My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!! Lots of Pics!

First of all i can't believe i'm writing my review!!! i still remember the day DH and i met. it feels like we just met yesterday even though it was really over 9 years ago!!!
i'm going to try to be detailed as possible since i really enjoyed reading other brides reviews.

heres the story of how we met (the short version):
my sister was dating dh's best friend at the time and her and her and him were going on a date to Friday's and my sister asked me to come and dh's friend him to come. We all had a great time and as they say the rest is history.

The engagement!!
At this time in our lives DH was living in Philly and i was still living on long island. On December 10th, 2005 DH took me to dinner at our favorite Italian Restaurant, Bistro Romano in Philly. After dinner we went on a horse and carriage ride around the city of Philadelphia. There was snow on the ground, and houses were decorated for Christmas. It was a beautiful night. A little cold, but after a few martini's at dinner we were ok. Towards the end of the ride Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out a little box. I was in the shock, my eyes started tearing. I will never forget it when he said 'why are you crying, it could be earrings?' Then I said 'shut up, its not'. So he opened the box, and I just lost it, I was speechless. The ring inside was gorgeous, everything I could have ever wanted and more. He said 'I finally came through, will you marry me?' My response, as I'm kissing him 'Yes, of course I will!!!'
The ring!

Shortly after i moved to Philly to live w/DH

in June of 2006 DH's family threw us an awesome engagement party at their house. Heres some pics:

Invitations



me and DH

DH Bartending

Our amazing cake!!


Finally the review!!

Mother Nature- B+
The morning of the wedding it was very cloudy and there was chance for rain. The temp was only in the low 70's which was very nice and there was hardly any humidity. The rain held off till right after the church when it started to drizzle, but honestly since i was on cloud 9 from marrying my best friend that it didn't bother me.


Long island weddings- A++++
Thank you soo much to Ron and Liz for creating such an amazing site. i got so many great ideas and met so many awesome people here!!

After looking at about 20 halls we finally decided on a date and a place- The Woodbury Country Club August 19th 2007. Like most brides i was so excited about having finally picked a date that i wanted to send out STD's. i decided on magnets w/a kim anderson theme since our e-party invites were also kim anderson.

These were purchased from ebay for only about .50/each. Everyone loved them! Unfortuantely the ebay seller is no longer in business or i would share that info. rating- A++++

Wedding Invitations Ebay vendor C

They only received a C because the qualitiy/workmanship wasn't that great. Ever hear the saying, you get what you pay for? well thats what happend here. Since I'm not crafty and pocketfolds are expensive I thought I'd save $ and ordered them from Ebay. All the information was correct, however the cards were not good. 10% of the inserts were either blurry or cut unevenly. Good thing I ordered extra or i would have had a problem.

Vendors:



My gown- Private label by G style number 1226 Purchased from Burton's
gown rating- A++++
Burton's rating- A
i tried on about 30 dresses total but this is the gown i couldn't stop thinking about:

Burton's only received an A because i felt as the though whenever i went there for an alteration i was rushed. Other than that the price was right and overall everyone there was very pleasant. They will work with ur budget too.
Heres some fitting pics:
i had my hair trial the day of my 1st fitting:

2nd fitting

My bustle


Hair- Fh's aunt Paula A+++++++++++++
Paula has been doing my hair- coloring and cuts for the past 4 years. she taught me its ok to experiment and every single experiment shes suggested i loved so i knew i wanted her to do my hair. My hair is extremely thin but she figured out a way to curl to it and make it hold. She was there for the wedding and i needed a touch up so during the ch she stayed with me and dh and touched up my hair. i was soo lucky she was there cause it did drizzle during pics.



Make up FH's cousin Kerri A++++++++
Kerri did a trial for me for a wedding DH and i were going to and thats how i knew she was the one. i didn't realize till about a month before my wedding that dh's cousin did make up professionally and i'm soo glad i had her. fm me if you want her info. the first pic is a before pic:



and after



Long Line Bra- Georgettes in Hicksville A++++
They are amazing!!! Phyllis had me laughing the whole time i was there and she was sooo patient too!! my mom also bought her undergarments from there too and again it was another wonderful experience!!

Shoes: Luv my shoes Carle Place- A++++
They had sooo many to chose from!! Heres mine:


My day of sweatshirt- Embrodery Me- Tri County A++++++++++
i bought the sweat suit from target and had embrodery me do the fun stuff!! they did a great job



Garter- A++++
i ordered these from ebay and couldn't be happier. The seller is Bonniebelle-Garters


Tiara Baron's Tri-County A++++
i was looking for a tiara that was simple. i didn't want anything too big/gawdy. Baron's had sooo many for me to chose from. They also worked w/in my budget. heres the best pic i have:


Bridesmaid Dresses Davids Bridal Westbury and Plymouth Meeting PA - A++++
i know some girls have had horribe experiences at Davids but ours was nothing but great! i had 7 girls in my BP ranging in sizes from 2-16 and one was prego. 5 of them lived here and the other 2 lived by me in PA. So for the NY girls we went to the David in Westbury. My moh's and me went in December to look around and see what we liked. From the minute we walked in we were given great service. Our sales lady was sooo patient w/us. We decied on this dress in lilac:

The dress looked great on the girls!! Even my pregnant BM who was 7 months prego at the wedding looked adorable!! The ruchng was flattering on everyone!!
Then in march we placed the order for the dresses and they all came in w/in a month.
They were also very accommodating when one of moh's dress's didn't fit 2 weeks before the wedding because she didn't lose the amount of weight she had planned to. they let her exchange for a dress a size larger no problem.
please note we didn't have davids do the alterations so i can't comment on Davids alterations.
heres some pics:
heres my prego BM

another one of my BM's


Mother of the Bride Gown- Estelles Dressy Dresses A++++++
My mom was so afraid she was not going to be able to find a dress, especially since she didn't start looking till 2 months before the wedding. When we went to Estelle's we were pleasantly surprised. We picked out 5 gowns and the first one she tried on we both loved. We also got her jewelry and shoes there too. They have such a great selection of shoes. Being that shes so tall didn't want anything with a heel. We found cute strappy sandals that were flat and comfortable. heres a pic of my mom in her dress:


Flowergirl Dress Desiging Dreams Minola- A+++++
My flower girl's mom insisted that we get her daughter's dress made to look like mine, which i thought was a great idea. So we went to this cute shop who specializes in gowns and dresses for babies, little girls and teenagers. We looked around for ideas then one of the seamstresses helped us design this gorgeous dress. We actually used the shawl that came with my dress so the beading could match my dress exactly. The also did a great job making sure it fit my FG perfectly. Heres my adorable FG:


Tuxes- Foresto's in Mineola A+++++++
I didn't go with DH to any of visits to pick out or try on the tuxes,cause i wanted to be surprised when i saw dh. when i asked DH if he had any complaints about them he no, he had an excellent experience. he wore a black tux with a white dress shirt a black vest and white tie. The groomsman wore the same as dh except they had black ties. our ring bearer the fathers and the grandfathers also rented their tuxes from there. On the day of the wedding everyone looked very handsome. We will definitely use them again if we need rent tuxes again.

Flowers- East Meadow Florist A+++++++++++
i went to see Chris at East Meadow Florist about 10 months before the wedding and he said he can do my flowers, but to come back about 3 months before the wedding to go over everything. Since i only wanted roses we didn't have order anything too far in advance.
Then when i came back in May we went over everything i would need, i showed him pics of what i wanted my bo-k, the BM's bo-k's, and CP's to look like. his price was amazing!!
On the big day everything was delivered to where it was supposed to be and the flowers were even prettier than what i had imagined. He really out did himself.
This pic does not to the flower justice, but these are the best ones i could find:


Limos- RJ's in Wantagh B
RJ's gave me a great price on an 07 Escalade, that was supposed to comfortably fit 22 people. We also rented a 10 person limo to pick up DH and the guys and bring them to the church. Both limos were clean and they arrived on time. The reason why they didn't receive a A was because our 17 person BP including us was squished in the escalade. yes we all fit, but not comfortably. Also on the way to the RH the driver drove right by it. Luckily we noticed and he turned around as soon as we told him. I don't have any pics of the limos yet, but they were nice and in good condition.

Church - St Francis of Assisi Greenlawn A
Since DH and i live in PA weren't sure about which church we would get married in. We both knew we wanted a church ceremony and then our parents pressured us into having a mass, which i am soo glad we did. We both grew up on Long Island and our parents are still here so we could have went to either of the church's we received our sacrements in but they were both kind of far from the RH. So i did some searching and found St Francis. We met with Father Pat who was a sweetheart, but we already had a priest to marry us. he was fine with that so he did the premarital interview with us and that was it till it came time to go over the music. We met with Charmaine, the woman who would be coordinating our rehearsal and Gina the church cantor about a 6 weeks before the wedding to go over our music selections. this was very helpful since weren't familiar with many of the selections. Gina was more than willing to sing some parts of the songs so we could decide what we wanted. She had a beautiful voice.
Then fast forward to the night of the rehearsal- 2 nights before the wedding. Charmaine met us at the church at 6:30 along with the rest of our BP. She was going to go through the whole rehearsal with us, but since we had our own priest he took care of everything. The only reason why they didn't get a higher rating was because the AC was broken. At least our day was cool one with no humidity so it wasn't too bad.


Priest - Father Cleary A+++++++++++
Father Cleary is a friend of DH's family. Hes a really great person aside from being a priest. He married DH's parents 30 something years ago, and was more than happy to marry us. He organized our whole rehearsal and pretty much let us do our mass as we wanted too. He even let us do the hands prayer, which by the way had the whole church in tears. heres the hands prayer hat father cleary read for us:

BRIDE, please face GROOM, and hold his hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you.
These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love that are holding yours on your wedding day, as he promises to love you all the days of his life. These are the hands that will work along side yours, as together you build your future, as you laugh and cry, as you share your innermost secrets and dreams. These are the hands you will place with expectant joy against your stomach, until he too, feels his child stir within you. These are the hands that look so large and strong, yet will be so gentle as he holds your baby for the first time. These are the hands that will work long hours for you and your new family. These are that hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow and tears of joy. These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief is in your mind. These are the hands that will tenderly lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into his eyes: eyes that are filled completely with his overwhelming love and desire for you.

GROOM, please hold BRIDE’s hands, palms up, where you may see the gift that they are to you. These are the hands of your best friend, smooth, young and carefree, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as she pledges her love and commitment to you all the days of her life. These are the hands that will hold each child in tender love, soothing them through illness and hurt, supporting and encouraging them along the way, and knowing when it is time to let go. These are the hands that will massage tension from you neck and back in the evenings after you've both had a long hard day. These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times. These are the hands that will comfort you when you are sick, or console you when you are grieving. They are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness. These are the hands that will hold you in joy and excitement and hope, each time she tells you that you are to have another child that together you have created a new life. These are the hands that will give you support as she encourages you to chase down your dreams. And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

DJ- Bravura A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is one of mine and DH's favorite vendors. We didn't even look into any other DJ's since DH insisted with go them. he had seen tony MC at one of his friend's wedding and knew from that day that this was the dj he was having at his wedding. So we booked with Bravura purely based on that. we booked Tony as the MC, a dj and the percussionsit. Being that we live in PA it was hard for us to come to LI to check out vendors so i just prayed DH was right about this one and BOY HE WAS!!
about a month before the wedding we sent in our song lists and set up an appointment to meet with Paulie. We met with Paulie a few days before the wedding to go over our song list and he is such a sweetheart! He made sure that we were all on the same page and we also booked the saxaphonist that day too.
Fast forward to the wedding day. The best way to sum up Bravura, as some of our guests put it was 'they were off the hook'.
From our entrance to the last dance i don't have any complaints about them. they played a lot of songs from our must play list and the sax and percussionists were awesome!! i highly recommend them.


Photography Glenmar A+++++++++++++++++=
This was a vendor i had a very hard time choosing. I did a lot of research on this one since ths was the most important vendor to me. This was the first photogher dh came with me to visit and he liked them and it was about the 5th one i visited so i said ok and we booked them on the spot.
We had our e-pics done in April and we were very happy with them so we knew we made the right decision.
On the day of the wedding Laura came to my house to take pics of me getting ready. she was on time and super nice. she made me really comfortable. i even let her take pics of me in my undies and bra which DH loved!

John took pics of DH getting ready at his house. it was really nice to see DH and his friends and family just hanging out and getting ready. john really captured the feel at dh's house.
Then at the church laura was my angel. she made sure i looked good and helped me carry my dress.
during the ceremony i didn't even realize her and john were there. obvisously they're great at what they do cause we have awesome pics!
then at the rh we took all the posed and bridal party pics. it started to rain but john had us laughing the whole time i think we even forgot it was raining we were having so much fun.
At the reception john and Laura made everyone feel like models taking their pics. people raved about how nice they were. john and laura stayed till the very end too.



The Woodbury Country Club A++++++++++++++++++++++++
This vendor by far surpassed any expection we had, and we had high expectations.
From our first meeting with them to the end of the reception they were outstanding.
We met with Carolyn in the beginning of August of 2006. They were the last hall we visited. A week later we booked them. DH and I both loved the place inside and out. Also Carolyn our BM was soo sweet and patient.
The tasting we had about 6 weeks before the wedding just confirmed we were going to have any amazing reception.
The day of the wedding we arrived at the woodbury country club and they brought us in the back entrance as per my request.
During pics my bridal attedant Jessica was awesome!! she was so nice and sweet. She made sure DH and I always had food and drinks in our hands. she also helped me with dress at all times.
Then during the CH dh and i wanted to spend time alone in the bridal suite. w/o the bp again she was there tending to our every need she even volunteered to help me in the bathroom and bustled my dress. Also during the reception she made sure i was comfortable and i was ok even though she was supposed to be working the front desk.
The food at the CH was amazing!!! People couldn't stop raving about it. we had four stations-tex mex, carving, pan asian and italian. we also had a ton of passed ordourves, crudite, and cavier.Our guests said the service was great too.
During the reception our MD was Sara who was also a doll. she always made sure we had drinks in hand.
Dinner was also outstanding!!! i enjoyed my cheateu briand and dh had the orange roughy which also was quite tastey.
For dessert we had the ice cream sundae bar, cream puffs and berries, and our amazing cake! we also had the cordial bar.
Sara also asked what kind of sundae's dh and i wanted and made them for us.
Even at the end of the night the shuttle bus was late coming back for us and Jessica our Bridal attendant said she could take us to our hotel.


I hope you enjoyed reading my review!! feel free to FM with any questions you may have about my vendors.

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

everything looks gorgeous! thanks for sharing

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

congrats!!!!! you look beautiful!!!

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

You looked so beautiful!!! Congratulations!

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing such a beautiful wedding

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

Gorgeous pictures! You were a beautiful bride!

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

you look soooo beautiful... congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im glad wcc rocked!! and bravura!!! you just got me soo excited!!

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

Congratulations!! You looked like a u had a beautiful day!

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

you look great...i love all your pictures

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

Congrats. Great review. I loved your dress.

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

I love your pics, congrats.
Did you use the room upstairs? Do you have a pic of your tables/CP's?

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

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Posted by Tori9299

I love your pics, congrats.
Did you use the room upstairs? Do you have a pic of your tables/CP's?

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yes we had the room upstairs. right now i don't have pics of my tables but hopefully in a few days i will. i'm still waiting on a cd of proofs from my photog

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

than u for sharing... i LOVED the hand prayer and i have it saved i may want to incoporate it as well...

i was bawling halfway through...

im glad u enjoyed WCC, i too cant wait and ur review just made me MORE excited for my wedding.. thank you and you were such a beautiful bride!

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!!

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Posted by tricia3381

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Posted by Tori9299

I love your pics, congrats.
Did you use the room upstairs? Do you have a pic of your tables/CP's?

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yes we had the room upstairs. right now i don't have pics of my tables but hopefully in a few days i will. i'm still waiting on a cd of proofs from my photog

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great i cant wait!

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!! Lots of Pics!

Beautiful!!! You looked gorgeous! One more St. Francis question (sorry!)...did you bring those chair covers or were they provided? They look great.

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!! Lots of Pics!

Congrats date twin, You look gorgeous and great pics, great review. Looks like everything turned out great even with the rain.

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!! Lots of Pics!

you guys looked great!
Congrads!

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!! Lots of Pics!

Congrats!!! Thank you for the review!!

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!! Lots of Pics!

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Posted by ik1

Congrats date twin, You look gorgeous and great pics, great review. Looks like everything turned out great even with the rain.

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it did, it really did!! how did u do with the rain?

Re: My amazing August 19th Woodbury Country Club wedding!!! With a full detailed review of our vendors- Bravura RJ's limo East Meadow Florist Glenmar Photography and more!!! Lots of Pics!

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Posted by magbride

Beautiful!!! You looked gorgeous! One more St. Francis question (sorry!)...did you bring those chair covers or were they provided? They look great.

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yes they did. the only thing i did was have tulle and bows put on the first few pews and i also had my florsit make 2 arrangements for the church.