My July 1 review( A perfect day)... Chateau La Mer,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral Wholesale, Duet and lots of liw vendors!!!!!!!!!!..

I would like to thank LIW and all of the wonderful ladies that have helped me during all my planning. On to the review:

MOTHER NATURE: A
It was the day that I had dreamed about. It was the in the 80’s, very low humidity and very little clouds with not a drop of rain. It felt like a miracle because it rained the whole week prior to our wedding and I heard that it rained the week after as well.

BRIDAL SHOWER: The Macoroni Grill- A
We had a Hawaiian luau. Everything was amazing! The food was delicious as usual and the staff was very helpful and prompt with the food ordered. The back room is spacious and beautiful.


MY DRESS: Group USA- A
http://www.groupusa.com/
I found my dress while vacationing in Arizona. Lucky for me, they also had a store in Setauket, New Jersey. I was able to visit that store and order my dress. The prices are incredible and there is no tax. It arrived early and was exactly what I wanted since I had only seen it in ivory and had it special ordered in white, at no extra cost, may I add. The staff was very helpful.

BRIDESMAID DRESSES: Belle Vie Bridals, Lynbrook- F
The dresses did not arrive until a week prior to the wedding. They must have really rushed the alterations because they had to be corrected on two of the girls and they had to pay extra to have it fixed even though it was the stores fault. They promised me that the dresses would have detachable straps because the gowns were strapless and some of the girls wanted straps. The day we went to pick them up, there were no straps. They then realized that they made the mistake and that they can do them now but at an extra cost, which I was not made aware of. The staff was rude and not professional. At this point, my girls just told them to forget the straps, In the middle of picking up the dresses, the alteration lady slipped out the back door and never came back. I was later told that she had to leave to be somewhere. She was in the middle of our order and never said goodbye. We all thought that was very rude, because then nobody else helped us finish what she started. Needless to say, this was my worst experience at a dress shop and I am very unhappy. I do not recommend this place to any bride.

MOTHER OF BRIDE DRESS: http://www.eveningstore.com -A
My mother lives in Florida and looked everywhere to find a dress. She finally turned to the internet and fell in love with a dress. It turns out that the website has their warehouse in Oceanside. She flew to New York and made an appointment to pick up the dress. The owner was helpful and friendly. She loved her dress.

MOTHER OF THE GROOM DRESS: Sugar Plum, Lynbrook A
My MIL looked here first and found a dress she loved. The staff was courteous and helpful and the dress was beautiful.

VEIL, SLIP, PEW BOWS: ebay A
All excellent sellers and quick delivery.

HAIR PINS: Barrons at Tri- County A
I found them quickly, great service and inexpensive.

TUX’S: Advance Formal Wear, Rockville Center A
I had no direct contact with this vendor but DH says they were very helpful and on time.

MY RINGS: John Sampieri 74 Bowery, NY NY [email protected] -A
John has been our family jeweler for many years. My family flies in from out of state just to make a “ John run”, we call it to purchase jewelry. My diamonds are gorgeous and great quality. He is a pleasure to work with. He lives in Garden City and if you can’t make it into the city to pick something up or if you want something fixed quickly, he invites you to his home and you can pick it up/ drop it off there. He goes out of his way to make his clients happy.


DH’S RING: Kohls, Oceanside - A
We were about to start looking for a ring for DH when we received a Kohl’s circular in the mail. I do not normally shop there, but something told me to look inside. There it was: a picture of the exact description Dh has described of what he wants his ring to look like. He wanted Titanium. He absolutely loves his ring and I love that I got a bargain.

FAVORS: www.wrapwithus.com -A
I searched everywhere for the best price for my favors. I wanted wind bottle stoppers with the silver seashell on it. This website is fantastic and they have everyting. I also purchased my iron on’s for my bm tanks and bride tank tops here. Their warehouse is in Syosset and the girls there were very friendly and helpful as well.

BM JEWELRY: Adloap designs http://www.yessy.com/paolag625 , email Paolag625 @yahoo.com -A
I am very happy with my bridesmaid jewelry. Paola is a pleasure to work with and is extremely creative. I just gave her an idea of what I wanted and she created it and came up with the idea to make the bridesmaid jewelry a little different from the Maid of honor jewelry which was such a great idea and it looked gorgeous in all of the pictures. The girls love their jewelry and I have found them wearing it all the time since the wedding. Definitely check her out for your bridal jewelry.

GM GIFTS: http://www.leatherman.com/ -A
DH purchased them all leathermans. The guys loved it and I thought it was a wonderful gift.

CUSTOMIZED UNDERWEAR: www.customizedglamgirl.com -A
I ordered the baby blue boyshorts with the rhinestone writing. Very wuick delivery, great price and I love them.

REHEARSAL DINNER: Olive Garden, Westbury – A
Wonderful dinner. I love the staff there. We had the entire back room just for us. Everything was delicious. We had a wonderful time.


REHEARSAL CAKE: Mario’s Bakery, Oceanside – A
MIL had one of our casual day photos imprinted on the cake. It was beautiful. I have never had such a delicious cake.


NIGHT BEFORE WEDDING HOTEL: Marriott in Uniondale – A
Staff was very friendly and accommodating. I booked a suite and it was large and comfortable however I feel that the Marriot could use an updating on their rooms.

HAIR AND MAKEUP: Jen the hair genie and Oksana - A
These girls are fantastic as many of you LIW girls already know. They arrived on time and everyone was amazed by their work as well as their wonderful personalities. They kept everyone relaxed and entertained, we had some wonderful conversation. They even happily took the time to accommodate a few extra girls. At one point Jenn was even bustling my dress for me. These girls are simply the best!




PICTURE LOCATION: Venetian Shore, Babylon – A
I wanted beach pictures and lucked out when I found this beach. It’s small and was not very crowded. The beach and water made for some gorgeous pics.

PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY-Duet, Huntington – A
http://www.duetwedding.com
As most of you ladies already, Duet is amazing! We worked with Alberto. He is such a pleasure to work with and is extremely talented. He also did our casual day photo shoot and we had an awesome time with him. All of our proofs are gorgeous and I am in love with every single one. They were the “paprazzi” at our wedding but totally unobtrusive at the same time. They said our proofs would be ready from 4-6 weeks and as promised, they were ready by 5 weeks. Everyone has commented at the different variety of my pictures and the style.

BAGPIPER: Kevin Connolly http://www.liweddings.com/vendors/music/celticpipers/ -A
He is amazing! We did all the booking on line and through emails. He was such a nice addition to our wedding. I booked Kevin to play outside to greet guests are they were arriving. He stayed and played throughout the entire cocktail hour indoors, which was incredibly sweet of him. He is very talented and a nice guy. Will definitely be recommending him to everyone I know.

STEEL DRUMMERS: Adlib Steel Pans, Freeport – A http://www.basementrecordings.com/nap/adlibers/adlibbio.htm
I absolutely love this band. They are outstanding! They are a youth cultural group who practices in Freeport. I have seen them at several Nautical Mile festivals in Freeport and loved them. They put on an incredible performance and everyone loved it. They really added to the beach/ carribbean theme I was going for.

DJ: Vinny from high Voltage, Massapequa – A
Vinny is an absolute pleasure to work with. When DH and I met with him, we instantly knew that we wanted to book him. He is so down to earth and makes you feel very comfortable and that’s exactly what we wanted. On the day of he was beyond fantastic. He played such a variety of music and even my grandmother loved the music. It was perfect for all ages and everyone was dancing the night away. We have received so many phone calls saying that it’s the best music they have heard at a wedding. The volume was perfect and we loved the giveaways. He was always there to announce everything perfectly since we did not want an MC. Even after the wedding Vinny emailed me to thank me and make sure everything went ok. I can not thank Vinny enough because he really made my wedding what it was and I will always recommend him to all friends and future brides.

FLORIST: National Floral Wholesale, Bellmore – B
My flowers were gorgeous. They did a fantastic job. The only thing was that they forgot 2 usher boutonnieres when they delivered the flowers to the hotel. But they had someone deliver the boutonnieres to CLM. Anna was great to work with. I did not have floral centerpieces but they did everything else wonderfully. My gazebo was beautiful. I am very happy with my flowers.


BAKER: Black Forest Bakery, Lindenhurst – C
We met with Tommy and he was helpful and friendly. I explained to him that I wanted chocolate seashells covering the border of each layer of cake. He stated that since I am using buttercream which is not a complete flat surface like the fondant that he will cover a lot of the cake with seashells. He said he will, “ Cover the cake with chocolate seashells for an additional $65.00” The day of the wedding, there were approx: 10-12 shells on the cake, if that and they were scarcely scattered around. But, the cake was delicious and was delivered on time.

OFFICIANT: Rev. Thomas McCormick
Prior to the wedding: A Day of wedding : D
I am giving him two grades because prior to the wedding, the meetings with him were always nice. He seemed really attentive to what we wanted and genuinely wanted to know everything about us, which I really liked.
On the day of the wedding, this was the one vendor I was disappointed with. When he arrived, he came to Dh and I and asked us which vows we would like and started giving us our options. I was completely shocked because at our last meeting, I went over and gave him a copy of our vows. I had researched for months to find the perfect vows for us. He stated that we never gave him anything. That’s when Dh spoke up and reminded him that we did indeed give him the vows and at the time Rev. McCormick even commented on how lovely they were. Suddenly he remembered me giving him a copy of the vows and stated that they were in his car. When it came to the ceremony, he repeated completely different vows to us. So we never got to say the vows we wanted. At the prior meetings with Rev. McCormick we also spoke about the Blessing of the hands. I also researched for several months to find the perfect version for us. I even added some lines of my own to it. Because I thought my hand blessing was so beautiful and I had worked so hard on it, I had it printed in the programs so that my guests can read along during the ceremony. I had told him that I wanted it read from the paper that I gave him. Againa, Rev. McCormich was unprepared and did a different version that he had memorized and completely rushed it. Many guests commented on how completely rushed and quick my ceremony was. He had to rush out to go to another wedding he scheduled. I am so disappointed that he rushed my wedding because he over booked himself. He left without giving us a copy of our marriage license that I was told I would receive. Because of that, we were unable to receive our free china at the Sandals resort on our honeymoon and were unable to deposit any checks from the wedding. We had to go to city hall and pay $10.00 when we got home to receive a rushed copy of it. The clerk even stated that we should have received a copy at the wedding. All in all, I did not let this bother me, or ruin my wedding at the time and I am not usually one to complain, but I am completely disappointed with this vendor. He would be receiving an F grade, but he showed up so I gave him a D.

LIMO’S: Sir Oliver Ronkonkoma – A
They were incredible. I instantly know that I wanted to book with them because when we met with them. On the day of, our driver was funny and down to earth, he even had to put up with all of us girls singing at the top of our lungs on the way to have pictures done…lol. At one point he even sewed a button on for one of the groomsmen who ripped a button off his jacket. That is above and beyond his job duty and was so sweet of him. Our limos were on time, clean always knew where they were going. I will be using this company again in the future.

RECEPTION: Chateau La Mer A++++++++++++++++++
What can I say about CLM that has not been said before. This was my dream wedding and CLM made that possible. Nick and Monika went out of their way to make sure that everyone was happy. Anything I wanted it was done before I even asked. We wrrived early to take some pictures and the minute we got there, they rushed to have food downstairs and made sure everyone had a drink in their hand. I have received numerous calls as have my parents and Dh’s parents from guests who have said this was the best wedding they have been to. They have said that they never had to wait for a drink, they always had one. People have commented on how delicious the food was and several people even took them up on their offer to have a second entrée. At one point a drink spilled on my mothers chair and she was laughing because she turned around for a second and when she turned back around, a new chair was there and she had a new drink in her hand within seconds. CLM runs a tight ship and we are so grateful for everyone over there. The bartenders were awesome too. We were able to do the boat arrival and that really adds something to the wedding, it was a nice few moment where DH and I could be alone together. They really do their best to make you feel at home and I can honestly say that I did not worry about one single thing on my wedding. I was free to just eat, dance and have a wonderful time and that is because of CLM!!!!! I will forever recommend them to everyone I know.

NIGHT OF WEDDING HOTEL: Garden City Hotel – A
Great Service, clean room, quick checkout.

Here is the link whre I posted my pics:









PRO PICS

Here is the link with non-pro pics: NON PRO PICS

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

what a beautiful wedding and a beautiful review. i'm sorry you had that trouble with fr. tom, we loved him, but it didnt seem to ruin anything which was wonderful to hear!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Wonderful review and pics!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Congrats!!! I LOVE your bo-k!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Congratulations!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

congrats, thank you for sharing your review.

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Really enjoyed your pics; loved your gown, too!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Yeah, congratulations! Another very happy CLM bride!!! Love the pics on the beach---BM dresses look terrific and so do YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Great review!!! Congrats on the wedding!!!!!!!!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Great review...love the pictures and your dress

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

You look great!! I am getting married at CLM June 23 07- I'm so excited I've heard wonderful things about them.

Congratulations!!!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Wow! you looked beautiful. Congratulations Great review!!!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Congrats!!!! i had an amazing time at your perfect wedding!!! everything was beautiful and you both looked amazing!!! Congrats again MRS V

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Beautiful!

Thanks for the review!!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Congrats!!!!

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

wow! your beach pictures are beautiful! sorry to hear about the trouble with the BM dresses, but i have to say they looked gorgeous! it was the first thing i noticed in the pictures even before i read the review.

Re: My July 1 review... CLM,High Voltage, Jen & Oksana, Sir Oliver, National Floral, Duet etc etc....

Beautiful~! Congratulations!!!!!