my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

This is the review of our June 18th wedding at St. Josephs in Babylon and reception at the Hamlet Willow Creek. The day was beautiful, a bit warm but with a nice breeze. It was perfect in every sense of the word. I never felt nervous about getting married, but I worried about everything going right. It did and looking back I would not change one thing, well that’s not true. I would have had my MOH little brother run into the church with a bell yelling the bride is coming. Other than that, the Love and Friendship we felt from everyone in our BP, our families and friends was amazing. After 10 years of dating this was the dream I was always afraid of picturing since I didn’t want to jinx our relationship. It was a perfect ending of one phase of our lives and the beginning of the next.

Below are my reviews of my vendors, several of which you may never of heard of. Once I get my proofs I will post some more pictures. All of the extras at the wedding I ended up doing myself with my moms help. Programs, bells, memorial candles and cry packets at the ceremony. Votive placecards, wish bowl, menus, camera tags, bathroom baskets, donation cards, jordan almonds, favor decorations for the reception.... Thank God I had 1.5 years to do all this stuff It was so much fun to do and I actually miss doing it. All the material I got at Michaels, AC Moore and Quickpic (sp??) paper.

Favors: 10
Wrap with Us
I ordered our favors early last year as soon as we decided on what we wanted. I went to Wrap with Us with my mom after finding out about it her on LIW. Thank God for that place, it had everything. After bringing home several “samples” DH and I decided on the heart shaped handle ice cream scooper. We love ice cream and it was perfect for us to give. Our guests loved it! I got everything here from the wrapping paper, flowers, rings and ribbons. Awesome place to shop, even though it is easy to go overboard in that place.


Invitations: 10
Invitations by Dawn
The hardest thing to decide on was the invitations for us. Our underlying theme for the wedding was elegant sophistication. In the back of my head really wanted something with Calla Lilies and could find anything we liked. We definitely found several invites that we loved but I couldn’t see spending around $700 on something that got thrown out. With time getting short I was getting very nervous. After reading a post on LIW I went to the Invitations by Dawn website and found the most perfect invite! Soft colors, 2 calla lilies … even my DH said it was perfect. I ordered them over the net on a Wed. night and received them I think Monday afternoon. Everything was included except the tissue paper liner. We decided it was not really necessary so we didn’t bother to make any. My mom hand wrote each address and they were mailed a week later.



Bridal Salon for Bride: 10
Bay Shore Bridal
We had no issues with the bridal party dresses since after dealing with previous problems with their alterations we watched every little thing they did. The girl’s dresses looked amazing. Especially for a color that was chosen on a whim. When I started looking at dresses I kept going back to a coral color, it was so different and stunning. However, my girls come in all shapes and sizes and some are very pale. I decided to go a bit darker even though it was a summer wedding. I didn’t want red because my SIL used that 6 months earlier. When I thought I would never find what I like I saw this new color from Impressions Bridal called cinnamon, I made my decision based off a 1” sample! When the dresses came in the color was so different, so perfect for all of them! (Thank God) The dresses themselves were two pieces so my MOH be different. The skirts all had trains that got bustled. Unforunatley these are all I have right now and there not the best.




Bridal Salon for Bride: 8
Bay Shore Bridal
I hunted for my dress for months. The dress I ended up getting is the first one I tried on. But only after 4 months of more searching and constant “what do I do”, did I go and order it. What got me about the dress is the train; the lace work is absolutely beautiful and so classic. It took a bit longer than they estimated to come in but with still enough time before the wedding. My first fitting went ok, except that that they kept telling me that I needed their bra that what I had would not look right. So I gave in, then they tell me they don’t have my proper size but that’s ok because the fitting of the dress will put in place. I was so not happy when I left that I went to Blum’s and had them size me properly and I used that one for my next fitting. Well, let me tell you there was a big difference! And it was for the better. During my last fitting I noticed the seams along my torso were bunched and it was very noticeable to me. They said they would fix it but when I put it on the day of the wedding it was still there. I saw it more than anyone else did because I already had that picture perfect image in my head. The biggest problem we encountered is that the day I was to pick it up along with the BM dresses the salon forgot and didn’t have them pressed yet. They told me 10am, then 11am….. it was 1pm before they came out with my dress. I missed the BP nail appointment and BP luncheon I planned with my girls (they enjoyed it though). In a few words I was very angry! Then I get my dress home, there are no veils and my dress is stained!!! I brought it back and they removed the stains while I waited. I was ready to scream at that point, things you don’t need the day before your wedding. All in all I loved dealing with them while searching and ordering the dress but the alterations is a different story.



Tiara: 10
Bridesave.com
After finding out that there was a matching tiara for my dress on the Private Label website I contacted the bridal salon. They quoted me $250 for it. I knew I could get it cheaper than that! I found it on Bridesave for $95!!! Ordering was easy and after I realized I ordered the wrong color their customer service was easy to deal with to change it. I received it in about 5 weeks and it was perfect!



Tuxedo for Groom and GM: 9
S&S Tuxedo in Hicksville
My DH waited to 4 weeks before the wedding to go and pick out his tuxes… I figured it was too late and his pickings slim. S&S had everything he needed and so many to try on. Having some GM out of state they were very easy to deal with when it came to giving measurements and ordering over the phone. There was only one problem with the sizing but my DH went right over and they fixed it right away with no hassles.

Shoes for BM and MOB: 9
Craft Shoes
All my BM got their shoes from here and the purchasing part was easy. My mom had several pairs ordered since they didn’t have her size and again no pushiness or hassles about it. However, the dying wasn’t easy. All the shoes were dyed together; I figured the colors would match perfectly. They didn’t match the dress completely and some were not dyed properly. The dye didn’t cover the entire shoe along the sole and the white was very noticeable. They fixed the problem with no charge and were very nice about it. It just stinks being the one to constantly be going back and forth (my BP is scattered across the US).

Rehearsal Dinner: 10
Francesco’s in Babylon
We decided to hold our RD at a local restaurant that my family loves to go to. It is a small family style restaurant that doesn’t look like much from the outside but the service and food are the best. I had about 40 people at the rehearsal and we took up at least half the restaurant but they arranged the tables perfect to have enough room for all. Everyone loved the food and there was so much of it. I did one of the party packages so everything was included, I even had them change the meals that came with the package because of the different tastes of my guests and my DH loves one of their Zuppa de clams (I wanted to make sure he was happy).

Groom’s Cake: 10+
Audrey’s Bakery
OMG, the cake. I had a groom’s cake done in the shape of a Ferrari Enzo for my DH (it’s a sweet car!) I dealt with Tommy and it was so easy, I did the planning through email and only went into pay and pick it up. DH knew nothing of it and what a surprise for him! The restaurant kept it hidden for me and I brought it to him as a present when they began to serve coffee. Everyone got a kick out of it as cakes like this are not very commonly seen. They couldn’t believe it was a cake at first. It looked exactly like the photo I sent them even down to the horse symbol on the rear! The cake was moist and delicious! I was told it would feed about 15 -20 people but we got 35 out of it and still had a little less than ½ left over.




DJ: 10+
Tommy Tunes
Tommy Tunes was the first DJ we met with and after meeting with several others the perfect one for us. We sat with Tommy and within 10 minutes it felt like we were sitting with an old friend. We were all laughing and joking around. We used Jerry for the CH and he was amazing. Everyone was surprised to see this guy walking around with just a mic and sounding just like Frank Sinatra. For the reception we decided (after all the LIW reviews) to use Joe E and thank God we did. He was great, kept everyone up and dancing but didn’t have to get in anyone’s faces. We wanted someone who could keep the place moving but wasn’t the type to drag people out and possibly embarrass them. I couldn’t believe my family was up so much that night as the floor was never empty. The music played was exactly what we asked for and the particular songs we wanted were played. I even had him get everyone to sing happy birthday to my dad… it was great! The music was never too loud and you could have a conversation and not yell over it. They were all very professional with all our guests and their personalities were great.

Photographer: so far 10+
Duet Photography
Scott and Jay
These guys were amazing! We had already done our epics with Scott and felt very comfortable with him. DH and I met with A LOT of photographers and I was actually starting to get nightmares about not finding one we liked. Duet was the last one I had set a meeting with and oh were we surprised. From the moment we walked everyone was so nice and never pushy. Eric sat down with us and showed us several albums and was very accommodating when it came down to what we wanted and our budget. They work was just breathtaking, exactly what we were looking for. A photojournalist feel but still somewhat traditional. What was a sign to me (I believe in those) was when I opened one of the books and the center page was a pano of our church and the priest who was to marry us. Talk about signs, I was sold! Scott met us at our house around noon and start right away. What an eye for pictures, I saw some of the photojournalist shots he was taking of my niece and of my BP when they weren’t looking. I can’t wait to see those pictures! Jay met DH and his family at the church and took care of al his shots. These guys never stopped…. Always taking pictures, always happy and making us laugh. We were extremely comfortable with them and both DH and I hate having pictures taken. The last thing we wanted was to get to a point where the laughs felt force. We never got there, and enjoyed every moment of it. Scott was so into his work that he never thought twice about getting on the ground to get a particular shot. At the reception the only time I actually saw them was during the dances and cake cutting. Otherwise they were all over the room capturing everything. They never go in the way of our guest and having fun. Totally amazing guys. I just can’t wait to see the proofs….

Hair: 10+
Sheers of Elegance, East Northport
I had a picture in my head of what I wanted my hair to look like for the wedding and have been growing it out for the last 1 1/2 years to achieve it. The trail I did went great but I was still not sure of how it would all come together, the hair, tiara and veil. I wanted curls draped down my back but had 2 veils to attach for church but still wanted the hair to look great after they were removed. Well, needless to say she made my dreams come true! She was patient and so detail orientated. The curls stayed put all night and didn’t loosen and most importantly the bobby pins didn’t hurt. When the veils were removed the hair underneath didn’t even look like it was effected by them. It was perfect!

Makeup: 10+
Jacqueline Nicole
Jacqueline made me feel so beautiful that day and that’s not easy to do. I did a trail last year but in the last few weeks I began to doubt the look I was going for. Sometimes I think too much and make myself crazy over what else I could be doing. Well Needless to say, I did a second trial with her the week before the wedding and she was great and so honest with me about everything. I found a photo which I loved the makeup in but when done on my face it didn’t look as good, oh well. The day of the wedding she came around 9:30am and worked on us till noon. All my girls looked beautiful and were so happy with there makeup. My mom was stunning! I have never seen her with makeup like that (we don’t use much of it) and what a difference and it made her look wonderful in the pictures. A big difference the right makeup can do for pictures. Then my turn, she had a very calming effect on me. I was not nervous about getting married or things like that but found that as she did my makeup I didn’t even care about everyone standing around watching, the photographer snapping away or the craziness I heard inside the house. It was very relaxing, for those 45 minutes or so I just did not care. She was awesome to sum it up!

Church: 10
Saint Joseph’s RCC in Babylon
I absolutely love this church. The church itself is absolutely beautiful with red brick inside and out, a long isle and a high painted domed ceiling. It makes you feel as if you entered an old cathedral style church. Unfortunately you can’t use a runner and the carpet could use some cleaning. Otherwise its picture perfect. The organist/cantor is amazing; she has such a great voice. The priest we met with and who married us was so nice and accommodating. I wanted to add some things to the ceremony that are not standard. For example we had a blessing done on my 6 month old niece (first one). My brother and SIL live in Texas so it was the first time the family saw her and she hasn’t been baptized yet (long waiting period) so we had him do a blessing over her. He was like, sure as long as you don’t mind sharing your day. His homily was so perfect and so true to what marriage is. Dealing with the church office was easy except for the phone tag. Otherwise, no hassles or issues came up.

Limo:
AA Yore: 10
We used AA Yore for DH and my limo and my parent’s limo. They are a very small company but the best to deal with. The cars are impeccably clean and the driver excellent.

Coachman: 10
Coachman was used for the BP Escalade limo and my DH family’s bus. Again the cars were perfect, on time and the drivers very accommodating especially since my BP wanted to go to 7-eleven (the one thing I forgot – food for the BP limo). He went let them fill up and off they went.

Flowers: 10
BeeBee Florist, West Islip
My family has used BeeBee’s since my first communion and that’s a long time. We met once to discuss what I wanted. I gave him my thoughts, swatches from the dresses and some photo’s of what I liked. What he came back with was amazing. He worked the color of the BP dresses in the centerpieces and bo’ks. My bo’k was simple with white calla lilies, white roses and pale pink roses. I didn’t want to spend a small fortune on the flowers so I didn’t do the church up in flowers and our dais was just the several bo’ks. The only thing I was not too crazy about was the orange ribbon used on the girls flowers, too orangy for the dresses. The colors and look of the flowers themselves were more than I imagined and stayed perfect all through the night.

Hall: 10++++++++
Hamlet at Willow Creek
Where do I start??? The one thing we booked on true faith. My parents first went out to the HWC to drive by and see what was out there since at that time not much was known about the place. They ran into Barbara and ended up having a long conversation about what the HWC would look like, the menus, cost per head…. everything even down to the dates available in the summer of 05. After viewing the DVD and looking at the extensive menu we decide to go and check it out for ourselves. There was nothing but dirt and a dream. We met with Barbara a few days after my parents did and I fell in love with the place, just from the pictures. Barbara was very patient with us and answered all our questions. DH was very honest and was not comfortable with the idea of booking something that was not there to see. He felt that 'yah, you could tell me this is what it will look like but who says it will not change'. Barbara suggested that to help him decide we go and look at one of the other facilities they have on the island. She gave us the contact info for the Areca in the Hamlet at Olde Oyster Bay. We mad the appointment and when we got there saw the same detail as in the photos. The hall was beautiful and the detail amazing. We ate at their restaurant and the food delicious. The next day I called Barbara and said when can I drop a deposit off!!! My mom and I met her that Saturday and it became official. Barbara has been great to deal with. I did most of my contacting via email because it was just easier to do at work. She would email me within a few hours if not minutes and sometimes from home. She is very dedicated to her work and takes it very seriously. Sometimes we would ride out there just to see the progress and would stop in and say hi. She was always there and so happy to see us. I would get updates every so often about the progress too. When we did the food tasting it was just us and our parents and she went over everything, every detail. Even up to the day before the wedding she was so helpful.

The big day…….. the CH was set up in the lobby and some of it outside on the deck. The lobby area was never overcrowded with people and there was plenty of seating, we had about 172 people. The food tables were placed along the perimeter of the room and the placecards in the center on a round table. We used the votive placecards and they looked so perfect around the flower arrangement. As for the deck, there was plenty of seating and the hall that connected the lobby to the deck hid the ballroom perfectly. No one knew what the room would look like. There was so much food out for our guest to enjoy. The trays were never empty, especially the raw bar. The shrimp were hug and constantly refilled. I did not get to eat much during the CH but I was told the food was out of this world. I only had a bowl of pasta one of the GM got for me while my BP was trying to figure out my bustle. Thank God the bridal attendant came to my rescue…

When we entered the ballroom I was blown away. I had never seen it dimly lit and all done up. The ceiling with the gold tones looked amazing. The location of the dais allowed us to clearly see the whole room which was nice because during dinner I scanned the room and was able to see pretty much every table and I just absorbed the images to memory. This leads me to the food since I did mention dinner…. I kid you not, I have never heard such silence during the dinner portion of a wedding. I looked at DH and was like no ones talking. He said that’s because the food delicious. And boy was it. We decided to go with the Filet Mignon, Chilean Sea Bass and French Cut Chicken. I don’t think anyone had the chicken but the others were excellent. The portions were huge, and the mignon cut like butter. Since we did not get enough time to eat the appetizer before being pulled away I figured it was already removed from our table. Was I surprised to see it sitting there waiting for me along with my salad. They refused to take our dishes until we ate everything! Same thing with my parents. When they got pulled away during dinner the staff covered their dishes to keep the food warm. I found out later that the staff doesn’t remove any of the dishes until a certain time to make sure everyone has a chance to eat. Drinks were brought to the tables and the staff was always available. During dessert one guest didn’t like the tea the hall served, well the waiter went and got the entire tea box and let her choose what she wanted. Nothing felt rushed and the timing between courses, cake cutting and desert serving was perfect and kept the night moving. People moved between the hall and the deck but we never really saw many people hanging out in the lobby, except when several of them went and got drinks from the bar. The view from the deck was breathtaking during the day. Such greenery and the lake, perfect. I tried to steal away during the night to just savor several minutes outside but I kept getting called back in. After the night ended DH and I just stood out there and watched the sky and the lake, just a few minutes to finish the night right.

The chocolate bar was to die for. They did it in the lobby on long tables. The fountain was huge and oh, all that chocolate!! They had everything from Oreos, gram crackers, fruits, marshmallows, various cookies, strawberries….. anything you think of dipping was there. The line for this thing was constantly long…. Everyone stood looking at this spread and was shocked! I got to enjoy it after everyone left and we were the only ones still there. Barbara had them leave it running so I could go and pick. I am so happy we decided to get this extra.

My bridal attendant was amazing. I had seen her around several times when just checking the progress of the hall and she has always been so nice. That night she was great. She would appear when I needed something and sometimes before I realized I needed it. At one point my bustle began to break and one side would just completely fall off with just a turn in that direction. Well, it happened while I was talking to someone and when I turned to loop it back on she was already there fixing it and then she was off again. She must have stood in the shadows watching me. She was the one to make sure I had all my food and that I was happy with everything.

At one point in the evening DH looked at me and said this is perfection, everything he imagine our wedding to be. It was a fairytale wedding. Everyone had so much fun and it showed. We still get compliments on everything. The food was delicious and the atmosphere of the hall was just perfect. It really was everything I imagined it could be. No major problems (just stupidity stuff like people not getting their placecards and sitting wherever they wanted) but my DH took care of it all. We place a lot of faith in this hall when we booked it and we were totally blown away by what was delivered. Amazing, perfect, beautiful! A dream come true.



Honeymoon : Italy for 16 days
Review to come soon... pictures too once I go through all 1500 of them

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

I have to try and fix those pic's.... sorry.

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

awesome review! I can not wait to see pictures. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

I am so happy that you had such a fairytale wedding. And I can't thank you enough for the extensive review. Congratulations and can't wait to see pictures.

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

Thanks for posting! I can't wait till our wedding there! Sounds like an amazing day! Congrats!

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

I am so happy to hear that everything went well...it was a hard decision to book a hall that was brand new, and no one had ever heard of. In some ways that was good, b/c everyone has an opinion about places that they have been to weddings (and they are sooo quick to give you that opinion) but in some ways it was bad b/c we didn't know anything about Hamlet Willow Creek. Well I am so happy to say that every single thing I have heard is positive.

Congratulations and best of luck to you! Thanks again for your review b/c it has put my mind at ease - I have heard positive things from vendors and guests that have been there, but hearing from a bride carries far more weight. I am so looking forward to having my wedding there - actually in exactly one year from today!

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

Could someone tell me if the pictures are showing up.... I don't know if its the link or my computer now. Every so often their there and then their gone.

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

No pics

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

---

Posted by m&m2005

Could someone tell me if the pictures are showing up.... I don't know if its the link or my computer now. Every so often their there and then their gone.

---

They were there for me too - and now they are gone. I recall the red car cake

Congratulations

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

Oh well... I guess I need to sneak in photos while at work

Here is the grooms cake. He so loved this 'gift' and I loved the left overs!!!!

What I wanted and what I got...

• 
• 

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

The favors... jordan almonds, donation card with our monogram and the favor wrapped up.

• 

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

The womens room tray. I didn't want to have a basket so I got the tray from Michaels and had a family friend paint roses and calla lilies on it. I figured I would use in our first girls room.

• 

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

The mens room tray... this one was painted with race cars. My DH loves sports cars and I figured this one would be in our first boys room.

• 

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

The camera 'tags' that were on each table...

• 

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

The cry packet basket

• 

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

A close up of the cry packets...

• 

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

That cake is amazing - FH loves the Yankees so I think I will surprise him with that at the RD.

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

A sample centerpiece...

• 

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

My MOH's dresses and the BM dresses.... in these you can see why I didn't like the orange ribbon but it was too late by that point. The girls loved it and thought it worked fine with the dress color but I am extremely picky

• 
• 

Re: my 6/18/05 hamlet willow creek review

Our invite...

•