My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

*My grade scale starts at an A+ as the best*

It's at the top of every review but it's true - LIW is fantastic! About 97% of my vendors are from this site - thanks to other reviews, FM's and the boards I was able to get feedback and ideas about anything and everything.

The 2011 girls are a special bunch and I've shared lots of vents and ideas with them. Having other brides (Jessie and Chantelle) getting married at your same RH was also a huge help!

Thanks LIW for being a great resource - for such an important day its great to have a reliable place and informative place to get ideas.

Sorry this is soooo long BUT reviews helped me a lot so I can only hope this does the same! FM me if you have other questions. Also sorry if the order of everything is wonky, it's just how it popped into my head.

Engagement – A+
Long story short, DH proposed on September 26th at Yankee Stadium during a Red Sox game- check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXquJ9RMF44

Engagement Ring and wedding bands – A+
I did not make this process easy for DH. He picked out about 3 or 4 rings (which I had no idea about) and then I dropped a new idea on him the day before he was about to make his final decision, which didn’t fit what he had already picked out. In the end the emerald cut antique’ish style ring is stunning and what I saw in my head but couldn’t verbalize. We used Anthony at Iannelli Diamonds in the Diamond District based on 2 recommendations from 2 different people who don’t know each other. Anthony also did our wedding bands and the bands of our best man and his now wife. Not only does Anthony work with you but you can go to his home in Wantagh to pick up the items so you don’t have to head into the city with that much cash on you. Prices were amazing – customer service was on point and the quality, just impeccable. We will be using them for all our jewelry needs.



Engagement Party, Westbury Manor – A+
This was hosted by DH’s parents at Westbury Manor – it ended up being a mini wedding. Our DJ was our best man’s DJ company (Mr. DJ). Darryl did an AWESOME job – the dance floor was packed and everyone had an awesome time! Favors were mini wine bottles with a personalized label and we got this from a liquor store in Lake Ronkonkoma, not far from my IL’s house. I got cocktail napkins from the Knot, we made our cardbox and put out a bunch of pictures from our engagement shoot (#1) which was with our best man’s now wife out in Montauk (I’ll get to those later). Westbury Manor was AWESOME!! Food was out of this world, service was on point! We had a “bridal suite” – my glass of wine was NEVER empty and we had all the perks as if we were a full wedding. We looked into them for our wedding but the date was already booked so I am glad we were able to have 1 event there!







Favors :


Engagement Pictures Round 1 – Friend - A
Before we booked a photographer we wanted to take advantage of the fact that our best man was dating a photographer assistant and we asked her to take our first round of e-pics at the Montauk Lighthouse on Valentine’s Day weekend. It was cold – like REALLY cold – but we had a GREAT day and were able to use the pics at our e-party and on the e-party thank yous. She now does zap shots with the DJ (Mr. DJ) we used at our e-party.




E-Party Thank Yous - A
Simple and easy on Shutterfly – I made a pretty big mistake and needed to buy stickers to cover it so I used an Etsy seller (see below in the details section). It was easy, cheap and everyone liked them.

McQuades, Lynbrook – Bridal Shower – A+
My shower was a surprise and just incredible! My mom and BM’s worked so hard! McQuades is one of my favorite restaurants and they have a private party room, PERFECT for a shower. The theme was “Eloise at the Plaza” – I’m an only child so I knew my mom was going to make it a girly theme and I knew it would be an Eloise theme. The favors were tea bags (With Eloise’s Bridal shower on them), a tea bag plate and a tea spoon all wrapped in an Eloise gift bag. CP’s were Eloise mugs with flowers, each table had a different Eloise book (which were actually mine) and pictures of me as a kid. Gifts were everywhere and my BP made “Rosie” – an ironing board that had my head on it and looked like a person, it was filled with kitchen stuff. They named her Rosie after Rosie the Riveter, since I love her ?. My cousin made a kick-a$$ punch and Oreo cookie pops for the tables. The BP was told to wear pink and black per my mom and we had some awesome games. Including a mad-lib game which got a little dirty – it was HYSTERICAL! The food at McQuades is AMAZING and the 2 ladies who were our servers were super nice and really helpful to my mom who I can tell was a nervous wreck! It was an amazing day so if you need a shower place please check them out, they do a great job!






Piccolo’s, Bellmore – RD - A
When I used to live in Bellmore this was a regular stop of DH and I – he LOVES this place! My IL’s paid for this and hosted it. The food is good, the service is great and the private room was perfect of us. Since we got a late start we didn’t have cake so I’m not sure if that was on them or us but I was told it was included so I’m not too sure how that worked out. In the end it was a nice dinner.

Our Lady of Good Counsel, Inwood – Church
I’m not going to give them a grade b/c I don’t feel right grading a church. I did want to call them out b/c of how important this place is to me. Everyone in my family has gotten married here – my grandparents did twice (when they first got married and when they renewed their vows for 50 years). When my grandparents came over from Italy they lived right behind the church and would go their regularly – it was a NO brainer to get married here. The church is stunning – it’s old school but has some modern touches to it. It’s not huge – has a small alter but it gives you an intimate feel when you are standing there saying your vows. Father Larry was our priest and we were the last wedding he performed before moving to another parish. We actually had a good friend of ours sing Ave Maria as I walked down the aisle but the singer and organist at the church are great! It was an amazing feeling to be married in this church and knowing that so many of my family members walked down the same aisle and stood on the same alter.
Also Father Larry called up the DH’s students to the alter and asked them what marriage meant to them – it was so cute! We had no idea he was going to do this and it was a special moment for everyone – not a dry eye in the house.





After Hours – DJ - A
Phil and Bret are awesome! We met with Bret first and he put our mind at ease regarding what we wanted. We met with 2 other companies before After Hours and it seemed we couldn’t get all we wanted in our price range – well Phil made it happen. Leading up to the wedding he was awesome – always responsive – super friendly and always REALLY excited for us. We ran into a couple of bumps the day before the wedding BUT Phil made right by us. Day of the wedding there were some slip-ups (introducing my Grandpa as DH’s Grandpa when both of his are deceased and it’s a touchy subject with the family) but in the end the dance floor was packed, we worked up a sweat and 2 of my besties are using Phil and After Hours for their wedding. We used Phil and his team for uplighting (which really added to the room) and the Steel Drum band that performed during CH. Even though I was at CH I didn’t get to really appreciate them as much as I had hoped but I heard they were great! My recommendation when using them is to be VERY specific and do not use e-mail as the only form of communication – always follow up with a phone call to confirm.
Uplighting:

Steel Drum Band:


Patken – Photos – A
I wanted some really funky wedding pictures but also wanted the classics since I knew family members would want them. We ONLY met with Patken b/c my mind was set and now I wish we would have met with other vendors. We went to take our epics and I wasn’t impressed with the photog. I don’t remember his names but there were only a handful of photos that we liked – we picked the ones for the STD and called it a day. Soon I saw posts on LIW about people having issues w/ Patken and how people didn’t like their photos but then I saw photos of Jessie’s work from a 2010 bride (thanks, Roz) and I called right away and booked her – about 11 months before our wedding date. BOOOOY am I glad I did! Yes, there are some photos missing that we would have liked, yes I would have liked more variety in our BP shots and better shots of the father/daughter dance but overall, we are happy and have some amazing shots. NO, you do not get 5000 proofs like some other vendors but for us this was a good thing. We have 835 and it’s PLENTY for us to pick for our album and to look through to remember our day. Some of their policies stink – like not getting your e-pics (you have to buy them), not getting a high-res disc of your wedding photos (we only have low-res but have ALL proofs in albums).
I should also mention we did a 2nd e-pic shoot with Jessie a couple months before the wedding and it was GREAT! Perfect chance to get to know her, work with her and we got some additional shots that were so fun.
Pics from the first e-pics shoot:



Pics from the 2nd e-pic shoot with Jessie:




Pearsalls Park, Amityville – After ceremony pictures
No permit required and 10 minutes away from the Riviera – SCORE!




Flower Barn – Flowers – A+
Mike is a flower god! Flowers were one thing I originally didn’t care about – in my eyes they were gonna die anyway, so who cares? I went into Flower Barn with my ideas and not expecting much but after meeting with him flowers became my obsession! He totally got my vision and was legitimately excited about working on our wedding. He kept throwing ideas my way and he was HONEST – if he thought something wasn’t going to look good he told me and I appreciated that! Budget wise – he worked with us so much and threw in a ton of stuff. People are still complimenting us on the flowers – they were fresh, they lasted and most of all, they helped bring out details in my wedding that I really wanted to highlight. If you need a florist PLEASE look into Mike at Flower Barn.
Sample:

Day Of:


Bar piece – he did this on his own:


Couped Up – Video - TBD
I didn’t want our photog to do our video because that’s not their area of expertise and they up-charge you. We went back and forth with the idea of video for a while and in the end we decided to do a smaller package because we knew we would miss some things in our photos and we’d like to see the wedding in action again. Thanks to the LIW boards, Rob’s name popped up – I looked over the videos on his site, asked about pricing and saw he had something in our range. We met him at a Starbucks and clicked right away. He was responsive – on time – professional – really nice and it’s totally my fault we don’t have our video yet but I don’t doubt for a second we will love it! He LOVES what he does – he’s a 1 man shop – no office (so no overhead charges) and this IS his career so he knows what he’s doing.

Riviera Caterers, Massapequa – Reception – A-
I called the Riviera to book a May 29th wedding but the day was already booked. We made an appointment anyway because we didn’t want to limit ourselves but we “knew” we wanted a Sunday wedding during Memorial Day weekend. On Columbus Day weekend we booked appointments with 4 places in total, the Riviera being last, we walked in, looked at each other and shook our heads – we KNEW this was the place and in the end we loved it so much we switched to a Saturday wedding while still getting a Sunday price. We booked with Michelle and we loved her. Some might consider her a little loud and rough around the edges but she and I clicked. She hooked us up – we talked Yankees baseball and I felt confident in what they would do for us. The views, the décor, 1 wedding at a time, the price – everything was ideal for us. They were easy to work with, I’d call and get an answer but don’t e-mail – I never got a response that way! Day of the wedding things went smoothly, but of course there were some minor things that happened. One of the bigger ones that still bugs me is the room layout. The map they give you is VERY deceiving and in the end I had some very important people sitting in the back which is NOT what the seating chart leads you to think. I couldn’t change it that day but my mom was kinda upset about it. They were a chair short at my family table (my mom, dad, grandparents, etc) which was annoying but that MD fixed it in 2 seconds so that was great! My bridal attendant, um not sure who she is or where she was but that could be b/c I had DOC’s. I saw her maybe twice but each time she was nice and did bring me a drink. The gazebo was actually dirty when we were outside taking pics – they didn’t clean it up from the prior event so that was annoying while we were on a sked for pics, but they cleaned it up pretty quickly. Food was AWESOME – DH and I had a massive platter of all the entrée’s they served and we also had one up in the bridal suite during CH when we had a couple minutes to ourselves. In the end our day was perfect and the guests had a great time – LOVED the food and we haven’t heard any complaints. The Riviera made our dream wedding a reality and I’m so grateful that we worked with them.



Black Forrest – Wedding cake – A+
Our cake came with our reception hall and we have the option of Black Forrest of Campbells. We went with BF just based on reviews on LIW and I am happy we did. We met with Christina, had ideas about what we wanted and that quickly changed. We wanted cupcakes and after looking at all the beautiful cakes they made we changed our mind. The flavors were SO awesome! We picked chocolate cake with cookies and cream mousse with strawberry preserves and vanilla cake with banana custard and raspberry preserve. We took our top layer home and that lasted all of 1 day LOL – we upgraded to fondant and square/octagon shaped layers. The cake was pretty – not really what I had imagined but mostly my fault b/c I wasn’t in the mindset for a cake until the day we picked it out. I would have liked more detail and some bling but whatevs, it tasted good so that’s all the really matters. We now use them for all our bakery needs – the staff was super nice and the cakes, cookies and whatever are GREAT!


Courtyard Marriott – Room Block - B
We had a good amount of OOT guests where we felt a room block would be needed. Per the Riviera we went with the Courtyard Marriott since they offer the shuttle. We also used them for the day after b-fast that my IL’s hosted. Making the block was easy and we didn’t really run into problems till the day of the wedding. I had coordinated with our rep that my DOC would be able to check us into the room, I provided an authorization form weeks before and was told it would be fine. Day of the wedding my DOC goes to check in and is told she can’t and upon arrival DH and I have to provide a credit card to check- in, which the authorization form I filled out was supposed to alleviate. My DOC did some yelling and was able to put our bag in our room but couldn’t get the keys, as was promised by our rep. I was told about this earlier on from the DOC (who asked me first if I wanted to know) and upon arriving to the hotel we were on such a high we didn’t even mention it. The b-fast the next morning was great and the shuttle was great so, we just let it go.

Lillette’s, Bellmore – Wedding Dress and BM Dresses – A+
I’ve been in 2 other weddings that used Lillette’s and being from Baldwin (where they were originally located) I always knew I would start there. It’s the only place I went to and I am so happy I did. I tried on 10-12 dresses with Joan as my attendant and she did a GREAT job. She only pulled dresses in my price range and in the style I wanted. I wanted something with straps (or that had the option of straps), I wanted A-line full skirt, LOTS of detail and a pretty awesome train. In the end my dress was A LOT more traditional then I thought I would want but after trying on other dresses and comparing it to THE dress I knew she was the one! BM dress selection was pretty easy – again I worked with Joan, I went twice and nailed down a dress that all my girls were comfortable with. Alterations were pretty easy – 1 BM had some difficulties but I think it was b/c she didn’t know how to voice what she wanted. We had tea length dresses and making sure the length is correct can be a pain – I had BM’s that ranged from 5’10 to 5’2 but I found them to be helpful. You can ONLY pay in cash or check there (only cash for your final payment) and some people find that annoying but it worked out okay with our group.
First Fitting:



Day of:





*Shoes are from Sandy’s in Massapequa – I needed flats since DH is shorter then me. I got the shoe clips online (can’t remember from where).

Veil and Hair comb – Barron’s Tri County – A+
In my eyes a bride wears a veil and I wanted my veil to be epic. Cathedral was a must, bling was a big must but I didn’t want to break the bank since I knew my mom would pay for it. Barron’s was awesome! I wanted a blusher b/c I wanted that moment where my dad removes it and my DH really see’s me for the first time. I also knew I wanted to wear my veil for the whole reception so she created a 2 piece veil where the cathedral part velcroed onto the hair comb so I could take it off and just leave the blusher. Each tier was lined with crystals which really sparkled and I got SO many compliments on the veils – the quality was impeccable and the price was reasonable. I also got my hair comb there – it was pretty, but not what I really wanted but my mom loved it and to be honest you didn’t even see it that much with the veil on (which is kinda my fault for not having my hair person move it). However, it’s pretty and I will hopefully be able to wear it again.
My earrings were from Swarovski – bought them in Roosevelt Field





Totally You – MOB Dress - B
Their “bedside manor” really stinks – they are not friendly and actually tried to turn us away from buying something on the day we went b/c the colors we were looking for weren’t in season. Whatever, in the end my mom found something and took it home that day! Price was right, she was happy and she got it altered some place else b/c she didn’t want to work with them again. Do not go in there thinking you will be treated like royalty and I would also go in there with an idea of what you want.


Proper Attire– Tuxedo’s (with additional review of Tuxedo Park, Carle Place) - A
DH and I went to 4 places for tuxedos. Men’s Wearhouse was one of them and it was a total bust since we couldn’t get what we wanted and the 16 year old girl helping us was a total moron. I did want to mention Tuxedo Park in Carle Place since that was the 2nd place we went to and we LOVED them, but it is not who we went with. The styles were amazing, the selection was great, customer service was kick a$$ but the cost was WHOA! For what we wanted we didn’t feel right asking our groomsmen to pay that amount – even our dads – so with a heavy heart we passed on moving forward with them. But I wanted to give credit where credit is due b/c we were really happy with them.
In the end we went with Proper Attire (which is behind the Bridal Suite in Centereach) and we worked with Rachel! She is so great –really funny and super helpful. We were able to complete the look we were going for and it was more then ½ the price of Tuxedo Park. She even opened on the day they were supposed to be closed so we could return the tux’s (due to the holiday weekend). DH’s tux was free and the father’s were ½ off. The only problem we ran into is Rachel is really the only one who works there and the day the guys went to pick up the tuxedos they waited a good hour to get helped. There was another group doing the same thing (big weekend for weddings) and I guess she had some help but the person wasn’t all that great. In the end – price was right, quality was good (no rips, stains or issues) and they had a lot of options.
From the day we picked them out:

Day of:



T*E*S*S*A/E*V*E*N*S*T*A*R*P*A*P*E*R*I*E (“her”) – Invites, place cards, table numbers/names favor tags, and menus – B+
I’m going to get right to the point: she does great work but is NOT easy to work with. We LOVED our invites – they were different and that was something that was important to us. I was VERY particular about the colors and the overall style and she NAILED it the first time! There was even an error on our response envelopes and she fixed it, no problem! I won some contests and bought holiday cards so that was great to help with some costs.
My issues came with the place cards and table numbers. A HUGE part of our wedding was the NY Yankees and they were 2 areas in which I had always wanted the “theme” to be incorporated in. We got our table numbers/names but not the place cards. The structure of her business and her system didn’t allow me to do what I had wanted and I’m still a little mad about it. I wanted to start the process WAY early b/c I knew we wanted something that was not normal for her to do (based on her portfolio) and there were a lot of detail elements that needed to be spot on. I tried and tried to get her to start early but she wouldn’t budge – maybe I wasn’t clear but after just not getting responses to e-mails I just gave up b/c I knew I had bigger fish to fry. Like I said, we did get the table numbers/names and the place cards were beautiful, but it’s not what we wanted originally.
Menus were amazing but I didn’t order enough – my bad lol.








Favors – Costco – A+
Going with the NY Yankees/baseball “theme” our favors were bags of cracker jacks which included a tag about a donation. The donation was to a cancer research center – DH is a survivor and this particular organization was the main sponsor of the floor he stayed on for 3 months during his treatment. The cracker jacks were a HIT, people were eating them during the wedding and taking the extra bags. It was something fun to eat and went to a GREAT cause, one that meant a lot to me and DH.


Sir Oliver – Limo’s - A
We met them at a bridal showcase and that is when I saw the 1940’s Cadillac and I NEEDED that in my life. We had seen the Phantom and the Rolls a dozen times so this was another element that was a little different for us. The cars were mint – I mean CLEAN and just stunning! The drivers were AWESOME!!! I had Mike in the Caddy and the BP had someone else, I can’t think of his name, in the big 22 passenger escalade but apparently he was super entertaining and drove like the wind. Holtsville to Inwood in 30 minutes – he should win an award for that. We also had a “drop off” car that was a 12 passenger Lincoln that the girls used to get to the church. We did have some issues with them in regard to pricing and distance. They are located in Suffolk, our church was basically in Queens and we didn’t like the idea of being charged extra due to timing/distance when it really wasn’t our fault. In the end we worked it out but on the day of, the office called one of the drivers to let ME know about the over time charge. Mike (my driver) was super nice about it but my dad and DOC’s and even FIL were on it and worked it out. In the end they waived it, thanks to our awesome driver!




Bangz, Bellmore – Hair (Anthony) and Make Up (Sara) – A
My mom wouldn’t allow me to have hair and makeup done at the house so we had to go to a salon. I knew I would use the salon I had been going to since I was a baby! Bangz was originally City Slickers in Baldwin (where I’m originally from) and where I get my haircut (once a year, I know that’s not good). I used them for my engagement party but I wasn’t too happy with my hair but LOOOVVVEEDDD my makeup so Sara was a definite. As for hair when I made my trial I asked their opinion as to who would be best for bridal and right away they said Anthony. My trial went GREAT! He took the idea and photos I had and made it his own but still keeping the look I wanted. He suggested I get extensions since my hair is thin and told me the best place to get them. He even suggested I get a glaze 2 weeks before to cover my grey’s (yikes) and help bring out some shine in my hair and it really helped my hair look super healthy. Day of I was a little annoyed b/c when I showed him the extensions he kinda freaked out saying “these are too light, we need to dye them if you want to use them.” Umm, I brought them to him 2 weeks before when I went for the glaze to show him the color and ask if they needed to be dyed and he said NO! I got a little nervous b/c of timing but they hauled a$$ and got them done. My hair basically stayed expect for this 1 piece that went rouge while taking pics at the park.
Sara and her makeup crew are goddesses! I mean – my makeup was FLAWLESS!! I did airbrush and it stayed the whole night. Not only that the colors she used were incredible and it looked exactly like my trial! My makeup made me look so beautiful and I’m really not one to say that about myself but sweet mother, that girl knows her stuff!
Trial:



Day of:




A Modern Day Affair, DOC’s – Michelle and Jessica – A+
Getting a DOC was a last minute thing (well last minute for me) since I was getting nervous about dealing with my mom and MIL. I knew AMDA was starting out and offered 2 DOC’s and that sounded ideal for our situation. I met with Michelle and she was like my long lost sister and also knew DH from their Adelphi days. Michelle was ALWAYS responsive, super helpful when I had questions and even made it to our final RH meeting after getting into an accident. I met Jessica day of and she was SUPER sweet and always willing to help me out! Both of them together were magical – I had not a THING to worry about! Tips were distributed before I could even spit out the word at the end of the night. Things were packed up before I could even think about it – they fixed my hair, gave DH a mint, adjusted my veil 28384823 times, helped me get dressed, fixed the CH centerpieces and followed up with all the vendors. Seriously if you are on the fence about a DOC – DOOO IT!!!! I pride myself on organization and I plan events for a living, so I thought I had this in the bag, but having them there is honestly what made my day so enjoyable b/c I had NOT a worry in the world. I didn’t have to ask anyone for anything b/c they were right on top of it. My parents were able to relax and enjoy their only daughters wedding b/c they had them there too. I honestly thank them and all their hard work for making our day a breeze!

Jenerations – B Pics – A+
I’ll say it just like everyone else – Jen is AMAZING! This big girl ROCKED b-pics and I am proud to say it! I had an INCREDIBLE day and LOVE my pics. DH, he was speechless and looks at the album regularly. At first he was confused but after a couple minutes and me explaining that it wasn’t “porn” he got it. I did a group session which helped with price, I got hair and makeup done too and Jen’s team is AWESOME. My group ran super late and I waited like 2 hours to get my pictures done so Jen through in a couple more edited ones for me since I waited. Never in my life (other then my wedding day) had I felt so beautiful and on top of the world! The music was going, the lights were on, Jen was cracking jokes, and it was so fun! When in my life would I EVER think to do such a thing?!?! Probably NEVER – so I jumped on this opportunity and I am so glad I did.


Gifts
Bridesmaids – Vera Bradley makeup case (during an online sale), earrings (FashionJewelry21.com), Lip gloss and nail polish (ELF.com) and an amulet from https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jules-Tamar-Amulet-Collection/289992937322). I wanted something really different for my girls – something no one has given out before and Jules helped me with that. She hand makes each amulet and you design it based on the person you want to give it to. Colors, pictures, themes, details – some had pictures of their dogs, some had photos of artists the Jules works with. Each had a poem inside that I found for each girl and was on a hook that can be used as a bookmark. For the day of, each BM hung it from their bo-k which made for great pictures and an awesome keepsake for all of them.


GM Gifts – Bulova watches from Macy’s. We got them during friends and family sales.

Parent Gifts – Tickets to a Broadway show

Reader Gifts – Wine basket, personalized desk clock from Things Remembered, a Mikasa pitcher

Piano player/Singer – We have friends that are musically gifted so we tapped into that. One sang at the church and at the reception and the other played the piano at the Riviera when people walked in. Zales has a $20 sale so we got them a necklace from there to say “thanks.” Both of them put it on that night ?

Details – LOTS of em’
Etsy Vendors:
tishtica – A+ – I used her to make personalized wine labels for each bridesmaid when I asked them to be part of our day. She worked fast – was SUPER nice to work with and the labels were great, excellent quality.


mollyandmom – A+ – She created handkerchiefs for my mom and dad and my IL’s. I gave them to everyone at Christmas and they all cried – yes, even the dads! They all carried them the day of and were a HUGE hit. Stunning work, pleasure to work with and QUICK! She is even helpful in picking out the sayings and the colors – this was not only a gift but something they will all have to remember the wedding day.

MaximCreativeInvites – B+ - As mentioned above I messed up on our thank yous for the e-party. She created stickers for me to put over the mistake. Took a while, she wasn’t all that friendly and the price wasn’t great but I was in a bind. Quality was good though.

blinkphoto – A+ - I used him for DH’s day of cufflinks and my dad’s. He had a pair in his store already of Mickey Mantle (for my dad) but I just needed to change the metal to silver. As for DH, I sent him a picture of the new Yankee Stadium (where we got engaged) and he made them into cufflinks. Super nice, really quick and does great work. The quality was great!

livelovebead = A+ - I used her for my day of bracelet but I didn’t wear it day of (thanks to DH who got me a Thomas Knoll bracelet). But she was easy to work with, customized the size that I wanted and was quick.


rachelwalter – A+ - The personalized hanger has become a big hit on LIW an rightfully so, it’s such a fun addition. Rachel was easy to work with, the hanger came out great and she is quick.

tcart2010 – A+ – Not much to say about these, they were in her store. Price was right and they arrived quickly. I even passed them onto a friend who got married recently – they had a great vintage feel to them.


Garter – Sew Unique – A+
Surprise, my garter was a NY Yankee one! Great quality, I was able to order a bigger size and the price was better then anything I found on Etsy.


Sign in Jersey – 11, NY Yankees – A+ (for the jersey)/ B (for the idea)
Good and fun idea in theory but kind of a pain. It was hard for people to write on but it’s a fun keepsake for us and helped bring our “theme” together.

Bathroom Guest Towels – TheKnot.com – A+
Got em’ on sale – added something to the bathrooms and the bathroom baskets that I put together. Nice little personal touch and yes, I had people mention them to me.

Ribbon Wands – TheFavorShop.com – B+ (price isn’t great)
LOVED these – we got 50 of them and put them together ourself. We didn’t like just 1 color ribbon so we went to Michael’s and bought silver to add some dimension to it and some sparkle. DH’s students that came to the ceremony had a good time with them – it was fun seeing the crowd wave them as we walked out of the church.


Channa Plaque – My-Sweet-Memories.com – A+
Not much I can say that hasn’t been said already. Channa is a LIW celebrity and rightfully so. The color we needed was hard to explain and one she didn’t have. We went back like 8-10 times until she finally told me to go to Home Depot, get the swatch that I wanted, give her the name of the color and she would buy it. Doing that not only helped with our plaque but helped me keep the exact color I wanted throughout the whole wedding (flowers, details, BM’s dresses, tie’s…EVERYTHING). The plaque came pretty quickly, only cost like $40 with shipping and was a HUGE hit. People loved it, I got asked TONS of times where we got it and it’s now hanging in our home.


“P” cake topper – WeddingFactoryDirect.com - B
I tried making ours and I failed, epically. WFD.com to the rescue! Quality isn’t great – by the end of the night we were missing a couple of stones but it looked pretty on top of the cake – it did its job. But for the price we paid, not happy about some of the stones being missing.

Bride and Groom topper – My incredibly gifted cousin – A+
I had asked my cousin to make us a topper early on in our planning and OHHHH MY GOOOOD she delivered. It was SOOO CUTE and spot on to DH and I. My cousin is just really creative and artistic and has been making these clay figures for years, so I just asked her to make it a little bigger then she normally does. They are something we will have forever and were so cute on the cake! Even better it was made by my cousin so it’s extra special for us.



Honeymoon – Sandals La Toc, St. Lucia – A+
I’m not going to go into crazy detail since this is already really long but this place was AWESOME! A lot of people talk about the Grande and we spent a day there (only 1 day) and we really liked our resort better. We met great people, had great food, loved the excursions (zip lining, private dinner on the beach, sunset cruise and the couples massage). We had butler service and we totally recommend this for your Honeymoon, it was a nice perk! Room was fantastic and clean and we plan on booking other vacations with Sandals. The island is beautiful and I am glad we picked a place like St. Lucia for our honeymoon. It’s smaller – not as busy – a very intimate type of place but still has some action going on.

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

Great review!!!
CONGRATS!! We also used Patken and went to La Toc!! LOVED both :)

You looked beautiful!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

beautiful! And I love the long reviews! Congrats!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

Great Review!!!!! Everything looked amazing. Congrats!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

beautiful photos! great review!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

Jesus- can you plan my wedding??? I seriously enjoyed reading your review! Awesome!!!
You looked so beautiful. And yes you killed the b-pics---HAUTENESS!!!!!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

beautiful! love the review!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

Great review! Everything looked beautiful and it sounds like you had a wonderful day!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

Congrats! Great review!!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

You looked great!! I loved your make up.

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

OMG I loveeeeeee the proposal and am so jealous that you have it on tape!! That's awesome!!!!!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

Thank you soo much, i was actually able to write down some of your sites and vendors, thank you soo much! I 'fluffy' so I was scared to do b-pics and b/c of you i feel brave enought! You lookled stunning, wishing you a lifetimes of smiles to match your amazing day!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

what a wonderful review!!!

congrats again!!!!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

great review

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

Beautiful!!!!!!!!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

love your review and all the pics!! everything looked great

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

Loved your review, and omg your proposal made me cry!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was the sweetest thing EVER!!! Congrats again!!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

Awww CONGRAT!!!

LOVE it!

thanks!!!!

Re: My 5/28/11 wedding - Riviera (Massapequa), Patken, After Hours, Flower Barn, Couped Up, St, Lucia Honeymoon and PICS out the arse!!!

beautiful wedding!!

I agree, we stayed at La Toc and visited the grande for the day, we def like our resort better too!