Vendor Review Our 9-14-01 Wedding * Very Long

Everything went better then I could have dreamed, except it all went by so fast. I'll try to go in order and I will get around to posting in the vendor review section. Rehearsal Dinner – Papa Joe’s on Commack Rd. Very Good, everyone loved the food. The service was great. Our antipasto and salad were served and then we had a buffet with four choices for the entrée. The cake was delicious and they made it look like a football field, which my Husband loved. We were in the smaller private room, which fit 35 just fine. Gowns - My Bridesmaids gowns and mine were purchased at Bridal Reflections, overall they were fine, everything came in on time, the did an excellent job on alterations on my gown, they could have done a better alteration job on 2 out of 3 of the bridesmaid gowns. My Moms gown was purchased at Bridal Suite of Bay Shore, it came in as ordered on time, she needed extensive alterations which they did an excellent job of at a reasonable price. Tux’s – VIP, we choose them because of their multiple locations and because they are a recommended vendor of Watermill. The guys looked fabulous, all the tuxes and accessories were in like new condition and fit well. The only mishap was that our best man got size 11 shoes when he ordered a 9 and of course he didn’t try them on until he was getting ready. After a few calls and a stop at the VIP in N. Babylon on the way to the church they were able to get him the correct size. Hair/Makeup – Jackie and Margaret of I Makeup You came to the house and did a wonderful job on all of us. We were all very pleased with the results and received lots of compliments. Our makeup and hair lasted all night. Photography/Video – Imagine Studios, of course we don’t have the proofs or video yet so I can only comment on their overall professionalism and observations of others all of which were very favorable. Lia and Paula arrived and looked around the house for places to shoot. She used the staircase and areas of the foyer, porch and living room in ways that I would never have thought of. My sister kept commenting “great shot” and shooting along with her. What a pleasure to work with, they got all the kids and adults to cooperate and kept track of my “must have list”. At the church and reception they were totally unobtrusive, yet every time I saw something that I wanted on film I would turn around Lia and or Nelson would be there already capturing it. I will let you know how everything turns out. Flowers – Flower After Flower on Merrick Rd. in Massapequa. GEORGEOUS FLOWERS. Everything, even my toss bouquet was way way above my expectations. We got complements on everything. I had a cascade bouquet of roses, orchids, lissantis and ivy – breathtaking. The bridesmaids and flower girls had roses and cala lily’s – gorgeous. The centerpieces had too many flowers to name but mostly roses. She used a high swirled stand that had votive candles and ivy. The effective was magical. People were thrilled to take them home. I will try to post pictures when I get some. Reception - Watermill – What can I say – PERFECTION from the moment we walked in the door until we left. We have received raves galore from our guests about the service, food, cocktail display, décor everything. People are calling to say it was the best wedding they ever attended. They even opened the cocktail hour 15 minutes early. They handled little problems like one couple deciding they wanted to sit someplace else (don’t ask) and thus displacing two other people, with ease and professionalism. The bridal assistant Sally made sure my husband and I had food wherever we were even bringing drinks out to us on the dance floor when we looked like we needed them. The Maitre’D did a great job keeping things moving along on time. Ladies if you have chosen Watermill you will not be disappointed. Music – Timepiece, again RAVES. Everyone loved them from the Teens to the Seniors they had something for everyone and kept the dance floor jumping all night long. My parents loved their Sinatra. They played everything we requested and stayed away from the do not play list. They played live throughout the entire night; there were always at least two musicians on stage. During dinner the jazz set was perfect. So many of our guests commented on the talent of this band. Limos- Royalty This is the only vendor that I am disappointed with. The moon roof in the 14 passenger limo leaked, which wouldn’t have mattered except it was raining. We were comped a Mercedes to take us home which was nice but it had a clogged fuel injector, which made for a very bumpy ride. Otherwise they showed up on time and the drivers were as expected as far as service goes. Honeymoon – We decided to postpone Monaco & Italy, and drove down to Disney. Disney was great and there were no lines, so we were able to easily do everything we wanted to in 4 days. We also saw CirqueDeSole which was awesome and had a wonderful dinner at Wolfgang Pucks. The one piece of advice I want to pass on is if there are things you know you want to do that do, do them at the earliest opportunity. It goes by so fast. There were a few things we missed because we got caught up doing something else (either dancing or talking to guests). I never danced with my Godson (he’s 15 and kept putting me off) or saw our ice sculpture or tasted the Peach Melba nothing too crushing but I would have liked to do them. If anyone has any questions just ask.

Congrats Fran!

I know what you mean about those few thigns you didn't get to do. Also I have to say all the little touches I did, like making the cards named a different cities with an explanation of each, and my toss bouquet was a bunch of tiny bouquets with messages on them (martha stewart idea) -- realy paid off and many people commented on them. So don't let people say your nuts for doing all that stuff.

Congratulations, best of luck always! *NM*

Congrats, good luck, and may love always fill your lives! *NM*

Vendor Review Our 9-14-01 Wedding Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!! *NM*

Sounds wonderful!! All the best to you!! *NM*

Stef-can you explain your toss bouquet to me? Sounds interes *NM*

question for steph28

could you give me the details on those two ideas...the cities and the bouquet toss ....they sound great! thanks!

Toss Bouquet and Table Names

Wow -- glad you like the ideas. The toss bouquet is basically made up of several smaller bouquets. In Martha Stewart she made it out of real flowers -- but I did mine with silk/dried flowers. You take two or three flowers with stems and wrap the stems with ribbon and end it with a bow at the base of the flowers. Then you make fortunes on long pieces of paper i.e. 'You will marry Prince Charming' and cut the paper into a long strip, cut the end nicely and pin it to the ribbon (I did it in the bow). Then you put them all together (I did seven small bouquets) and it looks like one bouquet. When you toss it -- it will 'rain' bouquets and many single ladies will have a chance catch the bouquet. It went really well at my wedding. They really enjoyed it. Check out the Martha Stewart web site she may still have it on there. Table Names: You can do this instead of numbers on your tables (although we did both for the caterers sake). We named each table at the reception a different city that has a significance to my husband and I. Then we wrote a brief blurb on why it's so special to us. Example: Gainesville 'This is the city where Jeremy and Stefani met and fell in love. They were both students at the University of Florida. The couple was set up by mutual friends and have been together ever since.' Hope you like the ideas. You use lots of different things for naming tables. Different leaves, if you have a fall wedding -- different Christmas Carols for a winter wedding. Different trees, etc. HAVE FUN!

Best of luck in your future! *NM*

FRAN

Can you give some more info about Timepiece - specifically (if you can remember) what songs they did really well or poorly? or anything else that might be helpful?

Vendor Review Our 9-14-01 Wedding * Very Long

It sounds like everything was great Fran...Congratulations..I am getting married next July at the Watermill...I was wondering if you could give me some info. on the women who did the makeup for your wedding...thanks!

Sonicstef & Bec1217

Stef - Timepiece was great you have nothing to worry about. The songs I remember the most are: At Last which we used for our firs dance, Unforgetable the duet version, Because You Loved Me, Crazy and Summer Wind all were fantastic. They also did some great ACDC and Barry White Bec1217 - You will LOVE WATERMILL, people are still talking about it. Everything was perfect. As for the hair and makeup I used Jackie and Margaret of IMakeUp You. Jackie advertises on this board. Best Wishes to all

Thanks Fran!! *NM*

Congratulations!! Best wishes to you both!! *NM*