June 5th 2010 Wedding Review- Country Gardens at East Wind

LI Weddings was very helpful in preparing for my wedding. I have received such good advise and direction from this website. I have gotten all of my vendors from this website.

I wanted to share my wedding review from June 5, 2010...........I know it’s a little late, but I finally received my professional photos from my photographer. The bad part is I was unable to download the pictures from my wedding, so I put them in the wedding photo album under community:

Wedding Photos


We got married at the Country Gardens at East Wind in Wading River. We had a small wedding of about 75 people, close family and friends. (Side note: I originally wanted to elope on a beach, so this was plenty big) It was a Saturday afternoon wedding and the hottest day in June......it must have reached 90 degrees. We had a civil ceremony at East Wind in which the judge I was working with for five years had married us, so it was special. We really knew the officiant, so it added that personal touch. We wanted to meet before the ceremony and we decided to meet at the Wading River beach.........we had plenty of time to take pictures and we were able to enjoy the cocktail hour. For us it worked out. I’m glad we chose to meet before the ceremony because it calmed both of us down and we were able to relax before the ceremony, which is always nerve racking for anyone.

Invitations - A+
We used Fat Cat Paperie in Center Moriches. They are the nicest people! Pamela, the owner is great to work with and she loves her job. Joey and Pamela pointed us in the right direction and we found the pocket invitations that we were hunting long and hard for. They were both patient and sat down with us to go over the proper wording for the invitations. To be honest, there were some problems with the printing company that we chose our invitations from, which wasn't Fat Cat’s fault. Pamela and Joey were the great middle man and they fought for us. The end result was exactly what we wanted within the time frame we needed them.

Make-Up Artist- Danielle Minella- A++
All I have to say about Danielle is wow! She is a fantastic make-up artist and she made me feel so beautiful on my wedding day. I am not one at all to wear make-up. My usual make-up is lip gloss and the occasional lip-stick.....so I knew that finding a make-up artist would be a challenge for me. I had no idea of where to start so I went onto to LI Weddings and found Danielle’s name. I loved the work on her website and I decided to make an appointment with her and she did a test run for me..........and needless to say I found my make-up artist. She made me look so natural, and she was able to enhance my features. I did not look washed out in the photos and my skin looked flawless. She was even able to cover up a keloid that I have. The make-up lasted all day and I did not feel the make-up throughout the day.......it was not heavy. She also did my mom and my maid of honor’s make-up and they looked gorgeous! She was at my house at 5:30 in the morning, like she said she would be, ready to start and she had all of us ready on time. If I ever need a make up artist again, I wouldn’t think twice about using her. I highly recommend her.

Bridal Gown- Midgley and Sottero- (Sheath)
I just fell in love with this gown. It had all the elements I was looking for. It was very elegant and traditional but the cris-cross back and spaghetti straps made it modern and different. It was the forth dress I tried on and I had a strong feeling that it was the one, but I didn’t purchase it right away because it was the first store I went to and I wanted to look some more..........but I kept comparing everything else to this dress. I knew it was the one. It never made me cry, but I was very confident in it and the material was comfortable. I loved the lace overlay!

I also think this dress took my guests by surprise a little because I’m a very quiet, shy person and here were these sparkles and lace all over the dress...........not to mention it was form fitting. My guest expected me in something more simple and traditional..........which I had in mind at first and actually tried on a couple of a-line dresses and then some sheath dresses that had very little sparkle.......but they did nothing for me. It’s funny how you end up with a dress sometimes you don’t expect. My advise to future brides............try on all types of dresses, even if you think the style will look horrible.......sometimes what you picture yourself in is not at all what looks good on your body type...........be open and you’ll definitely find the perfect dress.

Fantasia Bridal C+ at first, which became an A (Average is a B)
I purchased my dress at Fantasia Bridal in Rocky Point. My first impression was not good and at first I only used them because they had my dress. Before I bought my dress and even after I ordered my dress, I thought that they were very unorganized and I had to wait when I had scheduled appointments, which I was not very happy about. They even brought me the wrong dress..........some visits were just disastrous. However, on the flip side, after I waited, they would stay with me even when the store was closed and did not rush me and they eventually found my dress. LOL! I think that one of their downfalls is that they are very busy and they do not always know how to handle the crowds.

Once my dress came in which was about two months before the wedding, everything was smooth sailing. As the wedding got closer, you got to know the employees and vice versa. They know exactly who you are and which dress is yours. It doesn’t feel like a factory like it did in the beginning. I also have to say that they have one of the best alterations department............Maria is amazing. She made my dress fit me so well that I received so many compliments and I felt amazing in my dress. She knows what she is doing and the alterations department is worth buying the dress at Fantasia because in the end............part of it is about the way you look and feel on the wedding day and man..........she can do magic!

Bridal Party Dresses/ David’s Bridal - B
I actually did not deal with them much, but my maid of honor did and she said they were okay. There were no real problems with her dress or the flower girls dress, so I can’t really review them except for my dealing with them when we were picking out the dresses. I love their bridesmaid selection for dresses because they have a large variety, however, the staff was not my favorite. It could just be the David’s Bridal we went to, so I can only give them a B.......their services is average.


Tuxes/ Men’s Wearhouse- B-
We got the guy’s tuxes at Men’s Wearhouse and there were some issues with the sizing’s at first, but they were able to rectify the problem. There were also delivery issues with the tuxes like two days before the wedding, but they were able to find a last minute tux and shirt that fit our ring bearer. It’s a long story......... Bottom line- they all looked really nice on the day of our wedding. Would I recommend them or use them again.............no. Just my opinion based on my own experience.

Sir Oliver - A
We had no complaints with the limo service. We used Sir Oliver in Ronkonkoma and got what we asked for. They were on time and the driver we had was nice. He was very helpful and he helped us get in and out of the limo.

James Cress Florist - A+
We used James Cress Florist in Smithtown. The flowers were that little extra touch that added so much to the day. We went very simple with roses and peonies everywhere. We stayed with white, and three different shades of pink which went great with the Country Gardens at East Wind.

James Cress were very professional......however, it is not uncommon that they are running late when you are there for the pre wedding consultations, so be patient. They were on time on the day of the wedding and in the end that’s all that really matters.

We dealt with the owner Gary who did such a great job and listened to everything that we wanted and there were some detailed instructions regarding the tables and they got every little detail right and it was better than what we imagined it would be. We even received compliments on the organza on the bridge which I originally thought was a waste of money, but my hubby wanted it................and people loved it enough to take pictures by the bridge. It really added to the Country Gardens. The flowers for our bouquets were beautiful and I was even jealous of my flower girl because she had this big full basket filled with mini pink roses and a little side bag that she was able to throw the rose petals out of..............she loved it because after the rose petals were gone, she still had the basket........so she wasn’t upset or picking up the rose petals to fill her basket like many of them do. This was all Gary and his idea.

Favors- We decided to have breakaway centerpieces with three different size pillar candles on the tables and each couple was able to take them home at the end of the night. They served two purpose, as the centerpieces and as favors.............so it was multi functional and I felt it was cost efficient. It was also different than just having one centerpiece per table and the candles and rose petals added a romantic feel.

We also decided to give everyone a scratch off ticket and a bag of hershey kisses that my mom and I made up for each of the guests. The guests loved the scratch off and who doesn’t like chocolate.

Our menus actually ended up being favors as well and we didn’t even plan them to be. We wanted to add a personal touch to the day, so on the back of the menus, we put one of four different poems that my husband and I wrote. They had to do with our relationship and how we met, our personalities, etc. It was fun writing them and they were a huge hit! Many of guests ended up saving their menus as a souvenir. It was hilarious because we didn’t think anything of it.


JPI Films- A
We used JPI Films in Wading River and I’m glad we did. The pre-consultations went smooth and we discussed what we wanted in the video. They were so professional throughout our dealings with them and I didn’t even feel like they were there on our wedding day. They were not intrusive and still were able to get great footage. The final product was what we asked for and what we wanted from the video. They even delivered the final product to us within the time frame they said they would. Honestly, I was amazed by the fact that we had no complications with the video. You always hear horror stories about the video and photo, so I was pleasantly surprised!


Here is a clip from our wedding:
JPI Films


Harpist - A+
We are so happy we used Janet King for the ceremony and cocktail hour. She was awesome and added elegance to the ceremony. She listened to everything we wanted, which is amazing because we never actually met her until the day of the wedding. We asked for classical music for the ceremony and show tunes for our cocktail hour and she gave it to us. She even played “Be our Guest from Beauty and the Beast when guests were arriving...........I know it’s stupid but that was my idea. She learned the song just for us. I would highly recommend Janet King.............you may have your doubts because you never hear from her, but no worries she’s very professional and will be there the day of your wedding!

DJ- Get in Tune- C+
We used Get In Tune and we had the owner, Glenn, dj our wedding. We went with a very basic package. Overall, he was good and used the variety of music that our guests enjoyed. He kept the guests on the dance floor and considering that we had a small wedding, that says a lot. He also has a great speaking voice for a dj. My one complaint is I had given him a list of songs to play on the day of the wedding and he completely ignored that list..........I didn’t realize it that day because you are just in the moment and to be honest, you are not concentrating on what song is being played. However, he somewhat redeemed himself because he gave me four cd’s of songs from some of our favorite artists. Also, there were other consultations I had with him where I felt he was not very professional. The biggest problem was our first dance. We had taken dance lessons for months and had a tango routine worked out. He started the music as we were making our way across the dance floor after being introduced. It completely through us off and we ended up blowing the routine. However, we managed to improvise and the tango looked okay on the video. But, it could have looked much better!

John, the owner of LI Ballroom Dance- A++
About 6 months prior to the wedding, we decided to go for dance lessons. We wanted to suprise our guests because neither of us is the type that would ever go for dance lessons..........our idea of dancing is bopping our heads to the music. LOL! We are so happy we chose to go for lessons because we had an unexpected blast throughout the whole time of going for lessons. Originally we thought that it was going to be something we dreaded, but we ended up having fun! John is a great teacher and great to work with. He makes it fun and is very patient. He worked with our schedules and we went to him whenever we had timeto fit in a lesson. He helped us come up with a dance routine to the tango and it was a huge hit on the wedding day.........mouths were open.........it was great. Considering, we weren't as good as we could have been due to the music issue, it shows that the lessons paid off. We were able to improvise our routine. We were not self conscious or scared to get on that dance floor. I highly recommend dance lessons for anyone who is self-conscious and who is open minded and just wants to have a good time trying something different!


East Wind- A++
I saved the best for last..........I remember when we were going around looking at venues to have our wedding at and we just fell in love with the Country Gardens at East Wind. My parents and my hubby and I all looked at each other and were like we can't afford this place.......let's go, but when they told us the price.......I was flawed. The prices were reasonable and were actually cheaper than some other places we checked out that I wasn't as nearly impressed with. The Country Gardens was such a pretty place to take pictures at and the place is very classy and elegant. What I also liked about the Country Gardens was that you were separated from other weddings that may be going on the same time. We had our own space.

I have nothing bad to say about East Wind. All our dealings with them went great. Everyone there always went out of their way to make us happy for our wedding. The staff are so professional and we even had our own bridal attendant named Judy for our wedding and she didn't miss a beat. The food was delicious............they have such a selection to chose from and the chef knows how to cook. Our guests actually said to us it was the best food they have had at a wedding and I must second that............the filet mignon was one of the best I have ever had. I would highly recommend East Wind!

Re: June 5, 2010 Wedding

congratulations! everything looked beautiful!

Re: June 5th 2010 Wedding at the Country Gardens at East Wind

Everything looked beautiful!

Congratulations on your big day!

Re: June 5th 2010 Wedding at the Country Gardens at East Wind

Everything looked beautiful! Congrats!

Re: June 5th 2010 Wedding Review- Country Gardens at East Wind

Congrats