04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

04/23/05 Fox Hollow wedding review:

Well, here is the big review.
First, want to thank LIWeddings for all of the advice and reviews. It has helped me to plan our wedding more than anything else.

The big day was a rainy day, but I wasn’t going to let that get to me. The only thing I was worried about was being able to take pictures at the arboretum, which we did anyway, and pictures come out best on a cloudy day anyway. The following review has many 10’s and a few complaints. I included details only to help who will read this. I have read many reviews, good and bad, and they all have helped me make decisions. It is a ton of planning and a boat load of money for a few hours of party. The most valuable advice is to keep in mind how your wedding day will fly by when you stress out over making small decisions, everything will work out in the end. We had a beautiful wedding day, had a great time, and we will have the memories forever.

Link to some Silverfox proofs on Snapfish:
Photos

LA Productions - Invitations - * 10 *
www.laproductions.net
Laura is great! We ordered custom envelopments invitations from her & she did a fantastic job putting them together exactly the way we wanted them. They were beautiful and we received a ton of compliments! She is very friendly & easy to deal with – great vendor!!!

Pomodorino - Rehearsal Dinner location * 9 *
We had about 20 people for dinner. The food was excellent (we ordered off the regular menu although they have set price packages available) & we had a great time. We had a big table in the back and they avoided seating people around us so we had an area to ourselves. We had a small problem with one of the waiters but our main waitress was great.

Re: 04/23/05 Fox Hollow Wedding Review (long...)

Bayshore Bridal Suite -My wedding dress * 8 *
I went to about 6 or 7 places to try on gowns. After looking around a while and after reading some reviews – I saw that price and customer service could vary greatly from shop to shop. I found a dress I loved at the Commack Wedding Center and the price was right, but I heard a few horror stories about this place. So, I wound up choosing to order my dress from Bayshore Bridal Suite because of location, price, and how nice they were (Mary Ellen). They carry Mon Cheri, but not my particular dress. So, Mary Ellen told me it would be no problem to order it. I was a little worried because they have never seen this dress & maybe they would screw up the order. My dress actually came in early and it fit perfectly. They only had to alter the length & the bustle. The problem I had, was the piece of fabric that covers the zipper in the back was not laying flat so you could see the zipper all the way down my back and not the pretty buttons (very noticeable) and after trying it on a few times, no one that worked there mentioned it to me and I couldn’t see it. I wouldn’t have known until my Mom came with me for the final fitting and she noticed it. I was a little annoyed that they would have let me leave with the dress looking like that. The seamstress decided to place a few eye hooks to keep it flat which worked in the end but I wound up having to go back 2 times just to have that done. Maybe it was a good thing I didn’t need any other alterations But all in all, the dress came out beautifully in the end. If you wind up using them for a dress, I would recommend dealing with Mary Ellen.

Bayshore Bridal Suite - Bridesmaid's dresses * 6 *
Ok, this is a totally different story. I had 5 bridesmaids and we ordered 5 Jordan Bill Pesce dresses in the same color. All of the dresses came in on time and in the correct sizes. The problem was with the alterations. They cut the length of my youngest bridesmaid’s dress shorter than the rest. They said this was because she was a junior bridesmaid. I NEVER told them she was a junior bridesmaid. My MOH tried on her dress and they took it in way too much and when they cut the length, it was on a huge angle – one side of the dress was the correct length and the other side was touching the floor. The thing is, when she put the dress on the woman working there said “Oh, it looks beautiful!” My MOH said “Are you kidding me?” They fixed everything and it was perfect the next time she went to pick it up. Finally, another bridesmaid went to pick up her dress and again it was way too tight plus there were pulls fabric and water stains all over the dress. I wound up having to go there with her myself to complain and let them know how unhappy I was with all of these problems. They said they could fix it and when we went back to pick it up again, the dress fit perfectly and most of the stains were gone, but there were still a few there. We had no more time at this point since the wedding was 3 days away, so we just took the dress as is and left. Again, all in all the dresses came out ok but we made many extra trips there and I feel like if you didn’t notice a problem yourself, they didn’t care how you walked away with your dress.

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Ebay - Veil & Tiara * 10 *
I ordered both from ebay. The veil I bought from ‘beautifulbride.cl’. It was exactly what I wanted for only $30. The tiara I bought from ‘majestictiaras’. It was also exactly what I wanted for only $20. I also bought my garter & sand ceremony set on Ebay also. Everything is so easy to find and much cheaper than any ‘wedding store’.

Dante Tuxedos - Tuxedos * 10 *
We chose Dante tuxedos because the Fox Hollow recommended them and I read many great reviews. All of the tuxes for all of the guys were great and the service was great also.

Godiva Favors * 10 *
We had a very hard time deciding on a favor and it came down to chocolate. Godiva in the Smithhaven mall did an awesome job. They were ready on time and in the right quantity.

Leah (friend) Hair * 10 *
Leah Leah Leah (one of my bridemaids) did an awesome job on my hair plus fixing it after we were out in the rain!!!

Jade Art Fx - Makeup * 10 *
We found Jade through the Commack Wedding Center when we were looking for an artist that did airbrushing. She did my MOH’s make up for her wedding last November and mine because I was her MOH. So, I already had a real trial before my wedding day. She also did my Mom & the other bridesmaids. She was great for both weddings! She is on time, stays on schedule, and does a beautiful job!

Sir Oliver - Limo * 10 *
http://www.siroliverlimo.com/
I found Sir Oliver because we wanted the Hummer limo and they had many positive reviews on LIW with reasonable prices. All of the great things I heard were true. Rich (the owner) was our driver. He was right on time and the limo was beautiful & very clean. It was raining that day so he held a huge umbrella over each one of the girls so they could get into the car without getting wet. He took us to the arboretum to take pictures and again he was following us around with the umbrella. I must have made him blow the wedding horn a million times everywhere we went! We also had a limo come to pick up our parents and some of the bridal party after the reception. Rich was right on time again and was very patient getting everyone into the car. On Monday we also had a car take us to the airport from Sir Oliver which was another pleasant experience. I would definitely recommend Sir Oliver if you need a limo for any occasion!

Silverfox – Photography * 10 *
http://silverfoxvideo.com/main.html
We went to see about 5 photographers. We chose Silverfox because their work looked beautiful, I read some great reviews, and they have an a la carte option that no other photographer seemed to have. They don’t lock you into contract to buy albums with a certain number of pictures in them. How can you decide how many pictures you want in your albums before you see any proofs? They charge you for the photography only, and you get all of your proofs (not stamped) and you also get them on a cd or dvd. Then you can decide after you see everything what you want. John, the owner, is very easy to talk to and will go out of his way to make you happy. We requested Frank (photographer) and Leah (photojournalist). They were both unbelievable and did a great job the whole day. Because of the rain, I was upset we weren’t going to be able to go to the arboretum to take pictures, but Frank actually talked me into going and I’m very happy he did. They changed me into sneakers and covered me with umbrellas just to get me under the different buildings to take the pics. When we got home from our honeymoon, the proofs were ready to pick up. I was amazed at how many they took... I think we have almost 1500 pictures and they are beautiful! I would definitely recommend Silverfox!

Wedding Bells Video - George (631-345-5747) - Video * 10 *
With money getting tight, we did not want to pay $2000 for a fancy edited video and we almost decided not to have it at all. When we found George, he told us he could do a raw footage video for a very reasonable price, so we decided on that (edited was a great price too). George was great the whole day… you didn’t even know he was there. When we watched the video, I could not believe what a great job he did taking just raw footage. It is so well done, you would think it was a professionally edited video. I am very happy we decided to get the video – you get to see everything you missed and that is a lot…

Kathy (friend) - Flowers & Centerpieces * 10 *
Kathy is a family friend and works at Westbury Florist. All of the flowers were amazingly beautiful and just what I wanted!

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DJ Tommy’s Tunes - DJ * 5 *
DJ Tommy’s Tunes was my biggest disappointment. They do all of the functions for my company and I read many great reviews about them so we thought we had nothing to worry about. Most of this I came to realize after the wedding was over, because you are just too busy to worry about these details while the wedding is going on. All of these things were also confirmed by watching the video afterwards. Our MC was ‘Duane’ and our DJ was ‘Justin’.
- We requested Frank Sinatra to be played at the cocktail hour – they played a cd of weird instrumental music (not even Sinatra instrumental).
- The MC mispronounced (butchered) names when the bridal party was announced – simple names like ‘Christine’
- We ordered glow necklaces – they were never given out.
- We requested a special dedication song to be played & announced for DH’s parents – they never did it.
- The DJ was flirting with a married guest and upsetting her husband.
- 3 members of the bridal party went up to request the same song – they kept telling them “If we get to it” and they never did.
- Before the reception started, I personally asked the MC to play “That’s what friends are for” before the last song – he told me it was taken care of because my MOH also told him. This song has become a tradition at all of my friends’ weddings – we all dance together in a group hug during it. Well, the last song played and the DJ didn’t play it. I was told later that the wrong cd was in the sleeve – by the time he found the cd the last song was over & a few minutes of silence went by – my video guy packed up – then he played the song.
- There were a few other small issues also
We requested a meeting with the owner (Tommy) when we got back from our honeymoon to let him know how disappointed we were. MC Duane also came to the meeting. Tommy was very sorry we were unhappy and gave us a refund for the necklaces but MC Duane had the attitude that we were making a big deal over nothing. He actually used the word ‘Nit-Picking’. I’m sorry, but for the money they charge, I should not have a list of issues like this. Although it did not ruin my wedding day – I don’t think anything could have – it was a major disappointment thinking about it afterwards. So, needless to say, I would not recommend Tommy’s Tunes, or at least make sure MC Duane doesn’t run your party.

Rev Phil DeLearocca - Ceremony * 10 *
http://revphil.net/
We found Rev Phil because the Fox Hollow recommended him. We wanted a non-religious simple ceremony (we were married right at the Fox Hollow). We met with
Rev Phil and we knew we liked him right away. He has a great sense of humor and gives you sample ceremonies for ideas and lets you put together your own thing. He did a great job helping us and he did a great job with the ceremony. Everyone loved him & we got many compliments about him.

Fox Hollow Reception Location * 8 *
Before the wedding day:
I loved the Fox Hollow from the moment I walked in. We booked our day with Mel David and we were very happy with what the Fox had to offer. The dinner menu of 8 items is very impressive and we loved they style of the whole place. Our first problem was a few weeks after we booked we discovered our day was going to fall on the first night of Passover which was a pretty big problem considering DH is half Jewish. We called Mel immediately to find out why we weren’t told & to possibly change the date. He told us not to worry about changing the date and that they would work with us if a problem arose. Well, to make up for it, we included apologies in all of our invitations explaining what had happened. For some people, it made a difference and they rsvp’d yes. However, we did have a decent amount of people that couldn’t come because of the holiday and we were going to be about 10 people short of our minimum. At this point, Mel had been transferred to Westbury Manor and our new contact was Angel. Angel let us know that in order to change the minimum agreed on we would have to talk to Frank. Well, we called Frank, left messages, called again and again... we could not get Frank to call us back over a week and a half. We finally decided to physically show up at the Fox Hollow to speak to someone (since the wedding was one week away now). Angel was there and seeing how upset we were, he got Frank on the phone right away and they fixed the problem and lowered our minimum. So, everything worked out in the end but it was very difficult contacting people there and getting answers (Angel can be a bit of a sleazy salesman type). We also had kosher meals available and they threw in some Jewish specialty food for the cocktail hour.

The wedding day:
Our ceremony was going to start a 7pm and we were told we could use the photo studio and bridal suite anytime after 5. Since the weather was rainy and windy and since we braved the weather to take pictures at the arboretum, we really needed a hair fix when we arrived at the Fox Hollow. We arrived there about 5:45, which gave plenty of time to have everything ready, but there was chaos. The other wedding was in the photo studio so we couldn’t use that entrance. So, the only way to get inside was to go through the front doors where we had to walk through a crowd of guests for the other wedding. Once we got inside, they told us our bridal suite wasn’t ready yet. Things were getting tense and DH had to get a little loud with Angel to get everything moving. We had to wait about 10 more minutes to get into our bridal suite which was now an hour late. We also had to wait to get into the photo studio. Everything ran very late and was a bit chaotic. Someone told me after the wedding that they had a kitchen fire just before we arrived and that is why everything was so nuts. I have to say – our saving grace from this point was our bridal attendant Melissa. She was unbelievable – she was at my side the whole night and I had everything I needed at my fingertips.
Ceremony:
Since we were having the ceremony at the Fox, they said they usually do a quick 10 minute rehearsal right before the ceremony. Well, it wound up taking about 20-25 minutes, and when we went to leave the room we had to walk by some of our guests on the way which I wasn’t expecting.
The ceremony itself went very smoothly – Rev Phil was great and the room looked beautiful.
Cocktail Hour:
The cocktail hour was a whirlwind and I didn’t even get to see any food because I was too busy saying Hello to everyone. I did have time to notice that the baby pictures we brought in weren’t on the placecard table. So, someone found Angel for me and then they put them out. But from the video, I could see all of the food looked great and we received many compliments about it.
Reception:
All of the tables looked beautiful - all of our candles we brought in were lit and our favors were placed just how we wanted them. The food was great, I even got to sit down and eat my dinner (stuffed shrimp). I heard many compliments about the bartender and waiters/waitresses. When it was all over, they packed up all of our stuff with the top of the wedding cake and Melissa brought it over to the hotel for us. We discover someone had broken one of our champagne flutes in the packing, but I guess that can happen – good thing we never had time to get them engraved.

So, overall, I was a little disappointed with the Fox. It is a beautiful place with a great reputation. Situations happen that may have been out of there control at the time. I guess a lot of it is timing and luck. Some of the staff made up for it, some did not. When you pay so much money for weddings on Long Island, I guess you come to expect the best, and when that doesn’t happen, you can’t help but be disappointed. We had a beautiful wedding and that is what matters the most.

Fox Hollow Inn Wedding Night * 10 *
The Bridal Suite was beautiful. They had chilled champagne, chocolate, and rose petals on the bed for us when we arrived. Breakfast was also included the next morning. Great Hotel

Le Meridien Bora Bora – Honeymoon * 10 *
http://www.lemeridien.com/french_polynesia/bora_bora/hotel_pf1657.shtml
This was a trip of a lifetime in paradise!

Re: 04/23/05 Fox Hollow Wedding Review (long...)

Congratulations!!! Your proof are lovely and you look beautiful.

Thanks for the review of Silverfox -- I'm using them too!

Do you mind telling us the name of the arboretum where you took pictures -- its so pretty. Good to know you can still take pictures in the rain!

Re: 04/23/05 Fox Hollow Wedding Review (long...)

CONGRATS! and thank you for such a detailed review!

Re: 04/23/05 Fox Hollow Wedding Review (long...)

The name of the arboretum is 'Planting Fields' and is in Oyster Bay... you have to pay a fee of $125 and get a permit to take the pictures..

Here is the link:

Planting Fields

Re: 04/23/05 Fox Hollow Wedding Review (long...)

Woohoo! Congrats! You look beautiful! I love the Just Married Cufflinks...where did you get them?

Re: 04/23/05 Fox Hollow Wedding Review (long...)

Thank you!

Cufflinks

Re: 04/23/05 Fox Hollow Wedding Review (long...)

You looked beautiful!! Thanks so much for posting this.

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

Very helpful! You looked beautiful!

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

Thanks, I also plan on taking photos in Oyster Bay so it's nice to see what it may look like.

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

Thanks for the detailed review (those are my favorite ones!!) Too bad about your DJ, not just the problems because as we all know, stuff happens, but his attitude was inexcusable!

Your pictures are absolutely beautiful!! The color of your BM dresses made your pix phenomenal!!!

Congratulations!!!

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

Congratulations! And what a great review, I'm sorry for some of the vendors though but glad you had such a wonderful time!

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

Congrats!!! I know your mom!!!!

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

Congratulations!
Thanks for the great review!

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

congrats and great review

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

So sorry to hear about what you went through with your DJ...That's one of my biggest fears. I pray we have no problems. I'm also sorry to hear what you went through with FH (Fox Hollow). It's ashame that with the changes FH, WM, etc. made that we're lost in the mix! We complained that the ONLY way we knew about it was to read about it on LIW!!! Their response was...well...we're trying to get letters out to everyone... FH came back with...ya know...you don't seem to have a problem telling us when to pay, Do you think you could have told us this big change?
No response, just a chuckle from them!

ANYWAY...your day looked absolutely beautiful! Best wishes for a happy life together...forever.

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

you looked so pretty and your family all has the same smile and they were so big that day. very nice. good luck

Re: 04/23/05 Wedding Review - Fox Hollow - with link to pics

Great pictures! You looked beautiful!