Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Francesca was with me until the very end of the night. She made sure I never needed anything. She also made sure all of my things were packed from the bridal suite and ready for me to take back home. Everyone loved them and even my DH commented about how great they were.
While on my honeymoon I couldn’t remember where I had put the gift DH had given me and I was nervous about leaving it at my house. I emailed Francesca and she knew exactly where I had put it! Is that awesome work or what?

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Church
Emanuel United Church of Christ, Woodhaven, NY A+++++++
It doesn’t seem right to rate a church but this church was just too wonderful. It took me a while to find a church since I am Christian and DH is Catholic. He was all about having the Catholic church “look” and I knew I could not marry in a Catholic church. Emanuel United church was perfect for us. It was Christian but still had a Catholic look to it that DH was happy about. I am not a member of this church but still attended a few services whenever I could, I will admit at first just to SEE the church, but the members were so sweet that it was hard not to. They gave me no problems at all about photos, rose petals, decorations, music and even the fact that I was bringing my own officiant.

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Officiant
Omar Lopez of Marriage NYC (marriagenyc.com) A++++++++
(2006 officiant - 'the wedding of the year' - hosted by nycityweddings.com & liweddings.com
2007 officiant - 'the wedding of your dreams' - 'la boda de tus suenos' - hosted by Univision Television Network2008 officiant featured in PEOPLE EN ESPAÑOL magazine performing Mexican Pop Artist, Jimena's wedding)
Omar is AWESOME! That is the best way I can describe him. I wanted a bilingual officiant because I wanted to be able to say my vows in Spanish and have the ceremony done in both Spanish and English. I met Omar at a Bridal Event and we hit it off. After I had DH meet with him and saw how they interacted with each other I knew Omar was the perfect person to marry us.
The night of the rehearsal Omar asked to let him be in charge of setting everything up and I agreed. He took charge! He told everyone where and how to line up and we went over the entire ceremony. Everything flowed smoothly.

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

The day of the wedding whenever I was about to break down in tears at the altar Omar said something to keep me calm. I had spoken to him prior to the wedding to add Lee’s son to our vows as a surprise to everyone. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I thought I wouldn’t make it through my vows for his son, but Omar knew the exact words to get me focused again. I can’t thank him enough for making our ceremony better than I could have imagined! My entire bridal party and family loved him!

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Reception
Russo’s on the Bay A+++++++++++++
Whenever people asked where I was getting married and I mentioned Russo’s I ALWAYS got the same response “Great Food and Great Service”. They were absolutely right! Everything was beyond PERFECT. From the very first day I walked in there I was treated like royalty. Since I lived closed by I went to Russo’s whenever I got the chance and everytime I was there the staff greeted me by name and I would fall in love with the place all over again. Carol was my banquet manager and I LOVE THIS WOMAN! We spoke almost daily. Every question, or concern I had she answered. She was helpful and patient and never made me feel like I was bothering her.
The day of the wedding the staff catered to our every need. I never had to ask for a thing because it was already taken care of. Guests told me after that their glasses were never empty and their was always food on their plate.

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Mr. Russo himself made a few appearances and went to EVERY SINGLE table asking everyone if they were enjoying themselves.
The Maitre D’ and her assistant made sure DH and I ate and that our parents were also taken care of. They gave us slippers and packed up goodies for all of us to take home.
The food was AMAZING! The cake they created for me was GORGEOUS and tasted DELICIOUS (Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting). People are still calling us and our parents about the wonderful service they received.
I could NOT have picked a better place and I am so glad we chose Russo’s.

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Wedding Favors
Tiffany’s A+++
We had crystal candy dishes as souvenirs. Now I don’t understand why the boxes were SO BIG since the candy dishes were small but it added to the wow effect LOL
The boxes came with the white bow and it was not an easy job to undo them to add the stickers to the candy dish. Lol Tiffany’s also provided Tiffany shopping bags for every souvenir which came in handy for the guests at the end of the night!

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

DJ
Eddie of Style DJ’s (styledjs.com) A+++++++++
Wow there is such a crazy story behind this vendor! LOL
I knew I wanted a DJ that was specialized in both the music I hear everyday AND Spanish music. I didn’t want a DJ who just played Spanish music I wanted a DJ who knew and loved Spanish music. After searching on LIW and meeting with various vendors I originally booked with Izzy of Feel The Vibe DJ’s. He was the MC and Eddie was the DJ there at that time. Months later I find out that the company had split up and Eddie had now started his own company. I was torn since I loved both Izzy and Eddie and their chemistry together. After meeting with both of them and after weeks of thinking of what to do I decided to go with Eddie. It was just a gut feeling that told me that is who I should choose. I am so glad I did. I had many conversations with Eddie after my decision was made.

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Since my schedule was so hectic and busy all the time Eddie offered to come to my house to go over my music choices on a Sunday afternoon. I didn’t have to give him a super lengthy playlist. I just gave him some examples of the music I liked and the songs I wanted played for the cake cutting, entrances, etc along with songs I did NOT want played and he did the rest on his own. You know when a song comes on the radio that you love and you think Oh I love this song and you jump up to dance and sing it? That’s how I felt all night! The music was PHENOMENAL! The MC, Ricardo, was hilarious and so much fun! He had everyone on that dance floor all night!
Eddie had zap shots, I think its called, where they take pictures of everyone on the dance floor and post them on the screen during the wedding. At the end of the night he gave me a DVD with about 400 pictures they had taken that night! He also made a CD with our wedding song with the pictures I had given him to display on the screen. He is the kind of person that you want to remain friends with. Definitely check this company out! You will not regret it!

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Dawn of Cruise One (www.CruiseOne.com/ddorr) A++++++
I heard about Dawn on LIW. I emailed her about honeymoon ideas and she went right to it. She emailed me a bunch of different options and prices ranges (not just Cruises as the name of her company would suggest). I usually like to book things on my own but was so impressed with how quickly and how much information Dawn provided me that I decided to stay with her. When my first honeymoon idea fell through due to an itinerary change Dawn again emailed me a ton of different options. I ended up booking one week in Punta Cana, DR and then a one week cruise to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbados and St. Lucia. A YEAR after we had booked our honeymoon and right before our final payment was due Dawn called to inform me that the prices had dropped on the land portion of our trip so we ended up owing less money. I was ecstatic! Even after we were paid in full she called again to let me know the prices on the cruise portion had dropped and she rebooked our entire cruise and refunded me $1200! I couldn’t believe it! She could have easily not mentioned anything to me and even kept the money and I wouldn’t have known the difference! Everything about our cruise was AMAZING!

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

The hotel she recommended in Punta Cana and Puerto Rico (which is where the cruise left out of), the Cruise Ship and its itinerary were all wonderful!
When we arrived to our Cruise Suite, there was a bottle of wine waiting for us with a note from Dawn to have a great honeymoon! She is a great travel agent and I would recommend everyone to use her!
HONEYMOON PICS

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Photo Restoration Gift for In Laws
Artisan Photo Restoration (artisanphotorestoration.com) A+
My in laws have no pictures from their wedding since the day they went to pick up their pictures the place had burned down! My father in law had two tiny pictures that a guest had taken at the wedding. I googled around for a place I could take these old photos to have them enlarged and restored and I found this place right near my job. He had the pictures back to me the very next day. We presented them to my in-laws in a really nice frame as a gift.


DH’s Wedding Gift to Me
A Breitling watch with a diamond bezel.

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

My Gift to DH
Nike 21 Mercer
My DH is a sneaker FANATIC! He has sneakers that cost more than some of my manolo’s and jimmy choo’s! I tried customizing sneakers for him using Nike ID but they don’t let you use Nike Air Force One’s which is the type of Nike sneakers he likes the most. After some searching I found out about Nike 21 Mercer which is an exclusive Nike Store that has BeSpoke which allows you to design any Nike sneaker using any material, color, etc. It was expensive but well worth it. It was difficult to get an appointment but I finally got one and sat with a designer who helped me put the design together. It was cool to sit down and pick out fabrics, materials and colors and then to put it all together. I was also able to add “322” our wedding date to the lace plate and they also provided a Nike Tag Plate that I personalized for him. It took about 4 weeks to be completed. DH LOVED the sneakers! Only thing is I forgot to tell him he could wear them at the reception. I previously told him I didn’t want him to change into sneakers at the reception because I knew I was going to surprise him with these, so he didn’t bring them to the reception! Lol

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Budoir Photography
Fedali (fedali.com) A++++++++
I also surprised FH with a photo album of my Budoir Pictures. I used Fedali for the photos and the album. They were AWESOME!!! They make you feel super comfortable and as if it were the easiest thing in the world to pose in your lingerie in front of a stranger. The pictures came out so HOT! I couldn’t stop looking at them! The look on DH’s face when he saw them was PRICELESS! Fedali is worth EVERY PENNY!!!

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Dance Lessons
Mende Dance Studio, Rego Park, NY (mendedancestudio.com) A+++++
Our dance instructor was Elani. She is the sweetest woman ever! DH can not dance and never dances whenever we go out. I didn’t want to dance a slow song as our first dance and wanted to do a Spanish song. I knew trying to get DH to learn a complicated routine would not work so I chose a beautiful song by Juan Luis Guerra and Mana (two of my favorite artists). It’s a very slow Bachata / Rhumba. DH was not thrilled but he agreed to start lessons. It was such a great idea! We had so much fun learning the dance and having a great instructor made it all the easier. I was really impressed with how quickly DH was learning and I could tell that he was enjoying every minute of it whenever the instructor would complement on how great he was doing. We took about 6 lessons. The day of the wedding I was so nervous that we never even did the entire routine we had practiced and rehearsed for so many hours! LOL Since we had the elevator entrance out of the floor at Russo’s people were so excited and amazed that they didn’t move from the dance floor and we didn’t have the space to start the routine the way we were supposed to so I panicked and whispered to DH to skip the introduction! LOL

Re: My 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

Here are a few teaser pro-pics

Texting FH about how nervous I was


I was acting silly all day


























IT WAS FREEZING!!!

Re: My SUPER LONG 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

everything looks so beautiful!!

Re: My SUPER LONG 3/22/09 Review: Russo’s on the Bay; Flower Michele; 12th Night Photography; Mittermax; StyleDJ’s; M*I*A; & MORE (With PICS)!!!

WOW MADY!!!

Congratulations again, everything looks spectacular!!