MORE PICS My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

(There are def. other pictures I want to add and will do that later on.)

My ratings might seem low but I gave a B+ to anyone who did a great job but did what was expected. A/A+ is for people who went above and beyond.

Warning: This might be a TAD long so as others have said, I won’t be offended if you just look at the pictures! I always did until my wedding was closer lol.

The Engagement
On Dec 23rd I was at work and received an email from DH stating that he wanted to meet me in the city so we could see the tree. I found this VERY odd considering we discussed it and decided to not go this year. So of course I was surprised and somewhat mad (ok, very mad) that he randomly sprung this up on me because 1. I had to still wrap and shop for x-mas gifts, 2. I wasn’t feeling well and thought I would leave work early 3. It was D*MN freakin’ COLD!! So I gave in and agreed to meet him there. When I got to the tree, 20 minutes after leaving work, I proceeded to stand around and wait for him in the cold for another 20 minutes. By the time he arrived I was understandably a total b*tch to him and said, “There, see your tree? Ok, let’s go”. He had other plans and wanted to walk around to get to the front of the tree to get a better view. Of course I’m complaining like a child because it’s freezing out and I already waited for him. Again, I gave in. Well, it’s a good thing I did b/c all of a sudden and I hear him say, “Remember when you said you first fell in love with me when I gave you the bo-k of origami roses? Well, here’s another. Except this time I hope you’ll love me forever.” Then he proceeded to get down on one knee in Rockefeller Center and propose. Of course I said yes. We then walked to a restaurant for dinner. Or rather, he walked… I skipped!

LIW – (A++)
Could I have planned my wedding w/o liw? Yes. But did it make the experience much more enjoyable. YES!!! I had a great time at TWOTY, 10’ Bridal Shower, and the G2G’s. I also made some great friends on this website! (Love our SJAL’s!) When I was stressed out, bored at work, or looking for more wedding things to buy I could always count on LIW to be there! There are so many great girls on here and it was great to see their weddings go from the planning stages to the day of.
(Jenna_and_John, soontobecruz, me, Lsorrent)




Engagement Ring & Wedding Bands, Raymond & Winnie Artistic Jewelry Co. – (A)
I cannot tell you how much I love them. DH was referred to them by his friend who used them for many years. Originally we started looking about 4 months before we got engaged at Tri-County because I had NO clue what I wanted. I finally found “the one” and LOVED it but FH was dead set against getting it there. He proceeded to draw a picture of it and had Raymond & Winnie custom make it. They also kept the mold of it in order to make my wedding band and both are stunning!. They clean and dipped it for free the week before the wedding when we picked up our bands right then and there. This is a great jeweler and I will def. be using them in the future.


STD Magnets – Magnetstreet.com (B)
I waited until Memorial Day weekend to order them since they sent out a 40% coupon via email. They came out great and I love them. My only advice is if you’re customizing the colors check out the proof at a few different computers before approving it. Because of the difference in resolution between my work and home computer the color of my swirls was a little lighter then I would have liked. It was still great and was quickly delivered.



Invitations, Programs, Donation Sign – Even*starPaperie.com “her” (A+)
LOOOOVE her. My MOH used her for their 09’ wedding and once I saw the invites I knew I had to check her out. This is one of my top 3 favorite vendors to work with. My mom wasn’t convinced about using someone online so we went looking in person for invites. Once she saw they were coming out to 1k+ she quickly changed her opinion. All I knew was that I wanted dark purple invites and didn’t have a secondary color until my monogram was made by another 10’er (thanks Alyssa!!). Tessa sent me about 5 different online proofs and we finally found the one. A few months after approving my online proof I had a brain fart and thought I wasn’t happy with my original design. She again sent me 5 other designs and in the end I still kept the original. A month or so before I went into production my original pocketfold color used in my sample was discontinued so she sent me another sample to make sure I was happy. I was even happier with the new color then the original!
It is a pretty long process but it’s def. worth it in the end. The long process sometimes can benefit you because it will give you more of a chance to win her contests which can help you save $ on your overall package.
I also had her make my programs were of course turned out beautiful. They followed the same design as my invites and were delivered about 5 days before the wedding along with my donation sign. I would use her again in a heartbeat and probably will for a future child’s christening invitation! Lol





Wedding Dress - Pronovias, NYC (D)
Eh. O.k., I’ll explain why the “eh”. I originally found my dress in the Wedding Plaza in Floral Park. It was called “Rio” by Pronovias. I could have bought the sample at a cheaper price b/c it was my size and the correct color but the train had been made shorter so I passed. We already had a discount certificate for the flagship store in the city from a showcase so my mother felt more comfortable going there instead of an outside store. We worked with Sonya who was very pleasant to work with in person but communicating with her through phone or email was a hassle. Communicating to anyone through phone was a hassle b/c it’s primarily an automated system . Anyway, when we asked for a sample of the lace so I could order my veil she said, “We don’t give samples.” Really? Who doesn’t give samples. After going back and forth she said, “I have a sample here that is almost exact to your lace just a different color.” I received it and it looked NOTHING like my lace. Finally she said, “I can order you a sample of the lace but it will cost you $40”. After spending all this money on a dress I have to pay you more for a small sample! We ended up getting it sent to us for free after speaking with the manager. My fittings went well but each time we had to go to the manager because the person we were working with didn’t want to make the alterations we wanted. (Not big alterations either). They already weren’t on our fav. List when we went to pick u the dress and pay for it but this is when the kicker comes in. My mom had a gift card for $600 which she was going to use to pay off the balance of my dress. To make a long story short, after swiping it, they told us there wasn’t any $ on the card. Instead of making a big deal of it then, my mom used her charge card to pay the balance so we could take it home with us then. Turns out there WAS $600 on the g.c. which they swiped AND they charged my mom $600. After speaking w/the Credit Card Company AND Visa (g.c.) Pronovias refused to refund my mom $600 saying that it wasn’t there fault. To this day, over a month later, they are still refusing to refund my mom her money and no one from Pronovias is calling my mom or VISA back. The people at VISA feel bad so they thankfully gave my mom the $600 back on the g.c. even though Pronovias is really the one with the money. In the end my dress WAS beautiful but all the hassle DEF was a downer.



Veil - Barrons, Tri-County, Levittown (B+)
What can I say, for $140 I had a great veil w/great customer service. We gave them a sample of my lace and satin so they could match the color. They luckily had a lace that was almost identical in pattern and pearls & crystals were added to it. I have to admit, I did give them a wedding date of a month earlier so I could have it for my 2nd to last fitting. It’s a good thing I did b/c the color was slightly darker then my dress so I had to bring it back to Barron’s to fix. They had no problem fixing the color for me and in the end it matched perfectly!


Bridesmaid Dresses - Burton’s (B+)
From day one I knew that there was no way I was going to fit my 6 BM’s into the same style dress. For that reason, and the fact that I like how different styles look, I decided on narrowing it down to about 10 dresses with the same color, fabric, and designer. They all found a dress they liked and the day of they all looked beautiful. Jim Hjelm isn’t exactly the cheapest designer but I loved his work so I called every store in the area trying to find these 6 Jim Hjelm dresses for under $200. FINALLY I called Burton’s and they gave me the best price around. I was a little hesitant b/c of the mixed reviews but went there anyway. My only complaint with them is the dresses came in about 3-4 weeks later then I was told. I prepared my BM’s for this and each went to get their dress fitted the week they came in. Those that had alterations done there had no complaints. As others have said, if your looking for the whole “experience” and full service this isn’t the place to go to. But if you want a great deal then it’s def. worth going to them. (If you can find the house.).



Flower Girl Dresses & RB Tux - Kid’s Exquisite Wear(A)
My mom found her at Aqueduct Flea Market and at first I was hesitant b/c it was Aqueduct. Luckily, she had beautiful dresses that we ended up using for the girls. I saw the same dress at Tri-count for almost double the price. We ended up paying $40 for each dress! My FG’s came from all over the Island so after providing her with their measurements, she came to my house with the dresses and tux to make sure they fit the kids. One of the dresses was slightly too long but she did the slight alterations right then and there free of charge. Feel free to FM me for the women’s contact info.




GM Tuxes - Ray’s Tuxes Franklin Square (B)
Ray’s Tuxedo in Franklin Square. DH has used them numerous times for other weddings that he’s been in with no problems. Everything was available on time and looked great. My uncle who was ordering a tux from lives in NJ so he was able to get measured elsewhere and call in the alterations. My Jr. GM also lives semi far from them but both were told that they could pick up their tuxes on the night of the rehearsal dinner so they wouldn’t have to make several trips. Well, they ended up not following through on that agreement. Overall, everything with them was fine.



Makeup – Jacqueline Nicole (B+)
What can I say that others haven’t. She was great to work with and the day of she arrived on time, finished all the girls on time, and we all loved our makeup. My dog took a particular liking to her!



Hair – Libby from Britney & Co. & Swan Lake Salon (B+)
I’ve never stuck with a hair dresser for as long as I’ve been with her. She came to my house the morning of and finished everyone in a timely manor. Everyone looked great and I loved my hair!


Church - Blessed Sacrament Valley Stream (A)
The night of the RD was a little chaotic b/c another wedding was finishing their rehearsal and they had about 60 people there for that. Apparently the person running the rehearsals forgot about us so our priest ended up doing it which was better. On the day of everything went great. We met Father Peter once and then went out to dinner with him to talk some more and he’s a super nice guy. To this day everyone still compliments him and states that he wasn’t too preachy and came across as a friend you’ve had forever telling you about marriage. The church itself was great, parking was fine and all went well!
Blessed Sacrament doesn’t have precana so we went over to St. Boniface in Elmont to complete it one Sat.
http://images3a.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp733%3B2%3Enu%3D6%3B92%3E8%3A9%3E258%3EWSNRCG%3D3355%3B58494349nu0mrj


We’re all laughing because DH had a brain fart. This is how the conversation went: Father Peter, “Steven repeat after me. Adriana with this ring…” DH, “…”. Father Peter, “Adriana with this ring..”. DH, “…..”. Me, “Steven!… say Adriana with this ring.” Steven, “OH… hehe.. Adriana with this ring.” Everyone cracked up lol. When it was my turn I basically yelled, “Steven with THIS ring…!”

Reception Hall - Carlyle on the Green, Bethpage State Park (A+)
I must have crossed off 50 RH’s on LI off my list either b/c I’ve worked there too much or have already been to family and friends weddings there. After looking all over creation Carlyle was my last stop. I’ve previously attended a wedding there 2 years prior so I knew the food, service, and location were already amazing. I met and booked with the owner Steven Carl but conversed with his daughter Elyse for all other wedding matters. They were both so helpful and along with their amazing staff, made our wedding more then we could have asked for.
Tasting – I’m adding a little section for this because a few Carlyle prides, past and present were confused about this. Since Carlyle has the restaurant, you and DH/FH eat your four course meal for free. You order off the reg. menu and your waiter will come over and explain what is included in the options for the wedding, suggestions, possible changed etc. Any additional guests you bring are charged but at a discounted rate. For the amount of food that we received that day for 4 people it was TOTALLY worth the small price to pay. You get full serving sizes for all 4 courses. This is also a great time to see the type of service they provide. You don’t get leftovers from someone else’s wedding or a random mishmash of food like at some other halls.
Our Bridal Attendant was Janet and she amazing! She wasn’t a glorified waitress which some other halls consider a bridal attendant. She was there at every turn, frequently emptied our card box so she could place the envelopes in our safe, brought us glasses of water to drink on the dance floor so we wouldn’t get dehydrated, and frequently pulled me aside to reapply my lip gloss (was great b/c I’m the last person to worry about touching up my makeup ) If DH or I needed anything she was always right there!. My mother also had a mini bridal attendant (I don’t know his name) who would follow up with her throughout the night to make sure she didn’t need anything.
We had 2 separate bridal suits, one for DH and I and one for our BP which was nice b/c we got to spend some time alone with one another to reflect upon the day so far. They brought us TONS of samples of all the food at cocktail hour. From what I tasted it was amazing but of course it was hard for me to eat in my dress!
Our BM was Christina also amazing!! After working at the Carlyle as a vendor 2 weeks ago I could see she runs a very tight show. We had a few snafu’s with our limo and cocktail hour performers (I’ll get into later) and she got right on the phone to advocate for us. We didn’t have to do anything!! Her staff was amazing and they all ran a great event. DH particularly liked the fact that he had a wash cloth in ice water at our sweetheart table to cool him down. Lol
Food was AMAZING (from what I heard lol)!!! I wish I could have eaten more but I was sick and really didn’t have an appetite. They did send us home with TONS of leftovers so that was dinner the following night and it tasted amazing
My cake was BEAUTIFUL! Originally I thought it was only going to be 3 tiers but the day of it ended up being 4 and was pretty large!
We ended up adding on the “After Hours” Party which consisted of deserts, a jazz band, and cigar roller to make our event a full 6 hours. This was a great time to just relax and chill after the “party”.
My only complain was having the cocktail hour outside. From what I remember it was REALLY dark outside and hard to see the food stations. I’m not 100% sure about this b/c it all went by so fast.



Florist - Pedestals, Garden City Park (A+)
This is another of my TOP favorite vendors. We originally booked w/Rob but ended up working with Christopher Michael. It’s funny b/c flowers were the one thing I really didn’t care about from the beginning. How quickly that changed. To save $ we were going to do ½ up ½ down but Rob gave us all high for the same price so I figured why not. Aside from all the personals we also had 2 arrangements for the church which came out beautiful.
I didn’t know I would be working with Christopher Michael until I started communicated with them about my sample centerpiece. I emailed him colors and pictures of what I would like. I did like my 1st sample cp but didn’t LOVE it b/c the colors were off. After I emailed this to CM a few days later he right away offered another sample centerpiece. This time it was spot on! I LOOOOOOOOOVED it and Loved ALL my flowers. My BM flowers were beautiful, our mother’s flowers were great and my bo-k was freakin’ MASSIVE!!! I could have used two hands to hold it and it STILL would have been big.

CM surprised me the day of with a huge sweetheart table arrangement which I never planned on doing. It was HUGE and Beautiful!!! (Perhaps a little too big b/c I couldn’t see over it) The flowers were in great shape and so fresh! I also provided CM with my late fathers’ baby bracelet along with a photo charm to add to my bouquet and both were kept in great shape and looked great on my bo-k. My mom brought a CP home and decided to put the orchids from it in a separate vase. The orchids lasted an entire month! CM is suuuch a great guy to work with and if I had to plan another wedding I would go straight to him, no questions asked!
My Bo-k

My Centerpiece

Sweetheart table arrangement. The white flowers were from the church pieces.

Bridesmaids Bo-k’s

Flower Girl Baskets

Card Table Tree Centerpiece

DJ, Singer, Video, Zaps - Entertainment Tonite (ETEvents), Bellmore (A+)
What can I say about my ET family, I love them all! I’ve worked with them for 8 years so I actually planned my wedding date around the ET schedule so I could have everyone I wanted at my wedding. They were picked for my wedding before I was even engaged! MC’s - Although both were invited as guests, I had 2 MC’s that night, Guy and Carl. They took turns during the grand entrance and the entire night. Not that this was a surprise to me, but everyone was on the dance floor the entire night. I’ve seen MC’s at weddings only speaking during the formalities and then disappear. I knew that’s not what I wanted and I knew that’s not what I was going to get. The crowed was hyped and DH and I were dancing like crazy fools the entire night, and everyone had a great great time! I could have not asked for more from them!
DJ/VJ Johnny K – It was hard because I had to pick between a bunch of DJ’s to do my event but I knew I wanted a DJ/VJ so Johnny was the perfect pick. He came over 2 weeks before the wedding to go over our event and it was great! All night he played 90’s dance, hip hop, some disco and oldies for the adults, and a great mix of music. The party started from the second the doors opened.
Singer Dana Rayne – I knew adding a singer would add something to the DJ and there was no one else I could think of to sing except Dana.
Video – We received our video a month after the wedding and it came out great! I wasn’t looking for something too too high end b/c we never planned on video from the beginning. We’re both very glad we decided to book video. I’m waiting to get my raw footage while I’m sure will make me crack up.
Zaps – I had our zap guy come to the church b/c I wanted a slide show to show prior to our grand entrance. Although many of the shots were blurry the majority are great.

Dana Rayne


Some of my favs! (MC Guy, Owner Andy Z., Dana Rayne, MC Carl, DJ Eddie B.)

Uplighting & Gobo-Brillance Event Productions (B+)
They are a house vendor through Carlyle so I couldn’t go through ET for my uplighting which was a must have. Working with Bob to plan our event was easy and stress free. I emailed them my monogram so a Gobo could be made of it and it came out great! Lauren was there the day of to work the lights and everything was beautiful and JUST what I could imagine. We met with Bob a few days before the wedding to decide on colors, effects, and timing. We are able to pick up our Gobo so we can have it ask a keepsake from our wedding! This was a great company to work with!
My monogram Gobo

For the uplighting you can see it in the background of a bunch of other pics on here.

Photograph - Duet – TJ & Kevin (A)
What can I say about Duet! Love them! Our engagement pictures came out great and TJ was really fun to work with. The night of the wedding they were zapping away all night yet they weren’t intrusive at all. There are a few pictures that I know were missed but that’s my fault. The day of is so chaotic that you forget some things. I never sent them they bridal canvas with must take pics on it so that’s my fault. For any future Duet Brides please make sure you do that! We actually forgot to order our enlarged Sign-In Board from our e-pics so they are letting us order from the wedding pics as well.
We received our proofs at the 9 week mark and the wait was well worth it! We received 500 printed edited proofs and there are another 1500 unedited on a cd. These are some of my favorites!






My spot who I’ve had since I was 7 and still sleep with. Sick.. I know lol



My Bailey dog always wants to play!

At the after hours

My little cousin busted out with the entire single ladies dance!

Ugh… I WISH my other flower girl was turning around!













Yes.. we're big kids and sat on the floor to watch out montage.

Limos - Camelot (B-)
Joe is really a sweet guy. We met with him and booked the Princess Rolls, Stretch UConn and stretch limo. The week of, some family members decided they were going to drive themselves to the church so we had to cancel the stretch and add a basic limo. Joe kept the stretch for just 2 people but just altered the timing on things. One problem that we did encounter was traffic. Here is where we had snafu #1. The rolls and limo for me and the girls was about 10-15 min. later from getting the guys. (Although DH says it was their fault since him and the guys weren’t ready). Because of that as well as rush hour, Friday afternoon, Jewish holiday traffic we went over our allotted time. They wanted to charge us an absurd amount of $ for overtime. This is when our BM was a lifesaver. She got on the phone and handled the whole thing. Despite this snafu, both drivers were very nice and I know they were just doing their job when they were asking for additional money.


Mariachi Band – Mariachi Tapatio (C-)
SO…. My mom was set on having a Mariachi Band at Cocktail Hour. We went to see this group perform in person prior to booking them but in person they were AMAZING! I contacted the director through emails and all was confirmed. A red flag was raised when he didn’t want any deposit but I told my mother since this was her thing to handle and she said it’s ok. So the day of, they arrived 20 min. after cocktail hour started and only w/a 5 piece band instead of the originally agreed upon 6 piece. At the end of the night they still requested the full amount despite all of the problems. My mom did pay them but later complained to the director who should have been there but wasn’t, and ended up being refunded $80. Everyone who heard them loved them though. I can’t comment b/c I was in the bridal suite by the time they arrived. My BM also handled this problem.




Memorial Candles – ETSY seller BellaBrideDesigns (B+)
I knew I had to get 2 memorial candles for my father and FIL but I didn’t want anything on actual candles. I found this seller on ETSY and they came out great. Fast shipping and at a great price too.


Bo-k Charm (B+)
I was searching FOREVER for a bo-k charm and couldn’t for the life of me find one that I liked. I finally came across this website that thought it was perfect. The picture that it held wasn’t tiny like other’s I have seen. I can’t for the life of me remember the website I ordered this from but if you’re interested please FM me and I’ll do my best to find it again.


Bridal Party Gifts

Bridesmaid Jewelry – Tri-County (A)
I don’t know if this booth has an actual name or if I just forgot it. It’s against the same wall as the doors 4 booths away from Barrons. My mom had originally picked up the BM Jewelry for me w/o me seeing it first and I honestly wasn’t a fan. About 3 weeks before the RD I went to Tri-county to get something custom made for the girls. I had no real clue what I wanted so I saw her selection and then had earrings, bracelets, and a necklace custom made. When I went back to pick them up I realized I didn’t like the bracelet I had originally had her make and she had no problem re-doing it to something completely different.

Coach skinny wallets – Coach Outlet (B+)
I love Coach so I knew I had to get the girls something from there but didn’t want to spend a fortune. I went to the Tanger outlets a year before the wedding and realized if I donated a dollar for Breast Cancer Research there was an additional 20% off. So of course it was fate and it was the perfect time to get them coach wallets.

Embroidered Jewelry Roll – eBay seller
This was actually something my mom picked up for the girls. It was a nice little extra something to give to them.

Custom Glasses – ETSY seller Fizzyartist
I saw a few other girls on LIW order from her and I thought it was the CUTEST thing since I have a slight obsession w/glasses and previously picked up FG and RB glasses for the kids. I emailed her my order and waited a few months. When I got the package in the mail everything was great except for the fact that one of the glasses broke. Nothing can be done about that since that’s the risk you take when shipping glass. I emailed Amber (Fizzy) and she had no problem making another glass for me. Everything arrived on time and looked great!!

Custom Cufflinks – ETSY seller Bellamodaartist
DH has been in so many BP’s along with many of our GM so I knew many of our options were out. So one day I woke up and thought “custom cufflinks!!” So I went online to search and I couldn’t find anything that fit each GM personality. THEN I learned about ETSY. So I went online and found a vendor who would make cufflinks based off a picture I sent them. So I went on a search and found this seller. The price was right, service was great and they were a big hit!

Cufflinks – ETSY sellers Bellamodaartist & southernliving26
There were 2 cufflinks that I found premade on ETSY. 1 was Star Wars themed for the BM and another were small monopoly boards for a GM. They looked great!

Monogrammed Swiss Army Knives- ExclusivelyWeddings.com (B+)
This was a last minute find. I had a coupon from them so I figured why not. They came out great although I don’t know if getting knives for the guys was the best idea due to safety reasons lol.

Honeymoon – Hawaii (Oahu & Maui)

TheVacationCenter.com (C)
My MOH and her family have used this website numerous times for vacations so I trusted that it was a legit website. It was and I can’t believe the GREAT GREAT price we got for our vacation to Hawaii. Our Travel Agent Terry was a great help and whenever I needed a slight change made she was right on it. We booked a year in advance and paid at that time for the flights and hotels. I was then told we would receive our travel documents approx 2-4 weeks prior to our trip. Well, we never received them and after calling/emailing Terry numerous times I finally gave up and tried the general #. I FINALLY got through to someone and he emailed me everything over right away. No problems there. However, on our final night in Oahu the hotel was asking us to pay for rooms when that’s something I paid for a year ahead of time and have proof. DH has been in contact with thevacationcenter since then b/c the hotel had to charge his CC for the room. No resolution has been made yet.

Hotel Renu (Oahu)
Since we were there for only 2 nights I know I didn’t need to stay in a big resort in Waikiki and something cheaper would be fine. Well, I found Hotel Renu on tripadvisor and it looked great. When we got there it was JUST as great. It was a newer, small boutiquey hotel 1 block away from Waikiki Beach. Our room faced the ocean and was VERY clean and modern. We had complimentary continental bfast every morning and the sheets in the room were SOOO comfortable.
Inside of our room

The Bathroom (hey.. it's important to me!)

The view right onto Waikiki Beach!



Hyatt Regency (Maui)
I was so confident in this hotel since many of our friends have stayed there in the past. Then I started to hear not so great reviews about it on this website and through other people so I started to get really concerned. The plans were already made and paid for so we didn’t have much of a choice but to hope for the best. Luckily, I was worrying for nothing because it was a beautiful hotel. The rooms were nothing amazing by any means with just a simple bed, small balcony and bathroom. It was clean and had plantation style like furniture. It could use an updating but considering Hawaii isn’t the cheapest place to travel it was nice. The staff were all really nice and helpful and upon check-in they provided us with a complimentary handmade (although in another country) photo album which made my day!! What’s nice about the Hyatt here is that it shares the beach with a strip of about 5 other hotels so there are numerous restaurants and shops within walking distance. We had complimentary breakfast every morning which was great considering it would have normally cost $30 for buffet bfast. My MAIN complaint with the breakfast is it’s served in a restaurant that only has 3 walls so you can imagine the bird situation. You literally cannot leave your food unattended for more then 10 seconds w/o having at least 5 birds on the table eating away at it. They are not shy by any means and are very persistent. It was def. a turn off but you just have to learn to not leave your food loll. The quality of the food was great and there were many many options to choose from. There is a newer restaurant there called Umalu that had the BEST burgers, fries and quesadillas that you could ask for! Oddly enough the burgers In Hawaii were freakin’ AMAZING! Anyway, the other restaurant The Swan Club was also one of our best dinners in Hawaii and oddly enough wasn’t AS expensive as you would think. Numerous complaints about this hotel were the fact that children were running around anywhere. This isn’t an adults-only resort so that is a risk that you take. However, we went during the end of Sept. so that might be why we didn’t really run into that problem. The pool was great, the pool slide was amazing and the Luau there is a great show to see. Keep in mind though, if your looking for a hotel where you can walk up and swim in the ocean steps away this isn’t the island for you. The main hotels on this strip in Lainai are located on a beach where the coral comes into shallow waters so you have to walk a good 20 minutes to get into the ocean. BUT, it’s worth the walk b/c sea turtles are little 2 feet in front of you while your swimming and snorkeling! Overall the Hyatt was a great hotel to stay at for our honeymoon! (P.S. Hawaii is NOT the cheapest place to eat. But you MUST MUST go to Penne Pasta if your looking for your Italian fix at a cheaper price and Cheeseburgers in Paradise for the best burgers!!! Both are by or on Front St.)
Hotel



My food at the Luau!

Up on Haleakala at 4am!

Here comes the sun!

There is it!


Above the clouds. THAT's how high we were!

Photo-op while biking down!

This was the only thing close to a waterfall that we got to see b/c it was the dry season.

ziplining!



Climbed up and down this to get to the blowhole

Thar she blows...

Thanks for reading if you actually got this far and feel free to FM me with any questions!!!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Beautiful! You looked gorgeous. Sorry about the mariachi band but that was a really cool idea!!!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Great Review A! It was a wonderful wedding.....we had so much fun. Love the first pic

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Great review. I truly understand on your rating. I have a lot of B+ vendor. Beautiful pics. Love FG's dresses.

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Awesome review.. You looked beautiful!!!! Thanks for all the great info!!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Great review!!!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

great review!!! thank you!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

great review, thanks! I read the entire thing!
You looked beautiful and I loved your bok's! I know Carl (great guy!) and wanted him to dj my wedding but he was already booked!
Congrats to you!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

What a beautiful, beautiful wedding! I love your FG dresses, the cake, flowers, photos, everything! Congrats!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Absolutely gorgeous!!! everything looked amazing and I especially loooved your flowers!!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Thanks for the review! Congrats! and you looked gorgeous!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

You were a STUNNING bride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations and thank you for writing a review!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

thanks for the review! you looked beautiful!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Not that much of your info was a shock to me as I knew almost every detail of your wedding before the big day but I'm still soooo happy for you and Steven. Your wedding was fabulous and you looked so stunning!! Love youuuu!!!!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Great review ! Love the purple details especially the cake, invitations and bridesmaid's dresses ! Congrats !

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

great review and with a very smart rating system. your flowers were gorge and you looked beautiful!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Wow ! you looked amazing! I loved your hair!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Beautiful review, you look stunning! I love all of the photos!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Looks like you had an AMAZING day and you looked beautiful!! Thanks for sharing!

Re: My 9/17/10 Wedding! * Carlyle on The Green * ET Events * Pedestals * Duet * Camelot * Hawaii Honeymoon

Thanks for sharing!!!