The Brides' Review - My 04/17/04 wedding review....

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My 04/17/04 wedding review....

luvsun27 Posted: Apr 27, 2004 01:23 AM+

luvsun27 MEMBER SINCE: 9/03 TOTAL POSTS : 2887 WEDDING DATE: Apr 17, 2004

Posted: Apr 27, 2004 01:23 AM

My 04/17/04 wedding review....

I first have to start off by saying that this was definitely the best day of my life! And...my most favorite vendor of the day, was MOTHER NATURE! She really came through with 70 degrees and sunshine the whole entire weekend. Since...both of my grandma's are no longer with us...I think they helped me out up there with the sunshine

Now, for my review:

David's Bridal-A-:
They were nothing but great the whole entire time. We got the FG, MOH and my dress all from the David's here in NJ. They also did the alterations. Everything was great. My only complaint is that they made me take the dress home about 4 weeks before the wedding because the alterations were done. Being that I didn't want DH to see the dress...I had to make arrangements to pick it up and drive straight out to LI to my parents house for them to store it. But...everything turned out fine.

Courtyard Marriott-A+:
They were great. I had made hotel OOT baskets for all the guests, and they were handed out during check-in. Everyone loved them. The guest rooms were very nice, but DH and I got the king size suite for our wedding night. It was awesome! We had a nice Jacuzzi (sp?) size tub in the bathroom and the room was huge with a kitchen, living room and bedroom. And the price was fantastic. We also had a farewell brunch for our guests on Sunday morning before everyone went home. The food was delicious and everything was set up on time. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Hair-Lisa Gruttola-A+:
Lisa is a friend of mine for many years and happens to be a hairdresser so she offered to do my hair (and mom, sister, FH, and MIL). She came to my parents house at 6 AM to get started. I loved my hair...she did a great job. It stayed the whole day and I didn't want to take it out at the end of the night. If anyone wants her info, she works in Lake Ronkonkoma, you can FM me.

Make-up-Dawn Mas-A+:
I found Dawn from another LIW bride (2003OCT10). Dawn did a great job. My makeup lasted the entire day...I only had to reapply lipstick. She also came to my parents house at 6:30 AM to get all of us done (me, mom and sister). I loved the way it came out. She was also the most reasonable priced for make-up that I found. And, the trial was free for both my mom and I. If anyone wants her info, FM me.

Cantor Cohen-A+:
He was fantastic. He was very funny and kept the ceremony short and sweet (the way we wanted it). Everyone was commenting on how nice it was and how humorous the ceremony was.

Vinny from High Voltage Sounds-A+:
We had Vinny for the ceremony, CH and the reception. He did a great job. I told him before the wedding, that we don't have a dancing crowd...so if he didn't see the dance floor packed, that it wasn't a reflection on him. We also only had about 75 people, so the dance floor couldn't have been packed anyway. We gave him a do not play list and he followed it perfectly. The people who sat at the table directly in front of the DJ even said that it wasn't too loud. DH and I tried to stay on the dance floor to keep people out there! We had a great time!!!

Photography San Diego Studios-A+++++:
Diego was our photographer. I was a little nervous before the wedding day, because I kept seeing everyone else choose the same few photographers and Diego has never been talked about on the boards. But, I was extremely happy on the big day. Diego did such a good job. He kept everyone laughing during the posed pictures and then I didn’t see him during the whole reception while he took a lot of candid type shots. He had told us that because we didn’t want to see each other before the ceremony, that he would take all our pictures during the CH and he shouldn’t need any more time than that and wouldn’t pull us out of the reception….and that is exactly what happened. He worked quickly and efficiently. He took about 400 pictures. He even got my proofs back to me already! (He had them on Thursday, only 5 days after the wedding, but we were away on our HM). He came and brought them to my house tonight…they were great. I’m so excited to get started on picking my album pictures. His prices were more in our budget than some of the other big name photographers….but we didn’t want to compromise on quality….and we didn’t. I am very happy with my choice! Please FM if you want his info.

Beach Club Estate-A+++++:
I had heard some not so nice things about this place after I booked it…but they made my wedding spectacular! I loved it there. The views were gorgeous. They had promised that they would plant flowers before my wedding day, but a week before the wedding, nothing had been done. I called and they said that it was being done this week…but it rained the entire week until Friday. I drove past on Friday, and there they were…landscaping away. On Saturday, the place was just beautiful. Because the weather was so nice, we had our ceremony outside. Then, they set up the CH half inside, half outside, so that people could choose where they wanted to sit down. It was so nice…although we never made it to the CH because we were taking pictures. But, from what I heard, the food was awesome. The reception was just lovely. They handled everything exactly as I asked…put the menus at each place setting, put all the knick-knacks on the tables (camera’s, bells, table numbers, etc). The food was great…we actually made time for ourselves to eat. And the cake was so YUMMY!!!!! I can’t wait til our one year anniversary and I can take the cake top out of the freezer!!!! Gerard was our matre’d. I didn’t see him much, but he made everything happen smoothly. When I needed him, he was right there. The bridal attendant was good too. The place definitely lived up to my expectations….and I was a very happy bride.

Flowers by Emil-A++++++++++:
I saved the best for last…this was by far my favorite vendor of the day. First…Carmine did an amazing job on all the flowers. Being that he is in Brooklyn, he was at my parents house to drop off the bo-k’s at about 9:15 AM. And when I saw them, I fell in love with them…I knew the rest of the flowers would be beautiful. He then headed over to the Beach Club, because he needed to set up the chuppah for the ceremony. It was breath taking. He said he was going to put some roses on the sides and across the top…but he totally out did himself. It was more than I imagined. I also showed him a picture from a magazine of rose petals along the aisle…which he duplicated perfectly. The CP’s were so pretty. Everyone said how nice they were. I couldn’t be happier. Also…Carmine was very reasonably priced and much lower than all the other florists that I went to visit. I am having my bo-k preserved from Keepsake Floral…so, I can look at it forever because I loved it so much!!!

Honeymoon-Aruba-Radisson Hotel-B:
We had a great time on our honeymoon…the only reason I gave them a B was because we didn’t know that we needed reservations for the restaurant in the hotel. So, we went down to dinner around 8:30 and they told us there was no seating. DH went to the front desk manager to complain and the guy was a jerk. The next morning DH went to speak to the hotel manager, and the hotel manager apologized, and then gave us a $100 credit and made us a reservation to eat in that restaurant for the following night. So, he did make up for it. The weather was beautiful…it rained a little, but nothing serious. We spent most days just hanging around the hotel. We rented a jeep and took a tour of the entire island…saw the local color…it was fun! We also met wendypoo and her new DH because they were there on their HM also….we all went out for drinks and then to dinner…we had a great time and it was fun to meet another LIW member!

Anyway….I think that’s about it. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to FM me. I posted pictures on another thread, so here’s the link:

link to picture post

LIJuneBride Posted: Apr 27, 2004 06:47 AM+

LIJuneBride MEMBER SINCE: 9/03 TOTAL POSTS : 2152 WEDDING DATE: Jun 26, 2004

Posted: Apr 27, 2004 06:47 AM