8/2/09 - The Mazz's BEACHY Wedding: Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

First, I would like to thank Ron, Kim, and Liz for even creating and maintaining this site. It has been such a helpful tool throughout the entire planning process. I can truly say that our wedding would not have been as great a success if it weren’t for the tips, ideas, and advice of my fellow brides and brides to be! I would also like to thank you for hosting such great events like TWOTY and the outing to the Awesome 80’s Prom. I really enjoyed myself to the fullest and made some great friends along the way!

If you have any specific questions about vendors, details, etc., just FM me .

Now onto my very lengthy review!

Our Wedding Recap


~~~PRE-WEDDING DETAILS~~~

BRIDAL SHOWER - TOSCA’S (Bronx) - A-
I chose this restaurant because we have a lot of family from there and Westchester. I had also had dinner there previously and knew just had good the food was! We had a Saturday Bunch buffet. My guests were amazed at the wide selection of food they offered and also of the quality. I chose to have my party in the rear of the restaurant in a room that reminded me of an outdoor garden. It was large enough for 40 of us. My only complaint was that it was hot in there that day and the fans did not seem to help much.





BACHELORETTE PARTY - OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND - A+++
We stayed for 3 nights in Ocean City at The Castle in the Sand on 37th street. The location was great. We had a balcony facing the ocean and about 10 blocks away from Seacrets (the most popular bar/club in the city)





PRE-WEDDING HOTEL – LA QUINTA IN GARDEN CITY – A+++
This was probably one of my favorite vendors to work with. Tyleen is head of the group bookings dept and is such a sweetheart!! She made the blocking process very simple, called to finalize all the rooms 2 days prior, and even genuinely cared about how I was holding up when I was going out of my mind running around like crazy right before the wedding.
Note to all the brides to be!!! 15+ rooms must be booked for you to get their shuttle for free (or $150 off the bridal suite). It seems like a lot of rooms, but don’t sweat it. I asked Tyleen to provide us with a shuttle to and from the hall for the wedding party and myself and she was able to for $100 each way.

The rooms were very clean, spacious, and my guests who stayed there were very pleased. DH & I booked the largest suite they have (to my knowledge) so that the girls and myself could have enough room to get ready in for the morning. It was MORE than enough space and was really spectacular!


DAY OF WEATHER – C
Upon waking up on the day of the wedding, I immediately looked out the window. It was dark and not looking great, but it was also 5AM. Haha. When I started taking pics in the hotel room, rain started to hit the window. I was upset, but figured it would just be a passing shower.

On the way to the hall, it was a steady rain. Now I’m bummed because I wanted to take pictures out in the beautiful gardens of the Swan Club and couldn’t. During cocktail hour, it poured so hard and thunder actually shook our CH room. Despite this, guests still sat outside under an awning eating their food, which made me happy.

It rained all through our reception and amazingly, cleared up and the sun came out right as it ended!!!!! My photographer had already packed up his equipment by this time, but I had him get back out there in the gardens so I could get my lovely pics that I had long been waiting to take!
Moral of this long-winded description: DON’T STRESS THE WEATHER!!!! You cannot control it- it will control you and all of your plans you spent years making. Make the best of it. During the wedding, the bad weather didn’t faze me one bit. I smiled and laughed the entire time. Your demeanor at your wedding is what your guests will remember. Everyone said DH & I looked so happy and that you could just see in our faces how much love we have for one another. So get out there, have the time of your life, and really- anything that goes wrong (because there will be SOMETHING) let it roll right off your back.


~~~MAJOR VENDORS~~~

HALL – SWAN CLUB – A++++++++++
Words cannot even describe how much I love this hall and it’s awesome staff! From the very beginning, DH & I felt like we were treated like family. The price was awesome and the food was very good. Personally, our service was spectacular and our guests said their service was great as well. My parents actually had guests calling and emailing them after the wedding to rave about EVERYTHING and are convinced that we must have paid a fortune for the reception. SC has everything you could possibly want in a hall and more, in my opinion. For CH, we had the seafood boat. What a HUGE hit that was! Lobster, shrimp, etc was all devoured. I later learned that the hall completely refilled the seafood boat when it ran low! Definitely a great addition and well worth the extra cost- at least for our families. Our Maitre D knew of our beach theme and added a palm tree made out of fruit to the boat along with extra netting we had left over from our own decorations. It looked amazing!


We originally chose to look at the Swan Club because of it’s beautiful grounds. But unfortunately, as we all know, we can’t predict the weather. For most of our wedding day, we were unable to use the gorgeous grounds for pictures due to rain and our outdoor patio ceremony was moved inside to the Pavilion. Thankfully though, the rain ended at the end of our reception so we were able to go around and take some pictures in the gardens after all!









Banquet Manager: Jordana was always around to answer any questions I had along the way. Very personable and a pleasure to work with! She really does care about her brides- You don’t become just another name in her book and I really loved that. Especially for a hall that can hold 3 events had once.

Maitre D: Joe went above and beyond for us!! At our menu appointment, he worked with us and was able to fill every request we had for him and then some! We walked out grinning from ear to ear from all the extras he was giving us. For example: “You want a beach cake?… You got it! Your best man is strange and won’t eat anything besides pizza and fries?… We’ll make him his own personal pizza! You have a beach theme?… It’s only fitting we supply Coronas for your event and decorate your seafood boat with palm trees! You want to have 2 specialty beach drinks made by the bartenders? …You got it! You want fruit in all the glasses of water which we don‘t normally do? Sure! No problem!!” And I’m not even kidding when I say that Joe made sure ALL of this was provided on our wedding day and then some! He is really such a nice guy and very, very accommodating. Even when dropping our 10 million boxes off at SC, Joe helped us carry it all in! His service was impeccable from start to finish and our special day was made exponentially better simply because of him!

Bridal Attendant: Where do I begin? Evelyn was THE perfect person from beginning to end. Although I had a Day of Coordinator to help out with part of the afternoon, it was wonderful to have Evelyn as well and very much needed. She waited on us hand and foot - always had our drinks and food on our table ASAP. She also made sure my wedding party and parents had all the drinks they needed while taking pictures, during rehearsal, etc. She brought cocktail hour food up to us in the bridal suite. She bustled my dress and fixed it numerous times when it began to loosen and fall down. Anything I asked of her was done in an instant and always with a smile! She was also very accommodating to the members of my wedding party and helped where she could. Excellent!

Cake: Since we heard what a phenomenal baker SC has, it made sense to just go with the cake that was included in our package. I showed Joe a picture of the cake I had wanted. Something not really simple like they are accustomed to doing, but I was assured that he and my bridal attendant would personally add all the little touches to our cake. When it was rolled out during our reception, I was so blown away that I practically had tears in my eyes. Throughout planning, the cake was really something that wasn’t high on my priority list so I was a bit shocked myself at my own reaction.
MORAL OF THIS STORY: Even if you think you may not care so much about the cake, personalize it and really make it your own and unique! You will appreciate it THAT much more. Trust me.



Viennese Hour: This was another hit with our families, although I think they were completely stuffed by the time we were ready for dessert! Swan Club put out such a huge spread of desserts, we didn’t know where to begin! Everything we had was delicious since the hall has an amazing in house baker! And you just HAD to have the after dinner cordials even if you were already pretty tipsy (ahem… my DH)!







PHOTOGRAPHER - NICK G PHOTOGRAPHY - A-
We won Nick's services for free through a raffle at TWOTY. Unfortunately, I could not find any information on him on these boards once we got home. He is still fairly new in the wedding business, which is why he is not well-known. What can I say about Nick? Very accommodating, very much down to earth, and willing to go the extra mile if it is something that will make you happy.
Engagement Pics: We were unsure where to go, but know we wanted a beach location. I wanted to display some of the pictures at our wedding since we had a beach theme, I thought it was fitting. I chose Sunken Meadow Park, but unfortunately none of us have ever been there so we didn't know much of the layout. We did not get a good variety of pics since we really had no idea what was around. Nick just asked us to act natural as if no one was there and as if there was no camera on us. We did our best, but were hoping for some more direction from him. ADVICE: Scout out the location in advance!





Day of: Nick arrived right on time (7:30AM) and had no problem staying later after the reception was over (5PM) to get in additional shots. In total, it was about a 10 hr day for him with no extra charges which was nice. For the posed pictures, Nick did not give much direction or offer up suggestions for different poses. This may be my fault for not providing him with a must-take picture list (I had one with me on the day of, but it never got to him (to my knowledge). I forgot to ask my DOC to give it to him.
WORD OF WISDOM: DO NOT FORGET TO SHARE WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER ALL THE POSES YOU WANT A SHOT OF BECAUSE YOU CAN'T GET THAT DAY BACK!
What I loved about Nick and which makes for an awesome photographer: I hardly ever noticed he was there taking pictures. No camera in my face. He just let the party flow naturally and was there for all the very funny/special moments- my niece and nephew being tossed in the air, my nephew doing the worm, my parents anniversary dance, etc. All the things he didn't expect to happen which I am so happy he caught.




What wasn't caught was my dinner singer who was phenomenal and I really wished I had at least one picture of him singing.
WORD OF ADVICE: Even though dinner is the photographer's time to take a break, if you have anything special planned during dinner, make sure he/she knows to get at least a couple of shots in!
BOTTOM LINE: Detailed must-take list is essential. Definitely spend time and energy creating one.






VIDEOGRAPHER - HALO - A- (DAY OF GRADE)

We asked our videographer, Jack, to arrive at the Swan Club at 9am. Unfortunately, we didn't get to the hall until 45 minutes later so I cannot say if he arrived on time or not. He was ready to go from the very beginning and seemed nice. He was non-intrusive for the most part. There were times when I did see the camera there in my face, but it only happened while we were on the dance floor busting some moves! As a bride, you are in such a fog for the entire day that you don't end up noticing much going on around you. The only thing that bothered me was when the videographer wanted to pull us away from our dessert to go shoot the goodbye. I had to outright tell him he had to wait until WE were ready.
WORD OF ADVICE: Don't be afraid to speak up to your vendors on the day of. THEY are working for YOU, not vice versa.
But I can tell you, I am already happy that we went ahead and booked video for our wedding. There are so many moments that I feel we missed because of that 'cloud 9' effect. For instance, we missed guests dancing while we were walking around to all the tables. We missed alot of our cocktail hour by having some quiet time in our suite and then being pulled away for pictures. Because of this, we cannot wait to watch our video and relive that day!!!!

VIDEO GRADE - B+
Pickup/Mailing: An email was sent out by Halo telling us that our video was ready for pickup. I emailed Jose back telling him I was most likely going to stop by on one specific day to get it since I’m rarely in the area anymore. DH & I went out of our way to get the DVD’s and come to find out, in actuality, it is NOT ready because copies were not made. Inexcusable. He threw in an extra DVD for our troubles and said he would mail out the complete package to us the very next morning. After receiving the package and checking the mailing date, it clearly was mailed about 3 days later than he had promised!
Recap: We first viewed our recap on the computer using the memory stick that Halo included with their package. I was HIGHLY disappointed with its quality! You could barely make out any faces. The only thing I liked about it was how well it was put together and how the scenes matched up perfectly with the song we had chosen. I expressed my dissatisfaction to Jose. He suggested to try a different format of video, but we already tried them all and they all had extremely blurry quality. I pointed out specific times in the recap where you can see how it’s just not “right”. I uploaded it to youtube.com to show him what I was talking about, and he blamed it on you tube’s encoding that causes a drop in quality. What I had on the memory stick and what I saw on you tube looked exactly the same! I even showed it to another bride who used Halo and even she said the quality looked horrible and that hers looks nothing like that! Jose ended up changing some of the effects for me, and it looked a little better, but to be honest, it still wasn’t right. But I digress…
Main video: The quality was much better on the main video than on the recap thank god! Everything was clear, no pixilation or blurriness. But of course there were some things that bothered me. The first being how my Intro song that I picked was set almost entirely to footage of the photographer taking our formal shots with family. Had I known this is what the Intro is for, I would have chosen a different song. The song was one for DH & I and made absolutely no sense while being played to shots of us and our families and wedding party. Next, I noticed that there was very little footage of the grounds of the Swan Club. When I approached Jose with this concern, he said, “It is not possible for us to shoot with the equipment we have in the rain nor do the grounds look good when it is raining.”


DJ – FM ENTERTAINMENT – A-
I was a little disappointed with FM simply because both our percussionist and dinner singer were not who we had booked with. I very much wanted Pat Davis for percussion, but due to certain circumstances beyond FM’s control, we couldn’t have him. His replacement was not bad in the least, but I’m convinced I still would have liked Pat better after seeing and hearing both play. The dinner singer replacement was last minute and actually turned out to be a very good thing for us.
Frank treated us very well right from the beginning. We were pleased with his performance as DJ/MC overall. All of the announcements were done very well in a strong, clear voice. The songs flowed very well into one another and everyone raved about how he played such a good variety of music for all ages. My great uncle who is in his 80’s just commented the other day about how this was the first wedding he’s been to in a very long time where he actually was able to get up and dance because Frank played music from the “old days”. He said lots of weddings he’s been to, the bride and groom play more of what is current and forget about the older crowd. It made me feel good to hear that Frank was able to read the crowd and sense what songs would make the most unlikely of dancers to get up on the dance floor. He did a wonderful, wonderful job in this perspective.



But of course, there were some bumps in the road. Frank didn’t realize that the dinner singer was going to sing the father/daughter dance song during dinner. When he started singing it, both my dad & I looked at each other a bit puzzled as to why this was being played now. I approached Frank asked what was going on because I felt having the song played twice would be noticeable. He assured me that no one would notice so it was played twice. Not a HUGE deal in hindsight, but definitely something that should not have even happened if both Frank and the singer were on the same page. I will chalk it up to this singer being a last minute replacement. (Thinking back on it, I was most upset by this because I had very much wanted to dance with my father to the dinner singer’s version, but was told this wasn’t possible.)


STEEL DRUM/PERCUSSIONIST – BONGO JACK – A
We were provided with Jack by FM Entertainment. His performance was good although at times, I felt like some of the songs got drowned out by the drums. Once we found out he would be our percussionist, I immediately googled him and DH & I both thought he overpowered the music. I blame myself for not bringing this up with Frank to make sure the situation got resolved.
MORAL: ALWAYS voice your concerns about anything to all of your vendors. Don’t be afraid to. It’s better that you are both on the same page for your wedding day.




DINNER SINGER – A+++++
Provided by FM Ent. as well. Our DOC came over to us at the reception and broke the news to us that the singer we booked with was replaced with someone else. BUT she said she has been to weddings where this replacement has performed and that we were BLESSED to have him instead. She was right and he turned out to be phenomenal!!!! Our guests truly enjoyed the performance he put on. He really tried to squeeze in as many songs as possible during his short stay and we were very impressed with that. He sang a variety of Sinatra, Dean, and even Louie Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” in which he sounded EXACTLY like him. My jaw dropped, I was blown away. I don’t think I ate any of my dinner because I was in awe of his performance. Unfortunately, I doubt that any of it got on our video since the vendors were eating so I may just have to sit back and smile at the memory if it all.


OFFICIANT - PASTOR APRIL - CHURCH OF ANCIENT WAYS - A+++
We won Pastor April's services at TWOTY 08. We were thrilled to have gotten such an amazing prize, and we couldn't have asked for a better officiant! We first met with her in her home in West Babylon to begin to create our personalized wedding ceremony. Pastor April is such a doll. Completely down to earth and 'real- something that we consider ourselves so we blended perfectly with her! Be warned though- she asks very in-depth questions to the couple- things that you have probably never even given thought to. Because of this, there are many moments where you sit there scratching your head and saying, 'umm...' She doesn't once look at you like you are crazy or judge your relationship because you have trouble putting into words why you two love one another. Don't worry about this though- she is a wordsmith! She has such a way with words. She can turn anything you say into something so eloquent. It's an amazing skill she has and is the reason why everyone raves about her!
Day of: Pastor April arrived ahead of schedule to make sure the ceremony was set-up properly. (We had both a rose ceremony and a sand ceremony) About 1/2 hour before the ceremony was to begin, April gathered the parents and wedding party together for a quick rehearsal. There is no need to have a formal rehearsal dinner in advance if you book with her and plan on seeing your FH before the ceremony.
I had quite a few guests come up to me and say how beautiful the ceremony was and how it was 'us' and everything we believe in. There were so many parts that rang true according to my guests. There were moments where some of our guests who are very close to us burst out in hysterics.


Rose & Sand Ceremonies:



DAY OF COORDINATOR – LAURA FROM LA PRODUCTIONS – A+++
Let me start off by saying that although hiring a DOC is often a controversial topic on these boards, I am VERY grateful to have had the opportunity to book Laura for our wedding. For us, her and her assistant were “weddingsavers”. We first met her at TWOTY this past year and DH knew immediately that he wanted to book her. He saw how much this wedding was stressing me out and wanted to alleviate some of that tension. In my opinion, having her to organize our disorganized selves on the day of was crucial. Having someone to keep you on somewhat of a time schedule (I say this because we were still late even starting out at 5:30AM) was super important.
Let’s see… What DIDN’T Laura do? Haha. Upon arriving at the hotel, she cleaned up the mess made by our wedding party the night before and immediately made the beds so we could have a tidy room for pictures. She steamed wrinkled BM dresses, helped fix a dress that was too big on a BM, and laced the corset on my mom’s dress. She even put my deodorant on me!

She packed up ALL of our bags and moved them to another room because we were not staying in that room for another night. If she weren’t there to pack and move all of our things, we really would have been off schedule.
Upon arriving at the hall, I had taken the wrong envelope with me and realized I had no way to pay the videographer. Laura and/or her assistant ran back to the hotel to get the right envelope. And I even think they made yet another run back and forth between the hotel and hall because of something else that was left behind. Thank god I had them there or I would have had to assign a family member/friend to do all of this running around.
I also did not need to assign family or friends to set up our centerpieces because Laura and her assistant did it ALL! And what a phenomenal job they did! Whatever extra pieces I had leftover, they decided to creatively decorate our sweetheart table and even add a bit more flare to all the guests tables! They completely went above and beyond and their work is truly spectacular.
Because of all the mishaps we had and all the extra help we needed, they were DEFINTELY worth the added fee to us and we are forever grateful to them for making our day stress free!

All of Laura’s little touches…





FLOWERS – BURTON’S – A
Flowers were another thing that wasn’t very important to me. I essentially only ordered bouquets for myself and my girls. I was pleasantly surprised at how they came out and actually fell in love with my bouquet. All the flowers appeared fresh and vibrant. The only thing that I didn’t like was the uneven spacing of the stephanotis, but it wasn’t something I was about to complain over and probably could have been fixed somehow.
My bouquet consisted of white, light pink, and dark pink (garnet glow) calla lilies with pearled stephanotis scattered throughout. My girl’s bouquets had pink stargazer lilies, livia, and hot pink roses wrapped in teal chiffon that was cut from my girl’s dresses. DH wore a white mini calla lily with stephanotis to match m bouquet. The groomsmen, mothers, fathers, and grandfather all wore a white rose.





~~~ “THE LOOK” ~~~

WEDDING GOWN - DEMETRIOS 1341 - A+++
I absolutely LOVED my wedding gown. Demetrios designs some fantastic dresses and I received many compliments on my it. The beading was very intricate and it was an all around well-crafted dress. Initially tried it on at Macy’s in the Smithhaven Mall, but decided to buy it elsewhere since Macy’s overpriced it.





DAY OF SHOES - COLORIFFICS TORI - PURCHASED FROM ESTELLE’S DRESSY DRESSES - A+
My wedding day heels were the absolute most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned! The style was Tori. The heel was a perfect size- Not too low, not too high. I didn’t even think about taking them off for one second the whole day! And I was on my feet ALOT…



DAY OF JEWELRY - ANNABELLAGIO.COM - A
This was yet another recommendation from brides to be on here. Gorgeous jewelry and very affordable! My necklace, bracelet, and earrings set was called Talia.



WEDDING BANDS - WHITEHALL JEWELERS - A
We both bought our bands from here during their liquidation sale. They are no longer in business.



BRIDESMAID DRESSES - IMPRESSIONS BRIDAL - A
The Maid of Honor, Bridesmaids, and Jr. Bridesmaids dresses were all by the designer Impressions and in the color Teal. They were made of chiffon material- very light for a summer wedding!




ALTERATIONS - WEDDING GOWN AND BM DRESSES - BURTON'S - B
Let me preface this by saying that Burton's is a no frills kind of place. What you see is what you get, both with dresses and their flower department. The dresses are upstairs in a miniature room of a converted house. In my opinion, this isn't a place where you go to try on gowns. It's more of a place that you call once you found the dresses you're looking for and want the best price around. I dealt with Carole over the phone, was quoted a price, thought it was great so decided to order through them.
Upon meeting Carole, I thought she acted a bit unprofessional and was brash- especially when you're meeting your client for the first time. She made jokes about my weight that I thought were inappropriate (I am thin, but not THAT thin). Both my mother and I were turned off by her, but she was offering the best deal on my gown so I used her regardless. Little did I know that I would be going back there numerous times for both my dress and my bm's.
As far as alterations, thank god for my mother saying something or Burton's would have let me walk out with tons of room in the bust area. They supposedly corrected it by my final visit and said there was no need for me to try on my gown again. Stupid me says okay, goes home, tries on the gown, and the bust was never taken in!!! I also found a small rip in the overlay of my gown that clearly happened from the seamstress attaching the ribbons for the bustle. I spoke with Carole, asked her if she did those alterations, swore they did, so I told her I was coming back in with the dress. I arrive there, try on the dress for them to see that it's swimming on me and they blame it on me losing weight. I'd like to know who the hell loses 2 1/2' around the bust in just 1 week! They then fix it on the spot for me. Ironic how the first time they say they took it in, the tags were not removed, but were taken off on the second time they say they adjusted the bust.

After all of the aggravation of driving back and forth literally days before the wedding, the dress finally fit perfectly on the day of and looked absolutely gorgeous! The seamstress did a very good job on the alterations. I had a French bustle that was 8 points I believe and it was stunning! The only negative about the bustle was that it kept loosening on me even though my bridal attendant tied it as tight as she could. The bustle used color-coded ribbons. I would suggest using hooks instead. This is what my mom had for her gown and it stayed in place the whole day.

There were no issues with my bridesmaids' dresses or their alterations. One of my bm's dress didn't fit on top, but she only was able to make her initial fitting so it was not Burton's fault.


BOTTOM LINE: If you're just looking for a good price, then go with them. If you want great service and no attitude, look elsewhere. Oh yes, and ALWAYS try on the dresses before leaving the store with them. It'll save alot of headaches should the dresses need adjustment!


HAIR & MAKEUP - RACHEL KILEY & ASSISTANT - A
Rachel was recommended to me by another LIW bride who used her for her wedding. She told me she was inexpensive and would travel to me on the day of. The trial was free and took place at Rachel’s house in Ronkonkoma where she works out of on a part-time basis. At my trial, she nailed my wedding hairstyle perfectly on the first shot based on a photo I had shown her. On the day of, it ended up looking exactly like the trial and I couldn’t have been more pleased! As for makeup, I am the kind of person who does not wear makeup AT ALL so I knew this area would be more of a problem for me. She gave me the smoky eye look at my first trial. It was a bit overpowering for me and my DH agreed. I expressed my concern to her and she invited me back to have a second trial with less makeup. I liked it better, but it still did not sit well with DH who tired to convince me to not wear any makeup at all. Well, that wasn’t going to happen so I told Rachel to go even lighter on the day of and she did just that. DH ended up liking my makeup best on the wedding day which made me happy! She even used a bronzer on me to cover up my tan lines. It was slightly noticeable in pictures, but it of course looked better than a halter tan line in my strapless dress!
On the morning of the wedding, Rachel and her assistant arrived at the hotel right on time and ready to begin working at 5:30AM. ADVICE: Give yourself more time for hair and makeup because it will inevitably take longer than you expect. You and/or your bridesmaids/mothers may not be totally ready to go as per your wonderful schedule that you have planned out on paper! Any delays here will most likely disrupt the whole flow of the day that follows (ex: having less time to take pictures before the ceremony which means you have to miss most of your CH making up for lost picture-taking time, etc…)

If you would like a trial with Rachel, please tell her Gina referred you and you received her info through my wedding review. Her number is 631-807-4073.




GROOM & GROOMSMEN’S SUITS - BONAVENTURE TUXEDO - A
My DH and the GM’s all wore tan suits. The shirts were off-white. The tie that came with the suit rental was only in tan so my DH wore that tie to match me. The groomsmen wore teal ties that we had purchased separately for them. None of the guys complained about the suits so I am assuming everything was a-okay on the day of! The pricing was very good! If you rented 7 suits, 2 were free. We also received a $5-10 discount per suit for mentioning LIWeddings!




TIES - THETIEBAR.COM - A
Finding teal ties was nearly impossible. DH & I looked in store after store and could not find any teal ties that would match up with my girls dresses! I think someone on here mentioned the Tie Bar and I’m so grateful for that! Ties were about $20 a piece and came in regular or long length which definitely was a plus for my groomsmen! They arrived in perfect condition and were really nice quality. The site has such a wide selection of ties that if you can’t find it here, you probably won’t find what you’re looking for anywhere!




~~~THE LITTLE (BEACHY) DETAILS~~~

INVITATIONS – ETSY SELLER: DAZZLE0604 (Crista) – A+++
Thank God for LIWeddings or I would have never known about Etsy.com! This seller was perfect in every way. Very, very accommodating and always around to answer any questions/provide feedback within a short span of time. The whole process felt completely personalized- I wasn’t just another customer to her. You can clearly see that Crista takes great pride in her work and it showed in the quality of each invite! She made me completely happy with her services and I will most definitely order from her in the future!




MENUS - ELEVEN18DESIGNSTUDIO.COM - A-
We won 100 free menus from this vendor at TWOTY. Communication with her wasn't as quick as I would have liked. It sometimes took a few days for her to get back to me. I've also spoke with other brides on here who had similar complaints. We went back and forth on about 6 different drafts so her patience with me is something to be commended on! Once I was able to give the go-ahead on the final design, she was unable to ship me the menus on the date she said she would. I began to get nervous since I needed to drop off the menus to the hall in just a couple of days. She did the right thing though and overnighted them to me so they would arrive on time. Once received, they turned out gorgeous although a bit wavy (assuming due to rain and humidity). She was informed of this so hopefully she will package them a bit better for future brides.



CARDBOX - DIY BY DAD - A
What can I say? It was built from scratch by my father so it can't get a bad grade! It was a monstrosity of a cardbox and was so funny to see that once we opened it up, it could have been half the size for the amount of cards we received! Our Maitre D laughed when he saw it and remarked 'Expecting alot of envelopes huh?' Hahaha DH & I glued some shells to it and threw fish netting over the top. This was pretty much the extent of our DIY skills.



FAVORS - TORTUGARUMCAKES.COM - A+
I would like to thank whoever the past bride was on these boards for using this as her favor. I stole the idea and really, you cannot go wrong with something edible! Contact with this company was pretty reliable and without hassle. They charged $3.50 per 4 oz rum cake plus shipping and handling. Those extra charges seemed a bit high, but once I received them in the mail I knew why. I bought 150 mini cakes that were shipped in 3 boxes and it was HEAVY!
For those that actually took the favors home, I think the were very much enjoyed. They were extremely moist and fresh since we ordered them about a month in advance (They have a shelf life of 6 months- more if they are refrigerated.) We made the mistake of placing them on a separate table for guests to pick up at the end of the reception and they were bypassed by many! I believe we have something like 50 cakes leftover. They turned out to be expensive favors, but I'm sure we'll try our best to gobble them up!
Another DIY we did was the wrapping of these cakes. The simplest thing to do was buy ribbon from Michael's, string a favor tag on it, and hot glue it to the box. It was enough without going overboard.



FAVOR/PHOTO TAGS - VISTAPRINT - A+
Once again, never knew about all the free stuff Vistaprint offers until chatting with the girls on this site. Also, never heard of a photocard before. For those who don't know what this is, it's a card that asks guests to share their pics with you on a website you created for the wedding. I decided to save some money by ordering free ones through this company and they served double duty as a favor tag and a photo card. They arrived exactly as pictured and even though I chose the slowest shipping option, they came within a week!

NOTE RE: PHOTOCARD: I personally would not bother with this. At first, it seemed like a cute idea and something very unique and useful. Over 3 weeks later, we only had 1 person upload photos to our website we created and it has a total of 11 pictures! It could also be due to the fact that many guests did not take home a favor that had this tag attached to it.


TABLE NUMBERS/FRAMES - DIY BY ME - A
Many girls on here asked me where I got my table frames from. When I proceeded to tell them 'The Dollar Tree', they could not believe it! Yes, for $1 each, I was able to get elegant looking frames that did not fall apart! My guests must have thought they were nice as well because at the end of the reception, they were robbed from each and every table!!!! I would have liked to pass them on to a future bride, but they are unfortunately no longer in my possession! To add a bit of the beachy theme to the frames, I hot glued some shells to them.
I also made the table number pictures that went into the frames. I simply googled beachy images and downloaded 16 of my favorites ones. I then used Picnik.com to add the numbers to them and played around with the 'effects' option to achieve blurriness around the edges. Once finished, I printed the photos through Walmart.

TIP: Do not make the same mistake I did and wait until the last minute to print these up. I spent a fortune on the photos themselves because some didn't print out right and I needed them in a hurry.




PLACECARDS/FRAMES - EBAY SELLER - A
The frames were bought off of ebay in bulk (most inexpensive option at that point). They cost about $1 each and added a bit of sophistication IMO to a casual, beachy wedding. They were small and can really only fit a wallet sized picture. Regardless, everyone's house that I have been to since the wedding, had this frame displayed in their house somewhere. I am happy to see that it did not become a dustcollector for some!



BIRDHOUSE CENTERPIECES - BOUGHT FROM VARIOUS SELLERS ON EBAY - A
I think my mom thought I was crazy for thinking of putting birdhouses as the main focal point of my table centerpieces. I'm sure other people did as well, but just didn't have the heart to tell me. They were something I came across on my many internet searches and thought were adorable. They had a beach theme to them, a theme that you can clearly tell I possibly ran overboard with! Haha I went back and forth on the idea (of course only after I had already bought 20 of them with no room to store them in our tiny apt). We ultimately decided to use them because a floral centerpiece would have been at least double the price. The birdhouses ranged anywhere from $8-12 a piece. They were definitely unique and believe it or not, I actually had guests fighting over them at the reception.



CENTERPIECE GIVEAWAY: Our DJ played a game with our guests to giveaway the centerpieces. He asked for someone at each table to take out a $1 bill. The guests had to pass around the dollar. When the music stopped, whoever was holding the money got the $1 as the prize and whoever originally took out the dollar essentially paid $1 for the birdhouse. It was pretty hysterical although they older folks became confused!!


MINI LANTERNS (PART OF THE CENTERPIECES) - A
I apologize, but I forgot what website I used to buy these. I believe I went with the most inexpensive site that came up when utilizing Google Shopping - http://www.google.com/prdhp?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wf
This was another choice I went back and forth on. But you lovely liweddings ladies convinced me that candles can be used at a daytime wedding and still look nice. I'm so glad I listened to you girls because it was pouring throughout the reception so the room was a bit darker than it should have been and it ended up creating a wonderful ambiance!
The lanterns were so adorable! They did not just sit on the table. They came with stands on which the lanterns were hung. The candles that were placed inside were tealights bought from Michael's. The package said they would last at least 4 hours and they certainly did! Most were still lit by the end of the reception.



~~~POST WEDDING DETAILS~~~

HONEYMOON - NCL SKY CRUISE & CASA DEL MAR IN ARUBA - A+++
NCL Cruise: We both agree that this was the best cruise we’ve been on. It left from the port of Miami and traveled to Freeport, Nassau, and and NCL’s private island, CocoCay, in the Bahamas. Our cruise director, Matt Baker, made for such a fun and exciting cruise! He is hysterical!!! We participated in so many WILD events because of him:




While in Nassau, we visited Atlantis and spent most of the day just floating around the largest lazy river I’ve ever seen! We also walked through their gigantic aquarium!


Coco Cay was fantastic! Probably one of our favorite stops! The ship docks out at sea and tenders take passengers back and forth to the island.


Aruba: We stayed at Casa del Mar, a timeshare resort. It is not a honeymoon resort- mainly families. I have reviewed this hotel already on Trip Advisor so you can check that out of interested: Casa del Mar

The food in Aruba is fantastic, but expect to have some really high-priced bills to go along with it! We ate out at The Flying Fishbone one night. In my opinion, you paid more for the ambiance of being in the sand on the water watching the sun set than of the quality of food.



We also ate at El Gaucho which was amazing!!! 100% recommend to anyone! It was the best steak we’ve ever eaten.


We went on an ATV tour with Kini Kini Tours. Fantastic tour of the desert, Natural Pool, a smaller Natural Bridge (main one fell years ago). Highly recommend going on an ATV tour!



A must do in Aruba is Kukoo Kunuku. It is a crazy party bus that picks you up from your hotel, brings you to the highest point in Aruba for the sunset and a champagne toast, small dinner, and drinking/partying at 3 different local bars, and then brings you back to your hotel safely. It is an insane time and so very memorable for us!




Aruba is simply gorgeous and so very relaxing! We can’t wait to head back there one day!



THANK YOU CARDS - WINKFLASH.COM - A+
Our Thank You’s came out beautifully through Wink Flash! Only one photo was allowed on it, but the price was right so we went with this company. They were simple without looking cheap in my opinion. I plan on ordering photo books through them as well in the future.



~~~SOME FINAL WORDS OF WISDOM~~~

1. CHOOSE YOUR BRIDAL PARTY WISELY!!!!!!!!!!
Some of you may remember my story, but for those that don't, I was forced to kick a bridesmaid out of my wedding with 10 days to go! She was also informed not to bother attending our wedding... period. You may not realize, but the person you know from w ay back may not be the person you see standing before you today. They may have been your best friend at one point, but people change. Don't become obsessed with remembering how they USED to be.
If you have any mixed feelings whatsoever about putting a specific person in the bridal party to begin with, DON'T!!! You may very well regret that you didn't trust your gut instinct! This is what happened to me.
You will have friends that are very much concerned with the wedding process and those who you never hear from. Try not to let those who seem like they don't care get you bent out of shape. It's their loss and it's something to remember when the roles reverse and they are in the spotlight instead.

2. YOU WILL INEVITABLY HAVE AT LEAST 1 GUEST WITH NO GIFT
And it will be the person who you least expect it from. Some situations are clearly understandable, but to not even give a card? Inexcusable...

3. SOMETHING IS BOUND TO GO WRONG
Whether it be big or small, so brace yourself for anything! Try not to get worked up over anything that day! Guests will only remember a few things from your wedding. In my opinion, that would be how the food tasted and how much it looked like the bride and groom were enjoying their day. I had so many guests comment on how happy we looked, how perfect we look together, and just how much in love we are. These statements made us beam even more (if that is even possible! Haha) That being said, guests WILL remember a bridezilla arguing about her cake, the flowers, etc. If there is something that is not right, speak in private to your vendors without your guests seeing. Chances are, they will never be able to tell that something went wrong.

4. ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END!
Your wedding day goes by so fast. All those days, months, years of planning just for that one single day… Enjoy it to the fullest, have your wedding exactly how YOU want it to be. And then sit back on your day and watch all your planning come to life. Take in just how happy everyone is to be sharing this day with you. It’s a feeling unlike no other…

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

good job Gina :)

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

Great review Gina!! Everything looked gorgeous!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

Great review!!!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

wow! Great review and alot of helpful advice!

Thanks for taking the time, you make one gorgeous bride!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

awesome....
everything looks gorgeous

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

For a daytime wedding, I really like what you did with the suits. I'm not the biggest fan of khaki myself, but they are completely appropriate and FAR better than having the guys inappropriately wearing tuxedos (or fake tuxedos). Well done.

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

greeeeeat review!! and i totallly love your words of advice at the end! so true! especially the part about the demeanor of the couple being most memorable

congrats congrats congrats!!!!!! lifelong happiness for you and vinny!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

Beautiful Review!!!! Thanks for all of your tips!!!

You look beautiful!! !

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

Great review! You were a gorgeous bride!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

Better late than never and VERY informative.

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

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Posted by chicky724



Better late than never and VERY informative.

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Thank you! I can finally check that off my 'to do' list! Im just so upset that I cant have our anny lunch at SC bc it falls on a Monday when they arent open!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

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Posted by BlushandBashful

Great review! You were a gorgeous bride!

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Aw Thank you soo much! You will be as well Just dont rush the planning bc it'll all be over before you know it

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

Great job!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

Amazingg!!! i loveddd your cake and the Viennese hour looked great...

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

thanks for the review, congratulations!! loved your cake & the favors - such a cute idea! You looked beautiful

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

Great review!!!!!!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

GREATTTTT JOBBB!!! FABULOUS!!!!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

great review!!! i loved all your details!!!! the bird houses were great with the lanterns!!!! and i loOOOOOOvvvvveeeee your dress!!!

you def nailed your theme!!!

Re: Our Wedding Review: 8/2/09 – Swan Club, FM Entertainment, Pastor April, Nick G Photography, Halo Video, Burton’s, Bonaventure Tuxedo, La Quinta, LA Productions

Love your review and I will be copying from you. The candles during a daytime wedding. LOVE IT.