My Wedding Review....Long....

Well, my day had a few bumps in it, including 2 bloody noses from the intense heat that day, but it was still the best day of my life!

Hair- I went to Sheema’s in Lake Ronkonkoma, and they were awesome! They went above and beyond my expectations! While my girls were getting their hair done, Sheema did my mom and grandmothers make-up, which turned out beautifully, at no charge. She also put shiny little butterfly and bow clips into my 11-year-old nieces hair, and she loved it! My hair and all the BM hair turned out great! I really cannot say enough about them!!

Make-up- One of my BM does make up for weddings, so she did my make-up and it turned out great and stayed on all night.

Flowers- I used Burton’s and they were great. The delivery guy was a half hour early, which was good because they forgot to put the touch of purple in my bouquet (noone but myself would have noticed), but he took it right back and they fixed it. It was back at my house in about a half hour. My bouquet and all the others were beautiful!

Dress- I got my dress & BM dresses from Paradise Bridals. Everything in the end turned out ok, but doing it again, I wouldn’t have chosen them. They put me through a lot of unneeded stress. First off, the first BM dress I ordered it took them 3 weeks to let me know that it was discontinued. Second, all my BM and myself are from out of town, and they were very inconvenient for fittings (only one sat a month). They did help us out, but it was a hassle. Thirdly, I called to confirm my first fitting on a Wed, and my fitting was that sat, and my dress wasn’t in yet. Thankfully I called, they had the dress overnighted. I would have been very mad had I driven down and my dress wasn’t there. Fourthly, when we picked new dresses we changed the sizes because it was a different designer, and they still order the wrong size for my MOH. Luckily it was a larger size, not a smaller one, but then they got her on the alterations. Lastly, my mom picked up her dress there on July 1st and told them she would see them again tomorrow to pick up my dress, and they told her they only had me down for a final fitting, not a pick-up. Obviously they had to change it since my wedding was the next day, but they really didn’t seem to have their sh** together.

Music- I used Albert Lee Music. They were great! They played everything I wanted and everyone had a great time! The floor was always packed! I would recommend them. A great service for a great price!

Dixieland band- for the cocktail hour we had a Music by Roe. They are a Dixieland band, and they were great! I would highly recommend them as well.

Shuttle Bus- We got a school bus from Laid Law to take our guests back and forth to the hotel. They were great. My guests showed up on time and were picked up promptly. I would recommend them as well. $375 total.

Holiday Inn Express- They were fine as well. The only thing I would say about them is if you are going to use the shuttle, book it early. I called them about a month before and they said you only have to tell us the week of if you want to use it. Well I did just that and it was unavailable. Another bride had already reserved it. So call ahead!!

Wedding Coach- I used them for Flowerglittzz, the sparklers for the centerpieces. They were great. It went off right when I wanted it to and it was a moment that I will never forget! And all the guests loved it!

Photographer- Rick & Co.- With him I have mixed reviews. Here are my complaints with him. We went to the beach to take pictures and I wanted to do immediate family shots there. He said it wasn’t a good idea- gave me no reason why, just a hard time about it. He also didn’t take individual shots of my and each of my girls. It popped into my head that day, but other things would come up, so by the time I realized it, the night was over. The other thing was I had my family meet me at the MPI an hour early for family shots and he told my mom he doesn’t do them. Well, he did them, but they were moshed together and probably won’t come out well. I guess it is partially my fault for not going over everything with him, but I had never heard of no family shots at weddings- just goes to show you.

And lastly the Miller Place Inn. Now them I have a huge problem with. For those of you who are getting married there- don’t worry, the food was tremendous and the guests loved it, but here is why I cannot recommend them:

I booked the MPI back in Sept with a banquet manager named Buddy. He was great. When we went for our tasting in Oct, he told us about the Flowerglitzz and how it is a great way to incorporate the 7/4 into the wedding. Fabulous. Now, keep in mind this suggestion came from someone who worked there. I called for my final meeting to pick out my menu, etc. and was told Buddy was no longer there. I was miffed that they guy I had been working with for 9 months left and they didn’t tell me. Ok fine no big deal. I went for my final meeting in the end of May and went over everything with the new guy- and was told everything would be just as we were planning, not to worry. Fast forward to my wedding day. I got home from getting my hair and make-up done and got a call from the wedding coach telling me that the MPI wasn’t gong to allow them to do the sparklers. WHAT!!?? They had known about it for months! Not to mention, I paid extra money for high centerpieces so I could have this done! I hung up and called the MPI, but couldn’t speak to them because I was bawling!! And just after having my make-up done. They have known about this for months- how dare they call me 2 hours before I was supposed to get married!! My mom dealt with them and everything was smoothed over- or so I thought…I got to the cocktail hour and the Maitre De called me aside to tell me about how it has to go off during our entrance instead of our first dance and that everyone had to stand behind their chairs. HUH?? My mom had straightened this out already, so I start bawling again and stormed away. From that point on my DH dealt with them. He had them call the owner down to the MPI and he had a word or two to say to him as well as the banquet managers. The end result was that we got what we had originally planned, but my DH missed the cocktail hour because he was fighting with these people, and I was too upset to enjoy myself. So the MPI made me cry, not once but twice on my wedding day. Not something that should ever be done to a bride!

I guess that is it! Let me know about any questions ! Thanks to all of you for all your help along the way!!

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

congrats! i am so sorry that all that stuff happened but it still was a great day for you! i guess it was murphys law.

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

Congratulations!! It really stinks that all of that happened on the most important day of your life, but now you get to spend the rest of your life with the man of your dreams!! Nothing better than that!

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

I am sorry that things did not go smoothly but I am glad that you did have a blessed day. Please post photos. I cannot wait to see the sparklers.

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

Oh man -- what stress -- but It;'s great that overall your day was really special and wonderful. And I'm so glad to hear a good review for Burton's -- I'm using them too! Congratulations!!

Re: Shuttle Bus

Congratulations!

Can you post the contact info for the shuttle bus? That is a great price!

Congratulations

Best Wishes to you both.

Re: Congratulations

I'm sorry that they upset you, but I'm sure you had agreat time regardless!

Best Wishes!!

x

x

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

Congratulations!

I would like the shuttle bus info too if you don't mind.

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

CONGRATS SOUND LIKE YOU HAD AN EVENTFUL NIGHT... ONE QUICK QIESTION THOUGH I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE SPARKLERS IN THE CENTERPIECES WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT LOOK LIKE, HOW MUCH IS THE COST, ETC.. I AM GETTING MARRIED JULY FOURTH NEXT YEAR AND I WANTED THE WEDDING PARTY TO STAND FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM US HOLDING SPARKLERS BUT THIS SOUNDS LIKE SUCH A BETTER IDEA..

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

Congrats! Sorry they made you cry! I can NOT believe they called you the DAY of your wedding!! I woudbe FURIOUS!! I hope they compinsate you in some way!
The photographer is baffaling as well. No family shots??? My friends photographer didn't take pictures with her & each of the BM & I thought that was very odd. In fact he only took about 6-10 of the whole bridal party. I have to make sure my photographer (whomever I choose) knows that we want certain shots!
Well I hope at the end you felt that you enjoyed yourself!! Congrats again!

MISHY

Please be very careful with people holding the sparklers - even if they are far from you, they can still burn each other. I definitely say go with the centerpiece idea - because they don't 'shake', therefore leaving it almost impossible for pieces to fly off. Take it from my personal experience!! Good luck!

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

I left my wedding binder at my house on LI. I'll call my mom to see if she can find the school bus number in there and post it.

The sparklers were $40 each and then a $200 fee fot the technician. The company I used had a minimum of 8. The burned for about 45 seconds. They were ok to use inside because they don't burn the ceiling, tablecloths,etc. They didn't even burn the flowers. It looked really great. I should get my pictures next week. I'll post some then. I'll look for that phone number as well.

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

Hey Carrie,
So sorry you guys had so many problems. I hope you were able to enjoy the rest of the day anyway!
Congratulations!! Can't wait to see the pictures!
How was the honeymoon, BTW?

Re: My Wedding Review....Long....

Hey Pamie!

The honeymoon was awesome! Hawaii was fantastic!! Maui was great, but we loved Kauai! It has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth! We did a lot of neat stuff. I'm back at work, but my brain is in Hawaii.

If you and Scott are lookig to go there, we stayed at the Kea Lani in Maui and it was a great resort. I would highly recommend it! I'll talk to you soon!

Carrie