My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

July 8th 2007 was the best day of my life! I had a fabulous time and I am so happy to be a Mrs. Everyone says it goes by so fast, but honestly, I didn’t think it did because I was just having so much fun and living in the moment. We just bought a house right before the wedding so things were very stressful!!!! I got very very very nutty right before my wedding, but I am glad I just relaxed on the day of my wedding! All in all, it was the best day of my life! That being said, I am glad it is over and I can go back to being a normal person, not a stressed out bridezilla!!!!!!!!!

LIW – A+++++++++ I am so glad this site is available to people! It gave me so many ideas I would have never thought about without looking on it! Everyone is so supportive and I really appreciated everyone’s help throughout my wedding planning.

Weather – B I stalked weather.com prior to my wedding and it made me nuts. The Sunday before it started out as delightful and 82, went to rain, then ended up at 95 and HOT and sunny! I was glad that it wasn’t raining b/c all my pics are outdoors, but I had to cancel my outdoor CH b/c it was too hot. I kept my ceremony outdoors b/c I figured at 7 pm it shouldn’t be so hot. I was wrong b/c my MIL almost passed out.

Crest Hollow – B I had gone w/ Crest Hollow b/c it is beautiful and one of the few places that were relatively inexpensive for the kosher wedding my mom insisted on! Prior to : Initially, we had Eric as our banquet manager. He was ok, but I felt he was kinda like a used car salesman. He gave us a bunch of things that he said was for “VIP” (DH used to work there for a little) but after speaking to my friend that was a load of poopoo because she got the same thing we did for her wedding! I booked in Feb. and last July made an appt. with Eric just to see the grounds b/c I wanted to have an outdoor CH and ceremony. He called me back and left a message on my machine canceling my appt. b/c it was “too early to do my party plan”. I called him back and said I just wanted to look at the grounds. He said he wasn’t available for that and I asked to see someone else. I worked w/ Gina and really liked her so asked to change to her. Then she left 2 months before my wedding!!!! My friend told me Sharon was good so I asked for her. She made it seem when we were there for our party plan that we were taking up her time. I asked again to see the grounds b/c my parents had never seen it! She also snorted every time she didn’t like one of our menu choices which really annoyed me! We were there for an hour and a half and my mom asked for a glass of coke and she never got it for us either. Well, we left from that meeting and my parents were like who is this lady you picked!!!!
Day of – My Bridal attendant Sandy and Matter D’ Ralph was wonderful! They did a fabulous job and I was really happy with them. Everything was pretty much to what we wanted on the day of except for a few things. 1. I wanted pictures outside – this was the biggest thing I wanted and they advertise 24 acres of land. I was only allowed to stay in 1 area b/c other brides were in other areas. I was really upset about this!!!!!! I was in another wedding there in April the year before and I was in the wedding party and wanted to be near a lake. I also couldn’t get pool pictures b/c there was another party going on down there throughout my entire party! They are so anal about brides not seeing other brides on the day of. Honestly, if you are going to get married in a hall that has more than one bride it is to be expected! I am contacting them to complain and the manager I am speaking with has yet to get back to me (which is also annoying me!). 2. The martini bar – They have this free martini bar if you register at fortunoff. Because my husband was a “VIP” Eric had given it to us for the full time when it was only supposed to be for CH. I love martinis so I was so happy to have this. Day of, it was only during CH – you could get a martini at the regular bar but I was upset they didn’t have this special. According to the manager, Sharon forgot to write it down that it was for the whole time! She said “ Eric gave you the martini bar for the entire time” while we were there so I know she acknowledged it! Also, since it was kosher they banned a bunch of the martinis that were on their menu! I was upset about this too, b/c apple martinis (my favorite) were banned. They ended up getting it for me b/c my SIL complained for me but they should have had the kosher stuff available to make the martinis!
All in all we had a great time and I loved it!

Flowers – Flower Michele – B – I am giving them a lower rating for a few reasons. I will explain and change if necessary. Prior to - I worked with Barbara. The day of our meeting she was great and I really liked her but I didn’t want to book anything w/out speaking with my DH and mom. I brought my mom and DH and they liked what she was saying. We asked to see a sample and when we arrived the day of the sample (keep in mind my parents live 45 mins away) the flowers weren’t there. She told us to go have some breakfast and come back. Well we had just gotten done w/ breakfast and we were a little unhappy! It was ready 1.5 hours later. She had made us two samples b/c my mom wasn’t sold on my original idea and had her own idea but after seeing my idea we went with it. I met w/ her right before to pay my final bill and went over specifics. We had suggested having the bouquets in a holder b/c it might be very hot in July and then it would be in a foam water thing. Barbara said it was a good idea and wrote bouquets in holders.
Day of – When my stuff arrived, I was very happy for the most part. Everything was beautiful! My bouquet was gorgeous, and so were my girl’s bouquets. They looked like they were different sizes. When my two cousins picked up their bouquets, a few flowers fell out! I was very upset about this and this happened throughout the day. Mine never fell apart though. My sister’s cascade fell apart right before the ceremony and my mom had to put it back together in a rush! After the wedding, I spoke w/ John and he said we should have never put the bouquets in holders b/c it absorbs more water when it is hotter outside and that’s why everything fell out! I wish Barbara would have suggested this! In addition, my husbands bout was not right. When looking on the website, she showed us a bout with 3 stephanotis on an ivy background. We said that is what we want. That is not what we got – it was a white rose with one stephanotis. After looking at the contract, it did say white rose w/ stephanotis but that is not what she showed us on the website that we said we wanted. Look at ur contracts carefully. My husbands bout also stained his white jacket a little and he gets crazy over stains! Otherwise centerpieces were gorgeous and over all everything was gorgeous. I spoke to John after the wedding b/c I called to complain to Barbara but apparently she is not there anymore (I wonder why!) He said he wanted to make it right and was going to send us something b/c I felt that the girls bouquets falling apart were unacceptable. As of yet, he still has not and I will update when he does!

DJ – FM entertainment – A++++++++++++++++ Frank was wonderful. He kept everything moving – he played my husbands most obscure requests for songs! I would totally recommend him. Relatively inexpensive, up beat, plays a variety of music, and is overall a great guy. He didn’t do anything off what I requested without asking me! I forgot to tell him about this anniversary thing that I wanted to do w/ the throwaway for my grandparents and he came up to me and asked. Also, my husbands frat does this silly song to the bride at every wedding and my brother (who is also in the frat) and another one of his friends kept insisting this happen. Frank didn’t do anything w/out asking me! I would totally use them again !!!!

String Quartet – The Preddice family – A+++++++++++++ Even though I heard them for about 2 minutes at my ceremony, everyone raved about them at the cocktail hour. They did a fabulous job and I was so happy I had this personal touch. She dealt with me and my husbands indecisiveness over songs and it was just wonderful!

Photographers – Park Ave. Studios – Pending Pics this week hopefully – I had Brian as my main photographer and Tom as the photojournalist. They were both pretty great. This is the one thing that I majorly went over budget on and I hope it is worth it! I am a little upset that I didn’t have a must take list b/c I missed a bunch of shots that I wanted with friends and stuff!. I can’t wait to see my proofs though!

Videographers – Park Ave Studios – Pending Video – I am so bad – I forgot his name, but he was great! Will update when I get video. He did stay later than the photographers which I really appreciated.

Limo – Sir Oliver Limos – A++++++++++++++++ My mom ordered us a limo just to get us to Crest Hollow b/c she was adamant about me getting ready and leaving her house a bride. It was just me, my mom, dad, sis, sil, bro, and grandma. Everyone else got ready at the hotel. Matt was our driver as he is a friend of the guy across the street from my parents. He was the driver for my bros wedding too 8 months ago. He is fabulous, they are fabulous. Some other bride wanted the limo we had booked and they called my mom to see if she wanted to upgrade free of charge and she went to look and did. I can’t say enough nice things about them!

Paradise Bridal – B------ I am really not too sure what to give this place because there are good points and bad points. My dress, veil, bm dresses, and MOB dress was ordered here. My mom bought her dress for my bros wedding here and had a good experience and wanted to go there! I worked with Marge for my dress, veil and BM dresses and she was great in ordering and stuff. The lady that helped my mom, Rosalie, is a saint b/c my mother must have tried on every dress in the store and then settled on a dress that they didn’t even have that we tried on at another store LOL! My dress and the girls dresses came in early May, my mothers dress came at the end of May and my sisters dress came 2 weeks before the wedding! I was very upset at this, since my sisters dress was ordered at the same time as the other girls dresses (my sister was my MOH). They kept blaming it on Bill Levkoff though, when I asked for the phone number, it miraculously came in. They never once called me to tell me anything was in. The people who are at the desk for the fittings are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO rude. They talk about everyone behind their backs and they wonder why brides flip out on them. We went once for a fitting w/ my dad and he thought it was very entertaining and they should put a reality tv show right in the room! The seamstresses were pretty good, but my friend who lives in Brooklyn had 3 fittings and it still wasn’t perfect. Everyone else’s dresses were! They order the dresses for the girls WAYYYYYYYY tooooo big! Both my cousins and one of my friends needed major alterations!!!!!

Hair and Makeup – Ulta in Patchogue – A+++++++++++++++++ - I was not paying $300 to get my hair and makeup done! I looked around and when u say wedding, the price goes up! After having a trial done somewhere else, my husband didn’t like my makeup b/c I never wear makeup. I went to Ulta just to see b/c I sometimes get my hair cut at the one in carle place. Their hair was only around $50 and the makeup is free if u buy three products (which you usually do anyways) It came to about $100! They were wonderful, all my girls, my mom and grandma, and me got our hair and makeup done! They opened the store up early for us and were soooooooo accommodating! Totally recommend it! Maureen did my hair and my sisters and my friend who got extensions before the wedding! Emily did my makeup!

Tuxedos – Dante Zeller – A+++++++++++ They did a great job. I had a bunch of OOT people. I was worried about my godson who only got in the day before and is a growing boy. Almost everything fit, and the things that didn’t, were taken care of promptly! My husband had a bad experience at Men’s Warehouse for another wedding and my bro had a bad experience at After Hours for his wedding. In comparison, they were saints!

Cantor Jeffrey Forman – A++++++++ Everyone really enjoyed the ceremony. He puts some humor in (although I heard some of his jokes at my friends wedding a few months before). I really appreciated that he suggested he speak in Spanish for my husbands side of the family at the end! That was really thoughtful and it was the best!

Executive Inn at Woodbury - C - I booked this hotel because it had a shuttle to the CHCC. We had 17 rooms booked and most of the rooms had minor problems w/ toilets and stuff. The breakfast the next day was good. I was VERY disappointed w/ the honeymoon suite b/c all it was was a room. They don't do anything extra for brides and stuff!

Other things :

Tiara – Barron’s – A+ - I went here despite my SIL having problems with her tiara for her wedding day. It was exactly what I wanted, cheap, and I loved it!

Invitations – DIY but some vendors!

Pocketfolds and envelopes – Paper Presentation – B - I went to this place b/c the pocketfolds were the least expensive. Some of the pocketfolds were not scored 100% right. Also, when we put the invites together – the pocketfolds didn’t fit into the envelopes!!!! I was very mad about this!!!
Paper – Bazzill Paper – A+ - My cousin helped me make my invites. She knew a Bazzill paper dealer. Everything was great and used the paper for all my DIY projects! Now, Bazzill stuff is sold in Acmoore, but it wasn’t before!
Envelopes – Envelope Mall.com A+++++ Because my pocketfolds didn’t fit through the ones at paper presentation I had to order new ones. They were fast and perfect!

Favors – Bluerainbowdesign.com – A+ Fast delivery, inexpensive, great!

Candles for centerpieces – paramold manufacturing – A+ I couldn’t find any 3x12 inch candles for relatively inexpensive money. I found these and I ordered all my candles through them!

Ketubah – Mpartworks.com A++++++++++ Fast delivery and beautiful!

Yalmulkes – jlowy.com A++++++++++++ Fast delivery and exactly what we wanted!

Save the dates – Magnetstreet.com – A+++++++++++++++ exactly what we wanted!

Hope you enjoyed my very long review. I will add proofs as they come in and update when needed! Thanks for reading! We are going on our honeymoon to DR August 18 so I will also update that!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Great Review!!!!!
Congrats!!!!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Congrats...great review

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

your review was helpful! i also met with eric, i feel lie he is that too sometimes!!!!i all in all at least you have a great time and thank you for your review!!!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Great Review!!! Love the Details!!! I'm glad you had a great day!!!!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Congratulations!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

HI date twin....great review. Congrats also!!!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Great Review! Thank you for sharing.

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Yeeeaaa! Congrats, great review!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Great Review, congratulations to you both, the new MR & MRS Very pretty photos make sure you post more when you get them.....

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Awesome review! Thanks!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

congrats!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Congrats cant wait for more pictures

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Congrats on your wedding!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Congratulations!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

Great review... seems like Barbara at Flower Michele really did a number on all of our recent weddings! I'm glad she is no longer there and can't mess anymore up! Reading your review about how you went for your sample and the flowers weren't there was like exactly how my appointment was! But she didn't spend 1.5 hours on mine.. she threw it together in 5 minutes lol. My mother actually called Flower Michele the day after the wedding to complain but John wasn't there to speak with... he did call her back and leave a message but then she never called him back....your issue seemed much worse then mine though with the bouquets falling apart.... they were just LATE to my wedding lol.

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

great! review!! you looked beautiful!! congrats!

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

tHANK YOU FOR SHARING

Re: My very long, very beautiful 7/8/07 wedding - Crest Hollow, Flower Michele, Park Ave, Paradise Bridal, Sir Oliver Etc. With some non-professional pics

beautiful, thanks for the review!