December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

Although I wasn’t a frequent poster, this site helped me so much, and I want to help other brides by writing a review. Nonpro pics in review.

Liweddings.com: A++++: No explanation necessary!

Weather: A
It was horrible the day before (DH got into a minor fender bender on the way to pickup his tux and my parents couldn’t get my dress because it was raining so hard and they were afraid of stains!). It was awful the day after the wedding as well. We got very lucky. It was fairly nice for December.

Bridal party gifts: Necklaces from Kohl’s: A
I saw these on line at a great price (they were diamond necklaces) but I went into a store to see them live. They were beautiful in person. I ordered them from online to get the deal, and they came in quickly and perfectly.
The girls loved them. Three of them are still wearing it!


Jewelry boxes from Lennox: A
These are actually billed as wedding favors, and I got 10 for $50. They came quickly and were very well wrapped.


Picture frames in wedding colors with a picture from the bachelorette party: B
I got the frames from the dollar store, but they were fairly nice. The only problem is that when I was putting the pictures in, the glass on two were ragged and cut me. I warned the girls, so hopefully it won’t be a problem.

Jewelry rolls from Old Shangai online: A
These were a last minute addition, but I wanted to add something to the gifts, as my girls were so wonderful. They all travel fairly frequently, and as a traveler myself, I know how hard it is to bring jewelry. I plan to buy one for myself!


Overstock.com: B-
I got my sisters their maids of honor gifts from here. For one, I got a set of diamond and pearl earrings, and for the other, I got a diamond bracelet. The prices were pretty good, but they come in awful boxes. I had to get new ones. Also, read the reviews carefully. I was expecting the diamond to be bigger on the earrings, but reviewers warned it wasn’t, so I was able to take that into consideration before buying. In hindsight, I probably would have gone to Macy’s a waited for a jewelry sale, but my sisters loved their gifts, so I can’t complain.

Groomsmen gifts: Gerber Method Multitool: A-
DH bought these for the guys. He’s a hands-on guy himself, and thought that they would at least find them useful. They came quickly, but one was scratched. They resent a new one right away and let us keep the scratched one. DH was thrilled that he got to keep one for himself.


Parent gifts: A
I got my mom an Irish harp pin from an Irish store in Rockville Center, my dad an autographed football photograph from Prosports.com, his mom a pearl necklace from Macy’s, and his dad a really nice chess set from Chesshouse.com. I know I had a hard time with these, so hopefully these will help people with ideas.

DIY projects:
DH and I made the programs, 1-page newsletters, table numbers that were tube signs from London (we got engaged there), guest book (online at Kodak), our ornament favors, and the Save the Dates. I don't have pics here, but I'll try to post later. These took time, but they did add and air of individuality to the weddings, I think.

Rehearsal Dinner: PJ Harper’s: B+
PJ Harper’s was right around the corner from the church, and it has great food. The food was excellent, but they didn’t set up enough chairs. There was some kind of mix up. They fixed it fairly quickly, but my mother-in-law was a little upset, as she had set this up. Still, we had a wonderful time and stayed until the bar closed.
http://www.liweddings.com/mywedding/album/i/220287.jpg

Bridal Reflections: A for the dresses, B- for alterations
I got my dress, my bridesmaid dresses, and my mom’s dress from them. They were really helpful with prices and service, I kept coming in to try on my dress for different people (I didn’t want to buy it until my sisters had seen it, for example), and they were completely accommodating. The bridesmaid people were a little less helpful, even rather snotty when I came in with a large group, but they were okay.


Alterations: It didn’t bother me on the day, but they never put in the little clasp at the top of my dress on the zipper. It was never there on any of my fittings, but they kept assuring me it would be there. Luckily, my dress fit really well, but it was annoying that after spending all that time and money, they didn’t do such an important thing. Also, they ordered many of my girls’ dresses much too large, and only did a so-so job with alterations. We had a cap on alterations, but we gave them so much business that I feel that they should have done a much better job. I would suggest going elsewhere for alterations if possible.


Tuxedo Park: A-
The tuxedos were excellent, the quality was wonderful, and the service was unsurpassed. The minus is really only for being so much more expensive than anywhere else! At first, they wanted DH to pay for his tuxedo, but they did work with us so that we felt our guys could afford to rent their tuxes. Plus, they gave Matt his tie ($150) as a gift, so that was nice.


Church of the Holy Name of Mary: B
The service went really well, and we were surprisingly happy, considering neither of us really wanted to get married in a church. It was decorated beautifully, and the priest did a very nice job. A week before the wedding, the coordinator called and told me she had double booked my rehearsal time and I had to move everything back an hour, which was extremely stressful. I was trying to finish my finals for grad school at the same time, so this was a stress I did not need, as you’d imagine.





Bridesmaid Hair: Tracey A+++++
Family friend. Tracey, a good friend of my sister’s, came to the hotel early Friday morning and did everyone’s hair. She did whatever the girl wanted and came with suggestions in case they didn’t know. Their hair looked amazing and stayed all day. FM me for details.


My hair: Alison: Alison’s Salon (Valley Stream) A++++++
Allison has done my hair for every occasion, from communion to prom to dances. So of course I wanted her to do my hair for my wedding. I had no idea what I wanted, but I told her about my dress, showed her my tiara and she nailed it first try in the trial.


Invitations: Crystal’s gifts: A
I was going to go online, but my mom asked me to at least check out a few stores. I agreed, and I’m so glad I did. I had seen these invitations online, but they were too expensive. They gave me the invitations at a severely discounted price, and we changed the font to wine to match the wedding colors. The owner was wonderful. She stayed late to help us order and after I had to reorder the invitation because of a mistake I made, she helped get that price down as well. They were perfect for our wedding, and I’m very happy.

Royalty Limos: A
They were on time, very friendly, and safe drivers. I would absolutely recommend them. They gave us a very good deal that included a limo to the airport. I would caution brides to doublecheck. We called them the day before the wedding, and they had a time wrong. That might have been partly our fault, as my parents added a limo last minute and it got a bit confusing.

DJ: Vinnie from High Voltage: A+
We knew as soon as we met him that he was right for us. He was very laid back and knew exactly what he was doing. He gave us a discount for finding him through LIweddings, so mention that. On the day of, he was simply fantastic. He did everything we wanted, and he read the crowd perfectly. People danced throughout dinner until the last song. He asked us if we wanted him to take requests, and we said okay, not thinking much of it. Well, he got tons of requests, and he played all not on our do-not-play list. We told him if he thought a request wouldn’t fit the wedding, he was free to say it was on the do-not-play list, but I don’t know if he needed to do that. The songs that were the most popular were the Grease medley and Footloose.

Florist: Glen Head Florist: A
I didn’t really care about flowers. Matt’s aunt knew them and chose all of the flowers for us. We had pine needles and berries, which I loved. I don’t know what the price was because she paid for them, but they were on time, gorgeous, and lasted until over a week after the wedding.

Photographer: Spelman Studios: A
They were wonderful. They had an extensive meeting with us and did almost everything we asked them to do. There were some pics we didn’t get, but that’s our fault, as we didn’t want to leave the party! The online proofs look wonderful, and I can’t wait to make my album! We also got them for video, but we haven’t seen any of that yet.

Milleridge Inn A+++++++++
Milleridge was absolutely perfect. They did everything we asked and more. They were three steps ahead of us at every moment. Nadine was my BM, and she was wonderful. If there were any problems before the day, they alerted me calmly and quickly, and we fixed them. They were simply wonderful. They were organized and efficient, but also got into the spirit of the day. We’ve received nothing but rave reviews from everybody about it. Our bridal attendant actually cried when I danced with my mom. Milleridge girls, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.












We had an amazing day and were so happy with the ways things turned out. DH was a little stressed the morning of; his car was broken, he kept trying to avoid seeing me at the hotel (according to him, I was wandering the halls!), and nobody wanted to bother me, so they went to him with all the problems/questions. Still, it was a wonderful day. We danced all night and everybody had a great time. The two things I heard most often were: 'This is one of the best weddings I've ever been to' and 'You have the most attractive bridal party.' It was wonderful to hear.

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

great review!! you were a beautiful bride..everything seemed to be amazing!! your cake was fabulous!!

congrats!!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

wow everything looks beeautiful!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

Congrats!! Everything looked really beautiful!!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

great review! congrats!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

Great review, everything is beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

Great review-your girls boks are gorgeous!!

Congrats!!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

U looked beautiful! Congrats!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

sooo nice thanks for sharing with us

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

great review you were a beautiful bride

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

Congratulations!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

Congratulations!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

Congrats, looks like you had a great day!!!! Flowers were amazing!!!!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

Congrats!! You are my church twin. I am getting married at Holy Name of Mary in May. You are also my bm dress twin. We have wonderful taste. My bm dresses are in euro red.

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

Great review! Everything looked very pretty! Congrats!!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

congrats
great review

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

nice review! u are glowing in all of the pictures, beautiful! Congratulations!

Re: December 14 2007 wedding review--Milleridge Cottage House, High Voltage, Royalty Limo, Spelman Studios, and more! UPDATED, NONPRO PICS in REVIEW

I just found this today, looking for a specific vendor post..I'm sure you know why.. You looked amazing and Your party was Awesome!!! P.S. don't worry about the bad alteration dresses..you can hardly notice in the pics :)