Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Patken, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review) 1/15/07 -added video clips

Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Patken, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review) 1/15/07 -added video clips

Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

Disclaimer: Let me start off by saying that my day was awesome and I wouldn’t change a thing about. All my Vendors were great and delivered top notch quality. In the end it was all about me and Lou becoming one. Furthermore this is a review based off of events that happened at my wedding. My comments and inputs are based off of what was important to me and may differ for other brides. Please take into consideration my review but know that every wedding is different. Me and Luis weren’t going for a traditional wedding, we wanted to party and wanted everyone to dance, drink and just enjoy themselves – this was accomplished
I just want you ladies to know that if you are relaxed and just let yourself have fun you will have the most memorable time. Try not to focus on the negative because you want to get the most of all the hard work, sweat, tears and even fights that you had over this wedding. In the end All Couples Deserve To Have Fun and Enjoy every minute of their Wedding!! Thanks for letting me get Preachy and now on to the Review!!

I did not grade my vendors because an A for me can be and C for someone else and vice versa, I just listed the good, the bad and the ugly.

My Tahitian HM was Great.. here is the LINK to my review

LI Weddings: PERFECTION
This site is great if used wisely. I’m not going to lie the drama is fun but it can get irritating, many a times I had to tell myself chill this is a website and why are you letting someone you don’t know get you upset. Than I feel so stupid after my self Pep Talk :LOL: I like to thank some of the great ppl I met, since I never said a Goodbye so here are my shot outs:LOL:
Ron and Liz: this is a very useful wedding tool you got going here, and the lengths you go to help people is touching and inspiring. Thanks for the Laptop my then FI (dude in the Purple shirt) won at the Anniversary party.
CLM70906, KittyTheStray, SR081906, and all my Fellow Bridentologist – Ive had so much fun and thanks for making me laugh till I cried.
XCALYSTAX: You are a such a sweetheart and I cant wait to party at your wedding!!
SIBRIDE06: It was fun planning and sharing my wedding with you.

To My FM buddies I love conversing with you!!

Make Up by Carl – True Genius=Perfection, I ? Him
I didn’t have to search for a make up artist because I used the same guy who did my makeup and my sisters for her wedding. Carl is extremely talented and was trained by a make up artist who used to do make up for the actors on Broadway. He uses theatre makeup and his own make up. He does fantastic work and hasn’t let me down. I had fake lashes on and my make up last all night. He also was so helpful, he watched my nieces while me and my sister were getting ready. And help laced up my dress since my sister was failing under pressure – she was a nervous wreck. He is located in Manhattan and thast where I went for both my hair and make up trial since he works with Diane (Hair artist). He did mine and my sister’s makeup.











Hair by Diane: Perfect – Highly recommend
Now this was a complicated area because I have long, curly – coarse hair. I’m talking nappy, I only let Dominicans touch my hair they are the only ones who can get those kinks out. My hair was like a 3 step process to get it ready for the wedding.
Step one: A week before I had to get it relaxed at my regular dresser.
Then Step 2 was to go back to the Salon to get it Blown out the day before the wedding – so it would not be dry and curly.
Step 3 was getting it done by Diane the day of: she was another person who did my sisters hair for her wedding. Diane does great work, my hair held up considering I was dancing like a nut and acting all kinds of crazy. I didn’t know if she would be able to do my hair, but she did a great job. I loved it!! She also did my sisters hair, my sister was going for glamour look. Her hair came out stunning.

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THE DRESS

: Herald Square: Loved them, would recommend
I got a Maggie Sottero – Rowena dress. All the ladies were helpful every time I went to see my dress. I had 2 fitting, my seamstress was sweet and helpful. She did a great job on taking my dress in, the hem and bustle. The only bad thing was during the last fitting and dress pick up, me and my sister waited a while due to scheduling issue. Please note: I believe Macy*s only sells Demetrios Gown





My Jewelry
My E-ring, Diamond Earrings (wedding gift from DH), and both wedding bands were from our Jeweler – She’s Fantastic – FM for details.


Helzberg Jewelers Roosevelt Field(Highly Recommend)
My sister purchased my wedding necklace and let me barrow a bracelet she bought for herself.

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THE SHOES – My Glass Slipper (NYC)
Designer: Grace - Comfy and beautiful but $$$
Garter: Cathys Concepts – Pretty but a little snug on my leg.


TIARA: Swarovski Roosevelt Field. Please make sure to study your tiaras, they are handmade and sometimes have flaws. I returned mine twice, but the store was fast, helpful and courteous.


VEIL – Custom made by my ♥ aunt ♥. I bought all materials at the fabric district (NYC)

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Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

My Girls Dresses and Gifts

Manhasset- Got the job done with some headache
I ordered 7 Bridesmaids dresses from here. 6 Jordan 507 in light Blue and a Shelli segal dress for my sister (MOH). The dresses came in quickly and they had them in 6 months before the wedding. Scheduling fittings with them is a pain in the @ss because they only have certain days and sometimes you have to be persistent or fight with the receptionist. For the first fitting they had us wait for like 40 mintues, while my girls are standing in their dresses. However, when I spoke to the manger, she apologized extremely and someone helped us right away and we were out in 20 minutes. Some of the other girls were rude, but when the manager was there they all fell in line and she always asked if I was ok and being helped. The seamstresses were great and fixed all the dresses perfectly.

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JEWELRY
BM Purchased at a boutique in midtown Manhattan (33rd -34th street). $6.95 for earring & necklace set. Hair combs around $15 for a pack of 12.




MOH Jewelry – Earrings at Cathy’s Concepts



Cosmetic Bags purchased at NNICHOLS .

Bought ladies essentials at Victoria Secret




Flower Girls Dresses Purchased at My Daughters Wedding II @ Great Neck. They were courteous, nice and helpful. The prices for alterations are expensive though.

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

Leonard’s Of Great Neck – Excellent Job
My Banquet Manager was Good Ol’ Maurizio. When we first met him before we booked, he was very nice and wasn’t like a sales person. He even tried to sway us away from the extras like the Venetian HR and the 6 Entrée Menu Selections, but we were adamant about it. Now if you can afford these extras, I would add it. A lot of ppl liked the many choice selections, and my family & Guests loved all the desserts. Now me and Lou were having such a great time at the party that we didn’t eat from the Venetian Hr and we told them to keep some of the dance floor open and we reduced it to a half hr. Usually it’s a whole Hr but Leonard’s will cater to whatever you want. But those guest who ate from it, enjoyed it and were so happy, it wasn’t a waste to us.
My Matri’D was Natalya and she was great. She was helping with the set up and worked well with my Emcee. I arrived early at Leonard’s and she directed us to the Bridal Suite and told us she would schedule time for me to take Bridal Party Pics before my guest arrived. I did not see a single bride that day. So try not to worry about other parties interfering.
COCKTAIL HR
I didn’t go to my cocktail hour – but my sister scoped it out for me and said everything was set up perfectly and the food was delicious. From My Experience there was no hot food that was cold. We had the basic Renaissance package and just added the Spanish Sautee Station. The Empanadas and Paella were so delicious. Guests are still raving about the cocktail hour and being stuffed.

APPETIZER, SALAD, DINNER
I had chosen the Penne as the appetizer and it was delicious, however I didn’t like the tri color salad we picked I would stray away from that choice. I hope the others enjoyed it. For Dinner I had the Pork Chop, and the flavoring was yummy but it was cut too thick for me. However, Lou had the Filet Mignon – It was delicious and I preferred it over the pork chop. I heard the Chicken, Eggplant parmesan, and fish were also delicious. I’m not sure if anyone ordered the shrimp, haven’t got any feedback from my guests.

This is my only Gripe: My Bridal attendant (cant remember her name) was sweet and helpful, but after the reception started I saw her a few times which is ok cause she really wasn’t needed- I was on the dance floor or at the bar most of the time. I asked her to put my Veil in the suite and she hung it over the chair. So at the end of the night it wasn’t put into the limo and was left there. I called Leonards that night but no answered of course and the next morning they said they would call me back. I called back a few hrs later and they said they would speak to the bridal attendant. Needless to say the Veil is gone. I was upset because this was a veil made by my aunt. However, my party went so well and I had so much fun that I would still recommend this catering hall. I should have been on top of it a little more instead of worrying about the after party at the Hotel :LOL:

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Flower Michelle: Exceeded All Expectations
We were dealing with Mike through our whole planning process. He was great to work with; the only problem was he left Flower Michelle a few weeks before the wedding. Of course I only found out through a member on this site – Thanks XcalystaX!! But that didn’t effect the service one but. John sat down with us and made sure he understood what we wanted and what was included in the contracted and printed out the changes in the contract. I wasn’t worried one bit about the flowers and the day of my wedding they proved I had no need to. In all I had My Bo-K, 7 Bridesmaid Bo-K’s, one very special MOH Bo-K ( I told John I wanted 3 purple roses to stand out to represent me, my sister and my deceased mom in her Bo-K- it was gorgeous), 2 Flower Girl Baskets, 1 Corsage, 11 Bout., Dais arrangement, arrangement of Cala Lillies for the card table, 13 CP’s. They give you a throw away Bo-K and an extra Bout for the groom which was lost at the church (Men). They arrived at the house around 11:30am with all the girls flowers and than the driver rushed over to where the guys were to deliver the Bout. All of the Bouts were labeled which was very important to me. I thought all my flowers were gorgeous; I didn’t like the Cala Lilly Bout we picked for Luis – but thats what we picked and it did last the longest, I felt it was too plain. But the Cala Lilly was more durable than the Groomsmen’s Rose Bout.




Leonards Free Cake and DIY cake Toppe, flowers decorated by Florist

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Patken Photo- Steve delivers perfection once again
Once again I booked with Patken because my sister had Steve for her wedding 3 yrs ago. I loved Steve and told Patken I wanted them to do my wedding but only if I had Steve. I also wanted to Kevin for video but he was switching to photography. I had so much fun taking pictures with Steve, he is such a sweetheart and was able to deal with my wacky self and crazy bridal party. He was so patient, fast and straight to point. He also put together a throw away Bo’K for me since mine was left at the church. I felt bad because we ended up cutting that part out of the wedding out to keep on dancing. I love my proofs, they came out great and there are so many pictures he took and I didn’t even notice he was there taking them.

Patken Video -I loved my video.. Here are the links:
Patken Recap
Getting Ready

Montage- Better than I can Imagine
Tim was my videographer, he is such a great guy and another sweetheart. Luis and I had so much fun with him, we like to joke around a lot. I’m sure my video is great but I will add that after I get it. Luis mom and my mom are both deceased, taken form us when we were kids. So this montage was very important to us, we had pics of those who passed away and then to lighten the mood, childhood pics, and pics of us together and growing up. We sat down with Tim 6 weeks before the wedding and gave him the pics and order. I also wanted live feed of us during the day to be played after the Montage, this was done at my sisters wedding. It was only supposed to be captured at a certain time during the day and it couldn’t be edited – however, he surprised us by bringing a separate video camera just for that. So he was walking around with 2. It was such a beautiful element because, it showed more than we expected – like the church and when we went to take pictures. He did a phenomenal job, I was so happy with it. He also had pics that were taken of us played on the screen during the wedding. It was such a great touch.

Royalty Phenomenal
Another great Vendor; for some reason, I wasn’t striking out on any of my vendors. This is what I had – 5hrs for the Hummer and 4 hrs for the Chrysler 300M, pick up service after the reception and pick up service for the airport to our HM. Through the whole process they were great and honored both the LIW and Leonard’s discount. They called to confirm all our info a week before the wedding and our flight schedules for that Monday.
On the Day of they were great - I wish I can remember the name of the Limo drivers. It’s such a shame because they were so helpful. The arrived early to both locations, the hummer was picking up the guys in Jamaica, taking them to the church in Queens village and picking up my girls at Fresh Meadows. All distances are 10-15 min/ away from each other. The Chrysler was just coming to pick me up in Fresh Meadows. Both Limos were clean, and stocked with sodas, juice, Liquor, and water. Their drivers were so helpful and helped my sister with my nieces’ carriage and bringing our extra bags down. The Driver set up the Aisle Runner and lined up my Bridal Party for me. We also had a champagne toast. My brother in law, a groomsman took it upon himself to stock the hummer (aka the Party Limo) with Coronas.. Just an added tip for anyone interested.

After the reception we were picked up in a limo, which was cool because we were able to put my sister, her hubby and my niece in with us to the hotel. We also got picked up in a limo for the Airport ride… it was such a great touch. Royalty hooked us up.

The Hummer

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Festive Production – The Party Starter: I ? Steve the Emcee
I booked with this company solely for the purpose of having Steve as my Emcee. Steve used to work at Jimmy’s Bronx Café and has done weddings for my cousin, sister and a lot of my brother in laws friends. He is an awesome Emcee and works with the crowd. He sees what kind of guest you have and what music they are most responsive too. In our package we had intelligent lighting, two band members (a sax player and percussionist) and Give aways- yes I had them and they were great, my guest ate them up. Hispanics and drunk ppl love free stuff :LOL: The DJ was great and the band member were such a great added touch (I was a skeptic but out voted), the drummer had play for many artist including R&B singer Neo. The Sax player walked around the dance floor and ofcourse I had relatives playing on the drums.







Dove Release – Love Is In The Air – New Hyde Park – Excellent. Vendor:
This was a special touch after the ceremony and a great Wow factor for those who attended the ceremony. By the time we walked out of the church everything was set up. My sister did a reading, we released to doves and then the guy who works for the company released the other 10 birds. If you are interested in doing a Dove Release, I highly recommend this vendor.


Di Re Formalwear Highly Recommend
I wanted a Jean Yves Tux for my guys. We used Di Re because they carried them and were right next store the limo company. I had no problems with them and we got 3 free tuxes because of the amount of ppl in our Bridal party. You try on the tuxes upon pick up, so any changes or tailoring can be done on the spot. My ring Bearer and Jr. Groomsman’s shirt was big but that was my uncle and DH’s fault for not looking at it and just picking it up. Men

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DIY Monogram Cake Topper:
Clicky Here for more Info

Favors & Added Touches

Bags For Favors were Purchased at Papermart. I made my own labels in word and printed them out and glued it on the bags with Gem Tac glue.


Barcardi Bottles purchased at Hi Time Wines (Highly Recommend – ordered online). I decorated them myself with materials and charms from Michaels.


Shot glasses & boxes purchased online @ Discountmugs; I decorated the boxes with ribbons and charms from materials purchased @ Michaels.




DIY Unity Candle:
Purchased candles, holders, & votive vellums at Michaels.




Cardbox – Vendor: Perfect Cases bought on Ebay


Things Remembered:
Groomsmen Mugs (Mucho Macho Size)

Toasting Flutes



We Took Pics at Botanical Gardens In Flushing - It was $150 for an HR and a Half. Here are some proofs, more at the park

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Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

Congratulations!!!! You look gorgeous and so happy in your pictures! Everything looked incredible. I wish you and your husband a lifetime of happiness.

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

wow!! you look like you had a blast at your wedding!!!! and everyone really looked beautiful!!!!

you def gave a lot of input on everything!!! thanks!!!

my main concern about leonards was the hot food being cold.....i guess everyone heard about that??? at least it wasnt that way for you....and hopefully it wont be that way for me!!!!

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

Thanks Ladies for the compliments It was a perfect day. And Im finally finished my review.. Phew

Amanda: Im sure Leonards will do right by you.. I would just discuss it with your BM. Good Luck

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

Beautiful photos and a great review! Congrats!!!

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

Thanks for your review that was very helpful

I am working with Murizio too and i really like him..

You looked beautiful

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

absolutely beautiful!!! you looked gorgeous and so glad you had a great time!

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)

Congrats!!! glad you had an AMAZING day!!!

Re: Smara’s Lets Get The Party Started- Wedding Review (Leonards, Royalty, Flower Michele, Dove Release, Di Re. Link To Tahiti HM Review)