Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club; UPDATED w/Pro pics, photo and video review

Our day really was perfection. I spent several sleepless nights worrying that everything I had put some much time and effort into wouldn’t go off as planned. But I made myself relax when the day finally got there. I told myself “at this point, it is what it is, and what happens will happen.” I didn’t want to be anxious the day of my wedding. So many of our vendors said that I was the calmest bride they had ever seen. Nothing could have bothered me that morning or day and I think that helped in making our day flawless. Every one of our vendors, no matter what had previously happened, was phenomenal the day of.
** None of these are pro pics, as I don’t have them yet.

Blue Nile-E-ring and wedding band: A+
I don’t know much about DHs interaction with Blue Nile while selecting my e-ring (since I wasn’t apart of the process). I had sent him a link to the picture of the ring I liked and told him to get something similar. He got exactly what I asked for. His only issue with the e-ring was that he didn’t want it delivered to our apartment, because he didn’t want me to know. So he asked that it be shipped to the local Fed-ex. Blue Nile has a policy to not give out tracking numbers for security reasons and Fed-Ex only releases packages with tracking numbers. DH had to call Blue Nile from the Fed-Ex location and have them call Fed-Ex to release the package to him. He got kind of worried because we were leaving for Hawaii the next morning (where he proposed) and he needed to get the ring that night.
There was a matching band to my e-ring, but then I fell in love with the eternity bands. When we emailed Blue Nile asking if the bands would match (mine has prong indents on the side of the band and I wanted something that would sit flush to that, like the band designed to go with my e-ring). The responded promptly and with additional ideas.
We wound up ordering the eternity band for me and got 10% off for being return customers.

E-ring and Band together (non pro):


Wedding band:


deBebians.com DH wedding ring: A+
DH took a long time looking for a ring he liked. He knew he wanted tungsten or titanium and then also decided he liked ones that had carbon fiber inlays. He found this rounded one on deBebians, but we weren’t sure about the size. So we looked at tons of jewelers. They all carried the same tungsten carbon fiber ring, but it wasn’t rounded on the edges and DH didn’t feel comfortable in it. So we ordered the one from deBebians. They were a pleasure to deal with on the phone (I called to inquire about fit and their exchange policy) and the ring arrived promptly when we ordered it.

Engagement Party
We wanted something laid back for our e-party and didn’t want the ILs to have to shell out a lot of money. ILs live in a gated community (in NJ) with a large field with a gazebo on it. So we figured we’d do a luau to go with our Hawaiian engagement. FIL regularly roasts pigs with his friends, so he made that. I made a lot of the other food.
We had the party in July 2008, during a heatwave. It was like almost 100 degrees the day of the party and the days leading up. Luckily FIL had rented tents and tables and such, so we were in the shade but it was still hot. If I had to do it all over again, I would have suggested having the party catered.

Announcing It-E-party invites : A+
Ordered a luau-themed invite (no longer listed on their site). We got the digital proof via email within a few days and had the invites a week later. Very easy company to deal with.

Modern Art Photography/PhotoFX: A+++ for pictures, C for passing us off, and F for PhotoFX
I had fallen in love with one of my friends wedding pictures who had used an LIW vendor. That is until I came on LIW and saw that every other bride who used that vendor had the same pictures. I know it shouldn’t have mattered, as after my wedding the only person who would know about the pictures was me, but it was something that kept playing over and over in my mind and turned me off to so many of the LIW photogs.
I really wanted a photojournalistic photog and although some say they are, if you are taking the same picture of all of your brides, you aren’t photojournalistic. So my search for “untypical” photogs began. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Angelica Glass’ pics, but unfortunately she was way out of our price range. I then stumbled upon EverlovingEV’s wedding pics by Gene at Modern Art Photography. So I made an appointment and me, DH and my Mom went to meet with Gene. He was really laid back and nice, and showed us tons of pics (he even had a whole album from a wedding that took place at our RH). My Mom was ready to leave a deposit right then and there but I didn’t want to make a snap judgment so we left and I set about looking for and calling other photogs.
About 2 weeks after we met with Gene, he called me to let me know he had a bride coming in to look at his work, for my wedding day. At that point I had 2 appointments with photogs for the upcoming week, but Gene’s appointment with this other bride was that Friday. So DH and I went into photo overload and looked through all the pics from other photogs online. My one big issue is that I had to realize that no matter what photog we used I wasn’t going to be totally in love with all 1000 (or however many proofs we got) of our pictures. I somehow had this thought in my mind that whatever photog we picked needed to wow me with every sample pic they showed us. It was a hard thing to realize and I think it made my photog decision making process all the more hard, because I loved the majority of Modern Arts photos but then some I was like “oh that’s nothing special.” But eventually FH and I talked it out and we then took a flying leap and called Gene and booked!
We took our e-pics in Grand Central Station. I knew we’d have tons of beach/outdoor pics from the wedding and I wanted something a bit different for our e-pics. DH suggested Grand Central and after seeing it I agreed. E-pics came out great but Gene had an unknown issue uploading them to Pictage. I was still waiting for them over a month later when he thought we received them. Once they heard we didn’t have them, they rectified the situation within 24 hours.
The day of Gene did show up a bit late but we were also running a little early. Everyone else was there, the BMs were dressed and I was waiting to get dressed until he got there. However, as soon as he arrived we got right to work. DH and I both felt like we didn’t take that many posed pictures, but I guess that is the point with photojournalistic photographers. I can’t wait to see what Gene sends us. From the few pics he showed us on the screen of his camera they looked great.

UPDATED: Shortly before our wedding Gene informed us he would no longer be in the wedding photography business. He would be there to take the pictures on our day, however, we would be dealing with PhotoFX (a company completely unknown to us) for everything after the wedding.
We got our proofs from PhotoFX (online) fairly quickly, and were VERY PLEASED with the pictures Gene took. However, that is the last thing I can say we are pleased about when it comes to our pictures. In November I sent an email to PhotoFX letting them know which picture we wanted to use for our Thank you card. My email was promptly replied to and I was told we'd have the card in about 2 weeks. A few weeks went by and on Novemeber 22, I emailed PhotoFX with our album selections, and also inquired about an ETA on our thank you cards (since we still didn't have them). A response came back on the 24th saying that we'd have our thank you cards by the next week. By January, still not having any thank you cards, I sent another email, which went unanswered. DH finally called and was told they were on there way. Basically we did not receive our thank you cards until March (yes you read that right MARCH). I heard every excuse in the book from the people at PhotoFX, even them telling me they took on over 300 clients of Gene's. It isn't my problem if you take on business you can't handle.
I hoped our problems with them would be over. We received our album proof and didn't have many changes (only 2 or 3) but we were pretty underwhelmed with the outcome. It didn't look bad, it just wasn't the work we had expected when we booked with Gene. When I sent them the changes, I also asked a few questions in the email. I didn't hear back from them right away but I figured they'd answer me when they got around to working on our album. Next thing I know we got an email that our albums are printed. We never got to see an updated proof or had any of our legitimate questions answered. So DH called Mark and asked why we hadn't seen another proof. He was told our changes were small and Mark assured us he'd meet with us (we went at a specific time that he chose so we could meet with him) to go over our albums and make sure we were happy. DH also confirmed that upon picking up our albums and paying in full we would receive a DVD with our wedding and engagement pictures on it.
So we drive to Brooklyn last Saturday to meet with Mark. We get there, Mark isn't there, and the guy who is, isn't expecting us and doesn't know where are stuff is. He finally finds it, there is no DVD. He told me he would mail it to me and I told him 'I am not leaving you any money if I don't leave here with a DVD.' We look at the albums and one of the parent albums has white marks on every page. We wound up leaving without the second parent album (it's supposedly being reprinted) and with an unprofessional, burned at the last minute, DVD that is written on with Sharpie marker. To say I am dissatisfied is the understatement of the year. I am mad that Gene put us in completely incapable hands, and that not once has PhotoFX tried to make things right with us.

Timeless Treasures FilmsA+++++++++
I loved Rays work from his website but DH really didn’t understand the concept that they were just highlight reels. So we set up an appointment to meet with Ray, and DH finally got the concept after seeing a few videos. Ray is very laid back and even said to us “I’m such a bad salesmen” he wasn’t pushy at all and even seemed surprised when I called 2 weeks after our appointment to book with him.
Day of Ray arrived early and got right to work. We had booked him and a 2nd photog (which went to film the guys getting ready) and he showed up to my Mom’s with an extra person for the day (in total there were 3 videographers!). I can’t wait to see what Ray produces.
Here is the recap from our wedding video:
Video Recap
DH and I are beyond blown away with Rays work. Yes, it took 8 months to get our video but it was TOTALLY worth it. We got 3 copies of the edited DVD, 1 copy of a slightly different edited DVD, and 3 DVDs worth of raw footage (we've only made it through one so far). Ray is amazingly talented at what he does, and you will not be disappointed with the end product.

Paradise Bridal- -
Brides Dress: A
I was originally going to get my dress from Bridal Reflections because we are family friends with the owners. However, after trying on about 15 dresses and not even getting close to “the feeling” I searched online for a place which carried a Forever Yours dress that I had been looking at since before DH and I got engaged. Paradise Bridal had the dress. They were very accommodating when I called and asked if they had the dress and I went in that night to try it on and worked with Elaine. I tried on about 10 other dresses as well, but kept going back to the Forever Yours dress until my Mom just said “get it already, I know it’s the one you want.” So we ordered it…in Ivory.
That night I was talking to Dh about shopping and told him I ordered ivory. He was kind of shocked and then I thought about all the other white stuff I had planned for the wedding. I called the next morning, got Elaine on the phone and switched the color to white.
I never got the call that the dress was in so I had to call myself. They set up an appointment for a fitting a month in advance. First fitting was pretty easy, they had to hem the dress and take in some material around the bust, as well as do the bustle. I hit the alterations cap easily (which I thought was weird; they charge $150 for a hem). But the process was very easy. I asked them to take in the straps at the 2nd fitting and they basically said no. I didn’t push, and of course the straps were falling down all night. I eventually took them off. Overall the experience was pretty easy, but I never really felt like a bride going there. I just felt like another customer.
Some pics of my dress:





BM and MOH Dresses (Bill Levkoff) D:
I am going to say right off the bat that this salon is not very accommodating if you have bridesmaids who live our of state. They don’t have weekend fitting appointments and weren’t very willing to work with us to make one. And even though I ordered the dresses 2 months earlier then they suggested (so I would have time to get shoes dyed and send out the dresses to the OOT girls for fittings), the dresses only came in a bit over 5 weeks before the wedding. This made it really stressful for me, trying to get a swatch so I could have shoes dyed for the OOT girls and ship them their dresses and shoes in time to get fitted.
I have 7 BMs (including my MOH) so I didn’t want to take them all in and have a free for all trying to narrow it down to one dress. So I picked out the style I liked (tea length) and one night my MOH (sister) and one of the BMs went to try stuff on. I want to thank Lauren (MrsDrinkH2O) a fellow 09 bride who works at Paradise for helping us. We basically had the place to ourselves. We made my poor BM try on about 50+ dresses (my sister didn’t fit into the sample size) and finally narrowed it down to 4 dresses. I emailed my girls pictures of each dress and then they all came into town for a BM weekend, so they could all try on each dress, see them in person and place their orders.
Paradise doesn’t take appointments for BM dresses and so when we went in there on a Saturday to pick the dresses and for the BMs to get sized it was extremely crowded. There were about 3 other BPs there and only 2 women working. Another 2 BPs showed up as we were trying dresses on. I was told by one of the woman she didn’t have time to pull dresses for us and we had to re-find the dresses ourselves (which I thought was kind of rude). Once the girls decided we then had to wait on line for about 20 minutes before we could have their measurements taken. Not once during the process that day did someone ask if they could help us. I understand they were understaffed and I don’t know if it was an oversight, but I thought it was a bit ridiculous to only have 2 women working on a Saturday, especially when they don’t take appointments. It was basically like a free for all. I didn’t have much choice but to go on a Saturday because I have 4 OOT BMs who could only come in on the weekend.
I was originally told I should order the BM dresses 6 months in advance. We ordered the dresses 8 months in advance because I had several OOT BMs. I was told the dresses would be in 6-8 weeks before my wedding. The dresses didn’t arrive until a little over 5 weeks before the wedding. I was sort of freaking out because I had to get the BM shoes dyed and send the dresses to the OOT girls to get fittings. Additionally they had told me I should have all the girls dresses hemmed the same distance from the floor so that everything looked the same height in pictures. This required that my shortest and tallest BM get fitted at the same time, so we could decide on a length that worked for everyone. But they couldn’t give me a fitting appointment until 2 weeks after the dresses arrived. This further put a crunch on getting my OOT BMs their dresses so they could be fitted and caused me much unneeded stress worrying if everything would be done at the same time. I almost felt like I should have lied about my wedding date so that my dresses would have come in sooner and I didn’t have to run around and stress out like I did.
The last thing that contributed to my rating of them for the BM dresses had to do with the MOH dress. Her dress was different then the BMs but was the same designer. After I was called on July 27th and told the dresses were in, my MOH called and made a fitting appointment. The day she was supposed to go she gets a message on her phone that she shouldn’t come in because her dress was NOT in. Mind you, this was 3 weeks before my wedding. I wanted to freakout. While the manager at Paradise explained to me it was a receiving error (they checked that all the dresses had arrived when the BM dresses came in) I felt that at least the manufacturer should have realized the dress wasn’t shipped. I kept getting different answers as to where the dress was (first it was in the warehouse, then they “thought” it was in the warehouse) and when it would be shipped (first it was already shipped, and then they thought it would be shipped in a day or two, etc). They also said, because of the mistake that they would accommodate my MOH fittings whenever she wanted them. So once the dress came in she called and tried to schedule a fitting on the same day as me, and they told her they didn’t have any open appointments, but to come in and they would squeeze her in. They did squeeze her in, but when she was trying to see how to bustle my dress they told her she needed to hurry up and finish her fitting because “they had people waiting” to be fitted. I was ready to be the screaming bride in the white dress. When we were finished, there was no one in the waiting area.
I firmly asked the manager at Paradise for some sort of compensation for the stress the MOH dress situation caused me. She told me she had to contact “corporate” (which I don’t understand because they aren’t a chain). She never got back to me and I had to track her down for answers. I left her several messages and asked for her everytime I was in there for a fitting. She was never in. I finally had to fight with them the day of picking up the dresses to give me some kind of compensation. They gave the MOH $35 off her dress, but I felt like the aggravation of the dress not being in, plus me having to force them to do something was worth more then that. I understand mistakes happen, but make it right by the customer right away, don’t leave me to stir in my anger and make me get more mad by ignoring my requests.

MOH dress (non pro):


BM dresses:


FG Dress A+: I picked it out, she tried it on, and we were sold. The dress came in within a month and Paradise held onto it for me. The FG and her Mom (one of the BMs) lived out of state so they had their alterations done elsewhere. (non-pro)


Bridal Reflections-MOB dress: A+
We know the owners so my review might be a bit biased. The only reason I didn’t get my dress from them was because they didn’t carry it. And after my experience with Paradise I am kicking myself for not finding a dress that I liked that BR carried.
My Mom bought the sample dress (even though we had time to order a new one, she got a great discount). They did the alterations and gave her 50% off. My only complaint (and it wasn’t BRs fault at all) is that my Moms dress was the same color as the BMs. She insisted on this dress and also insisted it was Copper (not chocolate brown) and I didn’t feel like fighting with her. But it caused some hassle when picking out a tux for my Dad because I told her he couldn’t wear the same color vest as the GMs. She called me difficult and I told her “I’m not the one who picked the same colors as the bridal party.” This is the way my Mom is, so I just dealt with it.
Fittings went great and the dress fit my mom well on the day of.

MOB dress:


*****************-T e s s a Invites : B+:
I really wanted to give Tessa and A+ because her work is so beautiful, however I did have a few minor issues along the way, which were corrected in a fair amount of time.
Invites: I really wanted pocketfold invites but didn’t think I could afford them on the $500 invite budget I set for us. Then I saw posts about T e s s a on LIweddings and FMed a few brides about how much they were paying. When I was pleasantly surprised, I contacted T e s s a and got the ball rolling. The invites arrived on time and exactly how I wanted them to look.
After receiving the invites and labeling and stamping all of the RSVP envelopes I realized she sent the wrong size envelope for the RSVPs. They were too small for our response cards. No big deal, I know people make mistakes and she sent out new envelopes including stamps right away. However when the new envelopes arrived there weren’t enough of them. She did offer to send more or to have me go to Staples and buy the envelopes I needed. I chose the later and she refunded me the cost of the envelopes as well as $25. I was satisfied with this resolution, I just thought that after the first envelope mistake she should have been a bit more careful sending the replacements.
Placecards and table names: She also made my placecards and table numbers for free, as I had ordered some stationary through her site and got the free stuff as a deal for ordering. I sent her the excel file set up the way she asked. When the cards arrived, couples who didn’t share the same last name (either because they aren’t yet married, or because they are married and don’t share the same last name) were on two separate cards. When I questioned her on this, she said that is how she normally does those cards. I just found it confusing and weird especially since some of those people were married, they just didn’t share the same last name. She reprinted these cards for me and I had them the next day. I just felt she should have given me the option, or told me this is how she does it before sending the cards to me. There were also 2 cards missing, which she sent with the updated cards.

Outside of invite (I added ribbon, non-pro):


Inside (non-pro):


Invite portion (non-pro):


Customized Wedding Creations-Cherin: A+
I ordered a custom aisle runner and two banners for the RB to carry. One said “Here comes the bride” and the other said “and they lived happily ever after”. He carried the first on the way up the aisle and the second on the way back down. Cherin was very easy to work with and even used the ribbon I sent to her (and was using throughout the wedding). She sent me proofs in a timely manner and adjusted the colors on the aisle runner when they looked a bit off.
While she was working on my items I entered a contest on her blog for a free parasol and won. The parasol was brown with a pink F (for our new last name) on it. We used it for a few pictures.

One of the banners (you can also sort of see the runner):


Aisle runner:



Parasol:


Anna Bellagio- BM jewelry: A+
I ordered the BMs pink pearl necklaces with matching earrings. I also ordered the FG a necklace and clip on earrings. Everything arrived exactly when specified and was nicely wrapped in pink boxes with tulle bows, so I didn’t have to wrap more stuff. She even included a nice card wishing me happiness on my wedding day. Easy and pleasant experience.

Coach Outlet: A+
I got clutches for all of the BMs and reader, and got pocketbooks for the MOH and MIL. Went in, picked out what I wanted, paid and even got boxes for them. Couldn’t have been easier.

Sunglass hut-GM gifts: A+
DH decided to get sunglasses for all of the GMs. We went in and picked them out and then asked about the return/exchange policy. They told us it was 90 days (which was just short of how far away the wedding was). The general manager at the store assured us the GMs wouldn’t have a problem exchanging them after that.
One of the GMs dropped out of the wedding a month before and we took his glasses back no problem. The general manager even remembered us.
The guys all LOVED their glasses and said that the fact we personalized them for each guy really made them special.

Apple A
We got my Dad an ipod nano as his gift. He loved it. I just thought it was weird that their return/exchange policy is only 14 days. I wanted to pick it up a bit early, so I wasn’t running around last minute, but because of their policy I had to wait.

edmdesigns (etsy seller): A-
My Mom has very funky taste. I knew I wanted to get her a piece of jewelry as a wedding present but didn’t know where to look. So I searched etsy and found edmdesigns who makes steampunk jewelry. I sent the page to my Mom asking if she liked any of it and of course she did. I ordered her the cage crystals heart pendant. The FAQs on the sellers site said they would ship within 5-7 business days and supply a tracking number. After that time period when I hadn’t received any additional emails I sent a message to the seller asking for an ETA or tracking number. I heard nothing back but the item arrived a day or two later. While the piece is gorgeous I just wish their communication was a little better

Dana-Make-up: A+
Dana normally does my hair during the year, but she doesn’t do wedding hair and updo’s. However she is a certified Mary Kay make-up artist. I scheduled a trial with Dana during one of my regular hair appointments in June and she did exactly what I asked for. The makeup looked great.
She arrived at my house the day of on time and got to work on the bridesmaids. She did make-up for the MOH, MOG, Me, 1 BM and MOB (which was a that morning decision). Everyone loved their make-up and it lasted all day with just lipstick touchups.

Eileen-Hair: A+
I had another hair person lined up for the day of and she totally flaked on me 3 months before the wedding. Eileen was recommended to me by Dana, my make-up artist and normal hair stylist. I called Eileen, she was available and her prices were reasonable, so I made a trial appointment. Going into the trial I knew overall how I wanted my hair to look but didn’t know how to communicate that. I brought a ton of pictures and Eileen worked from there.
Day of she arrived on time and did my hair first. I was done within an hour, my hair looked how I wanted it to, and my hair stayed the whole night.
My Hair:




Salon De Caro Eyelash extensions : A+
After seeing a few LIW brides who had had eyelash extensions I began looking into getting them done. Every place I found was charging between $250 and $450 for it, which I couldn’t justify. I had all but given up when I was getting my nails done at Salon De Caro and mentioned it to my nail girl (who is a family friend). She told me that Linda at the salon did them and only charged $150. I made an appointment that day.
The whole process was very relaxing. It took about two hours, but I was laying with my eyes closed the whole time. I think I even fell asleep twice. They came out great and looked awesome the day of the wedding.



Barron’s Bridal Boutique (Tri-county flea market)-Veil A+
I had to go back twice (was my own fault for not bringing a picture of what I liked) but the whole process was pretty easy. Told them what I wanted, paid for it, it arrived a few months later looking great and for a lot less than what the bridal salons were charging. For me, I was only going to be wearing my veil for the ceremony and pictures, so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money.

The Crescent Beach Club
Booking Event (2 years early) A+
Months leading up to event C+
Day of A+
I fell in love with CBC even before I was engaged. I knew it was going to be expensive, and I wanted to give other RH’s a chance before booking there, so at DH’s suggestion we went there last. Before going to CBC in October of 2007, we had looked at The Surf Club and were 98% sure we would book there since they were $40 cheaper per person for the same date. However, after seeing CBC, which highlighted all the downsides of having a wedding at an RH with more then one wedding at a time (ie The Surf Club), I fell in love all over again. We dealt with the GM Bill. He was very nice and accommodating at our first meeting. Very talkative (which sometimes got annoying when I just wanted to ask questions) but he made us feel very welcome and spent 2 hours with us on our first visit. That day we left refundable deposit to hold the date, knowing we still wanted DH’s parents to see the place (my Mom had gone with us on the first visit). So the next weekend we made an appointment with Bill so IL’s could check out the place and we could leave the rest of the deposit. We also made reservations for the 6 of us (Me, DH, IL’s and my parents) at their restaurant (The Pine Island Grill) so we could try out the food. Our total bill for dinner was well over $400 and Bill comped the whole thing, drinks and all. We only had to leave a tip for the waitress. We knew we had made the right decision!
During our initial meetings Bill talked about how there was no set menu. We could choose whatever dishes we wanted for the wedding. I was a bit skeptical of this because I knew most halls don’t operate that way. FH was excited at this possibility, so I went along with it. Looking back, we should have gotten a more “clear” answer then that.
I’ll be upfront and say getting closer to the wedding (specifically the month before the wedding) dealing with Bill was like dealing with a used car salesmen. In early July 2009 we went in to select our menu. This is where I kind of started to get frustrated with the CBC. I felt like every step of the way they were trying to nickel and dime us. They eventually settled our “disagreements” to our liking, I just felt like I shouldn’t have had to push and push to get what we wanted. I tried to push through dealing with Bill, and only talked with him when necessary. Stacie, our MD, was very nice and I much preferred dealing with her. The day of Bill wasn’t there, and I was sort of relieved.
DH and I had been told we could arrive at the Crescent (so we could see each other before the ceremony) at 4:30 but that we wouldn’t have access to the beach until 5, when the previous wedding was over (totally understandable). We arrived around 4, had our “special” moment meeting each other and before I knew it, it was 5 and the beach was ours.
Everyone at CBC went above and beyond the day of and our wedding was amazing. I heard the CH food was excellent, and DH and I enjoyed our meal that night (they gave us each one of everything and sent us home with what we didn’t eat). Our cake was exactly what we asked for.
Stacie (MD) and Campbell (BA) were both excellent, everytime we turned around they were asking if we wanted anything. Our day was perfection, in no small part due to the CBC.
DH and I taking pics on the beach:


Setup for ceremony:


Can you beat this sunset during our ceremony? (non-pro)


Our awesome cake:


Room setup:




Four Points Sheraton Plainview-Hotel Block, shuttle, and post-wedding brunch: A+
Because Bayville is such a small town, there aren’t really many hotels close by. Even ones that are within 15 miles (like the Sheraton) are about a half hour away because of the roads you need to take to get into Bayville.
I think in all I called/checked out about 7 hotels. The Sheraton was the nicest inside, since it is fairly new construction. They also had several rooms downstairs for us to choose from, as ILs wanted to have a post-wedding brunch.
I worked with Nicole Leary from the beginning, but a few times dealt with Jessica. Whenever I emailed her with a question she always got back to me right away. I emailed her a few times asking for updates on how many rooms were blocked and she always got back to me right away. She was even helpful with planning the post-wedding brunch.
About 2 months prior to the wedding Nicole sent me an email that although the bar normally closes at 11 pm on Sundays they were keeping it open for us until 2 am. I thought that was a nice gesture.
Like most people, our guests were late with their RSVPs and reservations and Jessica kindly extended our room block by a few days.
We also booked a shuttle with them to get guests to and from the reception.
Everything worked out wonderfully the weekend of the wedding. They put most of our guests on the same floor, which was nice. The shuttle driver was nice and very accommodating and the brunch was great.

Raindrops and Roses-Florist A+
This is the florist we have been using since I can remember. If anyone remembers The Gardner Manor Mall, they were one of the stores in there, which tells you how long they have been around. So again, my review for them may be a bit biased, as we know the owners well (my mom is on a first name basis with them and when you just so much as mention our address they know exactly who we are).
Early on in the planning I decided I wanted these French buckets from [url] http://www.themacbethcollection.com/[/url] The Macbeth collection for our centerpieces. Holly did everything from contacting them to ordering them.
I also wanted a certain color gerber daisy for my bouquet (white with a pink center). Holly worked with their growers to get them to grow the flowers for our day. About 2 months before the wedding she sent my Mom home with a sample Gerber. I loved the color and the flower lasted 2+ weeks in the scorching summer heat.
About 3 weeks before the wedding I got to see a sample CP and Holly nailed it. I didn’t have to make any changes. We also discussed other small details (corsages, boutonnières, etc). Holly always had plenty of suggestions when I was at a loss as to what to pick.
The day of they totally went above and beyond my expectations. My BoK and the BM BoKs were exactly what I wanted. The flowers were gorgeous. The CPs, arch, ceremony décor and placecard table were also spot on.
My BoK:




BM BoKs:


CPs (non-pro)


Arch and chair décor


Absolute Entertainment : A+
We called around to about 4-5 DJs to compare prices. Absolute seemed to have the most reasonable prices and came recommended from one of my friends. When we got there and sat down they had a basket on the table with thank you cards in it. On top was the thank you from my cousins wedding. We met with Jeff and he went over all their packages. He then asked if I had song preferences, little did he know that I had a 2 page typed list of songs. He joked and asked me if I wanted a job. We called back and booked with them a few days later.
Our MC for the day was Scott and our DJ was Mike. Mike is apparently DJ Loki from Party 105, which worked out because I had told them when we booked I wanted the music played similar to how they do it on the traffic jam on party 105; with mash-ups and what not.
Scott and Mike were awesome and kept the dancefloor packed during the whole reception. They played exactly what I asked, and how I asked it to be played.

Captain Arnold A+
DH and I aren’t religious at all so we knew we didn’t want a priest to marry us. Getting married on the beach we thought it would be perfect to have a boat captain marry us. We had seen Captain Arnold perform the ceremony at TWOTY 07. I wasn’t completely sold on his services but I called to inquire anyway. He was VERY nice and accommodating on the phone and kept in contact even just to let us know he had received things we mailed to him.
The day of he arrived early to go over everything with us. The ceremony was perfect and all of our guests got such a kick out of him. He had a tons of pirture requests during the CH.

Star Limo’sWhite Plains, NY: A+
DH and I met through a car club because we both owned MINI Coopers. I wasn’t originally planning on getting a limo but when I saw the picture of a pink MINI Cooper limo on our clubs website I had to have it. I rearranged all of the morning of plans, so I could have it pick me up at my house (I had originally planned to get ready at the RH).
When I called to inquire about the car they were kind of shocked I had heard about it, since they had just gotten it in and didn’t even have pricing for it. They were very accommodating and even put an addition in the contract that if that car wasn’t available that day that I would get all my money back (I didn’t want a replacement because it wouldn’t have been a MINI). Since I booked the car so far in advanced I was a bit worried something would happen to it before the wedding.
Day of, the car arrived an hour early. One of my BMs saw it coming down the street and when she told me and I saw it, I squealed like a kid on Christmas. It was PERFECT. The ride to CBC people were staring, honking and taking pictures of it on the LIE. I guess it isn’t everyday you see a pink stretch MINI Cooper. The driver hung around so that once DH got to the RH him and I could take pictures with the limo as well.
The MINI:


DH, me, MINI limo, and our friends MINIs:





All-Star Limo’s A+
Since the MINI Cooper limo only held 4 passengers I needed a limo to transport the BP from my parent’s house to the RH. I didn’t want to pay the extra money to have a regular limo from Star Limo drive all the way down from Westchester. Plus my Uncle is a part time driver for All-Star and got us a great deal on a 10 passenger limo for the girls. We went in, my Mom paid in full and we were done. We also used them for car service to and from JFk for our honeymoon.
The day of the limo arrived an hour early. I wasn’t in this limo but from what the girls said it was nice and clean inside.
The car to get us to the airport also arrived early and got us to JFK in no time. When we came back from our honeymoon the driver was waiting inside for us.
Great experience with this company.

Roe Roe’s Sweet Street (Babylon)-Favors: A+
DH and I decided early on that we wanted an edible favor. A friend recommended this place and one day I went in with one of my BMs to get an idea of what they had. We purchased about $40 worth of chocolate covered goodies to try. DH and I narrowed it down to chocolate covered rice crispy treats and chocolate, caramel and nut covered pretzel rods. We decided to do both. The owner (forgot her name) gave me a nice deal, matched them to our wedding colors, and even wrapped them with the ribbon I provided. I picked them up the week of the wedding and they looked great and tasted awesome.

Bed Bath and Beyond (Babylon)- Registry: A+ I wasn’t planning on mentioning this but they did such a great job I felt I should. DH and I returned a lot of the items we received for the shower, so we could get larger (more expensive) items we needed more. The returns were so easy. Someone then helped us order the other items we wanted (they didn’t have most of them in stock). They even rang us up so that we got 2 $50 gift cards for Calphalon items we were buying and we were able to use those at the time of purchase. They were just extremely helpful and seemed like they would do anything to make their customers happy. Everytime I went in there for something, someone always greated me and helped out. Even calling multiple other locations to see what they had in stock.

Above and Beyond Events (Leane)-DOC: A++++
My main reason for booking a DOC was because I am one of those people who would become a raving lunatic if a vendor screwed up and or tried to screw me over the day of. I didn’t want to be “that crazy bride” on my wedding day, and that was the sole reason I booked a DOC.
I originally contacted Ryan, who wasn’t available for my day and she put me in contact with Leane. DH and I met with Leane at our apartment and she went over all the details of the day. We gave her a deposit before she left.
Closer to the wedding I needed help finding and booking a dance instructor. Leane responded to my emails quickly and even went as far as booking our first lesson for us (when I had problems getting in touch with John). She did the same when I asked her to help me find shuttles to get our guests from the hotel to the reception and back.
The day of Leane arrived right on time and got to work making sure everything was going OK. Within an hour my BMs were calling her “Captain Wedding”, they couldn’t believe how on top of everything she was and loved her bag full of “goodies” (her emergency kit). When the flowers arrived she made sure everything was there and separated out the guys flowers so that my ILs could take them back to the hotel. Once we were taking pictures and getting ready to leave she left and headed out to the CBC. Once there she made sure everything was setup correctly and even checked in with Captain Arnold to give him our marriage license.
The whole day she was just wonderful. Anything I needed her to do, she did. She pinned up the front of my dress when I figured out I would trip over it during our first dance. She rocked my niece to sleep, gave out the tip envelopes, wrapped up CP flowers for people to take home, etc. You name it, she did it. She was worth every penny we paid for her, if not more.

Sandy’s Shoes- My shoes, BM shoes, FG shoes:A+
I originally went to Sandy’s to have a pair of Coloriffic Carmen shoes I bought online dyed. When I returned to pick up the shoes, there was a problem. Apparently they weren’t dyeable and no one realized until after they attempted. I could have totally worn those shoes the day of, but they sort of looked like they had gotten wet and or were worn already, and since they were pink I felt it would be noticeable. The women at Sandys were great and when I picked out a new shoe from them, they deducted the price of dying of the other shoes. I purchased the Nina Celines.
The BMs wore the Coloriffic Andie. I had several BMs from OOT, and Sandys made it very easy for them to get their shoes. They called and paid over the phone. I had to wait until the girls dresses came in, so I could get a swatch for dying. Because I was in a time crunch the women at Sandys matched the swatch from the girls dresses to dyes they already had mixed and had the shoes ready in a week. This really helped me out.
I also got my hair clip from Sandys too.

Wickers Restaurant- RD: A+
In April I started calling around to about 10 places to inquire about having our RD. We needed a place for a Sat night for about 40 people. Because it was a holiday weekend, a lot of places were either booked already or wouldn’t accommodate such a “small” party on a Saturday night. Wickers was the one place that I called that had the date open, had a private room, and would accommodate a party of our size.
FIL did all the booking of the event since the ILs were paying for it.
Day of we arrived early to see the room and set out gifts and placecards. The room was ready and the waitstaff was very helpful and accommodating. The food was great and it was nice to have a room to ourselves.


Ballroom Dance Long Island (John)-dance lessons : A+
I have 10+ years of classical ballet training and can be found on the dance floor at most weddings. DH couldn’t be a more polar opposite from me; he doesn’t dance at all. I didn’t want to be doing the newlywed sway during our first dance, so we decided early on to take lessons and have our first dance choreographed.
John offers a free half hour introductory class. FH and I went and knew we wanted to work with John right away. We then booked 4 more sessions and began choreographing our first dance, as well as learning other dance steps to use throughout the night. John was very laid back and easy to work with. We wound up doing a total of 8 sessions with John. We felt extremely comfortable doing our first dance by the end of that time, and he had also taught us the rumba to dance to our last song. He worked with DH a little, to teach him how to dance to faster music and even made sure to talk to us about how we could incorporate what we learned into a more social setting.
Link to our first dance
http://vimeo.com/6493973


RSVP-Tuxes: A+
We first priced out RSVP and Men’s warehouse and RSVP was much cheaper. FH and I made the mistake of going in during prom season, so we had to wait a bit to be seen, however they were very attentive and easy to work with. They gave us envelopes to give to our OOT GMs, so they could go and get their measurements and mail them in. When I went back with my Dad and grandfather, they made the process very easy for us and even suggested tuxes that would work well with their frames.
No one had an issue with their tuxes when they picked them up, as everything fit perfectly and all the guys looked great!
The Guys:


Additional Pics:










Milleridge Inn (Williamsburg room) Bridal Shower: A
I don’t know any of the planning details because my Mom booked the shower and it was supposed to be a surprise. However the shower was great. It was nice to have a “girlie” looking room for the party and even better that we had it all to ourselves (including a separate bathroom). My Mom paid extra to have crabcakes offered as a meal (because I love them). They were very good. The punch was yummy. DH (yes there were guys there) had the egg plant rolitini, which he said was a bit tough. My only complaint was that it was hot at hell in the room. The shower was at the end of July and it was a sweltering day. It was almost like their AC wasn’t working. I was sweating the whole time and only had a sun dress on.





Various DIYs: Even though I wouldn’t consider myself a crafty person, I decided early on there were some things I wanted to make myself; petal cones, menus, and programs. Of course I had to fall in love with petal cones and programs that were hard to make, but I felt like I made it work. One of my BMs helped me make a template for the petal cones and I figured out how to make the programs I wanted. Below are the vendors I used for supplies.

Michael’s
Baskets for petal cones, programs, and bathroom baskets.
Scissors for petal cones (F) I don’t recommend these as they are extremely uncomfortable. They are the scissor that cut a scalloped edge. My BM and I had numb thumbs for 4+ weeks after cutting out all the petal cones. The opening for your fingers in the scissors is small and must have pressed up against a nerve or something. I literally thought I was going to have to go to the dr.
Double sided glue stripes and glue dots: used these for the petal cones, menus and programs.

Pick Quick (farmingdale) paper: A+ went in, told them what I needed and was out of there within 15 minutes.

Anchor Paper (Tom) : A+ I needed extremely long paper for my accordion programs, and Pick Quick didn’t have it. At the recommendation of a fellow LIW bride I contacted Tom via email. By the next day he sent me a quote for what I needed. Arrived within a few days.

Petal cones:


LOVE letters (purchased from Michael’s, painted them myself):


Cardbox (purchased from Michael’s, painted it myself):





Honeymoon-Greece (Athens, Santorini and Mykonos):
DH and I were originally going to book through our travel agent. However, when she couldn’t get us what we wanted in our budget DH and I started looking online ourselves and were able to piece together the honeymoon we wanted. We checked out a lot of reviews on tripadvisor. We booked our airfare through Travelocity and got travel insurance to cover the flights for about $30 each. I figured if anything went wrong with the HM it would be the flights and so we wanted the security of insurance. I figured if we didn’t like one of the hotels, we hadn’t prepaid for them so we could just leave and find another one.

Divani Palace Acropolis : A+
Dh and I decided to spend 2 nights in Athens to sightsee since we had to fly into the airport there anyway. The Divani was very nice and clean. We had a room with a separate living room area. The roof top garden restaurant is a must do at night. It had an amazing view of the acropolis which made for very nice pictures.

Villa Ilias (Santorini) http://www.villailias.com : A+
Dh found this hotel online and we read several wonderful reviews on tripadvisor about the place. We emailed them back in January and had very nice communications with the owner George. They had recently renovated the place and he sent us new pictures and answered any questions we had. We had the executive room with an AWESOME view of the caldera. While the room itself was small (and so was the bathroom) the view from the foot of our bed, out of our balcony was incredible and because of the view we hardly noticed the size of the room (we didn’t spend much time there anyway). They had a free buffet breakfast every morning in the lobby and when they heard we were honeymooners we got a free bottle of champagne and a free home cooked dinner one night. George and his staff went above and beyond when we needed to check out late due to a problem with our flight. They even let us use their phone for an international call for 4 hours to rectify the problem.

Saint John Hotel (Mykonos) :A+
After the fiasco with Travelocity, this was exactly what we needed. Saint John’s is an amazing resort in Mykonos. Their infinity pool is to dye for; it looks like it drops off into the ocean. Our room was huge and very nice, with a gigantic bathroom that had a Jacuzzi bathtub. There was free buffet breakfast every morning, with tons of options (eggs, French toast, breads, fruit, etc). The food at Saint John’s was very expensive (as we learned after we ordered lunch by the pool the first day). We also had dinner in their restaurant the first night and it wasn’t all that great. We wound up going out for lunch and dinner the rest of the time. Which wasn’t a big deal as our room included a rental car. They also picked us up and brought us back to the airport. Overall, the resort was exactly what we needed at the end of our vacation. It was so relaxing just spending the day lounging by the pool.

Travelocity (flights + trip insurance): F
DH and I booked our flights (on Olympic airline) through Travelocity so that we could add trip insurance. We booked the flights very far in advance (Feb of 09) and received a few phone calls and emails early on asking us to call because there had been changes to the flights. Whenever I called I was always told that the flight numbers had just changed and everything was fine. This was our first experience with Travelocity and it will certainly be our last.
When we were in Santorini trying to check in for our flight to Mykonos (via Athens) we couldn’t check in. I had DH call Olympic and we were told that our flight from Athens to Mykonos did not exist. We immediately called Travelocity (on our own expense) and spent 4.5 hours on the phone trying to sort out the situation. They claimed they had called and emailed us tell us about the flight cancelation, when they in fact had not. They wound up putting us up in a hotel in Athens for the night (after fighting with them because they told us we’d have to pay for it). The hotel was in the ghetto and even the receptionist at the hotel told us not to go anywhere because the neighborhood was not safe. The hotel was so seedy I didn’t sleep that night for fear someone was going to break into the room. They did not reimburse us for the $350 we lost on our hotel in Mykonos that night, or the $150 we had to spend to get a taxi from and to the airport. Further, when we arrived at the airport the next morning to fly to Mykonos Olympic had no reservation for us (when Travelocity assured us they had confirmed us for the morning flight). Thank goodness there was room on the flight and Olympic booked us on it in 5 minutes. The whole experience with them was terrible. Trying to get compensation for their mistake was like trying to pull teeth. Not a way DH and I wanted to spend a full day of our honeymoon dealing with their mistakes.

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

Thank you for the great review! You look so beautiful!

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

Wow you looked amazing and so does CBC!

I freakin love Minis too and the pic of all the Minis made me squeal! hahaha

And lastly, I called CBC when the Allegria flaked on me and Bill is totally a used car salesman. He told me 'he had the pot of gold at the end of my rainbow' and was sooooooooo pushy to the point, I didn't even go there to look...

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

great review!!! congrats!!!


i am also having my rd at wickers. im having around 40-45, do you think we will be comfortable??

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

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Posted by ttdiff11

great review!!! congrats!!!


i am also having my rd at wickers. im having around 40-45, do you think we will be comfortable??

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Yes, we had plenty of room. They had another table setup that we didn't even use.

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

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Posted by KittyGags

Wow you looked amazing and so does CBC!

I freakin love Minis too and the pic of all the Minis made me squeal! hahaha

And lastly, I called CBC when the Allegria flaked on me and Bill is totally a used car salesman. He told me 'he had the pot of gold at the end of my rainbow' and was sooooooooo pushy to the point, I didn't even go there to look...

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Sorry to hear about your experience with Bill. He was similar with us, and it *****, because it can turn off people to a gorgeous location.

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

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Posted by Dr Meg

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Posted by ttdiff11

great review!!! congrats!!!


i am also having my rd at wickers. im having around 40-45, do you think we will be comfortable??

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Yes, we had plenty of room. They had another table setup that we didn't even use.

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oh wow,great! u were in the room in the back right?

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

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Posted by ttdiff11

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Posted by Dr Meg

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Posted by ttdiff11

great review!!! congrats!!!


i am also having my rd at wickers. im having around 40-45, do you think we will be comfortable??

---

Yes, we had plenty of room. They had another table setup that we didn't even use.

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oh wow,great! u were in the room in the back right?

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Yes.

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

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Posted by Dr Meg

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Posted by ttdiff11

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Posted by Dr Meg

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Posted by ttdiff11

great review!!! congrats!!!


i am also having my rd at wickers. im having around 40-45, do you think we will be comfortable??

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Yes, we had plenty of room. They had another table setup that we didn't even use.

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k, thanks!!

oh wow,great! u were in the room in the back right?

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Yes.

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Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

omg i love the pink mini cooper limo! what a nice touch!!!

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

Great Review you looked radiant!

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

I just booked Captain Arnold to do my wedding! I'm so glad to hear you were happy with him :)

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

Awesome review!!! You were a gorgeous bride and everything looked splendid!!

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

Congratulations!!- Your review was great

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

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Posted by Dr Meg

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Posted by ttdiff11

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Posted by Dr Meg

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Posted by ttdiff11

great review!!! congrats!!!


i am also having my rd at wickers. im having around 40-45, do you think we will be comfortable??

---

Yes, we had plenty of room. They had another table setup that we didn't even use.

---

oh wow,great! u were in the room in the back right?

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Yes.

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you made such a beautiful bride!!!!!! everything looked beautiful! I had the same experience with CBC!!! I would never recommend them to anyone...I would suggest going the extra half hour to Lands End and get treated properly!!!! Butttt the most important thing is that you are married to your best friend and you looked absolutely beautiful on your wedding day!!!!!!

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club

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Posted by DiamondPipa

you made such a beautiful bride!!!!!! everything looked beautiful! I had the same experience with CBC!!! I would never recommend them to anyone...I would suggest going the extra half hour to Lands End and get treated properly!!!! Butttt the most important thing is that you are married to your best friend and you looked absolutely beautiful on your wedding day!!!!!!

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It isn't that I wouldn't recommend them, I would just say try and wade through the bs in the beginning because the place it beautiful. They made our day amazing.

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club; UPDATED w/Pro pics, photo and video review

BUMP
I updated my review with my pro-pics (just got them on DVD), and extended photo and video review.

Re: Our Pink and Brown Themed Wedding at The Crescent Beach Club; UPDATED w/Pro pics, photo and video review

very cool bouquets! loved the limo!!!