My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

Well first and foremost, I need to say that I have been a lurker for almost my entire engagement, and one of the most helpful things to me was to read the brides review. So I decided to post my review, even though it is very late so maybe I can assist all the brides to be with their planning……

Invitations – A+ We got them from DH’s Aunt who sells them. They came very quickly and we got a great deal. They were simple and elegant. I loved them.

Outer Envelopes – A+ We were thinking of having the outer envelopes in calligraphy, but then we started to price around and it seemed like an added expense that we just did not want to pay for. So my MIL searched online and found somewhere in time.com. The women who owns this company does your envelopes using the computer, but they come out great. She was fast and did not accept payment until you saw the finished product which is great because she lives in Wisconsin so you have to send everything there, but she won’t accept payment until everything is to your liking. What a wonderful service!

Favors – A+ DH proposed to me with a fortune cookie, and so we carried that theme over with the place card holders, we had resin fortune cookie holders that we won on eBay through impressive weddings. We also got a perfect pair salt and pepper shakers from eBay under little things favors. They came quickly and we had very smooth transactions with both sellers.

Tiara – A+ I got my tiara from Barron’s at Tri County Flea Market. Thanks to LI Weddings, this place was amazing. I was there for an hour and tried on at least 20 tiaras and they were wonderful. I got a tiara that matched my dress perfectly for a third of the price that I would have paid at Bridal Reflections. I also got hair pins for a steal of a deal there!

Strapless Bra – A+++++ Mary Lerner. I have always had a difficult time getting strapless bras, about two years ago I had a breast reduction and I still could not fit into a strapless bra properly after the surgery. Enter Mary Lerner, they were awesome! They measured me, showed me different styles, and I tried on two bras and I found my bra. It was actually really pretty and only $58 which in my opinion was not bad. It was comfortable and I felt good all day long in it.

Shoes – B- David’s Bridal. I bought simple shoes with a low heel from David’s Bridal. They were very pretty but they killed my feet and I could not wait to take those bad boys off and put on some flip flops.

Programs – B Kinko’s. Ahhh the programs, well we waited until two weeks before the wedding to do the programs and we were a bit pressed for time. I designed the programs, and saved it to a disk and brought it to Kinko’s. They also had a hard copy of what I wanted. Well I asked DH to pick up the programs, and proofread them. Bless his heart, he thought that it was okay and he gave it a go. When he brought them home to me I saw instantly that they had spelled my last name wrong on the cover page, but it was right every where else. DH immediately called Kinko’s and they said he had to pay $40 for the mistake. We were not happy, so when we went to pick up the programs, the manager said that we did not have to pay the additional $40 and they apologized because it was their mistake due to the fact that my last name was spelled correctly throughout the entire hard copy and disk that I had given them.

OOT Bus – B- US Limo’s. I had contacted US Limo’s in July for my November wedding, I was a bit nervous because my wedding was on Veterans Day and I know people go out of town, and so I wanted to make sure that I had 4 14 passenger vans to transport OOT guests to and from the hotel the day of. I had contacted U.S. Limos and they told me I was calling them too early, and to call them back in August. So I did. The vans picked my guests up at the designated times, however, they had two vans running back and forth at the end of the night (instead of four) to pick up my guests which included my parents. Needless to say the vans were late and there was thirty people waiting outside of the Coral House in the cold waiting for these vans. However, the drivers were really great, especially with my guests who were still in party mode.

OOT Accommodations – A Marriott in Uniondale. The Marriott was wonderful! I had dropped off my OOT bags to them and they distributed them to my out of town guests. They were very nice and easy to deal with. DH and I stayed there the night of the wedding so that we could spend more time with our guests and they upgraded our room. They were really nice!

Rehearsal Dinner – A+ Singletons in Bethpage. Great food, great service and a very pretty room. DH’s father and stepmother paid for our rehearsal dinner and really did a fabulous job!

Tuxedos – A VIP in Massapequa. All of the GM, Fathers and DH got their tuxes here and they were very easy to deal with. My brothers, who are 6’5 and wear a size 15 shoe and 6’4 and wears a 14 shoe, had no problems with their tuxes or shoes fitting them at all. The prices were very reasonable and they were just a pleasure to deal with.

Hair and Makeup – A Salon Osio in Oceanside. I had gone to a couple of salons to discuss hair and makeup trials and prices for the big day. Now I had a big wedding party consisting of 2 MOH’s, 10 BM’s and 3 FG’s and my mother. I wanted to offer the option of accompanying me to get their hair and makeup done with me if they wanted to. I went to several places, Joseph Christopher was one of them and I was blown away by the price for the bridal party. Enter Salon Osio. I went there and their trial price was half of some of the other well known salons, and the prices for the bridal party were good as well. I had a hair trial with Carmen and a makeup trial with Edith, and I loved their work. So I was sold. They did a wonderful job with my mother, myself, and the girls in my BP that decided to use Salon Osio for their hair or makeup. I would definitely recommend them to all brides in the area!

MOB and MOG Dress – A+ Sugarplum in Lynbrook. My mother and MIL went to Sugar Plum on separate occasions and they were super successful with finding a beautiful dress for the wedding. The sales women were excellent and they surely know what they are doing! Great place!

BM and FG Dresses – C Bridal Reflections in Massapequa. Due to the fact that I was purchasing my dress at the same Bridal Reflections, I was told that if I ordered all of my girls dresses through them, my girls would get a 10% off discount, which is why I picked Bridal Reflections as the dress vendor for my bridal party. Well picking out the dress was rather easy; the sales girl who worked with me and some of my girls to help pick out the dress was great! But after the order was placed, things got bad. For starters one of my FG’s lives in NJ, so I told my cousin (FG’s mom) that she could just order the FGdress by her so that it would be easier to deal with fittings. Now the FG dress I was told by Bridal Reflections was in white with a wine border, so that is what my cousin ordered. I then found out after all of the dresses arrived that the FG’s dresses that were ordered at Bridal Reflections were ivory, which was not what I ordered and my other FG dress was in white. This occurred about a month before the wedding. I was not a happy camper, but there was nothing I could do at that point. I was a little annoyed with them. Now I also had a MOH who was from Arizona and a BM who was going to school in Syracuse, so they were unable to get any fittings from Bridal Reflections until 2 days before the wedding. I was so nervous, but I was assured by Bridal Reflections that this was fine and they could do it no problem. So 2 days before the wedding, I brought my 2 girls to BR and they tried on their dresses. Enter the not so pleasant seamstress. My MOH said that she could not breath in her dress and she needed it let out a bit, the seamstress began to argue with her and tell her that she did not need it let out and she should stop complaining. My other BM was having her fitting and the seamstress lost patience with her and started saying you know you all have a lot of nerve coming in here two days before the wedding and expecting a fitting. I said to the seamstress that I was told by her staff that it was fine, and then I got upset and walked out and left. I had just about had it, and on top of it all, this BM had just lost her Mom (my Aunt) three months prior to this which also made it difficult for her to come for a fitting before this and I was appalled that this woman was speaking to my girls this way. Needless to say the seamstress apologized to me and my girls, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth.

My Dress – A+++++ Bridal Reflections in Massapequa. What a different experience I had their for my dress. The saleswoman Gloria was awesome, I told her what designer I seemed to gravitate towards (Maggie Sottero) and she took it from there. It was the second dress that I tried on, and believe it or not what I had imagined to be wearing, but when I tried the dress on I fell in love. Gloria was great! Zizi the Seamstress is amazing, I loved her to pieces, I had 4 fittings and she was so pleasant and sweet and did a great job. My point is for your dress Bridal Reflections is the place to go but that is where it ends!

Flowers – B- Wicks in Baldwin. I used Wicks because they are a house vendor and my centerpieces were included from Coral House but if I used Wicks for my Bridal Party they would upgrade the centerpieces to a dozen roses, which is fine with me because I was also having candles on the table and I did not want to overcrowd the table. The flowers were very pretty I loved my bouquet and the girls flowers were pretty I just wish that it had a little less green in it. The centerpieces were pretty and simple. My one downfall was that I had asked that the florist be at my house at no later then 1:00 because the photographer was coming at 1:30 and asked that the flowers be at the house at that time so he could take pics of them. Well come 1:30 and the florist was not there, so one of my BM’s called Wicks and they said they were on their way. No explanation no nothing, they arrived at 1:45 and that was that.

Limo – A+++ All Star Limo. Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful!!! We got the limo bus and a Rolls Royce, and a day before the wedding, we found out that the limo bus had been upgraded and could accommodate more people. We were thrilled! We had Mike as the driver for the Limo bus and Steve for the driver for the Rolls and they were incredible. Steve arrived like a half an hour early and he was just awesome. He went above and beyond; he helped me with my dress and eased my father’s nerves. I would totally recommend them to all Brides.

Church – A+ St Mary of the Isle in Long Beach. I have been going to this church since birth, and I was so happy to be getting married there. Father Tom did our ceremony; my family has known him for 25 years. He is a wonderful man, who makes you laugh and feel at ease. There were some minor little mess ups during the ceremony, for one I tried to put the ring on DH’s right hand (I was so nervous) and Father Tom made a joke of it. Thank God for him because I would have been a blubbering mess, everything was fantastic!

Photographer – A Frederick Studios of Smithtown. DH and I loved working with this vendor. He was great and made us all feel comfortable, and the proofs came out beautifully. My only gripe was that I had some must take pics that I wanted of my friends from college and high school and he did not get them, but he got so many awesome shots of other things that it was fine in the end.

Video – A++ DH and I got our video from the company that his uncle works for. (VP Studios) We worked with Larry the day of and he was great, he seemed to capture all the important aspects of the day. DH’s Uncle edited the video, and it all came together beautifully. We love our video and could not be happier!

DJ – A+++ In the Mixx in Mineola. WOW, I was so impressed with In the Mixx! I had my doubts a couple of weeks before the wedding because they were trying to sell me things 2 weeks before the wedding, and they were reluctant to allow me to customize the entrance for my bridal party, but I was able to do it in the end. But the day of the wedding, my god they had everyone up dancing all night. We had Donny and Mitch as our DJ and MC. They were so good that several family members took their cards to use them for their weddings. They played such a wide variety of music, and throughout the night they approached DH and I to make sure that everything was going well. Loved them!!!!!!

Coral House – A++++++++++++. Well I have to say it is not easy going on to LI Weddings and hearing your reception hall being bashed, but I have not one regret about the Coral House. When DH and I looked at reception halls (and we looked at 20+) we knew we wanted a place with good food, good ambiance and we ultimately decided that we were going to have a big wedding (We had 240 but we invited 360) and so price was somewhat of a factor. Well Kristin Ruddy made us feel right at home the minute we walked in. She gave us a tasting right there on the spot, and we loved the food. DH fell in love with the place, but I was still torn with other places that we looked at that had the pretty chandeliers and décor. We decided on the Coral House when my mother pointed out that people will remember the food, the music and the personal touches of the day not the chandeliers on the ceiling. Well I was thrilled when the Coral House redecorated a bit, and they updated their menu a bit. I cried I was so happy and from that moment I was confident! Kristin was a dream to work with, two days before the wedding I had to drop off all of our stuff for the wedding and the numbers and tables. I was a bit stressed to say the least and so you can imagine how I reacted when I realized about 5 minutes away from the Coral House that I forgot the seating chart. I had a copy of where everyone was sitting but it did not include how many favors to include on the table. This is when DH and I met with Steve who worked with Kristin. He was so incredible, he made me feel at ease and helped me out with the count. He helped DH with lugging all of the favors, bathroom baskets and wedding stuff that we had. He made DH and I laugh and offered to feed us, he was great. He was also there the night of the wedding. The night of the wedding the Coral House blew away my expectations. It has been 3 months since my wedding and I am still getting compliments from people about the food. I have been told by several people that ours was the best wedding that they had been to and they were so impressed with the Coral House. They even gave my uncle seconds and a doggie bag to take his food home. I did not eat much that day, but when DH fed me the cake I was in heaven! It was excellent! This was by far our best vendor and for all of you Coral House Brides you have nothing to worry about, your day will be beautiful!!

Remember to take it all in, and this day is about you and your husband to be! Wishing you all good luck and happy planning!

Here is the link to the pictures that I had that did not make the album…….
http://www.liweddings.com/community/album/?ID=2315

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

Thank you for taking the time to post your review. I hope that Coral House Brides find comfort in hearing such great things about their place. Congrats

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

Thank you for the informative review

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

thanks for the review.....everything looked awesome and you looked beautiful....I loved your make up!

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

great review!

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

Great review.
Congratulations

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

Great Review....Conratulations!!!

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

you look so pretty!! what maggie dress what that?

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

Thank you so much, the dress was dynasty.

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

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Posted by rrmikesgal

Thank you so much, the dress was dynasty.

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oh ok i thought so i ordered the same dress!

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

congrats on your wedding, sorry to hear about the BP experience at BR. I am glad you enjoyed you special day.

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

Your pictures cam out fantastic!!!!!!! Love the dip!!!

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

You looked beautiful and wow, it looks like everyone had a great time!
I just wanted to say that FH and I looked at the Coral House and almost booked there. I am also often surprised at what I hear about it on these baords, but we thought it was beautiful and the food was also great at the tasting we had. The servcie and attention we received when we looked there, you honestly would have thought we had booked the place we were treated so well I was very impressed with them.
Your pictures are gorgeous, I really like the work of your photographer.
Glad you had a wonderful wedding and congratulations to you!!

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

Thank you all soooo much for the kind words!

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

super lame bump

Re: My super long wedding review with link to pics....I hope that you enjoy....

That was so helpful. Thanks!