My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

I wanted to wait until I get my proofs but DH and I are really busy and who knows when we will get to LI to pick them up. So many people have sent me forum mail so I figured I better not wait anymore. So here you go...

It was truly a wonderful day. It didn’t go as fast as I thought it would but I still feel like I can’t remember so much. It was a whirlwind of fun. I can’t wait for my proofs and video. I am very fortunate that almost all my vendors were wonderful. (PS I am sure this review will be long but I will try my best to make it readable. So if I miss anything or you have questions, feel free to ask away.)

Weather-I had convinced myself it would rain and the weather reports predicted an all day storm. Wound up I heard it was pouring in LI but my church was in Queens and it was only drizzling there. By the time I got out of the hair salon, I didn’t even need an umbrella. It wasn’t a picture perfect day but the weather was nice enough. The weather prevented us from going to a park to take pictures (it would have been too muddy) and it got a little cold so we took most of pictures indoors rather than the ground of North Ritz. I really can’t complain at all.

My Vendors-
Church – Our Lady of Grace in Howard Beach – I had a lot of problems the month before my wedding contacting my priest to plan my ceremony and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal was very rushed and unorganized which left many people very uneasy. The priest I worked with wound up doing my rehearsal dinner but not my wedding. Monsignor Flood wound up doing my ceremony and he was terrific. He didn’t know us at all but he made the ceremony so meaningful and special. Everyone loved him.

North Ritz Club – I know so many of you are waiting on this review…so I will try to say a lot. They were great! I have no complaints at all. I am asking people to tell me something bad and no one can think of anything to say (even my mom who is in the business and a very tough critic). It seems the word that everyone uses was elegant. Everyone loved how big the place is and loved the two rooms and bars and I had a lot of compliments on the huge bathrooms. Since many of my guests arrived early, they opened the cocktail hour room 15 minutes early for them. Everyone said the food was plentiful and terrific. The add-on seafood bar was a hit. We stayed in the bridal suite for half of the cocktail hour because I really wanted the bridal party to eat a little. Even doing that, I ate very little. I am glad I stayed in the bridal suite because you get bombarded in the cocktail hour room the moment you step in. It is nice but I felt the time I spent in the suite allowed me to unwind before going down into the crowd. The bridal assistant had platters brought up to us. (NRC wasn’t prepared to do this. They only had drinks and fruit and cheese for us. If you want to eat in the bridal suite, I would tell them in advance and I am sure they will be better prepared to do so.) My bridal assistant, Elvira, was very sweet. She organized all the food brought up to us and twice had to sew my dress. George, my maitre d, was terrific. He was on top of us (in a good way) and made sure all of our needs were attended to. My mom also said he came to her several times. He kept the night organized and things running smoothly. They didn’t have Captain Morgan at the bar and George sent someone out to get it for us. I received lots of compliments of the service. The dinner food was good. Everyone was raving. I had the sea bass with papaya and mango salsa and it was great. (That was about all I ate all night.) A lot of people got the filet mignon and said it was terrific..some people said the best they every had. If you can afford to do the viennesse, do it!!! Everyone is still talking about the zeppoles, ice cream sundaes and banana flambé. They loved the fact that you can get up and go to another room and enjoy dessert. I had one cannoli and it was great. All in all, NRC was top notch! If anyone who is getting married there wants to invite me, please do!! I really want to be a guest at someone’s wedding there..I have been told hubby and I make great wedding guests! (hehe) I want to experience what my guests are raving about!

Photo/Video – Fine Art – Chuck was wonderful. We absolutely loved working with him. He paid attention to details and was very accommodating. I had given them sample pictures I liked and a must have list (I recommend this – doesn’t have to be a long list) and he got it all! I have no doubts that my pictures will be just as wonderful. I can’t wait for my proofs! I think Tony was my video guy. Tell you the truth I barely remember seeing the video guy, which is good because I hate being on video. Highly recommend them! I will let you know how my proofs and video are when I pick them up!

Limo – Royalty – Again, a top notch vendor! Phil, our driver, is so nice. He was also the driver for my brother’s wedding. On time, clean and helpful…what more can you say. The car the next day was early and the driver was courteous.

Flowers – Flowers By Brian – Everyone liked the flowers. Fresh, arrived on time and lasted through the night. The centerpieces with taper candles added to the elegance of my room. A pleasure.

Makeup – Laura from Perscriptives, Bloomingdales in Roosevelt Field – I found Laura about 3 weeks before my wedding and she was a terrific find (a friend referred her to me). She came to my house and did my makeup, MOH, 1 BM and my mom. Everyone was happy with the results. She is so sweet and I will visit her again for makeup tips and advice. The makeup lasted all night. I only reapplied the lipstick.

Hair – Anna from Explosion in Howard Beach – She did my hair exactly like I wanted it and I loved it. It didn’t move all night and the veil and headpiece stayed put even in my super thin hair! I wore my veil all night which hid the beautiful and elegant bun, but it was gorgeous and many people asked me to lift my veil just to check it out. 3 other BM and my mom got their hair done there and everyone was happy. I esp. loved my mom’s!!

Dress – I love my dress! Everyone is talking about my dress. It was worth every penny!!! It was fun to wear and just so me. I bought it from Bridal Couture. Bridal Couture has gotten a bad rap and I didn’t love them and didn’t hate them either. The original salesperson, Lee, was a sweetie but after the sale she was never there when I went in (she is PT). The seamstress was sweet and I really only needed minor alterations so I can’t say much about her. I did have a couple small altercations with them (I won’t get into it). The shop is snobby and a little rude but they do have some wonderful and different dresses. My dress arrived on time and with no problems even with the customization I had done to the train. The night of my dress the top layer kept coming off the bustle because people were stepping on the tiny piece of the dress that still trailed behind. Three times the buttons flew off and by the third time I left them off and rubber banded the dress to my arm for the last hour. The outer layer of my dress was very delicate and very heavy so I can see how this would happen but I wish the dress shop would have seen this and prevented it. My dress was by Mariana Hardwick. I had contacted the vendor several times for advice and pictures and swatches and she was so great!

Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

BM Dresses – RK Bridal – I used no-frills. All dress arrived with 2 months! I used After Six and the BM all picked their own style. Everyone got their alterations done on their own. I loved each dress. It really brought out the individuality of each girl.

Veil/Headpiece – C&H Bridal – Love this place!

Tux’s – After Hours (multiple locations). Everyone got their stuff and it fit. Some small issues that were quickly resolved.

Hotel and next morning brunch - Holiday Inn, Plainview – They were very easy to work with. My thanks to Lori and Laura. The server at the brunch in the morning was a little rude when we asked for additional chairs-which Laura said wouldn’t be a problem if more people came then we expected. The brunch was pricey (we did the private room option) but it was nice to see everyone and recap the night.

Shuttle - Coach Bus – This was my most disappointing vendor and will not recommend them. I plan on calling them this week to express my extreme dissatisfaction. They were to arrive at the hotel at 6pm and make 2 trips to NRC with guests. The bus showed up at 6:30ish saying he got lost. The hotel is right off of the highway! The guests therefore arrived late for the cocktail hour and were very frazzled. They said the driver was terrible (all over the road) and someone had to get off the bus and wave him to help get out of the parking lot or something like that. We had left the Coach number with a friend and when she called to find out where the bus was she rec’d the run around. The bus cost us $600 and should not be so terrible for that price!

Favors – DuckWalk Vineyards – I used full sized bottles of Duck Walk Chardonnay. This was the first bottle of wine DH and I ever had together! I bought it directly from the vineyards. Duckwalk was great to work with and gave us a complimentary big bottle of champagne. They wrapped all the bottles for you and put on the labels I had made from www.myownlabels.com. Everything was ready within a week of me providing them the labels.

Invitations/Programs/Matchbooks – Gail - Simply Elegant – Gail was a pleasure to work with. She works from her home and provides great stuff at great prices. I had so many compliments on my invites and programs. (All my stuff was done and ready in like 2 weeks – start to finish!) She is a vendor on the board and I highly recommend her! My mom also used her for my shower favors (crystal wine stoppers).

Miscellaneous Tips and Advice – The little things I did to try to add some special touches were noticed and appreciated. The bathroom baskets, hotel bags, pumpkin place card holders, silk leaves scattered on the tables, scavenger hunt table cameras. You don’t have to go crazy but little things can make your wedding stand out and can be really simple to do.

I recommend to all brides to be organized and do your research (not crazy research but gather info before making decisions – too much research can drive you crazy). I feel I did a lot of reading and research which helped me make good decisions and pick quality vendors. The day of my wedding I wasn’t nervous at all. I had faith in my hard work and planning. Actually the morning was strange I felt like I was just a BM in someone else’s wedding even after I had the veil on. It wasn’t until I started walking down the aisle and talking to family and friends did I feel like wow this was my day!

The day of your wedding bring a folder with important things such as contracts, contact info, a copy of your readings for church (one of my readers showed up really late and we had to find someone else to read!), etc. Comes in handy.

Also, silly girl thing, but bring blotting papers or powder. I totally forgot them in my apartment. I could have used them after running around and taking 100 million pictures. My SIL gave me her powder and it was too light..almost screwed up my makeup…thank goodness I found someone with a better shade.

Finally smile and enjoy your day! Be yourself and enjoy your biggest day of your life. Relax, things may go wrong but don’t sweat it…most everything can be worked out!

Good Luck to everyone and I hope I helped as much as this board as helped me!

Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

Now here are some pictures people gave me..

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

In NRC Gardens

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

I like how you see my dress in this one and my mommy

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

What a wonderful review. Everything sounded perfect!! congratulations!

Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

Bride doing shots! Someone caught this on a table camera!

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

You looked beautiful!!! Congratulations!!!!!

Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

bridetobe
congrats!!!

i got so teary eyes reading your review.
i followed your posts and Thanks to you I found C&H! Looking at the veil just made my heart flutter. Its beautiful!!!!!! I LOVE THE VEIL!!!! Almost exactly what I want!

I also let my girls pick their own dresses. I love it and can't wait!
Post more pics!
all the best MRS. !!!


edited to say WHAT A BOD YOU HAVE!
not everyone can get away with that dress!
you looked truly stunning!

Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

My cutie ring bearer (in half of his fireman uniform - a reward he rec'd for being so good - he's only three and he walked and got introduced - no problem).

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

NRC Kitchen Staff - This was from the scavenger hunt list - my brother said they threatened to call security when he marched into the kitchen but he showed them his list and they posed nicely!

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

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Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

WOW!! Everything sounds great!!! Happy to hear that everything went perfect. Congratulations to you and your new hubby. You look beautiful...can't wait to see the proofs.

Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

You look absolutely stunning! Congratulations to you and your hubby. Thank you for your much waited review on the NRC and I'm glad you had a great day!! Can't wait to see your proofs!

Re: My Wedding Review - 10-26-02 - VERY LONG

Thanks for the thorough review. It sounds like you had a wonderful day. Everything looks beautiful. Congratulations