Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

After a wonderful and surprising proposal in June of 2010, my then fiance (now husband!) and I started to plan our wedding for November (5 months later!)

I'll post info below by category, that was definitely the most helpful for me in my planning. Good luck to all!

WEDDING DRESS:
I had no idea of what dress style I liked until I started looking thru some magazines after our engagement. My first stop was Macy's Bridal Salon in Manhasset. Shockingly the dress I chose was dress #3 at Macy's!
The Bridal Salon is a separate 'store' on the second floor. Beautiful selection of Demetrios bridal gowns and many other designers for bridesmaid dresses.
Prices were excellent for gown and alterations. Very personalized service and truly a wonderful experience.

BRIDAL PARTY DRESSES:
I knew that I wanted Bari Jay dresses in color cappucino for the girls. I decided it was fun to let everyone choose their own dress style as long as the color was cappucino. A few got their dresses at Bridal Elegance in Huntington, a few others in Manhattan and one in NJ. Bari Jay also sells online so if you know your size you don't even have to go to a store! Everyone looked gorgeous and very unique and individual. I also bought them white pashminas for any of the outdoor photo shots since it was pretty cool in November.

TUXEDOS:
My husband and all the men (and little boy!) got their tuxes at Men's Warehouse. It was incredibly convenient since everyone was from different areas and you could go to any Men's Warehouse in the country to rent and then returns could be made to any location and not where you originally rented. Very good quality, good prices and they all looked so handsome!

CHATEAU AT COINDRE HALL RECEPTION:
There are not enough words in the dictionary to describe just how amazing the reception was. We had originally booked another hall but realized it wouldn't accomodate all of our guests, luckily for us Coindre Hall had a cancellation. It was a dream come true. Driving up to the hall was like something out of a fairy tale movie. The building is modeled after a French Chateau and it was truly like no other wedding our guests had ever been to. We are still hearing how it was the best wedding many people had ever attended. The food is gourmet quality, prepared by a world-renowned chef. The selections were delicious, plentiful and unique. It was great that they used a lot of seasonal vegetables and fish (EXCELLENT bass!) Our banquet manager John Schlenke was incredible and went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that every detail was perfectly attended to. The dining room and ballroom are two separate rooms which was initially a concern of ours, but we quickly remedied any concerns by discreetly putting 2 video screens in the dining room that showed the live dance floor feed throughout the party. No one ever missed anything and it was nice to be able to really hear conversation at the tables since the music was softer in the dining room than on the dance floor.

SPIN AROUND SOUND DJ:
This was the 2nd time I've been at a wedding with Spin Around Sound and Tom White as the MC. Absolutely fantastic both times!!! The dance floor was mobbed the entire night and guests were commenting on how their feet still hurt 2 days later from dancing so much and how amazing the mixes were! Tom really kept the party moving. He is personable and fun and talks just the right amount during the party to get the crowd going. He also did all of the uplighting throughout the hall and it looked amazing. When considering where to spend a little extra money, lighting is often overlooked but makes a tremendous difference with setting a perfect mood for an event.

MEMENTO PHOTOGRAPHY:
Love, love, love Memento! Anthony is an incredible photographer. From the moment I saw their website I knew that I wanted him to shoot our wedding. Engagement photos are included in the price and they came out gorgeous! Anthony's sister Lisa runs the Memento office and does a great job. We will be getting our photos next week and are THRILLED!!!

THE FLOWER SHOPPE (franklin Square):
All of the flowers were stunning and stayed fresh the whole day/night. I brought in a photo about a month or two before the wedding to show them what I would like for my bouquet and they made smaller version for the girls. Green and white orchids with fuschia gerber daisies and white roses and other white accents. They photographed beautifully and really added so much to the overall look. Prices were very reasonable and the service was really excellent. Very creative in their flower compositiion. I was ecstatic when I saw them.

MAXIMUS SALON (merrick):
William did an incredible job on my hair, one of my bridesmaids and my junior bridesmaid. He's very creative and really made it a point to be sure the style was very comfortable before I left ensuring I wouldn't want to take it out as the day progressed!
I also had my makeup done there and it looked natural both in person and in pictures. Just the right amount of special.

INVITATIONS:
www.notjustinvitations.com
Great selection of all the top brands at 30% off!
I had the addresses done by Sheryl at alltype. She did a great job.

VEIL:
www.usabride.com
beautiful and I saved tons of $

HEADPIECE:
www.whitedovebridal.com
Amazing selection and great prices. It was truly a one of a kind piece and beautiful!

JEWELRY:
I only wore earring but have been allergic to both clip on and piered earrings for years. I went to Swarovski and bought a beautiful pair of earrings that were hypoallergenic. Loved them and they didn't bother my lobes at all : )

Re: Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

Great review..I just went to an engagement party at your RH it is beautiful

Re: Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

I just put in the deposit for Coindre Hall!

Do you have any pictures? I've been trying to find as many pictures as possible to get ideas for decorations but it doesn't seem like many people have pics for Coindre Hall.

Thanks for your review though!

Re: Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

I've posted a couple of the DJs shots from the wedding so you can get a bit of an idea what Coindre Hall can look like. We'll be receiving our photographer pics next week and I can post more then. This is just to give you a very preliminary idea of the hall. We kept things simple and used uplighting around the place, lanterns on the tables and tons of candles all over the place. Have fun planning and most of all enjoy it! I purchased tons of stuff on line for decorative purposes (feathers for example... probably saved hundreds buying them online rather than in Michaels!)

Re: Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

Some pics from the wedding

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Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

A few more photos from the wedding

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Re: Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

Check out some of the photos that i posted below of Coindre Hall. The place is so beautiful, there's not much that you have to do to it!

Re: Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

great review!!! beautiful phtoos :)

Re: Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

congrats for your marriage .
pics are fantastic ..and you look very beautiful in it i want to know from where you purchased weeding gown...

Re: Our November 6, 2010 Chateau Wedding

Thank you so much!!! I purchased my dress at Macy's Bridal Salon in Manhasset. They were so helpful and the alterations were done perfectly and in plenty of time for the big day. My nails and facial were done at the Nail Gallery in Roslyn the day before and on the actual day my hair and makeup were done at Maximus in Merrick.

Best of luck!!!