My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

I would first like to say that I absolutely had the BEST time of my life. I can't even tell you. I was so nervous the week of the wedding, and EVERY SINGLE THING went off better than I could have imagined!

Ok, but I'll cut to the good stuff now!


Rehearsal Dinner at J&R Steak House in Stony Brook: 0 out of 10 I TOLD MY MIL NOT TO BOOK IT HERE! I have gotten food poisoning from them in the past, but she went behind my back and booked it anyway. Well, let's see. They had ONE server for FORTY people. They offered us three meal options, but brought everyone out whatever the hell they felt like. For example, I ordered chicken francaise, they brought out some disgusting chicken concotion that I would not eat. And everyone complained to the server that it was not what they ordered and she YELLED AT my guests! THEN my MIL had ordered a special cake for JT and that she apparently paid a lot of extra money for, AND THEY DROPPED IT ON THE FLOOR IN THE KITCHEN! We never even got to see it. AND they REFUSED to compensate my MIL for it. I'll NEVER go there again...


Ok, Wedding Day:


Hair:Denise from Hair Spray 9 out of 10
I would have given her a 10, but my sister was a little unhappy with her hair because she asked not to look like a pinhead, and she kind of did. But it was totally minor and I'm a TOUGH critic. I, however, loved my hair and would recommend her to anyone and everyone. She's awesome!

MAKE-UP Thea from Lancome 10/10 MIRACLE WORKER! That's all I can say. She did my sister's wedding, mine and now she'll be doing my aunt's. I LOVE this woman. I feel like she's part of my family now. I LOVED my make-up and it stayed put all day without ANY retouching!

LA BLOSSOM for flowers 12 out of 10!
Girls, MAKE SURE you have an awesome florist because Laurie took my fuzzy visions of what I wanted and RAN WITH THEM! She is not only an amazing florist, but an artist and an amazing person. She obviously loves what she does, and it shows in everything. My flowers were beyond beautiful and my bo-k lasted for days. We are STILL getting SO many phone calls about how awesome the flowers were. If you are using her, consider yourself lucky! Laurie is another vendor who has become an honorary member of my family. She did my sister's flowers, mine and also my aunts coming up in October. I love her, and I am so happy to have met her throughout my planning process!!!!

TIMELESS TREASURES VIDEO 10 out of 10 Another spectacular vendor who enjoys what he does and does it to the absolute best of his ability. Ray got to my house early, was there when my dad hung my dress from a curtain rod that then fell off the wall and all the women in the room were screaming frantically. All I'm saying is Ray better give me a cut of that prize money if he sends that footage into America's Funniest Home Videos!
But seriously, Ray is an incredibly hard-working vendor. He was non-instrusive, and in fact, I almost forgot he was there. He's YET ANOTHER honorary member of my family. My sister's wedding, mine and my aunt's. I KNOW that my video will be awesome, and considering I have a husband who works in television and went to film school, we know enough about video to know that Ray really knows his stuff. I HIGHLY recommend him.

Christina Bohn Photography: Day of the wedding 9 out of 10, Results So much higher than any number I could give!
I gave Christina a 9 for the day of the wedding because she missed some really crucial shots of me with JT's family and vice versa, and also because she didn't take enough control during the formal shots, but she was awesome to work with. I got some of my proofs back already and will have the rest tomorrow, but this woman is a TRUE ARTIST. I can't even begin to tell you what the few pictures I have look like. I cry looking at them, and if anyone would like to see them, just FM me your email adress and I will email you the slide show. She is NOT a digital photographer, but decided to play around a little with her digital the day of and made us an amazing slide show. I will share it whomever wants to see it.

LIMOS Aquarius 9 out of 10 They were ok. Nothing great. I just have problem with limo companies that need directions to the place you're going. They were very nice and courteous and I would use them again.

DJ Music by Michael 10 out of 10 Another vendor who I feel lucky to have had. I barely gave him a list of songs I wanted played and just gave him a few NOT to play. I felt comfortable with him reading the crowd, and THANK GOD I DID THAT! He really knew what everyone was responding to and went with it. Everyone was dancing and complimented us all night on what an awesome DJ he was!

Dresses: Patchogue Bridal Suite 10 out of 10 I know people are having major problems with them, and I went into it expecting major problems, but they were accomodating and quick and I had a very good experience with them.

Tuxes Gennarros in Centereach 8 out of 10 They were actually very good, I thought, but my review is based on the men who actually used them. The fit was all wrong on ALL of the tuxes from what I heard and they lost one of the vests and sent a GM into a frenzy over it. Whatever. They all looked nice!

DRUMROLL PLEASE......................................THE BOURNE MANSION..........BEYOND ANY NUMBER


If you are getting married at the Bourne, consider yourself one of the luckiest people. I felt like I was in my home that day. The pictures on the mantles made it look like we lived there. Every moment of the day I had my bridal attendant, Paula, by my side. She was so awesome. Our maitre'd, Izais(sp?), was AMAZING. He was very quiet and reserved, yet somehow was able to whip everyone into shape. Every time I round round a corner, some other person on the staff would congratulate me or say hello or whatever.
The FOOD! OMG! THE FOOD! It was AMAZING! People were just falling off their chairs because they were so amazed! They filled our table with tons of different stuff to taste. They're truly amazing!
I am a TRUE believer that you get what you pay for. And I sold my first born for this wedding, so it went above and beyond.
So many people have told my parents and JT and I that they have never been to a wedding or any other affair quite like our wedding. A lot of people felt like they were transported to another era. The Bourne's staff made every, single dream of mine come true. Not one complaint do I have. NOTHING. I would do it again and again and again and would never hesitate once to give them my money again!


I am truely blessed person to have had this amazing wedding and to be married to such an amazing man. He was my rock throughout planning, and we enjoyed every aspect of the day.



ETA: Black Forest Bakery...how could I forget?!?!?!?!? AMAZING! My cake was even MORE beautiful than I imagined. People thought it was glowing! I LOVED LOVED LOVED IT! I'll post a pic!

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Congratulations!!!! So glad to hear that you had a wonderful day!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Great review! Thanks for sharing! In the pics I've seen, you look so beautiful!!! Congrats!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

congrats rachel.. everything looks awesome!!!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Wow awesome review and congrats on a fabulous day!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Wow!!! Rachel, congrats again to you and JT! Thanks for the detailed review! More pics!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Rachel, thanks for the review! You were a beautiful and I know you'll have a wonderful marriage!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Congratulations. You look stunning

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Congrats! I am so excited for my wedding there!!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

that cake is great you looked beautiful, glad you had a wonderful wedding, congratulations

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

congrats!!! forget about all the stress of planning!!! everything turned out beautifully!

enjoy your new husband!!!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Congrats so happy to hear about the Black Forest Bakery that is one of my venders I was worried about

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

congrats!!!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Great review! I'm glad you had such an incredible day. I actually just noticed that we went to high school together, how funny! Enjoy being a newlywed, it's a ton of fun!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

CONGRATS!!!!! I LOVE YOUR CAKE ITS SO DIFFERENT.

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

Congrats Rachel! Awesome review...As I said in another post, you were one stunning bride!!!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

hey thanks for using my picts in your review i feel honored.

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

congrats great review more pics

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

---

Posted by corinne7477

hey thanks for using my picts in your review i feel honored.

---

Well thanks for the AWESOME pics!

Re: My REVIEW of the Bourne Mansion for 7/3/05!

WOW! How beautiful! Thank you for being honest and thorough...I am sure that many girls will benefit from reading your review.

And your cake...I said it already, but OMG what a cake! It blew that pic out of the water!

You made a beautiful bride and it's awesome to read that your day was perfect...and the dress story sounds hilarious - poor dad, I bet he got yeleld at!

Again, many congratulations to you and JT and best wishes for a LONG and happy marriage!

Now, where's the HM review, huh?