My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

I won’t go into the monologue that my wedding was the best day of my life blah blah blah, but I do want to state that the reviews on this site were the best resource for me. It gave me real life reviews of vendors and nothing is better than that. Please pay if forward and write a review to help out future brides. Write your review as you are planning your wedding and it wont seem like such a daunting task when it is time to post, just add pics and voila!

Pre Wedding Activities:

Bridal Shower
Opia Restaurant
130 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022

I wasn’t involved in the planning, but I pretty much knew all the details because I hate surprises & my MOH knows that. I saw pictures of tiff940’s shower which was @ Opia and told my MOH to go check the place out. She went there and thought it was fantastic, so she booked them for my shower. They did a fantastic job, and a big shout out to Jimena who handles the booking, she was a doll and even gave me aspirin when I had a headache.

Bridal Shower Invitations
Vista Print
My invites were linen and looked incredible. They were cheap, and arrived quickly.





All pictures from my shower were shot by Dana Lee Jones Photography

Cake
Valencia Bakery
499 East 138th Street
Bronx, NY 10454

The cake was beautiful and tasted gr8. I don’t remember the fillings but I know it was delicious. If you are in the boro’s definitely check out Valencia Bakery.

Buttercup Bake Shop
141 West 72nd Street
New York, NY 10023
212-787-3800

My boss is part owner of the location on 72nd street, so of course he hooked us up with free cupcakes. If you are interested in cupcakes call and ask for Kara, and tell her Kim sent you, and she will take care of you.



The food at Opia was incredible, there was a choice of 3 entrees, & they were all amazing, and dessert was delicious as well.







We had a wine wishing well, so in addition to gifts, each guest gave us a bottle of wine as well, and they were very generous. My shower was in June, and we still have bottles in our house today.







Bridal Shower Thank You Card
Vista Print

Again I used the linen paper. I designed the thank you myself, uploaded it to vistaprint, and had them within a week.



Bridal Shower Dress
I purchased my dress online @ macys.com. It was by Donna Morgan, it fit and looked great.




Bachelorette Party
My MOH & Sister planned the party, and they did a great job. It was at “The Spot In The City” which is located in Harlem. There was a small food spread and a stripper!!! It was one of the best nights out I had in a very long time.








All other pics are too X-rated for LIW!!

Rehearsal Dinner
Charlie Brown's Steakhouse
2349 Jericho Turnpike, NY 11040
516-294-7320
We had a rehearsal at Chateau Briand the Wednesday before the wedding. I called Charlie Brown's probably a month before to meet with the manager. The private room was already booked for the time we wanted, so they sectioned off the back of the restaurant for us. Since it was a weeknight and pretty late the restaurant was almost empty, so we basically had the place to our self. We had a pre-set menu with 3 entree choices so that we didnt go over board on the tab. My food was just ok, but the steak was delicious. Overall they did a good job for us.

Now on to the wedding stuff!

STD Magnets
Magnet Street

I ordered on a Sunday night, & by the following Thursday I had a proof. I ordered the mini magnet because I thought they were cute, & since everyone usually goes with the larger sized magnets I figured I’d be a little different & get the mini’s. When I initially got my proof I wanted to see how it would look in black & white. I dealt with Stacie Frey & she was very helpful. She called me right away after I sent her an email, & she responds to emails within minutes. She had the art dept. make the change to B&W & I didn’t like it, so I stayed with the color, after a few more changes the magnet turned out perfect. They also come with foil lined envelopes which is a plus. I highly recommend Magnet Street. If you think these are a waste they really aren’t. Each time we went to someones house that we sent one too they had it on their fridge. Every time I saw it I was touched.



DIY Projects

Invitations
This was probably one of the most fun projects I did. I originally had a different invitation that I created, but I decided to go with a different design, and different papers, so I re-did the entire invitation. It was worth the time and extra money I spent to re-do everything and I received many compliments on them.





Bridesmaid Tanks
I purchased the tanks from Old Navy, & the rhinestone names from AC Moore. Each tank including the stones cost about $10 each. I had one for myself with Bride on it, and each bridesmaid and my MOH had one as well. I ironed the rhinestones on the morning of the wedding; it took about 5 minutes each to apply. Ladies don’t spend $30 bucks on these by buying them ready made, everyone will probably wear them once in public so they aren’t worth spending the extra $$ on.





You can see a bridesmaid wearing the tank in the background will I’m retouching my toes…lol


We Do Letters
The letters were from AC Moore. I sprayed them pink with satin spray paint from The Home Depot. I didn’t realize how huge they were until I saw them on the table, so make sure you get the actually wooden letters which are smaller, instead of the white letters.



Cake Topper
Crafty Eddy
[email protected]

Eddie is great. He hand carves the letters out of wood. He will use what ever font in which ever size that you like. If he doesn’t have the font you can email it to him to use. I sprayed the letter in the same satin paint as above, and applied the rhinestones to it with tacky glue. The rhinestones came from AC Moore. I used 2 packs of 144 and they were $2.99 each. Another easy project, but time consuming, so do it early to get it out of the way. My topper is 5 inches just so you can get an idea because he’ll ask you whatsize you want.



Love Letters
These were sprayed also and were on the sweetheart table. A lot of people actually told me they really like the idea, so I’m sure I’ll be seeing it at many non-LIW weddings to come.


Card Box
These frames were also purchased from AC Moore (can you see a trend here?) take advantage of their 40% off coupons which you can print on their website. I printed the pics @ home on my photo printer, and glued the frames together with Liquid Nail from The Home Depot. It comes in a long skinny tube that is blue or copper. If you use this glue you will not be able to take the frames apart afterwards. I didn’t have the patience to screw these together with L brackets so I went with the glue. It took no time to glue them together so it made the project fast and easy. If you use the screws and L brackets you’ll be able to take them apart afterwards to hang in your house.



Seating Chart
I did the layout of the chart how I wanted it, took it to kinkos and had it blown up (this cost a little over $1 in black and white), and purchased the frame from AC Moore. Chateau Briand provided the easle which I found out ahead of time just in case I had to purchase one.



Sign In Board
The frame was also purchased @ AC Moore, I just printed an E-Pic & added it to the frame.




Table Numbers
Glass Vases Purchased from B&J Florist Supply. The mini pillar candles inside the Vases were purchased from AC Moore for like $4.99 per 8. I printed the pics out on vellum, attached it to the cylinder with double sided tape, and then attached the fuscia ribbon to the top.



You can see the boxes for my favors in the background.

Favors
Discount Mugs

I ordered my customized shot glasses from this company. I was able to upload my monogram to have it printed on the glass. The total process took about 3 weeks from the time I ordered them to the time they were received. I also order the boxes for the shot glasses to go in but I wasn’t impressed with the quality. The company ended up giving me a credit for the cost of the boxes, but I ended up using them anyway. I added some satin ribbon to it, & finished it off with a sticker with our monogram on it.




Unity Candle
Candles are from AC Moore. I printed our monogram and saying out on vellum, attached it to the candle, and added ribbon, very simple project. The silver stand was purchased from Ikea. I couldn’t find any holders for the pillar candles that I liked, so I wanted to just have them laying on the table. Chateau Briand ended up supplying their candle holders. They didn’t match which I wasn’t too happy about, but I let it go. No sense in letting something so small spoil my day.



Aisle Runner
One of the most tedious projects because the W in my monogram was so intricate. I messed up the left side a bit, but there was no way I was starting over!!! So I just left it as is. I used acrylic paint on the runner which was purchased from Wrap With Us in Syosset, LI.







Programs & Cry Packs & Basket
I used left over paper from my invitations to make my programs. I double sided printed them, punched holes in them, and added ribbon. The cry packs was simple, just printed our monogram and saying on it. The basket is from AC Moore. It was originally brown, but I sprayed it with the same paint I used on everything else. If you look @ them you wouldn’t even know I didn’t buy them pink.







Menu’s
Again I used left over stock from my invites. I printed out the menu’s and mounted them to textured card stock.


Flipper Basket
Flip Flops - Old Navy
Organza Bags - Your Organza Bag

I got the flip slops on sale @ Old Navy and I used an additional coupon so they were $0.79 each. I put them in wine organza bags, and designed and printed the tags myself and attached them to the bags. These were a big hit!! I only got one back. The baskets were also from AC Moore and I sprayed them pink.









Dress Tag
Just Embroidered Totes
Kim was an absolute doll to deal with. I emailed back and forth with her for about 2 days. She answered my emails very quickly,& the whole process took about 1 week from start to finish. I had to make a different monogram for this because the W on our monogram was just too intricate to embroider. I highly recommend her. Thx to Lisa (missexcited) for posting her info.



Many months later I saw a chair sash somewhere so I decided to go back to Kim’s site and I saw that she sold them so I ordered Mr. & Mrs. Sashes, they were embroidered on satin fabric with a ribbon border, they were very adorable.



Shoes
Shoebuy
Style: Coloriffics Desire
I ordered these Monday night at 11pm & received them Wednesday morning. This site is gr8, they have all kinds of shoes from low end to high end & have free shipping & returns. I ordered them during their President’s Day sale & they were having a 30% off sale so I paid only $53, this was a fantastic deal. One of the gr8 things about this company is u get about 5.5 miles per $1 spent. So if u accumulate airline miles this is a good site to use. The shoes were comfy, but I did switch in and out of them throughout the night.

Shoes b4


Shoe Dying
Rhea Nichols
Rockville Centre, NY
I was so happy to have found this shop. I was originally going to go to Sandy’s, but found this shop which is much closer to my house. I dropped my shoes off with a swatch from the bridesmaid dresses, and they matched it perfectly. The price if you don’t buy your shoes there is $20, but free if you get it from them. If I would have found them earlier I would have purchased my shoes from them. The ladies that work there are so sweet, and it was a very good experience.







Veil
Ebay Seller Value Veil
I ordered a 2 Tier cathedral veil from this seller for only $20 including shipping!! The quality of the veil was terrific & could stand up against any $100+ veil. I just didn’t see the point in spending an arm and a leg on a veil that I would wear for the 30 minute ceremony. The veil came in 3days exactly as described. I took off the veil after a few of the formal pics so I’m really happy I didn’t spend a lot on it.



Close Up




Headband Tiara
Ebay Seller Eden Moment
This is one of the first wedding purchases I made in August 2007. Again extremely inexpensive, I paid I believe $10 including shipping. Again I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on this so ebay was perfect for me. The seller is gr8 & shipping was lightening fast.


Me having a moment, but u can see it here also


Day of Hoodie & Pants
NY & Co
I order this suit online because I caught a sale, I believe the whole thing was $30. I originally ordered one from Old Navy but it was velour and I thought it would be to hot for that day. I saw this one from NY & Co and it was cotton, and very comfortable.



Embroidery
Stitch Art @ Tri-County Flea Market
The booth is located in the back to the left of the elevators. I brought my hoodie in and the lady embroidered it in about 20 mins and it costs $20, and came out great.


Day of Hotel
The Hampton Inn
1 North Avenue
Garden City, NY
516-227-2720

We blocked rooms here, and I also booked a room for myself for the night b4 and day of. I had no problems booking the block, and took care of everything by email. When I originally looked at the hotel I didn’t think the suites were that much bigger than the regular rooms, so I booked a regular room for me. When I got there the night b4 and checked in the room was tiny! I could barely walk around in it, and I knew it would not be comfortable the next day with everyone getting ready. I called the concierge and asked him if they had any suites available and they did. He upgraded me for only $10 which was fantastic because I would have had to pay another $100 for the suite.











Jewelry
Macys
I purchased my earrings and bracelet in the store. I really can’t give a rating because I basically shopped for myself with little help from a salesperson. I though the quality was fantastic, & couldn’t be happier with the jewelry I purchased.

These earrings and bracelet are by Eliot Danori




These earrings are by Givenchy


Rings
Mine: ice.com
DH: eweddingbands.com

Both of these sites I found researching on LIW. I had been eyeing ice.com for a long time. The reason I took my search to the internet is because what I wanted I wouldn’t find in the store for the price I wanted to pay. I ordered my ring from here and had it appraised, and it is worth much more than what I paid for it so I was very happy about that. Don’t be scared of the net for jewelry ladies, as long as you get it appraised why not save some $$ in the process.

DH ring is just white gold but very heavy. With his job we both knew he couldn’t wear diamonds everyday to work, so this textured ring worked well for him. E-weddingbands actually has a brick and mortar store in UT for a long time, and their customer service was top notch.





Dress
Christina Wu 5489
This was one of the most excruciating parts of my journey. I went to numerous bridal shops but could not find a dress that I loved. I had my mind set on one dress that I saw online but the only store that had a sample in the tri-state area was in Rochester, & I was not willing to travel 4hrs to see it, so I scraped the idea of that dress. I went back to my online search & came across Christina Wu’s website. I saw this dress:
and fell absolutely in love with. So off I was to the phones. After making at least 10 phone calls I started to get disappointed because no one had a sample of this dress for me to try on. After about 2 days of trying, my MOH finally found a boutique in Brick, NJ who had it. Although I didn’t end up ordering the dress from them, I will give them a mention http://www.antoinetterose.com/ because although they did try to “sell” me, the saleswoman was really nice. I get turned off when people give me the hard sell. The dress started out at X price but because u are wonderful we will take $200 off, then she took $300 off. After a while I was just turned off. Here are a few pics from that memorable trip to Brick, NJ.
Me getting lost


Trying on the dress



I was dead set against having a taffeta dress, but once I tried on this dress I decided to stay with it because it just looked so amazing in the blue, and I was crossing my fingers that it would look the same in white and it did. Christina Wu was willing to make the dress for me in satin for only $100 extra which I thought was great and I almost did, but I stayed with the taffeta and it was a good decision.

Bridal Elegance
Dix Hills, NY
I ended up ordering the dress from Phyllis. She was gr8 & gave me a good price. While I was there they were having a sample sale, so I found a 2nd dress to wear during the reception for only $99!! Once my main dress came in and I started fittings, the price Phyllis gave me for my main dress for alterations I thought was pretty ridiculous since I needed very minor alterations. She was not willing to budge on the price so I took my main dress to a private seamstress. My 2nd dress, the alterations price was capped, & I needed major alterations on it so I kept it there. Phyliss did an AMAZING job on the alterations. The dress was a sample and it was a size 12. Before I bought it I asked her can she make it fit me and make it look good, her answer was yes and she really did live up to her word. No one would have known the dress could fit two of me in it originally.







Back




Close up of details on 2nd dress


This is when I changed into the 2nd dress. It was rainy and very humid that day, so it was really hot under my dress, I am really glad I had the 2nd dress!


The seamstress that did alterations for some of the bridesmaids made the sash for me and the flower girl also.

Alterations
Lina
Wantagh, NY
516-679-9408

I am so happy I found Lina because now I have somewhere to get alterations in the future. Lina is a doll and she makes you feel so at home in her home. She works at a very popular shop on this site which I won’t name, but she does amazing work! My dress was taken in very slightly on one side, and I got a bustle. If you don’t want to use your bridal shop for alterations definitely check out Lina.

Lina’s Bustle


Phyllis did a gr8 job on this bustle also, I believe it was 2-3 points and it ties also.


Bridesmaid Dresses, Bill Levkoff
Rk Bridal
We ordered the bridesmaid dresses from here with their price match program. I think we ended up paying about $520 for all the dresses including shipping. You really can’t beat their price match program. I wanted the girls to pick their own dresses so everyone would be happy with their choice. My accent color was originally Light Pink, but Levkoff’s light pink wasn’t that appealing to me, so we went with black as the accent.



On the right end the Jr. bridesmaids dress was made by her grandmother. The flower girl dress I purchased from Burlington Coat Factory.

Tuxedos
Mens Warehouse
Oceanside, NY

I went with DH to pick tuxes, and thank goodness I did because he would have picked out a brown tux had I not been there! We went with a striped tux for him, and a black tux for the guys. I went to Century 21 in westbury and found the guys ties and hankies. We had no problems with MW. The pants on DH tux were too long, and the sleeves too short on his shirt, but they corrected both before he left the store. I would definitely recommend this location only; I know people have had problems with other locations.

I luv this pic of them, my step-dad luvs cigars, and bought some for all the guys.


Syms
695 Merrick Ave
Westbury, NY 11590

I purchased our son’s suit from here. There was no way I was renting a tux for him for $80, so I went to Syms, and they had the full tux for only $20…that was the steal of the century!





He ended up sleeping most of the reception


Make-up
Creative Styles – Shannon
[email protected]
I don’t wear make-up only gloss so I really didn’t want to look “made up” on my wedding day. I went to Shannon in March 08 to do a trial and loved what she did. I just told her I want to look like myself, and she went to work. Shannon also did my make-up for my shower which was a different look than my trial and I loved it also. The day of the wedding was a 3rd look…lol. I just told her I wanted a pink eye and she could do whatever else she wanted with the rest of my face. She added lashes and I was done. Shannon is also a hairstylist and did 2 of the girls hair in the bp, and she did everyone’s make-up. She arrived at the hotel on time, and took her time doing everyone’s hair and make-up, I would definitely recommend her!









Hair
Sadie Blades
Sadie is my normal hair stylist. I went to her @ 6am, and was back at the hotel by 7am. She did a great job of course, FM me for her info.

Flowers - DIY
Before I decided to do my own flowers I met with at least 10 different florists and none of them wowed me, and I knew there had to be better flowers out there then what they were presenting. I went down to the flower district 1yr prior to my wedding to see what was in season at the time to see if I would find anything unique. I saw a flower called celosia aka cox comb & I thought it was amazing! It is the most unusual flower. It looks kind of like hydrangea but it is very thick and feels like velvet. I know it is something I have never seen before, and probably many other people haven’t either. When I saw the price I was like wow! I was quoted between $1500-$2500 for only 10 low centerpieces and personals for the bp, and when I did the math I could buy enough flowers for 20 centerpieces and all the personals for about $360 so that is when I decided to DIY the flowers. I couldn’t believe how much of a mark-up florists charge for flowers, and they probably get them even cheaper than I could.

28TH Street Wholesale Flower - F
105 W. 28th St
New York, NY 10001
I went to this shop many times over the year leading up to my wedding. I always dealt with a very nice older man who was always very helpful and always answered any questions that I had. I did a few samples of bouquets and centerpieces to make sure it was doable before I committed to doing the flowers, and on more than one occasion he gave me the flowers for free! My MOH went here 2 weeks prior to the wedding to place the order. We made sure to mention that on the light pink roses there was to be absolutely no white on the roses, and this was clearly written on the receipt as well. I hate pink roses when the bottom is white & only the tips are pink so I knew this is not what I wanted, they had to be fully pink. We go to pick up the flowers on the Thursday before the wedding and low and behold the pink flower were white with pink tops! I was really outraged. They couldn’t admit that they ordered the wrong flowers, and were willing to do nothing to fix the error. The hot pink flowers I ordered weren’t hot pink either. They said that we had to order fuscia roses which was complete b-s. I took only the cox-comb and told them they could go F themselves! I went down the block and purchased all the roses in hot pink, & fully light pink for even cheaper than what I was paying there.

Pic of centerpieces


Full table


Cocktail Hour Arrangement
I purchased the orchids from Fisher & Paige on 28th street. They have the most beautiful flowers and the most expensive!! But these orchids were well worth it.



The girls with their bouquets


My bouquet




San Giorgio Florist A+
472 Westbury Ave
Carle Place, NY 11514
516-333-4600
http://www.sangiorgioflorist.com/
I didn’t plan on doing corsages for the mothers, but I asked the concierge at the hotel for a local florist and called them up, and they were able to do it. They originally told me 2hrs, but called me back pretty quickly to say they were done. I ordered 4 in total, paid over the phone by credit card, and my DOC went to pick them up.

Me ordering the corsages…talk about last minute!


My mother’s corsage


My mothers dress is by Adriana Papell and she got it from Nordstrom. There was no way I was taking her to a bridal shop to look @ the typical “MOB Dresses” I wanted her to wear something that she liked and something she could wear again.

On to the wedding vendors:

Day of Coordinator
Elite Affairs – Lisa
347-893-8605
Lisa really made things run very smoothly the day of. She started out with us at the hotel, and helped get last minute things together for me including my broom which I totally forgot about. She went to the florist to pick up the corsages, brought the centerpieces over to the hall with my MOH, helped sew straps on some of the girls dresses, helped me pee!!! and so much more!!! It is really worth it to have a DOC, and Lisa in particular! She did a fantabulous job, and a lot of things would have fell through the cracks had she not been there. For you future brides, hire Lisa, she is the best!!!! and a LIW/NYC vendor.

Decorating my broom


Helping one of the BM’s get dresses




The last person I saw as a single woman


Officiant
Prophet Jermaine Williams
PM Me for his # if you need an officiant

Jermaine was really great, he is young and really added something special to our ceremony. We didnt go over the ceremony before hand, I just told him to wing it, & I think he did well.


Ceremony Music
M.A.S. Music
Marie Stack
917-841-1617
I contacted Marie about a month before the wedding to inquire about her playing the violin during our ceremony. I had heard her play at a friends wedding in August and she was amazing so I decided to contact her. Marie was very prompt in responding to my emails, and sent me out a contract right away. The songs that I wanted her to play really wouldn’t have sounded that great on a violin, so she sent me a list of songs as suggestions and I found 3 songs that I really loved. She made the process simple and easy, and she sounded great. When I was preparing to walk down the aisle I totally forgot that we hired her, but once I heard her playing a smile came to my face, and I was just really moved to hear her play.



This is the song I walked in to


Photography
Dana Lee Jones Photography
Dana is truly a godsend! I met her online through an LIW sister site. We also belong to another site 2gether and she posted some pics of a photo shoot that she did and I thought they were amazing, as did everyone else on the site. My MOH contacted Dana to photograph my bridal shower and she did an amazing job! We barely noticed she was there, and when she sent me the proofs she got so many great shots, and I was just like wow, you got the best shots, and you were never in the way. After I saw the pics from my bridal shower I contacted Dana and asked her to be the 2nd shooter @ my wedding. My main photographer didn’t really have the artsey style that Dana has, so I was really happy that she was able to shoot my wedding. She started with the girls at the hotel and she did her thing while we were getting ready. Book Dana while you can before she gets super expensive!! Dana was a gr8 2nd shooter, but if I knew about her a year ago she would have been my main photographer….thx a bunch Dana!!

Jourdan Leon Photography
I knew I was on a tight budget & I didn’t have thousands to spend on a photographer. My MOH actually saw Jacob’s add in the phone book and she contacted him. We met with him in Brooklyn and I booked him a few weeks later after he did our e-pics. This is the one area of the wedding planning process that I wish I would have taken a little more time on. While Jacob’s pictures are good, I later realized that his style really wasn’t 100% what I wanted, so I was really happy that I found Dana. During the alone pics with me & DH I could tell Jacob was getting on Dana’s nerves because he was getting on mine also. Dana would work after he was done with his shot. She would set us up for another shot & Jacob would come in behind her and get the same shot. He did this a few times and it really annoyed me. Other than that everything else went well.


DJ
FM Entertainment
When I first started planning I just knew I would have an African American DJ. After dealing with one DJ who wasn’t getting back to me in a timely manner I decided to give the DJ search a break. Fast forward to Jan 08 and the WOTY. FM was the DJ and they were fantastic. Justin was DJ’ing and I just knew I had to have him. I chatted with Frank the owner and set up an appointed for the following week. They do a live showcase in their showroom so you can see exactly what you are getting. I booked Justin as the DJ & Mike as the MC. Come the day of the wedding we go in to chat with the DJ/MC and Mike breaks the news to me that Justin is no longer with the company. I was p i s s e d at 1st because I just confirmed everything with them the week before and they told me nothing about this, but I told Mike no explanation need, just rock the house, and that’s what they did! We are str8 rap (DH) & rNb (me) and that’s what they played. I also gave them a list of reggae songs that we wanted to hear and they nailed it. So I learned a valuable lesson when booking my DJ, don’t get stuck on a certain type of DJ, get out there and listen to a few and see which one fits your style the best.

Mike the MC


This is the DJ...sry cant remember his name


Us getting busy












Halo Productions
I booked Halo a year in advanced. I met with Jose at his home office. Going in I knew I would book them because their work was good, and the price was right, so meeting was just a technicality. We had Jack the day of. He was really funny & stayed out of the way. I give him an A. Full grade is pending receipt of our video.

Jack with the ladies


Limo's
Camelot Limousine
I met with Joe probably 9 months before the wedding. We decided not to book limos since we were having everything at one location. About a month before the wedding DH decides that he wants a limo so I contact Joe and we booked them. We only had a pick up drop off with one car. The limo met DH and the guys at his moms house, dropped them at the reception hall, then picked the girls up from the hotel and dropped us at the hall. The limo was nice and clean, no complaints here.










We also had a town car at the end of the night to bring us home.

Reception Hall
Chateau Briand A+++++
Chateau Briand puts on a fantastic party. The whole process from booking them to the wedding was flawless except for the fact that my original banquet manager left, but other than that they were great. The way they set up the ceremony was just flawless. The flowers were so beautiful, and once I turned the corner I just said wow, I was just truly blown away.













We were able to attend about 15 minutes of the CH, and from what I saw everyone was having a great time, and the food looked amazing.

Pics from CH



















Thank You Cards
Zazzle

I designed these and uploaded them to zazzle. The process was very simple, and the quality of the cards are amazing. These are 5x7 glossy cards, and they are really thick. Definitely worth the money.

Front


Back


Some of my favorite shots:



DH & his grandmother


With nair on my arms and legs


DH texting me asking if I was going to show up










Honeymoon
Cabo Villa Beach Resort

We’ve owned a timeshare for about 4yrs now so it was only natural that we would exchange one of our weeks. I knew I wanted to go to Cabo, and Cabo Villas is located on the best beach in Cabo, and you can walk right into town. This resort isn’t a mega resort, it only has about 200-300 rooms, but that is one of the reasons why I chose it. The rooms were impeccable, the food was amazing!!! I never though I would try so much Mexican food. We saved a lot of money on the wedding so we really splurged on the honeymoon with food and drinks and activities, and it was well worth it.

Our room on arrival




One of the restaurants








Preparing for zip lining






Parasailing






Going out to Scuba


I hoped you enjoyed my review, FM me with any questions.

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

Fantastic review. The pics are beautiful.
All your DIYs came out great! Congrats!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

Wonderful review. You looked beautiful!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

amazing pics u looked great congrats iam using lisa too

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

Great Review!! Congrats!!!


Everything looked fabulous and you looked stunning!!!! Your DIY's came out great!!!!


Your son is adorable!!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

Wow!! What a beautiful review!! Everything looked amazing! Your dress, your hair and makeup... just gorgeous!! Love all your DIY projects too. You can't even tell that you made a mistake on your DIY aisle runner.... since you said something, I was looking for it, and I can't find anything except perfection! I love how your photographer got a shot of the sheet music for Kenny G's 'Forever In Love,' one of my favorite songs! We used his 'The Moment' for our bridal party processional.

And that pic of your DH texting you to see if you were going to show up is PRICELESS!!!

Thanks for sharing such a great review!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

Your review was fabolous, you looked beautiful and all of your diys came out gorgeous. I hope mines come out like yours

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

What an amazing and detailed review. You did a phenomenal job and all the DIY's were so incredible. I loved ALL your dress and I really loved your shower dress with the pockets!!!
Congratulations. You were a beautiful bride who put together a beautiful day! congrats!!!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

I'm also a CB Bride (in July), and your review made me love them even more, everything looked so beautiful, Congrats!!!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

wow!!! great review!!!

i really love your whole pink/black theme!!!

you looked amazing!

the last picture of you and your DH (!!!) before your HM review is my favorite!!!!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

What a beautiful review!!! Everything looks gorgeous!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

Great review.. Congrats, everything looks sooo beautiful

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

What a fantastic review. You looked great!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

What a great review!!! Everything came out beautifully!!! Congrats!!!!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

Amazing, Amazing, Amazing! Congrats. Everything looked beautiful and I especially love your second dress! Such a nice touch to have a hot pink sash to match your ladies!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

I loved your review..I didnt want it to end!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant wait for my wedding at CB!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

Awesome awesome review!!!

I had Mike also has my MC...I was worried b/c he wasn't Frank, but he did a GREAT job.

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

Your review was great and very detailed!! I'm going to contact your cupcake person.

Your pictures look great! Congrats!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

great review! Congrats on a beautiful wedding! Your flowers turned out great- good job!! And your son is adorable!!! Congrats to you and your new husband!

Re: My 09/27/08 wedding Chateau Briand, Elite Affairs, Dana Lee Jones Photography, MAS Music, FM Entertainment, Halo Productions, Camelot Limos, and much more!

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Posted by CC11208

Wow!! What a beautiful review!! Everything looked amazing! Your dress, your hair and makeup... just gorgeous!! Love all your DIY projects too. You can't even tell that you made a mistake on your DIY aisle runner.... since you said something, I was looking for it, and I can't find anything except perfection! I love how your photographer got a shot of the sheet music for Kenny G's 'Forever In Love,' one of my favorite songs! We used his 'The Moment' for our bridal party processional.

And that pic of your DH texting you to see if you were going to show up is PRICELESS!!!

Thanks for sharing such a great review!

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Thank you!!

The Kenny G Song was one of Marie Staks recommendations and I am glad it was because it really is a beautiful song.

The pic of the text is my favorite...u took the words right out of my mouth!