My amazing 4/27 wedding...

I don't even know how to begin describing what an amazing day it was...

We had a beautiful sunny day. Kristen and Carmela arrived on time and did a wonderful job with everyone's hair. I was nervous about mine since during the trial we didn't finalize the exact style, but Kristen was a doll to work with. Everyone looked great and they finished early. Not until I saw pictures and the video did I realize part of my hair was falling down before the reception even began...

Jeanne also had everyone looking great with their make-up. We were all done before the photographer arrived. My makeup looked great and with the exception of my lipstick - it stayed on all day.

I was happy with all my choices - it was really an amazing day.

Limos - NJL. Our driver was on time and very friendly. Even though he got a little lost on the way back to my house (after dropping the guys off), we made it to the church on time.

Flowers - John from Flower Michele outdid himself. The bouquets were unbelievable. Everyone was talking about them all night. The centerpieces were perfect. My cake was the most beautiful I've ever seen (John decorated it with gardenias). John was a pleasure to work with and I highly recommend him.

Lands End - an amazing place. We arrived there really early and they had food ready for the bridal party and we had full run of the place for pictures etc. It was great to have so much time between the church and reception. Pictures got finished early and we really got to enjoy just hanging out wih our Bridal Party and we had our own private cocktail party before the cocktail hour. The service was impeccable. The food outstanding. They handled every request quickly and efficiently. Marietta, the maitre'd, is just fantastic. People were blown away but the amount of food, the beauty of the place and the quality. We had a few last minute cancellations the day before and one no-show.

Band - Current Affair. I highly recommend them. Guests were asking for their business cards all night. They had everyone up dancing and sounded exactly like the original artists. I could not have been happier with this choice. They were absolutely incredible. Even my dad who really wanted a DJ was thrilled. They learned a bunch of songs for us and were great to deal with. Everyone's still talking about them.

Photo - Vinny from Patken. Haven't seeen our proofs yet but just found out they're ready.

Video- Platinum Video. Peter had a family emergency and had to leave after the ceremony. Fortunately, he was able to find a quick replacement to meet us at Lands End. He handled the situation very well and assures us that we'll love our video. He also took some money off our bill since he was unable to finish our day.

Tux - VIP in Commack. Slight mess up with my dad's vest but it was quickly resolved.

Bridal Dress - Paradise Bridals. Great to deal with throughout the whole process. Rosalie (seamstress) and Donna (sales women) were wonderful.

BM dresses - Dessy and After six dresses in different styles (all claret). All the girls in different dresses looked great and was a big hit. We ordered them online and saved tons.

All the special touches we did really made our day (we handmade our programs and invitations, special dances, table names, favors, family wedding photos on display, etc).

We had a great time at our wedding - we really enjoyed it and danced a lot. We managed to greet everyone (220 guests) at the cocktail hour and going around to some tables, but we also made sure we had time to have fun. Guests were commenting that watching us dancing was a show in itself. They enjoyed that we were enjoying ourselves.

Being married is wonderful. We just returned from our honeymoon in Costa Rica and I'm trying to adjust to reality.

I feel like I'm forgetting things - I could keep writing about that day forever...I hope to get some pictures online soon. Thanks everyone for all your help in the planning. Most of my vendors came from recommendations from this site.

link to more pictures: here

Link to our SF reshoot: here

Congratulations Lisa - I'm so happy that it was an amazing day for you both!
May you have love in your life forever!

Pepper - we travelled around for two weeks. We rented a car in San Jose and drove to the cloud forest in Monteverde. There we did rainforest hikes and the canopy tour. We stayed in Hotel Montana Monteverde in their Capullo Suite. It was nice, but looks like its getting old. The hottub in the room was a nice plus though.

Then we drive to Arenal. Views of the volcano were tough - it was pretty rainly and cloudy. We stayed at the Arenal Observatory lodge which was just OK. The view is awesome (on a clear day), but the rooms are nothing special and the food was poor. While in Arenal we did a rafting trip up the Sarapiqi river (great fun) and visited the Tabacon hot springs (a must do).

We drove back to San Jose and stayed in Xandari for the night. It was by far teh most amazing hotel I've ever been to. So unique and beautiful. Amazing service, great food.

We flew the next day down to the Osa Pennisula and stayed at La Paloma in Drakes Bay. We were in the jungle. It was alot of fun but very hot and very buggy. La Paloma was nice - big open air bungalows overlooking the ocean. We did scuba diving, kyacking, jungle hike in Corcovado rain forest, horseback riding on the beach. It was more adventure than luxury (though very pricey). We had massages on our deck as the sun was setting and waves crashing. Food was included and the family style dinners really got you bonding with others there.

We retuned to Xandari for one night before our flight home. We had a womderful time there (and had another massage).

We tried to avoid very resort-y places cause we wanted a feel for costa rica itself. It was a great trip. Almost everyone speaks english (especially those invloved with tourism). Food's really cheap. Nice hotels aren't as cheap as you would expect. I'm not sure but I think we spent about $5000 for the two weeks.

We saw toms of wildlife - monkeys, amazing birds, sharks, insects and animals I'd never heard of before. I did a lot of research beforehand and talked to lots of people on the trip about which places they visited so I may be able to tell you more about specific places you have in mind. Feel free to email me [email protected]

Congratulations your day sounds wonderful. I am curious about something. Why do you post in your message with a word asterisked - ****tail ? I assume you are talking about your cocktail hour. Since when does the word cocktail need to be bleeped out? Or am I missing something? I am just wondering. Thanks.

Congratulations again!

Alessia - how strange! you'd have to ask liweddings. I didn't type it like that. Maybe I'll try and edit it.

update: the edit worked. Strange that it appeared that way the first time.

I'm so glad that Lands End was everything that I hoped it could be...can you tell me the little things that I should keep in mind?

[email protected]

I'm so happy for you! I can only hope my day turns out so perfectly!
I'm getting married at Lands End and I can't wait!

My bridesmaid dresses are also claret and I'm curious to hear what flowers you used. I haven't started looking yet.

Congrats again!

the girls flowers were reds and yellows. They looked stunning against the red dresses.

They had black magic roses, keis tulips (which are orange/red with yellow tips). Yellow freesia. Yellow mini callas, and red hyperbian berries. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

My bouquet was all whites of mini callas, freesia and stephanotis

Congratulations and best wishes to you and your new husband.

May you have a lifetime of happiness always!


Karen

You used Kristen from Enchante? Someone else did your makeup? I cannot wait to see some photos.

I am so happy that your day went so perfectly. God Bless you new life together.

Congrats! So glad you had a wonderful day

So it was no problem driving from place to place?
I've just heard and seen so much info about intra-country plane travel.

Did you book the whole itinerary over the phone or online? Xandari sounds really nice I'll look for that.

Gotta sleep now I'm exhausted...

I'll try to e-mail you thanks again for the info and for offerring me more help via e-mail.

-A

Sounds like you had a great day!! Im so happy for you!
Wow didnt even think of costa rica and I am on a budget sounds like its affordable hmmmm

Cant wait to see pictures, i want red and yellow flowers too!! How was Flowers by michelle as far as pricing by the way I need to meet with some florists?

How can we see these pictures anyway, this new format has me a little confuzed

driving was a lot of fun, but the roads definitely require 4wd. We did take one flight to Osa (and then a truck and then a boat to get there). But we wanted the freedom of the car for the first part of the trip. Driving through the countryside was an awesome experience.

The problem with flying is that everything goes through San Jose. So you're always returning to San Jose before your next destination rather than flying directly there.

We booked everything online.

Flower Michele was comparable to Burton's and in the end I got so much more than I would have gotten there. John was awesome.

I'll try and figure pictures out tomorrow. I don't have anything other than the bouquets on my digital camera. I left the pictures up to the professionals once I left the house.