Our 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Save the Dates – customsportscards.com A

We didn’t want traditional save the dates and we wanted something baseball related. We ordered baseball cards from Custom Sports Cards (online) and they came out great and everyone loved them! The company was very fast, price is outstanding and they seem to always have a discount code on their site as well. They also threw in a few extra of what we ordered which was nice as well. They also offer escort card tickets which are 2x6, perfect for photobooth frames if anyone is interested.
www.customsportscards.com




Invitations – Etsy vendor

Love our invitations but the vendor was very difficult to work with and in the end she was suppose to replace envelopes that were messed up and/or missing but she never sent them. I contacted her 4 times through email about it. After the first email she said she would replace them. Out of 71 envelopes, 1 was missing and only 24 were correct. I was being nice/reasonable and said I could live with most of them because I felt the issue with them was partially our fault and partially hers as well so I only asked for 6 to be replaced as well as the missing one be printed, so I asked for 7 total. She never sent them. We had no recourse since her Etsy shop was since closed and she didn’t have us pay through Etsy. She had us pay through Paypal directly but we had no recourse through them because the transaction had to be placed within 45 days and couldn’t be in installments and ours took over 45 days and we paid a deposit and then a final payment.
My advice, if you use Etsy, make sure you pay through their site in case you run into trouble.
My other advice for invitations: PROOF everything. This lady had many, many typos and spelling errors and even after I corrected her she still didn’t fix everything so I would have to repeat myself over and over with corrections and even after I approved everything she somehow made a mistake yet the proof was fine. If you order online ask for a photo of your invitation and all its inserts before they are all printed, or see if they will send a sample. Also, if you are getting envelopes done ask to see a proof of them as well if you can.

I’d mention the shop name but as I stated its no longer on the site and I keep checking to see if it goes back up. If it does I’ll post the shop name.




Corrected/Missing envelopes – My Custom Wedding Shop A++ ++Pleasure to work with, super fast, matched the font dead on even though I didn’t know which font was originally used. Wished I had used her for my invitations from the start. Thank you again for all your help!

Other Etsy purchases-

Name hanger - einspanner A I ordered in a group order with other 2012 brides, came pretty fast and looks great. I would have been happier if the wire at the top of the hanger was the same color as the wire used to make the name but I still love it.



Here Comes the Bride banner – Cycling4aCure A Came pretty fast, super cute



Thank You photo prop – JaxDesigns27 A came really fast, worked well for photos


Mets/Yankees Garter – TheArtofSports A My own fault I forgot my dress was ivory and I told the seller that I wanted the garter exactly like in the picture and the lace is white. Looked cute and it was exactly what I was looking for. (For picture please see invitation picture above.)

Out of Town boxes and Table Numbers – TrulyFabulousDesigns B I was a little disappointed in the ribbon that was attached to all the OOT boxes, they all came with the ends frayed like she needed new scissors or something. I ended up having to go through and cut all the ends of every ribbon. Was also told the items were shipped and then came to find out table numbers were left out, which in an email she said she knew when she sealed the box that contained the OOT boxes that she forgot the table numbers. Table numbers didn’t get shipped until about 3 weeks later only after I sent an email or two to find out where they were. First repose explained she knew she left them out and would mail them the next day, second email was over a week later saying she was out of town so she’d ship them soon which she did. If she knew they were left out then why didn’t she either open the box and put them in or mail then separately? I think they weren’t made and that’s why they were never shipped, just my opinion though. She was also suppose to give me the items originally at a bridal showcase at my RH, we go all the way there and she then tells us she left them at home. An email beforehand would have been nice.

Leaf boutonnieres for my RBs. AprilHilerDesigns A- My one nephew has severe asthma and is allergic to a ton of stuff so I didn’t want to give him real flowers. I found these cute fall leaf bouts that I thought would be perfect for him and his little brother.

Door hangers for bridal suite, groom suite and newlywed suite – ThoughtfullyDesigned A – super cute, inexpensive

Embroidered Hanky (gift) – A- Not too pricey but took really long to get. I ordered in April and didn’t get it until end of June. She did keep in touch through email though to let me know about it, I never once had to email her about it. I wish all vendors was that good.

Day Of Jewelry – DivineJewel - A+ Necklace and earrings came super fast and I loved both, packaged super cute too.


Wire Initials for BM hangers – LawStudentCrafts- A Very fast shipping, great communication, discount for bulk order and very inexpensive. She makes the wire names or initials and you add it to your own hanger yourself. Great if you have a large bridal party. I paid $24 for 6 initials and that included shipping.

Candy Bar Wrappers – WithEnvyParties – A+ great communication, she sends you the PDF, you print yourself. She sends you a proof and doesn’t mind changes. Great to work with. Had the PDF in less than 24 hours.

Cake Stand – BezInnovations- A My Rh didn’t provide a cake stand and neither did the bakery and I really wanted one. This shop had round and square and was very reasonable in price. I didn’t realize until I received the item that its actually made from Styrofoam (I thought it would be wood underneath) but I love it and wouldn’t change a thing about it. Definitely great if you’re on a budget and really want a cake stand.

Hair piece – brendasbridalveils – A+ Loved my hair piece, came very fast, matched my dress perfectly.

Non-Etsy purchases-

Wedding Rings - Jared A++ Love my ering and my wedding band. Dh loves his band as well. Staff is great to work with and their selection is very good.

Jars for candy buffet- Home Goods A+, great selections, not too pricey.

Table runners – Ebay seller , fast shipping, very inexpensive

Bok initial charms for BMs and FG – A++, fast shipping, great price, LOVED them! I wish I could remember which website I bought them from. Sorry!

“Guest Book” – Cooperstown Bat Company (online) A+ Although the bat came and it was much larger than we thought (DH didn’t read the dimensions before ordering) it was so cute and unique and we loved it as did our guests. Can’t wait to mount it on the wall.



Day of Vendors

Make up – Christine Martin A+++ LOVE Christine. She did my makeup, my mom’s and 2 of my bridesmaids. Everyone looked beautiful. My makeup stayed all day as did everyone else’s. Super, super sweet and so easy to get along with. So much fun to work with , had us laughing the entire time and my makeup came out exactly how I asked, natural.


Photographer – Gina Esposito A++++++ What can I say about Gina that hasn’t already been said by everyone else? Her work speaks for itself. She really has an eye and passion for what she does and her work shows it. As a person she is amazing. She is super sweet, talented and so easy to get along with. Our engagement photos came out amazing. I was on LIW one night after we first got engaged. We had just booked our venue and had our date so it was time to start on the next thing on our list that was the most important to us, photos. I stumbled on a thread with photos from Gina and loved her work right away. The bride had also used AJ Ingoglia for her film. I was amazed and in love with Gina’s work right away. After I showed DH both of their work he told me to contact them both and set up appointments right away. We met with both separately on the same day and booked both on the spot. I did the happy dance the entire car right home that night and even when I got home because I knew I had booked the best of the best.









Cinematographer – AJ Ingoglia Films A+++++ I feel like I could say the same thing about AJ that I said about Gina. As you read above the two were booked on the same day for me and the only ones in their field that we looked at and met with and we loved them both. We weren’t going to do video at all. We decided it was something we could cut out to save money on since we were paying for most of the wedding ourselves. After watching AJ’s films neither DH nor I talked about the fact that it wasn’t allotted for in our budget, we knew we wanted to work with him. He was amazing to be with the day of. He had everyone laughing and was very professional as well. His work also speaks for itself. I can’t wait to get our full footage of the entire day.

Flowers – Hidden Essence A+++ LOVE Michelle!!! My flowers looked amazing, my room looked amazing. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Defiantly look into her!!!! She got my vision dead on and every meeting with her was a pleasure. She’s so sweet and so easy to work with.

DJ – Superior Entertainment Solutions A+++ +++Phenomenal! They totally made the party and then some. Greg, the owner, and his entire staff, were a pleasure to work with. Responded to emails/phone calls right away with any questions we had. Great communication the entire process. Rob, our DJ, was awesome, played great music and had everyone dancing the entire night. I never sat down! Our emcee, Raed was amazing. He had the crowd going all night as well and interacted so well with everyone. Loved every minute with them. If you need a DJ check them out. I would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone. Pleased with them doesn’t even describe it.

Photobooth – NY Digital Memories A++ Great to work with and our guests loved the booth. The booth was clean, easy to use and the woman who was there to help guests (sorry I forgot her name ? ) was so sweet and nice and very helpful with the guests. Our guestbook was way more than what we expected it would be.

Wedding Cake – Create-A-Cake A++++ I was in love with our cake. They nailed it! I printed out a picture of a cake I saw online somewhere or on here (not sure which), they recreated it perfectly. The cake itself tasted amazing. We got vanilla funfetti cake with strawberry filling and the alternate tiers were chocolate mousse. Loved it!!



Ceremony Music – M.A.S. Music A++++ Marie is super nice. Great communication. We had a violin/cello duo and they sounded amazing. Marie answered all my emailed promptly and was so willing to help with how many songs we needed for our ceremony etc. Highly recommend.

Bridal Shower - Sonoma Grill A+++. Great food, great staff, lovely room.

Rehearsal Dinner – Casa Rustica A-. The food was amazing but it took forever to come out. We had maybe 30 people, they sat us in a private room right away, served the appetizers right away but we didn’t get our meals until 9:30pm, we got there at 7. I was hoping we would have been served our entrée by 8:30. The servers were great, I think they were just very busy since it was a Friday night but if they knew they had a party of 30 they should have had more people come in to work. By the time we had dessert we didn’t get out of there until 11pm. Everyone had to be up early and many guests had a far drive home so I felt bad. I wanted to be in bed early that night and that so didn’t happen. If I had to do it again I would have asked to have the rehearsal on a different night, not the night before. I had bridal party members coming from out of town so I didn’t think this was such a bad option but looking back I would have made it for Thursday instead for a Saturday wedding.

Reception Hall – Smithtown Landing Country Club A++

The entire staff from Smithtown Landing was amazing to work with from day one. The food was amazing, our guests still comment on it. Our room looked amazing and was set up perfectly. I would choose them again and again. I never heard any complaints from anyone, even after the event.

Dress – David’s Bridal A for dress, B- for store in Lake Grove, A+ for the store in Westbury

Love my dress however the store is another story. I went in with my mom to the one by the Smithhaven Mall to look at dresses. I had always said I would never go there but my mom talked me into it. My appointment was for 7pm and nobody helped us until 7:35pm, meanwhile the store was EMPTY (it was the week after Christmas) and the sales reps were all standing around talking. I tagged the dresses I was interested in trying on and told the girl my size yet she kept pulling 1 size too small so some of the dresses were really hard to see what they would look like. I fell in love with the 2nd one I put on but wasn’t 100% sure, I didn’t want to rush and kept thinking maybe I should try on others in other stores. The girl told me that the dress I loved was discontinued and all I could have was that exact one which they only had the 1 in my size, it couldn’t be ordered, it only came in ivory and it was XXXX amount of $. So, since the store was about to close I told them nobody would be buying it overnight, I wanted to sleep on it and I’d call back first thing in the morning to order when I made up my mind. Glad I did because I went on their web site when I got home and there was my dress, available to order, in my size, in either white or ivory and $300 cheaper (it was on sale). I decided I did love it so I called as soon as they opened the next day and they acted like they had no clue what the sales girl said to me. Got my dress about a month later, was perfect. Didn’t opt to do alterations there. If you order from there, check that they give you the correct price.

I picked up my dress in February and it fit fine. I gained some weight over the next few months and my dress didn’t fit when I went for my first alteration. I was crushed. I called David’s and was told there was nothing they could do for me since I bought it the prior year, they couldn’t give me store credit or even exchange it for a new size since the dress was discontinued and they no longer had it in the stores, only online. My dh was so sweet and told me to just order a new one online so I went to the David’s Bridal in Westbury to get fitted for a new size to order online and it was like night and day. Not only did they understand my situation but they were so nice and searched until they found me my dress in the size I needed. Mia was amazing! I am so thrilled she was working the night I went in to get refitted. I literally cried when she told me she found me a new dress and I should have it in about a week, and I did. If you are going to David’s definitely go to the one in Westbury.


Bridesmaids Dresses – Belsoie by Jasmine Style L3009 – Wedding Center of Commack A+ for the dresses, A- for the store

Love the dresses as did my bridal party.
I know The Wedding Center of Commack gets a bad rep but I didn’t find it to be terrible to order from compared to some of the horror stories I heard from other brides about other stores. I did however know exactly which dress I wanted so I went to see it on my own first before taking all my BMs there. My first visit was to see the dress which the sales reps didn’t really seem to want to help me. I asked for that specific dress and they only pointed me to all the dresses by that designer. Finally someone pulled it for me and then walked away. I had questions about the ordering process but all the sales reps didn’t seem that interested in helping, they were sitting at their desk talking. Decided to order from them so I made an appointment for all the girls to go together (I suggest that for all brides if its possible) to order their dresses together. The woman who helped us this time was amazing. So nice, took her time even though she was leaving for the day after our appointment was over, never once rushed us, got all the girls in the dress, measured and ordered. Dresses came in about 2 weeks early (ordered in Oct, they came in end of January), in perfect condition, correct color and sizes. I'd post a pic of the bridal party but I don't know if they want to be on here so I posted from the designers site.



FG Dress- JCPenny A Love the dress and it was a great price. Store has since changed and they don’t seem to have the selection anymore that they did when I purchased it. Dress didn’t need any alterations and my niece loved it!



RBs tuxes – JCPenny A I didn’t see the point in spending $100 to rent a tux for a little kid when you can buy one for less online. Paid $60 and they looked so handsome!

RBs shoes – Converse, bought at JCPenny. I didn’t see the point in getting them dress shoes they will never wear again so I got them black Converse which they can wear until they outgrow them. Besides, I love Converse and think they looked super cute in them!


Alterations - Pat’s A++++ Love Pat!! She works at Rico’s clothing doing alterations but does dresses from her home as well. She is so sweet, very reasonable in price and her work is great. I will definitely be going back to her for any other alterations I need in the future. She did my dress and one of my BM’s dresses and both came out great, and had them both done in under two weeks. If you’d like her contact info please let me know.

Tuxes – Rico’s Clothing A+++ DH has been going to Rico’s for years. They are very nice, every tux came in properly, they do last minute alterations right there when you pick them up. Very nice selection and great prices.

Limos – Tran-Star Executive A+++
DH used them for his brother’s bachelor party based on the fact that they gave the best price. He had the Hummer. We then used them for my bachelorette party since DH said they were great for his brother’s bachelor party. We also used the Hummer. We also booked them for our wedding; we got the party bus and also a shuttle for us and guests at the end of the night as well as a town car for the day after which we didn’t need to use. Very clean, professional staff, Mary is great to work with to make reservations. Will definitely be using them again for future events. By far the best price and best service.

Hotel Block – Islandia Marriott - A++ Had a hard time getting my room block up because I booked so far in advance but after that everything went well. The day I checked in they treated me like a queen, the rooms were clean. I had a suite which was more than enough room for 9 women, a makeup artist, a photographer with an assistant and a videographer to be in. After the wedding we came back and found chocolate covered strawberries and champagne in our room with a note which was super sweet of them.

Honeymoon – Cruise to Bermuda – Explorer of the Seas – Royal Caribbean A+ It was my first cruise which I was skeptical about because I get motion sickness very easily. I didn’t get sick at all. The ship is clean, our room was clean, our suite attendant was so friendly and nice. All of the staff and waitstaff were nice as well. Food was good. The weather stunk. It was either cloudy and windy or raining and windy the entire trip just about. Nothing we can do to change the weather so we made the most of it. I personally feel the first almost 3 days are a big waste being stuck on a boat when you could fly to your destination and get there a lot sooner but I would do another one, only I would fly to Florida and go from there so you spend less time on the boat, just my preference though.

Hopefully I didn't forget anything or anyone.

AJ's trailer of our wedding can be viewed online at wedding trailer


ETA: DIY Projects

monogrammed votive candle holders
square candle holders
Memorial table candles
Vases with monograms
Wedding wands
Ceremony Programs
Escort cards
Menus
Card box
Thank you sign in frame
Sign our bat sign

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Congrats!!!

Great review! Everything looked really nice. I also got my dresses from DB in Westbury they are great.

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Great review! Everything looked great!

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

LOVE the bat idea! So unique and original! Congrats!

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Great review! Congrats!

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Congrads, great review.

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Great review!! Loved your trailer!

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

CONGRATS!!!

Re: My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Congrats! Great review

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

I love how your invitations came out! Congrats!

Re: My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Loved the review! Everything looked beautiful!

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Beautiful!

My 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Great review! and such a creative guest book!

Our 10/6/12 wedding. Smithtown Landing CC, Gina Esposito, AJ Ingoglia, Superior Entertainment Solutions, Create-A-Cake, MAS Music, NY Digital Memories, David's Bridal, Wedding Center, TranStar....

Beautiful!! Congratulations!