MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors...

Here is my review. I was VERY honest and VERY detailed. I am trying to get the pics scanned and loaded so be patient, they're coming...



HOW WE MET
Pizza Hut, Hauppauge
I met Michael when I was just out of High School in the summer of 2000. I was working at Pizza Hut in Hauppauge and he walked in with our friend Steve. They sat down and I was their waitress. I couldn’t stop starring at Michael. I said to Steve “Your friend looks like The Rock.” Michael said “No, I do not.” I thought he hated me!! We hung over the summer a lot. Always flirty, always cutesy. Finally as he is driving me home, I get up enough nerve to ask him how come we never go out alone. He says “We are alone right now.” I reply “Yeah but when are you gonna take me out on a real date.” He answers “What makes you think I like you?” I AM CRUSHED! I run inside my house and start crying and I
am so embarrassed. At this time there is a JERK and a half who likes me and I start dating him. 3 months go by, I barely see Michael and things aren’t going very well with me and the Jerk. The day before Valentines Day the Jerk BREAKS UP WITH ME! I had to work at Pizza Hut that night so as I am working, who walks in…MICHAEL! He tells me he heard that the Jerk and I had broken up and how was I and stuff like that. After that we start hanging out all the time, but in my head I am thinking “You are JUST friends. He doesn’t like you, he TOLD you!” On March 8, 2001 I was hanging out with him and our friend Jon. Jon goes to use the bathroom and Michael says to me “Why did you go out with that guy?” I say “Well, you didn’t like me, what do you care?” and he says “Um…I liked you the whole time, I just didn’t know if I could be the kinda guy I wanted you to be with.” I punched him in the arm and wanted to cry happy tears! When they drive me home, in front of my house I say “Oh it’s soooooooooo dark out…can any of you big strong men walk me to the door?” expecting them to both say NO…but Michael says “Ok, I’ll walk you.” AS we get to my door I am ready to BARF I am so nervous. I unlock the door and step up on the step into my house and say “Ok thanks, um goodnight.” And I lean in to kiss him on the cheek when out of NO WHERE I get the nerves I have been needing the whole time and I grab his face and plant a big juicy kiss right on his lips! He kisses me back for about 2 minutes!! Then he gets all shy and says “I think I better go now…” Our first date was March 12, 2001, we went to the Kings Park bluff and just talked for hours and we have been together ever since.
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THE ENGAGEMENT
The Beach in Quogue
We had been talking about getting engaged for a while. My grandmother had always said that I was going to get her mother’s engagement ring when she passed away. It was beautiful and no matter what it was worth it was very special and very important to me. On July 19, 2005 my grandmother passed away. It was the worst day of my life. We were very close and Michael loved her as much as I did. She had given me the ring a few weeks before. Michael and I talked about it and we decided that when we were ready, we would reset the diamond into an engagement ring. MOTNHS PASS. I was feeling sick all week and Michael had been extra nice to me. Michael picked me up after work and we just started driving. We drove all over and finally I realized they were almost in Quogue. Quogue is a town near the Hamptons that Michael took me to when we first started dating. When we got to a side street Michael pulled in and parked. We got out and started walking on the beach. It was night and there was NO MOON. It was very dark, but the stars were amazing! We walked almost to the water. I got scared and wanted to go back to the car but Michael wanted to stay. I started to walk to the car anyway and Michael calls out, 'I wanted this to be romantic.' I says, 'It is...' Michael then said, 'I love you...' so I walked back over to him and hugged him and said, 'I love you too.' Then Michael pulled out a small wooden box and got down on one knee. Then Michael said, 'I love you, will you marry me?' I was speechless for maybe the first time in my life and then answered 'Are you serious?!?! OH MY GOD!!! YES!!!' I couldn't even see the ring because it was so dark so Michael tried lighting his lighter so she could see it, but I ran to the car and threw open the door and BAM there it was. It was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen!

THE RING
Adiamor.com
It was my grandma's mother's diamond but Michael went to Adiamor.com and got the setting and had it set at Commack Jewelry Exchange. I love it!

WEDDING BANDS
I knew what I wanted for a wedding band. With my ring I didn't have much of a choice. The way the band is twisted makes it so that a regular band won't sit flush against it. We went to the Jewelry Exchange again and ordered our rings from the same booth Michael had the diamond set in. I don't remember the name but it was the 2nd booth on the left.




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SAVE THE DATES-VistaPrint.com A+
VistaPrint.com
I wanted Save the Dates as soon as I heard about them! I thought they were sooooooo cute and I was starting to get the DIY bug! During work, hehe, I went online and I started pricing magnets. I found a lot of them were kinda on the expensive side so I typed in INEXPENSIVE SAVE THE DATE MAGNETS and VistaPrint.com popped up. They were AWESOME!! I ended up using them for most of my paper needs. We wanted an announcement card and a magnet. For my whole order of 50 cards and 100 magnets it only cost me about $40!!!



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BRIDAL SHOWER-Golden Buffet A+
I was totally surprised!! I wanted to be! My friend and bridesmaid Jackie called me and said “Do you wanna go out for Chinese?” I of course said YES! Chinese food is well known to be my absolute FAVORITE food! We go to this out of the way Chinese buffet and as we are led to the back room the thought “Wait a minute is this my shower?!” crossed my mind for a millisecond before “SURPRISE!!!!” It was sooooooo great! My aunt and cousin came in from PA as well as Michael’s Aunt! All my friends were there and SO MANY presents!! I was so busy with all the games and present opening I almost forgot to eat!! Thankfully my cousin went up and got me some food, a few times hehe. The favors were little Chinese food containers with 3 wonton cookies in it made out of soap! They smelled so good! Everyone also got a delicious chocolate lollypop and chopsticks! For the games my sister and mother gave out Body Butter as prizes. It was so much fun!! It was perfect for me and I made out like a BANDIT!








GROOMAL SHOWER
Mike's job really got him good! On his birthday they called him in for a fake meeting. He sat in an empty conference room for 20 min before his secretary told him it was cancelled. By the time he got back to his desk they had everything set up. We made out like bandits!! They got him a cake, food and PRESENTS!!!

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INVITATIONS-Nictamdesigns.com/Tammy A+ + + + + + +
Nictamdesigns.com
At first I had wanted something to go along with my fall theme and I had fallen in love with an invite that was simple off white with a fall leaf border. When Michael saw it he vetoed it IMMEDIATELY! He wanted something more classy and fancy. While on LIW I saw a fellow 07er had used this site to get her place cards done. I went to the site and WAS IN LOVE with what I saw. I contacted Tammy and she and I over a few weeks designed the most gorgeous invitation I have ever seen! She would send me sample card stock and fonts and I would email her my thoughts. There was one time that she actually called me and we spoke for about an hour!! She was in Illinois but I kept forgetting because of the excellent service I received. She was one of my favorite vendors! After the wedding I emailed her pics because I felt weird that she wasn’t there!! There was even a mix up with the time of the Cocktail hour and she made me new reception cards in 3 days!!! Everything was perfect and everyone LOVED my invitations!


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REHEARSAL DINNER-John Harvards Brew House A-
John Harvards Brew House
After A LOT of debating and price checking we were stumped. We wanted somewhere kinda fancy, but not too fancy. Good food, but not too expensive. Close to everyones houses but also close to the church…the list of demands goes on. We were sitting in our favorite restaurant when all of a sudden it dawns on me…why not have it here? We LOVED John Harvard’s and so do most of the people invited. So we had it there! It was great! They gave us a HUGE choice list and they are a micro brewery so we had all their homemade brews. It was great. The service was a little lacking…we had 25 people and they gave us 1 waiter and it was a Thursday night so it wasn’t busy…he did really well though. They took a very long time getting my moms, my nieces and my friends husbands dinners out but when they did they were hot and good.





REHEARSAL DINNER CAKE/GROOMS CAKE-BJ’s Wholesale Club-A+ +
I had wanted to get Michael a cake for the rehearsal dinner that was about him. What describes Michael more than a METS cake! We needed an inexpensive cake that would feed about 30 people…so we went to our old trusty friend BJ’s. The cake was marble with chocolate pudding filling. It was so so good! I had them make it look like a baseball diamond and I put a picture of us at Shea Stadium on it. No one got a picture of it though

REHEARSAL DINNER INVITATIONS-VisitaPrint.com-A
I love VistaPrint. I am only giving them an A and not an A+ because I think the cards were a little bigger than advertised. They came out awesome though! I took a Thanksgiving card and made it into a Fall themed Rehersal Dinner invite. I found a poem on LIW and made it fit our day and used that inside. It was prefect for what we needed and very cheap too



BM GIFTS
Personalized Tote Bags-Three Lulu’s A+3 Lulu's Website
Personalized Heart Compacts-The Knot.com A+
Jewelry-eBay A +
Flip Flops-OldNavy.com A
Hand Lotion-Ulta A+
Birthstone Candles-Dollar Store A
Fluffy Bath Robes A++++
They loved their presents. I felt like I put these girls thru HELL and I wanted to make sure they knew how much I appreciated them. I bought all of their things a little at a time so I didn’t feel it that much. I had to buy for 8 girls so I knew I had to be kinda thrifty…







MOH GIFT
Same as BM’s
Engraved Box-Personal Creations.com B
Sisters Picture Frame-LTD Commodities A+
I wanted to get her a little something extra for being my sister and maid of honor. I found this wooden box that you could have personalized with a message and thought it was perfect. When I ordered it I put her name in the middle and “My sister, my best friend” on the top and “My Maid of Honor. Love Missy” on the bottom. When I got it, it said “To the world you are just one person, but to me you are the world.” On top and “My sister, my best friend My Maid of Honor. Love Missy” on the bottom…I didn’t realize the quote from the picture on the website was on there and not just an example. My phrasing and punctuation was all off now. I called them and explained but they didn’t care. They said if I wanted it fixed I would have to buy a new one. That would have been another $30 something dollars…so I left it and she loved it. The phrase is how I feel about her I just wish the punctuation was right. OH WELL! The sisters frame was just something cute I picked up for her. I has a poem in it and the little girls in the picture look like us when we were younger.








GM GIFTS
Money Clips-Coach-A+
Personalized Utility Knife-Things Remembered-A
Michael took FOREVER to pick out what he was going to give his guys. FINALLY he picked out the leather money clips and the personalized utility knives. Lucky for us, a very good friend of ours works at Things Remembered in the mall. She gave us her discount which helped A LOT! They were out of the knife we originally wanted so we got the closest like it. We got each knife personalized with the three initials of the GM. They were done in 3 days. They loved them. Michael was also very set on having Coach Money clips, no other brand would do. They were a HUGE hit and all the GM use them everyday.

PARENTS GIFTS
Embroidered Handkerchiefs-eBay- LINEN CLASSICS Weddings and Gifts-A+
Poem in a Frame-A
I saw these really nice fall themed wedding hankies on eBay and ordered them for FMIL, FFIL, my mother and my father. They loved them. They didn’t use them on the wedding day but they are “keeping them safe forever”. I also took the poem from our Ceremony program and printed it on some pretty fall stationary I got from OrientalTrading.com. I did in the same font as the invitations. They really liked that.

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MY GOWN-Maggie Sottero Felicity B+

Now don’t get me wrong…I love my gown…but I wasn’t in love with it. My mother and sister were in love with it. I saw it on the website and loved it but when I tried it on I only liked it…where as my mother and sister were crying so…yeah. It was very pretty though. I ordered it in the Diamond white. It was a little low cut in the front so the boobies were an issue…I got a ton of compliments on it and it photographed very well. It was pretty well priced too, at first…then after shipping, tax, plus size fees and alterations…this $789 dress became almost $1500…
What was great about the dress was that it had a corset back. I ordered a size smaller than I was told to because I wanted to lose weight and I lost a little but because of the corset I was able to get tied it tight and I didn’t even have to wear a bra, which was awesome!! Untying the back at the end of the night when I had to use the bathroom SO BAD was a little tricky, but my new husband helped me out!









MY MOH GOWN-Impressions Bridal Separates B
TOP-Style #1447 BOTTOM-Style #807 in Chocolate Brown

I LOVED my sister’s gown!! It was so pretty!! It was the same top and bottom as my bridesmaids but it had a little something extra. On the top instead of just being a V-neck like my bridesmaids, there was a little panel that went in the v and it had a glittery design on it. On the bottom band it had the same design. It made her stand out just enough to look like my other girls but to let everyone know she was extra special. It was a tank top style which was good because I wanted her to be able to wear a regular bra with no problems which she did. The tops ran VERY VERY small though and my sister had to order a top 2 sizes bigger and STILL have alterations done…




MY BRIDESMAIDS GOWNS-Impressions Bridal Separates C
TOP- Style # 1008 BOTTOM- Style # 807 in Chocolate Brown

In the store I loved the tops. When they were ordered I took my then future niece to try it on. She is 13 and a size 0…and the top didn’t fit AT ALL! Also, in the pictures and in the store it looked like a tank top style but on her and all my other girls it was off the shoulder. I picked this top so they could all wear their regular bras and that seemed impossible now. Every one of my girls had to order their gowns at least 2 sizes bigger and even then when they came in the tops were still too small. All but 2 of my girls had to have major reconstruction done to their gowns. Most of them were NOT able to wear regular bras and that was the whole point of that gown. If I would have known they were gonna have to go strapless I would have just picked a strapless gown.


MY GOWN SHOP-Helen’s Private Collection-B-

This is where I started to loose it a little. I went into Helen’s because it was in Wedding World and we used them for a lot of our vendors. They had my gown and they had it for the lowest price…so I thought everything was gonna be great…
The staff was AWESOME! I mostly dealt with Liz, her daughter Ashley and Tuola. They were all one sweeter than the next. I never felt like I was being sold to or that they were only out for a buck. They were nice and VERY helpful. I went in there about 2-3 times a week for months and they never got tired of seeing me or helping me. They were closed on Sundays and Mondays which was a pain but we got around it. I am giving them a B- because after my gown and my girls gowns were ordered things started to get a little hairy…
I was just moving into our apartment and I had to go down to do the walk thru the day the girls were going to get fit. By the time I got there they were all already done…which I thought was good…I was wrong. They let my sister in laws order their gowns WAY too small. When the dresses came in, as I said, all but 2 were the wrong sizes for the girls. Because of the straps being a little off the shoulder, I asked that all the girls have lingerie straps put in so they could just snap the little strap over their bra straps and then no one could see their bra straps and they could all use their regular bras. That was not done. One of my bridesmaids has a very small chest and instead of giving her the $12 lingerie straps like I asked they fitted her with cups in it and they were $34! I called up and complained and it ended up she was the ONLY one who got the lingerie straps. All my other girls either wore strapless bras or they wore regular bras and their straps were showing and falling down all night. NOT GOOD.
My gown I thought didn’t have to have anything really done to it. I needed a bustle, a hem and I wanted them to tighten up my cap sleeves. I got the alterations total and it was almost $400!! I nearly fainted!! Thankfully, a woman heard my dilemma and offered to do my alterations for HALF the price!! I went with her and my gown was perfect! (If you want info on my seamstress FM me…it is top secret though…)


MY VEIL-Helen’s Bridal-A+
Because I spent over a certain amount on my gown I got my veil for FREE!! I fell in love with a scalloped edge, 2 tier, diamond white veil with little hanging beads in each scallop. We ordered it and it came the week of the wedding but that was no problem. It was beautiful and perfect. My sister wants to use it as her “something borrowed”!! I have no idea who was the maker of the veil though…

MY TIARA and BM JEWELRY-Ebay-Park Ave Boutique
http://stores.ebay.com/Park-Ave-Boutique
My tiara was beautiful and inexpensive. Everything I wanted in my tiara. I wore it pushed against my hair and it was perfect! My girl’s jewelry was great. They all loved it. It looked so real! I didn’t wanna spend too much on fancy jewelry and this was exactly what I wanted!





MY DOJ-TheCraftworks.com-A+ + + + +

I LOVED what I got from them! Their prices are unbeatable and the quality is great. I got my girls boxes to give them their jewelry in from them too. It was prefect and matched my tiara great!



***MY AUNT MADE ME MY 'SOMETHING BLUE' ANKLE BRACELET***




GARTER-eBay-SHEER SATIN AND LACE-A+
http://stores.ebay.com/SHEER-SATIN-AND-LACE_Firefighter-and-Police-Garters_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ3205344QQftidZ2QQtZkm
I went online to find the perfect garter. I wanted it to be chocolate brown with some rhinestones on it. I found this vendor and for $14 I got the garter and the tossing garter! It fit nice and my friend Jesus who caught it loves it and put it on his rear view mirror.

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MOTHER OF THE BRIDE GOWN-Ursula of Switzerland-Style #62509-A

The gown was perfect! It was exactly what my mother wanted. It was flowy and had a nice but subtle beaded design on the jacket. It was a little pricier than my mother had wanted to spend but there is no reason she couldn’t wear it again to another wedding or a Christmas party.
Everyone loved it on her and she knew she looked good which was all I wanted.

MOTHER OF THE BRIDE GOWN SHOP-Queen of Hearts-B

We had a very very hard time finding a gown for my mother. She is a plus sized woman and not a lot of these places had a lot of plus sized gowns to try on. My mother was insisting she be able to actually try the gown on, even if she couldn’t close it. She would not order something she didn’t see on. I don’t blame her. We heard about Queen of Hearts on LIW and I was desperate for my mother to get a gown so we called them up and they were so nice. We went down and tried some dresses on. They are a little over priced in my opinion. Some of the gowns my mother was trying on were more expensive than my own gown! We finally settled on the Ursula of Switzerland gown in plum. It came about 2 weeks later. We went down and tried it on and it was a little big in some spots and a little sung in others. When we came back for alterations we were stunned to see that they added darts to the gown, but not in the spot where my mother needed them. Instead of the darts being along the line of my mothers bust, they were way up in her armpits. My mother was furious. They made us come back 3 times in one week for alterations and they are located in Merrick and we live in Central Islip…that’s a pretty far hike. They tried to make it seem like it was my mothers fault. Once we started disagreeing with them they were not as pleasant as they had been. We finally got the gown done and we were very happy to be done with them.




MOTHER OF THE GROOM GOWN-David’s Bridal-Style # discontinued-A+
She was so lucky!! My FMIL and my FSIL went to David’s Bridal in Lake Grove, walked in, tried on one dress and bought it. It didn’t even need any alterations!! It was perfect for her! She looked great. She bought silver ballet slippers and used her late mothers dress silver clutch. It was prefect! The color was great on her and she looked fabulous!

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TUXEDOS-Wedding World-TRILOGY II by Oscar de la Renta A++

Our guys looked SO handsome!! I was very pleased with what we got. Michael got his tux for free and our fathers got theirs for half off. The guys wore chocolate brown vests with chocolate brown ties and Michael wore the same tux and the same vest and tie but his was in a latte color (light gold) it looked great. He WOULD NOT wear the white but he wanted to be different. My father wore a plus vest and tie to match my mothers gown and FFIL choose silver to match FMIL’s gown. Everyone looked great. There were a few sizing problems but all was fixed in plenty of time for the wedding.





GROOM UNDIES-PersonalCreations.com
I saw these and thought 'he has to have something pretty to wear too!' They were so cute!! He loved them!



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MY MAKEUP-Mandy-My sister/MOH-A+ + + + + + + + + + + + +
I am NOT a big makeup person, but I knew I had to have it done and down well for the wedding. My sister Mandy is AWESOME at doing make up and does it for all my events so there was really no other choice than to ask her. I have like 2 eyelashes and 3 eyebrow hairs and she made my eyes pop. She made me look like a professional did my make up. It lasted all day and into the night. I never had to have it touched up either. She didn’t even use that much make up. I still felt like myself. She and I did go and get spray tanned the day of the rehearsal dinner. I don’t like it. I felt too orange. I am in a wedding in July and I will go way before and start tanning at a salon.

MY HAIR, BRIDESMAIDS HAIR and MOB HAIR-Khouloud’s Beauty A+ + + + +

I had a hair girl for a long time but when I went to make a trial appointment she told me she thought I had canceled and had another bride. I was SOOO UPSET! When I first got on LIW I was contacted by Kacey from Khouloud’s Beauty. She was so nice and I had regretted not using her. I saw her work and was FLOORED by it. Fast forward to when my hair lady ditched me, Kacey was still available!!! I quickly made an appointment for a trial. I went to her house and she was SOOO nice! I brought my friend/bridesmaid/fellow LIW Bride Marisa with me. We both instantly fell in love with her. She was so funny and made us feel so comfortable. I showed her pics of hair styles liked and she worked out a very nice design for me. When she was done I looked at it and I wanted more hair up so she fixed it and fixed it until it was good. Then she and my friend took a million pics of my hair. When I got home I decided I wanted it all up instead and we found a style we both liked. At first she was just going to do my hair, my MOH and my BM but more and more of my girls ended up needing a hair person so Kacey got her friend Rose Marie to come over and help out too. Our hair looked great! They came over early and were so fun and made us all calm down. They were worth every penny!!





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PRE-CANA- St John the Baptist, West Islip-B+
I liked it, Michael did not. He didn’t take it seriously at all which is not like him at all. We did the weekend session. It was from 8-4 Saturday and Sunday, 8/25 and 8/26. Kinda hot…but it was ok. We went with our best friends Marisa (Bella1028) and her FH/one of our GM, Tom. It was nice to have them around. The food they served us was good. It was nice to get it done in one weekend. Our Host couple was very sweet…sometimes a little too sweet…hehe
All in all it was an ok experience.

OUR CHURCH-St. Thomas More R.C. Church-A
This was the only no brainier we had. We both went to St Thomas More for our Communion and Confirmation and it was close to our reception hall. It was recently renovated so it was very pretty. Everyone there was very nice. It was decorated very prettily for fall with bales of hay and pumpkins so we didn’t have to spend any money on flowers for the church. We had a 30 minute ceremony and it was very nice.

OUR OFFICIANT-A
We had been going to our church to get ready for our ceremony for a while and we loved our priest Monsignor Midura. He was funny and nice. 2 weeks before our wedding we get a call that Father Midura had to have a double bypass and he will not be able to do our ceremony now. We were crushed. Luckily we got Deacon Bob Weisz to do our ceremony for us. He was funny and sweet. He called us both separately to get our views of the ceremony and what we loved most about each other. He did a great job at the rehearsal and an even better job at the ceremony. It was a very nice ceremony.

OUR CEREMONY-St Thomas More R.C. Church-B+
It was a ceremony…nothing special. There was a weird time for about 3 minutes where we just stood there like dummies listening to the song be sung…he had told us we would be sitting but we were standing talking…a little weird. Also, during the homily, a giant piece of wood fell off the pulpit and made a huge clattering sound. It was funny though…which fit our lives great.

PROGRAMS-DIY-Paper-paperandmore.com
I made them myself during the last Mets game of the season...the WHOLE Mets game. I got the paper from Paperandmore.com. I chose a thick off white paper for the middle pieces and a beigy antiquey looking one for the cover.






WEATHER-F-
It was the only thing I couldn’t plan or be anal about and it screwed us. I couldn’t have my flower petals thrown at us after the ceremony and we could only take a few pictures outside of the hall because of the rain. After we got into the reception though, everyone forgot about the weather and had a great time!

RECEPTION HALL-Windows on the Lake-A

BEFORE THE WEDDING
Living on Long Island my whole life, I have always seen the signs for Windows on the Lake wedding shows. I always wanted to go! After we got engaged we realized we were a little (a lot) tight on money. I went to a few different places trying to find the best deal. Once I walked into Windows on the Lake I was done. It was so so beautiful. I was in love. We talked about how to be the most cost efficient and we ended up choosing the first Saturday in November. We chose to have a day time wedding and to have the buffet rather than the sit down dinner.
The staff there is very nice…but the Banquet Managers are a very “used car sales man”. They talk about how awesome their light show is and the great ceiling they have but if you don’t use their DJ you can’t have the lights. A minor set back but it should have been mentioned before.
We went to a Wedding Showcase and thought their DJ was ok…so we booked him…BIG MISTAKE!! He was mean and never even tried to contact us! We fired him 2 weeks later and the money we had put down for him was added to what we owed the hall.
On the day we were suppose to come down and pick our menu we thought we were going to get to try some of the food. When we got there, there was no food. I asked what was up and they said “You try the food at the showcase.” Oh ok…not cool. I was very specific on NOT having anything white at my wedding. Everything was off white, ivory or gold. When I was picking the linens they had told me I could have a mix of colors to match my fall theme, day of picking, I was only allowed one. My table cloths I wanted to be brown like my girls dresses and the BM said NO, that would be dumb…which upset me a little…
I wanted my cake a certain way, rolled fondant or basket weave with fall leaves on it. They said I could have it, day of picking, I am told I have to pay $100 more for those cakes…we didn’t want to spend anymore…
We wanted an ice cream bar added so we did and they threw in sparklers-big deal.
We were told to bring the stuff to Windows a week before the wedding. I made poor Michael leave work early, help me pack up and label everything and load it into the car. When we got there we were told there was “too much going on” and to bring our stuff in 2 days before the wedding…that pissed Michael off a little, me too. Then I was asked if any children were coming and I said yes, 6…I was charged full price for all of them though because at the time of contract I “didn’t mention it”. I complained and was told I would be “taken care of”. What that means I still have no idea. Then there was the issue of the tips for my Maitre’d and my Bridal Attendant. We were told they didn’t include the price of the tips for them in the per head price. So we were lead to believe we could decide what we were going to give them. On the day that we went over our final bill, we were told we had to give them in an envelope that they wrote a number on, their tips. We were very put off by this. How can they tell me how much I want to give someone who’s work I haven’t even seen? After some debate we talked to them and found out that this was done “a lot” and we just put the lowest amount in the envelop and left it at that.
DAY OF
We got done at the church a little late and we were rushing to get to Windows. When we got there everything was PERFECT! I was soooo ready to be all Bridezilla and be “This isn’t right! That goes there. Where is this.” But everything was exactly where I wanted it. The Maitre’d was a very nice and VERY handsome man named Walter and our Bridal Attendant was awesome and her name was Raquel. I wish we could have swapped the tips to them though and given her the bigger one because she was truly excellent! Anytime I, Michael or anyone at our 2 main family tables needed something she was there with it in seconds. I never was without a drink or anything. Michael never had to go to the bar, his drinks and beers were always a minute away. The food was awesome! Better then I had ever remembered. There was a little issue about the buffet line though. They called them up by 2 tables at a time and it took forever and ate into our dance time. I think they should try to figure out a better way of doing that. The cake was delicious!! We decided on a yellow cake with strawberry and chocolate filling…but for some reason some people were getting cannoli filling, which we SPECIFICALLY said we DID NOT WANT! I have no idea what the deal is with that…
The ice cream bar was great. Everyone loved it.
All in all it was a great great day.

THE RIBBON FROM MY CAKE



DJ-Ideal Entertainment-A + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

I LOVE DJ TIM AND RON!!! We met Tim at my nieces Sweet 16. He was a great DJ and something else…HE WENT TO COLLEGE WITH MICHAEL!! A while went by and then we got engaged. I wanted Tim but we met with the DJ from Windows…that was a BIG mistake as I had explained before. Then Tim called on the same day we fired the other company and it was set! He came over to our apartment and went over things with us. We ran ideas past him and he told us what was cool and not cool. He wanted to give us giveaways but Michael and I HATE giveaways so we decided on just leis. We spoke on the phone all the time and we emailed almost everyday.
The day of the wedding, Tim and Ron were at the hall early, already set up and everything. We ran over the names and the songs and found out they had the wrong song for Michael and I to walk out to. We wanted “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who, the CSI Miami theme song, they thought we wanted the theme song from CSI which is “Who Are You?” by the Who. When they found out that they had the wrong song, Tim sent Ron out to a music store to buy the right cd! THAT’S INSANE!! I was SO SO impressed with that!! We wanted Tim to be involved with the crowd but not so involved that it god hokey and annoying…he was perfect! They played the ideal amount of songs I requested…which was 4 pages worth of songs. They were fun and funny. I am literally trying to find parties to plan so I can hire them again. They were the best part of the wedding and the planning process!!

FLOWERS-BOUQUETS, BOUTONNIERES and CENTERPIECES-Wedding World-Jacki-A
We wanted flowers that fit our Fall Theme. We wanted sun flowers and orange and red roses and other flowers like that. When we went down to pick out our flowers, Jacki was very knowledgeable and very helpful. She knew what was in season and style and what would go best. It was a fast and painless process. Day of the wedding, the flowers come and they are BEAUTIFUL! I look at the boutonnieres and they are a little lacking. At first I thought there were enough…but they were just packed together. They were a little dead, but they were still very pretty. At the hall, there weren’t enough centerpieces, we were short one. But when they called Wedding World Jacki said I only told them we needed 14 instead of 15…I don’t know how correct that is but…eh who cares. Everyone loves the flowers. My bouquet and my girls were great! They really popped against the brown dresses. The Mother’s got orchids and they were so pretty. The Fathers got the same as the Groomsman. They also supplied us with rose petals to throw at the church. It rained and they didn’t get to throw them outside the church but they still looked pretty in the little organza bags I gave them to stuff the petals in.

LIMO-Sal’s Limousines-A+

Sal’s Limousine’s is a customer at the bank I work at. I met Mike, the owner, in the Drive thru. Mike was so nice and sweet. I was going to book through Wedding World but we liked Mike so much we booked with them. We decided because of the 17 person wedding party that we wanted a 20 passenger vehicle. Sal’s has the 20 passenger Escalade. It was GORGEOUS!!! It was a pearl white and so cool inside! We didn’t get any other limos. Mike showed up on time and handsome as ever. He had a HUGE golf umbrella that shielded us all from the rain. When we got to the church, he helped keep everyone calm and orderly. He especially calmed me down before I walked down the aisle. They supplied the ride to the hotel. The guy they sent was very sweet, he even ran inside the hall for me and found my aunt who had my car keys! They were a great limo service.




PHOTOGRAPHY-Wedding World/JoeV-A

Joe was awesome! He was on time and very nice. I was running late so he talked to the girls and took pictures of the flowers and some of the girls while I was getting dressed. Because we couldn’t go outside, we were tight on space. He made the best of it. He was everywhere but not in an annoying way. He asked what pictures we wanted and which we didn’t. We didn’t take any hokey pictures, just useable ones. I liked him a lot. The proofs came out very nice. Some of them were a little off center…but most of them were very nice. We haven’t made up the albums yet but the proofs came very fast and they said once we choose a thank you car picture the turn around is 2 weeks!

VIDEOGRAPHY-Wedding World-Frank-B
I was not that impressed with the videography. When we were at the wedding, he was all over the place so we thought he was getting everything. He came to me at the reception and asked me if I wanted him to interview anyone. I said “Only our families and the wedding party.” When we got the video back we found he didn’t interview my sister THE MAID OF HONOR or my bridesmaid Jackie. I was al little mad about that. Then when we watched the video we were in the middle of a prayer when we hear the videographer SAYING THE PRAYERS ALONG WITH US! WHAT?!?! I was a little mad about that too! The ceremony was filmed like Blair Witch, all over the place. I was getting a little motion sick just watching it. He kept Michael’s mic on during the whole ceremony so you got to hear EVERYTHING we said. When we were walking out into the vestibule you hear us talking to the Daily News reporter…not cool. The reception part was good. The editing was not that good though. He taped everything but when we watched the video we saw that the Conga line that was such a huge part of the wedding was only featured in the recap part of the wedding. They used footage from Disney movies I didn’t ask for and in the beginning of the video there is an ugly fat creepy looking cherub…weird… We are in the process of having the video fixed. I am thinking I will leave the cherub, it was funny.

FAVORS
Maple Leaf Shaped Syrup bottles- Pieces of Vermont.com-A+
5 Almonds Favor with a Poem card-DIY-A+
OHNUTS.com-Jordan Almonds
VistaPrint.com-Poem Cards
Cudge.net-Tulle circles
Party Hardy-Brown Ribbon
Party City-Gold Ribbon
Personalized Votive Candles in Holders-OrientalTrading.com-B+
Cudge.net-Votive Candles
Tic Tac Favors-B+
Amazon.com-Tic Tacs
“Mint to Be” Labels
Everyone got to take home syrup and an almond favor. I researched the syrup for a while. I found a lot of vendors who had it but they wanted way more for it. We found it for a nice price and we really liked the vendors. They invited us up to their farm and everything.
The almond favors were a HUGE DIY project. I did it all by myself. Michael did not help at all! I stole, shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, a bunch of twist ties from the bakery department of Stop and Shop and used them to twist tie the almonds into the tulle and then I tied the ribbons and the card to the almonds. Then I curled the ribbon. It took a long time but I think it was worth it.
I wanted the candles as part of the centerpiece. I ordered 72 votive candle holders. They came but not with the stickers on it. It took FOREVER to put each sticker on each holder and straight. When it was done they looked nice though.
The tic tac favors were a last minute thing. My grandmother and I were very close and she always had orange tic tacs in her pocketbook. Orange was one of our colors and I saw that you could get the labels and for cheap so I ordered the labels but I didn’t know where to get all those orange tic tacs for cheap. I researched it online and found a vendor on Amazon.com that was selling 48! I bought them in a snap. Those were gobbled up in seconds. Everyone knew they were for my grandma and they all thought it was a nice way to remember her at the wedding.










EXTRAS

CIGARS-ThompsonCigars.com
MATCHBOOKS-InvitationsbyDawn.com
COCKTAIL NAPKINS-InvitationsbyDawn.com
TABLE NUMBERS-DIY
MEMORIAL CANDLE-DIY

The cigars were a huge hit. I had to steal some to take home for Michael to smoke on the cruise ship on honeymoon. We were going to get them personalized but we ran out of time.
The matchbooks were a big hit too. Everyone was taking them home. I had kept a few for memories.
No one realized we had cocktail napkins so if I had to do it over again I wouldn’t order them.









THAT’S ALL I CAN THINK OF NOW…FM ME FOR ANY MORE DETAILS OR ANY QUESTIONS!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review...can wait to see your pics!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review but where are all the pic's?

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review! Can't wait to see pics!! congrats!!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review date twin!!! Congrats

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

great review my love

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review thanks!!!!!!!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

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Posted by bella1028

great review my love

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Great Review...very detailed. Thanks for taking the time to let us in the real deal.

Marisa, I was looking at the pictures and I recognized your FH, and then I read on and realized you were in the wedding too. I just noticed you in the bridal party picture. Very nice.

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review. Thanks.

You looked really happy.

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Congrats!! Thanks for the great review!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

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Posted by SparkyandAng

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Posted by bella1028

great review my love

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Great Review...very detailed. Thanks for taking the time to let us in the real deal.

Marisa, I was looking at the pictures and I recognized your FH, and then I read on and realized you were in the wedding too. I just noticed you in the bridal party picture. Very nice.

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I was...it was beautiful

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review!!!! You looked beautiful! Congrats!!!!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

I love your candles.

Congratulations!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Very nice review and thorough - I need to work on mine. I guess I lucked out with the weather - didn't rain in Queens (church location) or Nassau (reception location).

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

What a great review. Gorgeous wedding pics!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review! You looked beautiful!
I used nicandtamdesigns for my invites and well and just loved working with Tammy!
CONGRATS!!!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review! You looked beautiful!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

Great review! You looked beautiful! Congrats!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

THANKS EVERYBODY!

Re: MISSMASTER13'S 11/3/07 SUPER LONG, SUPER DETAILED REVIEW OF Windows on the Lake, Ideal Entertainment, Wedding World, Sal's Limousine, Nictamdesigns.com, Khouloud's Beauty and other awesome vendors

HOLY............girl, how long did that take you to write???

ok ok so it def takes the cake over mine.........i really didnt put to much thought into mine..........ill have to go back and redo it............

great review !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!