MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN (updated 11/15/05)

My review is finally here. Sorry it took so long, but I wanted to make sure that I included all my vendors and give them each a detailed review. Plus I wanted to scan in my pictures so everyone can see how beautiful my day was. I want to thank all my LIW girls for all the advice I got and all the ideas I stole. I don’t know how anyone can plan a wedding without LIW. Ok, where do I begin? DH and I could not have asked for a better day. It was the most wonderful and exciting day of our lives. The weather was perfect and I couldn’t wait to become Mrs. N. My advice to future brides is to enjoy the day because it goes by so quickly.
I want to first let you know who was in my BP because I reference them a lot in my review. My MOH is Yianna, who just got married in September at Flowerfield. My two BM’s are Dana and my sister Susan. My sister has brown curly hair and Dana is the shortest BM. I will try to list the vendors in the order of events. Pictures will be at the bottom and you can also view my album under Community. I just learned this yesterday.

Invitations - Gail from Simply Elegant - 95
I heard about Gail through LIW. We ordered our invitations and guest book/pen from Gail. Everything was beautiful, no complaints about the products themselves. But when we got home and counted our invites, we were short. We ordered 125 of everything, we were short on return envelopes but over on invitations. Please check that everything you ordered is in the box before you leave.

Kissing Bells – Wrap With Us – 100
I also heard about them through LIW. I used them in the past when I was planning Yianna’s shower. The day I ordered the bells they were in stock. After the wedding I had bought about 20 too many, so I returned the others no problem. They are located in Syosset on Robbins Lane.

Favors – CB Maple Farm – 100
We ordered glass maple syrup leaf bottles for our favor. Everyone loved them. Here is there website. www.cbmaplefarm.com

Labels – www.myweddinglabels.com - 100
We order little 2x2 hanging tags to go on the favors. When I ordered them, they send me a sample via email of what it will look like before they actually printed them in case I had any changes. Everything was fine and I got them a few days after placing my order.

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Menus/Table Names – www.documentsanddesigns.com - 100
I heard about this website from MegLehner (thank you). We ordered our menus and table cards only 2 weeks before the wedding. They were very helpful and got them to us the day before I had to drop everything off at the hall. They came out beautiful.

Tuxedos – Dantes of Westbury – 100
My DH and the GM had no complaints. The service was excellent. DH and I went in two months before the wedding to pick out everyone’s attire. The guys only had to go one month prior to the wedding to get sized. They picked up their tuxes the Friday before the wedding. Even though everything worked out for us, make sure wherever you go they do alterations on the spot. Just in case they need to alter anything the day before the wedding, they could do it right there without having to send it out.

My dress/BM dresses – Bridal Reflections of Carle Place – 80
After two months of looking for my dress, I ordered it from BR in March. Within the week, the BM’s decided on a dress and that was also ordered in March. The BM dresses came in July and my dress came in August. Everything was fine until I had to go for alterations. Yianna came with me because she had just gone through this process and could help me with any questions I forgot to ask, etc. Well, all we did was argue with the seamstress over little things. Even though it was just a lot of little things, I could have done without the extra stress just weeks before my wedding. Another complaint I had was when I went to pick my dress up. I went with Dana to get my dress the Friday before the wedding and we both thoroughly checked it for any stains or wrinkles. It looked good so I took it home. When I took it out of the bag there was a stain right on the front. That night was my RD and I just kept thinking about my dress and couldn’t enjoy the RD as much as I would have wanted. The next day I had a 10:00 massage with my friend Anna, so after that she came with me to BR. It ended up that the inside of the bag was dirty, so every time the bag closed dust got on the dress.
The BM dresses on the other hand were beautiful and I got so many compliments. Only Dana and my sister had their alterations done there. The experience was fine, but during the wedding they had to pull their dresses up sometimes. The seamstress didn’t want to make it tighter on top because she felt that their skin will be popping up on top and it will look too tight. But the girls loved their dresses. Thank god they all agreed on the same dress. If anyone has any questions about BR, please FM.

Shoes – Sandy’s Shoes in Massapequa – 100
I ordered my shoes and the BM shoes from here. No complaints. The BM shoes were dyed to match the dresses and they looked great.

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Veil/Tiara – Bridal Styles in Brooklyn – 100
I heard about this place through Yianna who just got married in September. Her friend went here back in 2001 and thought they were great. First time I went with Yianna I just looked around for me and didn’t really see anything I loved. Then I saw the tiara I wanted in Bridal Reflections, but it was too expensive. I brought a picture in to Bridal Styles and they ordered it for me and I saved $75. I also bought my 2 veils there, a cathedral length for the church and a shorter one for the reception. I was actually not going to wear a veil during the reception, but I changed my mind last minute. I ordered the short veil only 9 days before my wedding. They had it shipped to me a few days later.

Undergarments – Mary’s of Woodbury – 100
Since I know the owner, this is where I bought my bra and pantyhose. I borrowed Yianna’s garter as my something blue and borrowed. The service was great and the bra did its job.

Rehearsal Dinner – Frank’s Steaks of RVC – 100
DH’s parents paid for the RD, which was a mistake. If I knew they wanted to take over the dinner then I would have paid for it myself. (that is another story) Our RD was Friday night, right after the church rehearsal. The rehearsal time was changed 2x by the church and the manager at Frank’s never had a problem with us changing the time or ordering two cakes. (see below) The service and food were excellent. Everyone loved their food and had a great time.

Groom’s Cake – Mario’s of Oceanside – 95
Frank’s Steaks included a cake from Mario’s bakery with the meal. I told DH’s parents that I was going to order the cake because I wanted to get Tim a groom’s cake. When I called to order the cake, they said it was already ordered. DH parents ordered the cake, even though I told them that I was going to do it. They thought because they were paying for the RD, they could do whatever they wanted. In the end, we had two cakes. I ordered my own for DH. I gave them a 95 because I wanted a cake that looked like an Islanders hockey puck, but when I saw the cake that night, it wasn’t exactly what I ordered, but DH loved it anyway.

BM Gifts –
I ordered for the girls, shawls to match their dresses from Bridal Reflections, bracelets to wear the day of from Kara Marie in Syosset, engraved lipstick holder from www.wedoweddings.com and a fall candle to go with our theme from Yankee Candle. And I also got just my MOH a Precious Moment BM figurine.

GM Gifts –
DH got each GM an engraved lighter from Things Remembered and The Altimeter Multi-tool pocketknife thing from www.swissarmy.com

Ring Bearer Gift –
My nephew, who is only 21 months, was our RB. We got him an engraved silver train piggy bank. It read Cole, Master Ring Bearer.

Wedding Bands – HL Gross in Franklin Square – 100
This is wear I originally saw the e-ring I wanted but it was Scott Kay and too expensive. We got my e-ring through DH’s friend. His family is friends with this guy who has a jewelry store in NYC. We got a copy of a Scott Kay ring I had seen in HL Gross. When we ordered our wedding bands, we went back to HL Gross and I got the Scott Kay band to match my e-ring. We dealt with Patti and she was very helpful with anything questions we had. I also had my ring polished here the day before the wedding.

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Dance Lessons – Starr Dance Studio - 95
They are located in Farmingdale and I heard about them through Yianna. We didn’t start taking lessons until 2 weeks before the wedding. We got 1 free lesson and 5 lessons for $375. We knew we wanted people to join in halfway through the song, so we only wanted to take lessons so we wouldn’t look silly up there for two minutes. The only thing I didn’t like is that they kept trying to teach us other dances and we were only interested in our first dance song. Other than that, it worked out well.

Hair – Two Stephen Street – 100
I have been going here for at least 10 years to get my hair cut and colored. I never had any complaints. I sat for three trials before I decided I wanted my hair all down. Donna did a great job. She also did my MOH’s hair.

Make-Up – Karen Loree Cosmetics – 100
They are located in the hair salon and I always go there to get my eyebrows waxed. I never had my make-up done there until Yianna got married and we both had our make-up done here. Karen did a beautiful job for Yianna’s wedding that I knew I wanted her to do my make-up. I had one trial a week before the wedding just to get different looks and the day of she did a great job. Everyone was happy with their make-up.

Necklace – Fortunoff’s – 100
I picked up my necklace the night before my wedding. I dropped DH off at his parents and headed to Fortunoff’s. I already had a necklace from Kara Marie, but wasn’t thrilled with it. Thank god I went to Fortunoff’s because I ended up wearing that necklace.

Earrings – Kara Marie – 100
This is where I got the girls their bracelets. The owner (Karen) is a friend of the woman that waxes my eyebrows. She sent me over to see her. She has a little shop in Syosset on the corner of Jericho Tpke. and South Oyster Bay Road. Karen actually let me take the jewelry with me to see if I liked how it looked with my dress before I bought anything. This is where I got the first necklace, but decided against it at the last minute.

Photo/Video – Proline Studios – 90
I used Proline Studios because my friend Michelle had used them a few years ago and I really liked her album. Her photographer was Dave, so when we booked Proline I made sure we had Dave for our wedding. When we booked, we also had a photojournalist. It was $1100, so two months before the wedding we cancelled the photojournalist because we could use that money towards other things. Then Yianna, who also used Proline, had Angelica as her photojournalist. When she got her proofs back, they were awesome. I wanted to book her, but I knew it was too expensive. Then we found out that DH parents put down $4k towards our HM without even telling us, so this gave us the money we needed for Angelica. Both photographers took great pictures. You can see them below.
I forget our videographer’s name, but he did a great job as well.

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Limo – AllStar Limo – 95
AllStar was a little bit more expensive than other places we went to, but we thought the cars were cleaner and they had a good reputation. We had a Rolls and a 10-passenger limo. Both cars came to my house since DH only lives a few blocks away from the church. They arrived early and the drivers introduced themselves and were very helpful. They helped everyone into and out of the limo. When we arrived at the church, we had to wait about 40 minutes in the car because the church had christenings going on. (more on that later) When we got into the church, the driver lined us up, showed us where to stand and fixed my dress before walking down the aisle. I was very calm, not nervous a bit. He kept trying to relax me; I told him I was fine. The only thing was that he told my sister how to hold her flowers and no one else. My sister’s bouquet looks so much nicer walking down the aisle, but what can I do now!!!

Church – St. Agnes Cathedral in RVC – 75
They are lucky to get a 75. The only reason for a high grade is because the church itself is so beautiful. From back in March when we signed up for pre-cana, we never got a call letting us know when it will start. We finally called in April to see what happened and they said they never received paperwork from us. This is untrue, because MIL worked for the church and brought the papers in herself. So we had to wait until the end of September to start pre-cana, which was cutting it close. Then they switched priests on us twice. The first priest we had moved to another church, the next priest that had agreed to do our ceremony decided he had other engagements only two weeks before the wedding. MIL got really mad and spoke with the priest directly and he agreed to do it. Another problem was our rehearsal. We booked our rehearsal in March for 7:00 on Friday night. We had dinner reservations for 8:00. The church called us in the summer and said they have to move us up to 6:15 because they have other events scheduled for 7:00. Nice to tell us! It was really hard to get everyone there right after work in traffic by 6:15. Most people don’t live near RVC, only DH’s family. The day of our wedding, we (the girls) arrived at the church at 3:00. The ceremony was to begin at 3:15. We got there 15 minutes early just like the church said. Well, they didn’t bother to tell us they had christenings going on that day and I had to sit in the limo for 40 minutes. I didn’t notice at the time, but my dress was all wrinkled in the back from sitting in that limo for 40 minutes. I can see it in the pictures where Angelica was behind me taking pictures of me walking into the church. This still gets me so mad when I think about it.

Flowers – Flower Michele – 100 + + +
As everyone knows, John at Flower Michele is wonderful. I have nothing but good things to say. My flowers were so beautiful. Exactly what I wanted. We changed our minds three times and John was so great about it. He just wanted us to love our flowers and we did. Everyone raved about the flowers asking our parents who our florist was. John is the best. The best vendor we had. I can’t say enough good things about him.

Band – Timepiece (Franklin Wayne Band) – 100 + + +
They were awesome. We went and saw a few bands before them, but when we heard them we knew they were our band. They played all the music we wanted and none of what we didn’t want. They even learned our first dance song. Thank you BriBri529 for sending me the slow version of Lionel Richie’s Angel. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I can’t say enough good things about them. Everyone was telling us the whole night how great our band was and where did we find them. They truly did an awesome job. Even now when I talk about the wedding, people tell me how excellent our band was.

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Reception – The Carltun – 100
When we went looking at halls, we didn’t love anything. We were getting so frustrated. Then we saw The Carltun, Carlyle on The Green and Flowerfield. Yianna decided they were going to get married at Flowerfield in September, so it was down to two. We couldn’t decide, so I tried to get the price lowered on both, but only The Carltun would go down. It was only a $5 difference pp between both places, so it was just of matter of which one do we like more. I thought the CH in The Carltun was more spacious and you can go right outside if we had good weather. (I was planning on good weather)
When we booked The Carltun we dealt with Carol. But after we booked we only dealt with Liz. She was great, answered all my questions let me come in as many times as I wanted to see everything set up so I can get ideas for my wedding. I showed her pictures of the cake I wanted (thank you Bethsiar) and pictures of how I wanted the place card table set up, menus in the napkins, etc.
We arrived at The Carltun at 5:00. The CH was to start at 6:30, so we had about an hour to take pictures inside and outside. The maitre d’ Terrance and my bridal attendant Donna greeted us outside. I took a look around while the place was empty just to let it all in. Everything was beautiful. It looks so different when you see it set up for another wedding versus your own. It was just so beautiful and I couldn’t believe it was actually here. After I looked around, we headed upstairs to the bridal suite to drop everything off and then headed outside for pictures. The guests started arriving at 6:00 and we headed back to the bridal suite. We had a little to eat and then my BP party bustled me up. It was then I realized I forgot my shorter veil at home. Thank god my sister’s fiancé was at the house letting the dogs out, he found my veil in my room and brought it for me. We headed downstairs to the CH. I didn’t want to miss the CH. This is where all the good food is. We were there for about ½ an hour then Donna suggested we go upstairs to be alone for a few minutes. When we got upstairs, they had filled the table with a little bit of everything that was being served in the CH. Donna made us both plates and we were alone for 15 minutes, which was nice. At 7:30 the rest of the BP joined us to get ready to be introduced. After the introductions, we had our first dance. DH wasn’t nervous the whole day until we were getting introduced. I had to help him a little with the dance, but he did a great job. After, the BM and MOH gave speeches and everyone got on the dance floor. DH and I usually don’t dance much at weddings, but it was our wedding and you couldn’t get us off the dance floor. We had such a good time. Salad was served around 8:15 and dinner at 9:15. We had our own waiter besides Terrance making sure we were happy and didn’t need anything. All our guests said the service and food was excellent. They never had to go to the bar for a refill and the tables were kept clean and napkins always folded. For our dinner, they brought DH and I each a chicken, filet mignon and sea bass. I only ate some of the filet mignon and chicken. We made sure we sat down for 10 minutes to enjoy our food. And since we only had 140 guests, they wrapped up 10 meals to go and we ate them for dinner Monday night, me, DH, my dad and brother. We cut the cake a little early, 10:30 and the dessert café opened after that. I guess as soon as everyone had dessert they started leaving because it was a Sunday night. DH’s side of the room was gone by 11:00 and the party wasn’t over until 11:30, but it was ok. All my friends stayed and the band played all younger music and everyone was dancing. It was really the best day of our lives.
Here is the link to some of our wedding proofs. The colr pics are from Dave our photographer, and the B&W are from Angelica our photojournalist. Enjoy!!!


http://www.liweddings.com/community/albums/?Username=pbandtim

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Congrats and thanks for the great review!

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Absolutely gorgeous!!! Congrats!

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

very nice pictures....esp the photojournalistic ones!!

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Very Nice Congratulations!!!

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Your review is fantastic! You and your DH look amazing!! Your picutres are gorgeuos and the two of you look fabulous!!!! Beautiful!
Now, I need to make a list of questions for you....hope you won't mind me bugging you alittle!! The Carltun looked stunning...I love the photojournalism too!! WOW on everything!!

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Congrats!!!!!!!!! Pictures were gorgeous!!!!

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

congrats

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Very nice.

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Beautiful pictures!! We had the same favors. We also ordered them from carmen brook farm.

Congrats!!!

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

glad to hear everything went well congradulations

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

congrats

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Congrats. Glad to hear that you had a great day.

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

Wow - we LOVED the Carltun. If it wasn't out of our budget, we'd have been there, although Milleridge was perfecto. Congrats on your day - Love the PJ pix. They're absolutely beautiful!

Re: MY OCTOBER 24TH WEDDING AT THE CARLTUN

bump for yianna