FINALLY HOME! My 4/26/03 wedding (really really long!)

So for my 1000th post, I decided to move my review to the review board! Now the addiction is official!

OK so it rained on our day, but everyone tells me it’s good luck…! Seriously I will talk more about this later but no one really let me focus on the rain at all – I hardly knew it was raining and it in no way ruined tme day! To me it was still the perfect day – the wedding day of my dreams!!! I cannot think of one major thing that went wrong – we both LOVED our day and talked about it every day of our honeymoon so far!!

I especially want to thank my LIW friends who came to my ceremony – you guys have no idea how much it meant to me that you were there!! THANK YOU Christine, Michelle, Lauren, Felicia, Rachel, Irene and Tony!! My limo driver gave me your card too – Mitch can tell you how I cried! THANKS!!

St. Brigid’s Church A+
Everyone there was amazing. The diocese gave us a run for our money and made Mitch jump through a few hoops since he was married before AND Jewish, but we had a big church wedding, complete with a full mass, as I had wanted. We had dealt a lot with Deacon Frank and actually had him do the homily and the marriage ceremony and Father Ralph did the rest. I had printed up a 10 page program – mostly because I wanted Mitch’s family to understand what was happening. They didn’t follow it verbatim but it was pretty close. My mother had purchased (from our florist) I think about 100 long stemmed roses for every woman who came to the ceremony (for her it was the actual marriage and the most important part of the day). Mitch’s nieces gave out the programs and roses and did and amazing job! During the vows, Mitch started to cry and by the time I said mine we were both crying! For the Unity Candle, we had Mitch and I light our own candles from the church pillars and then the three of Mitch’s children – who were in the bridal party – came up and lit candles from Mitch’s. They came around the back of the altar and all 5 of us joined the flames lit the Unity Candle all together…it was one of my favorite moments! The biggest surprise was at the end of the mass, Father Ralph turned us to face the congregation and instead of saying the closing prayer, he stared praying in Hebrew! My mother-in-law’s jaw dropped! I had no idea he was doing it and it was a WONDERFUL gift for both Mitchell and I and his family! At the end of the mass I had a receiving line only for people that weren’t coming to the ceremony because we were short on time.

Limo – Royalty Limousines A+
I am SOOOO happy we went with Royalty! They were early both at my mom’s house and picking up the guys! My driver was TINA and she was better than perfect! She would not let me focus on the rain at all. Whenever I asked if it was raining she diverted me attention. She covered every base, took control without being overbearing, walked me through everything! She was GREAT! Even as I was walking to the car in the rain, she had this huge umbrella over me, showed me how to handle my dress and helped me, and talked to me so I would not be able to notice the rain! Bobby was the other driver, the guys said he was great and the rest of the BP loved him, too! We also had a van that took out guests who stayed at the Inn at the Fox Hollow to the church and back. I didn’t get any feedback as yet, but everyone was there! We also arranged for transportation to the airport the next morning – once again early and friendly!! Royalty was GREAT and I HIGHLY recommend them!

Flowers – Milleridge Village Florist A+
Once again I am SO happy they were our florist! We dealt primarily with Lisa and she was great! Everything was exactly what I wanted and in some cases even better! As I mentioned, my mom had arranged for Pink roses to distribute to the guests and she had a basket to lay them in so we expected just a large bunch of roses. When they came, each rose was individually wrapped and had a white ribbon around it! It was a great surprise! My bouquet, the girls bouquets, the centerpieces – everything was perfect!

Photographer – Glenmar Studios (Tom & Rebecca) A+
A GREAT team! Of course I will know more once I get the proofs, but I was so glad I had them there that day! They came early, guided us through everything! They win EXTRA EXTRA bonus points for dealing with the family shots and the family issues that came up (for example, Mitch’s sister wanted a picture with her children and us as soon as she saw us take a picture with my Brother, SIL and niece). They also didn’t let me really focus on the rain and they did not let it affect them or they work in the least! I can’t wait to get the proofs!
Edited to add: I got the proofs right away and the albums on my 6 month anniversary & love them!

Videographer – Motion Pictures A+
Again I will know more when I get the video, but they were great to work with! They interviewed us here and there at the perfect times and that was the only times I knew they were there! Dave and Bob are GREAT guys and I was so happy they were there!
Edited to add: This was our best investment! The job these guys did was amazing. It's documentary style and they caught moments and phrases and made an amazing story of our day. We could not be happier!

DJ – Spin Around Sound A+
I found out about these guys from this site and I am so glad I did! Tom and Rob were great! They managed to play every single song we had written that we liked while maintaining continuity (our “likes” were a vary varied and eclectic list!). They read our crowd and responded – amazing! Ours was a day wedding on a rainy day, so they certainly were faced with a challenge to get everyone up and moving, but the definitely did! Although their style is to NOT MC too much, it seemed as though that was getting responses, so they checked with us to see if they could MC a little more! By that time, we felt they were the professionals and it was in their hands to do what they think they should and we were THRILLED that they did such an amazing job!

FOX HOLLOW – A+
They were just GREAT!!!!! Doug, our Maitre D was our right hand! He managed everything beautifully! He kept us informed at every minute and worked hard for us that day! When we first arrived, Jerry Scotto greeted us and told us Doug was on his way and the guests were arriving (a little early!) and were being brought right into the cocktail hour! Our bridal attendant was okay. I don’t remember her name (something with an “A” that looked hard to pronounce). I personally didn’t think she was outstanding, but the kids and Mitch thought she was great. They handled everything perfectly! I had printed menus and they were all there at each place setting. The table cameras were laid out exactly as I had wanted, the place card frames/table was perfect. My favors were small boxes with a silk flower (either white or blush) on top and filled with chocolate. They were placed at each setting alternating colors (white, blush, white, blush, etc), exactly as I had asked.
And the food was amazing! The cocktail hour food – I HEARD – was great! Mitch would not stop eating the filet mignon do to the tables! They came around and offered seconds (or a different entrée) to anyone who wanted – and there were plenty of takers! The cake was DELICIOUS – that I actually did get a few bites of!
During the reception, we had a wonderful toast from out Best Man and one from our Matron of Honor. But the best gift was a surprise speech from Mitchell’s 16 year old daughter! She just got up in front of a roomful of people – some she never met, others she hardly knew – and spoke about how much her father meant to her and how much she loves him and then what I have meant to her over the years and how much she loves me too! There wasn’t a table with a dry eye in the whole room! She had stayed with me at my mom’s the night before and when I went to take a bath she asked for looseleaf (which my mom had thank God!) and then if she could use their computer. I was sure she was writing us a letter, but then to see her stand up at her age and say all the beautiful things she said – I am crying now just thinking about it! She gave us the paper with her speech and signed the bottom for us. Mitchell and I brought it on the honeymoon and every few days we read it again and cry. It was truly such a beautiful gift! Oh – and Mitchell’s sons (15 & 14) were upset that she had written it without telling them first so she added at the end of her speech, “And my brothers feel the exact same way!” It was SO cute!!

Inn at Fox Hollow – A++
This place was the BEST! Our wedding ended at around 6 in the evening and we had A LOT of people come back to the hotel afterward. My parents had brought in 2 heros and salads – they had already brought over tons of soda, beer and liquor the night before, and the people at the Inn just could not do enough to help them! We had two rooms off the courtyard and the rain prevented us from spilling out onto the courtyard so they staff at the hotel helped my parents set up the food in the “hearth room” in the lobby and then opened up another conference type room for us to use if we wanted! Everyone was SO happy with the staff there and the afterparty as well!

Honeymoon – Royal Caribbean cruise to the Western Caribbean
IT WAS GREAT! It was the perfect way to relax after weeks of craziness! We loved every minute of it and was sad to see it end! We got a bottle of wine from our travel agent at the first dinner, a bottle of champagne from one of Mitch’s co-workers in our room AND…..we got to dine at the captain’s table the first formal night!!!! We had a GREAT time! Just my luck though – there were 27 supermodels doing a special for E! on our cruise!
We planned on staying a few days in Miami and visiting Mitch’s parents in Ft Lauderdale (his dad was too sick to come to the wedding), but when we called them from Miami, we found out that their apt was flooded while his mom was in NY for the wedding and his dad was in the nursing home, so we spent last week in Ft Lauderdale helping them dig out from the MESS! I lost count after 33 bags of garbage! I have a good Mother in law, though, so we were glad we could be there to help!

So this review is so long – sorry! I could talk about the wedding forever! It really was the best day of my life!!!

Also edited to add a link to my pictures:
Wedding Pictures

Re: FINALLY HOME! My 4/26/03 wedding (really really long!)

YEAH!!!!! addiction!!!!!!!! Welcome....to the addicted club. Mitch will be very proud of you! We should celebrate!!!!

Now what should your new title be? hehe

Re: FINALLY HOME! My 4/26/03 wedding (really really long!)

You're too funny Mary!!! Congrats on your addiction!!!

Re: FINALLY HOME! My 4/26/03 wedding (really really long!)

Hi Mary!!! Congrats on being addicted!!
Your pics are gorgeous!!!!

Re: FINALLY HOME! My 4/26/03 wedding (really really long!)

Oh my, your pictures are so nice and warm and friendly.. They really made me feel good inside,.. It really truly looked as though everyone was enjoying themselves and having a wonderful time. The last picture is wonderful and so nice to see. Everyone looked great. Congratulations!

Re: FINALLY HOME! My 4/26/03 wedding (really really long!)

Congrats on being addicted! Your wedding pics were adorable!