LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

LI WEDDINGS: How can I rate it? I am convinced my wedding would not have been such a success without the ideas, advice and information I got from LI Weddings. I had only been to 2 weddings in the States before my own and had no idea what was involved. Without LI Weddings my guests would not have had bathroom baskets or gift bags at the hotel. I’m not crafty and I wouldn’t have known how to make petal cones, a program or menu. I am a regular enough poster but I was unable to make it to any of the GTG’s because of my involvement in an organization outside of work, and I regret that. I would have loved to meet all the great ladies on the ’05 board personally, but I thank you all for any help you gave me in the 18 months I was planning and wish you all much happiness and love in this new, exciting, phase of your lives.

So, onto the review… I think I have covered everything and probably too much! Please FM me if you have any questions.

MOTHER NATURE: Priceless. We will never forget the weather on October 14, 2005. It was monsoon-like conditions. Everyone commented on how perfect it was for an Irish wedding, although I don’t ever recall such bad weather over there. There was approx. 9” of rain in our town and our cellar had 2ft of water in it when we got home the next day, but we had the most wonderful day and I can’t imagine it being any better, even if the sun was shining. The only let-down was not being able to take our pictures outside.

SAVE THE DATES: Impressive Inscriptions – 9. We ordered personalized bookmarks at a cost of $1.80 each. They worked off a design I provided and were fast, very responsive and helpful. My only criticism is that the bookmark was a little big, but I probably should have ordered the mini size instead of the deluxe.

DANCE LESSONS: Starr School of Dance, Huntington Station – 7. We paid for 5 private 1-hour lessons which I feel were a bit of a waste. We only wanted to know one dance and the lady we had kept trying to show us other dances. The end result was that we only knew the basic foxtrot steps, and I’m not sure if it was our fault or theirs that we didn’t progress quickly. I didn’t like that they kept pushing us to sign up for more lessons after our 3rd and thought that we should have been able to do more in 5 weeks than we did. I do want to say that the ladies were very sweet, other than the hard-sell.

REHEARSAL DINNER: Shandon Court – 10. This is where we had our first date, got engaged and my sister held my shower here too, so we obviously love it! The best feature is the live music most nights so we had entertainment during our dinner. We had about 30 people for a sit-down meal and the food was excellent. We had an open bar for 4 hours but quite a few of the guests left early, so we shouldn’t have spent so much on the booze package.

INVITATIONS, PLACE CARDS, BEVERAGE NAPKINS, WEDDING CARD HOLDER: Follow Your Heart – 10. Cathy was terrific. Our Encore invitations were simply gorgeous. She helped us to customize the design and we were thrilled with the result. We ordered them very early on and then moved, so I had to go back and re-order the envelopes in June. At that time I placed my order for the place cards and napkins and she spent so much time making sure I got exactly the (pain in the a**) design I wanted. I was the first person to use the treasure chest card holder that I rented from her and it was very pretty.

PROGRAM COVERS: Invitations4less.com – 10. I ordered a linen ecru cover and added a motif that almost matched my invitations. They were a little pricy at about $150 for 100, but the girl, Natasha, was very patient with me, making sure it was just right. The quality was excellent and the service could not be faulted.

DISPOSABLE WEDDING CAMERAS: Camerasdirect (Ebay vendor) – 9.5. They were cheap, nice looking, came with tent directions for the tables and took pretty good pictures.

PICTURE FRAMES FOR DONATION CARDS AND FLOWERS FOR DECORATING BASKETS: Wrap With Us – 8. We made a donation to the Red Cross and Salvation Army in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and I wanted to put the donation card in a small picture frame, not a place card frame. The frames were exactly what I wanted. Good size, the ivory and gold colors matched my theme, and they were very reasonable. They weren’t all in stock when I placed my order and Wrap With Us left me short (but charged me in full) on both deliveries. Also, half of the order didn’t have the plastic protector thing so I had to laminate the donation cards in those frames. They also didn’t enclose one kind of silk flower for my baskets, but they did send them right away when I called. They have great prices but you need to check everything they send you.

2ND FAVOR – Chocolates from Ireland: Lily O’Brien’s – 10. I love these chocolates and I wanted to do something from “home” but nothing too Irish. I got two chocolates (one truffle and one solid with crispies – yum!) in an ivory and gold box with our names and date printed. I emailed back and forth to get prices and delivery info and they were very helpful. My order arrived in two days in an insulated box. Excellent customer service and a very popular favor with our guests.

TIARA #1: Tradewind Tiaras – 9.5. The customized tiara was just as I ordered and very reasonable. The only problem was that it was very simple and kind of blended into my hair, so it wasn’t very noticeable. It’s what I ordered, so I can’t complain, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t use it or return it. In the end my sister wore it in the end and it looked perfect with her Taupe gown.

TIARA #2 AND VEIL: Veiledandbejeweled.com (Ebay vendor) – 8. This tiara was very cheap. I thought I would end up wearing this one but when I put it on at my fitting it looked really cheap and a couple of the stones fell out. The veil was very simple, fingertip round with a thin ribbon edge and I was happy with it until I was steaming it two nights before the wedding and noticed a tear, which I fixed with crazy glue. Nobody noticed and it held up fine on the day.

TIARA #3 AND WEDDING DRESS: Adrienne’s Bridal Salon – 10.5. I ended up buying the (expensive) tiara I tried on when I ordered my dress but didn’t want to spend so much money on it. I caved in at my first fitting and it arrived 2 weeks before the wedding. I loved it. I was a Richard design, hand made in England, and beautiful quality. When shopping for my gown I knew I wanted to go to Adrienne’s first as it is right at the end of my street. The owner, Maryanne, helped me for over 2 hours and I had a really fun experience. I tried a few more stores but came back and ordered the one I loved, a Rena Koh, from Adrienne’s. The dress came in early, it was exactly what I envisioned, but way too big, so I had to have quite a few fittings. I think I had 4 fittings and Rosalie listened to all my concerns and fixed whatever I wanted. A week before I asked them to take up the hem which involved removing all the beading on the bottom and replacing it. It was perfect! I even had her make a quick alteration 2 days before the wedding. I picked up my gown 24 hours before and Maryanne helped me stow it in my car in the torrential rain. They advised me to knot my bustle instead of tying it and it stayed put all night despite the many times I stepped on it dancing. I know everyone has different feedback, but I would highly recommend this bridal salon. They have gowns of excellent quality for a great price. I’m so sad that I won’t be able to go there to look at the gorgeous dresses anymore.

MY SHOES: Eweddingshoes.com – 10. I needed low-heeled shoes because I’m taller than my DH. I found a really different selection on this website and I ordered them in ivory so I didn’t need to have them dyed. They were originally $120 but I got them for $60. They were perfect and so comfortable all day. I did quite a bit of Irish set-dancing too and I didn’t have one scuff on them at the end of the day.

MAID OF HONOR AND FG’S DRESSES: Burtons – 10. I only had my sister as my MOH and my two nieces as my FG’s, so it was very easy to pick dresses. I let my sister pick her dress but steered her towards the taupe/bronze color. It was a Bill Levkoff and I believe we got a good price, although I saw the FG’s dresses at Adrienne’s for the exact same price that we paid at Burtons. The MOH dress had a train that Burtons took up with a hook and eye to make a bustle, which my sister wasn’t crazy about, but I liked. My nieces looked adorable and the dresses fit perfectly when they came in, so no need for alterations.

MOB DRESS: Eva’s, Sayville – 10. Eva was such a sweetheart. My mother only looked for her dress 6 weeks before the wedding, so she had to buy something off the rack and Eva had a big selection. She even suggested putting my mother’s address in Ireland on the receipt so she wouldn’t have to pay the sales tax. I would definitely recommend this store and will go there for any formal gowns in the future.

KILTS: The Piper’s Cove, NJ – 8.5: My DH has really broad shoulders and short legs (sorry honey), so he hates how he looks in a tuxedo. I had joked about him wearing a kilt and he said he’d love to, so we decided to be daring. We ordered the Kilts and rest of the accessories by fax. I made a few phone calls to make sure they had the order and understood everything, but each time I had to go over it all again, which was a little concerning. The ladies who work there are a hoot and very sweet. I bought ties in the same tartan (Irish National) instead of them wearing the bow-ties, and I also bought the special socks with shamrocks embroidered and their delivery was quick. The kilts arrived at the Best man’s house 3 days before the wedding (they were supposed to come to our house) and everything for my DH was wrong and a couple of things for the RB too. He had to drive to NJ the next day to exchange it all and asked them to make sure they billed him instead of his brother. After that I was unsure about them wearing the kilts, but when I arrived at the Church and saw how they looked, I was blown away. They looked really sharp and this is probably the one and only time that I will admit my DH was right. They still ended up billing everything to the BM, so they lose marks for that.

CHURCH: St. Patrick’s RC Church, Bay Shore – 10. St. Patrick’s is not our parish but our own Church did not have our date available, so we went there for an interview. We met with Deacon Frank and he made such a great impression that we have now moved to this parish. We dealt with Deacon Frank through Pre-Cana and the FOCUS interview and had such a great experience. The rehearsal was handled by Phyllis and she was like an army General, but she made sure we got everything right! The day of our wedding the Church looked beautiful and Deacon Frank did a wonderful ceremony. Everyone commented on how personal his sermon was and how nice it was to have a married person performing the ceremony.

PIPERS: Saffron United Pipe Band – 10. This is the band from our Hibernian Hall. They are ranked very high in world competition and we were very fortunate to have them enhance our wedding day. When I pulled up to the Church in the pouring rain and heard the pipes playing, I got goose bumps and a lump in my throat. We had one piper at the Church and then two pipers and a drummer at the reception. They played for about 20 minutes and all our guests loved them!

DAY OF COORDINATOR: Laura from LA Productions – 10. Laura is the sweetest, most positive person to have around you on your wedding day. I had a very small wedding party and planned everything myself, so I panicked a few weeks before the wedding, worrying about who would be the go-to person if anything went wrong. I didn’t want to be responsible for giving out tips or solving any issues, so I leaned on Laura for her expertise and knowledge. She gave me lots of tips on things I would never have thought of and added some nice touches to our dais table at the reception. The only concern we had in the days before and on the day of the wedding was my main photographer, who I had not had much contact with. Laura worked her magic in the best possible way. She was firm with him about getting my “must-have” pics without alienating him. The day of my wedding I was as composed as I could ever be, which is totally out of character for me. I can only attribute it to the fact that I had Laura to depend on. If you need a DOC, don’t look any further!

PHOTOGRAPHER: Park Avenue Photography – 9. We contracted for a very comprehensive, expensive package with this vendor, who is the house photographer for Timber Point. We had our engagement shoot a year prior and were very happy with the results. Brian is the owner and was our photographer. We also had Joe as our photojournalist and another assistant for lighting. I dealt mostly with the assistant in the office, who was great, and she advised me to send a list of my required photos in advance. One the day of the wedding I was made aware that the photographer was not too thrilled with the fact that I had sent such a comprehensive list of must-take pictures. It could have really bothered me, but it ended up being a moot point as 50% of them were outside shots that couldn’t be taken because of the weather. In the end the photojournalist made sure he covered everything else on our list and checked with me a couple of times to make sure there wasn’t anything additional. One advantage of using the house photographer was that we needed to get into Timber Point directly from the Church to take pictures. As they have an established relationship there was no problem and our Maitre D’ and photographer took care of setting-up for the pics. Going through everything to pick our album I now realize that some important, posed, traditional pictures were not taken – me alone with my mother, me alone with my father and my parents together. I spoke with Brian and he feels that the lab may have left out a batch. Either way, he has assured me that he will do whatever he has to, to make sure I have those pictures, even if he as to create them from another picture. I am being optomistic and am waiting to hear back. The photos we do have are gorgeous (well, considering the subject matter anyway) and even though all of our pictures were taken indoors we have pictures we will treasure forever. Also, the after service was very good and quick. Our thank-you’s were supposed to take 3 weeks but were ready in 10 days.

LIMOS: Cruise Control – 10.5. We had a 1947 Cadillac and a regular 10-seater stretch. The Caddy arrived one hour before I was due to leave for the Church as he was concerned about driving in such heavy rain. The trip to the Church was only 10 mins and the trip to Timber Point was about 15, so we didn’t spend too much time in the car but I did manage to have two glasses of Champagne, which tasted pretty good! The driver of the stretch was extremely helpful, setting us up before I walked down the aisle and also taking everything in when we got to Timber Point. We had a 12-seater minibus from Cruise Control for the overseas guests to go from the hotel to the Church and back again and they said it all went smoothly. Cruise Control provided a car home at the end of the night and, luckily, it was another stretch. We had 4 guests who missed the coach bus and 3 who needed a ride because their car had flooded in a puddle, so they all took a ride to the hotel with us (how romantic)! We ended up giving the driver 3x’s as much of a tip to sweeten him up but he was also really helpful bringing out all the leftovers and baskets from the reception.

SHUTTLE BUS: Elite Transportation – 10. I spoke with the office only 2 times – once to book and then to confirm – and they were very professional. I never even saw the bus on the wedding day but everything went smoothly and our guests were happy with the service. I priced a lot of companies and this 32-seater was the cheapest.

HAIR: Danielle at Dea Salon – 10.5. Danielle is my regular stylist and when I had gone for my first trial with her I was so disappointed that the one and only style I had picked didn’t suit me. I looked like I was going to a prom! I didn’t tell Danielle but I guess she picked up on it because she only charged me a 1/3rd of what it would normally be and called me the following day to come back a week later to work on other options. I did and the second time around she created something perfect for a 37-year-old bride. The day of the wedding she used loads of extra setting lotion and hairspray so my hair was going nowhere, regardless of the weather. Danielle is so sweet and gets high marks for going over and above.
MAKE-UP: Debra from Dea Salon – 10. Debra and her DH were in the same Pre-Cana class as us and I was delighted to be able to chat with another bride from my Church. She’s really calm and had been through it all a few months before me, so she was a good person to talk to on my wedding day. I wear full make-up every day and think I do a pretty good job but I wanted something a little different. Debra managed to create a look that was natural but dramatic enough for photos. I listened to other LIW brides’ advice and applied powder and lipstick most of the day, so my make-up lasted for more than 12 hours. Debra also did my gel nails, which lasted 3 weeks. They looked great, but I would NEVER do them again. They were very hard to get removed.
I would use them both again for another special occasion. Their prices were much more reasonable than anyone else I contacted.

CAKES: Audrey’s – Groom’s Cake: 10.5/Wedding Cake: 10. I have already posted pictures of the “Guinness” groom’s cake Audrey’s made. It was absolutely incredible and they went above and beyond anything I asked for. Our wedding cake was fabulous too. It was simply classic and everyone raved about it. I was just a little bit disappointed that the sugar-paste flowers were peach. I had left in a copy of Leonidas roses, which are a bronzy color and stressed they shouldn’t be peach. Anyway, they were peach on the day, but they looked just fine.

FLOWERS: M&F Florist – 10. This is another house vendor that we used from Timber Point. I met with one other vendor from LIW but I had a better rapport with Barbara who I dealt with at M&F. I mentioned a few ideas I wanted included and she pulled together a simple and elegant theme for me. The hurricane centerpieces I chose were an upgrade on the ones available in the package and while they weren’t overly elaborate, the candlelight and warm colors of the flowers (leonidas roses with light colored berries) were perfect on our rainy day. I thought my BO-K might be bigger, but when I see it in pictures it looks perfect. The Bells of Ireland in my BO-K even matched perfectly with my DH’s kilt. We had three swags decorating the staircase at TP and they were magnificent! I brought home a centerpiece and the roses from the Church arrangements and they were still fresh when we got back from our HM 10 days later.

HOTEL FOR GUESTS: Hyatt Regency Wind Watch, Hauppauge – 10. I dealt with Connie and she was a sweetheart. We block booked the rooms a year in advance, the same week they switched from the Wyndham to Hyatt and Connie honored the Wyndham price, which was a great deal for our guests. The hotel was the nicest one we visited in our area and the rooms were nicely decorated. We had a suite for two days so my DH could stay there the night before and the hotel sent a bottle of wine with a cheese platter on our wedding night (which we never touched, of course). We had 17 rooms reserved by our group and I heard no complaints from any of the guests. They all received their OOT bags and vouchers for breakfast, so they seem to manage wedding group bookings very well.

BAND: Gerry Finlay and the Cara Band – 11. We know this band well and they are very big on the Irish club scene, but play all sorts of music. My DH insisted that we have them for the wedding but I was afraid that it would be too much of an Irish influence. I shouldn’t have worried. They were amazing! We had one guy play keyboards at the 1.5 hr CH and then the band played for the other 4.5 hours of the reception. They have an excellent fiddle player who plays in Nashville but he got stuck there with the bad weather, so Gerry brought in two extra musicians instead. Gerry followed our list and played exactly what we asked for. My boss told me he even wants to have them play at his next son’s bar-mitzvah! I have to mention that we got them for an unbelievable price because we know Gerry (he owns Shandon Court, our favorite restaurant), but I would recommend them for any kind of party. You can see them live most Friday’s at Shandon Court. This vendor ties for first place with our….

RECEPTION HALL: Timber Point Country Club – 11. I had been at an event at TP a few years ago (when they had the old décor) and I thought it was a really charming place. Even though marriage was the furthest thing from my mind at the time, I did think it would be a really unique location for a wedding. Prior to our wedding I had never read a raving review about TP, so I didn’t have extremely high expectations. Even the highest of expectations were exceeded by the folks at Timber Point.

Steve was our Maitre D’ and we met with him a few days before. He was firm and ran a really tight ship and, as my DH is ex-military, it was a match made in heaven! Because we had to take pictures inside we arrived as they were still setting up, but the room still looked gorgeous. We were given drinks right away and my DH asked for a Guinness but the tap was not set up yet. Steve sent someone to the cellar (which was under water) for a can of Guinness instead, which was very much appreciated by DH. Danielle was our Bridal Attendant and she was very professional, sweet and appeared at my side every time I sat at our table! They just couldn’t do enough for us!

There was a roaring fire by the dance floor and the staff set up everything on the tables exactly as we had requested. We had left pictures of us and our parents to be set up all along the mantle in the lobby and by the dance floor and it felt like the reception was being held in our own home! Between the candles in the centerpieces, the roaring fire and the rain pouring down outside, the atmosphere was so inviting. We only ate the CH food, which was fantastic, but I heard from all our guests that the entrees were superb too.

We had 150 guests and everyone fit in the cocktail room, although not everyone could sit (this had been a concern when I looked at the room) but they improvised. We had a 6 hour reception with 1.5 hr for the CH and we got to about 1 hr of it, which worked out great. It gave us a chance to go around most of the tables then and the rest of the reception was spent on the dance floor. Nobody wanted the night to end and I wish our reception was 10 hours long! Any brides-to-be that have booked Timber Point, or any other Lessings venue, are going to have a wonderful wedding.

HONEYMOON REVIEW: Dreams, Los Cabos – 9.5. We had originally booked the RIU Palace but, after reading mixed review on Trip Advisor, I switched to Dreams. It was an all inclusive, 5-Star, very indulgent resort. The 5 restaurants were fantastic and we were spoiled for choice for where to eat each night. There was some form of entertainment every evening that ended at 10. We didn’t do anything for the first few days but sleep and eat, but the last few days we rented a Jeep Wrangler convertible and drove around the area. I would definitely advise renting a car. Taxis from Los Cabos to downtown Cabo were $20 each way and the Jeep was $75 a day. We also did a sunset catamaran cruise to the Arch and Lover’s Beach and Toto Santos (where the Eagles wrote “Hotel California). We went to Cabo Wabo for lunch and the food was okay, but not as good as the food at our hotel. The day before we left we went snorkeling and did “mini-sub”. It was a blast! The mini-sub is really hard to explain, but it’s like scuba diving only 15 feet under on a moped!!! Anyone going to Cabo has to check it out. It’s only available on one boat – the Oceanus. We had a honeymoon suite at Dreams. It had two large rooms and a giant walk-in closet that I would die for. We had a fabulous view of the beach and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean every night. They turned over our room every day, restocking our fridge with beer, soda and water and we had a turn-down service at night. They lose marks because we didn’t find out about the other features included in our honeymoon package until the second-last day. We never got to have our private, romantic dinner on the beach, but every dinner there was romantic, so we weren’t too disappointed. I used my company’s travel agent and they did a great job.

I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ON ANY OF MY VENDORS

EDITED after phone call with photographer

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Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

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Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

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Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

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Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

Beautiful!

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

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Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

This first one is one of my favorites. It says it all...

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Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

I LOVE THIS ONE OF MY DAD

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Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

You look gorgeous; just perfect. And your hair looked amazing, definitely suited you. Everything looked great and I'm sorry about the weather! I'm happy you didn't let it bother you; not everyone has your attitude!

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

Great review! Congrats

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

great review! congrats!

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

wonderful review! I love your pics!

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

I loved your pictures! My FH is considering kilts as well and it was great to see pics of a bridal party in them!

Congratulations!

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

great review, congrats on your wedding

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

Great review. Everything looks great.

I love the picture taken in the back of St.Pats.

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

great review..
you look absolutely beautiful
congratulations

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

Thanks for all the lovely comments ladies I really did have the best day of my life

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

love the pics- sounds like you had a great day!

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

Timber POint is a great place. Your wedding looks and sounds beautiful.

Congrats!

Re: LONG REVIEW: MY VERY WET 10/14/05 IRISH WEDDING. Timber Point County Club (with Professional Pics)

Gorgeous - glad everything went so well!