MARCH 31, 2007 JENMIKE331'S REVIEW!!!!

So I have to start off by saying, Mike and I have been dating for 12 yrs and we got engaged on our 10 yr anniversary. We had a two yr engagement and with all that time, when the day finally came it flew right past us! It was amazing how fast it really went, thank God we had the BEST TIME OFLIVES and enjoyed every minute of it!!!!!!! With that said, here goes my review:
WEATHER--- A +++++: mother nature was my best friend that day...two wks prior we had had the snow storm....then there was predictions for rain on the 10 day forecast which was my bible a couple of days prior...lol....but on the 31st....it got up to 64 degrees and it was a beauuuuuutiful day....and the following weekend it snow flurried so my grandma was definitely looking down on me on my wedding day

TUX SHOP---A: Jerry was great to work with and they would've gotten an A+ if within the week of the wedding they didn't call saying that two vests were discontinued....the GROOM ! and his DAD ! i don't know if they found out last minute but we thought it was a lil late in the game to be telling us that....thank god we found another one that was perfect!

BRIDAL REFLECTIONS, MASSAPEQUA -- A: My mother and I got our dresses there and I know that liw brides posted a lot of negatives about bridal reflections in carle place and massapequa and I want to say, we both had nothing but good things come out of working with them. We worked with more than one woman in the place and each and every woman was kind, attentive and helpful. The only reason I didn't give them an A + is bc the standard bustle put on my dress was either not done right or done cheaply, but either way the bustle kept falling and eventually had to be safety pinned bc the loops to attach to the buttons ripped Off.
DRESS-MAGGIE SOTTERO-DYNASTY--- A+++: I absolutely fell in lovvvvvvvvvvve with my dress. I couldn't wait for it to come in for me to try it on and I waited for my fittings like I would for chocolate =)

DAY OF JEWELRY---A+: I purchased my tiara at www.glamgal.com, awesome quality, got it a yr and a half away from wedding and it lasted and looked beautiful the day of. Service was awesome also. I bought the necklace from them too. My bracelet I purchased from www.theknot.com and my earrings I got from Bridal reflections like two days prior to the wedding...ah!=) I also wore a watch from www.avon.com
HAIR BY DIANA---A++++++: Diana was absolutely amazing! I'm not going to say 'she was' I take it back bc she is now my stylist! And she has actually become a friend of the family, my mom just loved her. She has the best sense of humor, she made everyone feel comfortable and she did an amazing job! She listens to exactly what you want and is sooooo creative. I got sooo many compliments on how my hair was done. I lovvvvve her!

A SOFT TOUCH BY MARIA---A: Maria did a very good job on my makeup. I got a lot of compliments on it and so did my mom and moh. She also sells you any makeup that you feel you may need for the rest of the day. I purchased just my lipstick (which im actually picky about) and I used it for the next couple of weeks(including on my honeymoon), and I'm still using it.

SHOES---A: I got my shoes from www.onlinebridalstore.com along with my ring pillows, money bag (which i used for my emergency kit-definitely a must do-i actually used some of the stuff), garter etc....good service....comfortable shoes but I also got foot petals from a different website which I recommend wholeheartedly! My bridal party and mom got their shoes from www.dyeables.com and we all got istoner ballet slippers for the rh also totally recommended!

MACYS---B: My bm dresses were from Macys and I registered with them and I was disappointed with them on more then one occassion. If your bm's are getting the dresses there make sure they go outside for alterations bc Macys alteration prices are utterly ridiculous.
moh dress
BM EARRINGS---A: I bought from www.bridalpeople.com which I totally recommend--awesome stuff! I also bought treasure chests from them for placecard holders, that no one else had and they were adorable! I also purchased chocolate coins in silver foil to put inside the treasure chests from www.chocolateimpressions.com that was amazzzzing belgian chocolate....losts of raves and i have to admit we are still eating the extras!lol
BM NECKLACES---D: I bought from www.zales.com and I would not recommend them. Although I bought them beautiful initial pendants, they came with horribly knotted necklaces and I had to buy new necklaces. I told them about this and they did nothing to compensate me! Not happy needless to say.

GM GIFTS---A: We purchased Fossil watches from the actual Fossil store.....gorgeous watches that actually looked like movados with the black face and diamond chip =) We bought them far in advance (like most of the stuff) and they lasted....looked beautiful and the batteries were still ticking

RB & FG GIFTS---A+++: I dont remember the name of the website but we bought them each a porcelain teddy bear money bank that read'our fg...our rb....names and date', put money inside and bought them wedding coloring books for the rh from exclusivelyweddings.com
READER GIFTS---THINGS REMEMBERED--A+++: Bought each of our 3 adult readers small photo albums that were personalized w 'love jen and mike' and my lil cousin got a heart charm necklace w her name on it....she almost cried bc she loved it sooooooo much...beautiful products
FAVORS---FAVORWAREHOUSE.COM---A: At first had an issue with them, sending damages perfect pear salt and pepper shakers but they did good by us by sending new ones to replace the damaged. Also purchased favor tags from theknot.com to go with the favors that read 'jen & mike 3/31/07 a perfect pair'
INVITES---WEDDINGCHANNEL.COM---A+++: I purchased online (yes again....it was me and the computer the whole entire wedding planning...lol) and the invites came fast, everything organized into separate boxes and we were even given some extras and i found www.rexcraft.com had the placecards to match

SAINT ADALBERT'S---A: Beautiful, beautiful Church and the pics came out gorgeous bc of it! Mom and I made ceremony baskets with materials from acmoore and lady jane crafts and put bells from theknot.com and bubbles also from theknot.com inside for our guests to use after the ceremony. We also had a basket for the programs.
FOX HOLLOW---A: I fell in love! Yet, I have to admit I had issues at the beginning with certain people not returning voicemails, verrrrrrry frustrating, I ended up working with Joe Bruton from that frustrating point until the end and he was ABSOLUTELY THE BEST! He was attentive, respectful and concerned about us getting exactly what we wanted. Fast forward to the day of: EVERYTHING WAS DONE EXACTLY THE WAY I IMAGINED I couldn't have asked for it to turn out better than it did. Our maitre'd Harry was amazzzzzzing and AnnMarie my Bridal Attendant was soooooooooo attentive!!!!!!!!! Everyone lovvvvvved the cocktail hour they said the food was amazing.....we didn't go to ours but we got to eat EVERYTHING that AnnMarie and Harry brought to us in the bridal suite. Everything was put exactly where I wanted it, the room looked like what it looked like in my head and the food/service was phenomenal!!!!!!! My mom also hired a harpist that played throughout the cocktail hour which added a lil something special.
CHARLES FLORALS---A+++ I worked with Ivie and although she was busy for some phone calls and meetings, she came through with exactly what I pictured/drew for her to create. I purchased mirrors for my rose bowls to sit on from www.balloonsgalore.com and she put pearl strands inside the bowls that reflected beautifully, along with small vases for two tapers to go on either side of the mirrors. I also had them sprinkle lil gold heart confetti on the rh tables from www.balloonsgalore.com. I picked leonidas (ginger spice roses) as my signature flower which was put in my bo-k with ivory ones and the bms and tables at rh.....all of our flowers had bo-k jewels that i purchased from a japanese store in nyc...gorgeous!!!!!! i also purchased bo-k charms and put my grandma and grandpa's pics everyone lovvvvvvvved my bo-k bc of them

LEIKNESS/DOUGHERTY PHOTOGRAPHY---A: I would've given them an A + but we had a must take photo list and there were things on it that we not taken which really upset me until we got our proofs two days ago and then we both were just sooooooooo happy about how beautiful they were! We were really worried that bc we knew certain photos weren't taken and there wasn't motivation to set certain photos up that maybe the photos wouldn't be good, but WE WERE SOOOOOOO WRONG

TABLEWEAR---A+: Donna was great to work with! She came to Fox Hollow to show me what the cover and sash would look like the day of and then we worked strictly on the phone. Her prices were the lowest around.

CIGARS---LAROSA---A+: I bought them and put them on the bars with personalized matchbooks from ....www.theknot.com....i only had two cigars left and two matchbooks!!!!!!

TWICE AS GOOD ENTERTAINMENT---A+++++: Danny was our MC and is a good friend, he was awesome! Rich was our DJ and he did exactly what I asked with our must play list and he played songs that kept the dance floor packed at all times! We got the plasma screens and we had the day recap pics along with photo montage, it was done soooooooooo well, everyone lovvvvvved it!

IMPRESSIVE VIDEO---A+++: Steve works with Twice As Good and he was sooooooooo nice! He came to my house and did any shots that I asked for along with shots that I didn't even think of. He was soooooooo nice to family and friends that people actually commented on his professionalism. Lovvvvvved the photos that his assistant took for our plasma screens as a recap of the day, people that weren't at my house or the ceremony got to see some moments at Fox Hollow while they danced, ate and had a blast...totally recommended, its worth the money! Looking forward to my video and dvd of the shots taken....will review when gotten.

DESIGNER LIMOS---A++++: They were awesomeeeee! We got a bus for the bridal party and parents and then had 52 rolls royce. The drivers were very accomodating and respectful. They got us all there (church and rh) on time and we were very helpful. We received a comp room at the Inn at Fox Hollow and we had them pick us up the next day (bc we had a next day pick up onour contract) along with our parents (who had to pay for their car). When we got outside there were two STRETCH LIMOSSSSSSSSS NOT TOWN CARS STRECTH LIMOSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! And the guys said was hey someone mustve really liked u guys!...lol i guess thats true....so we both got to go home in styleeeee!!!!!!! lol

HONEYMOON!!!!---SANDALS ANTIGUA---A: I booked through www.vacationoutlet.com...they specialize in honeymoon vacations with great rates. It was a lil more expensive for us bc we didnt wanna stop in any states before getting there so we got a nonstop flight with continental which was a pretty good flight....we both never flew continental before....actually on the way home we got UPGRADED TO FiRST CLASSSSS..exactly u can feel our excitment, we were like 12 yr olds sneaking pics of our expressions.....it was like a WHOLE OTHER WORLD FROM COACH THATS FOR SURRRRRE! The room was beautiful.....king size canopy bed....terrace that we left open and the breeze was magnificant....biggggg bathroom....vanity....couch area.....stocked bar everyday with beer wine soda water etc....it was weird being able to drink all day long without having to pay anyone =) yessss allll day long alch-ies that we are =) food was good but that would be the only thing that would limit me from giving them a A+....I just thought the food was gonna be like cruise food where it was like u wanted to eat everythingggggggggg....the breakfast was awesomeeeeeee....lunch was ok and dinner was great at the japanese restaurant (reservations needed) and ok corral (reservations needed) the italian restaurant was eh ....=)....i say eh bc i realized we come from ny and ny has awesomeeeeeeeeee italian restaurants to compare and this restaurant didnt compare by far so we just didnt eat there again, they had so many other choices so we were good.....had a ton of water sports to choose from....had a blast with that....the beach was gorgeous and sunsets were beauuuutiful....pools were allllll over so it was never like u were sick of the pool bc it was crowded....the pool bar was soooooooo cool to chill in the water and have a couple of drinks....Spa was amazzzzzzzzzing we both got massages....my first but i think im addicted! everyone was soooooooooo sweet saying hello and asking if u needed anything throughout the day. I know that liw brides were giving Sandals Antigua specially Antigua bad reviews saying there friends girlfreinds mothers brothers son went and hated it =) well ur getting it first hand it was an awesomeeeeeeeeee trip, we both wish we could go back!!!!!!
honeymoon pics at the bottom =)

Congrats.

congrats hun. Love your review...I want to see some more pics.....

you look so beautiful. my sister in law used hair by diana too for her wedding....

you were beautiful, congratulations! i had the same dress and the same cake topper!

sssssooooooooo beautiful
great review

You look INCREDIBLE! Love your dress! Your whole day looked perfect!! Thanks for the great review!

I love your review!!! You were such a gorgeous bride!!! I hope I am glowing like you on my big day!!! YAY JEN'S MARRIED!!!

Beautiful! you looked amazing! Congratulations

I have to say, you got just as lucky as I did last March 31st! I had amazing weather also! I guess it truly does go out like a lamb!

Love your pictures! You were a gorgeous bride

Beaaaautiful review so far!
You & DH looked amazing, the photos are awesome!!!

Best of wishes to you both

Great review!!
Love your dress and your makeup is perfect!