Out of Town Bride

Hi - need some help. My FI and I are living in Indianapolis IN while I finish law school, but our wedding is next fall on LI. Does anyone have advice about planning a long distance wedding? Also, any info on Vendors (primarily photo & flowers & music) that are really good about working w/ brides over the internet & email?
Thanks for the help!

Definitely Music by Michael if you're interested in a DJ. He has a searchable, password protected database on his website where you can input music into Must Play and Do Not Play Lists. You can also request music that he doesn't have.

Duet for photography and videographer...they also are quick to respond via email.

Good luck!

I speak to most of my vendors via email even though I live in NY.

Photography - L=http://www.marcyphoto.com]Marcy Studio[/L]

Flowers - Flowers By Emil (a new vendor on LIW)

Video- Bellarino

Hello there!
you are not alone.. I am planning from Georgia,and there are many others on this site.. This site has helped so much.. A lot of the vendors are very nice and can do most of the work over the phone. THey also have web sites that give examples of their work..So far I have these vendors in mind or already booked.. Congrats.. and good luck.. if you need any help FM me and I will do my best to help..

Video:
wild rose video

DJ:
High Energy Entertainment

Florist:
Maybe Jack and Rose (not positive)

Also without a doubt
Photographer


Good luck..
Verdi

Hi Meghan!
I am planning this from Missouri!
It is harder to do but RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH. Narrow it down to a few vendors. I try to make all of my appointments during the time I get to NY. Most vendors are flexible about that.
Alot of it can be done out of NY (invites, favors, etc..) All of my vendors are great about email too.
If you have any question about a vendor, just ask the girls on here!
Good Luck!!

Welcome to the boards.

I just finished law school and I moved to Michigan to join my FH who is currently in law school (second year).

I will not say it is easy. I had most of my planning done while I was still on LI.

I am happy to help you with suggests of vendors to visit.

I will say I have a few things that I am trying to do on the phone - while most vendors prefer you to come in - many have been happy to work with me over the phone. My photographer has been amazing we are only going to be home for Christmas (24-28) and I explained that since my FH is in school he got stuck with a sunday class this upcoming semester and we don't know if both of us will be back to NY until the week of the wedding. He graciously squeezed us in for our engagement shoot!!!!!!! We were upset that we wouldn't be able to do this

FM if you need any help or just a stressed out ear.

I planned our wedding from San Francisco, and did pretty much all my research online.

When it came to communicating with chosen vendors, I found phone calls to be most effective.

I am planning from Chicago. I just came back from NY this morning and went straight to work!

The internet and this site are great tools. My goal for this trip was to find a reception location and another church. Before I left Chi, I did research on internet, called the sites to see if they had my dates available, asked questions and made appts. The first time I went back home after the engagement, I didnt do a lot of research or calls and I was so overwhelmed. This time I was on point.

So the key is to do as much as you can BEFORE you get to NY. Definitely make appointments if you can, it will save you so much time.

As for florist, I stopped in at Terranova on Grand Ave in Baldwin and they gave me a pretty nice quote. My family has used them for various functions and they always did a great job.

I just wanted to say hello and welcome and that it's good to see another Bourne bride

thank you everyone for your help.

Im planning all the way from sunny los angeles. And yes it is hard to do but doable.

I second Duet for photo and video.

If you have people back on Long Island that can help you USE THEM...in a good way of course.

Without this site I wouldn't even know where to start...LOL

I am planning from Orlando. I agree with everyone, it is more difficult to plan because of the distance. But it does help to do a lot of research before hand, utilize search engines, magazines, online wedding websites. As far as photo/video goes I have heard good things about Bellarino, Duet, Patken, and Ariana Studios. FM me if you need any more help.