Our July 2, 2006 wedding at the Coral House - Patken Photography, Unlimited Entertainment, Wicks Florist, Larosa Cuban Cigars, RJs Limos, etc.!!!!

Although I was not a major poster, I was definitely an addicted lurker. I really got some great ideas and info from lurking on this site and reading other peoples reviews. I hope this helps someone. Please let me know of anyone questions – thanks for all your help in my planning!! Meghan

Invitations
Yourinvitationplace.com A+++

We looked around at some specialty shops for invitations. We found the ones we wanted and found them on this website for a great price. We put our order in on a Sunday night and they were here by that Thursday.

Inkspun.com B
We used them for the addressing of our envelopes. Everything came out great, but it took much longer than I expected. I sent them out on a Tuesday and saw a post that Friday from a girl who had sent hers Monday saying she had already gotten hers back. I figured id have mine Saturday. Well Monday I called and they were not in the office until Tuesday. I called back and they said they would be going out on Wednesday and I would have them by Thursday. I called Thursday and they still had not left. They sent them out later that day and I had them Friday, but it was a little disappointing bc I thought I would have them a lot sooner than 11 days. My advice to all of you is call and make sure to stress when you need them back!!

Confoti.com A+
At a friends shower her moh had used this site to order picture confetti. I used them for tickers to close the envelopes. It was so easy to use and order. I uploaded our engagement photo and they came out adorable. I got it approved by dh before ordering bc I did not want them if he hated them, but they really were a nice touch.


Shower location Sals Place in Massapequa A++
They really put together a great party. I used them for my parents surprise anniversary party in November and my bridal party booked them for my shower. Everything was really good!!


Rehearsal Dinner location Elisas Restaurant in Bellmore A++
This was a great place. We got half of the restaurant on a Thursday night. The food and service were really good.


The Art Of Shaving in Roosevelt Field Mall Groomsmen gifts A
These gifts were a hit amongst the guys and they all tell us that they love the set and use it regularly. It was hard for DH to think of a good gift for his Gms, but he came up with this and it really worked out nicely.


Bridal Garden in Bethpage A++
I got my dress, my moms dress and the bm dresses here. They were very helpful and great with ordering everything. The BM dresses came in May, but the dresses were not all the exact shade of sage green, so they were sent back. Apparently they were all sage green, but did not match up 100% so that means they were not cut from the same piece of fabric. I never saw the dresses but they said they never would have sold us them. The dresses did not come back in until about a week and a half before the wedding, talk about stress!! Everything turned out great though. I had told the bridal garden that I wanted all the dresses done by the Thursday before our wedding. Thurs was our rehearsal dinner and I did not want my girls to have to come back out here another day. Everything was done on time and the alterations looked very good on everyone. My mom had no problems with her dress and she was also happy with the alterations. I loved my dress and had no problems as well. On my last fitting I asked them to put straps on for the reception. That was the best thing I did. A friend of mine had suggested it and I was so thankful. The bustle made the dress so heavy and the straps kept me from feeling the need to pick my dress up the whole night. I was able to have a great time and not worry about my dress falling down!!

Sandys Shoes in Massapequa A+
I got my shoes, flip flops, and garter here. They are a little shop with a great selection. The bms that had dyeable shoes also got their shoes here and they really matched the color well. My mom also used them and loved how well her shoes matched.

Barrons for Veil, FG dresses and many accessories in TriCounty A+
I went to Barrons for the FG dresses bc of another recommendation. They have a big selection of dresses and great prices. We had 5 fgs and did not want the parents to pay too much for the dresses. One dress had to be ordered and it was in within one week.
I also ordered my veil here, again bc of a recommendation. I wanted a fairly simple veil. I got a fingertip veil without edging. I had them scatter pearls and rhinestones throughout the veil. The veil was something I really loved. I kept it on the whole night and never felt like it was in the way!!
I also bought a lot of the little accessories from Barrons. We got the ring bearer pillow, the money bag, and my hair clip here.

Town and Country Tuxedos A+
We used the store in Wantagh and we really had no problems. All the tuxes fit nicely. We went with a very classic look and I thought everyone looked so handsome.

St. William the Abbott in Seaford A
This is neither mine nor dhs home church but they were great. We wanted an older looking church and after St. Killians in Farmingdale told us no we went to St. William and could not have been happier. Precana was not as bad as some of the stories I have heard and the offering was not terribly expensive. We had never even been in the church prior to booking the wedding there. When we saw the inside it had just been redone and looked great. The aisle was sooo long, which of course stressed me a little, but it was so nice on the day of the wedding.


Turkan Jewelry TriCounty A+++
My husband got my engagement ring from here. A week before we got engaged our best friends got engaged. I went looking for the ring with our friend and we found this great booth. Our friend then took my dh there to look at the rings and he bought from there too. If anyone has ever been to the flea market they know that the jewelry floor can make a person dizzy. This booth was an amazing find. It always has customers, even on days where it seems like none of the other booths have anyone. They took my dhs grandfathers and made it fit him. They also searched for and found a wedding ring to match my ering almost exactly!! I know we will use them for life!!

Ultimate Look in Farmingdale A+


This is my normal hair salon and I was so happy they are open on Sundays and could do my bridal party. Not only do I normally go here, so do two of my friends/bms, which was perfect. I went there with 5 out of six bridal party members and my mom. They really did a beautiful job on everyones hair and everyone was pleased with their work. I had a picture of that gorgeous blond girl with the great half up do that has been all over this website and I really felt like Stephanie was able to recreate it beautifully!!


Alyson from Stila Cosmetics, Bloomingdales – A+

I had major issues with the makeup. I am not a fan of looking like I am wearing too much so trial after trial did not feel right. I ended up thinking I would do it myself, so I went to the Stila counter for pointers. Alyson did a trial for me using different colors on each eye to see which I liked better. She is absolutely adorable and both my sister and I agreed she would do a great job for the wedding. I did not officially book her until the week before the wedding bc it was a little pricey. Alyson was well worth every penny. She was at my house at 11 and began working as soon as we walked in (running late from the hair salon). She did my moms makeup as well as three bms and mine. (The other bms used other people of their choice.) I was very pleased by her work and she is so sweet, my sister wanted her to stay and hang out with us at the wedding!!

Limos – RJs Exotic Limousines – A++

We went to three different limo companies and RJs had the best prices and selection of limos. We order two 14 pass and a Rolls Royce. They called two days before the wedding and said they were having problems with the ac in one of the limos, so they sent an escalade to the boys house. They were early at both locations, which I loved bc they were ready to go when we were. They really helped out with getting everyone down the aisle and making sure everything was perfect.

Coral House- A++

We looked at a lot of places before deciding on the coral house. I was reluctant to go there for really no reason. As soon as we walked in, we both fell in love and signed the contract during our walk through. They really put together a great event.
The cocktail hour was on the rooftop terrace. Rain was predicted the whole day, so as soon as we pulled up at 6:30, they asked if we still wanted the cocktail hour outside. Of course we wanted it outside. The rain held off until 8pm, literally minutes after the cocktail hour ended!
The reception was in the Americana Room and it looked gorgeous. The chairs had covers with bows and the room was such so elegantly done. The dance floor was nice and big so all our guests could enjoy themselves comfortably. The maitre’d was more or less also my bridal attendant. I did have a bridal attendant, but it was the maitre’d who helped me with my bustle and then again two ore times when it came undone.
Overall, I would definitely recommend the coral house to anyone. They are priced well with so many extras and they were always very helpful and accommodating.

Unlimited Entertainment A++

We had two DJs, one was Mike and the other ones name I completely forgot. They were very good at getting the crowd going. They played the right mix of dance songs with a few breaks of slow songs. They managed to play just about very song we had requested and a whole lot more that really fit and we did not even think of.

Wick’s Florist in Baldwin A++

This was the only florist we had gone to bc as soon as we met with Chris on that first day, we just knew they would do exactly what we thought we wanted. My MIL used to work for a florist so we had an idea of what to ask for and how much everything would cost and Wicks was right on point with everything. All the boks looked absolutely beautiful and the fg baskets came out great. The boutinerres looked great from beginning to end of the night. Bc it was sooooo hot on the day of the wedding, Wicks sent vases to the coral house for the bm boks. Their boks stayed so nicely. They also stuffed our petal cones for us which made our lives a little easier. Again I would recommend this vendor. They had great ideas and prices. They are a reputable florist that has been around for many years.

Patken Photography and Videography A- (pending final products)

We used Patken for both the video and the photos. Both the photographer and the videographer were great to work with all day. The photographer was so nice and took every picture we asked for. As soon as he walked in my parents house he started taking pics of me getting my makeup done, without even putting all his stuff down.
My only complaint is that we really did not get as many pics as I would have liked. We got less than 400 pics and I was under the impression we were going to get all the pics he took that day. We also do not have all that many candid shots. But on a positive side, the candids we do have are great! I hope the final album and the final video look as good as I hope.
Photography part A+
UPDATE... we actually went into Patken to discuss the lack of candids and they were great. They even proofed some more candids for us that they thought we may like. We get the master cd after the album is done and that should be more than enough. Their customer service was great they really were very helpful and answered all our questions. We are happy with our pics and are actually having a hard time figuring which ones not to include in our album!

LaRosa Cuban Cigar Roller larosacubanacigars.com A++
This was my surprise for dh. He absolutely loved it. The cigar roller was about 45 mins early and got settled before they announced the surprise and wheeled in his table. Our room had plenty of room for him to roll the cigars towards the back of the room. He stayed for one hour and rolled about half of the 100 cigars I ordered onsite. This was a great company to deal with. I actually found them on another persons review and I contacted them immediately. The cigars were labeled with our names and date. I also ordered matchbooks, from a website I cannot even remember, to have on the table with the cigars. Anyone interested in having a cigar roller should definitely contact Larosa, they a have variety of plans and their prices are great!




DIY Projects
BM and FG jewelry
I had always played around with jewelry making but this was the first time I used quality products. I had so much fun creating the jewelry for my girls and I was able to give them something that I truly loved.
Favors
We made donations and gave a little card explaining such along with kisses and hugs
Programs
I simply printed these out on my own computer and they really came out good, if I do say so myself.
Votive Place cards
When I told dh about this he thought I was crazy and could not understand why we could not just use the regular cards, then, he saw what I was talking about. He actually picked out the votives we used and put all the labels on the candles. This was something a lot of our guests had never seen and they looked amazing.
FlipFlop Basket
I wanted to give our guests comfortable footwear. A friend of mine had done the slipper basket and I thought it was just the best. Bc we were married in the summer we chose flip-flops and everyone loved them.
Petal Cones
Thanks to the very detailed instructions on how to make these on this site, they really were pretty easy. Our florist filled them for us for a great price. They came out great and are another thing that most of our guests had never seen and were impressed by.
Pew Bows
My MIL did the bows for us and they looked beautiful!!






Honeymoon El Conquistador in Puerto Rico A++++
I cannot say enough about this resort. The room was great – they upgraded us to an ocean view bc it was our hm. The bars and restaurants are delicious. The beach and golf course (I drove the cart for dh and took a million pics) are absolutely beautiful. We really had an amazing and would return in a heartbeat. We flew Jetblue which was very convenient. The flight is less than four hours, then, the shuttle ride to the resort is about an hour. It definitely did not feel like we traveled for too long. We actually loved it so much we changed our flights and stayed an extra night!!


I was really fortunate to have a good experience with just about everyone we dealt with. I definitely felt the stress of planning at times, but generally it was a great experience and although I hope to never do it again, it is something I will miss!!

Congratulations! You looked amazing, and I love the Bm dresses. Your pics came out beautiful-I'm sorry they didn't take more pics. But like you said, the ones you got are wonderful. Congrats!

Congratulations! Everything looked perfect and I love everyone's dresses

Congratulations!!!!!!!! Your pictures are amazing!!!!!!

Much congrats What a beautiful Bride, who was you photographer at Patken???

Congratulations! You looked beautiful - thank you posting such a detailed review! LIW doesn't get many Coral House brides so I am sure you're review will help a lot of girls that are still looking for a reception hall.