My Nov 4th Wedding!!!!! Truly the best day of my life!

Hi everyone....I just got back from my honeymoon last night and have jet lag.....woke up at 3pm. I decided let me write my vendor review. I have been on LIWEDDINGS.COM for over a year and got sooo much great advice on here. Many of my vendor recommendations came from here. Well, anyway here it goes. First off I am still in awe of what a beautiful day we had. My husband and I prayed so hard that the weather would at the very least be nice enough to take pics outdoors. We would have never imagined that it would be as nice as it was. I think it was almost 70 degrees. Who would have thought it would be so nice in NOV and we could have the ceremony and the cocktail hour outside. The sun, the color of the leaves...everything matched perfectly with my fall wedding colors...it was a gorgeous day!!! BEST WESTERN MCARTHUR...my whole wedding party and out of town guests stayed here on Sat night. Also my rehearsal dinner was here. They were excellent. The food, the staff, the rooms everything. The suite was huge and beautiful with an absolutely stunning view of a lake and the most beautiful fall foliage. When I woke up on the morning of my wedding I thought I was dreaming. I also stayed here on my wedding night before we left for our honeymoon. They were awesome! GROOMSCAKE....I had a cake made for the rehearsal dinner for my hubby. It was so beautiful. We went to same high school (He was a football player an and I was a cheerleader) So I had our HS emblem on it and it was in the shape of a football....it was delicious. The cake maker lives out in Suffolk and she was great, timely and professional. Her name is Michelle and she can make anything u ask her for...the cake came out just like I asked!!! http://www.justincakes.homestead.com/ LIMO AVALON LIMO CORP. 61 INVERNESS RD. HOLBROOK,NY 11741 I didn't really deal with them at all because my dad was nice enough to pay for the limos for us, so he made all the arrangements. They were great. On time, great cars and very friendly. They also brought us to the airport on monday (we had to be there at 4am)....All in all...great company (father and son). WEDDING ATTIRE My dress and my bridesmaids dresses all came form Davids Bridal in Brooklyn. I was more than pleased....Ill post pics later but I really thought I looked great if I must say. The girls too. They did a great job with the fitting too cause I would have never in a billion years thought I could pull off a strapless but with the bra they recommended and the work by their seamstress it was great and I wasn't falling out of it all night. Tuxes - Town and Country - The end result was great. My husband, fathers, groomsman and the little boys all looked great but the service left something to be desired. Enough said. CEREMONY MUSICIANS Elena Rojas and Claire Lui...I found them on this board. They are students from Queens College. Cellist and Violinist. To tell you the truth, I barely remember hearing them during the ceremony (nerves) and I was taking pics during the cocktail hour. But they were on time and everyone said it was beautiful so I am happy. They were pretty reasonable and easy to work with. Elena made a lot of great suggestions and she has a pretty extensive repertoire. Contact Elena [email protected] EASTWIND CATERERS (THE ESTATE) I don't even know where to start...between them and my Dj people can't stop talking about the wedding. Eastwind was unbelievable. I found them from a recommendation on this board. We went to about 20 halls (and we have been guests at wedding at about 15 other) They give an incredible wedding. The cocktail hour, the service, the dinner... everything was awesome. The grounds....the beautiful HUGE bridal suite. I was so pleased with everything. My Maitre D was Lydia and she was awesome. I still cant belive they gave seconds and even doggie bags. The portions were huge...it was not typical wedding fare. I drank pina coladas all night!!! I am not even sure they made a profit on my wedding cause people were stuffing themselves LOL! The garden where the ceremony took place was beautiful....they have everal trellis' set up consecutively so it makes like a tunnel for the isle...it it over grown with the prettiest most delicate pink flowers (we actually saw the same ones in Hawaii) Another thing (my dj commented on this) the place is really big...the estate seats 350...so there was a lot of room for dancing....conga line etc....I only had 175 but they way they set up the tables was perfect. Also the way they seat people is pretty nice too...they escort each guest to their table individually ...nice touch.(www.Eastwindcaterers.com) DJ- Entertainment Integrators (1-888-EI-HAS-IT) They went beyond my wildest imagination...I knew my wedding would be a bit of a challenge for any DJ because of the diversity...age, race etc....so many different types of people but every one was on the floor. They played great music and some really unique games....I had no clue I would be sweating in my gown like I was in a club...but I was!!! We all were....Even my mom and that is a huge feat! I knew something was up when the 70 year old senior partner in my firm was doing the electric slide! Favors...I actually had a problem with the company I originally ordered my favors boxes from and had to do some quick last minute maneuvering. www.wrapwithus.com ( a LI company) came through like champs!!! Highly recommended...everyone loved the silver ice cream scoops I wrapped with tulle and personalized ribbon and Hershey kisses with a little sign that said 'Spoonful of Kisses From the Mr. and Mrs.' Photographer www.EDCOLLINS.com Wonderful...such a sweet and wonderful person and such a pleasure to work with. He stayed in the hotel the night before and was there at 8:30am to start taking pics while we got dressed. I loved being with him. He was a complete and total pleasure. He takes about 800 pics. More candids than posed which is what we wanted....didn't get in the way but I 'felt' him around at all the key moments....I can't wait to see the pics. VIDEO--- I guess Ill just wait to see how it comes out. He took us to the Conservatory Gardens in Central Park in July and filmed us feeding grapes to each other and running into each others arms, smelling flowers etc etc. We really liked this guy when we booked him and his work as far as we can see was great but I found him to be a pain in the a** during most of the day....He was trying to 'stage' too much stuff...and we just wanted video...not posing for video...that didn't make sense to me...plus he was rude. I wouldn't recommend him to anyone. Elite DAY SPA. 39th and 5thave...NYC Great catered spa party on fri for my wedding party...Manicures pedicure and massages....they are awesome and did a great job! Note sure what else....my honeymoon was awesome Maui and Kauai 10 days...Hyatt on both islands...I can write a separate review of it if anyone wants to know. I am exhausted but elated....everything was all I wanted and then some and I am so happy to be married.....coming down the isle and seeing Ken was a magical experience and I just feel so blessed. Smooches Jen

Congrats!! I love what you did for favors! How Cute!! :) *NM*

My Nov 4th Wedding!!!!! Truly the best day of my life!

First of all, Mrs. G, I saw your pics on UW. You were STUNNING - you shouldn''t be practicing law, you should be modeling!!! Ken didn''t look too shabby either :) I was so happy on your big day because you had such beautiful weather. Congratulations and welcome to married life!! It''s wonderful!! You know how many times I''ve thanked you for referring Ed, let me just say you will NOT be disappointed w/ your pics. Although, I am jealous that you got more pics (maybe)...I got about 475. Hmmm, maybe I didn''t negotiate as well as I thought I did. I should have taken some pointers from you! Regardless, we''ve got TOO many good ones to choose from - just makes our choice easier!! HEHE!! :) Anyway, the quality of the pics is AMAZING! Truly. Of course, my bouquet dedication to my mom and ceremony pictures made me cry! We picked out our thank you and *hope* to get it before 12/1 since my thank yous have been done and waiting for their picture!! SO happy for you, Jen!! All the best!! :)

My Nov 4th Wedding!!!!! Truly the best day of my life!

Thanks Kathi....you helped me out so much....I dont think u got more pics than me...It just felt like he took that much....We havent gotten our proofs back...Thanks for the compliment. Re modeling...I am in Essence this month(Nov pg 32,,,,me and Ken) !!!! A one time shot...not ready to give up the law yet :-( Did u do the thank u cards with ED?

correction www.edcollinsphotography.com *NM*

Congrats!! Good Luck! and Happiness Always! *NM*

2nd correction: that's www.edcollinsphoto.com :) *NM*

2nd correction: opps THANKS Kathi! *NM*

Congrats and best of luck for a bright future! *NM*

My Nov 4th Wedding!!!!! Truly the best day of my life!

I was wondering if you could give me some more info on your Dj. I am in need of a DJ that will get everyone on the dance floor. I too will have a diverse group of guests.(age and race) What was there prices like if you don''t mind posting and what were the types of msic he played?

Sounds just wonderful!! Best wishes!! *NM*

Congrats Jen! Sounds beautiful! *NM*

My Nov 4th Wedding!!!!! Truly the best day of my life!

Could you give me more info on East Wind? I check out their site. It looks beautiful!!

Congrats Jen!!!! Sounds Amazing!!! *NM*

My Nov 4th Wedding!!!!! Truly the best day of my life!

You can email me with any questions [email protected]

Congrats - sounds wonderful! Best wishes!! *NM*

Groom Cake

I too used justincakes.com, Michelle Perez and loved the cake she made for our reheasal dinner. In fact, I went on the link you provided and found a picture of it. It's in the cake gallery and it is the golf ball that says, 'You're my Birdie', and 'I love you' at the bottom. It cost me $90 and she delivered it to the restaurant where we had our rehearsal. I suggest a groom cake to everyone, because all your guests will get a kick out of it!!

Groom Cake

I totally agree!

I almost cried reading your review! I am so happy for you! *NM*

Ayanna did u get the pics I sent u? Also soloist review

I also forgot that I used Ayanna's solist who did a beautiful rendition of Great is Thy Faithfulness acapella. And she was soooooooooooo inexpensive. Thanks A!!!!