My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Our wedding was perfection. Everything went off fairly well and a good chunk of our guests enjoyed themselves. We got several 'Best Wedding' compliments. It was so rewarding due to the fact that my husband and I's main concern was the guests. We wanted them to enjoy themselves.

Here is my review. I hope this helps you all as much as previous reviews helped me. Good luck to all the future brides! All scores from F-A+++


Adrienne's A
Bride Gown and Bridesmaids Dresses
I was so scared of dress shops after a wedding I was in wedding where the salon butchered our bridesmaid dresses. So after reading several reviews here, I choose Adrienne's and it was a great desicion. I got my gown there as well as the bridesmaids, Bill Levkoff. Ordering went fine except for when my mother went to order her dress, they told her it was available in Royal Blue, but it wasn't so a week later they creditted the account. Also, my sister's dress was suppose to come with extra material for an ivory waistband, but it didn't so they rushed it and it was there for the next fitting. Only four bridesmaids got alterations there, and all four were pleased, especially my anal retentive friend who notices everything. Another reason I loved Adrienne's was I ordered my dress a size smaller for inspiration, and I got into it, except it was not zippering all the way up, not to fear, Cleo, my seamstress, added the material and nobody ever noticed. It was amazing. Request Cleo.

Metamorphis A+
MOB Dress
This is where my mother ended up getting her gown. She was so happy because it was one of the few places where she could try on everything in every size. Prices are high, but the service is better than Kleinfields.


Lord & Taylor A+
MOG Dress
This is where my MIL got her dress. What an amazing find, three pieces all for around $500. She was so happy and felt extremely comfortable in her dress

David's Bridal B
JR Bridesmaid Dress
Ok, on this one its tough to grad. A month before I decided to add our close friends daughter to our wedding party. She was 11 and too old for a FG dress and too young for a bridesmaid dress. So we went to Davids. Sevice was HORRIBLE, but we did find something right there and brought it home. For last minute things, they were great, but service was painful

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Barrons A++++++
This is where I got my hair pins & hair comb. Since I was wearing a mantilla, a tiarra would have been to much, so I opted for a comb instead. I was guided there from my of my knotties & liwedding gals to check it, and I'm glad I did.

Mommy A++++++++++++++++++++
My mom made our programs and I wore her veil from 1979. It was so special to me to have something of my mom's with me!

Tri-County A+
This is where we got our FG's dress. I could be here all day telling you the drama my FG's mother started, but either way, it was a two months before the wedding and we still had no dress. My mom, sister and me decided to just pick something our. For $70 we got the dress and the headpiece. Check it out!

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Craft Shoes B-
Brides Shoes & MOH Shoes Dyed
Ok, they have a huge selection, service kinda pushy, but I needed flats to dye ivory and they had them. For the bride, things went perfect so I recommened them to my sister for her shoes, well they dyed them wine (p.s. she gave them a sample of her dress). To be fair, my sister didn't say anything then, she was in a rush and didn't notice until she got home. Prices are reasonable.

Estelle's A
Brides Earrings
My mom and me were there looking for FG dresses and happened to find my earrings. They were nice and the price was right.

Fredrick's of Hollywood A
Corset for Bride
I was looking everywhere for a corset to lift and suck. Well, fredrick's has them for around $70. I purchased it and sadly it showed at the top of my dress so I didn't use it, but I will be selling it for around $30. FM if interested. I would still recommend them.

Avon A+++
Bridesmaid Jewelry
Found a necklace, earrings, and a bracelet that was mature for $12 each. I would recommend checking there website. This was part of the girls gifts.

Pugliese Vineyard A
Bridesmaid Gift
Pugliese on the North Folk does personalized wine bottles, so I got each girl a bottle of zin with a special thank you message.

The Knot Store A+++
Favors and Bridesmaid Gifts
Almost done with BM gifts, I got them each monogramed key chains on the website along with our coffee packets for our favors. When they have a sale, the prices are unbeatable!

Macys B
Registry, Wedding Rings & Bridesmaid Gifts
Registy gets a C, but I found beautiful frames there for each of my girls. Plus, we got our wedding rings there, with my holiday discount, for an amazing rate. We were so happy to find ones there that suite us.

Attias Flea Market A+
Kids Gifts
I went her looking for frames for my Bridesmaids and ended up walking out with a personalized silver necklace for my FG and two baskets for my FG & RB with their names on it. They are only 4, so something age appropriate.

Ebay A++++
favors, best man gift, frames for family, kilt
LOVE EBAY!

Papermart A++
favor pouches
we got our favor pouches there, highly recommend

Cedarhurst Paper F for East Northport, A+++ for Medford
Invitations
Ok, well Cedarhurst Paper has the best prices on invites around. So we live in Smithtown so we went to the East Northport location. They didn't help us and when we asked they snapped back with 'We don't help you with invitations' . So we called up the Medford location to complain and they said 'Come right in'. We delt with Peg and she was amazing. Made us feel like we were in a fancier place. Invites came in 4 days!!

Corey Creek Vineyard A++
OOT wines
Since my maiden name was Forde, and Hubby's name is Dodge, we found Red Road Red Wine with cars on it. We put homemade labels on them and gave them to our OOTers at the hotel.

Vistaprint A+++
STD and Address Labels
We ordered magnets for our STD and gave them with our E-Party invitation, two birds with one stamp!! Then we ordered address labels for our wedding thank yous. Fast shipping, get prices, highly recommend.

Inkspun A
Calligraphy
For an amazing rate, then computerized address all of our envelopes. Only three mistakes.

Garden Grill A+
Rehearsal Dinner
We had the upstairs room and it was great. Food was yummy, nice and private, it helped get everyone excited for the big day!!

Fashion Formalwear D
Tuxes
Ok, well this was one of the worst vendors for our wedding. They are located in the Mayfair Limo place. First, the price was amazing, $109 each. So that was good, but you get what you pay for. Every single tux was wrong, they had to get re-fitted. Then, two days after, my MIL goes at 11AM to drop off the tuxes, but hello they are closed. Then we receive a call at 1PM asking where they are. The woman who runs the place said she had a doctors apt, but she wanted to charge us a late fee. We didn't pay, but I don't recommend them.

Mayfair Limos C-
Limos
Ok, hard to rate because ultimately we were happy. First, the day before the wedding they call my husband to tell him that one of our 8 passengers was in an accident and couldn't be used, so they subbed in a rolls royce, but only for one way. It did work out until the day of, me & my dads limo had a piece of lighting hanging down, the other limo didn't know where to go. Ultimately, this were minor errors, but the price was great and they were on time (the guys were late!!). The real reason for the C- has to do with after the fact. We were stated in our contract, like every other limo company, that we got one free ride to the airport for our honeymoon. So after the wedding we called, they wanted us to pay for the gratuity, salary & gas. Hello, I understand gratuity and almost understand gas, but SALARY. So I said what is free and the gentleman John flipped out saying 'This is a nice thing we do, we did your wedding, nice way to thank us. Most companies don't offer this and we do. People forget about their free ride anyway. '. Needless to say, we aren't using them, but he was a complete jerk and I wouldn't never use them again.


Jackie from jdncosmetics.com C-
makeup
All the faces came out great including mine but my bridesmaids were disappointed.. The main reason for a C- has to do with my tattoo. I went for a trial to cover it up. Jackie used normal makeup and it lasted 6 hours! The day of she bought the tattoo cover up kit (that gets bad review generally) and used that. Well, then everybody noticed because it did not blend at all. I didn't want people asking me 'Is that a scar' which I got a lot of.

Mya from Cosmetic Artistry A++++
Makeup
Mya was great, all but one of my friends loved their hair (but my friend is nerotic and is extremely picky and got what she asked for). She does amazing work. I was so in love with my hairstyle. It lasted all night, and my sister who got her hair done at 8AM, well it stayed until 4AM!!!! She even wants her for her wedding. She works fast, her prices are so reasonable and she is a delight. Totally pleasant and a great person to have around you the morning of. Highly recommend!

AC Moore A+
Guest Book Pen & Programs

Wrap with Us A+
guest book & Wedding Stuff

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

So far so good! Your pictures are lovely and so far it sounds like you had a great day, congrats! Can't wait to read the rest of your review with your big vendors!

Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Burtons B+
Florist
Well, for the price they are amazing. Everything looked fantastic when it was delivered and the CP's were lovely and fresh. Everything was full, I loved that. My only complaint is that I had a cascading BQ, loved it, but as the day went on, especially once we got to Villa and started funky poses for pics, I began loosing flowers. By the time we were introduce, my BQ was smaller than my BM's. I wouldn't have saved it anyway, but I still was a little disappointed. But the flowers were great looking!!

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Tommy Tunes A+
DJ
Ok, we saw them at our friends wedding and we blown away. Then, we saw them at the Villa Showcase and got even more excited. We first went in there wanting Joe E., but the other Villa bride for that night booked him. So I looked at the reviews here and then requested Frankie. He was great. Very energenic. They played 90% of our requests. My husband and I were getting nervous that people were beginning to leave so we asked Frankie to play more music, to find out that there was only 10 minutes left of our reception. The dancefloor was packed with all ages for most of the night. We love Paradise by the Dashboard Light, and it skipped in the middle, but no biggie. We were very pleased. In fact, the wedding next door with Joe E., my friends parents were at. They left and came to party with us saying 'This music is much better'. Made our night!

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Patken Photographer A++++++++++++++++
Photography/Videography
After dragging my hubby to 7 different companies, we immediately feel in love with Patken. After reading tons of reviews, we requested Steve. What an amazing choice. He was so amazing to work with, had patience with our large, drunk, irish BP, and took so many creative shots. He made me look skinny! He took all but one shot that we requested. He went above and beyond a normal photographer. For instance, my MIL is one of 4 girls. Well her one sister showed up late, we thought Steve missed that shot, but he took it at the end of the night when they were all there. The entire staff at Patken has helped us so much. We don't have our video yet, but I'm sure its going to be great. Tim was our videographer. So much fun to work with. One of our friends is getting married and got their business card at our wedding! They asked them for it! As for turnaround time, we got our proofs in two weeks, picked our thank you via phone, got it in two days, and thank yous are going out this weekend. If you have Patken and have Steve & Tim, you have nothing to worry about!
(all pictures are from the patkenphotographer website. to access all of our proofs,
go to patkenphotographer.com
then client
then event as Forde
choose Forde2
password 03042006

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

St. Patrick's RC Church A
Church
Ok, I feel funny rating a church, but I do understand why. Both hubby and I are Catholic so it was no choice but our own to have a full mass. Our priest is my uncle, so we didn't use a St. Patrick's Priest. The place is beautiful. They don't allow aisle runners, but do allow petals to be tossed. Elga, an annoying coordinatior, runs the show. I didn't have any problems, but hubby tells me she was asking everyone wear her tip was. Hello, I was told by the rectory we don't tip you. We took Pre-Cana in St. Pat's in Huntington due to the fact that St. Pat's in Smithtown wasn't running it. Rehearsals are always the Friday before your wedding. I respect a church and feel it provided the symbol of marriage to perfection.

Sean Forde A++++++++
Cermony Music
Ok, sure Sean is my brother, but he played the chello during communion and it meant so much to all of us!! My brother's email is [email protected]
feel free to email him because he is looking to do more weddings and make a side job of it

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

The pictures came out wonderful, you looked gorgeous. Congrats again on your wedding.

Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Alexis Malcolm A++++
Kilt Accessories
When Dave told me he first wanted to wear a kilt, I freaked out, its my day. But after all was said and done, it was amazing. Alexis Malcolm, one of the few American Kilt companies, is located in Florida. After several times trying to call Scottland, I gave up. Yes we ordered the kilt from Ebay, but we needed to get the shoes, sporran, etc. They were so hands on. Called me every week to check up on shipping, etc. I would totally recommend them and recommend your hottie men try a kilt!! It made the party!

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Congrats!! Looks like you had a fabulous time!!

Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Peter Kirkonas A++
bagpiper
He was a family friend. It was strange having something booked for the wedding without a contract, but he did great.

Bottles & Cases A+++
Booz for the Groomsmen
Dave didnot want to get the guys something engraved that they would never use, so he got them each a bottle of fancy scotch. Best Prices and a club card where you save some serious money!!

Holiday Inn Ronkonkoma A+++++
Hotel
We choose this hotel because our close friend works there and got us an amazing $109 rate, but also they provided a shuttle to/from Villa. Very convinent for our guests, and us. We got a room comp. because we had over 20 rooms reserved for us over two nights. The service was great, very relaxing and so easy to get to. Would recommend!



Irish Elegance A+++
Unity Candle & Parent Gifts

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

And, for the moment you have all been waiting for...

Villa Lombardi's A++++++++++++++++++++
Reception
Their motto is 'Reputation is Everything' and it is. Talk about service, both of us have spent several years in the hospitality field, and Villa blew us away. From the planning to the leaving, they did everything to perfection. Our Bridal Attendant Charlene took care of our BP, never was a drink empty, never was a dirty plate left around. The cocktail hour is a party of its own. We arrived a half an hour earlier than we were suppose to and they took us in with open arms. Everyone said best food, hands down. Our Maitre'd, the bartenders, etc all treated everyone with respect. We were the king and queen of the day. The grounds are beautiful, they kiss your feet, it was like being on a cruise! And with 7 choices for dinner, everyone left happy. Our cake was delicious and the cannolis on the tables made everyone Irish feel a bit Italian. In fact, they threw in red potatos as an 11th choice for the sternos because we were Irish! Our OOTers were amazed, they never saw so much food. There price is competitve and I would recommend them to everyone, anyone as the best place for a wedding!!

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Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

I've been waiting for this review!!!! You look gorgeous in all your pictures!!! Congrats. Love the A+++++++++++++++ for Villa's.

Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Everything looked BEAUTIFUL!!! Congrats!!

Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Great Review Kerry - Congratulations!

Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Beautiful pics Kerry!!!!!!!! So glad you had a wonderful day!!!!!! Love the shot of you peeking under DH's kilt!!

Thanks for the honest review!!

Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

GREAT review Kerry! Everything looked beautiful!!!!

Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

Everything looked perfect. Your pictures are beautiful!!! Congrats on having such a wonderful day!!!!

Re: My 3/4/06 Review of Villa Lombardi's, Patken, Tommy Tunes, Burtons, etc. WITH PICS!

You look beautiful and your review is great

Congrats to you and DH