It's my turn!! Review of my Halloween Wedding! NEW - UPDATED WITH PROFESSIONAL PICTURES

Well, first off, I have to thank mother nature a million times over for the most fantastic weather EVER! All week it was cold and rainy and we woke up Halloween morning and it was gloriously sunny and warm. I bought pashminas for my girls thinking it would be cold, but they didn't need to use them. And, my second thanks goes to Matron, who is the bestest friend and matron of honor in the world, and helped me soooooooo much!!

Professional Pictures

Here are some unprofessional shots by Matron's husband:

Unprofessional Pictures

Rehearsal Dinner
Indian Cove Restaurant & Marina - A+
Fantastic!!! The food was absolutely amazing, and they waited on us hand and foot. My only complaint is that originally the owner was going to give us our own private room upstairs, but when we arrived, they placed us in the main area. I think that's because too many people ended up RSVP'ing (about 45!!), and the private room just couldn't accomodate us. But, most of the restaurant was empty so it was like having the whole restaurant to ourselves anyway! (You’ll notice in the pics that our rehearsal dinner was a costume party, in honor of Halloween! SO much fun!)

Dress (Jim Hjelm Couture)
La Bella Moda, Conshohocken, PA - A++++
The dress shop was just amazing. They were totally honest about everything - the price tags were on all the dresses and the designer labels were all in the dresses as well. When I told her my price range, she didn’t bring out any dresses that were outside my range. The dress came in within 3 months and the alterations were just perfect.

Ceremony & Reception
Southampton Inn - A ++++
DH and I were looking for something that was sophisticated, simply and classy. We wanted something with a B&B feel to it, but larger to accomodate all our guests - the Southampton Inn was a perfect fit! We were able to have our ceremony, reception, cocktail hour and all our pictures taken all in one place, and have most of our out-of-town guests stay at the Inn as well. It’s also so unbelievably conveniently located, right in the middle of Southampton. Most of our guests made an entire weekend out of the wedding, coming to the Inn on Saturday, exploring town a little, coming to the rehearsal dinner, and then the next day to the wedding. Because it was so convenient to town, after the wedding, the guests remaining all wandered into town (with me in my wedding gown of course!) and ended up at 75 Main, this amazing little coffee shop that served us coffee, tea and yummy desserts. As for the Inn itself, I have to rave, rave, rave about the sales manager, Dave Hall, who made the wedding planning process as easy as possible. He was always available for any questions I had, and was tremendously accomodating. We had the ceremony in the library so they removed all the couches and set up chairs exactly as we asked, and the reception was set up exactly the way we wanted as well. My ONLY complaint is that the caterer that serves the Southampton Inn screwed up a few of the things we asked for, but that was entirely the caterer’s fault, not the Inn. The Inn added so many pleasant touches, like giving DH and I the best suite in the Inn for 2 nights, free of charge. When we came back to the room after the wedding, Dave had set up chocolates and champagne in our room as a little gift. The suite was so helpful because it had a door between both rooms and there were separate bathrooms in each, so the morning of the wedding DH and all the guys hung out on one side of the room while the girls and I hung out in the other room with the photographers running back and forth.

Catering
Black Tie Caterers - C
Black Tie Caterers are the caterers that serve the Southampton Inn. When we first called the Inn they quoted a price that was outside our price range, so we met with the head chef and worked out a less expensive menu, which was MUCH appreciated. BUT, unfortunately, it showed at the wedding. They screwed up so many things! My father really wanted Wolffer wine to be served at the tables and had that added to the contract, but at the wedding, they totally failed to serve it at the tables until I ran to the back-room and reminded them! And, they didn’t serve Wolffer, but instead a cheaper wine. We also had a number of vegan guests so we asked the caterers to make one dish that was vegan friendly - it was supposed to be Orriechete (sp?) pasta with grilled veggies, but on the day of the wedding, they served bland rigatoni pasta with cheese! Vegans cannot eat cheese!!! Then, we added to the contract fresh berries as a dessert dish for the vegans who couldn’t eat the cake. Instead of a separate dish, all they did was slice a couple of strawberries and put it on the plate with the cake - not at all what we had discussed. Granted, the food that WAS served was delicious, but it seemed quite evident to me that the caterers cut corners. I don’t know if that’s because we had worked out an alternative, less expensive menu, or if this is standard.

Florist
FlorisanLLC - A++++++
Lynn is absolutely amazing. We had a restricted budget for flowers, and didn’t need all the works because I did the centerpieces myself, so I posted a message on the vendor board asking for quotes for just the bridal party flowers and ceremony decorations. Lynn came back with the best price, and she was truly the most accomodating vendor of them all. I really liked her because I didn’t feel like I was dealing with a large business that doesn’t treat the customer as a unique individual. She really spent so much time sitting down with me and talking through our plans and making sure that everything reflected our style. I met with her several times to brainstorm ideas, and I have to give her credit for putting up with me because I probably changed my mind 6 or 7 times! But, she listened to everything I said, and made some wonderful suggestions, and as you can see from the pictures, the flowers came out truly, truly, truly amazing. I wanted flowers that had a very fall feel to them, with red, oranges, yellows and browns, with berries, and that’s exactly what she did! I highly recommend her, and even more so for those brides who aren’t exactly sure what they want because she has so many ideas and can be very helpful in pulling out of you exactly what you are envisioning.

Music
Marc Elliot Band - A-
Originally we were going to have a DJ, but our plans kept changing last minute, and my musician brother gave me the worst guilt trip about not having a live band, so with two weeks to go, we hired a band that my brother knew. Marc was very helpful every step of the way, and I have to give them tremendous credit for guaging the crowd very well. Although we gave them a list of songs we wanted, they didn’t play all of them, but I’m happy about that because looking back, I don’t think the crowd would have gone for our weird tastes. People were dancing, but it was more of a slow-dancing kind of crowd, so that’s the focus the band took, which worked PERFECTLY. My ONLY complaint is that at the very end, with about 30 minutes left to the reception, the band took a break so they could get paid. It was BAD, BAD timing because with such little time left, most of the guests took that as a cue to leave and the wedding pretty much disbanded even though there was 30 minutes left. I really think, considering we paid for each musician on an hourly basis, that we shouldn’t have paid the full price, but at this point, I’ve let it go. So, I highly recommend the band, but if you hire them, make sure you tell Marc to NOT take a break within the last 45 minutes!

Makeup
Myself! (With the help of Clinique) - A+++
I’m not a makeupy person, and I can’t stand how it looks and feels on my skin, so I wanted to make sure I had total control over my makeup. Matron and I went to a Clinique counter at a mall and asked for someone to show me how to do my own makeup. She was amazing, and so helpful and not at all pushy. I ended up buying all the makeup and doing it myself, for about $200, and now I have the makeup for myself after the wedding! People were commenting the whole time that they couldn’t believe that I did it myself

Hair
LaCarezza (Jaime) - A++++
LaCarezza is VERY pricey, but Jaime did an absolutely AMAZING JOB! I told her I wanted something very romantic and relaxed, not too “done” and that’s exactly what she did. She took her time to make sure every hair was in place, and she was so good, that the next day after the wedding, I went to see her to get my haircut for the honeymoon (and trust me, I don’t take my hairdresser’s lightly - I’ve been seeing the same hairdresser for the last 7 years and drive all the way from Philadelphia to New York to get it done!).

Photography
12th Night Photo - Anthony and Mike - A+++++
AMAZING!!! We haven’t gotten the proofs back yet, but they were truly amazing on the wedding day. DH and I are not exactly comfortable posing, but they did such a good job at putting us at ease, and they were soooooo professional. They really are there to give you the best possible shots and the whole time they were brainstorming about where to take pictures and when, to get the best possible shots for us. At the very end, Mike came up to us and told us he had been checking outside for the last hour to see if there could be a good sunset shot and said it was perfect and had us run outside for 10 minutes to get some pictures with the sunset - that is truly, truly, truly dedication! I can’t wait to see the proofs!!!!

Wow - what great pics!! You look like you had an absolute blast at the wedding - and that is how it should be! The Southhampton Inn looks gorgeous and you were a very pretty bride!! Congrats.

Congratulations, everything looked beautiful!!!

congrats!!!!! great pictures... hope you enjoy the honeymoon

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Posted by halloweenbride04

WE did have a glorious day!!! Who would have ever thought?? Congratulations!! You look so happy and your wedding looked like SO much fun!!!

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Right back to you!!! Thanks!!!

Hi,

I was reading about your wedding. I noticed you got married in Southhampton but your bridesmaid dresses were from a place in PA(I actually have a dress appointment tomorrow at La Bella Moda). Did you get married in NY but are from PA? I actually live in PA and am having my wedding in Westhampton this June. I am consiodering the florist you used, can you tellk me about her? Was she good? Did she have lots of ideas? How much was she and for what? Did she charge for travel?

Congrats...you looked beautiful!

Everything looked beautiful and the whether looked like it was really nice that day

I love your dress!!! It looks like you enjoyed the beautiful weather as well!!

Congratulations!!!!