5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, ****Updated with album layout******

After first getting engaged I searched the web high and low for info. I happened to stumble upon LIW and have been addicted ever since! LIW is a great outlet for brides – it lets you share ideas, work out problems, and just vent when you really need to vent. Plus it lets you talk about your wedding 24/7 if you choose to. So I’d like to thank Ron & Liz for creating such a great resource for brides! Lord knows I have needed it over the last year and a half.

***Most pics by The Velvet Studio. Proofs have been scanned so the quality has been somewhat compromised. Other pics are by me.***

Bridal Attire
Dress – Kleinfeld, NYC – A++++++
As a plus-size bride, I really was not looking forward to dress shopping. It can really be a nightmare when you are a size 22 and you are expected to fit into a sample size 8. It just ain’t happenin’. Anyway, I visited a few bridal shops that had plus size samples but I really wasn’t finding anything I liked. I work in Manhattan, and on a lark I decided to call Kleinfeld and make an appointment. I went in one night after work and found the dress of my dreams. Barbara was my consultant and she was a godsend. She didn’t make me feel like a plus-size bride – she made me feel like a bride. She brought me about 5 or 6 dresses, but as soon as I saw the Alvina Valenta she brought out, I knew it was for me. It was such a wonderful experience it’s hard for me to put it into words. I would highly recommend them.



Veil – SewDeb – A++
I found out about SewDeb through LIW. I looked at the pictures on her site and knew that silk tulle was for me. I must’ve emailed Deb a million times with tons of questions and she patiently answered each one. I ended up getting 2 veils from her – one cathedral for the ceremony and one fingertip for the reception. I ordered the material from Hansson’s of Guilford in the U.K. and they shipped it directly to SewDeb. I would say the total turnaround for my veil was about 2 – 3 weeks. If you think you might be interested in a veil from SewDeb, you should email her. There are times of the year that she is busier than others.


Shoes – Sandy’s Shoes – C
I could not decide on a pair of shoes for this wedding. On the one hand I wanted heels but on the other hand I knew I could never last in them all day. I ordered tons of shoes from Zappos, Shoebuy.com, Nordstrom, etc. But I couldn’t find anything I was 100% happy with. Then I went to Sandy’s. I ended up buying a pair of 3” silk beaded Diane Lynn shoes. When I tried them on in the store they were a little tight so they stretched them and they seemed to fit better. Well, a couple months later I decided that the heels were way too high and I’d never be able to last in them all day. So I went to return them. Well, they wouldn’t take them back because they said they were stretched! Hello! I didn’t ask you to stretch them. You took them from me and stretched them because you were trying to make a sale! They wouldn’t even give me a store credit. This really annoyed me because the shoes were $150! I ended up buying another pair of open-toed dyeable flats from them. In hindsight, I wish I had taken my business elsewhere.

Shoe Clips – Aliza Darik – A+++
Aliza Darik Website
I heard about Aliza Darik on StyleBakery.com. I found this gorgeous pair of blue crystal shoe clips and wanted them for my something blue. They looked great and I got so many compliments on them. Great customer service!


Bracelet and Brooch – QVC – A
I was browsing the Jacqueline Kennedy jewelry collection on the QVC website and came across this bracelet and brooch. The pictures don’t do them justice. They are absolutely gorgeous! I did not want to wear a traditional headpiece with my veil, so I attached the brooch to a comb and wore it above my veil. It was exactly what I wanted. Love QVC!



Bridal Party Attire
Bridesmaid Dresses & Flower Girl Dress – Phyllis @ Gownfind – A+++++
Bridesmaid dresses by Bari Jay
Flower Girl dress by Sweet Beginnings
I had heard a lot of great things about Phyllis so I decided to contact her. 95% of my contact with her was through email. She always answered all of my questions in a timely manner. We ordered all our bridesmaid dresses and flower girl dress from her without any issues. Three of my bridesmaids and the flower girl got their alterations there as well and she did a fabulous job. We heart Phyllis!

Back of flowergirl's dress


Tuxes – Dante Zeller Tuxedo Westbury – C+
We had absolutely no problems with Zeller Tuxedo when we picked out the tuxes. Maria helped us and she was fantastic – very helpful. It wasn’t until our BP had to go there to start getting measured that the problems started. They never had more than 2 people working which equated to unbelievably long wait times. Every time someone went in there they always had an excuse – it’s prom season, someone’s in the hospital, etc. The evening we went to pick up my husband’s tux (the night of our rehearsal) there was about 10 people waiting and ONE person working. We waited for about 20 minutes and then I finally spoke up because we were going to be late for our rehearsal. I got many dirty looks from the other people waiting, but it was my one bridezilla moment! Returning the tuxes was another issue. We got married the day before Memorial Day. It specifically says that the tuxes have to be returned the next business day. Since Memorial Day is a holiday for most people, most of our BP returned the tuxes on Tuesday. And they had the nerve to charge them a late fee of $10. The tuxes were gorgeous, but they could really use some customer service training.


Major Vendors
Reception Site – The North Ritz Club – A+++++++++++++++++++
Choosing a reception site was pretty much a no-brainer for us. We had very basic criteria: find a place that has great food and only holds one event at a time. We looked around at a few places, but once we went to the NRC we knew it was for us. The NRC is a family owned business and you can tell by how they treat their clients. You feel like a special person, not just a number. On the day of the wedding everything at the NRC was perfect! When I walked into the reception room for the first time it looked exactly how I had imagined it. George was our Maitre D and he made sure every “I” was dotted and every “T” was crossed. And let’s not forget the food! Oh, the food! I cannot tell you how many compliments we received on the food, especially the cocktail hour. We managed to get into our cocktail hour for the last half hour and we were just overwhelmed by the amount of food. I would completely and totally highly recommend the NRC to anyone that’s considering it for their wedding. The place is absolutely gorgeous, the food is amazing, and they only have one event at a time. What more could you ask for???

Florist – Simply Stems – A+++++
For me, picking a florist was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. I met w/ a few different florists, but none of them seemed to get my vision. Then I happened to see Simply Stems at a wedding show that LIW sponsored. They had some samples at their booth and they were GORGEOUS, so I called a few days later and made an appointment. I met with Sandi and told her about what I wanted for the wedding. She really seemed to understand my vision, she gave me a lot of good suggestions, and we just seemed to click really well. The day of the wedding I was overwhelmed by how gorgeous the flowers were. I was especially in love w/ my bouquet! I couldn’t stop staring at it!!! All the girls’ flowers, the centerpieces, and the bouts were perfect. She also decorated the church which looked amazing. My only complaint about the flowers was my MOH’s bouquet. I had requested that her bouquet be larger than the other girls’ flowers and slightly different. Well, when the flowers came, nothing was labeled and we really couldn’t tell the difference between them. That was my only disappointment. But again, not really a major deal. I was so happy with everything else that the MOH bouquet was a minor blip. Again, a highly recommended vendor.


Band – The Times Square Orchestra – A++++++++++++++++++++++
If you are planning to book a band and have not checked out TSO yet, you need to do so NOW!!! They were absolutely positively AMAZING!!!!!! They really made our wedding. Our dance floor was packed the entire night and everyone kept telling us how great they were. A few of my mom’s friends even got their card because their sons/daughters are getting married in the next year or two. I cannot say enough about them and how great they were. Very very highly recommended!


Photography – The Velvet Studio – A
Videography – The Velvet Studio – TBD
We met w/ a few different photographers and once we met w/ Bob we knew he was for us. We loved his style of photography plus we liked his no nonsense attitude. He and his wife Jean were our two photographers for the day. They showed up on time and ready to work. Our proofs turned out great! We have over 1000 pictures to choose from. I was slightly disappointed because some shots were missed (for example we have no pics of our rings!) and I thought some of the shots would have been a little more creative. But I'm still very happy w/ the pictures. As far as video is concerned, we haven’t seen any footage yet. But our videographer was totally unobtrusive which was extremely important to me. I didn’t want a videographer who was going to shine a light in my guests’ faces. So, once we get our DVD I will update my review.

DOC – Michelle Nocella (now Michelle Gordon I believe) & Jessica (her assistant)
The Defining Moments – D+
Suffice it to say I was not happy with the service I received on my wedding day. I have attempted to contact Michelle to let her know my concerns and I am still waiting to hear back from her. If anyone would like further information please FM me.

Limos – All Star Limo – A++++
We had a 14 passenger Lincoln for the BP and a Rolls for the two of us. Both cars were immaculate. The drivers were very professional and on time. Our driver was especially helpful to me with getting in and out of the car in my dress. My only warning to brides getting a Rolls or any other older car: these cars do have air conditioning, but it’s not very powerful. Just keep that in mind if you are getting married during a warm month.

Church – St. William the Abbot – heavenly!
St. William was not the parish I grew up in, but it was a church where I felt most comfortable and where I really liked the priests. So we decided to get married there as we had been attending mass there for quite a while. The church is very laid back which is one of the things I love about it. When we reserved our date w/ the church we knew there was going to be some construction going on. However, we didn’t realize just how much construction. About 6 weeks before the wedding the entire front of the church was fenced off for construction and is still like that today. When I initially saw it, I almost went into “freak-out” mode. But rather than freak out I tried to remember the reasons for getting married there. Many St. William brides decided to move their ceremonies to other neighboring churches. We kept ours at St. William. My only disappointment was we couldn’t take pictures in front of the church, we had to take them on the side. In the whole scheme of things, it really wasn’t a big deal.


Invitations – MyGatsby.com – A+++++
Choosing an invitation was incredibly difficult for me. There are waaaaay too many options out there! Anyway, once I eventually decided that I wanted pocketfolds, I turned to My Gatsby. What’s great about their site is you can see an online proof immediately. For someone who thrives on instant gratification, this was a perfect match. I ordered paper samples from them so I could decide on colors. Customer service was always great. They are a little on the pricey side but I cannot tell you how many compliments we received on them. Highly recommended.




Calligraphy – eDanaeArt.com – C for communication, A+ for final product
I knew I wanted to get hand calligraphy for our invitation envelopes. I know what everyone says, “No one looks at the envelope! It just gets thrown out!” But this was something that I really wanted. I just love the formality of hand calligraphy. In doing web research, I came across Danae’s website and loved her work. I contacted her for a quote and she was in my price range. The only catch was she is located in Wisconsin so I had to ship everything to her and I had to make arrangements to have everything shipped back. She doesn’t include shipping. That was annoying. Plus, she had promised my envelopes back by a certain date and they weren’t ready. Then, to make up for this she promised to design a monogram for me that I could use on other wedding related items. I contacted her a few times and I haven’t heard back from her. Don’t get me wrong, her work is absolutely gorgeous! But she’s a little flaky.


Wedding Cake – Audrey’s Fine Baked Goods – A+++++++++
Groom’s Cake – Audrey’s Fine Baked Goods – A+++++++++
Thomas from Audrey’s is probably my favorite vendor that I’ve worked with over the whole wedding planning process. He is sweet, funny, and very talented. Just like with Phyllis from Gownfind, 95% of my contact with him was through email. I must have asked him 9,000 questions regarding the two cakes I was ordering and he patiently answered each one. I had seen the design for the groom’s cake from a picture that someone had posted on LIW. So that was a no-brainer. Our wedding cake was a different story. I wanted the cake design to be taken from the Italian paper that was used on our wedding invitation. I actually made a sketch (as if I had nothing else to do!) and sent it to Thomas. Well, our cake looked exactly how I imagined it would. Not to mention it was absolutely delicious – almond sponge cake w/ fresh raspberries and vanilla custard. Yummy!


Sketch I gave Thomas for wedding cake design:


The final product:


Hair – Ann Marie from Self Image – A
Ann Marie is my regular hairdresser and I knew I wanted her to do my hair from the moment I got engaged. Since our wedding was on a Sunday and her salon is closed, she came to my house which was great! She was on time, worked efficiently, and most importantly, my hair looked fabulous!


Make-Up – MOH Sarah – A+++++++++
My cousin, who was my MOH, is a make-up artist so having her do my make-up was a no-brainer. She was great – did exactly what I wanted! And I’m so happy with the results!


Favors – Luggage Tags from Lillian Vernon – A+
We had a travel theme to our wedding so we knew we wanted to give out luggage tags as favors. I found these on the Lillian Vernon website. I called the corporate office to request an additional discount because I was ordering over 200 tags. They gave me an additional 10% discount. Great customer service. Great product.


Wedding Bands – Freedman Jewelers, Huntington – A+
My husband’s family has been using Freedman Jewelers for years; so naturally, this is where my husband purchased my engagement ring. We decided to go back to Freedman for our wedding bands as well as our wedding gifts for each other. Their customer service is amazing. We highly recommend this vendor!

Details
PaperMojo.com –Italian paper for invitation belly bands and favor wrapping paper
I wanted to add my own personal touch to my invitations so I decided to create a belly band for my pocketfolds. I found this gorgeous Florentine paper on PaperMojo.com. I also decided to wrap my favors in the same paper. I called customer service to see if they’d give me a discount because I was ordering 100 sheets. They gave me a 10 or 20% discount (can’t remember!). Customer service was great! Very easy vendor to work with! So many different types of paper to choose from.

Favors:


Paper Presentation – paper for programs, menus, favor labels, & placecards A
If you have not been to this store in Manhattan, you must go! It’s like a paper Mecca! They have every imaginable type of paper in every imaginable shape and size. I could browse in that store for hours! If you are a DIYer, this is the place for you! I highly recommend! Their products can be a little on the pricey side, but their quality makes it worth it.

Programs:



Scan of placecards I made:


MyWeddingLabels.com – stickers for the inside of favor boxes A
Great site, if not a little on the pricey side. They were able to modify the label’s colors to exactly what I needed. Would highly recommend.

Paper-Source.com – Glassine envelopes for confetti A
We threw multi-colored confetti as we exited the church. I packaged the confetti in little glassine envelopes I ordered from Paper Source. They are a great site that I’ve ordered from many times. They have such beautiful products! Love them!

BagsandBowsOnline.com – favor boxes and ribbon A
I stumbled across this website when doing some web research and ordered a catalog. I ended up ordering our favor boxes from them as well as double-faced satin ribbon for the favors and the programs. The quality of their products is great as well as their customer service.

Ebay seller – MaineMomof4 (Linen Classics) – Dress Label A+
I had totally forgotten about getting a dress label until the last minute. I found this seller from doing a search on LIW and I contacted her. She was able to do a label for me ASAP. She was even able to change the label format to exactly how I wanted it. Great vendor!

VistaPrint.com – Postcards for guest book A
In lieu of a traditional guest book, we had postcards where people could write messages or advice for us. They would then be put into a vintage train case. I tried finding vintage postcards on the web, but they were too expensive. So I designed my own on the Vista Print website. They came out fantastic – great quality. Incidentally, we also had our STD’s printed through Vista Print.

Here's an example of one of the cards. The top is the front and the bottom is the back:


ForYourParty.com – Cocktail Napkins & Guest Towels A++++
This vendor was super easy to work with. They sent me tons of samples before ordering so I could pick the exact colors that I wanted. Service was great and shipping was prompt. A little pricey but I think it was worth it.

Cocktail napkin w/ lyrics from our wedding song:



Some more pics from The Velvet Studio:







Here is our album layout from Velvet!
Album Layout

Re: 5.27.07 North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Audrey's Bakery, Simply Stems, All Star, Time Square Orchestra

Beautiful!! Everything was very pretty! Love your gown and the bm dresses. Your shoes were very pretty.

Re: Review in Progress . . .

great review! u looked gorgous & ur wedding was beautiful!

Re: Review in Progress . . .

What a very nice review, you look beautiful and so are all of your photos, congratulations to you

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

Diana, you were simply a gorgeous bride! Everything was so beautiful and elegant!! Your dress looked amazing on you! Congratulations!!

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

Great review! Congrats. Your details were amazing. I love your invits and other stationary!

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

Love all the details. Gave your wedding day suck an elegant touch!

Congrats.

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

great review!!!congrats>

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

CongratS!!!!!! Great Review

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

Congrats. Love your cake!!!!!!!

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

What a GREAT review. You have amazing style and pulled everything together so well. Congratulations...

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

Beautiful!!! I love the color scheme with the coordination down to the cake and the favors!!! It looks so awesome together!!! Congrats!!

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

Great review! Congratulations

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

Beautiful wedding and great review!

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

congrats what a beautiful review and beautiful pictures!! Your cake was so pretty and you looked beautiful!

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

beautiful!!!

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

can i just tell you that your wedding almost has me in tears? your details are perfection, everything is beautiful - just as i hope my wedding will be...

would you mind FMing me info on your invites. prices etc? i actually have a picture of one of your invites saved to my fav. wedding pics

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

you look beautiful! thank you for the detailed review!

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

Great review! You made a gorgeous bride & it looks like your entire wedding was lovely!

Re: 5.27.07 Travel theme at the North Ritz Club, Velvet Studio, Time Square Orchestra, Simply Stems, All Star Limo, St. William the Abbot, Audrey's, Kleinfeld, SewDeb, Gownfind, My Gatsby

I love your theme! And your cake! Gorgeous!

You looked beautiful! Glad you had a wonderful day!!! Congrats!