The Brides' Review - My wedding at East Wind, May 28, 2006

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My wedding at East Wind, May 28, 2006

Kubes Posted: Oct 10, 2006 10:50 AM+

Kubes MEMBER SINCE: 7/05 TOTAL POSTS : 30 WEDDING DATE: May 28, 2006

Posted: Oct 10, 2006 10:50 AM

My wedding at East Wind, May 28, 2006

We got married in the Northhampton Ballroom on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. The whole weekend was great, although all of the activity of the wedding day definitely took it's toll. Everyone had a great time, and I wanted to post some reviews of my wonderful vendors!

Band - Franklin Wayne – Timepiece A
The band was fantastic. We were a little hesitant because we didn’t know anyone who had used them. We were also looking at a Hank Lane band, because we knew the name…however, Frank gave us some names and phone numbers of references who gave us glowing reports. The band had everyone up dancing all night, they sounded great, and played almost everything we asked for and definitely played to the crowd. They played some 70’s, some swing, some rock, and played some hip hop in a manner that even my mom liked! They also did a great job with the hora and mezinke (two Jewish dances). My only regret, is that we didn’t specify a song to end the night with, so the last song kind of came and went very quickly with only a short announcement. The whole night went by in a flash, but I do remember dancing a ton and everyone was telling us how much they loved the band.

Florist - With All My Heart Flowers, Port Jefferson Station A+
We met this florist (her name was Lenea) and the East Wind showcase and we just got a very good feeling from her. Flowers weren’t my top priority, and she didn’t seem like she’d push us to do anything crazy or spend more money than we needed. She was very accommodating and had no problem making some changes after the original contract was set up. The CP’s were simple, the bouquets matched everything perfectly, and the calla lily boutonniere for the groom and ring bearer were perfect. She also handled buying the runner, putting together the amenities basket, and assembled a stand for our Chuppah (we bought the canopy separately). It was beautiful, and we got so many compliments on it – I was nervous about how it was going to look under the ‘gazebo’ that East Wind has outside, and she told me not to worry about anything, she had it all under control, and she was totally right! She was also incredibly accessible via email and we sent a lot of pictures, ideas, and comments via email, which in this day and age, makes life a lot easier.

Hair and Makeup – Kenneth Richards Salon, Wading River A+
I set out with the difficult task of finding a salon that would open on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend so that I could go there with my bridesmaids and mother’s and have our hair done. I basically looked up salons on Yahoo Yellow Pages and found Kenneth Richards. Johanna, the owner, was so nice over the phone, that I decided to give them a try. I was a little nervous when I went in for a hair and makeup trial, but they were awesome! She was so great to work with and the girls were all so friendly. She opened the salon, had a few girls come in, charged me very reasonable rates, and did a fantastic job on my hair. A few days before, I decided that I didn’t love the way my hair looked from the trial, and wanted something a little different. The day of, I told her what I wanted, and she knew exactly what to do! In addition, all of my girls had their hair done and were so happy with the way it came out. There were up-do’s, curls, half ups, straightforward blowouts, all done perfectly. And they made it really fun for us in the morning – everyone was laughing and having a good time. As for the makeup, I don’t wear a ton, and didn’t want to be overdone, and it wasn’t. She used just enough to get me through the whole day. I can’t rave enough about this Salon.

Photography – Wedding Group One, NYC A
We were referred to this photographer by multiple friends. They are incredibly reasonable, especially for a NYC-based photographer. We got a great package, which included photographer and videographer. We didn’t want to spend too much time on pictures, and they were very efficient. There were some fantastic shots - they take a slight more artistic approach to photography. The spots they chose for the portraits also looked great. In hindsight, I would have asked for them to take a few more portrait shots of the two of us, but that was our own fault really. Because they use a digital camera, we had a CD of all of our pictures ready when we returned from our honeymoon. The album they put together is like a coffee table book, very artistic, with great background shots blending into the pictures. The video looks great, they do a great job with a summary montage of the whole night, set to music.

Ceremony and Reception - East Wind, Wading River NY A
I will admit, I did have a few worries about the hall and the people we were working with. Because you deal with Sales Managers until the last few weeks, I didn’t feel like I was getting the type of personal attention that some of my friends had at other facilities. But we just went crazy asking questions and making sure all of our needs would be met. From menu substitutions, to getting into the bridal suite a little early (and having food in there), to making sure our table cards were laid out properly - when all was said and done, everything worked out almost perfectly. Day of, they had a ton of staff around to help out and make sure the guests were in the right place. Joyce, our maitre’d, and Jennifer, our attendant were great. The only thing we were upset about was they did not have enough seats during the ceremony (outdoors) for all of our guests, so a lot of people had to stand in the back. We had specifically asked about that and were told seats would be added. It wasn’t a huge deal and we didn’t even know until we walked down the aisle, but we should have followed up on that. Our reception was in the Northampton Ballroom and I was very concerned about hearing the noise from the Southampton affair. Not an issue - you wouldn’t have even known another affair was going on. We had 210 guests, and the ballroom was definitely packed, but there was still room to move around. The dance floor was plenty big, as was the cocktail hour room.
In the weeks leading up to it, we were very stressed about the hotel situation, we wanted our guests to be able to check in to EW earlier, since the wedding was starting at 4:30. Although they couldn’t promise us anything, the day of, everyone was able to check in earlier, with enough time to get ready before the wedding. After the reception, we all went to the bar at Desmond’s to hang out and it was a lot of fun. Brunch at Desmond’s the next day was great also.
Overall, everyone thought that East Wind was great – from the hotel, to the outdoor ceremony, to the extensive grounds, to the food….and of course to the proximity to Tanger Outlets!

anianyc Posted: Oct 10, 2006 02:07 PM+

anianyc MEMBER SINCE: 9/06 TOTAL POSTS : 1379 WEDDING DATE: Dec 16, 2011

Posted: Oct 10, 2006 02:07 PM