SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

SNICK N NICK’S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING REVIEW

Welcome to our wedding review! I hope you enjoy and find at least some of it helpful! Some pics are non-pro, many are pro by Ken Hild Photography. Enjoy!

E-RING
Creative Jewelers (CT, FM for details) - A+
FH picked out and purchased at Creative Jewelers, a local jeweler near his parents’ summer house in CT. He had a great experience there, and I thought it was really nice and the people were really nice too. After all the research he did he’s pretty sure he negotiated a good deal too! My E-ring is platinum with channel set princess cut diamonds on the top half of the band and a princess cut center stone…and I love it!




WEDDING BANDS
Marlboro Diamond Plaza (NJ, FM for details) - A
During our planning, as many of you know, I was living in Philly and DH lived in NJ (where we both live now). We went looking for wedding bands near our current home in NJ. I knew I wanted a band to match my e-ring setting, so basically a platinum band with princess cut channel set diamonds across the top half only. DH wasn’t sure what he wanted, but he liked the alternative metal rings when we looked in some mall stores. We went to the Diamond Plaza and the woman who helped us was very nice…we found an eternity band that was a close match for my ring, and she said they could make it with only half the band in stones, and they counted how many to do to match the e-ring, so it’s a platinum ring with 11 channel set princess cut stones. DH tried on a bunch of rings, and found one that he called “The One” hehe. It is a Benchmark ring, which you can find at other retailers as well. It’s tungsten-carbide. We went to one other store to compare, and the prices were much higher. At the Plaza we were able to negotiate on my ring especially because they were basically having the ring made for me, so the price we negotiated for both rings (including engraving) was over $1000 less than the appraised price of my ring alone. So I think we got a good deal! We also got them engraved and it was included—DH’s ring has “I love you and that’s forever 6.7.08” and mine has “Just the way you are <3 6.7.08” after our wedding song. The rings were ready in about 4 weeks I think, and we went back to pick up and make the final payment. No problems!




INVITATIONS
DIY (MOB, MOG, SIL, Me) – A+
Ella template from uniquityinvitations.com – A
Paper & Envelopes from: Paper and More
Envelope font: Brock Script from dafont.com

I really couldn’t find anything I liked for a price that we were willing to pay—I wanted something more modern, and all of those were more expensive! MOB & MOG expressed interest in DIYing (both are very crafty!!). I found this site, uniquityinvitations.com, which has templates for an entire suite of paper goods (invites, favor tags, menus, programs, placecards, etc.). I liked the Ella template, and communicated with Tammy who changed the colors to navy and pink for me. We ordered white linen cardstock, navy blue iridescent cardstock to back it with, and white linen envelopes. We also ordered white linen paper for our programs and other things. All was done on my dad’s printer! Basically you edit the templates in pdf form. We had Tammy take out the cutting lines which made it much easier to cut things. She was extremely responsive in making whatever changes I asked for, and was great to work with!! Definitely recommend uniquityinvitations.com!
Mom, MIL, and SIL really did all of the invite assembly. They used tape runners to attach the different layers of the main invite panel. They used regular paper cutters to cut all the pieces. We printed the addresses, return addresses, and inner envelopes in the same navy blue color on the envelopes ourselves. They also stuffed the envelopes! We used the wedding stamps from the post office, the pink 41 cent hearts for RSVP envelopes, and the purple ones for the main envelopes. We got lots of compliments on the invitations, and used the design suite for all of our paper goods (and as an inspiration for some of our other designed items as well).








BRIDAL GOWN
Maggie Sottero “Jessica” from Fantasia Bridal in Rocky Point – A+
My first experience trying on dresses was at Fantasia, and Linda helped me. I had a great experience, tried on a bunch of Maggie dresses (all of which were gorgeous!), and had one that people in the store loved, and one that my mom loved, both which looked good but neither felt like the one. Then I put Jessica on and it felt special….but I was nervous I would feel pressure to buy so I didn’t let on too too much, and it was the last one I tried on that day. I went to Country Way Bridal in Cherry Hill, NJ (as I said, I lived in Phila, PA at the time) and tried on some really pretty Mori Lee gowns, and some others also, but none compared to Jessica. So, I knew it was right! I called in my order at Fantasia!! I probably could have negotiated the price more but I didn’t realize at the time. Oh well….they still gave me $100 off, so that was something!

Stock Photos of my gown:



Gown:





Alterations at Fantasia – A+
I didn’t need a lot of alterations, just a hem and bustle. The dress fit me like a glove other than that. The bustle was a tricky one, and was different than how they told me it would be when I had initially tried on the dress, but I think it was actually better this way. Originally they said it would just be an overbustle, but it ended up being like a French I guess….it was basically all looped under so it looked like the train was just gone, there were 17 points. Day of MOH and Banquet Manager couldn’t find one point and had to use a pin, but it worked out fine.

First Fitting at Fantasia:






Veil
Mom - A+
I wanted a really simple veil, especially since my dress had so much detail work. I tried on veils at Fantasia and the woman admitted that nothing they had really went with the dress. I also wanted a single tier (no blusher! I thought DH would fight me on this but he actually didn’t want me to have the blusher either!) and I thought I wanted elbow length. My mom thought she’d be able to make what I wanted pretty easily and we could avoid paying so much for something so plain. She ordered some metal combs from ebay for a couple of dollars, and bought some tulle for another couple of dollars. She made some samples, and we took one to try on with the sample gown—it was actually fingertip length, and at first I thought I wanted it shorter, but it just looked so perfect with the dress! The women in the Bridal store couldn’t believe my mom made it and that it cost her about $5! I took it off after pictures when I bustled anyway so it wasn’t a huge deal. DH definitely doesn’t like veils anyway b/c he was happy when I took it off haha…




Shoes
Aldo – A
Victoria’s Secret platform flip-flops – A+


I decided I wanted silver shoes from the get go, so I could wear them again and wouldn’t have to worry about matching. I originally ordered strappy sandals that were 3 ¾” from Chinese Laundry, which were hot, but I got more and more nervous that they wouldn’t be comfy. I wore them to my first fitting, so I was tied to that height. 2 weeks before the wedding I went shopping for shoes that were the same height that I liked better, and got the shoes I ended up wearing at Aldo. I guess they’re a Peep Toe but not a full pump, just the heel and toe (D’Orsay?). I planned to put foot petals in after the photographer took pics of them but I totally forgot. Oh well. They were pretty comfy, but as soon as we went in the grass (which was wet from rain the day before) to take pics after the ceremony, my feet were so slippery in them I could hardly walk in them. Luckily I had ordered platform flip flops from Victoria’s Secret just in case and they were perfect. I wore them during all of picture taking, and changed back into my shoes for our entrance and first dance. I had our Bridal Attendant put the flip flops under our sweetheart table so I could switch back and forth! I wore the flip flops most of the night, just put my shoes back on for the garter! It worked out great! Nobody will know you have shoes under that tablecloth to the floor!! Highly recommend doing that, especially if you’re going to take pics in the grass where you might sink in and get wet.





PURSE
Something Borrowed from my Aunt – A+

My Aunt lent me the purse she was given for her wedding, it was gorgeous! No pro pics unfortunately…






FLOWER GIRL DRESSES
My Mom – A+
Fabric – JoAnn Fabrics/Bill Levkoff – A
So I really wanted something simple and Flower Girl dresses seemed so overpriced to me. I had 2 flower girls, both are my first cousins and they were 6 and 7 at the time of the wedding. My mom made her own wedding dress and many other things, and wanted to make the dresses. She found a pattern, made a mock-up dress out of some $1/yard fabric from Walmart to try on the girls, and it came out beautiful. The final dress she made from some washable shantung I think, and we ordered a yard of fabric in the BM dress color from Bill Levkoff, which she used for the sashes. The dresses came out great and the girls looked ADORABLE. My mom also made the Flower Bears’ dresses…more on that later!






MOB DRESS
Jade by Jasmine from Shoreham Bridal – A+
Mom looked all over the place for her dress, and went to a Jade trunk show at Shoreham Bridal. She tried on tons of dresses and played model for the ladies who work there haha….and ended up finding her dress!! The color was Starry Night which is BEAUTIFUL in person, gorgeous dress! Since it was a trunk show she got shoes of her choice dyed to match and a purse of her choice for free! Great deal! No problems with it the day of, only that the dye on her shoes stained her feet in the same wet grass!! But that wasn’t really their fault…she is interested in selling the dress also, it’s a size 8, not altered or hemmed (just pressed)…$150 or best offer—FM if interested!! The back is SUPER flattering, she got tons of compliments!




Here’s the stock photos of her dress, obviously in a different color:




MOB DOJ
Macy’s – A
I purchased my Mom’s DOJ at Macy’s for Mother’s Day, I think it was from Alfani. She has tons of Gold jewelry but we thought something crystal would go better with the beading on her dress. This was pretty and not particularly expensive, so I think it went well. You can kind of see it in this picture.




MOG DRESS
MIL – A+
My MIL made her own dress!! I believe she got the fabric and pattern at Jo-Ann, but I’m really not sure. She also altered SIL’s BM dress, DH’s RD pants, and FIL’s tux!





MOH/BM DRESSES
Bill Levkoff in Indigo Tissue Taffeta—NetBride.com A+
NetBride gave us great prices, about $60 less than any we saw in stores, and the shipping was good, also no tax! My girls lived all over anyway so they would do alterations at different places no matter what. The dresses were ordered in the last week of Dec 2007 and arrived in mid-March 2008—they were estimated for mid-April, but came a month early! The color was kind of hard to tell because there were no sample dresses that came in that color at the time—I think there is one now. We actually ordered a yard of the fabric, but bluegreen08 emailed me some pics she had that someone else had sent her of their indigo dress and that helped me decide. It was tough and I doubted it A LOT but it turned out pretty. I originally wanted a vivid blue color but I just couldn’t find anything I liked! The girls dresses were as follows:

Laura (MOH): 555



Elizabeth (BM): 467 (on the right)
Lindsay (BM): 801 (on the left)






Katie – SIL (BM): 803




Good pic of all the girls:




TUXES
MW Tux – A+
Many people have problems, we didn’t. DH and I went together to choose vests, we found that at the new MW Tux stores (we went in the Monmouth Mall in NJ) that DH could try stuff on, which isn’t the case at regular Men’s Warehouse. This was right after MW took over After Hours. DH had the Rio vest & tie in White, BM/GM in Platinum, FOG & FOB in Charcoal. All the guys had a Calvin Klein 2 button tux, very classic. Both dads bought their own tuxes and just rented the vest and tie. DH and my dad picked up the tuxes Thursday, DH’s dad returned them all on Sunday, no problems. We picked up and dropped off at the MW Tux in Smithaven Mall. The BM and GM got measured all over the country and none reported any trouble.




HAIR
Pavlova Salon, Wading River – A+
Stylists:
Kerri – Me (Bride), Katie (BM)
Dina – Laura (MOH)
DinaRae – Elizabeth (BM), Lindsay (BM)
Annette – Marleen (MOB)
Pavlova is about 3 minutes away from my parents house, where I was getting ready. It’s my mom’s regular salon. I went for a trial with Kerri in March, and it went really well. The best part about it was that the prices were really good (not upped by the word “bridal”!). The girls all met me at the Salon at 9:00am and we did hair from there. All the girls got an updo except for Elizabeth who got a blow-out. I told them they could do whatever they wanted, I didn’t want to limit them and I wanted them to feel beautiful. All of them ended up looking gorgeous, especially the MOH and BM (Laura & Lindsay) who have short short hair! Both ended up with gorgeous updos and looked like they had way more hair! They also offered us coffee, tea, water, etc. It is a lovely place, everyone was very nice. It was a relaxing experience!

Done by Kerri:
Me:




Katie (BM):



Done by Dina:
Laura (MOH):



Done by DinaRae:
Lindsay (BM):




Elizabeth (BM):


Done by Annette:
Marleen (MOB)—no good close up pic right now, but you can see in pic above.


MAKE-UP
Janine Maloney – A+
As some of you might remember, my original make-up artist got very sick and was unable to do my wedding. I found this out in early April. At this point I started to get really nervous as I would only be home for a trial on Mother’s Day weekend. I posted on LIW and got many recommendations and started contacting them. Some were not available, some were just SO expensive…Janine was available and so nice! I saw her work on nifheim’s wedding and was impressed! I had a trial with her on the Friday of Mother’s Day weekend and booked her on the spot. I had airbrush make-up for myself, and regular make-up for MOB, MOH, and 1 BM (Lindsay). All 4 of us looked beautiful the day of! Janine also brought an assistant to do prep on us, and brought her sappy wedding music mix as well, which was fabulous. She was yet another calming presence the day of, and we had a great time with her! HIGHLY recommended!!!

MOH Laura during make-up:


BM Lindsay during make-up:


Me during make-up:



VIDEO
OrangeFilms – TBD
Video was one thing I left for a really long time…we just didn’t want to spend the kind of money most big-time videographers charge, and I just didn’t know what to do. Finally I buckled down and started contacting people (after months of procrastination). I really liked Edward’s work, after looking at samples on his website, and DH agreed. We really wanted him. He was running an LIW special so that we could get 10 hours for the price of 7 I believe, so that was good. I also negotiated with him to take out a few other things to bring the price into our range, but we did have the 2nd unmanned camera as well. We had him start at the ceremony and go until the end of the reception. His assistant was actually the husband of one of the girls at Fantasia Bridal! Hah…they were both nice and basically didn’t interact with anyone, just videoed, which was what we wanted. I can’t wait to see the video!!



PHOTO
Ken Hild – A-
We first looked into Ken because he is a recommended vendor at Hamlet Willow Creek. Then we realized that Ken actually graduated from our high school 4 years before us, and he actually knew my older brother! The biggest things we were looking for were a Photojournalist who would do the typical posed shots but the rest as Photojournalism, and someone who would provide us with all proofs digitally that we could do what we pleased with. We also wanted albums and parent albums, but getting the digitals was really important to us. We met with Ken, and hit it off right away. Both of us had had experiences with photographers who were bossy and that we did not relate to at other peoples’ weddings, and we didn’t want that. We wanted someone we were comfortable with. Ken also had an entire album of a wedding he shot at Hamlet Willow Creek (actually someone else we went to high school with!!), and seeing that helped us as well, as we could see what he could do at our hall. We left and talked it over, and decided to go with him. He was the only photographer we met with!! This was before I was on LIW, if I had been on LIW at that time I might have looked into more photographers and ended up with a different decision, but that didn’t happen.

Day-of Ken was good, he brought his assistant Beth-Ann (who I actually knew also!), and they got engaged and are getting married next year at our Church and at our Hall (at the Hamlet) also, so it was basically like their wedding only ours! This made it even better b/c Ken was so excited about both places and was thinking of shots to take all the time. It was brutally HOT that day, but we powered through. It was tough doing some of the shots with family right after the ceremony outside, and the large family shots, but we made it work.

Our proofs were pretty good, we liked a lot of them. There are some shots that he didn’t get, but then I didn’t ask so I can’t really be too upset, but basically I’m stupid and didn’t ask specifically for pictures of all of our wedding details, so we didn’t get them….my fault, and I regret it, but what can you do. We still got a lot of good pictures. We’re working on our album right now…



SHUTTLE
Hampton Jitney – A
MIL really dealt with them, but as far as I know there were no problems (except that DH’s uncle threw up on the bus on the way back to the hotel haha but that’s not exactly their fault!). We had 5 runs each for 2 shuttles, but I think we only needed 4 (2 on the way there, 2 on the way back).



LIMO
Elegant – A
We didn’t have any REAL problems with Elegant, the only issue for me was that they upgraded us from an Excursion to the Hummer day-of, which most people would probably like but I HATE hummers….but, it was bigger inside so it was probably better anyway, since it was SO HOT that day. The driver was very nice. He picked up the guys at the hotel and brought them to the church, then came to my parents’ house and took all the girls, me and my dad (my mom drove her car so they could go back to the house in between). After the ceremony he took us to DH’s parents’ house so we could take some pics with our dog Ali, and then to HWC. We didn’t have any problems. At the end of the night we were supposed to have a town car for DH & I, and they upgraded us to a stretch limo again. So that was nice. No problems again, granted the ride was about 10 minutes, but the driver was very nice. Overall, no complaints.





FLOWERS
Roots, Flowers & Treasures (Cori) in Port Jeff - A
Again we looked into Roots because they are a recommended vendor at Hamlet Willow Creek. We actually met with 2 florists, the other was Sugar Magnolias. Heidi at Sugar Magnolias was very sweet, but she didn’t really listen to my vision (which I was tentative on). I thought I wanted pinks, but our BM dress color is kind of tricky. We had a yard of the fabric with us to show florists, so they saw that. She recommended really pale peachy-orange-y-yellow-y roses…which I’m sure would have been pretty….but just wasn’t quite what I wanted. All of her work is gorgeous though. It was a little out of our price range as well though. Then we met with Cori at Roots, and looked through tons of photos. She was very down to earth and her pricing is great. We picked out a picture that would be the inspiration for my bo-k, white, pink, and hot pink peonies, and decided to go with pink and hot pink for the BM bo-k. CPs I wanted all pink in a square glass cube, full and not a lot of greenery. She did a sample for me and emailed pics, and I didn’t love it. I emailed her back, but it was tough b/c I was out of state. My mom went to put down the deposit and saw the flowers in person and told me they were much better, plus it was out of season so it was tough. I admit I was nervous about it. Well, day-of those centerpieces rocked my world! They may seem simple to many of you but really they were pretty much exactly what I wanted. She also did an arrangement for the placecard table that was GORGEOUS. The bo-ks were great, bouts were fine, mom bo-ks were fine, FG baskets were fine….but the CP and bo-ks really did it for me! I was thrilled!!

Bo-ks:



Really bad pic of CP….:


Close up of CP the next day:



FG basket the next day:


Placecard table arrangement:




MUSIC – COCKTAIL HOUR
CDs, Jazz Trio – A+
DH’s friend from college is an amazing musician, and DH asked him if he would play at some point during our wedding. He decided to pull together a trio (which he apparently does a lot!) and they played the inside half of the cocktail hour (b/c it was SOOO HOT). They were great, even my parents were totally impressed!
Otherwise, we made some CDs of songs that were special to us and that was played in the outdoor area. It was perfect. I think they might have actually started playing them when we got there, which was great. I loved hearing some of our songs (although most of it I certainly didn’t hear haha).



MUSIC - RECEPTION
Sal Vivo and Friends – B
Ok, now this was another thing we kind of rushed into. At first I wanted a DJ b/c I thought it would be easier. DH really wanted a band….my Dad agreed….so I went for it. I was concerned about the cost of a band, but as my parents were paying and my Dad really wanted it, it was ok. My mom and DH’s mom went to some showcases and saw some bands, we got the dvds and thought they were all SO cheesy. We really weren’t into them at all. DH’s family has used the Sal Vivo Band for events previously, and we knew they were good. DH contacted him, and we ended up with a 3 piece band, DJ, and Frank Sinatra style singer (Tony Deville). Dealing with them in advance was pretty annoying, FM for details, I doubt anyone will be using them anyway so it doesn’t really matter. I will say that Tony Deville, the crooner, was FABULOUS! When DH and I were making table rounds my extended family was betting on whether or not he was lip syncing!! Hahaha….he totally wasn’t though, he was awesome!



SPARKLERS
SparklersOnline.com – A+
I saw sparklers at a wedding somewhere, maybe on LIW, maybe somewhere else, I really can’t remember. I think my first LIW post might have been about sparklers haha. Anyway, I knew I wanted them. DH and I LOVE fireworks, and if we couldn’t have fireworks, I wanted sparklers. DH loved the idea. I asked Barbara at the Hamlet and she was cool with it, so we went for it. We ordered the 36” sparklers, which come with 10” sparklers to light them. Barbara really orchestrated it, I think the valets might have done the lighting, I’m not totally sure, in any case when we got outside at the end of the reception, there was a huge aisle of sparklers to walk through, and then we got to play with our own! It was awesome, our guests were totally surprised (our last little surprise for them!), and I think it will make for some awesome pictures and video! CAN’T WAIT TO SEE!! If anyone is on the fence, definitely do this! It was so worth it!! It was magical!










GARTERS
Garters by Gingersnap - A
I couldn’t decide what kind of garter I wanted, although I knew I wanted something fun, not just plain. I wanted a Simpsons one, but all the Simpsons ones I found the toss garter was plain, and I waned the toss garter to reflect whatever it was. I ended up getting a half Yankees half Mets garter to reflect one of our big rivalries haha…it was way more than I wanted to spend, but it came out cute and DH was surprised, so I suppose it was worth it!




FAVORS
Sort of DIY…
Pink favor bags: Ebay
Cookie Cutters: cookiecutter.com
Baci: ordered from a website, can’t remember the name…
Recipe cards: DIY

We really couldn’t decide what to do for favors, we didn’t want to spend a lot of money, but we wanted it to reflect us. Some of you might remember we originally wanted to do the beer we brewed ourselves as the favor, but that didn’t work out (we ended up doing it at the RD). We decided to do cookie cutters (a few different shapes) with a cookie recipe from us, and 2 Baci candies (they are hazelnut and dark chocolate, and like truffle sized, and wrapped in navy and silver…each one has a love quote inside kind of like a little fortune hehe). We wrapped them in pink organza favor bags.




MENUS, PROGRAMS, PLACE CARDS (DIY)
Supplies from same as invites - A
We did all of these items similarly to our invites. Same process. They all came out lovely and coordinated nicely. The only one we didn’t use the template for was the menu b/c we wanted it to be a different size and didn’t love the menu template. DH designed the menu on Photoshop, and put the pink L watermark on it. I loved it! These are the things we didn’t get any pro pics of….boo me.




TABLE NUMBERS (DIY)
Silver frames: Dollar Tree – A
I knew I wanted to do photo table numbers when I saw someone’s on LIW. I used CameraKrazie’s instructions to do them, and it worked great. Only problem was my own fault, I had the brightness on some of the pictures at different levels. I got the pictures printed like the day before I had to bring them to the Hamlet so it was too late to fix, but oh well. We printed them Black and White, 5x7. Just used pics of me and DH (we didn’t do E-pics). People liked those too, they were a hit! People must have taken some of them b/c they didn’t all come back! When I went to pick up the pictures at CVS the woman was like “are you the wedding? That is SUCH a cute idea! I love it!!” That was totally a pick-me-up for me that week….I think something stressful had just happened….it’s the little things!!





GUESTBOOK (DIY)
DH & Shutterfly.com – A+
We wanted to do something different for a guestbook, and I saw this idea on LIW forever ago. We decided to make a photo book with pictures of all of our wedding guests…it was tough getting all the pictures, but our parents scanned a ton and we had some digital. We made an awesome book that highlights us, our families, and our friends, and some of our favorite pictures of all. There was space on each page to write, and we asked our guests to sign near their photo. We got an array of extra fine Sharpies, which worked well. Hopefully this is a guestbook we will actually look at again! This guestbook was a HUGE HIT at our wedding—people were talking about it!! There was a lot of, oooh what picture of me?? When is that from?? Haha….people were really into it!! This was one of our best DIY’s by far!!



CHURCH
St John the Baptist, Wading River – A+
I don’t know if you can really rate a church, but this is my parents’ regular church. When I lived on Long Island I went to this church every week since 6th grade. When I was in high school I played the flute every week at mass in this church. Needless to say, I definitely wanted to get married at this church. Originally my mom wanted us to have a mass, but on a Saturday, the latest we could have it was 1:00pm. That was such a long gap, that my mom relented and allowed us to do a ceremony which could be at 3:00pm. I really just thought I would break down if I had to sit through the whole mass that one time. We did pre-cana through SJB also, it was a weekend. There were 2 weekends we had to choose from, so we did the one in March. A few other LIWers were there (hey ladies!). There were 19 couples I think, and 2 host couples (1 of whom were my parents next door neighbors!). It was Friday night and all day Saturday. It went really well, we got a lot out of it, and the food was great as well! No regrets.
We had a little trouble scheduling our rehearsal b/c we had to do it the day before due to the whole BP being OOT, and there were 2 weddings that Friday. We ended up doing it at 7:30pm on Friday. We did our RD first, and then DH’s parents had a dinner for other OOT guests during the rehearsal, and then we had a reception type of thing after from 9-11. Anyway, the rehearsal was fine, we made it through. We were married by Deacon Fred, who was great. Actual ceremony, everything was fine. No problems at all, at least not that I recall! Musicians we had our church pianist who I know well, and one of the cantors who I also know well. Both were smiling at me the whole darn time haha…but they were great, as I knew they would be! We used Canon in D for BP procession, Trumpet Voluntary for me and my dad, had the Ave Maria, and then had the traditional recessional (Bridal Chorus?). Honestly I don’t even remember that! Haha…











RECEPTION HALL
Hamlet Willow Creek, Mount Sinai – A+
We got engaged in July of 2007, and DH surprised me—we hadn’t discussed it (although I guess it was kind of implied after 7 years), and we hadn’t discussed when the wedding would be. At first I was overwhelmed and was thinking Summer 2009 b/c it seemed so soon and I didn’t think we’d find anything for Summer 2008 (and we knew we wanted Summer and Saturday night). In mid-August we decided we didn’t want to wait and to see what we could find. Obviously being OOT was tough, my parents started looking into tons of halls, my mom called tons of halls to find out availability. We knew we wanted someplace that was 1 wedding at a time, not too far from our church, and could accommodate at least 200 people. We ended up with 2 choices—HWC for 6-7-8 or Timber Point for a date in July. My parents had visited both and told us about it, but they were trying not to bias us. We looked at both websites and menus and dates and tried to puzzle it out. Somehow we decided on HWC and that we wanted 6-7-8 (they’d had a cancellation and that was the only reason it was available), so we went for it! My parents said that was the one they liked better anyway haha so it all worked out! We came to LI in Sept to see it in person, and my parents, DH’s parents, DH and I went and ate at the Grill Room—the food was good, and we were happy with it, although we couldn’t quite picture it at the time. As time progressed, Barbara our banquet manager became my email buddy—she is fabulous and was always helpful and responds so quickly!! She was my 2nd best wedding planning asset after my mom. We did our food tasting in April, and it was great. She allowed us to taste an extra entrée, and plated the salad 2 different ways (solo and as a duo with the appetizer) so we could see it. We decided to go for the duet so that we could save some serving time. The portions were great and all the entrees were great. We ended up choosing the Filet, Horseradish Crusted Chicken, and Potato Crusted Tilapia. All were great. We had tomato mozzarella appetizer plated with a field greens salad, and chocolate molten cake as our additional dessert (served with the wedding cake). Day of, the food was fabulous. Cocktail Hour I hardly ate anything, but I did eat Calamari and it was fabulous!! I heard good reviews on everything though, and people loved the sculptures and the way things were laid out. Because it was so hot, only the chafing dishes were outside during the cocktail hour, the rest was inside, but people were really spread out fine, it was perfect. We also decided to have a signature drink, the “Something Blue” (which we named and created), and they passed that as well. People loved that too!! Just another of our little touches that went over very well! Thank you LIW ladies for helping me come up with that fabulous name!!

Everything flowed really smoothly and everything was fabulous. We had an awesome time, the dance floor was crowded a lot, but people were also able to go out on the terrace during the reception which some people did, which was fine. They set up everything exactly as we wanted it, and made the sparklers work as well! We really just had an awesome time, and they did an amazingly amazing job!! When we left that night, they gave us a bottle of champagne and 2 take away containers each with a piece of wedding cake and a chocolate molten cake in it…great! FH dug into the cake later on in our suite hahaha….

Our cake was provided by
MaCayla Michaels who now does cakes for HWC. We got a White Chocolate Almond cake with Dark Chocolate Mousse filling and fondant. We met with Michael to do a tasting at their showroom b/c DH really wanted to taste cake. Barbara gave us the contact info and we set it up separately. We also showed him a picture of a cake we liked. The cake was DELICIOUS on the day, so moist and AMAZING. The look was pretty, not exactly what we were expecting but we kind of left it open and gave him some creative license, so we can't really complain. DH really wanted a white cake, I wanted something fancier but I let him have his white cake....gotta throw them a bone sometimes!

All in all, after choosing HWC sight unseen, it could not have been better had we seen it a million times!! IT WAS PERFECT! Anyone who is thinking about Hamlet Willow Creek should definitely go for it!!!










FIRST DANCE LESSONS
Dancing Together - A+



I knew DH would NEVER do dance lessons but he has no rhythm and we needed to do something or we'd just be out there swaying....so I asked for this dvd and my brother gave it to me for my birthday. It was great b/c we were able to do it at home in private, and also at our own pace. You could easily do the whole thing in one sitting, but DH wasn't that patient haha. There are lessons within it so we did like 1 or 2 lessons at a time. We shocked everyone with all the different turns we knew! It was great, DEFINITELY worth it, I highly recommend, especially if you have a shy DH!




OOT Hotels
Hampton Inn Brookhaven – A-
Radisson MacArthur Airport – B

We had a lot of OOT guests (all of our friends, and most of DH’s family), so we knew we needed to book a lot of rooms. We also wanted to stay at a hotel the night of. Originally we were going to stay at the Radisson and have that be our main hotel, because they were willing to block 40 rooms for us, but their service left something to be desired. Hampton Inn would only block 20 rooms for us. DH’s parents also wanted to do the RD and day-after Brunch at the hotel, so they looked into that and decided the Hampton Inn would be better. So, we booked our suite there and were able to get it for the block rate since we filled our block. The hotel was very nice, only trouble we had with them was that we really wanted to increase our block and they refused repeatedly, but then randomly some people called and asked and they booked them for it. Also, we had some people who booked outside the block b/c the block was full, and when we called they moved them into the block and gave them the block rate, so that was nice. They also gave out our OOT bags no problem. We heard that the Radisson didn’t always give out the gift bags, and also they were pretty unforgiving about people booking outside the block later. Oh well. My advice is to stay on top of the hotels, just in general!

As for the RD and Day-After Brunch, DH’s parents had them catered into a private room at the Hampton Inn, by a place called The Garage. The food was fine, nothing spectacular but fine. The room was fine, they didn’t bother us at all which was nice. FM for more info.


REGISTRIES
Macy’s - A
Target - A
REI - A

We really didn’t have any problems with any of these. Macy’s was where we had all our dishes, bedding, towels, etc, so I would say that was our primary registry. At Target we had a bunch of random things but that was mostly for our friends to make it more convenient for them. REI was b/c DH wanted to register for Kayaks. So we did! His friends gave us a check to buy the Kayaks and then gave us the paddles….we have yet to purchase them! No problems. We got a gift card for $168 in rewards from Macy’s at the end which was great!

BM Gifts
Monogrammed Tote Bags – J. Crew – A+

I got these cute tote bags from the J. Crew clearance sale in winter time, different colors for each girl and one for myself with my new initials that I used the day-of and on the HM as well…love it! When they first came in and I showed DH mine with my new initials, he got all goofy haha…it was cute. Anyway, the girls were able to use these to bring stuff they needed the day of, and they were great.



Inside the bags I put silver flip flops from NY&Co for the girls to change into during the reception if they wanted to, a little set of VS lotions and sprays (scent Love Spell), a different silver clutch for use the day of for each, which little heart compacts from Urban Outfitters, and oil blotting sheets in them, and different dangle earrings for each.

Earrings – Givenchy from Macy’s – A+
I got 4 different pairs, the girls loved them. Can’t find a good pic right now, but they were very pretty and I’m sure the girls will wear again!



GM Gifts
Things Remembered – A

DH was in charge of these—he decided to get engraved cufflinks and beer steins for all the guys. They were very nice when they came in, only thing was I guess he didn’t realize that the steins had a metal plate and couldn’t go in the dishwasher….ah well. That was his fault I am sure. He also got cufflinks for the Dads. I think the prices were reasonable but I honestly couldn’t tell you!


Parent Gifts
Groom’s Parents – Wine tasting excursion in Tuscany (for cruise they went on this Summer)
Bride’s Parents – Weekend with us in NJ – went well.

Both went over well. Everyone was excited.


Flower Girl Gifts
[L=http://www.threelulus.com/Store/Default.asp[/L] - Tote Bags – A+
DIY – Activity Books – A+
Kohl’s – flip flops – A+
Build-A-Bear/DIY – Flower Bears – A+

We made activity books for the FG which was great b/c they colored in them during the Limo ride, and also in between the ceremony and reception once they were done with pictures. Very helpful having that to occupy them! FM if you want more info.
The Flower Bears were the biggest hit! DH and I went to Build-A-Bear and made bears, gave them birth certificates (they were named Rose and Daisy) and got flowers for their ears but no clothes. My mom, who made our FG dresses, made matching dresses for the bears off of a modified American Girl doll dress pattern (the bears are a bit fatter!). They came out GREAT and the girls LOVED them!








Card Box
DIY – MOB – A+

I didn’t want anything too big or fancy, and my mom does the one-stroke painting flowers. I told her I just wanted a simple box painted with those flowers to match our color scheme and flowers. She got the box at Michaels and painted flowers, our names, wedding date, and some hearts on there, and topped it off with some silver ribbon. It was pretty, although DH and I had trouble fitting all of our cards in there! A little bigger would have been better I think…but all in all, it turned out well. Another thing we have no pro pics of….








OOT Bags & Guides
DIY - MOG – A+

DH’s parents really took over most things that had to do with OOT guests, as most of our OOT guests were their families. DH and I were fine with it, and let them run with it! MOG made OOT guides with directions everywhere, and some ideas of things to do in the area, important phone numbers, etc. MOB and MOG made the actual bags, they took little white shopping bags and did some marble technique on them, and put inside water bottles, chips, gum, some candy, etc. It was perfectly fine. She also made some special ones for the kids with some fun toys. Only problem was that we heard the Radisson didn’t always give them out.





Just a few more favorite photos:





















































NEWLYWEDS (the next morning….nice pit stains DH!)



Ok that’s all for now! Let me know if you have any questions, feel free to FM!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Great review - you look amazing, the wedding looked amazing!!!!!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Absolutely beautiful!!! Congrats!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Thanks for the review. Everything looked beautiful!!! Congrats!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Beautiful review! Everyting looked great! Love the dress, love the centerpieces, love your flowers! Congrats!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Great review!! You looked gorgeous!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

great review! you were one of the weddings i was most looking forward to! everything came out so great

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Wow it looks like you really had a lot of fun at your wedding - that's so cool!

You were verrrry beautiful!!!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

great review - love the sparklers!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

awww. congrats you look beautiful and sooo happy
it looks like a nice affair!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Wow, great review!!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Wow!! Everything looks so beautiful!! Congrats!!

PS, your bouquet is gorgeous!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Great review! All of your diys came out great and you look beautiful! Congrats!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Great review and great pics!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

wow you look amazing!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

thanks ladies!!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to fill us in. Everything looked beautiful! Congrats!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

AMAZING !!! Congratulations !!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

What a great review!! You covered everything and I love it!!!

Congrats to you and DH!!!

Re: SNICK N NICK'S FABULOUS 6-7-8 WEDDING!!! Hamlet Willow Creek ~ Roots Flowers & Treasures ~ Fantasia Bridal ~ Ken Hild Photography ~ OrangeFilms Video ~ Elegant Limo ~ Janine Maloney ~ MORE!

can u FM the info about the garter...How much etc...I am doing a small theme portion of the wedding with our cake and topper an LOVE your garter...any info is appreciated.Thanks
Abby