03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Here it is (finally) – my wedding review.

LINK TO PROFESSIONAL PICTURES : LINK
The password is : liweddings
There are 5 different albums, so be sure to check them all: Stef getting ready, Mike getting ready, ceremony, Reception Pics and Posed shots at hall.
LIW Photo Album: HERE

I gave A’s if the service was performed as well as I expected. Pluses were given if I thought they went above and beyond. B’s if the service was performed well but something minor went wrong. C’s if the service was less than expected.

LIW – A+++
Thanks to everyone. This place didn’t let me feel like I was alone during the very stressful year of planning. Not only the stress of the planning itself, but in RL as well. It was great to be able to vent frustrations and celebrate successes along the way that only all you brides would understand.

Mother Nature – A+++
DH said from the day we set the date that the day would be sunny and 62 degrees. I can’t believe he was right. The weather was absolutely perfect.

Registries - Bed Bath and Beyond – A; Fortunoff – C
I registered in both places. BBB was great. Returns are wonderful and I love 20% off coupons. Fortunoff, on the other hand, never updated my registry so I ended up with 28 place settings when I registered for 16. At least they didn’t give me a problem when I returned 12 of them.

Rehearsal Dinner – Pomodorino Italian Restaurant in New Hyde Park – A
This is my absolute favorite restaurant. The staff is very friendly and the food is excellent. My shower was also there and they were so accommodating when I had to cancel my first shower the day before it was scheduled due to the fact that my mother was in the hospital and they rescheduled it with no problem for a few weeks later.

OOT accommodations - Radisson Hotel Holtsville – A
I ended up having a block of 17 rooms and they were all perfect. Since we had such a large block, they gave us a suite for less than half price the night of the wedding. Also, since it was March and the hotel was not full, they allowed most people to check in really early (I was able to get into the suite before 9am instead of waiting for the check-in time of 3pm). There were no complaints about the rooms. Some of the guests felt that the restaurant was overpriced but because of the location, there were many other restaurants around on North Ocean Ave. My mom held a buffet brunch the day after the wedding and there was so much food and they continually kept it stocked and warm.

Bus to transport Guests to/from the hotel and reception – Alert Coach Lines, Westbury – A
Having a bus was really important to my mom. We were guests at two OOT weddings (one in Texas and one in Oregon) and we got lost driving to and from both. She did not want that to happen to any of our guests. We found Alert through FIL (he knew one of the drivers) and my mom did the rest. The bus was early and clean. We had the same driver both ways and she was very courteous and helpful.

Wedding Dress – David’s Bridal – A; My Bridal Attendant – Marie – A+
www.davidsbridal.com
I had no problems whatsoever with David’s. My mother and I walked into the store, saw “the dress” on a form and we said to each other that that was “It”. We were right. It was the first dress I tried on the first time I went shopping. I tried on about 6 dresses that day. But nothing compared to the first dress. It was an Oleg Cassini test dress. All that means that it is not part of the regular line. It was being “tested” to see if it would sell. Apparently it didn’t since they no longer carry the dress and it never made it onto the website. I don’t mind though, since I don’t know anyone else who has worn or will wear my dress. I bought it that day. They ordered it and it came in right on time in perfect condition. Although I did not get personalized service, it was not what I wanted and Marie went above and beyond to help me. It was not her fault that they are always understaffed and crowded. She did everything I asked and was fun to work with. After I purchased my dress, I took my BMs there a few weeks later and she let me “play”. I tried on the sample again to model it for my circus (the term which I affectionately called my bridal party). She brought me different veils and headpieces to try on different looks. She also let me have fun and model other dresses for them even though I already had a dress. She remembered that when I bought my dress it was just my mother and I. She said it would be fun with the crowd.



Cleaning and preserving of dress – Meurice Garment Care in Manhasset – A
This was a surprise from my mom and a wonderful gift because it cost almost as much as my dress but it was well worth it. The dress was expertly cleaned (everything but the very bottom of the dress came clean) and preserved. It comes back boxed and packed in acid-free paper and muslim. They also gave me two pairs of white gloves so that I can “visit with” my dress without getting the oil from my hands on it. They did an incredible job.

Tiara – ebay – (I don’t remember the name of the vendor but he is unregistered now anyway) - B
I love my tiara. It is similar to one that I fell in love with on the Bel-Aire website, but I didn’t want to spend that much money on it. It was style #2260021. I posted on “Want it Now” and received a message from the vendor that had something very similar. The “B” comes from that fact that it took 6 weeks to come and that a piece of it broke off 2 weeks before the wedding. But it looked beautiful and I loved it.


Veil – Kathy Occansey – A+
www.occanseydesigns.com
Kathy as an absolute doll to work with and she had the patience of a saint. I was pretty particular about the look that I wanted and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I knew I wanted a 4 tier center gathered 2 layers removable, but I was unsure of the details - ie lengths, edging, etc. She answered every single one of my emails (there were many!) and stayed with me while I took months to decide. After I finally placed the order, she let me know her progress along the way and even sent me pictures to see if I liked the way it looked before she sent it. It was only a 2-3 week process once I finally placed my order and the final product was absolutely beautiful.


Corset – Mary’s Corsetiere’s – A
I had no problem here. I went on my lunch hour and left with a perfect fitting corset. I was fitted and the alterations done in no time at all.

Shoes – Casa Di Mario Shoes in Patchogue – A
www.casadimarioshoes.com
Friendly service and good prices. I wore the Sunny shoe by Dyeables. Very comfy and looked great.


Hair – Cactus salon in the Mayfair shopping center in Commack – A
www.cactussalon.com
Although I wish that the stylist would have been more forth coming with ideas since I had no idea what I wanted and came in unprepared except for a picture of my dress. The trial went well but I had to change the style from the trial because of the neckline of my dress. This should not have happened because I brought a picture of me in my dress for the trial. But, she easily designed what I wanted the day of. My hair looked awesome and stayed all night.

Makeup – Me with the aide of Clinique and Revlon – A
I did my own make-up using a combination of Clinique and Revlon products. It stayed all night. I wish I had outlined my eyes better and I am still looking for lipstick that lasts all night.


Tuxes – VIP Tuxedo – B
www.viptux.com
The service was excellent but the color was off from what we thought we chose and the bottom of the sleeve on DHs shirt was dirty.


MOB Dress – Moonlight Couture in Merrick – A
www.moonlightcouture.com
This place was absolutely wonderful. Very helpful and courteous. Mom was able to select the main dress part from one dress and the jacket from another. We both got very nervous when by the Wednesday before the wedding, the dress was not in yet, but it came in on Thursday and she had fittings Thursday and Friday. All the alterations came out perfectly.


BM dresses –
This was the most stressful part of the planning and it took almost 8 months to figure out. I had one pregnant ex-MOH (long story – she did not become the ex-MOH until 3 weeks before the wedding) who lives in Virginia, the new MOH that lives in TX, 2 BMs in Queens and 4 Jr. BMs (one of whom was in Rhode Island). All I requested from them was that I wanted the dresses to be red, satin, and not have any pearls on it. That was it. I left the rest up to them as these dresses were the one thing that I did not want to worry about. Well fast forward six months and we still had no dresses. After a breakdown and an ulcer, I had to make the decision. With the help of a very patient woman at the Commack Wedding Center (I just went there to look, not to buy) I choose dresses from Alfred Angelo.

Charmet in Bayside – C (shop) A (seamstresses)
My BMs ordered their dress from Charmet in Bayside. Two weeks before the wedding when the BM went in for their first fitting they found that the dresses came in wrong. They were supposed to be a white top and red skirt. They came in all red. Since it was two weeks before the wedding I decided not to have them fix it. My 2 BM were also overcharged for their wraps from the original price that was quoted to them. This service surprised me because I have ordered 3 BM gowns for myself from Charmet over the last few years and I had never had a problem. As always, the seamstresses were awesome and so pleasant to work with.

My MOH ordered her dress from a place in Austin, TX so I don’t have the name to review but she had no problems. Her dress came in correctly.


Jr. BM dresses – Gownfind – A
www.gownfind.com
Phylis was amazing. She handled my days of emails back and forth with grace and patience. I was concerned about ordering sizes for pre-teen age girls and she helped me choose. They came in perfect and she made my requested wraps to match.


Flowergirl Dress – ebay – seller: jvavenue - A
Super easy transaction. The dress arrived in perfect condition and my FG loved the headpiece and gloves that were included since I paid by using the “Buy It Now” option. My FG wants to wear the dress for her communion next year. The dress I bought was all white - I asked my MIL change the bow and belt to red using extra material I bought from Phylis. The bow was askew all night but she looked so adorable. My FG is making her First Holy Communion next year and plans to use this dress (if it fits of course).


Photographer – Tom Baldasarre from Thomas Paul Photo – A+++
www.thomaspaulphoto.com
One of my absolute favorite vendors. There aren’t enough good words to describe how much I love our pictures. We met Tom at a showcase at the Huntington Hilton and liked him and his work right away. When we met him at his studio, the feeling continued and today I feel like he was a friend instead of someone I paid to do a service. He is so passionate about his work and enjoys it so much.
We did engagement photos in November and Tom put them in a personalized album and also gave us a small brag book. He called to check-in periodically and then the day of, he made me feel so comfortable and relaxed that most of the time I didn’t even realize he was photographing us. He, and our 2nd photographer Richard, captured every single important moment and they didn’t miss a thing. The proof is in the pictures. Between the two of them we now have over 700 absolutely wonderful pictures. We had our proofs back less than two weeks after the wedding and it is going to be brutal narrowing them down to 60 to put in an album. We also have a disk of all the photos so that I can go ahead and have prints and parent albums made.

A few of my favorites:





Videographer – Mike from Elite Videography – A++
www.elitephotovideo.com
Absolutely amazing! Our video and raw footage are so wonderful and I am addicted to watching it all. He caught all of the little details that I didn't have the time to notice or I was too busy to notice. He was unobtrusive and like Tom, most of the time I didn’t even realize he was there. We got 3 DVDs and 2 tapes of raw footage and I can't saw enough good things about it. As soon as I can figure out where I can upload the highlights, I'll add a link.

Bakery – Rolling Pin – B
www.rollingpinbakery.com
Contacting them was very easy and I ordered everything via phone and email. I decided on them purely from the reviews here on LIW. We had a white cake with canolli icing. It was incredible. The cake was moist and the filling was perfect. The only problem I had with them is that the cake was only three layers when it should have been four. There was plenty of cake for everyone so it was not an issue, but I never got a reason why for the change.


Limo’s – Cruise Control – A+
www.cruisecontrol.com
Absolutely perfect! We had three limos. A 10 passenger to pick the BMs and me up from the Radisson Hotel in Holtsville and take us to my mom’s house in Mineola. We had an Escalade picking up DH and his GM up from his parents house to take them to the church and also to pick up the BMs from my mother’s house. The last was a 4 passenger RR taking my mom and I to the church and then for DH and I afterwards. All of the cars were on time (the escalade arrived to pick up DH over an hour early) and very clean and well stocked. All of the drivers kept me entertained by blowing the bridal horn continuously and DH and I loved riding the RR after the ceremony. We felt like royalty. Many thanks to the drivers, Tommy, Tom and Brian. We used them also for a pick up / drop off for the honeymoon and Tony surprised with a white stretch limo for the ride home. A wonderful welcome back.


Church – St. Aidan’s R.C. Church – C
I am very sentimental about my church and it was very important to me and my family for me to get married where my mother and Godmother were married. We asked Fr. Bruno to perform the mass and we asked the Msgr at DH’s (now our) church to perform the ceremony.


Flowers – Flowers By Brian – B+
www.flowersbybrian.com
We worked with Lisa and she was so helpful in helping me choose the flowers for the wedding. I knew I wanted all roses but I didn’t know there were so many varieties to choose from. She helped me make all of the decisions and when I mentioned that my absolute favorite flower in the world was the cymbidium orchid, she showed me a sample of how it would look in my bo-k. Absolutely perfect. The only reason I gave them a B+ was because they forgot to give us the roses for the Blessed Mother. We had to use one of our throw-away bo-ks (we ordered 2). Other than that, they were wonderful. The day before the wedding, I went for a “trial”. This was to look at all the bo-ks and to test mine out. I was blown away by how beautiful the flowers looked. When I got to the reception, the delivery driver was there and he had me look at the centerpieces and approve the décor before he left, and again - perfection.




Candles for Candle Ceremony – GenWax - A
http://candles.genwax.com/candles/
I searched high and low for candles that would not cost me $30 for a box of 50. I refused to pay that much. After a few weeks of diligently searching websites, I finally found them online for $13 a box. Service was fast and the candles arrived in great shape.

About the ceremony: I decided that I wanted to have a ceremony that involved all of our guests and chose to extend the unity candle ceremony. We started with our moms who lit candles from the church candle, they walked to the back of the church and lit candles that our guests were given when they walked in. The candlelight was passed through our guests, eventually coming to my stepdaughters. They in turn lit the unity candle tapers. Then DH and I lit the unity candle from the tapers. We chose “The Irish Wedding Song” to be sung for this ceremony. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Everyone was teary and they are still talking about the significance of it. I wrote this in our program: “The lighting of the candle will begin where we began, with our mothers. Please help to unite us through you by taking the flame from your neighbor and passing it on. This flame will travel to us through our family and friends…a symbol of the fact that we would not be here today without all of your love and support.”







Rings – Windsor Jewelry at the Commack Jewelry Exchange - A
These guys are great. DH bought my e-ring from there as well as our wedding rings. I also had earrings dipped that DH bought me for Christmas so that they would match my engagement ring. They are so friendly, even calling DH by his first name from the 2nd time he went in there.


String Quartet for Cocktail Hour – Counterpoint –
www.counterpoint.citymax.com
I am going to refrain from rating them based on the fact that they did not play at the cocktail hour. But, just let me say that the owner of Counterpoint, Christina, has been very communicative and has completely rectified the situation and has been more than generous in apology. I would book them again. FM me for more info.

DJ – In The Mood DJ – A+
www.inthemooddj.com
Of course, you all knew this was coming because DH works for them but I can honestly say that no one left until the very end because the party was great. Dominic and Joe had the dance floor packed all night long and we received compliments on the music from our guests. Of course, that didn’t stop DH from sneeking behind the booth once or twice.


Chocolate Fountain – Kerries Kandies - A
www.kerrieskandies.net
This was fun. My cousin had one at her wedding in TX and my mom wanted us to have one. I wasn’t going to argue as there is nothing better than chocolate (except marrying the love of my life). I called around to different places and Kerry’s Kandies had the best price for the size fountain we wanted. The people were wonderfule to deal with. They set up on time and it was incredible. Everyone loved it.


Reception – Bellport Country Club – A+++
www.bellportcountryclub.com
BCC was absolutely amazing. We looked at 7 or 8 reception places before we went to Bellport. All of them were beautiful but nothing felt exactly right. We had “kind of” made a decision in a place when I found Bellport’s website. I figured we’d check it out to knock it off of the list but from the second we walked into the foyer, we felt at home and our decision was made. Right from the first meeting, Robert was absolutely wonderful to us. I felt so special each and every time I walked in there. DH and I had dinner at the restaurant before we signed the contract and the food was absolutely amazing.

Everything was so easy and I knew that I wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. DH carried in 5 boxfuls of stuff to be set up and I was blown away when I walked into the ballroom, everything was set up exactly the way we wanted it and it looked better than I could have dreamed. It was all so perfect.

We were able to make modifications to the cocktail hour menu (we took out all of the carving stations and chafing dishes to save $$ and so that everyone would have room to eat dinner) and there was still so much food. For our menu we chose (1) peppercorn steak, (2) chicken madera, and (3) seared tuna. After everyone finished eating, the staff went around with platters of all of the meals so if anyone wanted seconds or to try one of the other meals, they could. We were nine below our minium and we had three no-shows that night so they sent us home enough food for an army. We actually forgot to take it with us that night and went back the next day. Robert didn’t like the way the chicken looked the next day, so he had the chef make us a whole tray full of fresh chicken. It was sooo good! I am so glad they have a restaurant so that I can go back and have it all again.

Linda, our bridal attendant, went above and beyond to make sure that everything ran smoothly. Both Robert and Linda greeted us as soon as the limos drove up and from that moment on, neither DH nor I had to ask for a thing. When the string quartet didn’t show, Robert started music (we told the DJs to relax and enjoy since they were friends of ours we wanted them to have some downtime before their work started) and none of the guests realized that something didn’t go as planned.

THE HONEYMOON:
Travel Agent – Wade from Travel Pleasers – A
www.travelpleasers.com
Wade was wonderful to deal with. Although I did a lot of research beforehand and knew where we wanted to go. Wade worked with me to get the price I needed and the upgrades we wanted. He kept me updated on the progress along the way and I had no worries. It was great knowing that while we out of the country, there was someone to call if anything went wrong or I needed to get home fast.

American Airlines – C
Why would they serve alcohol to two very drunk passengers who disturbed the entire plane yelling and cursing and saying that the plane was going to crash? And we had the pleasure of sitting in front of these idiots. I spent the entire 3+ hour flight down in tears. It was horrible. DH and I tried to ignore them but after the tenth time the a-hole behind us kicked and shook DH’s seat and yelled out “The people in front of us hate us”, DH turned around and said something. That made it worse. The flight attendants did nothing about it and even gave them more alcohol for FREE. And to top the entire vacation off, we flew back with them as well. But, karma works. There was too much turbulence for the attendants to serve any drinks. And I know they didn’t have any money left for drinks anyway because they couldn’t come up with the funds between them to pay the additional fare for heavy baggage. As for American Airlines, I will try my best not to fly them again.

Grand Oasis Akumal All Inclusive, Riveria Maya Mexico – A+
www.oasishotels.com/English/hotels/gorivieramaya
We stayed 8 days, 7 nights at this All-inclusive resort about 60 miles south of Cancun in the very quiet and serene part of the Riviera Maya, Akumal. Although this resort was still under construction due to the hurricanes, it opened the week before we went and you wouldn’t have known that it was still being worked on since we could hardly hear any work going on. It took about an hour and a half to get there from the Cancun airport but it was worth it. I was worried about going to Mexico because it was spring break and we wanted no part of it, but this place is truly an oasis. We walked into the lobby and were greeted by Marco as well as two drinks that he handed us while we checked in. I presented a copy of my marriage license and we received the honeymoon upgrade, which includes an upgrade in room, a bottle of wine and a free night on our 1 year anniversary. Our room was amazing. It was small in size but the patio was worth it. It was as big as our room and we had an incredible view of the ocean on one side and a view of the resort on the other. We didn’t have to leave the patio to watch the sunset, watch the water or even the entertainment that the resort provided. The people were incredible and the amazing part was that most of the people we encountered spoke English. Some not as well as others but everyone spoke English better than I spoke Spanish. I was amazed. There were six restaurants in the resort: Mexican, Italian, Thai, International Buffet, “Fancy” Mexican and the snack bar. We tried four of them and they were incredible. We didn’t go to the “Fancy” Mexican (Fancy as in no shorts, jeans or tank tops) since it was closed due to construction and we didn’t eat at the Thai restaurant since the night we tried to, they were serving shellfish and DH is allergic (they have a fixed daily menu at this restaurant only). The food was awesome.

To see our honeymmon pictures, click here: LINK

Olympus Tours – A+
www.Olympus-tours.com
This was our tour company in Mexico. They were responsible for our transportation to and from the airport and for any tours that we wanted to go on while we were there. They were at the resort daily. DH and I went on three tours – to Chichen Itza, Snorkeling and a Lobster Dinner Cruise. All three were wonderful with very entertaining tour guides. They were all multi-lingual and we had a fabulous time on all three tours.

My DIY wedding

My DIY Wedding

Thank goodness for Michael’s and ACMoore 40% off coupons in the Sunday paper and LI Press. I wouldn’t say that I saved a ton of money by doing it myself, but I felt that it was worth the time and effort it took. I can truly say that everything was made from the heart and with love for our guests. Also, I am very thankful for ebay. Not only did I find my tiara, but I got lots of craft goodies there for real cheap.

Must have supplies for any DIY project: paper cutter (invest in a very good one – this came in use so often and I went through a few blades and cutting surfaces), an exacto knife, very good scissors, rubber cement (lots of it!), paper and fabric glue. I also purchased project specific things such as a shape cutter and a paper folder. These came in handy for all the other projects.

I used my own computer for everything and my old Lexmark X75 printer did the job. Even though my printer is over 4 years old, by making sure I printed everything using the “BEST” quality and using the high yield ink, all of the projects came out looking professional. A good tip - make sure you have extra printer ink on hand. The last thing you want is for your ink quality to go light in the middle of a project. Especially if you set up your computer to print overnight. You don’t want to go back and find that half of what you did is a poor quality.

Save-the-dates – purchased from Michael’s. Pretty much your standard STD. I didn’t start to get creative until after this point.

Invitations – When it came to invitations, it was important for me that they spoke of the affair but also were not “cookie cutter” invitations. To make our invitations, I started with Blushing Bride invitations from Wilton in Silver. They were plain white invitations with a silver rose envelope vellum sleeve. Here is a picture of the original invite as packaged.

There were also white cards with a matching silver rose border that we used as the reception cards. The kit also came with white organza ribbon that we did not use. I bought small white satin ribbons from a seller on ebay - jancies*of*Hollywood (A+) – and ordered from her three separate times (I used these for the programs as well). The last piece of the invite I found in OfficeDepot and they were 5.5”x7.75” Flat Cards invitations in silver shimmer by Masterpiece Studios. These invitations were actually from the Christmas display. Again, they were discounted because I bought them after Christmas so I was able to take advantage of the 40%-60% (depends on the store) after holiday discount. But again, I had to visit all of the OfficeDepot’s I could until I had more than enough of the paper. Using the templates available from the Masterpiece Studio website, I printed the actual invitation and the RSVP card on the silver paper. The reception card was printed on the small cards included in the Wilton invitation kit (using the wiltonprint.com website for templates). Putting it all together: The silver paper invitations needed to be cut down slightly and I mounted them on the white invitations using rubber cement. Using fabric glue, I glued the satin bow at the top and let these dry overnight. Then using the shape cutter, I widened the opening of the vellum envelope so that when the invitation was in the envelope, the vellum was not covering the bow.



I made my own direction cards using Microsoft word and printed them on postcard paper. I also printed the addresses on the envelopes. A trick I found for this was to cut a piece of cardstock to fit snugly into the envelope. This makes the envelope stiff so it can be printed nicely.



Programs – I used a layered program and this was not easy but the outcome was worth it. It took a lot of trial and error to get everything aligned correctly. I bought the paper from Pickquick on Rte 110 in Farmingdale. Gray cardstock for the back and front fold and white linen for the pages. The satin bow was the same that I used for the invitations.



Bubbles – Since St. Aidan’s would not let us toss anything, DH wanted to use bubbles. I bought the Love Knot Bubbles and found small bells on a satin ribbon on ebay to tie at the knot.


Autograph frame – purchased from Target. We had room for three 8x10 pictures. We put two pictures from our engagement shoot and in the middle frame I had the following:
“From each of your experiences comes a very treasured gift,
a piece of hidden knowledge we didn’t know exists.
Please share with us your wisdom about Marriage, Love and Life,
how to be a loving husband or to be the perfect wife.
Please write your thoughts and gestures to share with us for life,
for the greatest gift of all is the gift of your advice.
We thank you for sharing our special day with us.
Stephanie & Michael March 11, 2006”
This was such a great keepsake and it now hangs above our bed. The sentiments written are so special to us.
Before:

After:




Favors / Placecards – We used our favor as our placecard. DH wanted to do CDs since he is a DJ and music is important to both of us. He already had the blank CDs so we just needed the supplies for the case and the labels. I bought 115 cases from “Bijou Gallery & Gifts” (rating = A – wonderful vendor and fast shipping), a seller on Ebay. For the front, my BIL designed a monogram and I sent it to Creative Mode (rating = A+ - patient with all my questions and the shipping took less than they said it would) to have it made into a stamp. Using ink pads and embossing powder, I stamped the image on the front of the cover, sprinkled on the embossing powder and used the heat tool to create the image. It was time consuming and we did a lot more than we needed to make sure that I had good final ones to choose from. But the final product was perfect. On the inside, I used the red paper I got from Michaels and printed the song list and the thank you. FIL cut it all out and I glued it using a glue stick. On the back, my youngest stepdaughter had the great idea to use one of our engagement pictures. We printed it out on large Avery labels and cut away the excess. We wrapped it in red ribbon, tied a knot and glued it to keep it from opening with a glue gun. We printed our guest’s names on the red paper and the table names on the silver paper that was left over from the invitations. Putting the red paper over the silver paper, we used a silver rose to wrap them around the red ribbon. The final product was amazing. I bought small plastic easels from National Artcraft Company and BCC set them up.

And here is the final product:


Table names – Based on our second reading, 1 Cor 12:31-13:31, we used significant words from the text to use as our table names. BCC supplied the frames. We needed 13 table names and they were – angelic, prophecy, mysteries, faith, patient, kind, rejoice, believes, hopes, endures, knowledge, perfect, and our table was named Love. Using the same paper from the invitations, we printed out the names and BCC did the rest. I also printed out the compete reading with all of the names in red to set up on the placecard table. My hope was that guests, seeing the reading, would realize where we got the table names from. Unfortunately, most guests weren’t that observant. I liked the way it looked anyway.


Menu paper – This was really important to my mother for us to have. She wanted each person to have their own menu. After months of searching online and not seeing anything I liked, I found the perfect menu paper on the clearance rack at Michael’s. Seeing that stores were trying to get rid of it, I traveled to every single Michael’s on LI to buy up each piece of that paper that was left. I ended up with over 200 sheets of it but it was worth all of the trips. To create the menu, I used the same monogram that I used for our favors and resized it to fit at the top of the paper. My mom took it from there, formatting the rest and printing it out. It was a good thing that we had all of the extra sheets since we realized after page 60 was printed that there was no such thing as a peppercon crust.


Almond flowers – the traditional Italian wedding favor. I bought the comeche ribbon from “Wrap with Us” (A for service) in Syosset and used the same paper that I used from the programs to make the tags. I completed it with silver roses, metal rings and satin ribbon. The tag says: Five sugared almonds for each guest to eat; to remind us that life is both bitter and sweet; Five wishes for the new husband and wife; Health, wealth, happiness, children and a long life! Stephanie and Michael March 11, 2006.


Thank you Envelopes for tips – something so simple that made it easier to give out the tips. I found silver envelopes on the discontinued rack at a Staples or OfficeDepot store. Bought a Thank You stamp from Michael’s and used the stamp on the front of the envelope. Underneath the stamp, I put the who was to receive the tip. The silver made the envelopes easy to spot and the names kept them organized.

Table Cameras - I bought them from WeddingChannel.com (A) and I was very happy I did. A lot of my family does not dance and the photographer did not get a lot of shots of them but the table cameras did. Even though some of the camera’s were half-used, I am still happy that I did it. The pictures that I got are a great gift from everyone that was there.

Misc. DIY:
I gave my bridal party tote-bags to use for the day that my MIL embroidered. I bought the totes from Cheaptotes.com. I searched high and low for the perfect gift. I wanted something completely different, wearable again and very classy. I ended up buying them a heart charm bracelet watch. I wore one as well and I love it. My girls liked them and they have been wearing it since. It’s the perfect dress-up watch. I also gave them jewelry to wear the day of if they wanted to, I wasn’t picky about that. The groomsman received personalized flasks from Thingsremembered and a bottle of their favorite booze.


Cookies for Choir - As a thank you gift for the handbell choir, I made sugar cookies in the shape of handbells the day before (yes – the day before!).
Pre-icing:

Words of Wisdom

So much happened during the course of planning this wedding in my life. My mother got sick in November '05 and was diagnossed with uterine cancer in January and had a complete hysterectamy at the end of that same month. Boy did that change my view on what I thought was inportant.

Prior, I was a details person. My husband called me anal and it was true The color and font on the invitations HAD to match the color and font on the programs and that HAD to match the favors. Being my mother's only child and support system, I had to put everything on hold 2 months before the wedding and it wasn't until more than 4 weeks later that I could get back to planning and finish things. I lost a lot of time and that made my choose what was really important. In the process, I learned that as long as I what I did was from the heart, the small things didn't matter. I don't mean small things as in details, I mean the things that are not that important. I instead focused on the wedding details that meant the most to me. No one knew that I was going to have welcome bags at the hotel for them, I didn't have time for them and no one asked for them.
I firmly believe that the little details made the biggest impression, as long as I did what was important to us.

If I can impart any words of wisdom is 'Don't sweat the small stuff'. All that is truly important is that at the end of the day, you will be marrying the love of you life and your best friend. Everything else is trivial.

Thank you everyone for your support, encouragement and ideas. This was the best time of my life and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing it with all of you.

If I can be of any help to anyone, if you would like a template or have a question, either FM me or email me at [email protected].

Wishing you all the best that life can offer,
God bless.
Stef


WEDDING STUFF FOR SALE: LOOK HERE

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian

great review!!! Congrats!!!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian

wow great review!!

your DIY stuff was amazing!!

Congratulations!!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian

Great Review....You guys looked beautiful. Best Wishes.

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Congratulations ~ what an awesome review! Thank you for sharing! I especially loved the Candlelight ceremony... What website did you purchase those candles?

Thank you!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Congratulations! You looked so pretty!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Stef...what an awesome and detailed review!!!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Great review. congrats!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

What a wonderful review!!!!!!!! Congrats on everything! Your pictures are beautiful!!!!!!!!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

you looked so beautiful - the dress was gorgeous and quite unique! i love all of your DIY! congratulations

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Bumped because I added the videographer info.

Thanks everyone!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Awesome review! You looked beautfiul and your DIY projects were AMAZING!!!!

Congratulations and enjoy married life!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Congratulations!!! You were a beautiful bride. Your wedding looked so beautiful. All of you DIY items looked professionally done.

I wish you much love and happiness with your husband!

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Great review!! You looked beautiful

Re: 03/11/06 REVIEW - Bellport Country Club, Thomas Paul Photo, Elite Video, In The Mood DJ, Flowers by Brian, Cruise Control Limos

Congrats!!!!