My Halloween Wedding Review

My Wedding Day - 10/31/04

Where to begin? This was the best day of my life. No lie. Even though I was married once before -- that was nothing compared to this. It might as well not have happened. Sometimes ... you get it right and you just know it. That's what I feel now. This is beyond right. I have finally met the person I was meant to be with.

I also want to pass on this bit of advice ...
STOP for a minute at your wedding and take it in. If you don't - you'll never remember it all. Your emotions are high, you're concerned that the party you just spent a year planning is going right and you're so wrapped up in the moment you don't see anything. Just step back and enjoy it for a minute. And -- don't scrimp on the things you'll take away
with you like video or pictures. That's all you have when it's over.

I wish I had taken my own advice.

So ... on to the review.

DRESS
Lillette's of Baldwin - A
I went there without much hope, being a plus size. But they had all sorts of dresses for me to try on ... that I COULD try on. Jeri was the greatest and helped me with everything. She
utliamtely found the dress I bought. It wasn't one I would have tried otherwise. However -- being tight on cash... I ended up getting
the dress online.

NetBride.com - A+
They were great. I was a little (ok a LOT) nervous that this was a disaster waiting to happen. But they came through perfectly.
They didn't just assume I knew what I ordered, they called and confirmed. They waited 2 days for me to get a grip ... and the
dress came 4 weeks early. Perfect in every detail. Nothing stained, nothing missing and with the tags still on it. I would reccomend
them to anyone.

HAIR - Gen from Hair Genie - A++
MAKEUP - Oksana - A++
These are 2 of the nicest women I will ever meet. They both showed up at my house at 6:30 in the morning happy and ready to go.
They did me, my daughter and my mother in something like 2 hours. I couldn't believe it. They work so great together. My hair was perfect. My daughter's hair was perfect. She actually managed to keep in it for 3 DAYS after the wedding (with a few touchups of course) but I couldn't believe that the hairstyle stayed recognizable and presentable
for 3 DAYS!!! She had her school pictures taken with hair still up!
Oksana's makeup job stayed on all day and night. I only had to touch up my lipstick like twice. Everyone said I was beautiful.
Thank you ladies!!

BM DRESSES - A
Estelles (Rte 110, Farmingdale)
They have racks and racks of dresses in all sizes. My MOH is 5ft7 and my BM is 5ft2. We got them both the same dress off the rack
with no issues. The place is a little NUTS on a weekend - but the selection and the price can't be beat.

TUXES - B
Men's Wearhouse - Plainview
I give a B because the Grooms tux jacket was 2 sizes small when it came in. Thank GOD I sent DH there on Friday to check. They were able to get a new one in on time - but what the hell were the measurements for anyway??
Everything else was ok though. They even managed to squeeze in my Jr. groomsman
tux when my sister sent the measurements in waaay late.

INVITES
I can't really comment on these. I work for a printing company so I got the house special, so it really doesn't count. They were out of one of the Regency books.. and came in as expected for a price that was well below
what the stores charge. If you have a connection on invites - use it. You wouldn't believe the mark up!

LIMO
Coachman - Woodbury A+
They were fabulous. They upgraded us to a 14 passenger for 8 people. The car was clean. The driver was friendly and helpful.
They showed up on TIME! They knew how to get where they were going. The car for the ride home was there when they said it would be. What more can you ask for?

OFFICIANT
April - Church of the Ancient Ways - A
April was there for me through this whole process. She listened to me vent about non ceremony things and was very helpful all
the time. She gave me direction to focus on when I got confused or sidetracked writing our ceremony and gave me lots of ideas to make it more personal to us. She delivered it with joy and seriousness. I truly feel grateful that she was there with us on our wedding.

FLOWERS
Donald Hedgecock - Sans Souci house florist. A++
Donald is the best. I got exactly what I imagined for our Bo-ks and the Bouts. They were gorgeous. He is a great guy. I wasn't really clear on what I wanted him to do - but he figured it out anyway. I LOVED my flowers. The CP's were simple and pretty and the
colors were what I wanted. He even managed to put together 2 altar baskets for the chapel that we then took to the hall... Thanks
Donald!!!

RECEPTION
Sans Souci - SeaCliff A++
What can I say? I love this place. It is so beautiful in the day and in the night. Nargis was right there no matter what. If I needed anything she just appeared. She ran the whole thing exactly as we had planned
out and made everyone's time enjoyable. The food is fabulous. Everyone has commented that it was sooo much better than your standard wedding factory fare. If you have a smaller wedding and want the personal attention that a single wedding place can give.. go to Sans Souci. You won't regret it.

DJ
Vinny - HIgh Voltage - A++
Vinny is da Man!! (lol) I put DH in charge of the music. I had NOTHING to do with it. The first list that DH sent Vinny was sort of eclectic shall we say. Vinny wasn't put off at all. He did raise an eyebrow or two which made
DH rethink his choices. I am VERY glad he did. We ended up with more of a cohesive list of songs and a direction for the mood of the wedding. This is all thanks to Vinny. He kept the party moving, didn't play anything
on the Do not play list - (except one song the kids requested and he asked me about it first!) and was generally great the whole time. He even had a few Halloween give aways for the kids that I hadn't ordered. He let them play behind the booth and pick out songs for him. He is GREAT!

PHOTOGRAPHY
Dominic -- 12th Night - A++
Dom is so great. He's funny and talented and puts you at ease. He knows how to light a picture and was wonderful to work with.He even waited around for the sunset to be just right so we could get pictures by the water. He asked me specifically if there were any pictures I hadn't gotten before he left. I thought that was a nice touch. I haven't seen my proofs yet - but I am sure they'll be fabulous.

EBAY& Internet Purchases - A+
I got a lot from Ebay and from the Internet .... Don't overlook them when you're
trying to find things without paying the wedding markup! following is the list
of what I got there:
Jr. BM Dress
I lucked out with this. I found a Jr. BM dress a bride was selling that she hadn't used. I paid 30.00 for it and the dress matched the BM dresses PERFECTLY. My daughter didn't even grow out of it (too much!)
Favors/Placecards/Table #s
Got the place cards from Paperdirect and printed them out on my printer. Not a problem at all.
The favors were black tulle bags from Ebay, I put in a round tin from Specialtybottle.com filled with mulling spices from Spicebarn.com and 2 cookies from thegodecookery.com. Everyone loved them!
The table #s were dollar store frames with pictures of old scary movie posters that I downloaded from the internet and fixed up with photoshop.
The carved pumpkins I got from MasterpiecePumpkins.com. They are
actually styrofoam (like you get in Michaels) and while a little pricey were very much worth it. I will have them forever.
Our wedding rings we got from KelticNations.com in Canada. They are
handmade and worth every cent.


So I think that's it. The non-professional pictures are on Shutterfly now.

Pictures

When I get proofs - I'll post some of those also. Thanks to everyone on LIW for the ideas and the shoulders. I couldn't have
done it without you all!!!

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

Congratulations Laurel!! We had the most amazing weather!!! LOVE the pumpkin

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

Congrats, Laurel!

You looked beautiful!

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

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Posted by halloweenbride04

Congratulations Laurel!! We had the most amazing weather!!! LOVE the pumpkin

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Yes well -- as you gave me the idea ... thanks for that!

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

Congrats

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

Congrats. It looked like suh a beautiful wedding! and I love the pic with the masks, perfect for Halloween!

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

congrats... I love the pumpkin on the placecard table...

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

It looks like it was a wonderful day. Congrats!

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

congrats!! sounds like you had a great time!! beautiful pics!!

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

Congrats! Everything sounded great, and I love the masks.

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

Congratulations to you and your groom!! You two looked great and very happy. I loved the masks. Did you give those out as favors too?

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

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Posted by Nautical bride

Congratulations to you and your groom!! You two looked great and very happy. I loved the masks. Did you give those out as favors too?

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No altho I wish we could have. They were really nice but a little pricey. I found them at Halloween USA like 4 days before. We ended up just buying for the BParty.

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

I loved your flowers and the pumpkin was a nice touch.

Re: My Halloween Wedding Review

bump for alicegetsmarried