My really long Fall Theme October 11,2009 Wedding Review of: Stewart Manor Country Club, My Kitchen, Designs by Rose, The Bridal Touch , Claudine's, Macy's, David's Bridal, and many more venders

I am finally reviewing all the venders I used for our wedding. It was a wonderful time and it went by way too fast! I enjoyed it soo much! Thank you to all my family and friends that supported us.



SAVE-THE-DATE MAGNETS
www.agiftfulheart.com - A+++
They were really reasonable and came perfect and quick. Everybody loved our save-the-date magnets. The website was easy to use and you could have picture or without pictures, different shapes. Ours was a heart shape which people loved!


BRIDAL SHOWER
My Kitchen in Forest Hills, NY - A++++
The food was fantastic!!! The service was great! We had a buffet luncheon on a Sunday afternoon. It was perfect. They supplied flowers on the tables. It is a nice bright, cheerful room. We were the only event. They have a restaurant in the next room. My occasion cake was AMAZING!!! The baker they use for the desserts and occasion cake was the baker at the White House during the Clinton presidency. It is the best cake ever! We were not rushed. They helped us bring my gifts out to my car. If we couldn’t fit everything in the car, they offered to let us leave stuff behind and let us go back and pick it up later.


REHEARSAL DINNER
Abbracciamento in Middle Village, NY B
My husband’s family has had many events here (bridal showers, rehearsal dinners, birthday parties, etc.) so they planned our rehearsal dinner here. The food was good like always. The downside is the floor was sticky and you could hear music from a party going on in another room. I gave my bridesmaids coach bags. My matron-of-honor received the same plus a tiny bowl from Tiffanys.


INVITATIONS
Creations de Bella in Mineola, NY - A+++
The invitations came out perfect. I am so happy with them. The price was not bad. You explain the price range and what you are looking for and the people are very helpful with trying to find the right invitation for you and in your price range. They do not show you invitations that will cost you more.



NIGHT BEFORE DINNER FOR OUT-OF-TOWN GUESTS
My Kitchen in Forest Hills, NY - A++
Once again fabulous! We wanted to take our out-of-town guests out to dinner someplace different and tasty. The service was fantastic! Everyone loved it!

WEDDING DRESS & VEIL
Macy's in Manhasset - A+
I LOVE my dress!!! The sales people are not pushy. They are helpful and nice. The dress was a good price but the alterations were very expensive. My dress came in timely and was perfect. My alterations cost 50% of the price of the dress (they let it out ¼ inch, the bustle, took in the top slightly, and shortened it). They ordered the size I normally wear for dresses (a size 4) because by the size chart I would be a size 10 which they knew would never fit me so they had to let it out a ¼ inch to fit. The stitching was precise and perfect. I felt like a princess!



TIARA
www.bestbridal prices.com - A+++
It was absolutely beautiful! It was an Edward Berger tiara. I ordered one but the place called me and said it was discontinued so I picked a slightly different one. They did not charge me the $20 difference. It was packed extremely well and fit perfectly.


BRIDESMAID DRESSES & MOB DRESS
David's Bridal in Westbury, NY – A -
The dresses were beautiful! They arrived in a timely manner. Some of my bridesmaids had them altered at David’s Bridal and they had no problems. The sales lady, when I went and tried on bridal gowns and my Mom tried on MOB dresses was very nice. When I went with my bridesmaids, the sales lady had a couple of groups and was getting annoyed that we needed different sizes and did not know what style we wanted. I let each bridesmaid choose the style they wanted, the dress just had to be truffle, long, and satin. The color was perfect! The lady was not interested in helping us and was not very nice. I had 6 girls and I made the appointment for 6 girls therefore I should have received someone who could help us.


VIDEOGRAPHY
Steve Bucaro - A
My brother used him for his wedding so we knew his work. He was wonderful. He listened to us and kept me totally calm about the other venders being late. I have my unedited video and it looks great. He got fantastic shots. I can't wait to see the edit version. He is difficult to get ahold of. The turn around takes a long time because of this.

PHOTOGRAPHER
edited



MAKEUP
The Bridal Touch by Elena - D+
My makeup came out fantastic. I had booked her two weeks before so I was in a panic (a bridesmaid was planning my times and wanted me to get my makeup done first and I didn’t so I needed a new makeup person). Elena was referred to me by a friend who used her and loved her. I had the makeup trail the week before for my rehearsal dinner and it was good ($75). Me, my 1 bridesmaid, and my Mom decided to get makeup done. I called her during the week and asked if I could add my Grandma for hair and makeup and my sister-in-law for make and she said no problem. My wedding was at 2 PM and my photographer was coming at 12 PM so I wanted to get started on makeup by 10;30 AM so we could all be done in time to take some pictures. Elena did not want to start until at least 11 AM so she would still be doing me when the photographer came. I call her at 10:30 AM and she’s running late. She got a flat tire and didn’t show up to my house until 11:30 AM. She quickly did my makeup, my Mom’s, and my Grandma’s hair and makeup. At first she arrived and said she wouldn’t charge for me then she charged for me and she charged $75 for my Grandma’s hair and $80 for her makeup. My Grandma looked like a clown. I was soo busy trying to take pictures and all I didn’t notice until I saw pictures of her later. My Mom missed seeing me get dressed because she had to get her makeup done. My Grandma almost missed pictures, she wasn’t done until 1:30 and still had to get dressed. It was terrible. I am still so upset about it all.


HAIR
Claudine’s in Howard Beach, A+++
Lauren did my hair and I absolutely love her! I now go to her for my haircut. They did a fantastic job. They opened early for us, 8AM on a Sunday. Claudine, her Mom, and Lauren did our hair. It was me, 4 bridesmaids, Mother of Groom, and Mother of the Bride that got their hair done there. It was perfect! I had a trial with Lauren two weeks before and I showed her a picture from a book and she created it perfectly. LOVE THEM!

FLORIST (bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, altar baskets)
Designs By Rose - B+

I love my flowers! My flowers were GORGEOUS!!! The reason she received a B+ was she discussed doing my MOH’s bouquet one way and she didn’t do it that way (she actually did it the way I had thought of). They did offer to take the bouquet back and redo it and have it back to us in time for some pictures before the wedding but we kept it. But as I said, the bouquet was the way I originally thought of and it looked fantastic.

What upset me more is that some of the roses came out of the bouquets (my MOH, and two of my bridesmaid’s bouquets). Some of the boutonnieres that were delivered to the groom’s house were missed labeled. Which isn’t the end of the world because she did send two extra boutonnieres but my husband did not pay attention when I told him what everyone was wearing and the Best Man was wearing the wrong boutonniere during the ceremony. Which is my husband's fault. As I said, I loved my bouquet of mango calla lilies!!! My husband loved his mango calla lily boutonniere.


FLORIST (centerpieces)
Baskets Bellisimo in Franklin Square– Josephine - A+
I wanted artificial centerpieces. I decided that if I was spending $100 for a centerpiece, that I wanted it to last. I was referred to Josephine by one of my bridesmaids. I love my centerpieces!!! So many people wanted to take one home. I wanted funkins (fake pumpkins) for the fall flowers to be placed in. She said she could make it cheaper by using not as many or nto as expensive flowers but I thought it looked perfect. Josephine also said if anyone did not want a funkin bottom after the wedding, they could go in and she would change it for free. I highly recommend her!


CAKE
Jimmy Giacimo in Lindenhurst, NY - A
It was who Stewart Manor Country Club used for the cake. He did an excellent job creating my cake from my drawing. The cake tasted delicious (it was what he called Philly Fluff). I am so excited with how my cake looked and tasted.

DJ
Let Us Entertain You – A
This was one of my groomsmen’s Uncle. Billy was fantastic. The music was great! The slideshow was fantastic. He took pictures throughout the cocktail hour and reception and ran them continually throughout the reception. He did not play all of the songs from my 20 must play list. Everyone thought he did a great job.

LIMOS
Designer Limos - A+
They did a great job! My limo was gorgeous. The limos were early so we had plenty of time to take pictures with them. An 8-10 passenger limo pick us up and take us to the hotel afterwards.


FAVORS
Wine from San Sebastian Winery in St. Augustine, FL
We bought the wine and tied a pumpkin tag around the neck.


UNITY CANDLE, STIRRS, MATCHBOOKS, SIGN-IN BOOK, & NAPKINS
www.invitationsbydawn.com - A++
They were easy to use and often had coupons to buy. It matched our theme and colors perfectly. The colors were perfect. Everything came quickly.

TUXEDOS
Men’s Wearhouse – A+
The first time we went to Men’s Wearhouse on Austin Street, the people were not helpful or nice at all. They handed us a book and walked away. We went to the one in Westbury and they were soo nice and helpful. The tuxes looked and fit great! The color vest matched the girls’ dresses perfectly!


BATHROOM BASKETS
DIY
There was no bathroom attendant at Stewart Manor Country Club which I am happy about. I don’t like having to tip someone for a paper towel. My Mom made my basket for the bathroom and filled it with things she thought people may need. She used a basket my sister-in-law had in the shape of Mickey and put in it: hair spray, stockings, combs, brushes, sewing kit (which was used), lint roller, bobby pins, hair clips, rubber bands, pads, tampons, clear nailpolish, etc.

We also put out Bath N Body Works soap and Listerine with paper cups. In the Men’s room, we just put the soap and Listerine.

CHAMPAGNE FLUTES/CAKE CUTTERS: Disney
My Mom and Grandma gave us our Champagne flutes which had Cinderella and Prince Charming engraved on them and had our names and wedding date engraved on it. The cake cutter was the Cinderella cake cutter which is so pretty.

CHURCH
Sacred Heart of Glendale, NY - A+++
It is a beautiful simple church. The church is always nicely decorated. I grew up in this parish and I love.



CHURCH PROGRAMS
DIY
My husband and I made our programs. We bought paper at Staples and ribbon at Michael’s and AC Moore (we bought them out of brown ribbon). It matched the color paper used for our invitations perfectly.


MOTHER NATURE – A++++++++++++
We had perfect weather!!! It was a gorgeous day. Not too hot, not too cold. Nobody needed shawls. It was nice and sunny outside.

RECEPTION
Stewart Manor Country Club – B
The place is beautiful! The bridal suite is nothing to look at but we planned on being at our cocktail hour. The food was delicious (my husband did not care for the sea bass but loved the sliced chateau briand and grilled tequila lime chicken). People loved the crab legs at the cocktail hour (they were so good, they ran out). We had the Tudor Dinner Reception (the middle choice for menus) and added the Viennese Table. The Cheese Ravioli with Marinara sauce is out of this world. I love it! We had that as our pasta course. We added an Intermezzo course of lemon sorbet which was very tasty.

My guests have been very honest with my husband and I on what they did and did not like about Stewart Manor. We paid extra for the Viennese hour and it was soo NOT worth it. They did NOT serve cake which we paid extra and upgraded the type of cake (which tasted and looked fantastic). They promised the fathers a plate of the mini hotdogs and they did not have one. ??I had wine as a favor, which also was my placecard and it did not have our name on the bottle. We packed 2 extra bottles and my family member said they forgot their 2 bottles on the table (the were the last people to leave before us) and we never received them (and I saw them sitting on our table when they were cleaning up and it was just us and our parents there at that time). Our fake pumpkin decorations did not all come back to me and then when I asked Stewart Manor about them, they accused me of take soap which I did bring my own nice bath n body works soap because I hate regular soap. ??I heard from a number of people that if you went to the bar, the drinks were weak and the bartender was not that nice but if you went through your waiter, the drinks were strong. ??

Stewart Manor Country Cub made a big deal on how any dessert leftover from the Viennese hour they pack up for you to take home. There was not a thing left. It was like there was not enough considering we paid extra for it. ??The chocolate mousse was fabulous but there was only like 4 pieces of it out. They did not refill it when it was finished (same thing with items at the cocktail hour, once items were done, they were finished, they did not refill them).

I asked for 2 chairs to be removed from 3 tables because we heard those people couldn't make it last minute. They remove chairs from the wrong tables and I had given them a list of where those people were sitting (we didn't get their favors/placecards back either).??Although those are details that mostly only me and my husband know about.

Many people said it was one of the best weddings they've ever been to and some told us it was the best wedding they ever attended. Our one guest called Stewart Manor a gem.

My husband says looking back at it, we should've gone with The Sandcastle.




HOTEL NIGHT OF
Garden City Hotel - A+++
They are so nice there. We only stayed for one night but it was wonderful. The room was a standard room and it was HUGE!!! My Hubby surprised me and had Champagne for us and rose petal turndown. They gave us late checkout and stored our bags while we walked around town.


HONEYMOON
Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid, NY - A+++
An amazing place. It was gorgeous there!!! The hotel staff were soo nice. Lake Placid is beautiful! We did a romantic package at the hotel and we had a spa treatment everyday and a special surprise everyday (chocolates, spa items, cheese, etc). The food was amazing at their hotel! The view is gorgeous! Our room was huge (a suite)!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND here!!! I can’t wait to go back!

Re: My really long October 11,2009 Wedding Review of: Stewart Manor Country Club, My Kitchen, Designs by Rose, and many more venders

thanks for the review!! congrats!!!

Re: My really long October 11,2009 Wedding Review of: Stewart Manor Country Club, My Kitchen, Designs by Rose, and many more venders

Great Review, you looked gorgeous!!

Re: My really long October 11,2009 Wedding Review of: Stewart Manor Country Club, My Kitchen, Designs by Rose, and many more venders

Aww, thanks!!! I added photos to the review now! Enjoy!

Re: My really long October 11,2009 Wedding Review of: Stewart Manor Country Club, My Kitchen, Designs by Rose, and many more venders

Great review!!!! You looked amazing!!

Re: My really long October 11,2009 Wedding Review of: Stewart Manor Country Club, My Kitchen, Designs by Rose, and many more venders

Beautiful wedding! Honeymoon spot looks gorgeous!

Congrats!!

Re: My really long October 11,2009 Wedding Review of: Stewart Manor Country Club, My Kitchen, Designs by Rose, and many more venders

Congrats on your wedding! You looked beautiful! I really appreciate the long detailed review!