandma’s walking down the aisle and the entrances during reception of my sister and both of our parents. They also left on time after they came an hour late. I would have liked them to stay until the end of the wedding. The quality of the video also isn’t as crisp and HD as I thought it would be compared to their other work. If we would have had Leslie, the owner of the company shoot the wedding herself I’m sure we would have been happier with the footage. Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to have her do it. Overall, I would not recommend using her based on the experience that we had.

Photographer: Jayd Gardina
Jayd was one of my favorite vendors and she was such a pleasure to work with for the entire day. There were so many little wedding things that no one knew that she helped us along with. I never saw her put the camera down throughout the entire day and she really stays focused on getting all the amazing shots. She directed us and shows such a passion for her love of photography. I was so happy when 2 weeks after the wedding we had already received over 150 wedding pictures! We were so excited to see them and relive our entire wedding day. She stayed longer than we originally talked about and had in the contract and we’re so happy that she did. The end of our wedding was the most fun with the best music. We’re so happy with all of our pictures. She also did an amazing job capturing very single person at the wedding, even all the old people that never moved from their seats.