Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (added a link to Photos on Page 3)

I can't believe it's my turn to write a review!!! It was truly the greatest day of my life, even with some minor mishaps!!!!

Here are my vendor reviews - obviously keep in mind that things that bothered me may not bother other brides and vice versa. This is just my opinion!!

From the beginning:

STD and Invitations - Laura from LA Productions - A+ She is the greatest!!! To this day people talk about how original my invites were. The STD's set the whole tone for a fall themed wedding with lots of sunflowers. Laura's work is awesome - can't recommend her enough!!!!!

Wedding Dress, Veil and Headpiece - Macy's in Manhasset - A+ From the first day I walked in there, the service was awesome and super-accomodating. When I first bought my dress, I missed the Demetrios trunk sale by one day - they gave me credit for it anyway - and that savings alone covered the entire cost of alterations!!!!! Everytime came in earlier than expected and all alterations were perfect!!!!!

Hair - Nu-World Salon in W. Babylon - A+ - this is my mother's regular hair place. My trial cost all of $25 and my wedding day hair was $40 - I just wanted a simple bun and that's what I got. It stayed up the entire night without a problem.

Makeup - Jackie of I Make Up You - A+ - Jackie is awesome!!! I discovered Jackie on these boards and started going to her about 8 months ago for facials. I loved my trial and loved my wedding day makeup. Jackie was the only calm person in a sea of craziness at my parent's house the morning of the wedding. She did myself, my Mom, my MOH, one BM and the Jr BM. Everyone was thrilled with their make-up.

Flowers - Designer Florals - A+++ - I discovered Sharon through my Hall. Sharon was able to take my vision of sunflowers and turn it into a bouquet that I absolutely, 100% loved!!!!!!!! She was a doll to deal with, and out of everyone, I loved visiting with her the most - she has a refrigerator for flowers in her living room and when you meet with her, she mixes and matches your bouquets right in front of you!!!!!!!!! She is truly an artist!!

Limos - Dynasty Limos - A+ - we had the Rolls Royce for Bob and I and the 24 passenger excursion for the BP. My driver was Dave and he was fabulous!!!!! Half-way to the church my nerves really started to kick in and he was so reassuring and helpful and just overall really pleasant. He made sure was train was good right before I walked down the aisle and was just a really personable guy. The BP driver was Mike and the BP said he was great, too!! Both drivers were very understanding when we realized that we left the certified check with our balance due with my parents, who would not be at the Hall until much later in the day. Would definitely recommend them.

Tuxedos - Roger's in Babylon - D (at best) - if there was one thing I would do over, it would be this. We picked this place solely on convenience (we lived two blocks over). Never again!!! Hubby's entire family was late to the rehearsal the night before the wedding because the Best Man's tux and one GM did not fit!!!!! I remember nothing about my rehearsal except being stressed out about the tux!!!!!!! We had to go to the tux place between the rehearsal and the dinner to fight with these people. When all was said and done my MIL was hemming the Best Man's pants THE MORNING of the wedding and before the reception even started, both of the Best Man's buttons had come off. The other GM's pants were about 4 inches too short!!!!! I know the Best Man has stopped payment on his tux, so I am curious as to how Roger's will resolve this. I blame them for me not being able to enjoy my rehearsal at all.

Music - DanceJock - B+ - Abe was our MC and he was really, really good - kept the dance floor hopping, despite the fact that Game 6 of the World Series was on. He did not stay with our playlist exactly, but I think that was more based on the mood of the crowd. The songs he missed we didn't realize until this morning, so it can't be all that bad!!! We did the photo montage before we were introduced and it was a HUGE hit!!!!! People are still talking about it!! My only other issue is that I did not want the traditional 'bridal party dancing with the bridal party'. I wanted everyone to join us for all of song #2, but Abe slowly introduced everyone onto the dance floor - first the parents, than the BP and finally everyone else. Not a huge deal, but it did bother me a little, as we told the BP they would be able to dance the second dance with the spouses, significant others, etc.

Photos & Video - Photos of the Heart - A++ (based on wedding day performance) - We fell in love with this vendor the first time we met with them!!! Bob, my mother and I spent 3 hours in their office the first night we met with them. I love their work, it is more on the traditional side, which is exactly what we wanted. They arrived on-time and kept everyone on schedule. I found them to be an absolute pleasure to deal with (I know there have been some conflicting reports on their workstyle) - they definitely know what they are doing!!! I think for the maximum benefit of this vendor, you really need to give them as much time as possible. They were at my Mom's house by 10:30 for a 1pm limo pickup, so we got lots of photos done in the morning. Our ceremony plus receiving line was 1:30 - 2:30 and then our reception did not start until 6. They took us to the Cutting Yards Arboretum in Oakdale and we took about 2 hours worth of photos there, too. We took all of the family shots at the Hamlet WW. We made all of our cocktail hour and our reception - I asked for that from day 1 and they 100% complied with that! I know we will have a very hard time picking out photos for our albums, because I think every shot was a keeper!!


Reception - Hamlet Windwatch Golf & Country Club - A++++++++++ - By far the best decision I made!!!!!!!!!!! Everything went off without a hitch. The food was impeccable (and this comes from MIL's boyfriend who owns a competing catering hall). The service was outstanding. Since we were so far below our minimum (30 people) we were able to upgrade one of our main entrees to the Surf & Turf and that was a HUGE hit with the crowd. We had 120 people and it was perfect for that room. Even when everyone was on the dance floor, there was plenty of room. Our cake was a little untraditional - we did a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting in the middle and a fondant icing on top - Designer Florals decorated the cake. I loved the look and taste of the cake. Our Maitre'd was Denise, who we had dealt with the entire process and was just a dream that night as well. Anybody booked at the Hamlet WW has nothing, and I mean nothing, to worry about!!

HM Planning - Dawn & Brian @ Cruise One - A+++ - Great to deal with! For those who have been on the boards awhile, you may remember that Royal Carribean cancelled our original HM cruise. Dawn & Brian researched and researched to find a better cruise for us, and now we are taking the Tahitian Princess 10-day South Pacific Cruise from Tahiti. We can not wait!!! I have been in constant contact with Dawn and she has been great answering my 1,000,000 little questions. They have gone out of their way every step of the way (including taking the same cruise back in April and sending us loads of pics and info back with them)!!!

I think that is about it for now. Hubby and I leave for Tahiti tomorrow!!! Definitely recommend for the Brides to Be to give yourself a day or two to recover after the wedding - we are exhausted!!! It was nice to have today to come home and relax a little!!!!

Let me know if you have any questions, or if I left anything out!!

Karen

ETA: Bob and I picked up our proofs on 11/18 and were blown away!!! Every single one was a keeper!!! I would definitely not hesitate to use them in the future!!!

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

CONGRATULATIONS Karen!!!!!!!!! I am so excited to hear that you had such a beautiful day (despite the minor mishaps)!!!

(SOOOOO happy to read that the Hamlet was everything you hoped it would be )

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

Congratulations!!! Have a wonderful honeymoon!!!

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

I did remember a couple of things:

Shoes - Sandy's Shoes in Massapequa - No problem for me, but a HUGE problem for my mom. My mom had her shoes and pocketbook dyed there to match her midnight blue dress. The morning of the wedding, she picks up the pocketbook and the blue dye comes off all on her hands She called Sandy's and there were absolutely no help - told my mom to make sure her hands were dry when she touched the bag!!!! My Jr Bm's mom blotted the pocketbook with loads of paper towels until no more blue came off - not the worse thing - but it definitely freaked out my mom.



Hey Colleen,

You have absolutely nothing to worry about with the Hamlet. They were awesome the entire night. Let me know if you have any specific questions about anything - there are so many little details, I didn't want to bore everyone

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

congrats- thanks for such a thorough review. Have a great hm!!!! Please post a review of your hm when you return as we are considering going there for our hm.

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

Congrats
Cant wait to see pics

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

Congrats Karen! We went to see the Hamlet on Saturday and saw the room set up for your wedding and it was beautiful. We decided to book it! I'm so happy that you had a wonderful day, and I'm glad to hear the rave review of the Hamlet.

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

Hi Kate,

Congrats on booking. You will not be disappointed!!!!!! Let me know if you have any questions.

Karen

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

CONGRATS!!!!!

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

Congrats!! can't wait for pics

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (aka The Best Day of Our Lives!!)

Congratulations!!!

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (added Link to Pics on Page 3)

If anyone is interested, here is a link to some of our proofs:

Photos of the Heart

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (added a link to Photos on Page 3)

Congratulations! Very nice pics - looks like you had a great time. I'm so happy for you that you had a nice day to take some pics out on the golf course.

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (added a link to Photos on Page 3)

Very nice!
Were your pictures taken in a studio?
I like how your dad (?) was wearing those baseball caps. Cute!

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (added a link to Photos on Page 3)

Beautiful!! CONGRATULATIONS!!

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (added a link to Photos on Page 3)

kelly - Photos of the Heart took those pics in my parent's living room. they bring a couple of different backgrounds.

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (added a link to Photos on Page 3)

Lovely pics!! Congratulations~!~!

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (added a link to Photos on Page 3)

Karen, loved your bouquet and in looking back at my review from 10/13/02, you commented that you liked mine, we had very similar bouquets!

You looked beautiful!!

Re: Review of Our 10/25 Wedding (added a link to Photos on Page 3)

Congrats. I glad that you had a great time.