Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

LIW – A+
I wasn’t a HUGE poster like some of the other wonderful ladies on this website, but I still got a TON out of the site!! It definitely helped to increase my budget , but all of the ideas on here are wonderful and the advice I took from this site made my wedding amazing. Thanks LIW!!!

***NOTE: All pictures from the wedding day are from North Island Photo. Please note that my scanned in photos of my proofs do NOT do these photos justice - they are absolutely amazing!!***

The Ring – Pronto Jewelers – A+
I might be accused of taking the “romance” out of the proposal, but since I knew it was coming, I wanted to be sure I got the ring I wanted. So I sent FH links to the ring on Blue Nile and he went to the jeweler with the pictures to copy. We used Pronto Jewelers in the diamond district. The owner is a friend of the family and he was absolutely AMAZING. We’ve since recommended them to our friends, who also got amazing prices on the most beautiful rings!





Engagement Party
Invites - VistaPrint - A+
I definitely didn’t want to spend a ton of money on engagement party invites so when I heard about VistaPrint I checked them out. They have a bunch of different designs to choose from and delivered pretty quickly.

Favors – Hershey Chocolates and DIY – A for me!
Again, didn’t want to spend a ton of money on e-party favors, but we wanted to give a little something. We also knew that we weren’t sending STDs because we wanted to save money there (and because our guest list was so huge that we thought we’d never have a problem making the minimum and therefore wouldn’t need them… we were wrong there, but more on that later…). So we decided to combine the favors with pseudo-STDs b/c we knew those guests we invited to the e-party were people we definitely wanted at the wedding. I went to Costco and bought huge bags of Hershey Kisses and Hershey Minis. I then purchased sticker paper from Staples and printed out some cute designs on the paper which I then cut and stuck onto the Kisses and Minis. Basically looked like the chocolates that you order the Knot, but cheaper! I put a handful of chocolates in organza squares and attached a little card (also printed by me) with the wedding date and our website info. They came out great – and no one ever complained about receiving Hershey chocolates!!





My Parents’ Backyard - A+
My parents never shy away from having parties so when they offered to throw us an e-party we knew it would be in the backyard. Well, 120 people later, there we were. They did an AMAZING job!!



Bridal Shower – My Parent’s Backyard (Again)
I told my mother/sister in advance that although I wanted to be surprised, I wouldn’t mind a backyard shower to save $$. Given that my parents love to host people, it worked out perfectly (although I wound up being completely NOT surprised – but is anyone really surprised??). Thanks to the tons of guests that my mother invited, I wound up getting the majority of my registries! It was an amazing day.







Bachelorette Party – Harrah’s, Atlantic City – A+
DH and I had a “semi-joint” party in AC. We drove down separately on a Saturday morning – me with the girls and him with the guys and stayed separate for the entire day. The girls and I spent the day relaxing by the pool, had dinner at Polistina’s (the Italian restaurant at Harrah’s) – which was delicious, and then met up with guys later that night at the Pool After Dark. We joined forces so that we could afford to get a cabana – which was the best decision we made. It was SO much fun.







Rehearsal Dinner – V&F Meats – A-
We wanted a casual rehearsal dinner, so it was decided that my ILs would host in their backyard. They had previously been to a party that was catered by V&F in which V&F came and set up a huge BBQ and made all sorts of different meats. I requested some simple vegetable trays as well and my ILs had to go elsewhere for them. All in all the food was good. The desserts were all made by me and my mother.

Invitations – E V E N S T AR P A P E R I E – A+
Originally I was thinking of DIYing my invitations to save money, but I also wanted something that looked professionally done, which meant spending a lot of money on paper, etc. When I priced out the paper I wanted to use with all the different layers, etc., I realized it would come to way more than I thought. So I started looking at vendors. I loved all of the invites that I saw from Tessa on this site so I decided to contact her. I was very honest in my initial email – I told her exactly what I wanted but that I was on a strict budget, but still wanted them to look AMAZING.

Within a month or so of contacting Tessa I got a mock up – and I loved it immediately. It was as though she completely read my mind. I have to admit I was still nervous about the price (which she sends you when she mails you a proof) – I was scared it was going to be way over my budget since the invitations were so awesome. When I got the proof and contract in the mail I was floored – her price was so much lower than I thought it would be given the quality of the invite. In fact, I was originally going to put together the layers of my main invite myself, but with her great prices I thought it was worth it to have her put the layers together and save me the headache – and I assure you that it was. She was so easy to work with and she really knows her stuff. I have gotten so many compliments on the invites and I couldn’t have been happier!

I should say that I didn’t have her do addressing – instead I printed the addresses on both the inner, outer, and response envelops myself. Although it was a PITA in the beginning to play around with the printer and margins, etc., to get the addresses exactly where I wanted it, once it was all worked out it was pretty easy to do.


My Dress
Helen’s – A+
Maggie Sottero

I wound up going to Helen’s because I fell in love with a Maggie Sottero dress that I saw online and after calling every place in the LI/NYC area, Helen’s was the only one who had it. I wasn’t positive that I was going to order the dress from Helen’s until I was helped by Ashley who was just AMAZING!! I went back to the salon twice before I finally made a decision and the second time, when I had narrowed it down to 2 dresses (the initial one I fell in love with online and another one) she was so patient with my indecision and had no problem with me trying on the two dresses over and over again until I was sure (I wound up going with the initial one).

Ashley was there for every fitting and was so helpful! I brought different jewelry options and she helped me choose (finding the right jewelry was so difficult for me!). She even pushed for me to have a 3rd fitting even though the seamstress said I only needed 2. And I’m so grateful for that b/c I wound up losing more weight and my dress had to be taken in again at my 3rd fitting. The dress looked amazing and I couldn’t have been happier!







Veil & Head Piece
Wedding Factory Direct – B
Helen’s – A+
I initially ordered both a veil and hair clip from Wedding Factory Direct b/c I didn’t want to spend a ton on either. The hair clip that came in was perfect – it certainly didn’t look like real swarovski crystals, but it did the trick. The veil I wasn’t thrilled with – it was very rough and just not what I wanted. So, when I went to Helen’s for my 1st fitting, I also picked out a veil that I loved (aided by Ashley!). It was a fingertip with beading on the edges and matched my dress perfectly. I initially wasn’t sold on a blusher, but when I tried on the veil and dress with the blusher, my eyes started welling up and I knew I had to have one. Helen’s threw in the veil and blusher for free and assured me it would arrive in time (since I was ordering it about 7 weeks out) – and it did arrive with plenty of time to spare.

DOJ
Macy’s – Elliot Danori - A+
Bloomingdales – Nadri - A+

I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on my jewelry, so I tried the department stores. I knew I wanted antique looking jewelry and fell in love with a pair of Nadri earrings at Bloomingdales that were exactly what I wanted. Finding a bracelet that I liked was more complicated, and I literally wound up buying, bringing to a fitting, and subsequently returning bracelets to Macy’s three different times until I finally found what I wanted. Luckily for me, I found an Elliot Danori bracelet that literally came out two weeks before the wedding. Both the bracelet and earrings looked amazing and I was really happy with them. I only hope to get invited to some huge gala so that I can wear them again!



Garter
GartersByKristi – Etsy – A+

I knew I wanted a Yankee garter, so I searched Etsy and found Kristi. I got two garters (one to keep and one to throw) that shipped quickly and were great quality. DH loved them!



Shoes – Nordstrom – Martinez Valero – A+

I fell in LOVE with these shoes on the internet and ordered them from Nordstrom.com. Although the shoes had built-in padding, the straps were a little tight on my toes so by the end of the night I don’t think I could have walked another step – but that’s not surprising since I’d been wearing them for 14 hours straight!





Bridesmaid Dresses
B U R T O N ‘ S Bridal – B+
Jim Hjelm & Alvina Valenta

I had some issues picking out BM dresses b/c my BMs consisted of my MOH/sis, BFF, and then cousins who ranged in age from 21 to 14. I knew I wanted them all to wear the same dress (except MOH) and color and I also knew I LOVED Jim Hjelm BM dresses but I needed to find one that was appropriate for everyone (age and body type). I took my sister and another BM to a place in the city that had every JH dress and we basically just tried on a bunch. Once I picked one out, I called around to get the lowest price for the girls. B****** won! The only problem was my MOH/sis is INCREDIBLY picky and couldn’t find a JH dress in the same material (to ensure the navy color matched). She wound up finding an AV dress that she liked and although the colors are generally interchangeable, they had to be the same material. Of course, the dresses were different fabrics and neither could be transferred to the other, BUT there was a common fabric that both dresses could be changed to so that the colors could match. This meant that everyone had to pay extra – but given that they were saving so much by getting them at B’s, everyone was ok with it.

I have to admit that the customer service at B’s is lacking - they certainly aren’t the nicest or the friendliest. In addition, although my BM dresses all arrived with about a month and a half to go, my sister’s dress didn’t arrive until 2 weeks before the wedding – which had me understandably nervous. And every time I called to check up on it, I was told it would be “in the next few days.” I was given the same answer for about 3 weeks. Only my BFF had her alterations done at B’s (my grandmother is a seamstress so she did all of the others). Although she had lost 2-3 dress sizes between the time her measurements were taken and the fitting, they were able to take the dress in perfectly and she looked great!



MOB Dress
Lord & Taylor – A
Finding a dress for my mom was WAY more difficult than finding a dress for myself or my BMs. She didn’t want a “typical” MOB dress – and in her words, she wanted something “sexy.” So every MOB store we went to, she hated. And I have to admit that most of the dresses she tried on were really over-the-top and my sister and I nixed them immediately (some were completely backless, some were every color of the rainbow in one dress, and others were way too sparkly). After literally months of looking, she found a BCBG dress that she loved – and my sister and I also loved it. She looked absolutely amazing the day of!



Tuxes
Gino’s Fashion Tuxedos – A+
The service at Gino’s was absolutely great from the orders through to the day of. As the guys went to pick up their tuxes, they all tried them on there and any minor problems that existed were immediately fixed by the tailor on premises. The guys all looked great!!





Hair – Jenn the Hair Genie – A+
I wound up winning a gift certificate for Jenn that was good for free DO hair for myself – so it was an absolute no-brainer using her. I went for 2 trials. I knew I wanted my hair half-up with curls and that I was using hair extensions (purchased at Beauty 35 in the city) to increase fullness. My first trial went well, but the more I looked at pictures of it after-the-fact the more I thought it left my hair a little “big” and I wanted it to look more natural. So I went for a second trial about a month and a half before the wedding to see the same style but with looser curls. It turned out EXACTLY how I wanted it! Not to mention the fact that Jenn is SUCH a doll – when I spoke to her I felt like I was chatting with one of my best friends!

The DO she styled all of my BMs hair, one of my FGs, AND my mom – and they all got exactly the style they requested and all looked amazing. My hair was everything I wanted and held for the entire night – keeping in mind that my hair was done at about 11:00 and my wedding didn’t end until 1AM – plus the after-party until about 2:30! When I got back to the hotel room after that, it still looked amazing!!

On top of ALL that, she even helped to corset my dress when I was getting dressed – an absolute lifesaver! I would HIGHLY recommend her!!



Makeup – Mya (Cosmetic Artistry) – A+
Mya was the only trial I had – when I saw her work I knew that she was the one. I went to the trial with pictures of what I was looking for – natural but I wanted my eyes to pop – and she did exactly that. I even went back to her after the trial to do my makeup for my engagement photos. The DO, she did the makeup for all of BMs but one, and my mom, and they all looked SO amazing. She even put a little MU on one of my FGs who was there early getting ready with us to make her feel included! I was SO thrilled with my MU – I really could not have been happier. I felt absolutely gorgeous!! The MU lasted all day (and I’ve since gone back to Mya’s salon! I would highly recommend her!





St. Anthony of Padua – B
I feel bad giving a church such a low grade, but they really were NOT easy to work with. Both my and DH’s family are parishioners there and have been for a long time, so we really didn’t think there’d be any problems. We booked the church over a year out and that point met with the priest that we requested to perform our wedding. He was great, except he told us that the church is generally against performing wedding masses, and only performed ceremonies, unless the priests regularly saw you and your fiancé at church every Sunday. I won’t lie and say that FH and I attend mass weekly, but I don’t think that makes me any less Catholic, and I wanted a mass. So that really upset me. At this first meeting it was also discussed that I wanted a friend of mine to cantor the wedding – he had experience cantoring at other churches and we had been friends for about 15 years. The priest at that time said it wouldn’t be a problem.

About 2 months before the wedding I called the church to schedule final meetings with the priest (to choose readings, etc.) and the organist. I was told at that point that our initial priest would be on vacation for our wedding and so therefore I had been reassigned to another priest. But, that new priest happened to be on vacation and wouldn’t return until 5 days before the wedding. Well how was I supposed to have my programs ready in time, etc., without meeting him. In addition, the organist was on vacation until 1 week before the wedding.

After a number of phone calls, we finally were put in touch with the Monsignor of our parish to help us to pick readings and finalize everything. This was about a week and a half before the wedding. At this point I was stressing because I was going to DIY my programs and I hated waiting so long. When we met with him we told him that we still wanted a mass. He agreed to the mass, helped us go over readings, and finalized everything. This of course meant that I wouldn’t actually meet the priest who was marrying us until I walked down the aisle – which I found strange – but at least I had things finalized on my end.

Then we met with the organist, who refused to allow my friend to cantor the wedding. With literally 3 days left to the wedding, we didn’t really have time to argue with him (and it didn’t look as though he was going to budge), so he agreed to allow my friend to sing the major hymns, but the church cantor was going to do all of the psalms, etc. A little disappointing, but at that point I was kind of disenchanted by the whole thing.

The day of wound up being fine. DH told me that before the wedding the priest apologized for the inconveniences and asked him questions about our relationship so that he could do our homily. The mass was great, but the headache leading up to it was unexpected from a church.







Programs – Paper Presentation & DIY – A+
I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on programs, so I bought paper from Paper Presentation in the city that was pre-cut and pre-holed for programs. I had to play around with my printer a little bit until I got the margins and length down, but in the end I was really happy with them.







Petal Bags – With All My Heart – A+
I had initially planned on doing these myself, but when I got a great price from WAMH, I decided to just let them take care of it. This was literally 2 weeks before my wedding. I picked the petal and bag colors and they delivered them to the church the day of. Worked out great.



Northport Village – A+
Both DH and I grew up in Northport so it was obvious from the beginning that we’d be taking our wedding photos at Northport Harbor. We called beforehand just to ensure that we didn’t need a permit (you don’t!) and they told us the gazebo was available that day and because we were the first to call it would be reserved for us! The weather was absolutely gorgeous (80 and sunny) and the pictures look AMAZING!!











Post-Ceremony Refreshments – My Parents Backyard (AGAIN)
Our mass was at 1:30 and the reception didn’t start until 7, so my parents decided to host people back at their house between the church and the time people began to leave for the hotel/reception (between 5-6). They just had beer and punch and some light refreshments – all made by different family members. We were off taking pictures in Northport at the time, but I’ve heard from everyone that it was wonderful!

Florist – With All My Heart – A+
With All My Heart was AMAZING. I knew we couldn’t afford tall centerpieces, but we loved the look of taller cylinders and candles. (Which wound up not being much cheaper than tall centerpieces!) I clicked with Linea right away, she knew EXACTLY what I wanted and sat with me for over an hour discussing different possibilities, showing me pictures, etc. She made me feel really comfortable and way more comfortable than other florists I met with. The way I saw it, my peace of mind was worth the money. I worked with Ashley for my final meetings and she was great – she helped me finalize everything and I had complete faith that my flowers would be gorgeous

We got table linens and chair covers from them as well. As a matter of fact, the initial table covers that we chose were not the ones we used at the wedding - we picked these sheer navy linens that didn't reach the ground b/c that was the only navy option they had at the time. I got a phone call from them a few months before my wedding that they had gotten new navy linens in that reached the ground and were satin and they would give them to me for the same price as the others if I wanted to use them instead (even though they were more $). I thought that was really great of them – great customer service!

The day of our bouquets arrived exactly on time and looked better than I ever expected. The bouquet sizes were perfect, the colors looked great with the dresses, and the guys looked great with their bouts. I'm still receiving compliment on them!! When our BM took us into the reception room for our preview, DH and I were FLOORED. The room looked so amazing with all of the candles lit on and around the centerpieces. The cake flowers looked awesome. We really were so thrilled!! We could NOT have been happier with the florist!!











Photography – North Island Photo – A+
We wanted an amazing photographer that did both photojournalistic and traditional shots, but also didn’t want to spend a fortune. When we visited North Island, we fell in love with their photos. We also clicked with Michael Rosengard, the owner, immediately, which was huge for DH and I. Unfortunately, Michael was already booked for our day, so he booked us with Rene. We had 2 photogs, Rene and his assistant Mike for the day of. They arrived exactly on time and immediately made everyone feel comfortable. I have to admit that I was a little nervous about pictures b/c I consider myself completely unphotogenic, but after getting hair and mu done, I felt like a million bucks, and Rene made me feel amazing. They were with us all day – from me getting ready at noon, to the start of the Viennese hour at midnight! And through that entire time they were just constantly snapping photos and posing us in amazing shots – I have to admit that a lot of the poses felt ridiculous at the time, but they came out great. They also were incredibly patient with all of us – which says a lot because we had them take huge family photos with tons of people in them – which is a pain to organize. Once the reception started they became very stealth – we didn’t even know they were there, but they still got a ton of great pictures – which is exactly what we wanted. They took a TON of photos – I have almost 1500 proofs and they were ready for us within 2 weeks. I really couldn’t be happier with them. The only problem I’m going to have is narrowing the photos down to 50 for the album (which I guarantee I’m not going to do and I’ll wind up paying more $$ for more album photos!!). I highly recommend North Island!!



















Clear Choice Limos – A+
We called literally every limo place on LI and Clear Choice gave us by far the best price for our 22 passenger Escalade (for us and the BP) and 10 passenger stretch (for the parents and grandparents). Plus, DH was the BM in a wedding that used them and the drivers were wonderful and everything worked out great, so we weren’t worried. The day of they showed up exactly on time and everything ran smoothly. This is even with our crazy schedule (pick up parents and grandparents from the church, drive them back to my parents house for refreshments, hang out for an hour, drive them out to the hotel in Riverhead to check-in, and then drive them to East Wind early for pictures!). The drivers were wonderful and the cars were perfect. Clear Choice was great!!

Tommy’s Tunes – B+
I’ll start by saying that the guests all raved about our DJ and our dance floor was going all night. Our MC, Dan, was awesome – he was not at all overbearing, yet was fun, upbeat and involved when he needed to be. This was exactly what we were looking for in an MC.
But, there were some issues that I had with Tommy’s Tunes. We specifically requested that the DJ play the Tarantella for the Italian side of our family and the Lambada for the Brazilian side. Neither song was played. In fact, when my mom went up to the DJ and asked when the Lambada would be played, she was told that it wasn’t “on the brides list.” Not wanting to upset either of us, she decided not to say anything. Silly on her part, but nevertheless an issue when the mother of the bride was told a song that was in fact specifically requested by the bride would not be played. In addition to those two songs, there were a few other songs that were on our list that were never played. I always looked forward to dancing the Tarantella with my grandfather at my wedding and will never have that opportunity.

In addition, the last 30 minutes of the wedding nothing but hip-hop was played (which we did not request). While the “younger” generation stayed on the dance floor, this immediately drove off the parents, aunts and uncles, etc. This was upsetting as they had previously been dancing the entire night.

I actually wrote Tommy’s Tunes a letter with my concerns and was surprised when Dan called me to discuss. He did apologize profusely for failing to play to those Must Play songs. He also stated that the reason why they played so much hip hop is because my DH requested “Let Me Clear My Throat” so they thought that was the direction we wanted to go into. When I asked DH about that after hanging up the phone, he said that he hates that song and definitely didn’t request it. Whatever the reason for the mishaps, I should reiterate that the guests all had a blast and we were all dancing the entire night regardless. I also appreciated getting the phone call back from Tommy’s Tunes to address my concerns – it was very professional of them. I would still recommend them, however perhaps you should be more on top of them if you notice certain songs not getting played.

They also did our uplighting, which in my opinion MADE THE ROOM!!! If you're on the fence about uplighting - GET IT!!









Favors – Afresh Approach (formerly Morgan’s Bay) – A+
Truffles
We knew we wanted edible favors and when we tasted the truffles from what was then Morgan’s Bay at TWOTY we were sold! When we went there and met Jeanne (the sweetest woman!!), we were able to try a ton of different types of truffles and she showed us our different favor options. We decided on an apothecary jar filled with 3 truffles and heart shaped chocolate pieces that would double as escort cards. They even throw in a plate of strawberries covered in chocolate and stuffed with cannoli cream for the bridal suite!! Everyone RAVED about the delicious truffles!!!



Escort cards – DIY
I purchased a tag shaped paper cutter from Michaels, and printed and cut the escort cards myself. It was super easy.

Estate at East Wind – A+
DH and I knew from the second we walked in to the estate that it was exactly what we wanted. We met with Barbara who was amazing to work with. After the tour we were a little hesitant about pricing and thought it would be WAY out of our budget, but they were certainly willing to work with us. We did visit more halls after EW, but we basically knew that was where we wanted our wedding to be. I spoke to Barbara about a week later and reserved a tentative date, met with the church and booked that date, and immediately called Barbara back and signed the contract right after Memorial Day weekend. Our tentative guest list was 320 people, so we thought guaranteeing 225 was no big deal… we wound up being wrong about that. They also throw in a free room for the bride and groom the night of the wedding. We wound up upgrading to a suite so that the bridal party would be able to relax in our room during the downtime between the pictures and the start of the cocktail hour (about an hour).

Because EW doesn’t offer tastings, we went to a bridal showcase there in January where they serve a full cocktail hour. We took a sheet with our menu options and marked off what we liked and what we didn’t (there wasn’t much that we didn’t like). The food was great.

Leading up to the day of the wedding we became extremely concerned with our guaranteed number. There were a number of people that we thought were “definites” who weren’t coming – long family drama behind that. Either way, we knew we were cutting it close. Unfortunately, on the day of our last meeting with EW, we were only short by 2 or 3 guests, which meant the vendors stepped in and we were charged full price for them (instead of half). It wasn’t enough that we could convince EW to throw in something for the extra money. It turned out that we had a bunch of last minute “No”s on the day before or day of the wedding and were actually short by 8-10 people. At that point it was too late to try to negotiate with EW to throw something in. Our fault, not theirs. But guest numbers are the most stressful part of the wedding.

The day of EW was INCREDIBLY AMAZING!!! There wound up being no other wedding on the grounds that day (except for an earlier wedding at the actual Estate), so we were able to use the grounds as early as we wanted for pictures. We were allowed at the Estate at 6:30 for pictures with our extended families (about 50 people total) and they immediately started passing out champagne to everyone even though we were 30 minutes early. Our maitre’d Scott and my bridal attendant Lisa were amazing. They dealt with the last minute cancellations with no problem (so there wouldn’t be any empty chairs at the tables). Lisa had a steady stream of food going into the bridal suite during the CH and she helped my mother bustle the dress. She was bringing me, DH, and our bridal party new drinks before we even had to ask. Scott took us into the room early to get a “sneak peek” and it looked AMAZING. They even were able to successfully deal with my demanding and crazy Italian uncles! Whenever Scott saw me get dragged onto the dance floor with a drink in my hand, he was immediately there to grab it so I didn’t spill on myself, and there was always a refilled one sitting at the dais. For dinner, Lisa brought us plates filled with a sample of ALL SEVEN dinner options – and they were all AMAZING. And during the Viennese Hour (which was AWESOME), she asked us what kind of desserts we liked, and went in and made us plates – there was a full plate of chocolate desserts sitting on the dais when I finished dancing. She then packed us up dinner plates to go since we didn’t get the opportunity to eat that much during the reception! After the reception ended at 1, we all headed over to the bar at East Wind for a few more drinks and Scott noticed that the sprinkler had inadvertently turned on. Not wanting me to get my dress dirty – although at that point it basically was – he actually put his hand over the sprinkler head to keep my dry!! EAST WIND, SCOTT AND LISA WERE PHENOMENAL!!!

When we returned from our HM, our parents told us they received a TON of calls from people who raved about the wedding and East Wind. There were even guests who went to the restaurant at EW (Desmond’s) the following weekend because they thought the food was so good!!















Cake – Rolling Pin Bakery – A+

Rolling Pin is the house bakery of EW. We were able to go to the bakery and pick up a couple of samples and after eating about 8 different fillings, we picked chocolate mousse and white chocolate mousse for our two fillings. The cake came out exactly how I wanted it and tasted DELICIOUS!!





Wedding Bands – Pronto Jewelers – A+

We used the same jeweler (family friend) for our wedding bands that we did for my engagement ring. Again, we found what we wanted and sent him pictures and specifications and he had the rings for us a week or two later. Our bands are perfect and exactly what we wanted.



Table Numbers – DIY
A fellow LIWer had the idea to use pictures of herself and her FH at different ages for their table numbers (ex. Table 1 – picture of them at age 1, etc.). I thought it was REALLY cute so I hunted for some cute pictures of each of us from ages 1-20, scanned them in, and used Power Point to make a collage of pictures for each table. I loved the way they came out.





Menus – Paper Presentation & DIY
Again, I ordered heavy paper from Paper Presentation and wrote my menus up on Word. It took some trial and error, but eventually I was able to print all of the menus up with the right margins. I used a glue dot dispenser from Michael’s to paste the typed menu on a larger sheet to give it a border. I love the way they came out.



Photo Sharing Cards – Paper Presentation & DIY
Again, I ordered the paper cards from paper presentation and printed them myself. I had 5 or 6 people upload photos onto the Shutterfly site that I created (over 500 pictures in total), and a lot of the photos actually came out great!

Bridesmaid Gifts
Macy’s – I wanted to get the BMs necklaces to wear at the wedding but also couldn’t afford to spend a ton of money. I found some gorgeous necklaces at Macy’s and got them all on sale – and the BMs LOVED them!!



Endless.com – I bought the BMs Jessica McClintock clutches from here – great price and great quality!! AND free shipping!!
I also treated the BMs to mani/pedis on the day of the rehearsal dinner!
Anthropologie – for my MOH/sis I also purchased earrings from Anthropologie… that she picked out because she’s insanely picky. I assume she loved them .

Flower Girl Gifts
LittleDiddleBoutique – Etsy – I purchased the FGs some beautiful bracelet and necklace freshwater pearl sets from this vendor. They were a great price and exactly what I wanted. The girls looked so adorable with their pearls!
Claire’s – I also wanted to get the girls something that they would actually play with and appreciate, so I went to Claire’s and got them each a little purse and stuffed them with fun little things like makeup, nail polish, hair clips, etc. The girls loved them!



Groomsmen Gifts
Burberry Ties – Bloomingdales – We wanted to get the GM something really nice, so we decided on black and gray Burberry ties to wear with the tuxes. The guys all looked really sharp.
Fletcher Cigar Company – All the GM (and DH) love to smoke cigars so we thought it would be nice to order each of them a couple. Fletcher Cigars will design a personalized cigar band so we had them make us one with our wedding colors, names and dates. They came out really nice and according to DH were great cigars!
We also got each of the guys a small bottle of Gentleman’s Jack



FOB Gift
Handkerchief – 4myangels –Etsy – A+
I wanted to get my dad something special so I ordered him an embroidered handkerchief that said “Daddy, You’ll always be the first man I ever loved. Your little girl, Jessica”. He really loved it.

Hotel Indigo
OOT Rooms – A
Brunch – B+

When we booked our room block, Hotel Indigo was still the Best Western East End. We chose them simply b/c they were the cheapest rooms we could find in Riverhead in August. We were able to set aside 20 rooms for our block and also booked a room for the day after brunch back in August of 2009 with Lauren. In January of 2010 the Best Western was bought by Hotel Indigo. Luckily for us, they were still honoring the price we booked with the Best Western for both brunch and the OOT rooms (much cheaper than what they now charge). Around this time, the hotel began undergoing renovations and was completely closed for remodeling. Knowing this, and the fact that our brunch had jumped from 50 people to over 100, we decided to hold the brunch both around the pool and inside the bar/restaurant area. That was booked back in March. They were supposed to reopen Memorial Day weekend. They didn’t. Then they were supposed to open the beginning of July. That day came and went too. At that point, we were freaking out. We had over 50 rooms booked (half of the hotel), and were worried the hotel wouldn’t be open. Lauren kept assuring us that the hotel would be open, and even gave us periodic tours of the hotel both 3 weeks out and then a week out. They finally opened the week before the wedding, and I must say the hotel looks awesome!!

During this entire time there was tons of stress because both my parents and DH’s parents booked extra rooms “just in case.” Of course, the hotel wound up booking completely for our day and so the extra rooms quickly disappeared. At the same time, there were people who booked and later decided either not to come, or to combine rooms, and people who were looking for rooms who didn’t have them. I was on the phone with Lauren at least once a day changing the names on our room reservations and changing who had which rooms. It was crazy. But she was very patient with me and was great to work with.

The day before the wedding I went to the hotel to drop off my OOT bags and a $100 tray of truffles and assorted goodies (from Afresh Approach) that was to be served at the brunch on the buffet table. Lauren wasn’t in but I was assured that everything would be taken care of.

The day after the wedding Ryan and I arrived at the hotel for the brunch (we were staying at EW) to find that there was another brunch going on at the same time that was taking place by the pool. As a result, our brunch for over 100 people was pushed into the bar/restaurant area and had seating for no more than 70 people. This is in addition to the fact that on my OOT letters I had stated the brunch would be held at both locations and I had some guests that went poolside only to find no one was there that they knew! I immediately complained at the front desk about the change in location and especially the lack of seats. My guests were walking around at the brunch trying to balance coffee and plates with no place to sit!! To their credit, they immediately brought out more seating and tables, but this still wasn’t part of our agreement. In addition, they completely forgot to put out the truffles that we had brought, and at that point because many people had already gotten their breakfast it was too late. So instead they put 6-8 pieces of chocolate at the center of each table. Not at all what we had asked for, but again, at least they remedied the situation when it was brought to their attention. The food was good though and our guests definitely appreciated the brunch!

I also learned that although we didn’t pay for the bar to stay open at the Hotel, another group there did, and so my guests took advantage of the bar until 4 in the morning – after arriving back at the Hotel at 2:30!!

We also got our shuttles through Hotel Indigo (see below!)

Shuttles – Winston Transportation – A

Through Hotel Indigo we had a free 15 person shuttle for every 15 rooms that are booked. Since this clearly wouldn’t have been enough for us, Lauren and Hotel Indigo booked two larger shuttle buses for us gave us a credit for the 3 15 person shuttles that we would have gotten free. Besides that credit, because the Hotel uses Winston all the time and booked them directly, we got a much better deal than if we had booked ourselves!!
The shuttles were supposed to run constantly from the Hotel to East Wind from 6:30 to 2:00. The reception ended at 1:00 but we knew we would all head to the bar at EW for at least an hour. Of course, that hour turned into longer but we had to make sure the shuttles stayed longer. DH went outside and asked the drivers to stay an extra 30 minutes – with a generous tip! They both agreed and so the party lasted even longer! As far as I know, the shuttles were great!


HONEYMOON – Occidental Grand, Aruba – B

To be honest, we weren’t in love with Aruba. We were limited in where we could go for our honeymoon because it was during hurricane season, so picking Aruba was pretty easy. I was expecting it to look like a Caribbean island, and it didn’t. The water isn’t the same blue, or as warm. The constant wind did bother me by the end of the trip. But we could have gotten past all that easily if we enjoyed our stay at the Occidental more.

When we first arrived, we immediately noticed that the casino was closed for renovations. This was a huge negative for us. We were able to walk next door to get to a neighboring casino, but it was a good 10 minute walk and sometimes at the end of the night you want to just go back to your room. Frankly, we were more upset that the hotel did nothing to compensate us when we complained. In addition, we purchased the special “honeymoon” package. Part of the package included breakfast in bed. We scheduled it for a certain day, and it was never delivered. The hotel was also packed, and there were a ton of families and little children – which would have been fine except that you had to be out on the beach or by the pool by 7AM in order to get a chair – not something we wanted to do everyday on our honeymoon. We also didn’t think their restaurants were very good – and DH eats basically anything.

All that being said, the restaurants in Aruba (outside the Occidental) are really good. They’re expensive – NYC prices - but worth it to splurge on your honeymoon!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Great review...Love you pics. Thank for sharing.

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Very detailed review! You looked beautiful! congrats and hooray to your parents-they love to party- My kind of people...

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

great review. everything looks awesome and you are sooo pretty!!!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Jessica What an AWESOME review!!!!!! You and Ryan looked amazing and everything looked great as well!!!!! Thank you for the review!!!! (Love the DIY programs too!!)

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Congratulations!!! you look beautiful!!! I LOVEEEEE Helen's, Ashley is amazing! Your flowers are beautiful!!! great review!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Amazing review, Jess!!! These scans don't do justice to how gorgeous you looked that day.

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Great review Jessica!!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

great review, thanks! Congrats!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Great review! I loooooved your dress, shoes, everything. Gorgeous!!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Great review! I love what you did with the table numbers and I might borrow that idea!! I added your review to my notebook. Also I'm not surprised that you weren't impressed with Aruba. Aruba was a stop on a cruise I went on and we rented a car and drove around the whole island. Granted, I have no urge to go back.

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

LOVE the table numbers! great job!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

everything looks beautiful !

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Thanks for sharing .. amazing day!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

you looked gorgeous! that dress was made for you. and i loooooveed all your bo-k's. congrats!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

What a great review! THANK YOU!

I've been waiting to read your review since I knew you had your wedding at St. Anthony of Padua. I’m sorry to hear that they treated you that way. I haven’t had such a great experience with them yet either, so I can only imagine what’s in store for me I know another 2011-er was told she couldn’t have a mass and she literally goes to mass every week so she fought with them about it and they finally gave in.

As far as the priest goes, I hope Father James did a great job for you – he seems really nice and my FH likes him because he’s Filipino (my FH is Filipino). We’re currently with Father Grieco but if he goes on vacation for our entire wedding month (like he did for yours), I’m sure Father James did a great job as well. I’m sorry to hear about all the trouble – your pictures are beautiful though! CONGRATS!!!!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Great review! I recently went to a wedding at East Wind and everything was great!

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

You are a beautiful lady and looked fabulous on your wedding day! The dress was perfect on you!
All your details will be very helpful to future brides. Congrats !

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

Sorry, double post.

Re: Our AMAZING 8.14.10 Wedding - East Wind, North Island Photo, With All My Heart, and MUCH more!!!

thank you so much for sharing! very helpful!