October 5, 2012-Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia,Photo & Me, Flowers By Simply Elegant, Cruise Control, Angela's Hair Design, About Face Artistry (Stacy Doolan), Sir Oliver & More!

Hi ladies! I can't believe it's my turn to review my vendors. I had so much fun planning our wedding. I can definitely say I enjoyed every minute of it and I avoided the stress and hassle that comes along with it, by planning early and getting everything organized. I would like to thank my husband for helping me throughout the wedding planning, for coming with me to all vendor appointments and for providing the creative details to our wedding and to our wonderful families and friends for their support. My husband and I as well as our families had such an amazing time at our wedding and I have our wonderful wedding vendors to thank for.

LI Weddings: A+
www.liweddings.com

So thankful I found this website, I joined this site when I was about 400+ days away from my wedding and thank God I did. I found so many great ideas and awesome feedbacks from my fellow brides here and quite honestly my wedding wouldn't have turned out the way it did if it weren't for all the help and suggestions that I got from this website. So ladies and to the whole team behind liweddings, thank you.

Venue: Westbury Manor: A+
www.westburymanor.com

I cannot say enough great things about Westbury Manor. All I can say is my husband and I are very lucky to be able to have our wedding here. We first visited and booked the place July of last year and we just fell in love with it. This venue is gorgeous both indoors and outdoors. We were looking for a very intimate place to have our wedding of 120 people, without the catering hall feel to it and they definitely delivered what we were looking for and more. Natasha was our banquet manager and from the day we booked until the days before the wedding, her and the whole Westbury Manor staff were there to help and answer our questions promptly. I didn’t really feel the need to keep asking questions or constantly follow up with them because I knew we were in good hands. Closer to the wedding date when everything had to be finalized the whole staff made sure that everything was planned and organized for us, from choosing our menu, finalizing the reception timeline, vendors, wedding items (favors, candles,etc) they handled everything. On our wedding day we only hired one limo to drop off the groomsmen at the venue then come back for my girls and I, we were scheduled to be there around 5:30 p.m and the guys got there a little early even with that from what my husband told me, they were ready and welcomed them and they did the same for me, my girls and my family as well. Phil was our Maitre’ D and Gianna was our Bridal Attendant. They were both so amazing to me and my husband and to our families. They really treated us like family and both went above and beyond for us. Their service was great, food was excellent (and abundant, a lot of people thought it was dinner already!) so you really get what you pay for and more. We felt so special that day and we weren’t just another wedding for them, from the day we walked in there until the staff said their goodbyes and when we got in to our limo that night, the whole experience with Westbury Manor was unforgettable. Our guests couldn’t stop raving on how they all had such a great time and how they were very impressed by how everything was set up at the wedding and the party wasn’t even over yet, so that definitely says a lot. So, thank you Westbury Manor & staff for making our wedding so memorable.

DJ: Sound Connection DJ’s: A+
www.soundconnectionmusic.org

Sound Connection was our first choice, we first met with Raphael (owner & MC) at a wedding showcase at Davids Bridal. Prior to booking with them I researched a lot of DJ companies in LI and found most of them to be a little pushy, so I didn’t bother to set up an appointment with them. We found Sound Connection’s website and contacted Raphael, when we first met him he was very professional and really helped us find a package that was suitable for us. He also provided us with different options for upgrades and was definitely not pushy about it at all. Any inquiry we had leading up to our wedding day Raphael was always there and was very responsive with our questions and requests. He helped us with our timeline which made the whole reception go smoothly. We gave our full confidence to Raphael and the whole Sound Connection team in regards to the music selection, we didn’t give them a “must play list” but they definitely delivered. He was mindful of our backgrounds, my husband being Colombian & me Filipino. He played great songs and our guests couldn’t stop raving about the songs that he played, they thought we selected them ourselves ,but it was all thanks to Sound Connection. He definitely got people dancing, participating and enjoying themselves. We’re so happy we had them at our wedding.

Side Note: Raphael owns a wedding boutique in Carle Place called Wedding Connection, he also referred us to our Limo Company & Florist which were both amazing as well (See reviews below)

Florist: Flowers By Simply Elegant: A+
www.fowersbysimplyelegant.com

Our DJ referred us to Richard who owns Flowers by Simply Elegant. Richard is great to deal with from beginning to end. He is straight forward and you can tell that he really cares about his business and it shows on how he treats his clients. We gave him a budget of $2000.00 and he gave us a price of $1300 for 10 low centerpieces, centerpiece for the dais, bridal bouquet, throw bouquet, flowers for the cake, corsages & boutonnieres for parents and grandparents, boutonnieres for groom, groomsmen & ringbearer, bouquets for bridesmaids and flowers for the flower girl, for that price and for what we were getting, we were very satisfied. About 3 weeks before the wedding, we came to his office in Glen Head to see our samples and my husband and I were just blown away by how lovely our centerpieces were. Richard nailed the whole theme of our wedding and the flower choices he made were gorgeous and the colors were so vibrant. Richard is really talented. Come our wedding day, Richard came to our hotel to deliver our bouquets and we were just wowed by them, the flowers looked beautiful and fresh and I couldn’t wait to see the look of our room during the reception. My husband and I got a chance to look at everything in our reception room prior to the dinner starting, and I couldn’t help but feel so excited when I saw everything come together. People were actually fighting over the centerpieces because they looked amazing! I know Richard is not as known as the other vendors here on LI Weddings, but ladies, if you are still looking for a florist please consider Richard he is talented and he will work with your budget. The flowers lasted all week.


Videographer: AJ Ingoglia: A+
www.vimeo.com/ajfilms

I always knew I wanted a cinematic type of video for our wedding, with that being said we’ve searched high and low to find the right one looking as far as New Jersey to South Carolina just to find that videographer who can capture our day without breaking the bank. Then came a post written by a fellow bride about AJ, I couldn’t help but google him ,and wow, is all I can say, his work was just amazing! And the greatest thing about it? He lived in Long Island at that time and not in another state and he was within our budget! So we met up with AJ asap because we heard he books fast and we got lucky our date was still available, so we booked him on the spot. Where do I start with AJ? First off, just by looking at his videos you’ll know how talented and how much work he really puts in all of his videos. With that being said AJ packs a great personality as well, he just makes everyone feel comfortable and relaxed. He is just a fun guy to be around with. He doesn’t limit himself to shooting footage in the background, he is always willing to help, he was even there when I needed someone to hold my dress LOL or to get things organized with our photo shoot. We’re so happy that we got AJ to be part of our day, our wedding party really enjoyed him being around, he is definitely worth it and more.

Photographer: Photo and Me Photography: A-
www.photoandme.com

We initially booked a different photographer for our wedding a year ago. When it came to the time when we were supposed to have our engagement shoot scheduled in June she went MIA on us for weeks. Needless to say, we decided not to go with her and took our deposit back and had to find another photographer ASAP with only 4 months into our wedding. We feared that we couldn’t find a good photographer with the type of style we liked in such short time but we did and we met Haris. We booked Haris asap, and had our e-shoot the following week. Some photographers will give you 90 mins for an e-shoot, Haris gave us all afternoon and night time as well. He didn’t rush the shoot that’s for sure and we covered most of South Street Seaport. The finished product looked great and we couldn’t be any happier. We got so many compliments from the e-shoot pics. As I mentioned earlier, Haris will take his time to perfect each and every shot, that being said that is also one of the main reasons why he lost some points in that area. During our wedding day, when time was running at fast speed for some reason, he spent so much time organizing our poses and changing it over and over again before actually getting the actual shot that we lost a lot of time of what could have been time to relax or take more shots at a different location. We stood at the same spot for a good half hour and prob took not that many pictures. He also got lost on his way to our hotel & to our venue so our scheduled photo shoot at the venue was pushed back half an hour after. although he did get lost because of the crappy iphone maps, but still there should have been a back up plan. I felt we didn’t get as many pictures with just me and my husband, I wanted to utilize Westbury’s beautiful grounds but because we were running on such tight schedule and the shots were taking too long I felt like we didn’t get a chance to take enough pictures of us. Like I said, his final work is amazing and I have no doubt that ours will come out great, I just wished he wasn’t too concerned about the positioning and just took the shot. If we had all day that wouldn’t have been an issue but when everything else has a timeline I was definitely getting a bit frustrated. He is a great photographer and a really nice person but he does take his time to get the shots so if you have all day and time in between your ceremony & reception I’m sure he will do great.

Limos:

Cruise Control Limo: A (Drop Off @ Westbury Manor)
www.cruisecontrollimo.com

We booked them through our DJ as well, they were very responsive to our requests prior to the wedding day. Driver came very early to pick up my husband and his groomsmen and dropped them off at Westbury Manor. He had a good idea of how traffic was going to be that’s why he came early and we’re glad that he did. When the driver came for me and my girls he was also right on schedule. Very friendly and he waited patiently while I waited inside the limo while we were trying to figure out where our photographer was. Clean limo & good service.

Sir Oliver Limo: A (Pick up from Westbury Manor to Hotel)
www.siroliverlimo.com

Initially we weren’t planning on having a limo pick us up and take us back to the hotel, we were thinking of getting a van from a cab company thinking we would save money. It turned out to be more expensive than we thought. So I posted an ad here at LI Weddings looking for a limo company that won’t charge us the minimum of three hours and just by the hour. A lot of companies quoted me for $300.00+ for a 15 minute ride, and Sir Oliver was the only reasonable one who charged us $150.00 for a 10 passenger limo. Limo picked us up on time at 2 a.m, driver was nice and limo was very clean.

Officiant: Reverend Phil Della Roca: A
www.acircleofgold.com

We booked Rev Phil early this year, I was a bit concerned when I read negative reviews about him right after when I booked him. Some people said he didn’t show up. He did for ours,
thank God! He came an hour early prior to the ceremony and he sorted out the marriage license/witness signing prior to the ceremony so we didn’t have to worry about it after. I think he did a good job, he spoke clearly and his ceremony was beautiful. Only reason I didn’t give him an A+ is because he skipped the reading, which was kind of important to us and was written on our programs. People really didn’t notice until we pointed it out after but they still thought the ceremony was beautiful and liked the fact that he added humor to it.

Wedding Day Makeup: About Face Make Up Artistry-Stacy Doolan: A+
www.sdaboutfaceartistry.com

I’m a makeup person, meaning I like it when I apply it myself because I have a certain look. I’ve never encountered or had my makeup done ,that I liked the way I looked until I met Stacy. during my trial. I booked her a year out from my wedding and I’m so glad I did. She made me and my bridesmaids and also my mom look stunning. I had that bridal glow that I never thought I would have and the make up wasn’t overpowering at all. I felt so beautiful that day and the makeup lasted all night. I was worried because my skin gets oily really fast and we had our makeup done starting at 10:30 a.m. and our ceremony was at 8 p.m. but it lasted and we all looked great. Stacy is also great to be around with, she is very patient and she makes you feel comfortable in your own skin. She is definitely very talented and obviously loves her craft. I’m definitely a fan!

Wedding Day Hair: Angela’s Hair Design: A+
www.siteskins.net/angelashairdesign

I love Angela! She is definitely very talented and skilled and it shows in her work. She took care of me and my girls and made us look like a million bucks. Our hair lasted for a long time, like our makeup we also started around 10:30 a.m and it still looked great until the last song was played and until we said our goodbyes to everyone. One of my bridesmaids went to take her SAT’s the next day with her hair still intact LOL. I’m glad she was part of my day.

Engagement Shoot Hair & Makeup: Nadine Vasquez Make Up: A+
http://nadinevasquez.wix.com/makeupartist

Nadine came to my rescue when she came to do my make up for my engagement shoot. Initially I decided to do it myself but come the week before the shoot, I changed my mind and decided I wanted to get my makeup done. With no trial or not knowing how I will look, I gave my full faith and confidence to Nadine and she delivered. Like I mentioned before, it’s rare for me to have my makeup done and like it so I have to admit that I was nervous on how I was going to look but all that nervousness was washed away when I saw how great I looked after. She does makeup on the side but she definitely has the talent to do this full time. She also did soft curls with my hair and I was photoshoot ready. I’m so glad she accomodated me on such short notice, even when her schedule that day was packed already. She is great to work with!


Wedding Dress & Bridesmaid Dresses: Harley Ruedas: A+
www.harleyruedas.wordpress.com

Harley Ruedas is a Filipino designer from the city where I was born. He is well known over there and is known for his great workmanship and intricate design. I always wanted to have my wedding dress made over there, main reason was for the intricate beadwork that they do and the materials and second is to offset the cost. I had the bridesmaid dresses made there as well. We sent out our measurements late September of last year and we got the dresses around June 2012. It was a risk I took, since I never saw the actual dress in person, just the design but it was a risk that was very worth it. He produced a one of a kind dress for me, that needed no alterations. The beadwork was intricate, the spanish lace he used was gorgeous. The bridesmaids dresses had to be altered but very minor (length, top too big) but I was expecting that knowing that I did have them custom made overseas. I’m not saying you ladies should do this, but it worked for me, and I spent less than $2K for my dress and bridesmaid dresses. I had a family member send over the payment and I wired the final balance through my bank.

Wedding Invitations: CDI Designs: A+
www.cdiinvitations.com

This was also another part of my wedding that I had custom made in the Philippines. When my fiance and I were shopping around for invites, we couldn’t believe how much they cost. Each additional insert was an additional charge, as well as raised printing (thermography). This would have cost us $1200.00++ to have pocketfold invites with 3 inserts. Instead we paid about $500.00 for the pocketfold invites, with 3 inserts, thermography printing, envelopes w/ pre printed address on the envelope flap, and customized design which fits our fall theme. Everyone said our invites were beautiful and I’m glad it didn’t cost us an arm and a leg. I communicated with them through email and had a family member pay them personally but they also accept certified wire transfers from the bank.

Wedding Day Hotel: Hyatt Place Garden City: A+
http://i.gardencity.place.hyatt.com/

Westbury Manor gave us a comp room for our wedding night at the Hyatt. We booked 3 additional rooms with them a year out from the wedding and got a good discounted rate. The rooms were clean, spacious and looks new. The continental breakfast they offered had a lot of choices. The room service menu was good but pricey, so during the wedding day while we were all getting ready, I opted to order pizza for delivery instead of ordering room service. We stayed the day before the wedding and checked out the day after, everyone we encountered was nice and made our stay pleasant.

Honeymoon: Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe-Punta Cana, DR: A+
www.barcelo.com

My husband and I went for 6 nights and 7 days to Punta Cana, weather was amazing and the resort that we stayed in was absolutely breathtaking. The beach was beautiful and clean. The resort was all inclusive and we booked the Panoramic Suite and upgraded to a feature they call Club Premium and we were treated like royals all week. Staff and service were great and I definitely would come back to this resort again.

Some other websites/vendors that I used for our wedding:

Wedding Ink: A+
www.weddingink.net

We used Wedding Ink for our calligraphy needs and Niicole is great to work with, there are no minimums and the turn around time is very fast.

Etsy: A+
www.etsy.com

I love this website! I ordered our birdcage card holder, unity candle & tapers, “I do” stickers, wedding hanger, garter and headpiece here. There are a lot of creative people in this website and this site can get very addicting:

Grinsngiggles12- Wedding Hanger
Scrapsoflovebyjen- Unity Candle & Tapers
SnowWhiteStudio- Hair Comb
SweetButtonsandBeaus- “I Do” shoe sticker
GarterBoutique- Garter
SouthburyTreasures- Birdcage cardholder

My Sweet Memories: A+
www.my-sweet-memories.com

Also known as “Channa” Plaque, we ordered ours and the whole process was fast and painless. Channa was a pleasure to work with and she even looked for a particular font that we wanted to use. We had our on our cake table during the reception and now it is displayed in our living room. Definitely a nice touch.

Weddingwire: A+
www.weddingwire.com

Great website to host your wedding website as well as keeping track of your wedding budget.

Michaels: A+

I always love Michaels and I relied to this store even more during the whole wedding process. We got the frame that we used for our guests to sign, flower girl basket, baskets for programs, ring bearer pillow,etc...they always have a 40% off coupon every week so make sure to take advantage of that deal.

Vistaprint: A+
www.vistaprint.com

Love this website, we ordered our save the dates & rehearsal dinner invitations here. We used a coupon and saved even more. They offer fast shipping and a lot of design options to chose from.

Paper Direct: A+
www.paperdirect.com

We wanted place cards to match our fall theme and this website offers a wide variety of designs for different themes. The place cards also comes with a template which makes it easier to print out from your computer.

Favor Warehouse: A+
www.favorwarehouse.com

Bought 13 cases of mini apple cider bottles here, the ciders were discounted and it was shipped fast. I personally didn’t like the labels that was included so I decided to change them. They offer a wide array of favors and wedding items.

My Own Wedding Labels: A+
www.myownweddinglabels.com

If you’re thinking of having wine as favors, this website offers a lot of nice designs to chose from. They have different shapes and sizes of labels ranging from mini ones to the full size. Fast shipping and quick reorder option is available.


Hope this helps you ladies...whew that was long!

October 5, 2012-Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia,Photo & Me, Flowers By Simply Elegant, Cruise Control, Angela's Hair Design, About Face Artistry (Stacy Doolan), Sir Oliver & More!

October 5, 2012-Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia,Photo & Me, Flowers By Simply Elegant, Cruise Control, Angela's Hair Design, About Face Artistry (Stacy Doolan), Sir Oliver & More!

October 5, 2012-Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia,Photo & Me, Flowers By Simply Elegant, Cruise Control, Angela's Hair Design, About Face Artistry (Stacy Doolan), Sir Oliver & More!

Re: Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

Very beautiful! Congratulations!

Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

Congratulations!!!! Absolutely gorgeous!

Re: Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

You looked gorgeous! Great review

Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

congrats!

Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

beautiful!! congrats!

Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

great read - lots of helpful info! thanks!!

congrats! you looked great too!

Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

Great review! Congratulations and thanks for sharing!!

Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

you looked amazing!! congrats on your beautiful day!

Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

Great review. You looked beautiful. :)

Re: Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

You guys look gorgeous! Congrats....

Re: Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

Gorgeous! Never in a million years did I ever think I would love orange so much on bridesmaids!! Congrats on your beautiful wedding!

Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

Congrats - beautiful!!!!

Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia, Flowers By Simply Elegant, & More!

great review! congrats :)

October 5, 2012-Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia,Photo & Me, Flowers By Simply Elegant, Cruise Control, Angela's Hair Design, About Face Artistry (Stacy Doolan), Sir Oliver & More!

Thanks ladies!

October 5, 2012-Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia,Photo & Me, Flowers By Simply Elegant, Cruise Control, Angela's Hair Design, About Face Artistry (Stacy Doolan), Sir Oliver & More!

Beautiful pics. Congrats!

Re: October 5, 2012-Westbury Manor, Sound Connection DJ's,AJ Ingoglia,Photo & Me, Flowers By Simply Elegant, Cruise Control, Angela's Hair Design, About Face Artistry (Stacy Doolan), Sir Oliver & More

Great review I can't wait for my wedding there. Congrats