Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

Bride review: I would post pictures but I can't get them uploaded for some reason.

I had the best day any bride can ask for. Then the best Honeymoon. I’m sure there are those that had bigger weddings, more expensive weddings, but I have to say as I know all brides do, but really my wedding was perfect! I’ll share what vendors I used and why they were so great. I have to thank God though – He gave us the MOST AMAZING weather. I mean for mid-july for it to not be humid or stifling, I am so gracious.

Woodbury Country Club: All I can say is I’m not sure why there are any other catering halls on LI, this is the ultimate (and it didn’t break the bank). Everyone came up to me at the reception telling me how amazingly beautiful the grounds are and where the ceremony was (we were over the pond). We had the terrace mills room and although it turned out to be a much smaller party than expected (only about 90 guests), they made the tables such that there were no major spaces. The ice sculpture was beautiful and the chocolate fondue was very cool. The food – honestly, best I’ve ever had at a wedding, even the desert – usually Tatufo is alright in my book, this was OUTSTANDING… and so were the cordials and international coffees. The dance floor is huge, some people like small, but I know someone who almost broke her foot on a dance floor recently now that stelletos are back in style and she got stepped on by some chick in those crazy pointy heals. I could dance without worry my dress would be stepped on. I had my parent’s meet me at the end of the footbridge and then they walked me down the aisle the rest of the way. It was gorgeous. The bridal suite was very nice too and roomy for all of us to get dressed in. The whole experience was great. What is also great about them is that we had my in-laws from Queens, DH has friends out in Baiting Hollow (way east Suffolk), we had my BIL from PA, we had another family from Boston, etc. The location of this hall is prime. I don’t think anyone in Queens or Suffolk had more than an hour drive home. We were done early enough too that I even think my BIL in PA got home before 9PM.

The Velvet Studio (photography/video): We loved Bob, he was great to work with. Honestly, I met with about 13 photography vendors before meeting Bob, by the time I met him I had an excel spreadsheet – that’s how bad it was to find a good photographer that doesn’t rape brides. The package is great, he is reasonably priced and as I said, great to work with. You have nothing to worry about with Velvet. I couldn’t afford a full edited video of the wedding (nor would I have been interested in some of the videography out there, some of it seems very dumb to me, like when they make your wedding into a movie). So I opted for an unedited video of the ceremony. I am SO glad I did that. I cannot wait to see my girls walking down the aisle and relive those fabulous moments of the ceremony. One thing I really really really wish I did differently. I should DEFINITELY have gotten unedited footage of the reception. We had 3 incredible speeches, including an in-prompt-to from my step-son, the parent dances, the cake, etc. You don’t get those moments back. I was a bit upset with my dad at the time of the wedding so it kind of stinks that I took that with me in our parent dance, but I wish I had video coverage of it so that one day if I can ever forgive what he did/said to me, I can watch it. I really regret not having that. My advice is everyone should at least get unedited footage. If you can’t afford it unedited wait to have your wedding. Seriously, it’s more important than just about anything else. I had the most perfect day, but my only regret is that I don’t have the reception on video and another few hundred, in the scheme of a wedding, is so worth it. It’s like not getting your hair done. Only suggestion I’d give other brides, make a list of must have pics. PS. It’s not even the end of September and I have my proofs back and my Thank You cards will be picked up this Saturday. Next is the albums.

Counterpoint (Ceremony string trio): Music sounded great, they did a great job.

Reverend Alison Caiola: Did a great job. We opted for the sand ceremony and a rose ceremony for our mom’s. She was great to work with. I’m Agnostic (family is Jewish), DH is pretty much Agnostic (family is Roman Catholic) and she did a great job of keeping the ceremony very neutral and about love. She read 2nd Corinitheans – Love is kind…. Then at the end DH stepped on the glass. Everyone commented on what a beautiful ceremony it was. Even the men at the wedding commented that they liked it – It was beautiful, tasteful and QUICK. The whole thing was about 20 minutes. I know I personally hate hour long ceremonies, there was no way I’d host one. She did a great job. Perfect!

One of my BM’s did my hair and make up and did a wonderful job. However, I also hired Gillian from Gorgeous Faces for the BM’s and she and her associate that did their hair did a wonderful job.

FM Entertainment: Frank did a good job. They are very affordable. One word of advice to all brides. For whatever reason, our generation (those of us 45 and under) will dance to just about anything. Unfortunately, the “baby boomers” a.k.a. the old farts, they don’t seem to dance to anything that came out after 1970. Go with 50’s music, everyone will be on the dance floor. I personally don’t even like “Let’s do the twist” but my behind was on the dance floor. Yet, when Sexy Back was on, it was basically just the ladies of the BP on the floor. That Italian circle dance song (the “Tilla” one), that was a huge hit, but DH’s family is all Italian. We didn’t do the Hora, one was enough. I gave Frank a list, but I told him that if certain types of music works better than my list, then toss my list to the wind. I highly recommend that. Considering how big a dance floor it was vs. only 90 guests, Frank did a good job of keeping people on the dance floor. We also did something a little different – personally I think the bouquet toss and garter toss are cheesy (funny that my 10 y.o. step son agreed with me on that)… so I decided to ask our parents what their first dance songs were at their weddings. We had Frank invite them on the dance floor for their respective songs, he mentioned their wedding dates and everyone danced with them to their songs. I thought it was cool, a nice variation on the anniversary dance which I also don’t love. Basically if I did a bouquet toss to the single females, my 11 y.o. jr BM and my flower girl would have been the only ones up there. I always hated that part of weddings… even more so when I was engaged b/c I didn’t consider myself single. It was always a slap in the face… haha you aren’t married. I would never do that to my one single friend that was there. If your friends are single and over 30 spare them the agony of being singled out (no pun intended). Take if from a 10 y.o. boy, it’s cheese. Our parents came out to “Lets Groove Tonight”, the BP came out to “Let’s Get It Started”, and we came out to “Beautiful Day” (darn I wish I had all that on video – you don’t get to see everyone enter – I wish I could see that). Frank constantly asked me how everything was. He was great to work with, I’d hire him again for any future parties we may have.

LA Blossom (florist): This is another one where I have to ask ladies, why would you use anyone else? Maybe people like to spend lots of money? She was so good to me. She decorated my gazebo and did a beautiful job in the ceremony area. Everyone commented on how great my flowers look. And – price was very very reasonable. Laurie is the best there is, end of story!

Ray’s Tuxedos: The tuxes all looked great and fit well. DH really liked working with them. They offered me a discount to get my gown preserved, so I took it the day after so they can start that process along with my veil.

Macy’s Bridal (Manhasset): I had a good experience. I got tons of compliments on my dress. It was a little long on the sides and I kept slipping on the slip, but I’m not sure that was their fault. Overall, it was a good experience. My dress came in around March! Glad it did too b/c I was way to busy right before the wedding.

Liberty Travel, Garden City (Honeymoon): Okay, most of the people there were nice except one lady that was I will say nasty! The other issue I have, I told them from the get go that this was a honeymoon and LT told me that they would put that in the paperwork, but they didn’t think the resort would do anything. Let me tell you all, PLEASE call your resort after booking and tell them you are coming for your honeymoon. We almost (I made a huge stink and almost started crying at the front desk when they asked me for PROOF that we got married) missed out on a lot. They put fresh flowers in your room, they put your names in a newsletter (I had them do this 2 days into the HM, but I didn’t care), they offer DISCOUNTS on the SPA and other amenities. I was very irritated at LT for not ensuring that we got a HM red carpet treatment. At least tell me to call the resort myself – I totally would have done that. Then the day before we left, I called LT to confirm some info and the nasty lady said “didn’t someone go over all this with you” she said it like 10 times. I told her – okay, did you not hear me say 9 other times that I got married YESTERDAY? Like I’m thinking about car pick up at the airport in the DR. in the middle of my wedding ceremony? Are they crazy? Maybe they should put a sign in the window saying they can’t deal with those with “bride brain”. Believe you/me, when I booked the trip I was more anxious about DH getting to the hall on time with his son and all the girls getting their hair done in time (I actually jumped out of the moving car when we got to the hall, that’s how anxious I was). Who does this??? I heard Travelocity.com is a great place to book trips. Also know that American Airlines couldn’t give a rats butt that we were on our honeymoon. They wanted $1k/person extra for friggin’ Business Class… are they kidding? So not worth it, we went with an exit row seat. To add insult to injury – DH has an AA frequent flyer card membership. Should shred that thing, that’s for sure.

Excellence, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: All I can say is EXCELLENTE! For less than $3k you can do an all inclusive HM with massages and VIP upgrade. We had 2 couples massages – hot stone and aromatherapy. I couldn’t tell you which is better, they were both great. Staff was very friendly, they’d call the room to make sure everything was “excellente”. We refused to leave the resort, we were only there for 4 days, but it was perfect. We laid out by the pool overlooking the beach, the drinks were included and I couldn’t get enough Bananamamas or pina coladas in a coconut. I’ve been to Hawaii and I will tell you – for a 4 hour flight, this was really really great. I didn’t have the vacation time with my new job to go on a 2 week spree and DH hates long flights. Just when we had about enough sun and alcohol (we got a little burned) and missed our furry babies at home, it was time to go home. We do plan on going back. A couple must take a HM, it was exactly what we needed, not just for the wedding planning stress, but we really got to rejuvinate our relationship and ease into the pain of our wedding being past history. I was really struggling with that the day after. Now I feel good.

One final thought for those who have not lived with their parents in a long time who may consider “going home” for the final stretch before the wedding. I’m sure some have good experiences with this, mine unfortunately was not so good. I definitely wish I had stayed at a hotel – maybe with my sister or something. My dad decided to pick an argument with me and it only ended up with me feeling so hurt and angry that it destroyed my daddy/daughter dance. I mean, I planned that dance as a highlight of the wedding for months. I worked to pick the perfect song and thought it would bring me to tears of being daddy’s little girl back in the day. My MIL did this too during the wedding planning – picking arguments about dumb things that no one else cared about or were irrelevant. It’s like fighting for the sake of doing so. However, my dad actually made me cry the night before my wedding. He has always had passive aggressive tendancies, but what he did/said to me was downright mean. Seriously, I remembered quite vividly why I moved out of my parent’s house years ago and could never go back. I’m still hurt by what happened and so disappointed about the dance. If he could only have shut his mouth. Just know that no matter how much you prep, or how long you live with your FH, emotions run high just before the wedding. I was not nervous about being with FH, we’ve lived together for 4 years, own a house, we’ve fought, loved, fought some more, but I was not nervous about him. I was nervous about details coming together, vendors showing up, hair looking good, etc.

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

WOW! Congrats on your wedding!!! Can't wait till you post pics!!

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

Great review! I am sorry about what happened the night before w/ your father.

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

Here are some pics

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Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

Note the last picture and the heart-shaped cloud!

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

Congrats and thank you forthe review!!

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

gorgeous pics! Thanks for sharing your review

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

thanks for the great review!!!!! i'm a WCC and velvet bride too!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

Great review! I cant wait to get married there too!!! Nice heart shaped cloud!

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

Great review - thanks

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

congrats. Great review!!!

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

I got married at Woodbury CC a month after you and yes hands down amazing. I too had the ceremony on the pond and what a fairy tail that place is. So happy yours went great.

Congrats and great review. Love the pictures.

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

Cant wait to see pics....congrats !!!

Re: Review: July 22, 2007 wedding - Woodbury Country Club, FM Entertainment, Counterpoint, LA Blossom, etc.

Thanks for the review! Its very helpful. It made me more confident that I'm going to be making the right decision by booking there. What's funny is that poolside picture, I have seen it before in one of their offices. No joke! looks like the same exact one. lol.