MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

First, I want to start out by thanking Ron and Liz for the creation of this site! Though I’ve never met most of you girls personally, I really don’t know how I would’ve been able to plan a wedding without this site and the endless help…so THANK YOU!

Now let’s get into it…

Michael and I got engaged September 13, 2008. We had been together for 3 ½ years and while I was expecting to get engaged, I certainly wasn’t expecting it then and there! We were at home preparing to do the Alzheimer’s Association Charity Walk, and while I was complaining that I had nothing to wear (because the weather was hot and rainy), he came around the corner of the bedroom with something else for me to wear! I was in shock and I couldn’t stop saying “are you serious?!?!?!?!” to the point where I forgot to say “YES!” hahahha I had sent him pictures of what I liked, and while my ring isn’t exactly what I wanted (I was stuck on a micropave setting), its perfect! And little did he know that the stones on my E-ring would enable me to get a bigger eternity band! Silly man! Hahaha

We looked at a number of RHs—our first stop was the Atlantica. I knew I had always loved the Atlantica, however, when we went in and met with them some of the logistics there concerned me…not being able to be ON the beach, the walking thru the reception room to get to the ceremony, etc etc…so that combined with the $250 PP (120 minimum, Sat night in Sept) they quoted me ended my meeting there very quickly. We went from there to Gurney’s where again, we liked some things but there were others we didn’t like…for starters, we LOVED being able to have the ceremony on the beach but there were a million stairs that made us nervous for our elderly guests…and their menu was less than impressive. We tried to see Montauk Yacht Club and they were closed so that automatically knocked that out. So we sat there with Gurneys as our main choice and thought about it for the following week. That week I was reading the post and I saw a blurb in the Post about a new hotel opening in Long Beach…and that’s where it started.

ORIGINAL RH-ALLEGRIA HOTEL AND SPA—FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF times infinity
I went on their site that night and got so excited, and called them the following day, and set up a meeting for that weekend. We met with Jennifer Jacobs that weekend and talked for almost 2 hours…we were so excited to get married there! A modern, clean, Long Island version of the Gansevoort on the beach! What else could I possibly want? And from the people that own the Atlantica, and have made so many brides happy over the years…I wasn’t even worried because I trusted them and their reputation. Mistake #1. A week later we signed the contract, finalized our menu (PPP negotiations) and gave our initial deposit (1/3 of the total cost, depending on the # of guests). Their opening date was March 15. That would be fine right, 6 month buffer??????

So March comes and goes, hotel still isn’t open, April rolls around, nothing. I’m starting to ask questions such as, can I see the room? I need to pick flowers, etc etc etc, if I got a response within a week, it was a small miracle…but the dancing around my questions had only begun. If I sat here and posted all the emails your eyes would bleed…at the same time, I had posted a topic on the board, “when should I start to worry” which resulted in a VERY prompt phone call…actually the fastest one I ever got in the entire year of planning my wedding. They asked me to remove my post…which I did, out of fear! Can you believe I sat there SCARED of these people when I’m paying them THOUSANDS of dollars? Its not like I got some spectacular deal from booking there preconstruction, I still paid more there than most people I know that got married on Saturday nights in the summer…

My FH kept telling me that I was nuts, there was no way they’d miss the summer, everything would be fine and to stop stressing…so I focused on my BFF’s wedding that was getting married in May, in which I was her MOH. Memorial Day Weekend comes and goes, and they cancel their first wedding. Still no hotel. Still not allowed to see. Still no answers to my questions. I believe it was July the first time they let me in. They told me they wanted to give me a walk thru to “calm my fears.” Calm my fears it did NOT. The place was still a complete construction site. There were walls that were unfinished…the banquet room looked like it only needed finishing touches, fixtures and paint…and it would be done…but the rest? The rooftop pool (my ceremony location) was sheetrock and nothing else. Wow…I left there and burst into tears. The following day, my fiancée and I put our thoughts together…that we appreciated being able to see the space but that we had very real concerns because we were 8 weeks away from our wedding, and thought we should start considering other options. We also refused to give them the second payment (due 7.14) until they opened their doors to their first customer. That email was responded to with: “you can do whatever you want, but we will be ready by your date and if you take your money back you are on your own” WHATTTTTTTTTTT?????????????????????????????????? My freaking invitations were OUT already and I’d be on my own rebooking hotel rooms and relocating my entire wedding? I can’t tell you how many times I heard “I wouldn’t let you send invites if we aren’t sure that we’ll be ready by 9/4” Well what kinda bs is that? Obviously all the other girls are sending out invites and getting relocated! By July I think they had relocated 10 weddings.

Time keeps on ticking, I book a florist not knowing what the room is going to look like or what kind of altar she’s going to concoct because I don’t know the ceremony space…I finalized all the songs with my band, not knowing where my ceremony was going to be…or if he would even have electricity to PLAY CEREMONY MUSIC! At this point, they’re telling me to consider getting married out on the beach…I thought about it, but I didn’t want to get married on a PUBLIC beach! With anyone able to walk thru my ceremony at any time??? No thank you. I couldn’t even figure out how to hem my dress because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to wear shoes or not! In the meantime, I get an email, you should come back in, you wouldn’t believe how much progress is being made…we go back in—I believe this is 4 weeks from my date, still a ton of work to do…I paced thru the entire meeting, I was ready to PUKE on the floor. This same day, I also found out backhandedly that Jen Jacobs, the person who TOOK my booking, who’s husband is the exec chef and partner in the hotel and was handling me all along was moving to Hawaii. I didn’t find out FROM HER…but from someone else on LIW that was getting married there two weeks before me that had found me and we started talking. So I called her on the phone, she tells me everything fine and we’re good to go? I said “you sure everything fine?” and she says “yes” again….so I said “THEN WHY ARE YOU MOVING TO HAWAII?” She wasn’t even going to tell me, was just going to pass me off like I’m some sort of schmuck. Apparently the relocating of 20 weddings was taking a toll on her health, so she left town…but my mental health was going in the same direction as hers. At this point, I was rotating between pinot and pepto…tums, immodium…this place made me physically SICK. I was taking ambien every single night to go to sleep because I’d stay online all night reading about what a disaster this place was…I was contacted by COUNTLESS people that they had screwed, past brides, girls that were after me and freaking out too…so I have a very hard time feeling sorry for someone who upped and outted and abandoned me 4 weeks before my wedding.

The following week, I get an email to come see the space again. At this point, I’m ready to scream. Why do I have to come see space again that I’m not going to be able to use????????? We sit down, and the shoe drops. “We think its time you relocate. We cannot guarantee that we will be open in time.” This is after 1000000000000000000000 phone calls and emails guaranteeing me that I was fine fine fine, not to mention, THIS IS WHAT I ASKED FOR WEEKS AGO!!!! You should have seen my face…it took every bit of composure to not jump over the table and choke someone because I was SEETHING. Thank god I had started calling places back when they missed Memorial Day Weekend…so I had a working list of the places that had the date open. I had about 9 to work with an about 5 days to pick somewhere…we met with the Allegria on a Thursday night when they dropped this bomb, and I saw 9 places in the next 2 days…3 weeks before my wedding day!!!!!!! They were the W Union Square and Lex, Battery Gardens, Chelsea Piers (the lighthouse wasn’t open but I saw the other one)…Garden City Hotel, the Carltun, and a few others (can’t even remember them all!).

We ended up picking the Carltun. I thought at this point I’d have some relief going into my final two weeks but HA! Why would they allow me some rest and enjoyment in my wedding planning? The next two weeks were a constant struggle…first we had to find a new hotel. They suggested La Quinta, which nearly gave my hubby a stroke….hes like we went from staying at a hotel on the beach to a la quinta????? Eventually we settled on the Hilton Garden Inn. Once we picked somewhere, then it came time to print relocation cards and rebook all our guests hotel rooms. Being that we didn’t have a lot of out of town guests, we asked the Allegria to check with all of our booked guests (13 rooms) BEFORE rebooking them to make sure they wanted to be moved. We figured some of our friends from the city would probably just go back to the city because before they were counting on a beach weekend. They weren’t going to stay to hang at a Hilton Garden Inn. Not only did they NOT check with our guests, they turned around and rebooked everyone BEFORE even crediting them back what they had ALREADY PAID THE ALLEGRIA! So I come in to work the next day to all of their confirmations and a FLURRY of voicemails and emails from my friends/family asking what was going on?!?! Just what I needed. After a subsequent nasty email exchange, we approved the relocation cards and they sent them out to our guests….finally done. Now we just had to work out the money…

Another week goes by and its now a WEEK before our wedding. The Carltun needed to be paid in full the Tuesday before. I tell the Allegria this and they say we’ll pay “X” therefore your balance is “X” Well it ended up the Carltun had matched priced per plate and their ceremony fee was HALF of what the Allegria’s was. Yet they were still trying to charge me 1500 for the ceremony they weren’t having! HAHAHHAHA yeah right! Then on top of it, it didn’t seem that they wanted to compensate us at all for the aggravation they put us thorough. The only thing that would’ve stopped me from writing this review, is if they picked up the whole balance in full. Now mind you, I know that’s a lot to ask…but I didn’t want to get married at the Carltun. I wanted a beach wedding. All my pictures, gone. The hotel wedding? Gone. Having all my guests in one place with somewhere to hang after? Gone. My rooftop ceremony, gone. Everything I envisioned for my wedding was now gone…except my husband of course (the important part). They offered up a few thousand bucks…it was insufficient and we made that clear. Eventually they ended up giving us enough to cover our additional flowers (had to change all my arrangements from low to high in the room), and the astronomically high tip that the Carltun “suggests” for their maitre D. It also covered the 2 nights of hotel rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn for us. But heres the fun part. The week of my wedding, not only had the Allegria not given the additional money that they promised us, but they never gave the Carltun the 8K that we had already paid them! So the deadline comes and goes, and I get a call from the Carltun, telling me that if they are not paid in full immediately that they will have to CANCEL MY WEDDING! This is TUESDAY AND IM GETTING MARRIED ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!! So that’s it, I’ve gone bonkers…I call my fiancée at work SCREAMING my face off…he will call Todd. Todd tells him that they’re on it and the Carltun will be paid by end of day. Wednesday rolls around and they’re STILL not paid. Todd tells Mike that “hes been trying to avoid making this phone call as long as possible” (CLEARLY!) and that “they don’t have the money!!!!!!!!!!” It wasn’t even clear if they didn’t have our deposit or the additional money they promised us but he was basically just trying to shaft us. You’re telling me you’re building a 100 million dollar hotel and you don’t have 14K lying around? PLEASE. So we told him, sorry but we don’t have the money either and if you THINK for a second that we’re going down this road, you will see us in court. After that call, the Carltun miraculously got paid, but it wasn’t until the day before our wedding. So up until the day before my wedding, I wasn’t sure that I was even having a wedding!!!!!!!!!

I wish I could even get into the details of how nasty these people were to me, how unbelievable I was treated throughout this process—all of your jaws would be on the floor but in order to actually make this a WORTHWHILE review I’m now going to move forward with my vendors that actually held up their end of the bargain and DID what they were supposed to on my wedding day!!!!!! I’ll start with the Carltun!

RH & Ceremony-Carltun—A++++++++++++++++++++++++
what can I say about the Carltun that all of their bride’s haven’t already said? They were amazing…from sneaking us in on an hour’s notice when we first went to see the place until the end of my wedding day, they were nothing short of amazing. Caryn was my events person there that coordinated all our details and dealt with all the Allegria BS. She was awesome. I can’t explain to you what she had to deal with stalking them for money! They also took us for a tasting with around an hour’s notice when I realized that my schedule and my FH’s schedule wouldn’t allow us another time to come, on a day that they typically don’t do tastings. Our tasting was amazing, the food was top notch. We picked the fresh mozz salad with the prosciutto bouquet for an app, the salmon, the filet mignon and the chicken as our entrée options…and the dessert tasting plate for the dessert (fruit basket, carrot cake, and flourless chocolate cake)…they upgraded our wedding cake to a red velvet with CC filling and it was delish! My bridal attendant, MaryAnne was my BFF. She had to dress me because the Allegria was supposed to arrange a car service from the Hilton to the Carltun and surprise surprise they never did! So my mom dropped me off at the Carltun with my dress and all the flowers and stuff, and had to go back to the Hilton to get my MIL and my MOH. My dress had 100000000 buttons in the back and tested her patience but she never once complained! And John, our maitre D, I nicknamed the ninja! He was EVERYWHERE! He took great care of my DH as well. They even had alcohol swabs for my face when I got bit by a mosquito between the eyes during my cocktail hour and swelled up like some sort of wild animal. In hindsight, the bugbite was almost a blessing because I ended up hiding out in the bridal suite while icing my face and it was the only time I ate all day…without that I probably would’ve passed out! Our waitress, Samantha was also amazing, I wasn’t empty handed for a single second…I even got super hot while we were taking pics and she followed me around with water!








Mother Nature-A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.
The week of my wedding it called for showers on Friday night. Weather.com said “go to plan B.” Plan B was already in action, so maybe plan C? ahahha. Anyway, we ended up having a PERFECT day, it was 78 degrees and sunny with a breeze. I couldn’t have hand picked better weather.

Hair & Make up- M*I*A & Theresa-A++++++++

Theresa showed up on time to do my MOH, MIL and my mom. She did great work on all of them and everyone was really happy. M*I*A was on time and was fantastic! She was even able to cover my MOH’s tattoo on her ankle that she hates! My only problem was that my hair fell out halfway through my reception. Someone hugged me and ripped it out and it looks horrible in all of my pics from that point on…wah.


Officiant-Father David Grainson of the Emmanuas Catholic Ministry—A++++++
I can’t remember who recommended Father David to me, it might’ve even been Pastor April! But my husband and I are both Catholic, he practices a bit more than me. My mother is a DEVOUT Catholic that goes to church on holidays that I don’t even know exist and she was dead set on me getting married in a church. I was 100% against it. My husband for starters, is divorced. We didn’t want to do pre cana and we didn’t want to have the church and reception shuffling around on our day. It just wasn’t on our list of priorities. So we knew we wanted a priest but they will not marry you outside of a church. Father David was a RC priest and left the church to start a family. He still does weddings/funerals/services for Catholics just not in the church. He was fantastic! Everyone commented on how great he was—to the point that we asked him to stay and hang for the cocktail hour! And my mom was happy with him so that made me happy. He even made us copies of our marriage license for our HM and mailed it in for us. We had our certificate by the time we got back!



Photographer—THOMAS PAUL-A
I knew from the get go that I wanted non traditional wedding photos. I always stalked Angelica and was horrified when she was booked on my date! Then I loved Something Blue and they were also not available on my date. We met with Blue Daisy, Henry Chan, and finally Thomas Paul. One of my problems was that I didn’t really feel like I clicked with anyone until I met Tom. Marianne was nice but I didn’t feel that click with her if that makes any sense…and Henry Chan was a little too expensive for us once we figured in albums…my husband and I both really liked Tom and that was it! All of the pics in this post are his doing!

We did our E shoot in July and I wasn’t thrilled with the pics…I always feel like I hate pictures of myself so that didn’t really shock me…but it freaked me out to the point that I was scared I was going to hate my wedding pics. Well guess what? I don’t! I actually really like them! I highly recommend Tom and his team to any bride looking for a great photographer at a reasonable price.

Florist—DESIGNS BY ROSE-A++++++++++++++++++++++
I only met with two florists…I was one of those brides that thought that flowers weren’t important to me, so I was going to use Burton’s and do a basic arrangement…I ended up not even meeting with Burton’s once I met Rose and Doris from Designs by Rose. I saw a million pictures of her work when we initially met and just felt confident that she could swing whatever I needed. Initially I was supposed to have rose and orchid CPs in a low vase (when I was booked at the Allegria). Then once we switched venues I changed all my CP’s to high pieces to fill the room at the Carltun. I think you just NEED high CPs in that room, it would be weird with lows. So, I opted for green hydrangea with purple dendrobium orchids in a glass cylinder with floating orchids. I also added aisle pillars that had floating orchids with my colors with a floating votive. In hindsight, a lot of people were scared that they were going to set themselves on fire so I might not have done the candle but I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED the way they looked. She also provided my aisle runner and my altar with the hydrangea topping and the hanging crystals which I loved! My bo-k was a mix of eggplant calla lilies, lady slipper orchids, and green cymbidium orchids. The lady slipper orchids for my bo-k came all the way from New Zealand!!!! My moh’s bo-k was all green cymbidium and the guys bouts were green cymbidium as well. I also did a large piece for my placecard table that doubled as my favor table. It was a large manzanatta tree with hanging crystals… I can’t tell you how many compliments I got on the flowers! Rose and Doris were really just an absolute highlight in my planning, I am so happy I worked with them. I mean talk about above and beyond! I would highly recommend them to EVERYONE. And they really work with you on the price too! Oh and by the way, I figured out that I really love flowers, hahahah.






BAND-RENEGADE!!!!!—A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Oh my god, Renegade was amazing. When I tell you there was one decision I made wedding planning that I never second guessed, this is the one. I saw a showcase around 3 weeks after we set a date based on a coworker’s recommendation (she used them for her wedding). I booked them the next day and never even thought about anyone else. Dave and the band ROCKED our wedding! I used non traditional ceremony music (which they did for me), BP walked to Enya, Only Time and I walked to Paul McCartney’s, Maybe I’m Amazed, and people commented on how they loved it and how different it was. They were continuous from the second they started at the ceremony til the party ended…I think our wedding actually went 45 mins or so long and they never let me know! My only beef was I didn’t hear any U2 but oh well! I cannot explain to you how much I lovvvvvvved them, I keep trying to find an excuse to see them again! So if you use them and need a seat filler, I’m your gal! hahah

Lighting—NY LOUNGE DÉCOR-B+
When I moved to the Carltun I decided I wanted to add uplighting. The room was a bit traditional for my taste so I thought uplighting and pin lighting would make it a bit more modern…so I asked BarbieGirl who she used for her lighting and she gave me NY Lounge Décor. I ended up having a different contact person there, Carl, who took my booking over the phone and that was it. I paid in full by credit card over the phone and they showed up before the event, set up and everything was great. I think this is another reason I got sooooooo many compliments on my flowers, the pin lights made them look AMAZING. I can’t tell you who I had as the light operator day of, but two things—1—when we started the reception I told him to leave the room purple (I didn’t want a club) and towards the end of the night, I looked up and the lights were going nuts…I was NOT happy about that—like I said, didn’t want a club. The second thing is before the reception started, Tom took us into the room when it was empty for some pics with the room all lit and the light operator is in the pics!!!!!!!!! I mean REALLY?????? It’s like a dead empty room and you see him standing there…like he couldn’t have hid under a table for a minute? So those two little things annoyed me but aside from that, the lights really converted the room into GORGEOUS space and I was so happy I made the last minute addition!



INVITES-MOMENTAL DESIGNS.com-A+++++++
I worked with Kristy Rice on my invites online…she was awesome. Went back and forth with me on any and all changes I made. Actually when I initially got my invites, I hated the envelopes, they looked really wrinkled…she redid my envelopes and I looooooooved the way they came out. She was definitely a little more than I wanted to spend, but that’s the way it goes with custom invites. I had used Te$$a for my STDs and was not happy (they all had smudge marks on them from her assembling) so I decided to do my invites with someone else.


DRESS—BRIDAL REFLECTIONS-A-
I shopped foreverrrrrrrrr for my dress—I knew this was going to be an issue for me because I never really LOVE anything on me…I like it but I’m never “OMG I NEED THIS!” So a lot of brides describe having that moment where they knew their dress was the one—I didn’t have that. I went to Adriennes, Kleinfelds, Bridal Reflections NYC and Massapequa, RK, the Bridal Garden, Davids & a Vera Wang sample sale (nightmare)…I knew I wanted lace and sheathy. I tried on a little of everything though. I ended up buying a Marisa, which was actually the first dress I tried on at RK, the first time I went shopping. I had a $500 off coupon from The Wedding Salon bridal show event that I attended in NYC which I ended up using to buy my dress at Bridal Reflections Massapequa. I ordered my dress, then saw someone wearing it online, freaked out and cancelled it…then went and saw it again and reordered it in Nov. My dress came in in May—they initially projected June. Zizi was my seamstress and she literally had to take my dress in to a size 4 from an 8 (I don’t know why they ordered me an 8 in the first place but they did). I wear a 2 in street clothes! So I was NOT thrilled after my first fitting like my 09’ers know! My second one I got a lot done, I cut out the entire lining so that the back of my train was just lace with no underlay. I added a Marisa sash as well—my dress was straight plain lace without it. I dipped the neck a bit more and that was it! I ended up loving my dress (thanks Zizi!!!!!!) and can’t wait to wear it again for my day-after-shoot! The only thing that annoyed me is every fitting I went to, I ended up sitting there for a half hour waiting. There was one girl there complaining about her bustle (that she picked) for an HOUR one night, I wanted to CHOKE her because she pushed my fitting back like 45 minutes! I always had the last appt because I work in the city and can’t get there early and while I appreciate them taking me and squeezing me in, there were nights that I got home from my fitting at like 10PM.

MOB DRESS- ISLE FASHIONS, East Norwich-A+++++
My mom is 4’11 and had a really hard time finding a dress, we must’ve gone to 50 places. After harassing one of my friends to find out where her tiny mom got her dress, she sent me here…let me tell you, this was one of the best experiences of all my wedding planning. The women that worked there were amazing, her fittings were at her leisure and they were SO nice. I forgot who makes her dress but I looooooved it! She looked amazing!


MY MOH’s DRESS-David’s Bridal Westbury—A+
I went to David’s for myself one day with my MOH. I showed her the dress she ultimately ended up getting, she said she loved it and that was it. She ordered it herself, did the alterations there and it was perfect! And CHEAP! Her shoes came from Love My Shoes and she got them dyed green by Sandy’s for $20.


SHOES-CRAFT SHOES-A+
My shoes are another thing I shopped for forever. I have bad feet but I still subject myself to heels—but they have to be comfy! As we all know by now, no bridal shoes are comfortable…I found something that was relatively comfy and ended up getting those! I dyed them blue for my something blue and bought shoe clips from shoeworthy.com. I have fabric tape that I used to make sure they stayed on the day of because at my fittings they kept popping off my shoes (its called flashtape). The night before my wedding when I was dropping everything at the hotel, I ended up dropping my shoe and I BROKE ONE OF THE CLIPS…I ended up being able to fix it, thank god!

OLD NEW BORROWED BLUE—A+!
Since I just did my shoes, as my blue, I figured I’d throw this in there…
Old- My father passed away almost 2 years ago…so I used his dog tags in my bo-k—a lot of girls do pictures, but my dad was ALL about the military & his country so I figured there couldn’t be a more appropriate way to pay tribute to him. I also played Enya as the BP processional song because he loved Enya
New-dress
Borrowed-my clip and bracelet from my BFF, both were bought on ebay from jewelry3721. My earrings came from M*I*A’s jewelry she sells in her salon.




OOT GUESTS HOTEL—HILTON GARDEN INN Westbury-A-
As noted earlier in my review, I had to move all my guests hotel accommodations to the HGI. By the time I booked there, there were no regular rooms left, only suites—which were $179 a night. They were AWESOME at accommodating all my guests. Kay was my contract there and she was great. I went the day before my wedding to drop of my OOT boxes and as far as I know everyone got one. My MIL didn’t but it was because she told them she didn’t want one and then complained she didn’t get one? LOL But the only reason I’m giving them an A- is because I was supposed to get “event planning points” which I never got on my Hilton Honors account, and I’ve reached out to them twice about it and I still didn’t get them. I called their customer service people about it and they told me my contact AT the hotel had to do it. And no response there…weird, especially after how great they were!

OOT Boxes—I’m not going to rate them!
I got the gable boxes from my best friend who had 15 of them left over from her wedding. They were perfect. I stuck a sticker on there, wrapped a ribbon around it and put in 2 mini waters, chips or pretzels, a granola bar, advil, 3 mini crumb cakes, peanut M&Ms….and I think that’s it.

Bathroom Baskets—Not rating these either….but they were DISMANTLED when I got them back…people took EVERYTTTTTTHING from them.
Bought all the stuff at CVS and the dollar store, baskets came from Michael’s…I wrapped scrapbooking tape around the ugly border and included the following: ladies room—brush, comb, bobby pins, hair ties, pepcid, advil, tide to go, tampons, liners, hand lotion, nail file, hairspray, body splash, deodorant. The men’s baskets had all the same stuff except the girly things, and a downy wrinkle releaser (not sure if it worked) and a lint brush.

Favors—Mini Cheesecakes by The Cheesecake Lady—A++++++++++++++++
Barbie girl recommended Cathy Smith to me for my mini cheesecakes. A few weeks before the wedding I picked up a sample tray from her in Miller Place with a bunch of different kinds so that we could pick for the wedding….we selected Oreo (wrapped in black ribbon) and NY Cinnamon crumb (green ribbon). I got the boxes from efavormart.com (3X3X3), the labels from myownlabels.com, and the stuffing for the boxes (the 2X2X2 boxes are too small and the ones I got are a little too deep) at Michaels. Cathy packed them for me, I dropped all the boxes assembled when I paid her the week before the wedding. They came out AWESOME and people loved them. The Carltun even made them say K<3 M! The only issue I had was that, because they needed to be refridgerated, anyone who left early didn’t get one. Their loss! I got to take em home! I’ve even had people ask me for Cathy’s contact info after because of how delicious they were…and she will be seeing me again for a thanksgiving platter! ? FM me for her contact info!



GROOMS CAKE-THE CAKE GALLERY-BELLMORE-A++++++++
I ordered Mike’s Yankee Stadium cake 2 weeks before the wedding and emailed him a few pics of the stadium to work off of (hes only made one cake of the new stadium). I thought it came out PERFECT and everyone loved it! Was a huge hit!



Random shot of my table #’s (because I love how they came out!) and card box


SOME FAVE PICS!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!!

Awesome review!! your wedding looks absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!! that pic of your eyes is so gorgeous!!

glad the whole rh situation worked out for you in the end. CONGRATS!!! you look beautiful!!!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!!

Glad everything worked out for you in the end. Everything looks gorgeous.

On a side note, a family friends son was supposed to get married at Atlantica and was relocated to The Allegria in Long Beach because of Atlanica closing. I am so afraid to tell them of your experience.

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!!

amazing review !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!you guys looked amazing and your flowers , pics, dress, decor.. etc was gorgeous!!!!!! soo glad you had the best day at the carltun... Even though its not what you originally wanted .. it wound up being everything and more for you guys!!! Congrats!! :)

And I just want to add that what the Allegria did was appauling and I would never , recommend that place or those owners to anyone gettin married!! its totally horrific!!! :(

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!!

I am so so incredibly sorry about your horrific experience. I cant even begin to imagine what you went through.

I am glad that you ended up having an amazing wedding day, you are stunning!!!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!!

Amazing!!!!!!! You looked beautiful!!! I loved everything. Your flowers OMG LOVE LOVE LOVE I am also using designs by rose I cant wait to see how everything wil turn out. She did an amazing job!!

Your dress gorg!!! The pics came out great!! COngrats!!!!!!!!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!!

What an informative review!! A+++++++ to you! Glad everything worked out in the end b/c it all looks so perfect! Congrats!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!!

Excellent Review!!! I am soooooooooo extremly happy everything worked out for you. Your story actually stuck with me for weeks and I was hoping for your sake that everything came out perfect, which looks like it did. Congrats again :)

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!!

OMG, every time I think of what you went through I get so sick to my stomach. I hate them for what they did to you! But I am glad to see you were able to move on and have a wonderful, gorgeous day elsewhere. Your pictures are stunning - that one of your eyes reflected in a mirror? I die!

Seriously, many congrats to you guys. You deserved a wonderful day and I am glad you got one!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!!

Congrats! Glad everything worked out. I remember from your posts all the trouble you had. I can't believe they told you to take the post down. And I can't believe how the hotel acted how unprofessional and rude. Your wedding turned out beautiful in the end

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

Wow- some major hurdles at the end there!! But it all came together beautifully! You look amazing!!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

Great review Kat!!

First off... after all you went through with Allegria it is awesome to read that the Carltun proved to be a perfect place for you both!!

I know you had dress drama and so I feel like I MUST tell you how radiant you looked... everything from MI@s hair and makeup work to your dress and hot blue shoes... PERFECTION

and finally...that picture of your eyes in the compact.. OH MY GOD!!! that picture alone is priceless!!!

xoxo

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

GORGEOUS!! congrats!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

Holy gorgeousness! I love everything about your wedding!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

I'm so happy your day turned out perfect!!!!!! You looked gorgeous. Can't wait to do my trial with M**I**A!!! Thanks for the GREAT review!!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

you look absolutely gorgeous! I am in shock over all the stress the allegria.

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

Everything is gorgeous...beautiful!!! Your pics are amazing!!! Congrats and despite everything you went through leading up to your big day, it looked absolutely perfect!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

Gorgeous!! Congrats

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

I'm so sorry to hear everything you went through. I can't even imagine! ughhhh it makes me sick to just think about how stressed you must have been....I'm so glad that everything worked out in the end. Your wedding looks PERFECT! Everything was sooooo gorgeous esp the bride!!! Congratulations!!!!

Re: MY AWESOME 9/4/09 WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN! THOMAS PAUL, M*I*A, DESIGNS BY ROSE, RENEGADE, NY LOUNGE DECOR!!!!!!!!! With a death wish for the Allegria....

i cant believe what u went through b4hand, im soo sorry!!!
so glad it worked out tho and u were happy! u looked so beautiful!