Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Ok, here is my long overdue review of the best day of my life so far....
I first off want to thank everyone at LIWeddings who provided a wealth of information and support to
me during the
planning process. I might not have posted much, but someone always seemed to have a similar question
to what I
would have posted which really helped. I was very lucky with all of my vendors because I didn’t “go
blind” in choosing any of them. Recommendations from friends, and LIWeddings members really
ensured that I had a fantastic
collection of people to make the day perfect. Ok.. here goes.

Rehearsal Dinner: Irish Coffee Pub in East Islip. We did a buffet in one of the private rooms upstairs- it
was wonderful, everyone raved about the food, and service. The only negative was that there was a
party going on next door and their music made it difficult for everyone to hear when Dave (DH) and I
were talking to the group. Rating: A

Dress Alterations: Mariana. She was phenomenal. She made a dress that I bought off the rack fit me
like a glove. FM
me if you want her information. A+++++

Hair: Clippers in Babylon. Everyone was very nice, and my hair, and all the girls’ hair looked fantastic!
We were actually done there way ahead of schedule! A+

Makeup: Jacqueline Nicole. Well, all the ladies that sing her praises were certainly not wrong.
Jacqueline was delightful to work with she is such a sweet person! . She made my skin look flawless!!!
My mom also looked amazing-she even touched up my Dad’s sleepy eyes!!! I got compliments all night
on my makeup- funny story, I chose the
airbrush application, which she said would last 24 hours. I intended to shower that night after the
reception-however, we ended up having a problem getting into our room- the key wouldn’t work-
which resulted in us getting
into the room really late- I slept with it on, and it still looked great all the next day!!
A+++++++++++++++++++
Flowers: Flowers by Rosemarie. Rosemarie was wonderful. She did my bouquet, corsages, church
flowers, and all
other bouquets. Being indecisive by nature, I didn’t have a concrete idea of what I wanted my flowers
to be- I just knew that I liked color, and a wildflower look. She patiently showed me pictures until we
had come up with exactly what I had envisioned. She even encouraged my Dad- an avid gardener to
make the centerpieces himself (he ended
up not doing that) - but as a surprise, she worked in a few of his roses from his garden into my bouquet.
Everybody absolutely loved the flowers- especially me!! She did a fantastic job!! A+++++++++++++
Flower Centerpieces and Cake Flowers: Town Florist East Islip. Joe did a wonderful job on a tight
budget. He created exactly what I asked for- the arrangements were beautiful!! A++++++++
Photography/Video: Imagine Studios: Enough Said- they were fantastic to work with. Lia and Nelson
were friendly, funny and did anything to get the perfect picture- my bridal party was amazed to see them
hanging out of their cars
filming and snapping away while driving!!! We’ve seen some of the proofs so far and they are just
fantastic. So glad
we chose them. A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reception: Bayview House at Captain Bill’s: Living in Maryland, my friends down here heard “Captain
Bill’s” and immediately probably had visions of a place with fish on the wall and sawdust on the floor.
They were all awed when they saw the Bayview House- many people said it was the most beautiful
place for a wedding that they had ever
seen. The food was amazing, Annie the Maitre D made sure that we ate, and that everything went
smoothly- she decorated the cake with flowers perfectly, and just was wonderful to work with. I can’t
say enough great things about this place! A++++++++++++++++++++
Limos: Serenity Limos: Overall, the drivers of the party bus, and our Rolls were wonderful- so sweet,
funny, and helpful. So for the to/from church and reception- and to/from the beach for pictures, I give an
A+++
At the end of the night, a car was supposed to pick us up to bring us to the Islandia Marriott- well... of
course we were the last ones left at the hall long after the car should have arrived. After a while, Eddie,
the owner of the
company arrived in an Expedition to pick us up himself- he was very nice- turned out his driver had
fallen asleep during the playoffs and was subsequently laid off. All in all I would recommend them- They
even took us to the airport the next day and were punctual and very nice.
DJ: Just for the Record. Danny was absolutely fantastic- the dance floor was packed the entire night.
We met with his partner Elliott to give him our “must play” songs, and the wedding pretty much
consisted of our entire playlist which was great!!! Danny even managed to get my husband- who
HATES to dance, up on the floor- wearing an
Indian chief’s hat to lead the YMCA- and he loved doing it!! This was the first time that my husband
danced to just about every song played!!! Danny’s MC’ing ability got even the reluctant people onto
the dance floor. People are still talking about how great he was! A++++++++++++++++++++++
Bridesmaid Dresses: NETBRIDE. This company was a great find.. The dresses were 2 piece
Impression brand, which would have been $100 per piece ($200 total) in the bridal store. I saved the
girls about 70$ each by ordering them from Netbride- everything was perfect, and they had wonderful
customer service. I have been recommending them to
everyone that is getting married!! A++++++++++
Invitations: Kathy at the Sweet Nut Hut in Deer Park. What a great lady! She was so patient and
helpful when it of course was the last book my mom and I looked in to find my invitations! She bent
over backwards to accommodate my schedule since I was an out-of town bride. Everything was
perfect as promised! A+++++++++++++++
Islandia Marriott: We blocked rooms for our guests here at the hotel, and arranged for them to have
breakfast vouchers in the morning so we could see them off before they left on Sunday. The things that
happened were not necessarily the fault of the hotel, but it was a very busy weekend for them- so the
wait for the elevators was often very long, my husband was stuck in his room waiting for them to rebuild
the lock on the door for 4 hours on the morning of our wedding, and then when we returned that night,
the key did not work!!! Then, the water heater broke,
so we, nor any of our guests had hot water for showers in the morning. (This explains why I know that
the makeup lasted 24 hours!!) They did reduce the price on each room slightly due to this. I would give
them a B.
Deliciously Different Catering: My parents had a bunch of people back to their house the next day for a
lunch/brunch and the food was wonderful!! We didn’t have to lift a finger! A+++++
Honeymoon: Sandals Grande St. Lucian: This place was paradise! We had a great time and the staff
was wonderful- the spa was excellent too! A+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Here is a link to some of our proofs. Enjoy!!! http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3587c9da467

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congrats!!!! Glad you had an incredible wedding!!!

Funny story about Captain Bill's...FMIL suggested this place to me after FH and I got engaged...I had a vision of a place with fish on the wall, really cheesy...wouldn't even bother looking in to it...but then, after I had already chosen my hall, saw a pic of it...and even went to a retirement party there...and was amazed!!!! That place is GORGEOUS!!!!

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congratulations Alison! I've been waiting for your review! It sounds like you had a wonderful day! I can't wait to see some bigger pictures!

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congratulations. Glad to hear everything went great.

Here is the link to the pics:

pics

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congratulations to you and your new Hubby!

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congrats

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

beautiful! I loved looking at your pictures, you were a beautiful bride!

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congratulations Alison! Those pictures are beautiful!!!

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

LOVE this one! You were beautiful, congrats!

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congratulations! Thanks for the review -- I'm glad to hear your day went well. Your pictures are beautiful, too! You bouquet was gorgeous -- it was huge!! Was it heavy?

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congratulations!
I was actually referred to Rosemarie for flowers to (from a former bride of hers, like 10 years ago :)

we liked her alot. we ended up going with someone else, but i'd recommend her as well.

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Hey Alison!! Anniegrl told me about your review (I'm not on the boards that much anymore) but I am so glad I got to see the rest of your pics. The ones your mom sent me were really nice but these are just gorgeous! Lia does it again! (so funny...I've got almost an identical pic with my dad in the limo...). We just picked out album out over Thanksgiving (the day before JoRo picked out hers!) and it was so great looking at all the pics again and reliving the memories. I am so happy everything went so well for you (the hotel situation notwithstanding)...let's try to get together again soon! All Best, the other Alison

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congrats!! Your pics are soo pretty. I love Captain Bill's but they could not accomodate our wedding

Re: Long Overdue Review of my 10/18 wedding

Congratulations Sounds like you had a wonderful day