My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

OK so I feel like I read these reviews like a million times when planning my own wedding so I have to return the favor! I know it took me a while, but let me tell you when the wedding was over I couldn’t think about weddings for almost a year! I was so over it... :) Anyways, I guess I should tell you how I will “grade,” A is the highest I’m gonna give... Not really into the million pluses. So if it’s an A you can just imagine a bunch of pluses next to it if you like. Also, I am not going to rate small things, just the things I find important. If you have any questions about anything else, feel free to FM me. OK here goes:

Dress:

Designer:
Melissa Sweet “Maya”: A
My dress was gorgeous! It’s kind of funny cause I was one of those girls who bought my dress, then decided it wasn’t “the one.” I tried to sell it to no avail, then the day of, well, I fell in love with it all over again. I couldn’t even imagine being in another dress. It was just perfect!



Seller:
Bergdorf Goodman: C
The sales woman were very nice, they were not the reason I gave Bergdorf Goodman a C. Well, they were a little pushy, but that’s besides the point... So, you should know when you go to an upscale department store in Manhattan they are going to be a little pricier. I “get that” well, let me tell you, they were like DOUBLE the price! I found the dress I wanted, me being the impulsive person I am, I bought it right then and there. Well after I signed on the dotted line I did some research. Yes, I know, I should have done that before.. Needless to say I didn’t and I definitely PAID for it! They are way overpriced! I understand if you want the luxury of an upscale store go for it, just know you are paying for that luxury.

Seamstress:
Madame Paullette: B+
I went here to get my alterations done. The alterations came out great, but like Bergdorf they were a little pricey, but cheaper then getting them done at Bergdorf... I was just worried about where to go and they had such rave reviews I didn’t want to chance it. Another small issue I had with them was my last fitting was about a month before the wedding. Well with all the stress I was under I thought I may have lost, or gained, a few pounds so I wanted to try the dress on when I picked it up a few days before the wedding. When I got there the dress was all packaged and ready to go. I asked the lady if I can try it on, she was VERY polite and said, “if you want no problem, but it is all packaged up and ready to go, we will just have to do it again and it may take a while.” Me being the pushover I am just said, “oh ok no worries I won’t try it on” and crossed my fingers and prayed it fit the day of the wedding. Well it did, like a glove. So no harm no foul.


Extra Credit: I bought my veil and David’s Bridal, well my second veil. The first one I bought at the flea market. It wasn’t the right color so I sold it on here :)
The second one was PERFECT! You would have thought it came with the dress. I bought my Silk flower online. I forgot the name of the site, but if anyone is interested just FM me and I am sure I can dig it up somewhere. Everyone thought it was real so if you want a real looking rose for your hair definitely let me know and I will find that site! I got my shoes at RK bridal. My second pair too! I left the first pair on the LIRR, yes someone walked off with a pair of wedding shoes dyed to match my dress! Who would not turn those in to the ‘Lost and Found’ is beyond me! Anyway, the shoes were nice and comfortable. They were pretty cheap (under $100) but the stone fell off by the end of the night, no biggie, I wasn’t planning on wearing them again anyway.


Hair & Make-Up:
T Carlton Spalon: B+

I thought my hair looked GREAT. My hairdresser and Make-up Artist (Henry- A) did an AMAZING job. My hair ALWAYS falls out of up-do’s so that was no surprise, but it definitely stayed in the longest out of any other time I got my hair done. And I absolutely loved my make-up although I highly recommend purchasing the make-up they use. My eyeshadow was rubbed off in some spots and not the others by the end of the night and it was really dark shadow so it looked a little silly. The Bridal consultant (Christine- A) was extremely nice and very accommodating. She really knew what she was doing and helped out a bunch. There are a couple of reasons I gave the salon a B+ rather then an A (which I give to the hair dressers, make-up artists and consultant). They are pricey and make you put down a hefty deposit, in fact I think we had to pay for all of our services like a week before the day. I found that tough when trying to accommodate 7 Bridesmaids. Also, at the last minute my Maid of Honor decided she wanted to get her make-up done. We never scheduled her because it was a last minute decision. They were unable to squeeze her in. There were 7 girls getting make-up done. I really don’t think it would have been too tough to squeeze her in, but then again, what do I know. I am definitely not a make-up artist. But overall, if you can fit them in your budget I would recommend them, everyone’s hair and make-up looked fabulous!





Bridesmaids Dresses:
RK Bridal: A-

All the bridesmaids had their own dress. Well sort of. I did it in pairs. 7 girls: 2, 2, 2 and 1 MOH (she had her own dress.) They could kind of pick out what they wanted. It had to be Jim Helm, A-line, Silk and Mocha... Hmmm sounds like a lot of stipulations but there really were like 50 to chose from! RK Bridal made that very easy. They had almost all the dresses there. We went, tried them on and ordered them. We did the “no- frills” deal meaning you measure yourself and you can’t get the alterations done there. They don’t care if it fits or not when it comes in. BUT it’s a heck of a lot cheaper! We really lucked out. My measuring expertise did a great job (ok I read how to do it on the internet!) I don’t think anyone needed that many alterations. Some none at all. I find bridal stores always force you to buy larger sizes so that they can bang you for the alterations. Well we did just fine ordering the sizes we were. Now the reason for the minus, 2 of the 7 dresses looked a different shade of brown to me. I am not picky, but they were definitely darker. They told me in the store they would be done “in the same dye job” if I ordered them together, and they clearly weren’t. You would never notice when the girls weren’t standing together but I noticed when they were. Doubt anyone else did.



Photographer:
Thomas Paul Photography: A

The pictures are wonderful! I also think his pricing was comparable and he was very quick about getting us our proofs. I really don’t think it’s necessary to go on about a photographer, I think the pictures speak for themselves, they’re gorgeous. Video is “to be determined” but I’m not worried.








Flowers:
Bayport Flower House: A

I feel like with them you get what you pay for. They are not cheap but their work is gorgeous! We went with the “break-away” centerpieces (although they were lined up on the table not necessarily “break-away.”) The guests took home one per couple as one of their favors. They were absolutely stunning, really. My bouquet was beautiful and so were the ones for the bridesmaids (although I thought they were a little small for the price) the flower girls “kissing balls” were just adorable too. I mean I can’t complain the flowers were unbelievable. Now for the minus. We went in there to see a “sample” of our wedding day centerpieces AFTER we’ve already signed with them and are dropping over 5K on flowers..... We had the “break-away’s” so there were 6 small vases on each table. After going over them, and loving them, my mother-in-law (who was paying for the flowers) wanted to take one of the 6 small vases home with her to show my grandmother-in-law and father-in-law. THEY CHARGED HER!!!! They actually made her pay the $25 or whatever it was for the 1 small vase of flowers. I was absolutely SHOCKED! You spend a ridiculous amount of money on flowers you would think they would be kind enough to “put in on the house.” I am NOT looking for freebees but I really thought that was bad business. It’s not like she wanted the whole thing, just a small piece of it. Well I could be wrong but I thought that was tacky. My husband wound up paying for it for his mother and buying me one too :) which he was planning on paying for mine anyway... So it’s not like we were looking to walk out with the jackpot. Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest. With all that aside, the flowers truly were magnificent.




Church:
St. Patrick’s; Bay Shore: A-

The Church was beautiful the priest (Father Charles) was excellent. The only complaint I have, which I found out way after the day, was that the woman coordinator gave the Best Man a problem about “tipping the Alter Boys.” We had the tip for them, our best man’s wife was just holding it and she had to walk away for a few minutes with her crying baby. Well this woman was so irate about getting this $20 tip! The Best Man is not in ANY photos outside the church because this woman was hounding him. I mean we were not going to skimp on some poor kids, chill out, someone would have came back later if worst came to worst. She was not accommodating at all.






Transportation:
Dynasty Limo: A

This is another case of you get what you pay for. They were pricier then other companies (not by too much) but were EXCELLENT! The nicest drivers, receptionists and overall staff you can ask for. They were on time, the Limo’s were very clean with plenty of champagne and drinks for everyone. The shuttle we used to transport guests too and from the hotel was on time and made over 3 runs back and forth to the hotel without a problem. Overall a great company, highly recommended.


Cake:
Audrey’s Bakery: A

The cake was included in our price for the reception hall so it wasn’t much of a decision to go with them, but we were not disappointed at all. The cake was beautiful, looked better then I imagined and was delicious. I mean it’s cake, what else can I say about it.



Bands:

Calypso Band:
Willy the Pan Man; Island Boys: A

I read a bad report on them recently, but with us they were great. They came, they Calypso’ed they left. What more can we ask for. They played during the cocktail hour. The wedding venue’s cocktail hour room has a very tropical feel so the Calypso band just brought that out. It was really fun.

Reception Band:
Drop Dead Sexy: A

If I was going to give anything a crap load of pluses it would be this band! They were absolutely outstanding! Everyone LOVED them and we are still having people ask about them. My husband and I live in Long Beach and saw them preform at a bar (The Inn) about a year before we were even engaged. We knew that was the band that was playing at our wedding, regardless of cost. They are expensive, I’m not gonna lie, but worth EVERY penny! Well needless to say, they really lived up to there expectations. They also provided a DJ who was very good too. I HIGHLY recommend this band. I guess you can kind of figure that one out :)





Reception:
Flowerfields: A

OK so it’s another category I would have given infinite pluses to. I mean this place it outstanding! I really don’t have any complaints at all! It’s fabulous. The grounds are gorgeous, the staff is unbelievable (our consultant MaryAnn was wonderful) and the food is AMAZING especially the cocktail hour! They are soooooo accommodating and definitely threw in a bunch of extras! I mean what else can you ask for!
I was kind of picky about reception halls. Going into it I wanted a place that: only held one wedding at a time, had seats for most people (if not everyone) to sit for cocktail hour, had a separate cocktail hour room, had more then one stationary bar and was on the water. I know, it’s a lot to ask for... Well Flowerfield had most of those things except for the water, but I got over that VERY quickly. It really does take your breath away when you walk in... (It does have some man made ponds though, ha ha) So... I really wanted to get married on the Beach and looked at a few places. Lovin’ Oven’s other catering hall Lands End and the Cresent Beach Club to be exact. Well I looked at a million places those were just the two runners up. Land’s End seemed a little too small for out crowed of 275 so I axed that, but the Crescent Beach Club was big enough and right on the water (although the rollaway bars didn’t do it for me.) After some contemplating, not too much, I wound up going with Flowerfields because I was worried about paying for the ambiance of the Cresent Beach Club and having it rain. Well let me tell you, it POURED! Thank goodness I did not chose the Crescent Beach Club because I would have been so disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, the place is beautiful and I love that it is right on the beach, but I am so thankful I chose Flowerfields instead. It rained and it did not matter one bit! The cocktail hour makes you feel like you are outside anyway :) so it was just perfect for that rainy day. I would recommend this place to ANYONE and I’m sure all my guests would too..

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

Gorgeous! I love your pictures and you made a beautiful bride! Congrats!

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

You looked absolutely gorgeous!! I initially glanced at the first picture of you in your dress and thought it was out of a magazine!!! I'm glad you had a great day. Thanks for the review and congratulations!!

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

omg u look gorgeous

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

beautiful Congrats!!

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

Congrats!! You looked gorgeous!! Your flowers and colors were just so beautiful. I loveeeeee your cake .

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

Thanks for the review, I have been dying to read a new one! Everything looked great. Your dress looked amazing on you.

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

you looked amazing and thanks for the great review

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

What a beautiful wedding!! Congratulations!!!

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

---

Posted by HnM2010

You looked absolutely gorgeous!! I initially glanced at the first picture of you in your dress and thought it was out of a magazine!!! I'm glad you had a great day. Thanks for the review and congratulations!!

---

Me Too! You were definitely gorgeous. Congrats!

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

---

Posted by queensbride2010

---

Posted by HnM2010

You looked absolutely gorgeous!! I initially glanced at the first picture of you in your dress and thought it was out of a magazine!!! I'm glad you had a great day. Thanks for the review and congratulations!!

---

Me Too! You were definitely gorgeous. Congrats!

---

same here. great pictures!! you looked beautiful!

Congrats!!!

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

wonderful review COngrats

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

Your dress was beautiful and so were you!!

Loved the different bridesmaid dresses...I am doing the same thing, although with a smaller bridal party, but I like them to have different dresses.

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

congrats! you were a beautiful bride and everything looked amazing.

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

Congrats!!! you looked beautiful and your pictures look great!!!!!!!

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

What was the flavor of the cake and the filling?

We're doing a fall wedding and we're trying to figure out what a good combo would be.

Thanks!

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

Chocolate and Vanilla :) We were very plain!

---

Posted by cupid2410

What was the flavor of the cake and the filling?

We're doing a fall wedding and we're trying to figure out what a good combo would be.

Thanks!

---

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

You looked stunning. Great review! Congrats.

Re: My Sept.26, 2008 Wedding review!

Congrats!!!! Nice Review!