My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

I never posted much during my wedding planning, however I used this site very often to get ideas. I found the Wedding Reviews the most helpful and therefore I feel obligated to post my review since I received so much help and good ideas.

My wedding day went so well. I was very very nervous the day before and the morning of, but once I got my dress on, I got so excited and I just enjoyed the rest of the day. So here is my review. Feel free to contact me with any questions!!!

The images are my proofs. They are a little fuzzy (I guess that’s the photographers way of protecting themselves instead of putting their name on the actual proof), but they are still good images.

Iman Bridal Couture, Old Brookville, NY - A
I probably wouldn’t have gone in here because it looks expensive, but someone told my mother that they had a big range of prices. So I went in and they picked out a bunch of dresses in my price range. They were very friendly and not pushy which I liked. I did shop around a little afterwards, but ended up coming back to Iman. I did find my dress at a lower price and I told her. She didn’t match the price, but she came down on the price and gave me a deal on the veil, which I felt was fair. I was given alterations at a flat rate. The dress came in later than they originally estimated which scared me a bit, but it came in plenty of time. I had two fittings with Teresa and everything was perfect by my 3rd and final fitting. They didn’t make the right veil for me at first (they made a 1 piece instead of 2), but they corrected that-no problems. I know there are some mixed reviews on here (which scared me because I read them after I bought the dress), but I had a good experience.




Ann Taylor - A
I knew I liked the Ann Taylor celebrations line, but thought maybe it was a little too expensive for some of the girls. But, I got an email coupon for 20% off the celebrations line. I went into the city to try on the dress (only place where they carry the line around here) and I loved it. So when I got home I wrote an email to all the girls and sent them the coupon. They all ordered the dress and got alterations done wherever they chose. I thought this was really convenient since they didn’t have to go thru 1 bridal salon. My cousin had to exchange her dress once and there were no problems.

My sisters (maid and matron of honors) wore champagne sashes while the bridesmaids wore espresso.




Tuxedo Park, Carle Place, NY – A
They were so nice here! We dealt with Ben and he was very talented. I thought I wanted just black and white tuxes for the boys. When I told him the girls were wearing brown, he put together a wonderful tux with a brown vest and black and brown-stripped tie. All the boys said that they liked the tuxes. There were no fitting problems and they made all minor alterations for the boys when they came to pick up. My husband picked a tux that he really liked and he said the shoes were comfortable. Both fathers also rented from here.



April’s Fine Baby Apparel, Bellmore NY – A
My husband and I were in Bellmore looking at wedding bands at Gennaro Jewelers when we happened upon this small shop next door. I decided to go in and found a VERY well priced flower girl dress for my niece. The wedding was still pretty far away, so I decided I’d come back another time. Of course, when I went to buy, the price had gone up (go figure), but it was still a good price. The dress came in very quickly and April was very nice and called me as soon as the dress was in.





Lord & Taylor in the Walt Whitman Mall, Huntington, NY – A
I only mention this vendor because I was shocked by how many formal gowns they had for my mother to choose from. She found a beautiful dress and I recommend going there for a big selection.

Invitatations: www.now-and-forever.com - A+
I found an ad in a bridal magazine and requested the catalog. I was iffy about ordering online, but we went to so many stores where they pushed EXTREMELY expensive invitations at us and I was fed up with invitation shops. We ordered a bunch of samples and found the one we liked. Their customer service was great! Our Internet froze during our ordering so we were worried the order didn’t go through. The people were very patient and friendly on the phone. The product came very very quickly and they were beautiful. Their website is also very user-friendly



Calligraphy: Sharon Maier – A+
I was recommended to Sharon by my friend Mary (mkc56). This woman works out of her home in Port Washington and does wonderful work. She was so quick and easy to work with. We did about 100 inner and 100 outer envelopes and she made one tiny error. I found 2 mistakes that my husband and I had made on the file we gave her. She fixed these 3 problems quickly and with no charge.

Hair– A+
I didn’t have a hair stylist because my stylist had recently moved away. So I went to a few salons to price people out. I ended up at Dana and Co. in Sea Cliff (formally Salon 1, now owned by Hair by Dana). She was so nice! She did a wonderful trial. A friend of mine was doing my makeup and Dana told me that I could have the makeup artist come to the salon and do the makeup there. That made everything so convenient. We had 6 girls (including myself) come in the morning of the wedding at 6:30am, as well as my makeup artist. Four hair stylists came in to help and everyone was there bright and early. It was a great experience! And now I have a new hair stylist ? Also found out that Dana is the sister of Elisa, another 07 bride: eeelisas! Thanks Elisa!



Simply Elegant, Glen Head, NY – A+
I cannot describe how happy I was with my flowers. They were GORGEOUS and were exactly what I wanted. I didn’t get to see a full sample centerpiece because they had a hard time finding the burgundy gerbera daises for the sample, so I wasn’t sure what everything would look like. The flowers were fabulous. They also decorated the cake and made a silk pomander ball for my niece. Got so many compliments.






Chocolate Favors: Chocolicious, Locust Valley, NY – A+
She made beautiful favors for me. We used small brown boxes and wrapped them with a cream ribbon. Inside were 2 milk chocolate hearts and 2 white chocolate hearts. The boxes looked great!

Royalty Limo – A+
They were so great. Easy to work with. It poured the day of our wedding and the drivers were great. They ushered each bridesmaid to the car individually and made sure that I didn’t get wet. They fixed the boys’ boutonnieres and arranged all the girls to walk down the aisle and also fixed my dress before I walked down. After the ceremony, my driver told me to lift up the top part of my dress so that if I spilled champagne it would only get on the part of my dress that doesn’t show. Sure enough, as soon as my new husband poured me a glass, I spilt it on my lap! So that’s a good driver! Haha



Wingate Inn/La Quinta – B
Besides the fact that we realized the chain changed to La Quinta before they told us, they were good. Unfortunately we were upset because La Quinta didn’t have a liquor license and we weren’t able to have an after party as we had planned when it was Wingate. Otherwise they were fine and we used their van service to and from the reception, which worked well for those who used it.

Glenmar Studio’s – B+
Only reason I didn’t give them an A is because I didn’t like the sales person I dealt with. She was extremely pushy. However my sister had used Glenmar and was happy, so I decided to book them. If it hadn’t been for my sisters past experience, I definitely would not have booked due to the sales lady. However, my photographer was great. He wasn’t “in your face” and he went mostly unnoticed throughout the night. Our proofs are beautiful and we’re looking forward to making our albums. As soon as he noticed the rain had stopped during the reception he took us outside for pictures.

Code Bleu – A+
Great to work with!! They sounded wonderful. Everyone was dancing and having a good time and I got many compliments on them. They learned our song because they didn’t know it: The Luckiest by Ben Folds. They messed up the words in one part of the chorus, but we didn’t care. It still sounded great. They also played other songs that we had previously requested.

Gennaro Jewelers – A+
My husband got my engagement ring there so we went back for wedding rings. Every sales person there is great to work with and our rings came in very quickly. They were also nice enough to give us a little bit of a price break since he had bought the engagement ring there.

Westbury Manor – A+
Prior to the wedding they were great to work with. I have heard endless compliments on the Westbury Manor food. It was fabulous. From what I hear the cocktail hour was great, unfortunately I was only there for about 15 minutes. Since it was raining badly, we took pictures in their suite, which was beautiful. They brought up lots of food and drinks for the bridal party. They brought up the specific hor’dourves that I reqested too-haha. They also made a plate for me and my husband, which was full of almost everything that was at the cocktail hour! My bridal attendant was very nice and she helped me with my bustle and my veil. At the end of the night, they brought down everyone’s belongings from the bridal suite and made sure that they were given to the appropriate people. They were very attentive and the service was great.



Honeymoon:
Aruba, Bucuti – A+
Read my Trip Advisor Review…this is a great hotel on a beautiful island! There are some images in my photo album too!
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147248-d301462-r10929477-Golden_Tulip_Bucuti_Beach_Resort_Tara_Beach_Suites-Oranjestad_Aruba.html

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!!

CONGRATS!!!! everything was so beautiful! u looked SO pretty, ur cake was fabulous, SUCH elegant invites & u had the CUTEST flowergirl!!!! Congrats on a beautiful day!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!!

You looked gorgeous! Congratulations & thanks for the great review!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!!

Congrats! And thak you fo the review! You looked great and everything looked very beautiful!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!!

everything looked wonderful...congrats

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

Congratulations! You looked beautiful!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

I loved your colors and everything looked beautiful!

I had the EXACT experience with Glenmar photography. It was very disappointing to like their photography and HATE their sales tactic. That is why we are going with somebody else.

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

Beautiful!!!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

What gorgeous pics. You and DH look great. I love the color of your flowers!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

beautiful pictures. congrats!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

U look beautiful! congrats! Love the pics!
I used glenmar too!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

THANKS EVERYONE!!!
We had such a wonderful day. I really had no problems with any of my vendors. Everything went so smoothly.

Any questions-please ask!!!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

congrats! everything looked like it went great!!! isn't it so exciting to be a newlywed!??!?!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

Congratulations! Everything looked beautiful despite the rain.

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

We were checking the weather constantly and the forecast made it seem like rain was certain. It POURED so bad when we had to leave the house. And it was pouring when we were sitting at the alter-we just looked at each other and laughed.

Luckily half way thru the reception the rain stopped and we were able to get pics outside. And since it was warm that day, people were about to go outside and get some fresh air during the reception.

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

omg congrats...you look beautiful!!!!!your colors are amazing..i love the fall colors

looks like you had a beautiful day

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

Great review, great pics, everything looked perfect. You looked stunning!!! I cant wait to get married there. Congrats!!!!

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

great review thanks for posting it...you two look great together

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

Congratulations

Re: My Happy 10/27/07 Wedding!!! Lots of Pics! Westbury Manor, Simply Elegant, Glenmar, Iman, Royalty, Code Bleu

It really was a beautiful wedding! The pics are gorgeous! Great review, Catherine!