My very long Disney/Brown & Pink themed wedding. Riviera, Something In Blue, Timeless Treasures, Oksana, Jenn The Hair Genie & More

I've waited awhile to write this review. I would be lying if I said I was waiting to write the perfect review. This review probably won't even make sense but I figured I'd give it a go to hopefully help future brides pick vendors and with DIYs.

****** All Photos Were Taken From Something In Blue*******

My wedding was Thursday, September 13th, 2007. Rick (my husband) and I wanted to spend the night before together but his family insisted that we spent the night apart so I stayed at his aunt's house where I would be getting ready the next day. I couldn't sleep, I was too nervous. I knew that I was making the right decision, but the whole center of attention thing kinda freaked me out. Ok well onto the reviews

Makeup: A+
Makeup by Oksana
www.makeupbyoskana.com
email: [email protected]

I had booked another vendor for makeup and was freaking out because I just didn't like it. I felt kinda pressured into booking her but I came to my senses that if I'm unhappy with a decision I made, eat up the deposit and book who you really want. My friend Denise (fall07bride) had a trial with her and her makeup was flawless, absolutely beautiful, then I looked at other reviews of her and everyone loved her. I went to my trial and her personality, her talent, it was for me. She was so much fun! She arrived early for me, set up quickly and got started with my aunt's makeup.


When it came to me, she had a ton of patience with my dog coming over and everyone wanting to take pictures of me with him. She was fantastic and didn't complain once. I recommend her to absolutely every bride out there. She's amazingly talented!! I'll definetely go back to her if I have another big event.



Hair: A+
Jenn The Hair Genie
email: [email protected]

Same thing with Oksana, I had booked someone else and wasn't crazy for my trials. Denise also used her and recommended her so I emailed her right away. The trial, well let's just say was interesting. I have the worst hair ever and it doesnt hold so she was fussing with my hair for a LONG time before we found the perfect look I wanted. She knew what I wanted, she just had to find a way to make it hold. I wanted a old hollywood type look, as she says 'porn star' look as well. big hair. haha. I absolutely loved my hair both trial and day of. She came super early and started my hair. I can't even explain to you how much she helped me. There was alot of people over and it was kinda hectic, she made a bee line for my Aunt in law's room to get me dressed so I wouldn't be late. She helped me with absolutely everything. More than she should have and was completely patient and made sure I looked my absolute best and kept reminding me that I looked amazing (always a plus!!!) Oksana and Jenn are the absolute perfect team and everyone should use them!!!


Photography: A+++ Beyond words
Something In Blue
www.somethinginblue.com
www.sibblog.com
email: [email protected]

*Pre warning, if you are looking for posed pictures, don't bother contacting them. They're artists and only do photojournalism (which is better) I would suggest someone else if you wanted those type of pictures.*

I met Jacek & Margaret through my aunt (hallowedding) I kept stalking their blog and was excited to be working with them! My aunt's pictures were beyond gorgeous and I couldn't wait to see what they were going to produce for us! They asked a bunch of questions so they were comfortable and knew what type of wedding it was going to be. Made suggestions for lighting and other things that were important. They were fantastic.

When it came to the wedding day, Margaret came over my aunt in law's house, and Jacek went to my in laws house. Margaret arrived on time and got started right away. She's the biggest sweetheart and made conversation with everyone and made me feel calm. She photographed my doggie alot which I loved and she fell in love with him. When it came to the ceremony, Jacek held my hand when he saw I was panicking and calmed me down and told me I was going to be ok. They really helped me out alot. When it came down to the photo business, I didn't even realize they were there almost all of the time which was great. I didn't have to stop doing what I was doing to pose.

We decided last minute we wanted to go to Jones Beach to do our photos which was the best decision. Our pictures came out absolutely beautifully and Margaret really let her talent show. I used to do photography so I felt more comfortable behind a camera, but Margaret helped me with some poses.

Throughout the whole day, they were so helpful and were by far, my favorite vendors. I look forward to working with them again. Maybe one day when I get pregnant I'll do a photoshoot with them. Everyone who wants absolutely gorgeous pictures, should use them!!
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Videography: *pending*
Timeless Treasures
www.timelesstreasuresvideo.com
email: [email protected]

My aunt used Ray as well and her video was AMAZING!! (you can check some of it out on his website under Melissa & David) I had to have him as a vendor. He was super sweet (and handsome!!!) and never got in the way. I should be getting the video back in a month or 2 so I'll definetely write more, possibly attach a video.

Limos: A
Strathmore Limousine
www.strathmorelimoi.com

A family friend of ours owns this company. She made sure we got everything we wanted. The limo drivers were super nice, very early, and got me water when I needed it.


Ceremony: Before C After A+
St. Brigid's Church
www.saintbrigid.net

They were definetely a pain in the butt in the beginning. I called and left numerous of messages for them to get in touch with me. They told me that a priest or deacon would call me back in a few days to let me know if they can do the date I wanted. Well a month later, they finally got back to me. I made an appointment with Deacon Mike when I was going to be in town. He was really nice, my husband knew his son, and he was a retired NYPD cop (my husband is an NYPD cop) I did my pre cana at a couples house. one on one. It was quick and great. We had our final meeting which he got to know us even better which resulted in us having a great ceremony. He really was the best!! Everyone complimented us on the ceremony. It was one of the best parts of the day! I wish the beginning was smooth sailing for me since the planning was already stressful, but in the end, I'm glad we had our ceremony at the church rather than the reception hall.

Ceremony musicians: A
St. Brigid's Church
www.saintbrigid.net

I used the musicians from St. Brigid. They were fantastic. The meeting was quick but informative. She helped me choose the songs I wanted. Simple enough. They were great


Bagpiper: A
Daniel from NYPD
phone: 516-551-4806

I was looking for a bagpiper but couldn't find one in my price range. A bride on here (AndreaES) recommended him and he actually was part of the Emerald Society for the NYPD which my husband is a part of as well. He was great, on time, sounded amazing. Really nice!




DJ: A+
Rantin N Ravin'
lost information, will find it

My sister in law used them for their wedding and they were fantastic. George had an amazing personality, a great love for Disney (important!!) and made sure he had the music I wanted. He didn't judge some of the music we wanted (we listen to hardcore, punk, etc) and made sure he put a good mixture to satisfy us and our guests. I have to find out their information again because he was so amazing and gave us a great price!! Everyone should use them.

Flowers: A
***************** in Huntington
www.***************.com
email: mike@***************.com

I was going to go with Flowers by Michele but I read alot of bad reviews and my aunt didn't have the best experience with him either. I asked around and my sister in law used ***************** and loved them. My husband picked out our centerpieces which I loved, and I was kinda confused with what I wanted for bouquets, I did research and brought some reference. They got the bridesmaids bouquets right, mine I wanted more color in it but it was still pretty. Flowers didn't matter to me that much. As long as it looked pretty, then whatever. I still would recommend them, I just wouldn't get an all white bouquet. The white flowers wilted pretty fast, and I've read that elsewhere as well. But regardless, they were fantastic to work with.



Cake: B+
Black Forest Bakery in Lindenhurst
www. blackforestbakeryny.com
email: [email protected]

I picked an image out of their gallery for the cake, then told him the colors I wanted. The cake ended up being pink instead of brown but it didn't matter. It still looked beautiful and tasted great. The color pastries and pies they provided for the Riviera tasted great as well! I recommend them, just make sure you tell them exactly what you want for sure.

My Dress: C
Davids Bridal in Westbury
www.davidsbridal.com

I had an amazing experience in Florida where I first ordered my dress. I was losing weight and decided to go one dress size smaller. In the end, The original size fit better so when I moved back to New York, I went there and told them to exchange the size since the girl in Florida said it wouldn't be a problem. Well I get there and told her I needed them to order me another size and I got nothing but dirty looks and attitudes. The girl was like well I need your receipt which I didn't have, I just moved and it was in a box somewhere, and she repeatedly told me that she couldnt do it without that, that *I* had to call the Davids Bridal store in Florida to get the receipt. I told her no, she has to do it. Then the manager said she could do it so she was just lazy and mean and didn't wanna do it cause shes a rude biznatch. ugh that made me mad. Someone else ended up helping me and she made the experience a little better. my dress came in 2 weeks later, they told me it would be about a week before my wedding, so I was freaking out for no reason. I just felt that everytime I walked into this store, there was negative energy, sales people not willing to help you and gave you attitudes for helping you. They have beautiful dresses but their customer service is the worst!!

p.s. My dress was an Oleg Cassini gown, not a David's Bridal collection.


Bridesmaid dresses: C
Davids Bridal in Westbury
www.davidsbridal.com

Same thing with my dress, they gave me a hard time and my girls a hard time. It was annoying. Once again, I recommend them for their dresses but don't expect it to be a pleasant experience.



Flower Girl Dress: A
Not Sure

My sister in law took control of this one. I think she got it at Babies R Us on clearance for like 10 bucks. It was really pretty and cheap. I loved it.




Alterations: B
Lina in Wantagh
Lost number

My aunt found a review on lifamilies and told me about her. I met with her, she was sooo nice, kept telling me how beautiful I looked. She was fast with the alterations. The only thing I was turned off to, was her price. I was stupid and didn't ask the first time around how much it would cost. It was ridiculously expensive ($400) for not that much done. I was definetely upset but I didn't say anything. That was my fault. I did refer her to a friend and her dress came out great too. The only other thing that bothered me was for my pickups, she used buttons and they werent sewed in great. Someone stepped on my dress and it kept coming down the whole night. It wasn't that big of a deal, but it was annoying since my dress was really poofy.


Tuxedos: B
After Hours in Westbury
www.AfterHours.com

Like David's bridal, After Hours didn't have the greatest customer service. It was a little better than David's but not by much. They never told us they didn't have very large sizes (my brother in law and best man were on the larger size) so they had to go and buy a shirt therefore they couldnt have the cuff links. It didn't match but everything came in on time. Whatever.

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Dog Tuxedo: A
Doggie Store in Old Town, Florida

I found this dog store in Old Town in Kissimmee, Florida. They had this tuxedo and I had to have it. It fit him perfectly when we first got it, then he gained a little weight so in the end, he looked like a drunk groom with his shirt open. It was hilarious.

Jewelery: A
David's Bridal in Westbury
www.davidsbridal.com

I didn't wanna spend alot of money on jerwelery since we were on a strict budget. I bought my jewelery from Davids and it was pretty and cheap.


Shoes & Handbag: A
David's Bridal in Westbury
www.davidsbridal.com

Cheap and pretty. Handbag actually matched my dress.



Garter: A
Joann's Fabric
www.joann.com

I ordered an Islander's garter and it was great, but too small (damn big legs) so I went to Joann's and bought this pretty ivory garter for about $2. Awesome.

Veil: A
David's Bridal in Westbury
www.davidsbridal.com

I bought one veil that was discontinued. It was beautiful and discounted. I couldn't ask for anything better than that. I decided to get the blusher, that was sent to my house right away in great condition. They don't really have that many choices for veils, but my veil was perfect


Rings: A
Zales in Roosevelt Field Mall
www.zales.com

We looked around for wedding rings and nothing matched my engagement ring. Zales had beautiful rings and we found 2 that we liked the most. My ring unfortunately couldn't be engraved but I have a tattoo with 'Forever Yours' on it, so that's good enough. My husband did however, get his engraved with 'Forever Yours'. They were fast with resizing and engraving and had great customer service.




Sweatshirt: A
Tri County Flea Market, Embroidery Place & Old Navy
www.oldnavy.com

I wanted a sweatshirt to get ready in, and so I could have on the honeymoon. I didn't wanna spend a fortune so I found a sweatshirt at Old Navy for like 6 bucks and went to Tri County Flea Market because I knew they had an embroidery place. They charged me $20 for the lettering which was fair and it came out great. I still wear it from time to time.

Invitations: A
www.exclusivelyweddings.com

I didn't wanna spend a fortune on invitations so I looked online EVERYWHERE, I finally came across this website and they had pink and brown invitations which was perfect. I didn't want white or ivory invitations. I wanted lots of colors and I wanted it to all tie in. They were really cheap and wasn't extremely hard to put together.



DIY's: A
Myself

I didn't want a cookie cutter wedding so I decided to add special touches for the reception.

Instead of your traditional placecards, I made a board with names on it, in our colors with pushpins. I loved it.


For the table numbers, I took photographs of our favorite places in Disney that I had taken and put numbers on them, then framed them. I loved how they came out



For our sign in book, we had a picture frame with a photo of our dog O'Malley in a tuxedo. Everyone loved it!



I made a 'card box' like a cake in our colors. It was difficult, didn't look exactly like I wanted, but whatever. It was fine.


I made our menus with our 'monogram' it was pretty simple. They alternated in colors of brown & pink.


I made our programs from the blank programs at Michaels. I designed the whole thing myself and tied it with a bow in our colors



For our favors, my husband wanted liquor bottles so we did liquor and wine bottles tied up in our colors. It came out cute.



I made 'We Do' letters for the sweetheart table. It was brown with pink dots.



I also made the unity candle and other candles. I printed up the Unity candle and hot glued that and the ribbons on. Simple

Reception Hall: A++++++++++
The Riviera
www.rivieracaterer.com
email: [email protected]

The Riviera was absolutely perfect for us. We wanted an intimate one wedding at a time catering hall. I've been to too many weddings where you see other brides and hear other parties, and well, I'm selfish and I wanted to be the princess They were really informative and not pushy sales people like most halls. My banquet manager was Michelle and she is the best ever!! She also was getting married a few months after me at the Riviera so she knew exactly what I was going through and felt. We emailed each other alot (I was living in Florida at the moment) and she helped me in every way! Even sent me images of recent weddings to help me plan. I still keep in touch with her because she was that great! Everyone should use her.

The Riviera outdid themselves for the wedding. The cocktail hour was outside on the water and it was beautiful, the food was out of this world! They helped me out and had speakers outside for music and I brought the Disney Fairy Tale Weddings CD and they made sure the music kept pumping through.

The Reception looked AMAZING!! They paid attention to every detail I told them. Asked questions to make sure they knew what I wanted. The banquet manager and bridal attendant were both great. The bridal attendant was there every moment my husband and I needed a drink or needed anything. They made my wedding everything I dreamed for and made my guests feel welcome. I love this place!!!

The Honeymoon: A+
Disney World
Hotels: Sheraton's Vistana & Disney's Wilderness Lodge
www.disneyworld.com & www.sheraton.com/vistanaresort

We had a week at Vistana from our in laws. We love that timeshare and were very familiar with it so it was the best. We lived in Florida for a year so we went all over the place, saw old friends, saw my family, but most importantly, spent all of our time in Disney!! We spent 4 other days at Disney's Wilderness Lodge which was great. It's a fantastic hotel, great food, great views. We absolutely loved it!!

all done minus some honeymoon pics. I'll do that another time. I think the million pictures should keep you guys occupied

I think your review might win the 07 prize for most pics!

And beautiful pics they are! SIB did a great job!!!!

Everything looks great. Sorry to hear about the mixup with your cake but at least pink was one of your colors

Congrats

Whoooa! That was a lot of pics! I loved them all though! You dog looked handsome in his tux. Great review!
Loved your hair and make up! Congrats!

Great review! You looked beautiful and all the pics came out fab!

Wow excellent review! Your pictures are great! You looked beautiful!! All your details looked amazing!!! Your flowers were stuning! Great job!!!!

FYI: This review made my computer freeze!!

That being said...it was totally worth it!! You planned a spectacular wedding!!! I love SIB. Amazing! You looked so pretty!

BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I love Something In Blue! They did a great job! Your wedding was gorgeous and what an awesome RH! I had a pink and brown themed wedding too! BTW I recognized one of your BMs Melissa (Hallowedding)! She and I are dress twins and had a lot of FMs about our dress!

GREAT REVIEW!!! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOUR PICS THEY CAME OUT AWESOME!!! YOU AND YOUR DH LOOK LIKE YOU HAD A FAB TIME!!! CONGRATS!!!