Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

I know everyone says this but my wedding really was perfect! We had great weather for the middle of winter and everything else fell into place! I’m so grateful that I found this website! I learned so many things from the posts on this site! Others have said it before but it is so true-try to enjoy every minute of your day! Some things are bound to go wrong but try not to worry about it and instead focus on all the amazing moments! You put so much time and energy into just a few hours and then it is over!

Our engagement was a total surprise! For a Christmas gift, I had planned a trip to Vermont for the weekend after Valentine’s Day. Vermont is special to us because we had taken our first trip there together and it is where we first said “I love you.” I put all sorts of Vermont themed things in his stocking and when he figured it out he was excited and said “I can’t believe you did this!” I thought he was just excited and didn’t think anything of it. Later I would find out that going up to Vermont Valentine’s weekend was his idea all along! He just hadn’t booked it yet! He wanted to propose where we had first really fallen in love. Since I had booked the trip, I wasn’t expecting anything more than a great weekend getaway! After a day of attempting to snowboard(I’m pretty awful!), some outlet shopping and a delicious meal I was ready for bed! But, when Andrew suggested we sit by the fire for a little, I couldn’t say no! It all happened so quickly! Next thing I know, he is down on one knee! I was shocked, excited, and speechless!

We didn’t want a long engagement and after some discussion we decided it would be really awesome to get married on NYE! Now, I had never imagined a winter wedding, ever! But, the more I thought about it, the more I fell in love with the idea of starting the new year as husband and wife. We considered getting married in Vermont but then realized it would be really difficult for my grandparents to attend. Plus, asking people to travel to Vermont in the dead of winter would be insanity! We started planning pretty quickly and started calling venues. We knew we wanted something a little different. Between the two of us, we have attended a lot of weddings and felt like we had seen every venue on Long Island! After calling around, it seemed like our NYE wedding was in trouble. Lots of venues already host NYE parties of their own. And, after calling one particular venue I was quoted over $250/person because the venue had to pay their staff double time and a half because of the holiday. I was relieved to find three venues that were within our budget and were also venues that we had never been to before! We visited Timber Point, The Metropolitan and The Woodlands. Timber Point’s price point was unbeatable but felt small, The Metropolitan was unique but felt far away and The Woodlands was just perfect!


Venue:
The Woodlands: A+

First, I had never heard of The Woodlands(which I kind of liked) but I feel like I was meant to have my wedding at the Woodlands. After I was quoted $250/person at another venue, I had kind of given up on NYE. When I called the Woodlands, I asked about December 29th. Debi informed me that 12/29 was booked but then said, “You know what is really fun? New Year’s Eve.” My heart skipped a beat and I said, “That is actually the date I really want but I’m afraid it is out of our budget. Doesn’t the price jump dramatically because it is a holiday?” Debi assured me that it didn’t and when she quoted me a price within our budget, I knew this was the place!

The venue is absolutely stunning. The cocktail hour room with the pecan paneled walls imported from Ireland really won us over. The fireplaces, the black and white checkered floor, the golf bar just make for a unique and beautiful backdrop for your wedding. And, the chairs! I personally am not a big fan of chiavari chairs. Almost every venue we looked at online had chiavari chairs. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the Woodlands had real wood chairs. And, they were just reupholstered in a beautiful gold material-no need to worry about chair covers!

From day one, the staff was nothing but caring and super accommodating. Debi is great and always answered my emails promptly. They tell you that the mansion is yours for the day and they really mean it. My mom made table runners for the reception room. I had heard that venues sometimes make your go through their linen people or charge an extra fee-not the Woodlands. Their attitude was always “sure, whatever you want.”

I know there have been some girls on here that were concerned about the food. I was one of those girls. All I can say is that the showcases and even the tastings don’t do the food justice. We had done a tasting before we booked and we really weren’t impressed and almost made us reconsider The woodlands as our number one choice. But, honestly, the food is amazing!!! The sea bass is amazing and the filet mignon is always cooked perfectly!

Iris was my bridal attendant and she was amazing! She was always there to help us with whatever we needed!

Florist
Black Dahlia A

Sheryl is amazing! She is one of recommended vendors at The Woodlands and her work is beautiful! I knew what I wanted my bouquet to look like but other than that I had no idea what types of centerpieces I wanted. I did know that I didn’t want them all to look exactly alike. Sheryl helped me narrow down my options, stay within budget and executed my final vision beautifully! Most importantly, she is super sweet and a pleasure to work with! I would highly recommend her to any bride!


Transportation
All Star Limo: A

Like I said before, Andrew and I have been to many weddings. One of the coolest things we saw at our friend’s weddings was the giant party bus that transported guests from the hotel to the reception. Since our wedding was NYE, we knew that providing transportation was a must for our guests and we knew we had to have a party bus! When we met with Debbie at All Star and toured their facility, we were sold. They have a huge fleet and all their vehicles are cleaned on site. We booked the large white party bus for the entire day. The bus was sick! And, the day of the wedding we were surprised to find that it came with a bartender!! Such an amazing surprise to have someone getting my family champagne as we drove to the venue! Don was our driver and he was amazing! He helped my family in so many ways in addition to being a great driver! They also provided us a car to and from the airport for our honeymoon. All Star will be our go to for car service from now on!



Band
The Storytellers: A++++++++

We knew that we wanted a band and we knew they had to be amazing! Andrew and I searched the internet and looked at a lot of videos. Either we didn’t like the lead female or male vocal or there was too much emceeing…then we found the Storytellers. LOVED both the female and male lead vocals but could they really be as good in person as they were on their website? We went to some small restaurant to see them perform which we thought was a little weird but they rocked it! We have seen them a couple times now and feel like their groupies!

Bands are pricier than djs but in my opinion it is the best money we spent. The dance floor was packed the entire night and their energy was amazing! Sara, the band leader, really respected our “do not play list” and put together an amazing song list. If you have a chance to see them and hire them, you will not be disappointed!!!


Photographer
Gray Studios: A

We knew we wanted to book a house vendor. They would be super familiar with the venue and would know where to take the best pictures. So, at a showcase we went from photographer to photographer to see who we liked. Andrew gave the same speech at each table. He told the photographer what we wanted and asked how much it would cost. Each photographer said, “Well how much do you want to spend.” This is an immediate turnoff. Michael from Gray Studios was the only one to quote us a price without asking our budget. Luckily for us, Michael was right in line with what we wanted to spend. His albums of The Woodlands were beautiful so we were extremely happy with our decision to book with him.

We just met with Michael to go over our proofs and select images for our album. He is very good at what he does and I can't wait to see the finished product.


Dress & Bridesmaid Dresses
Macy’s Consultants: A+ Alterations D

My sister had bought her dress at Macy’s so it was the first place we went. I worked with Doreen and she was wonderful, very honest and spoke her mind-which is what I needed because I was so indecisive!! We clicked immediately and she picked beautiful understated dresses for me to try on. I had a front runner but couldn’t pull the trigger. I went back a second time to retry the dress on. I liked it but still wasn’t convinced. Doreen then pulled another dress that had been on a trunk show during my first visit. This dress made my mom cry so I knew it was it. Another bonus was it was under budget and I received 15% off because it was a trunk show. My shopping experience was great but alterations were another story.

Long story short-I felt like my concerns were not taken seriously and since my wedding fell during the off season the alterations could only take place on Fridays making it very difficult to schedule fittings. I had my final fitting 3 days before the wedding so when there were issues there was no time to fix them. In hindsight, I should have been more vocal and fought to have earlier fittings.


Tuxes
Amityville Men’s Shop A+

We looked at a bunch of different places before finding Amityville Men’s Shop. We looked at RSVP, Karakos and another place which I forget their name! Then, I saw a review on here of S & B formalwear in Farmingdale. We gave it a shot and met a great salesman. Unlike the other places, we felt like he really knew what he was talking about and felt like we were in good hands. Well fast forward until Veteran’s Day weekend-Groom and groomsmen all swore they would lose weight so we waited until the last possible minute to order tuxes. Well, no one lost weight and it turns out that S & B had storm damage and half of their inventory was ruined. I felt sick. Where were we going to find tuxes on such short notice?? Luckily, google came to the rescue! We decided to check out Amityville Men’s Shop and thank god we did!! It is a family owned business for over 100 years and Warren knows what he is doing! The tuxes were fitted perfectly and of such higher quality than anything we had seen prior.


Salon Astarte in Bay Shore A+

I’ve been going to this hair salon for awhile now and I can’t say enough wonderful things about them. Staff is fun and very talented. They have great wedding packages and I was thrilled with the way hair and makeup turned out for the wedding!! I highly recommend them!!!

Etsy
Invitations: Beth Cote from B desgins invitations. A! I was nervous to purchase invitations over the internet but everything was amazing. Beth was very patient and does beautiful work! I feel like the invitation really sets the tone for the wedding and I think the design we chose was perfect-formal but still fun!
Menus: cdk designs A
I found these on a search for menus and fell in love with them! They were perfect.

Blondie Boudoir A++++++
I wanted to surprise my fiance with a gift but wasn't sure what to do. Well, I saw a post about Blondie Boudoir and figured that my fiance would never expect me to do something like that so I contacted Alex. She is super easy to work with and photo shoot turned out to be super fun-after 2 glasses of wine! I scheduled the shoot on the same day as my hair/make up trial. I rented a room at the Hyatt in Hauppague and Alex met me at the room. The pictures turned out great and I made a book on picaboo.com. I decided to wait until the night before the wedding to give him the book. Just before he left for the hotel, I gave it to him and told him to open it when he got to the hotel. I wish I could have seen his face when he opened it because he was basically speechless on the phone. Best idea ever!


You can see some professional pics from the wedding on our shutterfly website at

http://michandandrew.shutterfly.com/

I feel like I'm forgetting things but if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I've been in a bit of post wedding depression! Thanks ladies and congratulations!!

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

Very pretty pictures!!!

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

Such pretty pics!! Can't wait to get married at the Woodlands!!!

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

Ahhh soo excited for our wedding!! Do you have any tips for us??????????

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

Great review... everything looked beautiful! We can't wait to get married there!!!

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

A NYE wedding sounds so awesome! Now I want to be invited to one!! haha.... congratulations!!

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

love the pictures and the NYE touches!

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

Thank you for posting your review! Im so glad to hear about the woodlands! Everything looked beautiful!

Re: Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

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Posted by Bride2013

Thank you for posting your review! Im so glad to hear about the woodlands! Everything looked beautiful!

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Congratulations! Your wedding is so close! Enjoy! Everything will be beautiful.

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

Great review!! Congratulations!!

Where did you get your hoodies? They're adorable!

Re: Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

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Posted by sgf2

Great review!! Congratulations!!

Where did you get your hoodies? They're adorable!

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bridalpartytees.com! They were great-cheaper than other places and my girls loved them!

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

great review!!

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

Your pictures are beautiful : )

Our NYE wedding at The Woodlands!

Thank you! I'm hoping our album will be done soon!