hold up, here is my review......

So I finally decided to write one of these things. There are a lot of vendors that did a great job and deserve to be recognized. Our day went perfectly because we had so much done in advance that we really didn’t have much to worry about in the days leading up to the wedding. So without further adieu…

Ok, here is some adieu...all over vendors were phenomenal. I gave all A+ b/c they deserved it.

LIWeddingsA+
Words cannot describe the amount of help I’ve gotten from this site. When I got engaged, I literally thought LI had about 2 reception halls. I had no idea there were so many and how affordable they were. An eternal thank you to Ron and Liz!

WeatherA+
We had a gorgeous day. It was sunny and not humid at all. Ok, its was really hot in that dress, but no rain so I was happy. And at night it cooled down so that was better.

My dress
Burton’sA+
Burton’s comes highly recommended and that is well deserved. I went in Sept for an August wedding and my dress came in at the middle/end of June. I tried on about 6 dresses and the last one was MINE. It was a beautiful, simple ivory dress. I got my veil and slip as well. I had 2 fittings and the dress fit perfectly. I picked up my dress the day before the wedding and they knew who I was before I gave my name. My slip had to be taken in slightly and Carol had the seamstress do it right there. I really cannot say enough good things about Burton’s.

BM dresses
Burton’s A+
I had 4 girls, including my MOH. My sister was my MOH and she choose Bill Levkoff #966, we went with sage with an ivory sash. It was perfect. For those that don’t know, Burtons is in Melville/Huntington and is not exactly around the corner from me in Nassau. One BM was in ST. James and it was very close to where she worked, so she had no problems. My sister had some complaints about the distance and the hours they do fittings are not the most convenient. But the dresses were only $147 and they cap alterations at $50, so that made everyone happy. After her first fitting, my mom and sister would not stop carrying on about how great Burton’s was. They are very sweet there and do a good job very quickly. And my sister was 4 months PG at the time of the wedding, so Burton’s had to add a piece of fabric to the dress to make it bigger. BUT, when she ordered the dress, they ordered a size 4. Only 2 of 4 BM’s got alterations at Burton’s and neither had a problem. They are not the largest bridal salon and it gets crowded, but it’s worth it. I definitely recommend you check out Burton’s, they have the best prices and good service.

MOB dress
Lillette’s A+
My mom and I went to Lillette’s in February to look for her dress. It would have been less expensive to order her dress at Burton’s, but it didn’t make sense for her to go out there. We found a beautiful dress, made by Jovani. Everything went smoothly, no problems with alterations. My mom was very satisfied, and that is all that mattered to me.

MOG dress
No clue
No that is not the name of the salon, I really do not know where my MIL got her dress. Her girlfriend’s daughter owns a shop and that is where she went. I did not go with her, nor did I see dress until 2 weeks before the wedding. It was a very pretty dress and it suited her. No grade b/c I really don’t know what her experience was, she kind of kept me out of the loop. But, I guess it all worked out ok.

Flowers
Burton’s A+
They did an amazing job on our flowers. When we went I took a picture with me b/c I had no idea what I wanted. I knew roses, but colors and whatnot, I had no clue. So I took a picture with me and Jon ran with it. The girls wore sage and we went with purple, hot pink and light pink roses. We gave my FG a mini-bo-k in the same colors. My bo-k was the same color as the girls but with some cream colored roses and stephanotis added. My DH wore a white rose w/2 stephanotis and the gm’s wore lavender roses. The 2 rb’s had white roses as well. They gave us so many flowers for the hall and the church was decorated beautifully. They get raves b/c they send a centerpiece to my parents house, in the same colors as my flowers. It was the sweetest gesture and completely unexpected. My bo-k was huge and heavy and all the flowers stayed fresh all day. Again they are highly recommended for a reason and I urge brides to be to check our Burton’s for flowers and your gown. Their prices really cannot be beat and the service is the best.

Invitations/Programs
Wrap with us A+
We ordered the invitations in April and they came in, in about 2 weeks. No problems with them whatsoever. Even after I approved the proof and it went to print, I had to call to make changes. My fault completely, but they handled it very professionally and our invitations came out perfectly.
The programs we ordered in July and we had them in about 2 weeks. Again no problems. Both the invites and the programs were fairly inexpensive. They don’t have the best hours and they tend to get crowded so be prepared to wait. And if you are going to order your invites, have everything written out beforehand. We did not do this so we were there a little longer, but again, that’s us, not them. Same for the programs, but on those they ask for everything to be typed. This way an A cannot get misconstrued as on O, etc. But once we send them that, the programs came in very quickly. Worth the trip.

Donations
Mercy Medial Center and LIJ/Plainview
In lieu of favors we made donations to MMC and LIJ in the names of our grandparents. I had no problems with LIJ, I was able to make the donation online and it saved so much aggravation. Mercy has a few accounting problems, to say the least. I won’t discourage anyone from donating to the hospital, but if you can, give them cash.

Photography/videography
Déjà Vu Studios A+
Loved them!!!! DH and I could not be happier with the way our proofs came out. Our photographer was Michael and he is one the sweetest guys I have ever met. He put me right at ease. We have 400 proofs and had a hell of a time picking out a thank you. The pictures were that good. A lot of detail shots, back of my dress and the flowers. But he really took a lot of candids and was very go with the flow. I know its our day, but he never said, no we can’t do that. He got great shots of everyone dancing. His assistant Patty, was very nice and helpful. She held my dress and my flowers, very sweet woman. Please go and check out Déjà vu studios. They created a package just for us, no pre-set packages with pre-determined prices. We have not seen the video yet so I cannot rate it, but our video guy, also from Déjà vu, but I forget his name, was great and you kind of forgot he was there. Highly recommend them.

Transportation
Royalty Limos A+
We got a Rolls for us, a 10 passenger for the parents to go from the church to the reception, and a 14 passenger for the BP. No problems whatsoever. We had to have the 10 passenger go to my IL’s b/c there were a lot of people going from their house to the church. The only aggravation I got on this was from my mil, she has requested a limo for her, which I felt was unnecessary. But whatever, chose your battles. In the end it worked out b/c the car we got for her to use at the end of the night, we needed anyway. We had to pay a little extra, but so worth it. We also used Royalty for a shuttle from the hotel to the reception and for one back to the hotel at the end of the night. Well they send a HUMMER at no extra cost, and I wanted to ride in it. But we got a limo for us. Again, they are worth checking out. Don’t be put off by the service, they know their stuff. Cars were clean and on time.

Tuxes
Gino’s Fashion Tuxedo A+
Very easy to deal with. We went in May and the girl who helped us was very sweet and knew her stuff. She let DH try on the shirt, vest, jacket and tie. We ordered the regular tie, not the bow tie. Ordering his tux was no problem, getting the guys there however, was another story altogether. We ordered the ivory vest and tie for DH. The guys wore silver vests and ties and the dads wore black. The rb’s also wore ivory vest and tie. We told them they had to order by 7-4, per the tuxedo places instructions, and I think a week after that, they had all gone and ordered. Again, only problem I had was with my mil. She was wearing eggplant and wanted her husband to match her. We said no, both dads are wearing black. She was not too happy, but I am not a fan of the matching colors. And my DH’s grandfather had to wear a tux too, so we had to add him. Prices were reasonable and when the guys went to pick up the tux, they got to try on the whole thing. So if something did not fit, it was fixed right away. Only problem was my fil’s tie was to short, so someone had to get extenders for it. I don’t think he tried on the tie, so it was most likely his fault.

Hair/Make up
Salon Beyond, Garden City, NY A+
This is my regular salon and I knew that I wanted them to do my wedding day hair and make up. They did not disappoint. Vicki did my hair and make up and it was perfect. Very simple up do and easy make up. She is not my normal hairdresser, but she was recommended to me by my regular girl and it worked out perfectly. All my girls and my mom had their hair done, some had make up done, some didn’t, which was fine. We went to them, which made it easier and we were in and out in a little under 3 hours. My advise, before you start looking at LIW vendors, who I’m sure are great, go to your regular salon. Give them the business, they won’t let you down.

Rings
Artistic Jewelers, Farmingdale, NY A+
We got all the rings here. DH picked out my ering here and we knew we were going back to get the wedding bands. We went in May and ordered the same day. Dh’s came in in less then a week and mine about 2 weeks. We got a good deal b/c the owner is good friends with my MIL and she gets all her jewelry there. No problems with anything.

Entertainment
Body Rock A+
An excellent job was done by them! They got all our songs right and the MC had everyone on the dance floor all night. We had no problems with them from the first time we met them to the day of. WE booked them after my sisters wedding, so we saw their work firsthand. We chose the DJ/MC combo with regular lighting package. No giveaways or tv screens or fog machines. We spoke to the MC right before the reception started and he really knew his stuff. He went over all the songs we wanted for first dance, cake, etc. And he wanted to make sure the cha-cha slide was ok. I said yes b/c my younger cousin really loves it, she was the FG, and it’s a fun dance. I thought it was nice he asked. And he didn’t try to run the show, he was on the floor dancing with everyone, but you didn’t mistake him for the groom. Definitely recommend them.

Church
St. Christopher’s Church, Baldwin, NY
This is my parish and where I went to grammar school, so there was no question as to us getting married there. I had heard other people had problems with this church, but we had no issues. WE initially met with them in 2004 and chose a Nov. 2006 date. That date changed, so we called to make the change. We only met the priest one other time to go over readings and book the rehearsal. Which we did not know we had to do, our fault. Our rehearsal was the day before the wedding at 6:15, which worked out perfectly. There was a rehearsal after us so we had to motor through ours, which was fine with us. Day of, everything went smoothly and we have no complaints. WE did our pre-cana through the church and it was an experience.

Rehearsal dinner
La Parma III A+
If you have never been, I highly recommend this restaurant. It’s family style, so you really get a lot of food. We paid $40 a head and got so much, including beer and wine. We had about 32 people and the room was the perfect size. They took good care of us.

Cake
Giacomo’s Italian Bakery, Lindenhurst, NY, A+
YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM. We chose the cake they make specially. The marble pound cake, with cream cheese and fudge and goodness. It wass soo good and i loved going to this bakery, they give you so many samples. For desert we chose the cookies and pastries. We got cannolis and éclairs and rainbox cookies. Everything in this bakery is delish.


Reception
STEWART MANOR COUNTRY CLUB, A+
I cannot say enough about smcc. We had a beautiful wedding and I know it’s because of June and James. WE got there early and they let us take pictures outside, while they set up inside. The grounds are really pretty and I love the gazebo. I love that we were the only event there. It was never a priority until we booked SMCC and realized that we would not have to compete with other brides to get the attention. They took such good care of us; brides to be have nothing to worry about. I really could go on and on, but I don’t think I have the space. DH and I were able to enjoy our CH which I completely recommend. Don’t miss the chance to mingle and talk to all your guests and enjoy the food. And our CH had so much food that it would have been a sin to miss it. The dinner choices were Filet Mignon, salmon or chicken marsala. I had the filet mignon and the salmon. Everything was good, I was not crazy about the salmon. But I had never had it before so I wanted to try it. Could be that I don’t like salmon. It was a perfect day and June and James was on top of everything. They were never right on top of us, but never so far that you couldn’t find them when you needed them. Go and check out the hall and see for yourself. We really loved it there.

My advice: things are going to happen the day of the wedding. When they do, don’t freak out. Don’t sweat the small stuff; it will only make you crazy. There was a lot we didn’t do, like the card box, slipper baskets, etc. No one noticed, no on cared. Go to your cocktail hour!! Enjoy your day. I’ll add some proofs, enjoy!

ETA: we had great experiences with all our vendors.

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Re: hold up, here is my review......

Great review! Thank you for posting. You look beautiful! Great pictures!

Re: hold up, here is my review......

Congratulations! You look beautiful and your day sounds like a dream.

Re: hold up, here is my review......

Thank you for sharing your review, you look amazing. congrats again.

Re: hold up, here is my review......

Great review!

Re: hold up, here is my review......

Congrats SaraH...I am glad you had such a fab experience with SMCC..I really liked them and James a lot.

Best wishes to you and your husband!

Re: hold up, here is my review......

Great review!!!

Re: hold up, here is my review......

Thank you for posting Sarah! I am also getting married at St. Christopher's AND Stewart Manor COuntry Club! I am soooo glad to hear that you were so happy with everything.... makes me feel very relieved.

You said Pre-cana was an 'experience...' good or bad? we start in October!

Thanks again for the review... i was waiting anxiously for it!

Re: hold up, here is my review......

pre-cana was not a bad experience. we had a couple who liked to talk a lot. not bad, but i thought it was more to get to know your SO. know what i mean?

Re: hold up, here is my review......

Congrats!!! And thanks for the review! You look beautiful!

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your day sounded amazing! thank you for the review...
.. Im very happy you enjoyed Stewart Manor Country Club! i am having my reception there exactly a year after yours on 8/4/07!...

Re: hold up, here is my review......

GREAT REVIEW~

Re: hold up, here is my review......

bump

Re: hold up, here is my review......

Congrats!!!!!!!!

Question

I looked at the STM also.....the place was pretty nice and 'Thomas' was really personable and gave us a great deal. I'm a little hesitant that I don't get to choose my vendors though.
Any advice??

Re: hold up, here is my review......

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Posted by mkempton

I looked at the STM also.....the place was pretty nice and 'Thomas' was really personable and gave us a great deal. I'm a little hesitant that I don't get to choose my vendors though.
Any advice??

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I had my reception at Stewart Manor CC, not Stewart Thomas in Farmingdale. Sorry, no advice.

Re: hold up, here is my review......

Great review

Re: hold up, here is my review......

congrats !!!