My LONG March wedding review: Irish, Green, Orange, Chateau La Mer, Patken, Flower Michele, Village Bridal, Jenn the Hair Genie, Makeup by Janine, Energy Entertainment and more! EDITED

This review is now complete, removed some pictures since I am now uploading my album pics and it would be silly to have dups of everything.

Our wedding was perfect in every way. We reminded ourselves it is about us joining as a couple and not about this big expensive lavish over the top long island wedding. But in the end we had a mid sized, semi over the top long island wedding. We kept with in budget and in the end the wedding (not honeymoon) cost us around 16k for about 100 people.When planning you must always consider what is the most important thing to spend on and take it from there. You must also utilize what you have (me being a graphic designer helped bring costs down) and whom you know (the mayor of our town who married us for free). You should also remember that this is YOUR wedding and control what is about fh and you. Do not let people rule your day otherwise you will be miserable. Also be careful who you pick as far as bridal party members, choose people who can afford, spend the time on the few things you might need them for and of course who you really love and know. ALL PHOTOGRAPHS PRO unless noted and taken by PATKEN PHOTOGRAPHY.

Weather: Cool in the mid 50’s – cloudy/rain then clear. I do not want to grade weather since its something we cannot control.


LIW A++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Resource was very helpful. Ideas, concepts, excel spreadsheets, planning advice, budgets, etc. SO THANK YOU LIW, you have help me so much and I truly appreciate it again.



BRIDAL SHOWER
Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale. A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I had about 25 women and 3 guys attend my shower and I have to say it was one of the best showers I had ever been to. The room fitted the wedding and me. The food and service was great. Nothing bad to say about it. I would recommend it to anyone!

(NON PRO SHOT TAKEN BY MY DAD)



BACH PARTY
A++++++++++
Man of honor, one bm and a friend went to D.C. and had a blast. Went to Fado Irish pub most of the time.

(NON PRO SHOT TAKEN BY MY FRIEND)



REHERSAL DINNER
Katie Daly's Massapequa B+ - Didn't post any pics sorry
It was the Saturday before Saint Pat’s so the place was busy. We had a private room downstairs and everything was really nice. The food was good but the service was way too slow. I realize they had a busy day so I don’t want to bash them for it but for a dinner that should of taken a few hours turned into a whole night event. THE


DRESSES
Lidia’s Bridal now Village Bridal & Boutique:
Customer Service/Store: A++++++++++++++++++
Alterations: B+
Cassablanca (dress designer) A++++++++++++++My dress was around $350 cheaper at Lidia’s then anywhere else, so I ordered it there. I liked the staff and we liked the fact it was a smaller store near my parent’s house. When they moved the great service carried over just they had a bigger store. The people and the prices are AMAZING.



Alterations were okay – nothing too bad. I lost a ton of weight so the dress had to be taken in and then she took it in too much so I had to fight to get it taken out. Once it was out it didn't’t sit well on me that was acceptable because of all the things that happened to it and it was a lace overlay on satin. BUT they never took in my chest area and she said she was going to do it. I didn't’t realize how big it was until I wore it for a few hours and it dropped a bit – so I had to push it up at times. I spent a lot of money on my double French bustle, which fell all night long. I had EIGHT buttons/snaps on the dress and it was light material and it should of never had fallen in my opinion. But it looked amazing when it did stay up! My got her alterations done as well. She was happy with her's.



The dress designer – did my custom bolero. No clue how it was going to turn out and when I got it I was FLOORED. Want a designer gown not too expensive - go with them. They customize any dress for your needs and they are brilliant. Classic designs – nothing too over the top “fashion” so its out of date next year and you look stupid and nothing so fuddie that you look like your in a bad 80’s prom.

Angel’s Bridal East Islip – BM dresses A++++++++++++++++++++++++
Great service all around would of ordered my dress there if I didn’t go with Village Bridal. Designer is Alfred Angelo and sash is from the Dessy group.



Totally You in bellmore sold my mom her dress - Very happy she says A+ FG dress: Atias Flea Market – A+++++++++++++ can’t beat the price and it was amazing.

THE TUXS
RSVP Tuxedo in Bayshore A++++++++++++++ nothing bad to say inexpensive and professional. We purchased the ties (green ones only) from Dessy group in order to match the sash.



PHOTO/VIDEO - Posting photographs all over this review
Patken Photography so far A+++
(Photographer’s were David & Nick)
Pre-wedding A+:
Wedding A+:
Proofs A+:
Thank you: B+
Album: TBD











Before the wedding: When I had my first meeting with Patken the woman didn’t overly impress me with the whole sale thing. I worked as an album salesperson years ago for Proline so I know the deal. What sold me was the owner Doug – who came in and totally made me feel a bit important. We booked since they fit in our budget and the right mix of candids and portraits. I didn’t realize you should do some research and know their photographs prior to booking so they setup our engagement shot and we had those and then a photographer was selected for us. After a few months I called up to meet with the photographer, we met and soon after it was decided it wouldn’t work for our style. So we had another photographer selected for us which was David. He RULES! Then we found out a week before the wedding we got an additional photographer Nick.








During the wedding: FLAWLESS – amazing shots in my mind. Great job during the wedding. I never noticed they were there and they got the shots we needed. I am so glad we had them as our photographers. We made jokes, bonded a bit and really made us comfortable. I can’t stop hearing rave reviews over these proofs and I broke into tears when viewing them for the first time. They even loved my picture locations. I had a few different places in mind and they called me to know the plan that morning since it all depended with weather where we did the photo shoot.


Thank you card - We picked a shot that was far away and asked them to crop it a bit. They did it and honestly I am happy with them just the actual printing is a bit fuzzy. I didn't bother to complain because i know most people toss them. If its because of the cropping then they should of told us the picture wasn't good enough quality to do it. Its not a huge issue - and the folding (score is off) and only I would notice that being a graphic designer. BUT they gave me a ton of extra so that won me over IoI Got some thank you's out ot our vendors.

Album A
The album itself and the design is A+, I wish some of the pictures were not so dark. They were this way in proof but I thought (now thought but I should of known) that i should of asked them to be lighter. Now this is being fussy - no one notices but me and it is really only a tad bit dark. So advice, proof it and anything that is slightly too light or dark request it to be fixed prior to approval. We are very happy with it and we give Patken a big applause on that one.







Patken Videography (Ray):
Wedding A+:
Finished: A+++++
Had a blast with Ray, my entire wedding party loved him. He was a real down to earth guy who loved to talk to us and get to know us. Dave my man of honor shoots and edits film so they gabbed it up a bit during downtime. Video is just amazing.

I uploaded some of the wedding video on youtube. I had to COMPRESSED IT A LOT so the quality is not all there but I figured to put it up to show Patken brides what they get!

Part 1 - The slideshow and video montage

Part 2 - The ceremony

Part 3 - The details, entrance of bridal party and first dance

Part 4-6 are up on youtube but I didn't put a link up here since I didn't think people would want to see the speeches, pipers, dancers, etc. But if you do just go to my other movies on my account on youtube and you can get the links there.

Part 7 - Cake cutting, dances, bouquet toss, garter toss and the last dance

My own magazine style layout - being printed by BLURB

I think I can safely say I think I am our wedding. Getting our Patken traditional album was so great but spending a couple of days on and off designing this new album to fill my creative side has pushed me IoI Guess you can only look at yourself for so long!

The cover will be a slip jacket and it will be a 8 x 10 book (not perfect bound so I tried to make the seams not so exact just in case the page isn't glued/stitched so perfectly). I exported all my layouts in spreads so it shows how the book will be.

A++++++++++++++++++++

Great - amazing perfect print job.



Then the rest of the pages:

LIMO
Camelot Limo: A+ - Cannot remember my driver’s name but he was great. I won a certificate at the WOTY and made the appointment and booked on site. Requested a black limo and got a nice clean black limo. Very professional and honorable (did not ask for me to spend more since I wont the certificate since I only wanted a pick up and drop off service).

DJ
High Energy Entertainment: A+++++++++++++++++++++
Ralph and his guys were completely amazing. Did a great job with getting people on the dance floor. Played every song that had specific timings that we needed done excellently. We had set times on a few things and they just nailed it. Great to deal with. Recommend them to anyone who doesn’t want a jerk on the dance floor yelling at people to get up and dance.



FLORIST
Flower Michele - A
Pre-wedding: Met with Barbara originally and booked with her. A few months later I heard she had “left” called up John and went over my contract – THANK GOD! Things needed to be rearranged and more details needed to be given that were lacking in my originally meeting about my needs. They fit within my budget of $1,100 for my bq, 2 bm bq, 7 bouts, 11 main centerpieces with 2 mini’s per table and extra petals.Sample: Great flowers – great setup John was great. I asked for orange roses and found them to be too dull against the green so asked for circus roses that just are obnoxious orange. Worked out lovely – added on the mini’s to the centerpieces and it worked amazingly.





Wedding:
Delivery to the house: Okay, but nothing horrible. We had to call to see when the flowers were getting to us. I was stressed because our photographer was arriving in an hour and still no flowers. They should up with in 15 mins after that so no problem – just got anxious. The delivery guy dropped my bouquet, which made me go into a frenzy (I am paying $700 to get the damn thing preserved). Two flowers broke but he said he would give the hall some extra’s to fix it. The flowers were stunning. I wanted a bigger bouquet so please do ask what size you are getting otherwise you might be surprised. I honestly loved my flowers and still do just thought it would be bigger.Hall: the centerpieces were AMAZING! People were fighting to take them home. Very happy with the setup overall.

HAIR
Jenn the Hair Genie A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was hard to try to get communication flowing with her via emails. I would write and about a week later get a response. That was my only issue otherwise she was reliable, on-time, professional, pleasure to deal with, artist and lastly a very knowledgeable person to deal with. My hair trail was great because I had a few pictures and she told me to go with this one style because it would look best for me. She didn’t sell me hair extensions like everyone else tried to, she didn’t tell me my hair was bad for that, etc. she just did it and I loved my hairstyle. The day of she same on time, setup and asked to see my dress and she modified my hair from the trial to really fit my dress. She nailed it. My mom, 1 bm and my fg got their hair done by her and they LOVED HER. The hairstyles were great and lasted all day no problems.



MAKEUP
Makeup by Janine A+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Very close friend of sure pleasure and mine to deal with. Just like Jenn above she was professional, reliable, pleasure to deal with and knows her stuff. She is currently trying to become a vendor on LIW so please do seek her for trials. Her prices are great and she isn’t a snob like some makeup people I had contacted. She gave me makeup to do touchups all night but honestly I didn’t need it. My mom, 1bm and myself got airbrush foundation and makeup done by her. It lasted ALL NIGHT. Flawless amazing stuff – art!

GIFTS
Bridal Party and Family Gifts: Ebay - most of my stuff and sorry I lost my ebay contacts, Macys for scarfs, Guinness.com for bm fridge, Etsy vendors for jewelry are HeatherlyDesigns & Groovymoon Creations. Oh and Oriental Trading Company. These are mixed shots you can tell which are pro.













IMPORTANT LITTLE DETAILS
The small but very important details of the wedding: (ME unless listed) A++++++++++++++++++
All my paper products totaled around $400 this included: menu, entire invitation set, seating cards, signs, programs, OOT boxes and labels, tree tags, etc. All designed by me, printed either by me or the print shop I had worked for (gold coast printing in Melville). Honestly worth the time I had spent on all of it. Yea could of made it really fancy with different stock and swashes and gems – but that is not my taste this is. Everyone loved it and hopefully will help drum up business for me as a freelancer. Website was helpful to make – many people used it as a source of information and guideline of what is going on that weekend.
(following are nonpro taken by me)










STD


(back to proshots) Pillow purchased through a ebay vendor but decorated by me.



Glasses printed by Star Promoz- Pint glasses. My design - These were the favors as well - two pint glasses, two coasters of ireland in a nice package designed by me.

HALL
Chateau La Mer: MD: Nick Bridal Attendant: forgot A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Prior to wedding: We asked for pricing at first and they told us to come down to a tasting and meet with them to go over our needs/wants before pricing. We went there and was floored how much food and how good it was. They give you a platter of everything to taste then tour the building. We met with Lou originally but when we setup another meeting we had Nick and after that Nick was our main man. Always answered my emails/phone calls with questions. We had gone to several events there and enjoyed the food and the service so we booked in December of 2006. We were keeping a tight budget since Fh and I don’t earn a ton of cash and we had to pay for the entire wedding ourselves. We picked March and around St. Pat’s since it were within our budget and we love the holiday. We found with keeping it on a Sunday it really let us be able to spend elsewhere so we weren’t all financially tied up at the hall. Nick guided us every step and was on top of everything. I had a ton of DIY’s and a ton of setup items, which he handled amazingly. I found if you keep lists of what you have in what box and where you want it place and how you want it setup you don’t have to field questions the day of.













Wedding:

It couldn’t of gone any better honestly. I got there very early because the weather changed on us and started to rain a bit. It was cool so I wanted everyone to be warm so we got in and had a huge plate of food waiting for us. We were starved after taking pictures all day. Our bridal attendant was great – she kept refreshing our drinks, helping out with hydrating our flowers (they started to wilt a bit), handling everything and basically made the day go so smoothly. Nick was starting to get all my details setup so there was a frenzy of action going on around us. Everything was done perfectly. I can’t explain how happy I am with them. Family loved the service, the food and the décor. We had a professional food critic at our wedding that no one knew about (family friend) and he LOVED his food. The wait and bar staff was bar none the best and on top of all things. They gave me freebies the day of too – ice sculpture and shamrock plants for cocktail hour room that Nick saved for me to use from the prev. wedding the day before. He thought of me always and I truly appreciate Nick and everyone at CLM.

Wedding cake (cambell’s (sp) bakery in brentwood) B: Never met with anyone personally – gave a handout with photographs and a written description of what I wanted on the cake to Nick at CLM and he gave it to the baker. I also gave a swatch of the green I wanted as a ribbon on the cake so things matched. The cake TASTED AMAZING!!!! Better the black forest bakery but the overall look is not what I asked for. The green ribbon must of changed due the reaction of the buttercream which made it look black but off black, not a huge deal but they should know if ribbons change color and should of left it off like I said they could if they couldn’t match the green. The green shamrocks I HATED!!!! Didn’t ask for that at all – wanted buttercream scroll work with buttercream shamrocks not sugar forms plopped on the cake. Stupid looking and campy. Only problem with the cake.







ACCOMODATIONS
Courtyard Marriot in Farmingdale:
c- a few months before the wedding then
A+++++++++ when a new person took over the position and handled us

This is where the OOT guests and FH and I stayed. We also had a breakfast the day after the wedding. I had sooo many issues when we dealt with the original person working there. Our rooms were “lost” at one point and I had to scramble to get everything fix when the invitations went out with the information. After the new person had taken over the account EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING. The bartender who worked the night of our wedding stayed MUCH LATER then what he was supposed to, we had singing and drinking and partying and it was great. The rooms were clean and new and amazing. The staff for breakfast was right on top of things. So worth everything!

LOCATION FOR PICTURES
Parents House, Chateau La Mer and Sagtikos Manor












HONEYMOON

Ireland 6.05.08

Flight review Grade C: We flew from JFK to Dublin direct on Aer Lingus. We left at 9:40 p.m. and allowed us to arrive at 9:10 a.m. the next day. Pretty much a smooth flight.

Going back we had a 5:00 p.m. flight from Dublin that was supposed to be direct but they cancelled the flight then redirected it through Shannon Airport which gave us an hour and half layover. No explaination but they had to pick up stranded passengers there. We plan on writing the company a letter complaining about the flight and how we paid an extra $300 for a direct flight per person and we would like reimbursement. Staff was pretty rude and we pretty much will try not to fly that airline EVER again.

Hotels:
Dublin: Conrad Dublin – grade A
Conrad Dub
Great service, pub/restaurant was excellent. Selection was limited on food but most people don’t hang out and eat on the hotel when traveling. We only had dinner once the first night we arrived and we drank at the pub for the most of the night. Good location from the main part of the city, right on the corner of St. Stephen’s green and walking distance to Temple Bar and Trinity College.

We did the Guinness Store House and the Ghost Tour and St. Patricks church and mostly walked around and hung out in Temple bar.





Ghost Tour Pics - my camera wouldn't work in any graveyard so this is the only shot!
















Galway: Abbeyglen Castle Hotel – Hotel A+++, not having a car and being stuck in Clifden C
Abbeyglen
Reviews: Rated # 1 of 4 Specialty lodging in Clifden
Amazing room – just great place to stay and relax. Most Dubliners stay here on vacations in the “country” since it is so peaceful. EXPENSIVE – meal was like $80 US dollars per person (only ate one night there) but very tasty. They had your food in a pen basically and freshly killed for dinner, which was an added plus! If we had a car it would have been a great place to stay but since we did public transport we were stranded in town which STUNK during the day (nothing to do) but they had a lively night life with a whole 4 pubs to choose from IoI











Park House Hotel Galway City – A+++++++++++++++++
Park House
Amazing food, amazing location, great service, room was nice and a pleasure to stay at. Right near the main park in the city and walking distance to the main shopping areas.

We did Corrib Cruise and just walked around the city.














Travel Tom – grade B
Please to deal with and always friendly but he travels A LOT so it was hard to negotiate with him on what we wanted vs what he could book for us. He gave us AMAZING choices but you still need to do your own research on where he is placing you vs what you want to do on your honeymoon. He really wanted us to stay at the Castle for more nights and I said no way in hell since I knew it was in nowhereville and we had no car. Even though that is a top honeymoon place I expressed that WE DO NOT want to have a honeymoon where we sit and stare at each other and stay in bed all day. He came up with a great selection of hotels in Galway city then and we picked the Park House since it was a good price vs location.

We were on our own with booking transportation, tours and entertainment and is the main reason he got a B. I basically still had to figure out what to do and luckily I had been there all ready so it helped.

Ireland itself – A+++++++++++++++++++++
Great people/friendly and polite. Cities are very walkable and tons of selections on what to do and eat and especially DRINK. People love to talk politics with you when your sitting in a pub and your never left alone typically in a pub when your there for more then 20 minutes. Weather was amazing only rained one day, temps were 58-65F. Public transport was clean, efficient and really a joy to deal with.

Top mentions: Little Caesars of College Green in Dublin, great Italian food. Cactus Jacks in Galway, great tex/mex, Gallaghers Boxty House in Dublin, great traditional Irish food.


KEEPSAKE FLORAL - BOQUET PRESERVATION
B+ - For what they charge (i think it was $600 total) and what I had seen on their website I thought the flowers would look more real then dried. I still think it is VERY pretty and I am happy I did it. They did inform me over and over that the flowers would be darker and that I am fine with. Also, there are parts of the dried flowers stuck on the plastic bubble, I had to keep tapping it to get it off so not a big deal just so that you people know what to do when you get it.

As long as the color and quality stays over the years as they said I think it is still worth doing it.



Detail:


MUSIC
Wedding play list: I did this because it took me a year to compile these songs and put them in correct order and really pay attention to our music. I like death metal, alternative/80’s and fh likes speed metal and rock. We both love Irish folk music and we wanted us reflected in the music just as much as our theme. I do not agree with blasting people out for the sake of being cool but proper placement of music can really bring out the personality in a wedding. Our wedding was not some factory dj music – it was about us and our guest.

Ceremony Music:
Prelude - Song Title, Artist:
Alhambra, Sarah Brightman,
Is Fada Liom Uaim, Maighread Ni Dhomhnail
She Moved Through the Fair (Instrumental), Sound Poets
Ce He Mise le Ulaingt? (The Two Trees), Loreena McKennitt
Her Mantle So Green, Sinéad O’Connor
Up Against The Bauchalawns, The Chieftains
Trasna na dTonnta, Cherish the Ladies
This Moment, iona Joyce
Scarce O’ Tatties, Various Artists
My Lagan Love, Sally Doherty & The Sumacs
Wind That Shakes The Barley, The Chieftains The Best Of The Chieftains
Raglan Road, Finn’s Fury
Haste To The Wedding, The CorrsThe Processional:
(Bridal party)
Only Time, Enya(Brides Music)
Enya_-_Song_of_the_Sandman_(lullaby), EnyaThe Reccessional
Enterlude, The Killers
When You Were Young, The Killers

Cocktail Hour
At Last, Joni Mitchell
Unchained Melody, Cyndi Lauper
Ice Cream, Sarah McLachlan
Brany Alexander, Feist
You & Me, Cranberries
Rocky Road to Dublin, The Dubliners
Irish Rover, The Dubliners
The Wild Rover, Dropkick Murphys
Black Velvet Band, The Dubliners
Whiskey in the Jar, The Dubliners
When the stars go blue, The Corrs, featuring Bono
Factory Girls, Flogging Molly
Ring of Fire, Finn’s Fury
Sweet Home Chicago, Blues Brothers
A room with a view, Death Angel
Strange World, Iron Maiden
Tuesday Morning, The Porgues
T.B.O.S., Ludichrist

Reception
First song played at the reception: U2 I will followAnnouncing the bridal party
Drunken Lullabies by Flogging Molly for the following: Tom’s sister & my parentsNight of the Living Dead by the Misfits for the following:Flower girl, ring bearer, bridesmaids, groomsmen & bestmenOUR announcement (bride and groom): Rain in Blood by Slayer mixed by Paul M.

The END

great review!!! congrats...you made a gorgeous bride

Wow you looked absoutely amazing! I especially love all your DIY projects!! Congrats

Your DIY's are incredible!!!!
I love your dress and the jacket. Thanks for the amazing review!

GORGEOUS..like i said before you have the best little details.....GREAT REVIEW.

amazing!!! LOVE all your little details!!! you looked absolutely gorgeous!!!!!

congratulations!!!! btw, I sat at your table at TWOTY last year at CLM!! glad to see you enjoyed having your wedding there!!!

EVERYTHING was so beautiful! congrats! ..and great review!

Great review, fabulous wedding - stunning bride!

Congrats!!!

Great review! LOve all the details of your wedding... thanks for sharing!!! Looked like a gorgeous day and you were a beautiful bride... Congrats to you & DH