Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

I first want to thank LIW and all the girls on the site for all their help. Without all of you, I don't know what I would've done.
Sorry all of the pictures are big, I don't know how to make them smaller : )

Weather:
I was watching the weather for about two weeks before the wedding and the report went from a beautiful day, to rain, to a cloudy day. Well Hurricane Ernesto made us a little worried but he decided to hold off. It was windy, cloudy, and cold (for those that didn't have a million layers on like me) but it didn't rain until we were done taking pictures outside of Jericho Terrace....and I am so grateful for that : )

Bride's dress - Burton's Bridals (www.burtonsbridals.com) A+
Private label by G style 1226
Every week I dragged my mom to a different salon with no luck. They either didn't have enough detail, ball gowns, or the train wasn't long enough. After weeks of looking for a dress I ventured into RK Bridal in Manhattan and found my dream dress.
After I came home, I decided to call Carol at Burtons and see how much the dress cost. I was so excited to hear that the dress was $175 cheaper then RK (and I later found out it was $600 cheaper then a well known bridal salon on LI wanted to charge me). She ordered the dress in February, it came in July and I had my fittings in August. Everything went well with my dress and the alterations were perfect.
One piece of advice I do have about buying a dress which I didn't realize until it was too late....you can alter the sample to fit you. There would be dresses I loved but the train wasn't long enough so I'd pass the dress up. Little did I know that if you paid a little extra, you could have the train made longer.



Mother of the Bride gown - Burton's Bridals A+
It took a long time for my mom to find a dress (maybe this is where I get it from) but she finally did. She called Burton's who quoted her about $150 less and so she ordered it. It didn't come in until about a week before the wedding because she ordered it so late. Burton's altered the dress perfectly and my mom looked awesome.

Bridesmaid dresses- Burton's Bridals A
Bill Levkoff style 966
I ordered all of my girls dresses from Burtons also because the price was about $20 less expensive then most salons. The only problem we had was that one of my bridesmaids took her dress home without looking at it and it had two stains on it. My mom brought it back for her and they took it out quickly. She was a little annoyed because their hours weren't very good for people who work 9-5 as they close most days at 5. In the end, though, everything was perfect.



Rehearsal dinner - Parkwood Cafe, West Islip
http://www.parkwoodcafe.com/
I wanted a nice restaurant that wasn't too expensive. I visited parkwood cafe which was newly remodeled and very cozy. We were told we would have a room that was slightly set to the side compared to the rest of the restaurant. When we got there, we had 4 tables in the restaurant which I was not informed of but we still enjoyed ourselves. The parking lot seems like a decent size, but since we had our RD on a Friday night and the restaurant is crowded, we all had to park down the street and walk to the restaurant. Overall, we still had a good time and the food was good.

The wedding day:
DJ -High Energy Entertainement A++++++++++++++
www.highenergyentertainment.com (LIW Vendor)
I had never even spoken to Ralph before we booked him. We had given a deposit to another big name company and then next day DH called me and was so excited to say that he had found someone better. DH's friend had used Ralph a couple years ago and insisted that we speak to him. DH called him and loved how down to earth he was and so I trusted his instincts (which was not easy for me to do : ) and we booked High Energy. I thank my lucky stars that I listened to him. I have to say that Ralph was the only vendor that did 110% of what we had hoped. We had the Ralph and Kenny DJ/MC team, intelligent light show, and he brought along his video projector and screen so we could play a photo montage our friend had made. They played the perfect mix of music (including all the songs we requested and threw in a lot of their own choices) and kept everyone dancing ALL night.

Florist - Flower Michele (LIW Vendor)
I want to start by saying that John is an absolute pleasure to deal with. My boK and my BM boK's were beautiful. The stephanotas in my boK were a little brown when I got them but it wasn't a big deal. I was a little surprised by my centerpieces the day of the wedding. The sample had more roses and stock flowers while the wedding day centerpieces had more ugly green leaves. When I originallly booked Flower Michele, I met with Mike so when I called a couple weeks prior to the wedding to go over flower colors, etc. I made my appt with him also. I found it odd that they never called to confirm so a couple hours before the meeting I called them and find out Mike no longer works there. They said they must've overlooked my appt and that's why they never called to reschedule. So I made another appt which they called and rescheduled again. So finally, I meet with John who is the nicest man. We went over everything and went back the next week to see my sample centerpiece. He also told me to bring in my cake topper so when he was putting the flowers on the cake he would put the cake topper on also. Fast forward to my wedding day, about an hour into the reception I look over at the cake and there's no cake topper. I called over the Maitre'D and ask him where it is and he said he would look around for it but that I should've given it to him (too late now). Now we didn't pay a million dollars for the cake topper (we made it ourselves) and no one even knew that it was missing except for us but there was nothing we could do about it. I called John after we returned from our honeymoon and told him of the situation. He apologized over and over and said he would look for it. So I call him about 2 weeks later and then again about a week later leaving a message each time and no return call. So finally I call and catch him and he tells me that he has one more place to look and that he'll call me back. No word from him for over a month so I decide to call him and he tells me he can not find it anywhere and offers to give me the money to replace it.

Sample centerpiece 1

Sample centerpiece 2

Wedding day centerpiece




Photographer- Duval Photo & Video
www.duvalpv.com
I was worried about who my photographer would be because I was booking Duval more because they were a reputable company vs. seeing amazing pictures. I had met with several photographers, but then either spoke to brides who felt their customer service after the wedding was horrible and for some photographers, I didn't see enough post wedding reviews to feel comfortable booking them.
We had John as our photographer and Mike as his assistant/2nd photographer. I received a call the night before my wedding telling me they were sending a second photographer. Mike wasn't exactly a second photographer the whole night (he took pics at the church, during the cocktail hour, and at the end of the reception when the 1st photographer left) but I'm glad he was there. John had more of a traditional approach and Mike had more of a photojournalistic approach. At times I felt like they were a little slow and had to be rushed along a bit but overall I'm happy with my pictures. They arrived a half hour early and stayed almost until the end.
Duval as a company is fantastic, though. I had my proofs back in a week and my thank yous a week after I ordered them. They're all very friendly when you call and when you go down there and are willing to do anything to please you.






Videographer- Duval Photo and Video
We had Glenn as our videographer which was nice because he was the one who we worked with throughout the booking process. While taking pictures at old westbury gardens we noticed that he wasn't there. He later explained that he didn't get to the gate at the same time as us and there was no one in the office to open the gate (which is only a piece of wood that you can walk over). After the fact, I felt as if he could've called John or Mike and told them the situation. The video is still beautiful but we're just disappointed that OWG wasn’t included in the video.

Tuxes - Dire Formals - Franklin Square (next to Royalty Limos)
direformalwear.com
All the groomsmen got measured or called in their measurements with no problems. We happened to be in the area a couple days before the wedding and were able to pick up DH’s tux early. At pick up, none of the guys had any problems. No alterations were needed and all the accessories were there. They even made a handkerchief for each guy from left over material that I brought them from the girls dresses.

Hair - Bridget Rock of Gorgeous Faces (LIW vendor)
Bridget did my hair, my mom's hair, and 4 BM's hair. She arrived right on time at 8:30 and had everyone finished by about 11:30. Some of my bridesmaids had pictures and some didn't but she did an equally great job either way. Everyone was very happy with their hair. The day of the wedding I wanted something a little different from my trial so there was more hair down then pulled back. When she finished it, though, I wasn't happy. Bridget insisted that she wasn't leaving until I was completely satisfied. I sat back down about 3 times and she just kept modifying everything. In the end I was happy but I wish it was a little more polished and a little less stiff/pulled back then it was. I asked her to pull some hair over my ears and at some angles in the pics, you could see that it was pulled out. If I had seen that or any other problems before she left, she would've fixed it with no problem but I didn't see it. Overall, though I felt like she did a great job.

makeup - Jillan -Gorgeous Faces A+
(LIW Vendor)
Jillian arrived on time and started right away. She worked with all the girls to give them the look they wanted. Everyone looked gorgeous




Limos - Royalty Franklin Square
www.royaltylimo.com (LIW Vendor)
We ordered a 14 passenger Lincoln (which DH upgraded to a cadillac escalade as a surprise to me because I love that car) and a 31 plymouth. The cars arrived on time and were clean. The plymouth had very small stains on the carpet and the tire of the escalade got my dress dirty before I even got to the church but I wasn't too worried. The drivers were very nice and overall I was very pleased.



Old westbury gardens A++++
www.oldwestburygardens.org
DH proposed to me at old westbury gardens so we knew we wanted to take our pictures there. We arrived right on schedule and down the path comes Diana Filbry in her golf cart. If you've never met an angel, meet Diana. She's the one who deals with all the wedding photography but I don't think she's usually the one who brings you around OWG....well we happened to be lucky. She kept my photographer moving and told him what shots to take when we were posed a certain way. She actually apologized because she didn't want us to get upset that she was telling the photographer what to do but I was so grateful she did. She saw that I had 'must take' pictures printed and made sure that all of them were taken. She even drove us on the golf cart to the temple of love so we could take pictures there. I would recommend taking pictures at OWG to anyone. I just wish we had more then an hour and a half to take pics!

Ceremony location -St. Patricks Church, Bay Shore
I've been a member of St.Patricks since I was born so there was no question as to where I wanted to get married. Everything went perfect-from the planning to the day of the wedding. The only thing I was disappointed in was the two volunteers that were supposed to make everything run a bit more smoothly. There was a lady who ran our rehearsal dinner who every once in a while got very nasty and a different lady on the day of the wedding who is in the background of every picture. She's in the background of everyone walking down the aisle and she's sitting behind my BM's in the church so every pic of them sitting in the pews, she's in the background. My sister actually asked her to move out of the way when the BM's were walking down the aisle but she remarked that she woudn't be in the pictures. I called the deacon at my church and mentioned it to him-the only reason being is because I don't want this to happen to anyone else. But again, I love St. Patrick's and couldn't imagine getting married anywhere else.





Reception - Jericho Terrace A+ Maitre'D C+
(LIW Vendor)
We loved Jericho Terrace from the minute we set foot in the parking lot. We had Chad as our BM and although he is somewhat like a car salesman, it didn't bother us at all. We worked with Anna for our menu and had no problems at all. We arrived at Jericho Terrace about an hour before the cocktail hour started. We were greeted by Al, our maitre'd and two bridal attendants (sorry, I can't remember their names). They quick got everything organized so we could take pictures outside and brought us drinks. We came inside to take more pictures and went to the bridal suite where the two bridal attendant brought us tons of food (and insisted that we eat because we wouldn't in the cocktail hour and they were right). We headed to the cocktail hour....the bridal attendant insisted on holding my train while we were there which annoyed me a bit because I asked her to let me hold it myself. We enjoyed the reception....the food was great. Our guests were able to choose from 7 entrees. Everything ran very smoothly although there were a few minor bumps along the way (which only me and DH noticed). I had a guest book which consisted of scrap book pages and disposable cameras and a note explaining that I wanted everyone to take their picture and write something on the scrapbook pages. I had asked Al to display this. About an hour into the reception, I saw that the scrapbook was sitting on the table with the cardbox....closed and with no cameras. Al told me he was confused when he saw only 3 cameras (thinking they were supposed to go on the tables) and so he left them in the box (even though he wrote down all the directions when I met with him the week before). Once I told him what was supposed to be done, he fixed it but half of the guests at my reception never saw the guest book. He also put my memory candle on my table facing my dais arrangement which I also had to tell him to move so my guests could see it. Lastly, DH told him I was going to need a table cloth for the cake cutting (several times). When we are ready to cut the cake, Al comes up to us and says Do you guys really need a table cloth we say yes and he responds oh because I won't have one ready in time, I didn't think you guys were serious and so I got cake all over my dress.
Overall, Jericho Terrace was awesome. There were some minor problems the day of the wedding but DH and I were the only ones to notice them. I was disappointed that the problems occured but none of my guests had any idea.




Shoes - Pamela's Cedarhurst
I needed shoes quickly so I could order my dress hollow to hem. They helped me find shoes at Pamela's but they were too high. The owner offered to lower them a half inch and order them a half size smaller. When the shoes came in, I assumed they had lowered them but they had forgotten to. I had to wait a bit longer (and then even longer because of snow storms) but eventually they came in and I had them dyed to match my dress.


Card box
My dad was sick for a period of time and now spends his spare time with various projects. He's been making wooden bears with welcome signs so I figured what better way to collect the cards at the wedding then to have him make a card box. So here it is and cuter then I imagined it would be : )


DIY
Of course I can't rate myself but I wanted to make some crafty things for the wedding. I made We do letters, memory candle, menus, church programs cake topper, and votive candles. Here are some pics





Invitations - Invitations by Dawn
Invitationsbydawn.com
We looked high and low for invitations but couldn't find anything that we loved. We sent for samples from a couple different catalogs and when we saw our invitation, we knew it was the one. Everything came exactly as ordered about 2 weeks after placing the order and the price couldn't be beat.


Envelope seals - Letterseals.com A+
We ordered faux wax to seal our envelopes. The wax came quickly and was easy to use. When my guests received them they weren't cracked which is why we wanted to get the faux wax. I bought a monogram inital stamper from Michaels with no problems.

Jewlery - Tri-county flea market A+
http://www.tri-countyfleamarket.com/
I bought my necklace and earrings from one vendor and the hair pins from another. I don't know the names of either store but they were both on the first floor very close to the back entrance. The ladies from both were very helpful and had a good variety to choose from.



Veil - Barron's Tri-county flea market A+
I had actually picked up barrons’ business card before I was even engaged so when I heard everyone on LIW talking about them I knew that I had to go there. I didn't even price other places because everyone said their prices were the best. I ordered a cathedral length veil with cotton rolled trim on velcro and an elbow length veil with rhinestones. Everything came in a month after I ordered it and it was perfect.

Garter - Michaels F
I bought 2 garters from Michaels, one with white ribbon and one with blue. I needed a garter without a big bow because I was putting a pin on the front. Both garters fell apart as I was taking pictures before the church. There's only a thin piece of cotton holding the elastic in and it fell apart after taking the garter off once.


Donald duck pin - Ebay- A+

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

Very pretty pic, Congrats you look beautiful

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

so beautiful!! congrats!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

Great review! Loved the dress...that was one of my choices. Congratulations!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

Thanks for sharing your review! You were a beautiful bride!!!!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

great review! and oh my g-d....did your husband really throw a handful of cake in your face?!!!!!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

thanks for the wonderful review!!! I'm also using Flower Michelle, so I'll have to make sure I emphasis that I don't want too many greens either.....even though I still think your centerpieces were beautiful!!

You looked so beautiful!!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

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Posted by LaurenF

great review! and oh my g-d....did your husband really throw a handful of cake in your face?!!!!!

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Yeah I knew he was going to but I had no idea he was going to do that much. He also had a lot to drink by that point so I don't think he even knew how much he had in his hand

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

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Posted by dreamworld06

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Posted by LaurenF

great review! and oh my g-d....did your husband really throw a handful of cake in your face?!!!!!

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Yeah I knew he was going to but I had no idea he was going to do that much. He also had a lot to drink by that point so I don't think he even knew how much he had in his hand

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I would have killed him! Beautiful pics though. Thanks for the review!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

Thanks so much for posting your review for us.

Everything looked so pretty. Even though you had glitches it doesn't appear as if it was anything major so that was good.

Congrats once again. And thanks for all your help.

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

you looked BEAUTIFUL!!!!! great review...LoL my face still looks like this from the pics of your husband putting the cake in your face....hahaha....after all that makeup...LoL

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

You looked beautiful!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

OMG! Girl you look soo gorgeous!!!!! The dress looks amazing on you!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

Congrats! You look stunning!!!!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

you were a grogeous bride - the flowers (boks and cps) are beautiful - congrats

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

Great Review, you look beautiful!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

Congrats on the wedding. i love the flowers!!!!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

You look so gorgeous!! BTW, thanks for lifting my own spirits. I noticed right away how awesome you and your BMs makeup looked and then I saw it was done by Jillian whom I also booked. Yay!! I will however kill FH if he does the cake smoosh with me, like yours did with you. Did you have a fit when he did that?

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

congrats!!!!

Re: Dreamworld06's Review 9/1/06 Jericho Terrace, High Energy Entertainment, Flower Michele, Burtons, Duval, Gorgeous Faces, and more....

THanks for the great review an for sharing! You looked stunning and I love the pic of the cake in the face!!!