Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, Tuxedo Park and MORE

Thanks for reading my review! I hope this helps many of you out there starting to plan your weddings.

Weather:
[C]

I wanted to take all of my pictures outside and because I got married on the one day it decided to rain that month, I got none!! Thanks a lot weather!! The pictures look ok but I still dislike the background and would have preferred some gardens. All the photo opportunities were outside but the ground was too wet outside for my dress and the Maitre-D was not promoting it.

Save The Dates:
Shutterfly.com [A]

I chose to do a photo card for the announcement. It was easy to make and they came out great.

Invitations:
Michaels (Brides Black & White Damask)-
Appearance and Quality [A]
Cost [A]
Ease of Printing [B-]

I used the black and white damask invitations from the Brides collection at Michaels. I loved the way they felt and looked and received many compliments on them. However, it was hard to get the printing correct on them. Luckily, my dad figured it out and did it for me.

Rings:
London Jewelers in Manhasset [A+]

This is where we got my engagement ring and both of our wedding rings. We love all three. They do excellent custom work. The service is always top-notch and we couldn’t be happier.

MOH/Bridesmaids Dresses:
Bridal Reflections in Carle Place [A]

I didn’t work with them much, but they had a great selection of dresses and I had no problem setting up the order. The girls seemed satisfied with their service. They didn’t get alterations done but bridal reflections did ship their dresses to them as needed.

Dress:
San Patrick [A++]

All I can say is I LOVE MY DRESS. I am so upset I only got to wear it for that night. I want to put it back on sooo bad but am resisting the urge. It was dramatic and beautiful.

Alterations and Purchasing of Dress:
Village Bridal [D]

Every time I went for a fitting, the girls on the floor and at the desk had extreme attitude and did not want to help me at all. I would have bought hair accessories and a veil there but they always did everything possible to make sure they didn’t help me by either downright ignoring me or saying I don’t think we have anything like that and not bringing it over. (Of course, later I find out they did have what I wanted... but oh well, better to give my business elsewhere).

Don’t even get my started on the alterations. They kept ruining the dress and the fabric right on the top near my chest and my mom and I had to point out exactly what they did wrong and how it was different from the time before. My alterations were at the maximum of the cap they quoted me and then they had the nerve to continue to overcharge past the cap until I asked to speak with their manager. What is even worse is one day I tried on the dress and I felt sharp pain in my butt and my mom said they left a needle in there and so she took it out. I put the dress on farther and more pain... I took the dress off and lifted up my bustle to see what was going on. There were at least 15, if not more, pins in my dress!! I was sooo angry. They had the seamstress come and take them all out... except she still ended up leaving two in somehow. On the day I picked up the dress, all the wrinkles were not steamed out well enough and there were tear marks in the back of my dress from where they pinned it. Not noticeable to my guests but very noticeable to me, and my photographer when he was trying to take close-ups. They totally ruined the fabric and it was a heavy-duty fabric too.

Veil:
Wedding-Veil.com [A]

There is not much to say about this place. They have a decent selection, I was happy with my purchase. It was at a good price and the shipping was done well and came quickly, so I was very satisfied.

Hair Jewelry:
Soho Kiosk in the Roosevelt Field Mall [A]

They had the best selection and they use all Swarovski crystals so every piece looked impressive as well. The girls working spent a lot of time with me, helping me pick out and decide on exactly what I wanted.

Tuxedos:
Tuxedo Park in Carle Place-
Quality of the Clothes [A-]
Service and Interactions [C+/B-]

This store had the best selection of clothes, which is why we chose to work with them. They had the exact ties we were looking for. The only reason I gave them an A- for clothes is because they had a more limited selection of vests and I ended up being a little unhappy with the vest choice for the groomsmen.

Now, when we booked with them our service was great. The guy who helped us let us look at everything. When we made the appointment for the group fitting, it was so crowded with other people and they were showing our families the wrong clothes!! I had to specifically explain exactly what we had originally picked out and made sure the order on their forms were correct.

But it gets worse. Our entire party pre-paid in full. When my one guy went to pick up his tux, they charged him an extra $95 for his tie!! They claimed it was a special tie and it had a special price, blah, blah, blah... whatever! Ok, so we were never told this tie was for some reason more expensive, nor did they tell any of the men who had that tie when they supposedly paid in full. DH had to call them up and this is where they get their C+ changed to a B- because at least they refunded his money, like they should have. I am happy they resolved the situation nicely but the fact of the matter is that none of us should have been put in that situation in the first place. And it continues to get worse. So we just worked this entire thing out and we warned the next guy that they may try charging him $95 and to make sure he doesn’t give in. Well, he shows up to find that they don’t have a tie for him. The bag is empty and they don’t have a tie. Well, I had to get on the phone with the guy and bring out my bridezilla. Once I snapped at him with questions like, where is it? And why don’t you have it? And you need to go get him one immediately... all of a sudden it became “oh look the tie is right here, there was no problem!”. Well I’m glad the tie was right there and now we have it but thanks for giving me stress the day before my wedding.

Hair & Makeup:
Christies & Company Salon-
Makeup [A-]
Hair [A-]
Cost [C]
Service [D]

How do I even begin here? The service is so horrible and they totally rip off brides monetarily. I had a trial, like they suggested. Cost me $300 (but they claim they hold a $100 gift certificate in your name for you to use on the day of your wedding- even though it’s not really a certificate because you are still paying for it). At the trial I had booked the times with my hair and makeup artists and specifically set it so that I could have hair first and makeup last. I come in for the actual wedding and they told me go to makeup, hair is not ready. She was running THREE people behind. They were rude to me when I questioned this because we had arranged for makeup to be last. She snapped and told me this is just a trial, calm down!! My mom had to come over and make her realize no, this is her wedding day we already had the trial and this is why we are upset. You are treating us like we don’t matter and she is the bride TODAY. All of a sudden, their mood changed and she said ohhh OK, go to hair first. However, they did not put me ahead of anyone so I had to wait for the other two girls ahead of me AND for my stylist to eat lunch before they took me. I was running so late. They told me this would take about 2 hours and it took me 4 in the salon just for a hairstyle and makeup. They made me get half my makeup done and then go to hair and then finish the makeup later. The whole thing was truly a mess. I didn’t like their attitude, I didn’t like how much I had to wait, I didn’t like how the show was ran. Then I go to pay and they charge me double what I paid at the trial and it took them about 15 minutes to find that gift certificate of $100. Also, all the makeup was supposed to be 20% off. They just rung my mom up who also got a hairstyle and makeup done, and her bill was half of mine!! And she got the 20% off on makeup. Meanwhile, for some odd reason, even with the $100 off using the certificate, I paid over double what my mom did and I had to pay full price for the same makeup. We were 2 hours late at this point and we tried to argue and it wasn’t getting anywhere, so I just stormed out trying not to cry and breakdown because I didn’t want to ruin my makeup. At least it was done well, so I loved the hair and makeup and that was fine... but the service and cost was not worth it. For the price I paid, I could have had someone come to me at the hotel or hall and it would have taken less time and stress.

Reception Hall:
Westbury Manor [A/A-]

I loved Westbury Manor. I adored my Bridal Attendant. She was so great!! The whole night went so smoothly and working with them throughout the process was always a pleasure. Everything was pretty perfect for me as a whole.

However, I do have to say that there were some tiny things that upset me and that is the reason they get an A-. The first thing is the weather was bad and we had to take pictures indoors. I hated the room they had us taking all the photos in and when I asked for any other locations we could use to take photos they didn’t really help us out and just made us stay there saying that was the only place we could use. And the other things are regarding food. The food was great at cocktail hour and the appetizers and desserts were good but the main entrees were actually not very good. I heard the filet mignon was out of this world but everyone who ordered the shrimp and salmon seemed to hate it and there were two other main entrees people seemed not to like. The majority of my guests picked shrimp and salmon so I was a little upset by the fact that it wasn’t very good. Also at cocktail hour, they didn’t give us everything they said they would. They do it in a sneaky way I feel, as if purposefully leaving a few things out here and there as if we wouldn’t notice. But I love food and was invested in the menu and knew everything that was missing. They never passed out chicken tartlets or the mushroom caps or the crab cakes. I had to beg for them to bring out the raspberry and brie. One of our hot stations was not there and they certainly weren’t accompanied by the fried plantains, chips with guacamole and sour cream or fortune cookies. While it doesn’t actually make a big difference in your day, something about that is a little odd to me, and I didn’t really like it.

String Trio:
Art Strings Ensemble [A++]

They sounded wonderful. They were professional and everyone raved about them all night. I highly recommend them.

Officiant:
Rabbi Charles Agin [A++]

Rabbi Agin was recommended to me by my childhood Rabbi. I am so glad for this because he made the ceremony so personal and special. Most of our guests were not Jewish and yet everyone said this was the best ceremony they had ever been to, all due to Rabbi Agin. He was a big crowd pleaser and I really felt he provided us with long-lasting loving memories.

Florist:
Pedestals-
Bouquets [A++]
Centerpieces [A-]
Other Decorations [A-]

I booked with Pedestals and worked with Nadia. She is very nice! The bouquets were out of this world. Full and heavy and gorgeous. They decorated the cake wonderfully and also put down the rose petals on the aisle runner as requested. However, Westbury Manor provided this nice white fabric aisle runner but Pedestals used their own greenish tinted paper aisle runner and it looked cheap. They get an A- for centerpieces because there were less red roses than discussed and more greenery and leaves (we which didn’t want) and there were way less sunflowers as previously discussed and the sunflowers that were used were already droopy and dead-looking. I mean, they still looked impressive but many people kind of commented on the dying sunflowers. It was a little embarrassing and disappointing.

Favors:
Lazars Chocolate [A++]

They make these delicious chocolate lollipops with colored non-pareils on them but they are always made in milk chocolate. I prefer their dark chocolate, so I had them custom make them, with the dark chocolate and only white non-pareils. It fit perfectly with our black and white theme and they were delicious!! Expensive but so worth it.

Hotel:
La Quinta-
Room [A]
Service [C]
Price [F]
Dealing with Staff [F]

The bridal suite is great, especially if you have a big bridal party and want to get ready in the room. Lots of space and a hook in the ceiling for your dress if you are staying over the night before. Bed was comfy and they had a mini-fridge. However, I felt the guest rooms and the bridal suite were extremely overpriced. Most of my guests found cheaper rates at the same hotel through triple A and some stayed at nearby hotels for less. We originally booked with Tyleen and she stated we could book 10 rooms to get the price reduction for our room . We had 12 and then Joanne told us we had to book 15 rooms and they would not discount it for us. We only had a party of 46 guests, most who live in this area. 12 rooms was a lot for us and that’s why Tyleen said yes to 10 rooms. They never gave us the money off. We e-mailed back and forth many times and got nowhere and eventually we just gave up. But we complained about the costs for us and our guests and how we would have even had the 15 rooms if their prices were more affordable. Well, we had a breakfast brunch after the wedding the next morning and we used the downstairs area and Joanne had the nerve to come over and introduce herself to me as if we never met in person before or exchanged angry emails the week before the wedding (we met her before in person and talked on the phone and had just been communicating via e-mail A LOT). She was all “I hope you enjoyed your stay here and it is so nice to meet you” (While interrupting my conversation with a family member). It was so awkward and I found it so rude! I wanted to start yelling at her for never getting back to me about the price deduction that she said she would run by someone else. We paid full price and I feel it was a complete rip-off and they never handled the situation. And for her to have the nerve to act like she didn’t know me whatsoever and put on a show like ‘our hotel is so nice’ was odd.


Feel free to FM me if you have any additional questions.

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, and MORE

Great review!!!!

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, and MORE

Great reveiw thanks for sharing.

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, and MORE

Great review!!

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, and MORE

Great review. We had a similar experience with Tuxedo Park . . . not good.

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, and MORE

Thanks girls.

And I'd love to hear your tuxedo park story!

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, Tuxedo Park and MORE

Thanks for sharing your review!

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, Tuxedo Park and MORE

Congratulations on your wedding!

Great review...thanks for posting.

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, Tuxedo Park and MORE

great review!

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, Tuxedo Park and MORE

Thanks for sharing!! Congratulations

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, Tuxedo Park and MORE

Thanks. I'm still trying to add on honeymoon review!

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, Tuxedo Park and MORE

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, Tuxedo Park and MORE

Vert Nice... Congrats

Re: Summer 2010: Westbury Manor, Pedestals, Art Strings Ensemble, La Quinta, Tuxedo Park and MORE

I'm so sad this was over a year ago now =0(