Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

**all (well, almost all) pics by Duet!

LIWeddings.com – A+

I.love.LIW. If my SIL hadn’t told me about it, I probably never would have found it and my wedding wouldn’t have been nearly as nice as it was! The girls on here are amazing and it’s the best resource anyone could ever have when planning their wedding! Thanks CS!

Save the Dates – Vistaprint – A+

I was looking into getting save the dates from MagnetStreet or one of those other websites but I’m so glad I ended up going with Vistaprint! The magnet was bigger, better quality, all over nicer and much cheaper than the one hanging next to it on our fridge (our friend’s – she ordered from MagnetStreet). They had a much bigger selection of designs than other sites and you can customize them how you want. I know some other people have had problems with them taking random amounts of money from their bank accounts for some sign up thing, but I never had that problem. I also ordered 140 return address labels for FREE and just had to pay shipping!


Bridal Shower Invitations – Vistaprint - A+

My mom made these, not me, but I do know she loved the site and made the perfect invitation! She also got envelopes that said “Brittany’s Bridal Shower” all over the inside – adorable!!

Bridal Shower – Vine Restaurant (Basking Ridge, NJ) – A+

Vine was absolutely amazing! We had the bottom floor of the restaurant all to ourselves, the food was great, and the staff was friendly.. what more could you ask for?

Bachelorette Party – Tortilla Flats and HunkOMania – A+

Incredible! The package tour at Tortilla Flats is $50 and you get dinner and a 2 hour open bar for that price. The margaritas and food were awesome and I have only one complaint – if you’re going to make someone chug something, don’t make it PBR! HunkOMania was awesome!!!! It was freakinggg hilarious!!!!!!! A lot of people have said it’s really skeevy and gross, but we went to the one at Club Element and it wasn’t gross at all!
This is how the night ended:


Name Plaque – My sweet moments(Channa) – A

Our plaque was beautiful and everyone loved it!!! Channa gave me a ton of designs to choose from and changed things until I was happy. The only complaint I have is that the shipping costs almost as much as the plaque itself!



DH’s Band – Overstock.com – A+

We ordered FH a tungsten band from Overstock. It was a great price, great quality, shipped quickly, and the return process was super easy (the first one we ordered was too big).

My band – Mendham Jewelers (Mendham, NJ) – B+

My band is custom made and is beautiful!! Bob gave us a great price and did a fantastic job, but I ended up having to take the band somewhere else to get it sized (after having it custom made) because after two tries he still didn’t make it the correct size!



**I DIYed my invites but here are the vendors I used for supplies:




Paper for Invitations – Anchor Paper – A+

Tom was great! He helped me pick the right paper and envelopes for my invitations, cut the paper down for me (for free!), and even included the left over scraps for free (a toooooooonnnnn of paper!). It was great quality, the best price I found, and shipping was fast and easy!

Fabric for Invitations – Butterfly Fabrics (near Penn Station) – A+

Found the perfect teal silk dupioni here for the cheapest price, and I searched EVERYWHERE around the garment district!

Ribbon for Invitations – Favor Frenzy – A+

I ordered 50 feet of ribbon for $4.95. Enough said.

Peacock Feathers – The Feather Store on Ebay – A+

500 peacock feathers = $98. They were all beautiful and there was a good range of sizes – perfect for my needs!

Calligraphy – Etsy seller “paintjar” – A+

ABSOLUTELY stunning!!!! She did soooo much for me for so cheap! 175 invitation envelopes with our return address on the back and the guest address on the front, and 175 response card envelopes with our address on the front for $200. It was beautiful!!! Everyone said they didn’t want to rip the envelopes open!


Rehearsal Dinner – Michael Thomas Catering – A+

Mike is the FH of 2010 bride shelbylove and I’m so glad I posted on here searching for a good caterer. Since my mom lived in NJ and wanted to be around the week before the wedding, she rented a house in Long Beach (a recommendation from our BYC BM) that was right on the water so we decided to have the RD there! It was great – we had a long table with chairs and accessories (table cloths, plates, cups, etc.) from Party City and just got some potted plants for the cps. Ok, sorry – back to Mike! His food is absolutely freakin delicious! We had shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, chicken marsala, sausage and peppers, penne ala vodka, mussels fra diavolo, steamed clams, and marinated sliced steak. Everything was amazing and the price was fantastic! FM me your email address if you want the menu!

Dress – San Patrick (designer) from RK Bridal – A+

I absolutely loved my dress. We went to RK the first day we went looking for dresses because 1. We couldn’t get an appt for anywhere else and 2. There was 1 dress I wanted to try on but other than that I had no idea what I was looking for. We went on a Saturday and had to wait approx. an hour for the dressing room but it wasn’t too bad since we just browsed the racks the whole time. My mom pulled my dress off the rack and said she wanted to me try it on but I was really reluctant bc it looks HIDEOUS in the bag! It was the first dress I tried on and after that nothing compared! When we decided it was the one, I was really afraid of the price but it was actually very affordable.














Bridesmaid Dresses – Jim Hjelm (designer) from RK Bridal – A+

Loved the girls dresses! They all looked great in them, they were made well and were the perfect color and style to go with everything else! The only thing that went slightly wrong was that my sister’s (MOH) dress was too small and she had to have it taken out right under the boob area.




MOB Dress – Pronovias (designer) from RK Bridal – A+

My mom picked my dress out, and I picked hers! I met my mom at RK one morning, and like always, she was running late. No biggie though since I started looking through the racks and racks of dresses I knew she would HATE! She’s not one for the “typical” MOB look with the jackets, etc. – she needed a hot dress! This puppy was shoved in the back like no one even wanted to consider it but I loved it!!! It incorporated all of the colors we were using in the wedding and had a fun print… it was perfect for her! When she got there, she loved it, tried it on and got it!


Bridesmaid Jewelry – Etsy seller “trillium” – A+

Linda was great to work with! I wanted gold jewelry to go with the peacock feathers and thought that peacock pearls would look awesome with their dresses. I picked out a style from her shop that I liked and she created the earrings and bracelet with peacock pearls and white pearls, and they looked AWESOME with the dresses! She even included a little gift for me!



Bridesmaid Wine glasses – Etsy seller “RaveOnDesigns” – A+

I wanted to get the girls something personalized as part of their gift and I found this seller on Etsy that hand painted wine glasses. I asked her to do it within my budget (which was a lot lower than she usually does it) and they turned out great! It takes a few months to get them, but I was in no rush when I ordered them so that was fine with me.




Bridesmaid Clutches – Etsy seller “sewandstufftoo” – B+

The girls loves their clutches and so did I, but the seller didn’t make them the same design I wanted them to be. I picked a design with like a ruffled top near the clasp but she just made them plain. Still pretty though!


MOH hair accessory – Etsy seller ‘blacksatinshoes” – A+

Amazing!! My sister had a slightly different bok than the other girls but I wanted a little something more to make her stand out so I ordered a hair accessory from this etsy seller. She was awesome to work with, very affordable and I got it super fast! My sister loved it and it looked awesome in her hair!



My DOJ – Carolee – A+

I searched and searched and searched for pearl and gold jewelry but couldn’t find anything I liked. I found these on the Carolee website and even though they weren’t gold, I loved them and got them. They looked great with my dress so that’s all that matters!




My hair accessory – RK Bridal- A+

I loved it! What else can I say?




My veil – RK Bridal – A+

I bought a veil from David’s Bridal but when I went to my fitting it looked really white compared to my dress (even though it was ivory), and just looked cheap. My mom picked out this veil and it looked great. I planned on taking it off after the ceremony but it made me feel bridal so I left it on haha!




My shoes - Nordstrom/Enzo Angiolini - A

They hurt by the end of the night but they were beautiful!


Groomsmen Watches – Skagen bought from Ruelala – B+

The GM loved their watches and I loved getting them from Ruelala! They were $200 but we got them for $69 – such a steal! The only complaint I had was that it took 3 months… yes, 3 months to get them!

Programs – DIY

Bought the paper from Michaels for cheap and printed them at home!


Place cards and table numbers – DIY

I used the extra cardstock and feathers to do the table numbers, and the extra cardstock and shipping labels to do the place cards.




Menus – Etsy seller “bklynstitch” – A+

200 menus for $35, and they were perfect! I didn’t want to go all out with them since ppl just look at them to see what they want to eat and then they’re trash, so I asked her to design something with our names, date, and obviously the food.


Card box – Save on crafts.com – A+

I ordered the birdcage (came as a set of 2 for $20) from saveoncrafts.com and put my own ribbon on it. It worked perfectly and looked great!


Unity Candle - Can't Remember! - A+

I decided I wanted a floating unity candle to go along with the aisle decorations we were getting. I googled 'floating unity candle,' went to google shopping, chose the cheapest site and ordered it!



Cake topper – Etsy seller “gingerbabies” – A+

A-FREAKIN-DORABLE!!!! I’m SO glad I found Ginger! I was going to go with a regular rhinestone letter topper, but when I found her, I just had to have one of her toppers! Since DH is a FDNY firefighter, I wanted the gear to look like his so I sent her pictures of it along with a pic of my dress and a pic of us so she could get the hair color close enough to our real color, and she was spot on!



Favors – Vistaprint (donation cards) and Etsy seller “countrymunchkins” (lollipops) – A+

We decided we wanted to do donations for our favors but also wanted to do a little something else. We ordered business cards for the donations to Susan G Komen and the Lustgarten Foundation from Vistaprint, and lollipops in the shape of cancer ribbons from Etsy. They both looked great, but unfortunately no one even saw them due to BYC putting them in the foyer when everyone left through the courtyard!



Hair – Kacey from Khouloud’s Beauty – A

I was originally going to go with the girl that cuts my hair but her grandmother got sick a few months before and she didn’t want to commit and then have to cancel on me at the last minute. I was a little weary of making a trial appt with Khouloud’s because it seemed like no one had really used her, but I’m soooooo glad I did! I loved my trial – it was perfect and just what I wanted!!! Kacey was great! She showed up on time the morning of the wedding with an assistant to help her prep everyone. We ran behind by almost 2 hours (which is the only reason she didn’t get an A+) but it was no big deal because I took pics with the BMs while she was finishing up my mom’s hair. Everyone’s hair looked absolutely gorgeous!









Makeup – Andrea from Lola Loves Makeup – A+

I had trials with 4 different makeup artists and showed them all the same exact picture of what I wanted, and Andrea was the ONLY one that did what I wanted! After the trial I decided I wanted something a little darker the day of but didn’t want to do another trial so we decided just to wait until that morning. It was perfect! She also did all the girls and my mom and they all looked amazing!







Limos – Royalty Limousine – A+

On time, clean, and affordable!



Florist – John from Flower Michele – B

John gave us a great price for what we wanted and really got our vision, but after we signed the contract he was so hard to get in touch with! It took forever to set up our sample appointment and it seemed like the only way to get him to respond to my emails was to post on here that he wasn’t responding. The day of the wedding, he called me from his personal cell phone to make sure we were home because they were going to deliver our boks early. They were actually a little late, not early, but thank god he called me from his personal cell (more to come about this later). The boks were beautiful! The flowers and colors were so vibrant and gorgeous!! The only things I had to complain about them were that mine was supposed to be bigger than everyone else’s but it really wasn’t that much bigger, mine and my moh’s were supposed to have a bunch of white to stand out but there wasn’t enough, and the stems were soooo long they were too long (I didn’t want round boks – I wanted the different look but the stems were just insane on them). The guys’ bouts were a little plain and boring but they help up nicely, and so did the corsages for the moms. He also decorated the ceremony area at BYC for us, and the aisle décor was exactly what we wanted but the gazebo wasn’t! He was supposed to decorate the top of it with branches and orchids but instead just tied them to the bottom posts and they didn’t even look that great down there – they looked sort of sloppy. After the ceremony, we went up into the bridal suite to get some ch food before going down into the ch and my BM came up to us and said, “I really didn’t want to have to both you with this but Flower Michele only delivered 15 cps (we had 16 tables), and the driver said they would bring the other one back but they still aren’t here and no one is answer the phone at the studio.” I got sooooooo mad but then I realized, “Wait! John called me from his personal cell this morning!” So my BM finally got ahold of him, only to have John deny that they delivered too few cps! Apparently they were yelling and arguing and the conversation ended with my BM saying, “Ok John, I’ll see you soon,” and hanging up. The final cp got there just as the guests were getting ready to be shown into the ballroom. The flowers were gorgeous and that’s the only thing keeping me from giving them a lower score!














Bakery – Sweet Things in Oceanside (BYC house bakery) – A-

Strangest person I’ve ever met in my entire life. This is an event-only bakery and you have to make an appointment to go in and meet with them when they’re open. We walked into the store only to be stared down by the guy standing behind the counter! I said “hi” and he just continued staring!!! So I look at DH and then look back at the guy and say, “we’re here for an appointment?” Very strange! I left there feeling disappointed with the cake (the flavors were boring, the designs were boring and everything was just not like we wanted), but it was really good the day of the wedding. The only thing wrong with it was that the icing was messy and the band around the bottom of the tiers was the wrong color.



Ceremony Officiant – Rev Deb – A+

When we booked Rev Deb everyone kept saying, “why a woman? That’s so weird!” We just ignored everyone but we both felt very comfortable with her and knew she would do an amazing job! The ceremony was just beautiful!!!!! She DID do an AMAZING job and afterwards everyone kept saying, “ok, now I know why!” If you’re not getting married in a church, you must use Rev Deb!






Ceremony Music – Marie Stack – A+

We had a violin and flute and it completed the whole feel of the ceremony. The music was absolutely beautiful and Marie and her team are very helpful and professional!



Band – Catz ‘n Dawgz (NJ) – A+

Catz ‘n Dawgz is a bar band from where I grew up in NJ. My mom is friends with a few people in the band so we went to watch them and thought it would be cool if they played at the wedding! I was a little worried since they don’t do weddings very often, but they did a phenomenal job!! Everyone had a great time, they kept the dance floor moving, played some songs off an ipod when they took a break or wanted to play a song they didn’t know, and learned our first dance song for us! Best part, they were super super super affordable!











Photo/Video – Duet – A+

What can I say about Duet that hasn’t been said a million times before? They just great! They showed up on time, got all of our pics taken with time to spare and did an awesome job! They got shots I didn’t even know they were taking, and all of our pictures are totally worth the price!

Ceremony location/Reception – Bridgeview Yacht Club – A+

When we first started looking at RH’s online I came across BYC and I’m so glad I did! It was the first one we visited and we loved it! Eric was our BM and he was incredible – he paid attention to every little detail, made sure everything was perfect and I don’t even know what else to say beside I don’t know what I would have done without him! We were PITAs with dates, questions, etc. but he never got frustrated (or at least he didn’t show it) and was so helpful the entire time! The place was gorgeous, the food was delicious and everything was seamless!!!!!!!!!!! Here’s the food we got:

Cocktail Hour

Passed: Stuffed Mushroom with Gorgonzola Cheese, Maryland Crabcakes, Roasted Chicken Empanadas, Seared Shrimp, Tuna Tartare, Filet Mignon Crostini

Pasta Station: linguine, penne, and farfalle with white clam, a la vodka, and bolognese sauces

Carving Station: london broil and salmon (we had them do miso glazed salmon instead of the one on the menu)

Hot Stations: Italian and Seafood

Reception

Salad: Farmers Market (get this - it's AMAZING!) it's mixed greens with strawberries, candied cashews and goat cheese with white peach-vanilla vinaigrette

Appetizer - Seafood Risotto (another MUST) everyone RAVED about it. It's absolutely DELICIOUS!

Entrees - Filet Mignon, Chilean Sea Bass (both were upgrades), and the Sage Roasted French Cut Chicken Breast

The only thing we regret regarding BYC was not extending another hour! The whole day goes by so fast and just as the party was really getting started, it was over! It only would have been another $5 pp to extend another hour and had we realized that, we would have done it!





























Wow! That was super long and took forever so I hope it helps someone!!!

and happy planning!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

GREAT review Britt... the pics are awesome!!!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

GREAT REVIEW!!!!!! Your pictures are GORGEOUS!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

AMAZING review Brit!!! Everything look beautiful!!! your photos are AMAZING!!!!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

Great review! Congratulations!

Everything was beautiful!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

Great review! You looked stunning.

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

Great review Britt! Everything looked amazing! I love all the peacock and of course your dress is gorgeoussssssss! Congrats!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

THANK YOU!!!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

Love your review Brit and read it all. I really love the feather theme...Your BMs and MB dress are stunning. Thanks again for sharing.

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

Beautiful Brittany, great review!!!!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

Great Review. I loved your Mom's dress!!!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

Great review Britt!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

you look amazing and gave me great ideas!- i ordered the birdcage already and totally want your shoes!!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

BEAUTIFUL wedding! I am absolutely IN LOVE with the colors of the BM dresses and flowers!!!!!! They went together PERFECTLY!!!!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

Awesome review - thanks for posting all the etsy vendors... everything looks beautiful.. even w/ all the craziness w/ your flowers they looks stunning!!!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

Wow that was a great review! I am even more excited now for my wedding! Everything came out so nice and you looked great! Bridgeview looked amazing!!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

WOW! I love your theme and your DRESS!!!! Gorgeous!!!!

Great review, thanks

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

I loved your review!
Very detailed and i love the fact that you got many of your things from my favorite site*ETSY*

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

great review!! everything looks beautiful and what a perfect day!

Re: Our July 17, 2010 Wedding! Bridegview Yacht Club, Duet, Rev Deb, Flower Michele, lots of Etsy and more! (with LOTS of pics!)

what a great review, thank you! Everything looks amazing!!!