I am in need of some advice. I see all of you posting and being able to visit places and I get stressed as I am in Houston trying to plan for a LI wedding. Thinking oct 2009. (enaged 2/14/2008- our 4 year anniversary of our first date- corney but cute!) We met at school- Brian is a geologist, I am a vet. (i'll give some more background in a few..)My family is in LI s and my MOH (my twin :) is in Brooklyn) so my mom has been great about going to look at places. I am going home in the end of May for one of my HS friends wedding. She is getting married at the Watermill :). I have been looking at places online and are interested in watermill, westbury gardens, rivivera, millridge inn, fox hollow, lakefield, VYC, Milleridge inn, the carltun, flowerfield, glen cove mansion, etc... I have apts with a few when i come in, but if you guys can offer your insight as well as possible prices for days (sat day, night, sunday). What questions should I ask? priorties- i want beautiful pictures- love gardens, nature. Idea on photographers and videgraphers? We are getting married at St. Rose in Massapequa.
ok, some back story and why I am a litle stressed. I am a vet and I want to be a specialist (a cardiologist). Very hard to get a residency (3 years beyond the internship i did last year (I was in FL for a year, brian was in Houston- we both graduated at the same time-May 2006). :( so far unsucessful in getting a residency_ very WHO you know- 10 positions this year for 45-50 applicants and most positions are open every 3 years- there are only 32 places in the world that have cardiology programs- mostly universities). Anyway, may people are now doing cardiology Internships before residency (an addition year) beyond the 3 years of residency, I still have one hope left for a residency next year (in NJ, finding out this week) which would be perfect as I would be able to plan in NJ- :( Brian would still be in Houston, but it would be a residency and a finite 3 years. If I do not get it, i will likely get a Internship in Los Angelos- basically that means likely a total of 4 years away and planning my wedding from Los Angelos- AM i crazy?!!! :) Should I push the wedding off? I don't want to but tired of having my professional aspirations dictate my life....
Sorry for the VENT :)
Basically any ideas or suggestions on how to find vendors and RH ideas would be great. We have a ~30,000 budget (pretty much max). We are both pretty laid back and do not want a lot glitz but 'Simple and Elegant' :)
Oh, one of my BMs now lives in Aust....
Thanks in advance!! Christina
bluegreen08
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
im also planning from out of state while in school (1000 miles away) although i have family in NY who have helped a lot. im off to take a final in about an hour so i cant really respond in detail right now but if you send me an FM later I will try to
Annoulak
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
First, good luck with your career plans and congrats on your engagment.
Your list of reception halls is big and varied...what sort of atmosphere are you looking for? Has your mom spoken to these places to get prices for that time of year? That will help you filter out those that are beyond your budget. Also, do you know how large your guest list will be? The best way to keep th cost down is to keep the guest list as small as possible (along with saving on the reception hall, you also have to deal with fewer favors and centerpieces).
Another way to keep costs down is to keep your birdal party small...fewer bouquets, boutoniers, gifts for the birdal party, etc.
Once you book a date with your RH, you should try to find a photographer, videographer and DJ or band. If you're on a tight budget, I would recommend staying away from 'big name' photographers and look for more reasonably priced photographers who are not as well known but still do great work.
Finally, I recommned finding a florist close to your mom or reception hall...they often will have good quality at great prices.
GOOD LUCK!
Treeoflife
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
Don't be stressed out. I am living out of the US. MY FI lives in NYC. Liweddings.com is a great resource.
About the halls. Since you like gardens, I would suggest Westbury Manor (I visited and it was my 2nd choice), Swan club (recommended by a co-worker of my FI) and Woodbury Country Club (some friends of mine got married there, but I wasn't at their wedding). They are all reasonable price.
Saturday evening wedding is most expensive. If you want to save money, you might want to go for a Saturday afternoon (which we are doing), Friday evening or Sunday.
Photographers I would suggest: - Angelica Glass (awesome). About 6k - Something In Blue. Around 5k
More affordable photographers: - Different b2b are using Duet or Thomas Paul
diva7531
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
Hi, and congrats. Plannig from a distance can seem like a tremendous task, but it can be done. Hundreds of women have planned their weddings from across this country and sites like this help.
First I would try and narrow down the RH list. Do a search on your top 5 halls and see who has used them and what they think.
The Bride's Review is a very helpful board.
What is your guest list like? You can have an absolutely gorgeous wedding for $30,000 on LI.
CMBove
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
Thanks! for all the advice and word of support. :) I feel better after venting. Our guest list where we invited everyone possible we can think of and would love if they all came would be around 170- ALOT of out of town guest, probably half. thinking realistically 130-150.
HamptonsBride
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
have you thought about hiring a coordinator? It might be money well spent & help reduce your stress!
zoe282
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
I Live in LI but my wedding is in PA where my family is...it does get stressful at times, but if you have family here willing to help it will be good. My big advice is to figure out when you will be in town and get as much done then as possible. I ordered a lot of things online such as the napkinds, cameras, and anything like that and had it shipped directly to PA....when i go home i make tons of appts and squeeze it in. It's not easy especially since you are not a drive away, but doable. Once you have your location picked a lot can be done via e mail and fax. Hang in there. there will be some hard things but try to enjoy! it's a fun time!
chicky724
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
Not to add another RH to your planning stress, but I would check out the Swan Club in Roslyn too. It has one of the nicest outdoor areas of any of the places we looked at and we were SHOCKED when we found out it was actually the cheapest. (We also looked at the Watermill, Fox Hollow, Woodbury CC, and Westbury Manor.)
Good luck with the planning!
Marissa09Bride
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
I'm planning from FL. I just set goals for myself and made appointments when I had some time off. It's not that bad. Just do your research online, get some ideas from the boards, and make some appointments when you can. Good luck! (with everything!)
CMBove
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
Again Thanks! I think as I am not going to get back to LI until May I have started to stress. :) And the MOTB has nothing to do with it...lol
sheeshamuff
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
I hear ya! I have been planning from Savannah, GA and it is a total pain in the a$$. I have done a lot of research online and made a lot of phone calls. Your best bet is to call and email places and explain that you are out of state. Most of them will give you basic pricing info based on the time of year you are interested in and how many people you are expecting to have. That is what I did. Then we narrowed it down to a few and then went to NY to look at them. We crammed a lot into a few days. It was stressful, but it has all worked out so far. Then for photographers, DJ, florist, etc... that was a separate trip to NY to meet with them. I get stressed just thinking about it. A coordinator would probably be a huge help. When I think about how much I have spent on airfare alone it probably would have paid for the coordinator and then some. Good Luck with your plans. I hope this helped a bit.. You are not alone.
sheeshamuff
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
BTW you have plenty of time. I didn't start planning mine until December of '07 and my wedding is Sept. 5th 08. So don't stress too much.
Treeoflife
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
Posted by sheeshamuff
I hear ya! I have been planning from Savannah, GA and it is a total pain in the a$$. I have done a lot of research online and made a lot of phone calls. Your best bet is to call and email places and explain that you are out of state. Most of them will give you basic pricing info based on the time of year you are interested in and how many people you are expecting to have. That is what I did. Then we narrowed it down to a few and then went to NY to look at them. We crammed a lot into a few days. It was stressful, but it has all worked out so far. Then for photographers, DJ, florist, etc... that was a separate trip to NY to meet with them. I get stressed just thinking about it. A coordinator would probably be a huge help. When I think about how much I have spent on airfare alone it probably would have paid for the coordinator and then some. Good Luck with your plans. I hope this helped a bit.. You are not alone.
Definitely you are not alone.
Good questions to ask CH: 1. Prices of Children and vendors (most of the time inhouse vendors eat for free) 2. What's included in the price 3. Cancellation/refund policy
Djenki2
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
Hey! Not only am I planning from Atlanta but I'm applying to residency too! Crazy I know, but we'll get through it. Just to add on to the advice already given, I'd recommend you get all 'promised' items in writing. Other questions to ask: 1. Does your facility have a food specialty? (Just b/c they promise to make it all doesn't mean it's all good.) 2. Are we required to use preferred vendors? 3. What are the limitations on vendor/ children price? (For instance, my catering hall said they'd be 1/2 price once I met my guarantee minimum)
Good Luck and Happy Planning!
CMBove
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Re: Overwhelmed! Planning from a distance...
:( Just found out I did not get the residency in NJ. Majorally bummed. Waiting to hear on California's internship. Thanks for the support.
