JennandRolo's May 25, 2008 Wedding Review: Coral House, 12th Night, Halo, Camelot, Christine from EAP, Wicks, DIYs etc.! Thank You's Pg. 2 UPDATED 10/13: Halo videos Pg. 3!

I love the most informative bride reviews, so this will be one of those. If it gets too lengthy, I'm sorry.

I feel so blessed to say that I had absolutely no major problems with my vendors. They were great and made the whole wedding planning process a breeze. If it hadn’t been for this site and for those vendors, I would’ve been completely clueless. I had a great time planning my wedding and if I could I would do it all over again.

Lets start at the beginning. DH and I met online 5 yrs ago when I was 17 and he had just turned 18. We met in person officially 4 months later in June 2003. We became a couple 2 weeks later on June 17th. Right away we were a fun loving happy couple. We hit some turbulence in the winter of 2004 but that only made us stronger and it wound up making us happier than ever. It was hard being a long distance couple (I was in SI and he was in Far Rockaway) but I think that helped make our relationship strong. In 2006, even though I was only 20 I was dying to get engaged and get married. He wanted it too but wanted to wait a while. I won't doubt I talked about it all the time lol. When he agreed he wanted to plan something within the next 2-3 years, I took it to the head and right away started looking into reception halls, colors, etc. DH was into although he kept reminding me that it might not happen as soon as I wanted. I didn't listen and kept right on planning lol.

The Engagement: August 23, 2006
We were going to Disney World that August with my MOH and her boyfriend and I kept hinting at DH that my dream proposal was at Cinderellas Castle during the fireworks. DH kept telling me that Disney was costing too much and there was no way he could afford a ring on top of that. I got used to the idea that it just wasn't going to happen right then. DH stood at my house the night before we left to FL and I noticed a square shaped bulge in his jeans pockets and thought for a second OMG its my ring then I was like nah he couldn't afford one right now, its probably his camera. I kept it to myself on the trip to FL and was even tempted one night to go through his bags when he was in the shower lol but I kept my calm and said to myself, if it does happen I don't want to ruin it for myself. Four days into our trip we went to Magic Kingdom. My MOH's boyfriend had a backpack he carried with him to the parks that we all put our stuff into including some water I bought. I had gone into the bag before with no problem but that day he insisted I not go into the bag for my water and he would get it for me himself. I didn't think anything of it cause he could be weird like that. When we went to wait for the Spectromagic parade that night, MOH and bf went to ride Space Mountain while DH and I sat on Main St. MOH's bf left the bag with us and insisted DH watch it and not me. He made me promise not to touch the bag. Again I was like whatever and didn't make the connection. So later on we were all watching the fireworks at Cinderellas Castle and DH proposed. He didn't get on one knee though which is okay because I hate attention. It was sweet and simple. Poor Dh was shaking, it was cute. My MOH had recorded the whole thing on my camera, but sadly I lost my memory card on the last day of our trip.



The Planning Phase

Picking the Date
We had originally wanted to keep our original 6.17 anniversary date but that wasn't landing on a weekend until 2012. So we looked at other Spring/Summer months for the 17th within the next 2 yrs. We were looking at May 17th but my only concern was Saturdays are more expensive. My coworker one day suggested to look at holiday weekends and have the wedding on a Sunday where noone has to work the next day. Our only choice was May 25th because it was Memorial Day weekend and it came out to be a perfect date.

The Colors
I had my colors picked out since I was a little girl. I love spring colors so I chose lilac and green. Its a rare combination but I love how it looks together.


LIW: I came across LIW by accident in September of 2006, right after I booked my catering hall. This site has been both a positive and a negative. Negative in that it gave me sooooo many ideas that we went over budget lol but positive in the sense that I was able to get so much help and advice from fellow brides going through the same stressors I was going through. I consider this forum like high school. There's cliques and drama but we're all working for the same goal and that's to have the most amazing wedding that we want. The wedding is like our forums graduation, we are so happy to see other brides get married and unfortunately we lost some brides after their wedding but the others have stuck around to help the future brides. This site has def. eased a lot of my worries and taught me so many things about weddings that I had no clue about.

I think this site can also get you more anxious and worried about things going wrong from reading other brides reviews or rants. I realized after it was all done that the wedding is not all about the glitz and glamour. Its about celebrating your love with your DH and unfortunately things WILL go wrong your wedding day and you just have to deal with it. When I was told something went wrong on my day, I let it slide off my shoulders. They were little things that weren't going to affect my day. I think brides get sooo caught up in the planning that afterwards you feel so silly for worrying about the little things. My wedding wound up being perfect for me and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

Engagement Party: July 28, 2007
We originally were not going to have an e-party due to financial reasons. We had dished out so much money already because we had all our vendors booked by April of 2007. I was looking into party rooms and everything but we realized it just wasn't going to happen that way. So we figured we'd have a lowkey engagement party bbq. We looove bbqs so it was perfect. We bought a few decorations and a cake at Pathmark (which was yummyyyy btw) and just made usual bbq food. We had our bridal party and some friends/family over. We spent less than $400 and it was more than perfect. Everyone had a blast.






Bridal Shower: February 23. 2008
Because my bridal party was scattered all over the East Coast and because I'm a take charge planner, I planned my bridal shower. The search for the location was haaard but I finally went with our local Knights of Colombus. My mother paid for the room and the catered food which we got from a local Dominican restaurant. My MOH bought the favors and helped out a lot the day of. My grandmother who was dying of Pancreatic cancer at the time, insisted on buying the cake. Everything else was from me. As for the theme, I wanted it simple, no pink or frills because we decided on a jack/jill shower. We went with red, black and white. I took Jenlen's idea of the Philadelphia LOVE statue and used it in all the shower stationary. Everything was DIY and came out real cute. We didn't have such a huge turnout but we still had fun regardless. We played a few games that both sexes enjoyed. We had bingo, door prizes, toilet paper dress, guess the Bride/Groom and the Newlywed Game.

I bought a few things from Ebay for the shower such as prizes and personalized ribbon. I bought the ribbon from seller zofiaschoice.
Prizes:


Invites:












We registered with Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. Both were great to work with. Target gets some negative reviews but we didn't put a lot of stuff on there so we didn't come across any problems.

Unfortunately, our bridal shower was the last wedding event my Grandmother was able to attend. She passed away on March 27, 2008 from Pancreatic cancer. Even though she was very weak she made herself come to our shower. She knew something bad would happen if she went anywhere and sadly, the night after the shower she was bleeding out from all the movement she did that day. I will never forget what she did for me, the sacrifice she made just to be apart of one of my special days.

Work Bridal Shower: February 27, 2008
My job threw me a cute little shower in the office. I was surprised for once lol. They were so generous and love how they decorated. I kept the decorations up for a long time.



Bachelorette Party #1 Awesome 80s Prom: February 10, 2007
I was lucky enough to have 3 bachelorette parties. At a bridal expo in the fall of 2006 I won 8 tickets to the Awesome 80s Prom at Webster Hall but they had to be used before the end of February. So even though it was more than a year before my wedding, I gathered a bunch of my friends and we headed to the prom. We didn't dress 80s because we had plans to go to Crash Manion for their Valentines Day party afterward. We had a blast! The 80s prom is soooooo much fun and hysterical! I love 80s music so it was like heaven. I would totally recommend anyone to go for their b-party.



Bachelorette Party #2 Atlantic City: April 18-19, 2008
My MOH planned my AC b-party. She went alll out with the penis decorations and goody bags for the girls. We stood at the Showboat while the boys (DH had his b-party too) stood at a local motel. Our plans were to eat with the guys then split up. Unfortunately with so many people going, we were held back a few times and didn't get to do the rest of our plans. We never made it to the clubs so we just gambled a bit. We still had a good time though.





Bachelorette Party #3 NY School of Burlesque: May 17, 2008
My cousin who was a bridesmaid lives in GA and was unable to attend the previous b-parties so she planned a girls night in the city. There were only 4 of us but we had so much fun. We went to burlesque lessons at the NY School of Burlesque. It was so fun and risque, we wound up topless with pasties lol. Afterward we went to eat at this Mexican restaurant and stopped at a bar for some drinks. Then we went back to the burlesque school for their night show. The performers were great. It was a fun show.



Rehearsal BBQ: May 24, 2008
Again, we didn't have the funds to throw a fancy rehearsal dinner so we had another bbq. I think we rehearsed for all of 20 minutes and that was that.



We gave out the bridal party gifts which were the following.
Bridal Party Gifts:
Bridesmaids: I put these all in white totes that I affixed their intials to.

1)Jewelry set from Macys to wear day of.
2) Makeup bag and makeup from E.L.F.


3) Old Navy flip flops
4) Shawls (we wound up not using them)
5) Frame with a sisters poem for my sisters
6) Frame with best friends poem for my MOH as well as a Shutterfly album I made of us with friend poems.

Flowergirl: She got her own tote also with the following:
1) FG piggy bank from Oriental Trading

2) Puzzle and Barbie wedding book from 99 cent store

3) Winnie the Pooh pencils

Ringbearer: These were bought from an eBay seller.
1) Personalized toy case
2) Personalized car biggy bank
3)Personalized water bottle
4) Cars pencils and a puzzle


Groomsmen:
1) Wallets from Macys

2) Visa gift cards in the wallets
3) Bulldog cufflinks for our BM (BIL) who owns and loves bulldogs. I forgot the site where I ordered them from.



After the bbq, we headed out to the Crowne Plaza for the night.

eBay- A+ Ebay became my best friend in wedding planning. I found so much stuff that I needed and saved so much money by using them. They are a must when planning a wedding.

Save The Dates: eBay seller ko2154- A+
I knew I wanted the pretty save the date magnets but didn’t want to spend a bundle. So I searched eBay and found some decent ones. I mailed them out with our e-party invites and they were a hit. The only thing was that they faded after awhile but I could care less.

Wedding Items
Personalized flutes: eBay seller yourcherishedmoments They were great to work with and our flutes came out perfect.


Other things that I bought from eBay that aren’t on the rest of the review were our knife set, crinoline and picture frames for our bridal party. I lost the sellers names though.

DIYs: Myself
I literally DIYed practically everything. Because of our budget, I knew we couldn’t afford a lot of fancy stuff but soon I learned I can have that stuff, if I did it myself. So that’s what I did. Michaels and ACMoore were my saviors. I was there practically every week racking up on sales and making good use of their coupons. I already knew Photoshop but making stuff for my wedding gave me so much more experience. And to make it all so much better, DH works in the printing department at JP Morgan, so anything we needed printed, he did for free. Without my craftiness and DH’s job, we would’ve spent a lot more money. I seriously recommend DIYing, it can be fun and its great to see everything you made being appreciated at your wedding.

Invites: cardsandpockets.com
I was in love with pocketfold invites but they were so expensive so that’s the first thing I started researching to do on my own. I bought sample pocketfolds from cardsandpockets and made my own sample. I did that in January 2007 and decided on the final design right then and there. I didn’t have to worry about my invites again until the following year. Cardsandpockets is so great to work with and they have such a great selection. Everything DH printed and we just attached ribbon from ACMoore. Our invites were a hit because our family members and friends were used to the generic invites that you see 1,000x. The best part is that they weren’t that hard to do. Just assembling them was a pain.

Envelopes: eBay seller creatively invited & lyncksproducts
I ordered all envelopes for my shower and wedding invites through eBay. They were so greatly priced and I went back for more whenever I needed extras.



Seating chart:
We wanted to step away from the normal place cards so we looked into seating charts. I wanted the hanging ones at first but the largest DH could print at work was 11x14 so we stuck with that. I designed it and put it in a matching frame to that of our sign in frame.


Sign in frame:
The frame itself was bought at ACMoore and we had our e-pic printed from Shutterfly.


Memorial Candles & Unity Candles:
I used computer paper to print the design out onto, glued ribbon around it and some rhinestones. They came out perfect.



Monogram cake topper and rhinestones: woodlandmanufacturing.com & art beads.com
I attached rhinestones so whatever I could lol. They were on our menus, candles, favor tags and most importantly our monogram cake topper. I bought the letter from woodland manufacturing for like 5 bucks and the rhinestones came out to like $20. It took me about 2 hrs to complete the cake topper. I realized after I had nothing to hold it up with so I glued a popsicle stick to it and painted it purple to match.


Menus:
These were quick and painless. Once again, so grateful to DH for printing and cutting them.


Favor boxes:
These were a royal pain in my butt. Assembling these alone took me 3 days. I had to pack them with the kisses, tie the ribbons then attach the favor tags. I got so sick of it but I liked how they came out.
Favor boxes: eBay seller favorfrenzy
Another thing that was so expensive everywhere else that I got for a great price online.

Favor tags: eBay seller vonlindernds
I stupidly forgot DH could print these for me and just ordered them. I was originally going to just hang them off the favor boxes but did something else instead.



Favor tins: eBay seller Kahns
Everywhere I looked these favor tins were ridiculously expensive. I searched and searched eBay for a while until finally I saw them for a great price. I got like 144 for like $40. I was so happy.
Favor tin labels: eBay seller dollfacecharms
I wanted cute stickers with our monogram to decorate the favor tins so once again eBay saved the day.



Kiddy Bags/Coloring book
Kiddy bag stuff: eBay seller myjewelthief
I wanted really cute stuff for the kiddy bags but didn’t want to spend like more than $1 per item. I found this nice knickknack seller that had really cute stuff like feathered pens, kids wallets, etc. So most of the stuff I bought for the kiddy bags were from them. Other things I bought were from Party City. The coloring book I downloaded off of a website.



Shoe initials:
I had extra rhinestones left over so I used them on my shoes to put DH and I initials on them. Such a cute touch.


I Do Letters:
Again I put those rhinestones to use. The letters were bought from ACMoore.



Programs & program basket:
These were another pain in my butt. I don’t know why I decided to tie ribbon on them but that took forever. I think they came out great though. All I did for the basket was tie pretty ribbon around it.



Bubbles:
I actually bought bubbles for a great price from my DJ. I printed out labels from my computer, attached them then tied ribbon around it. I made a cute little basket to go with it too.



Table #’s:
I loved the idea of personalized table #’s. I wanted to incorporate Disney since that’s where we got engaged so I used pictures of us on our last two trips there.



Dyed Crinoline:
I bought a box of rit-dye at ACMoore and dyed my $60 Davids Bridal crinoline purple for the reception. I still wanted a white one for earlier pictures and the ceremony so that’s when I bought a cheap one off eBay.


Personalized Aisle Runner: lorilis.com
I actually did buy a something I didn’t dare to try and DIY lol. I bought my personalized aisle runner from lorilis.com. She was amazing to work with and I fell in love with my aisle runner. Unfortunately, it wasn’t used on the day of but more on that later.


Attire
Davids Bridal in New Springfield, NJ- A+

My dress:
I went to some other bridal shops to look for gowns but since my mother was paying for my dress I didn’t dare ask her to pay over $1000 for a dress. I had gone with my BP to Davids in LI and really didn’t like their customer service, however I did find a dress I loved. I went to the one in New Springfield with my mother a few weeks later to order that dress. Their customer service was sooo much better and I had no problems whatsoever. Because it was still early (Feb. 2007) we didn’t go back for about a year to order the bridesmaid dresses. I had been eyeing a dress online that I was starting to like more than mine. So of course when we went to order the bridesmaid dresses, I just had to ask to try that one on. After a few tears I convinced my mother to buy it for me. Luckily my previous dress and this dress only cost about $400 each.

My fitting was scheduled for March so I had to go back with the dress. They did a great job with the fitting. I really was scared because I heard horror stories of girls spending a fortune on fittings at Davids but they only cost me about $180. All the alterations were perfect and once I saw my French bustle I was in love. So ladies, Davids really isn’t all that bad.






Shoebuy.com- A+
I got my shoes for a great price along with a discount. They came quickly and were beautiful.


Flipflops: eBay seller Krlock
I knew I was not going to be in heels the whole night so I searched for some pretty white flipflops. These were perfect and so comfy.


Garter:
I bought these off of eBay also although I forgot the seller.




Veil: eBay seller delicate-spirits.
I ordered about 3 veils from them. The first I ordered the wrong color, the 2nd my mother burned when trying to steam it a week before the wedding. And finally the 3rd arrived just in time, the day before the wedding. All 3 veils were in perfect condition and sooo cheap. I paid about $30 for each one. So for all 3 I spent less than what a lot of girls would spend for one.



Bride tote: eBay seller zazasonestopbridalshop
I wanted a cute bride tote to carry all my stuff to the hotel the night before so I found a real nice one for a great price.


Clutch: eBay seller njoynlife4ever
I didn’t want to spend a ton on a white clutch I would only use once. I bought mine for $7 and it was perfect.

Personalized hoody, undies, tanks, shorts: Customizedgirl.com- A+
I loved the prices and all the options to choose from. It was a great easy site to work with. Everyone loved my personalized stuff the day of.





DOJ:
I went back and forth a million times with what I wanted. I bought like 3 different pairs of earring and necklaces and finally just stuck to ones I bought from Kohls for about $20.





Photocharm: anniehowes.com- A+


Bridesmaid/junior bridesmaid and MOH dresses: Davids Bridal- A+
In choosing a bridesmaid dress I wanted something very reasonably priced. I was not going to ask them to spend over $150 on something they would only wear once. We had originally chosen a different style on our first trip in 2007 but wound up getting another one. The style we chose was beautiful and a lil sexy. I loooove the purple and the material was a very good quality. Our junior bridesmaids and MOH each had a different style than the bridesmaids. The best thing about using Davids was that my OOT bridesmaid could order her dress with no problem. Each bridesmaid did their own alterations at their tailors. On the day of however, two the bridesmaids had problems with their straps falling so at the last minute we changed them into strapless dresses.







MOB/MOG Dresses: Estelles Dress- A+





FG dress: Shoprbriarpatch.com- A+
I found this site off of LIW. We got her dress really cheap. I was worried about the quality but when it came in my aunt was so excited. She said it was just as good as those $100 and it really was. I saw no sense in her spending that much for a dress that her 4 yr old would dirty. We also bought her headpiece from there.




FG basket: eBay seller jennifer1912
I originally had 2 flower girls and found a listing for 2 for $10 so I immediately jumped on it. I didn’t need anything fancy because I knew she would damage it at some point. It was still a cute basket.

Feldman Tuxedos- B+
One of our GM said he could get us a good price because he used them for his wedding. We got regular price but we still used them anyway. The guys tuxes were $130 with the grooms free. We only had two problems with them although one of them wasn’t their fault. First was they had this amazing Polo tux on display that DH was in love with. We picked that one out only to find out about a month before the wedding that he didn’t have it and didn’t know if he would but he would let us know. I had to call 2 weeks before to see what was up because I got no call from him. He still didn’t have the tux so we had to choose something else. The other thing was that the lilac they use is a lot darker than the lilac Davids bridal uses. We ordered lilac ties for the GM and lilac tie and vest for our BM. They did not match at all. Luckily, they were able to give us black vests instead. BIL had to go run around two days before the wedding looking for ties. He found perfect ones at a booth in the Green Acres Mall for about $8 each.
Dante Zeller- A+
My father got his tux seperate. No complaints.









Boxers: eBay seller embroiderpetsbikes
I saw another LIW girl had gotten their DH personalized boxers and I thought it was soo cute so I got DH a pair. He loved them.


RB Pillow:


Rings:
I had to get a whole new engagement ring because the one DH gave me was really unique and it was hard to find something to match so I bought a whole new set from a local jeweler. DH’s ring we found at Macys.



The Day of. Here I'll break down everything by vendor, etc.

Weather- A++
Surprisingly I didn't obsess about the weather. I knew I couldn't control it and there was no way I could cancel the wedding due to rain. I just checked it once and that was the day before. It turned out to be about 80 degrees and very very sunny. Perfect weather.

Crowne Plaza JFK- A+
I blocked rooms through the Crowne Plaza about a year before. We went a month before the wedding to check out rooms and we walked out with a free upgrade to a suite for myself and the bridesmaids to get ready. We used the same suite our wedding night for DH and I. The suite provided us with so much more room to get ready than a regular size room. Unfortunately, DH and the groomsmen room was tiny but we dealt with it. The staff was very friendly and accommodating..


Visage Hair Studio- Staten Island (hair/makeup)- A+
I had one hair trial in LI with Kacey from Khoulouds. It went well but I wanted to continue my search and decided I wanted a stylist that was close to me so I wouldn’t have to keep traveling out to LI. I remembered a salon I saw featured at a few expos I went to so I called them up and went for my hair and makeup trials. They did a good job and the price was right. Michael did our hair and Patty did our makeup. On the day of, they came on time with an assistant to do our hair. They worked quick and were so much fun to hang out with. I looooved how all my girls hair came out. I had to use extensions in my hair but I barely felt them. The makeup was all MAC and felt so light. Overall, a great job.









Christine from EAP (DOC)- A+
I knew right away when I started planning that I would need someone to make sure everything was done right on my day so I wouldn’t have to worry about it and that’s exactly what Christine did. She was amazing. I met and booked her back in the beginning of ‘07 and she was nothing but a huge help from that day. She was just starting out when I met her and I cant believe how much EAP has grown since then. The best thing about using Christine and EAP was that they already worked with most of my vendors so they all had great relationships and worked well together. On the day of Christine came on time and was active from the get go. I didn’t stress about a thing. She was all over the place making sure everything was just right. She even kept a few things from me that would stress me out like my limo that was late. I didn’t find out until a replacement car was sent on time. I would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone.


Wicks Florist- B+
I didn’t want to shop around for florists really so I just went with the house florist for the Coral House. We were initially just going to use their free centerpieces but since my sense of wedding style started to get nicer, we paid for an upgrade to half high centerpieces and half low. They were good to work with and were reasonably priced. I had changed almost everything at the final meeting and they were accommodating. My own problem with them was the day of. I wanted tons of rose petals down the aisle but that didn’t happen. I assume it was because of the wind which is fine but I expected my tables to be covered in petals too. They were a handful on each table, so I really don’t know where the rose petals I paid for were at. Also, my tall centerpiece were supposed to be filled with water and white orchids. They were barely filled a quarter and they definitely didn’t have white orchids. But overall, the arrangements were PERFECT. I loooved the bouquets (except mine dried out real quick) and everything was beautiful.

Bouquets



Ceremony Flowers


Boutonierres
Simple rose for the groom, calla lillies for the guys

Reception Flowers






Halo Video- Day of A+…video pending
When I was searching for a videog, I wanted something inexpensive. I didn’t need something fancy, just something that would capture my day. I found out about Halo on LIW and immediately made an appointment. They were our 2nd videographer to meet with and were perfectly priced. We booked on the spot. On the day of, our videog Yuri was on time and was great to work with. I barely noticed he was there. I cant wait to see what he captured.

Camelot Limo- A+
Looking for a limo company was a real pain in the butt. We only needed pick up and drop off so I was surprised when companies gave us outrageous prices. I spoke to 4-5 different companies on the phone and Joe from Camelot gave us the best price. When we went to meet with him, he made us feel so comfortable. It was like we already knew him. It was also great to see his book of LIW compliments that he printed off the site. I also saw a few of my own in there at our final meeting. We booked 2 black Lincoln 10 passengers for pick up and drop off. He took us over to see the cars and since I really was interested in a Rolls Royce, I got to look at those too and booked one on the spot. A few weeks leading up to the wedding, I needed to add hours because we wanted to stop by a park for pictures. Joe was great with the changes. We had to pay a little extra but that was fine.

On the day of, the guys limo was on time but when I came down with my girls to get into ours, we were in for a surprise. Our limo was stuck in Brooklyn and was not going to be able to make it. Joe sent over the closest available car he had which was a white Hummer. Not only were myself and the girls able to go in it but we also fit some family members. The boys were not too happy to see us pull up in the Hummer but they were able to get into it for the trip to the Coral House and family members went in the Lincoln. Joe picked us up that night in our amazing Rolls Royce. It was parked outside for awhile for pictures and he patiently waited for us to finish partying before we left. Our guests loved the Rolls and took pictures with it. Joe was great to talk to on the way to the hotel. We have nothing but great things to say about Joe and Camelot.





Grooms Cake: Sweet Melissa Patisserie- A+
We decided on getting a grooms cake about two months before the wedding. I emailed tons of vendors and they charged ridiculous prices. I finally found Archana at Sweet Melissa Patisserie through our DOC. They charged a great price and did an amazing job. DH is an Xbox fanatic so we knew we had to go with that. We went for a tasting and tried out carrot cake w/fresh fruit and red velvet w/chocolate mousse. It was a hard decision cuz they were so delish but in the end it was DH’s choice and he went with carrot cake. He was sooo excited about his cake. It was all he talked about for weeks. He was very very pleased with it the day of.



Officiant: Rev. Jorge L. Roa (my uncle)- A++
Ever since I was a little girl I always knew I wanted my uncle to be the one to marry me. He was like a 2nd father to me growing up since I lived with him for about 5 years. We asked him at Christmas 2006 and he said yes. We had to do premarital counseling with him and my aunt which was weird but very very informative since they’ve been married for 25 years. We had a great time with them. At our rehearsal bbq, my uncle got the rehearsal out of the way real quick and got the message across to everyone about everything that needed to be done. On the day of, he performed a beautiful ceremony for us. It was a really special moment for all of us. We are forever grateful for all he’s done for us.


RH: Coral House…Colonial Skylight & Nantucket Deck - A+
Like I mentioned before I was researching RHs before I even got engaged. We were looking in Jersey, NY and LI. Right after we got engaged, MIL called DH and told him of this catering hall she drove by which was the Coral House. I checked them out and realized I had actually gone there a few years before for a communion and liked them a lot. I made an appt and we met with Frank. We loved the lake and the rooms. We got the Nantucket Deck for the reception and Colonial Skylight for the CH. We got a great price and booked on the spot. For awhile I regretted doing so because we didn’t check out any other places. I searched LIW for reviews but there was maybe two or three. I got scared thinking maybe I chose a terrible place so I started looking into Jericho Terrace and other places but I knew realistically that we couldn’t cancel and rebook another hall. It was something I thought about for months up until the wedding but they completely exceeded my expectations so my worries were for nothing.

We knew the food was amazing because we had a tasting but we never knew exactly how amazing it was going to be the day of. All our guests have gone on and on about it being the best food they’ve had at a wedding. They gave us soooo much at the cocktail hour that our guests thought it was the reception. We had an Italian station, Latin station (our guests said it was just like our homemade Spanish food, not some generic catering hall Spanish food), carving stations, and tons of other stuff. They stuffed their faces and then when they were moved to the reception room they could barely fit their dinner. I made sure I ate all of my dinner and I’m glad I did because the salmon was so goood. During the reception we also had an ice cream cart. Guests raved about that too. They also raved about the service. I heard one of our guests gave a waiter a $40 tip. The bar was really good. They didn’t cheap out on the alcohol and made some really strong good drinks.

My only one complaint with them is that they didn’t put out my personalized aisle runner. I didn’t realize until I was walking down. We saw them label it when we went to drop it off but apparently someone didn’t see it. Christine (DOC) cut out the part with the monogram and used it on our cake table so it wouldn’t go to waste. It wasn’t something that really bothered me though.
Ceremony Site

Colonial Skylight

Nantucket Deck








Elegancia Entertainment- A+
Elegancia was another vendor I found through LIW. Melissa (MJDOC12) recommended them to me when I first started my search for Spanish speaking djs. They were my first and last djs to meet with. I took my MOH and a GM with me to the meeting and we were all so impressed with their presentation. I wanted the cheapest package but MOH convinced me to go all out with the lighting and dancing extravaganza. Later on, DH and I decided to add on the perimeter lighting once we saw Melissa’s wedding pics. Jose, his wife and Luis our do were GREAT to work with. It was like talking to family. They knew the music we needed and knew exactly what our Spanish family would love. I think I drove Luis a little crazy the week before the wedding with a few changes but he was so sweet in helping me out. On the day of, oh my god were they amazing. They had everyone on the dance floor with the bachata, merengue, salsa, and freestyle. The room lighting was omg gorgeous. It seriously made the room. I loved how the colors changed. Elegancia was one of my favorite vendors, hands down.


















Photography: Twelfth Night Photo- A++
Twelfth Night is another one of my absolute favorite vendors. They were also another one that I picked on the spot without having to meet with any other photographers. I saw their work on LIW first and knew they were the right ones for me. I loved their style and the fact that you own your pictures. Also I loved that albums aren’t included in their packages. I didn’t think I needed albums right away so I didn’t want an expensive package that you had to have an album with. Their prices were perfect and to top it off, they are GREAT to work with. I feel kinda sad that the weddings over because Dom, Geraldine and Vikki were so fun and friendly. When my parents and I met with Dom we had a great time. We fell in love with all their work they have displayed so we knew that was it. DH and I had to go back in a few weeks to choose our photogs and we went with Geraldine and Vikki.

In September 2007 we had our e-pic shoot with Geraldine. We got along really well with her. She came up with some great shots. I love our e-pics and we used them in a lot of wedding stuff.



On the day of, Geraldine and Vikki were amazing. They came with Geraldine’s assistant/son Steven. The three of them made a great team. The shots they got were so beautiful. We got 1500 proofs but I wish we had more because I love them so much. In our package we got 3 dvd slideshows and a cd with all of our proofs. When we picked them up we got it all packaged really cute in a tote bag. I cant tell you how much I love my pictures.



Pro Pics Below

awesome review! everything looked great

omg jen your review was great - i didnt realize how many DIYs you did! everything looked so great! and everything matches so nice with colors! from the flower girls dress down to your garter!

Jenn you are SO GORGEOUS!!! you were a knock-out in your gown.

your wedding just looks so beautiful and classic. all the little touches are so cool

great job and congrats!!!

Wow Jenn You are gorgeous!!
I love the color scheme

Twelfth night did a great job!



THanks for the review and Congrats!!

I really enjoyed seeing your pics Beautiful Wedding ! Thank you for the review.

Below are some of my favorite Pro Pics...These are only a handful of 1500 pics I got back from 12th Night.

Thanks for the great detailed review! I love all of your pics... U look Gorgeous... Congrats!

Wow!!! It just took me 20 minutes to get through that review and i LOVED it!!!!

You explained EVERYTHING!!! That is my favorite kind of review