Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion..ETA.. photog review. ETA2, Forgot the RD.. at the bottom!

First of all let me start by saying that we had a blast at our wedding. We really enjoyed ourselves and the day was all we had hoped and more. We were really blessed. I only wish it didn't go by so fast. It is such a blur. My biggest regret is not getting video. I thought it was hokey and didn't want it.. now.. what I would't give for a video.

I am so glad to be Mrs. F. It is such a good feeling and even though we were living together before, it really does feel different to be married! I Love being married.

Also, BIG UPS to all of you. I would have had such a sucky wedding if it wasn't for all of you and your great idea, support and advice. I really can't express how grateful I am to my MOH Lisa.. so I won't try. She is the best friend I could have ever asked for.. I will save the rest of the gushing for my MOH at her wedding IN MARCH!!!!!!!! EEEKKK.
Divabride.. love you. Thanks for the attentive ear and for the pictures. You're the best.

For everyone else who I talked to so much over the past year ( I won't list names at the risk of leaving out someone really important) I am sooo grateful to all of you! You are all amazing women and I wish you all the best of luck!

These pictures are NOT my professional proofs. They are random pictures my friends took.

Vanderbilt Mansion- A+ What a wonderful place to get married. The food was amazing. Mary Ann the BM was amazing. The place is so beautiful I can’t even describe. They just did an awesome job. The cocktail hour was SOOO huge. People thought that was the dinner. The food at dinner was so great. The wait staff was great. (And according to my drunken stepbrother.. HOT… or so he told her, right before she rejected him!! LOL!) We just felt like royalty. The only complaint I had was that my bridal attendant was MIA to me. I was getting my own drinks and had to hunt her down to take away my bouquet at the cocktail hour (I eventually gave it my MOH who took care of it). Other waiters and Mary Ann and my DH were getting me drinks. Isn’t that what the bridal attendant is for? HOWEVER..When I voiced this concern to my dad, he said she was just amazing. LOL. So I guess she took care of some one well. Really though, this was such a minor glitch that I really can’t even complain too much. They were so good to us. When My brother broke out in hives all over his face (that should make the pictures special) because he found out he was allergic to champagne) they ran to the store to get him medicine. They really took care of us. We got one of each entrée at the reception and they sent us home with lots of food. I would highly recommend the Vanderbilt Mansion to ANYONE! You will never be disappointed.


Burton’s Florist- A They were great. I went in with pictures of wanted for the girl’s bouquets. He helped me create a bouquet for me that had elements of the BM bouquets but looked more “bridal”. He gave me honest opinions on one idea I had and I have to agree with him. It would have looked strange! He also gave me a definitive answer about a color scheme dilemma I was having involved my FG dresses and the kissing balls for the FG. The attached the prayer book that my grandmother and my aunt carried when they walked down the aisle, to my boquet. The only problem I had was this… I asked for pink rhinestones in my bouquet, it came with clear ones. I called and complained, expecting them to do nothing because it was too late, but I just wanted to let them know it was not exactly right, HOWEVER they rushed out to my house, with the pink beads and changed out the clear ones. SO that I felt was Awesome. I am so happy I called and so pleased with how they handled the situation. THese are not the best pictures, but they are all I have for now.



http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos1308/2/45/47/83/87/4/487834745205_0_ALB.jpg

John Catone- (DJ)- A My DJ is a little different. He is a singing DJ. He also has a female singer that comes with him (and an assistant). He plays some songs and sings others. He has a really AMAZING voice. When I booked him he had just hired the female and I wasn’t able to hear her sing so I kind of crossed my fingers that she was good too. And they both were. He is a little annoying on the phone and will talk to you FOREVER. You can’t get him off the phone. LOL. I had a little personal issue with him though (involving him saying some not so nice things to my BIL) and I am trying to not let it fog my view of how good he was.

One thing though, he kind of annoys me because all he does it talk about himself. He goes on and on and on. He is really stuck on how he is the greatest. And once you get on the phone with him….you’re stuck for like an hour! He just talks and talks.. And coming from me (I was “most talkative” in my high school year book) that is pretty bad!

Visual Image- (photographer) A++++ so far....I don’t have my proofs yet, but the day of I was very pleased. He showed up early and got started with the pictures. He never bothered us and blended in well. We were racing against the coming thunderstorms when we were taking pictures outside and I was really freaking out that we weren’t going to get them done before the rain. We didn’t get all the shots I wanted but we got most of them. I didn’t make a list to give him of must take shots and I wish I had. But we were really,really pressed for time (because of the thunderstorms and the distance between my church and the reception). I thought he was hilarious and made me feel comfortable. I thought his assistant was annoying, but I was cranky because of the rain and my family being MIA during the pictures (actually, standing around waiting for them for like 15 minutes is the reason we didn’t get all the shots in before the rain), so it could have just been me. ETA..... I GOT MY PROOFS. (well most of them, there are still about 100 more that were on digital film. They will come next week, they gave me these now because I was so anxious to see them!) THEY ARE AWESOME! He did some really interesting but cool stuff with double exposures and lighting. I love them. Seriously, I don't know how we are going to pick 100. And there are so many amazing group shots that my family members all want in 8x10's. He is going to make a fortune off my family!HA HA

Precious Moments Limos- A+ We used them for both limos, a scheduled ride home for a family member, a ride home for ourselves and our airport limos. They were awesome. Seriously. I loved them. The family member they were giving a ride home to is a mentally challenged adult.. well she freaked out and refused to get in the limo… He understood and didn’t charge us. (my dad gave him about ½ of the cost of that ride anyway) They were on time, clean, very nice, and just wonderful.



New York Haircutters- (hair and makeup) B+ I have mixed feelings. They were very inexpensive… VERY.. so I guess you get what you pay for. My hair and makeup looked nice. No complaints. But the lady brought in two girls and her FH to do the rest of the girls. Her FH screwed up my friends hair so bad that one of the other girls had to rip it all out and start again.. ouch.. she needed a trim the next day to repair the damage. The other girl did a terrible job on my sister’s hair and my friends. But in her defense, they both told her they loved it! My mom is another story. She wasn’t happy, but she was so vague about her hair, during her trial and during the day of. She couldn’t explain what she wanted and to be honest I don’t know that her hair would have done it.
The Makeup on the other hand was fabulous. I loved it. She will come to your house and do it herself, I think. It was great. She works for MAC and was good.

In this picture you can see the hair of the two girls that didn't like thier hair.. but again didn't say anything.. It is the two to the right.

In this picture you can see everyones hair together. They all looked nice. My sister is the one sitting the front on the left. She hated her hair but they did her makeup really nice.

VIP Tuxedoes- A+ They really were great. Our guys were mostly from OOT so they all came on separate days and stuff. They really accommodated everyone and were just so helpful and nice.


Holiday Inn Express- (for OOT guests) A+ (DH thinks different) I loved them. I screwed up the driving directions in the OOT gift bags and called them in a panic. They took everything out and hand corrected them all. Very nice, if you ask me. There was a situation with my FIL (they called him and tried to throw him out right before the wedding. .like minutes before) but frankly I take the hotel’s side (I mean FIL was WRONG but they did try to throw him out of the hotel like 5minutes before the wedding.) Long story. If you want details FM me.

RK Bridal “no frills program”- A- (bridesmaid dresses) The dresses were perfect. It was a little scary picking the sizes without having the expert opinion but it worked out pretty good, the dresses just needed normal alterations. They came like 1-2 days late but that was not too big of a deal. The only annoying thing was that I wanted to change to payment type and they wouldn’t take the information over the phone. I had to fax it to them. I included a note to have them call me when they received the fax and they never did.
Here are the girls dresses. They all looked perfect.

Estelle’s Dressy Dresses- B (My dress and veil). The price was GREAT!! However the service suffered. I tried on the sample dress in a certain size, it fell off of me. The lady tried to convince me that I only needed to go down one size. (They don’t do alterations so there was no motive to make a lot of $$ on alterations) I literally had to fight her to let me order 2 sizes smaller than the sample. I finally got the manager involved and she totally took my side. When I got the dress, I was right. The larger size would have been huge. The manager (who is a seamstress) also SWORE up and down that the beaded hem could be lifted off the sheer overlay, the overlay could be hemmed and the beaded hem could be reattached, but when I went to the seamstress she showed me how wrong the lady at Estelle’s was. My overlay had to be longer than the satin undress and it could not be hemmed.

Christine’s Bridal Alterations- B This store is not for the faint of heart. It is an ugly shop with a few sewing machines, a mirror and dressing room. The lady thought I was nutso when I tried it on with my veil and took pictures. She isn’t someone who is going to swoon over your dress, You put it on, she pins, game over… My dress fit great in the store. However, when I got it home after it had been pressed it was WAY too long. I am assuming that pressing out all the wrinkles made it longer? I’m not sure. But there wasn’t enough time to bring it back to her so I had to run out and get new shoes 2 days before the wedding.



Which brings me to….
Sandies Shoes- A+ This place was a lifesaver. I got my original shoes and my jewelry from them. Both were very nice. However this place really went above and beyond when I went in there teary eyed 2 days before the wedding needing new shoes. They had them ready and dyed for me in a few short hours. I am so grateful to them!
Barrons (Tri-County)- A (tiara and they handmade the sashes to go around the waists of the flower girl dresses my mom made). They did an awesome job on the sashes and they have the best selection of tiaras at great prices. They went above and beyond. They made a sample of the sash and when I didn’t like it they were so cool and totally remade it in a different fabric. They came out great. The only reason they didn’t get an A+ is because when I went to pick up my sashes after they said they only needed a few weeks (I gave them well over a month) they hadn’t even started them. But they finished them two weeks later… So all was well.

Here is a picture of the sashes that barron's made for the FG dresses

My Mom- A++++ (flower girl dresses) SHE IS AWESOME!!!

www.longislandweddingflowers.com- A+ (Silk rose petals) We ordered three different colors. They came very, very fast and they looked so real. They were thick, and soft, like real petals.

www.theamericanwedding.com- B++ (Invitations) The invites came really fast, the website was really easy to use, the wording suggestions were very helpful, and you can order free samples to see what the invites actually look like before hand. The only reason they didn’t get an A was because 2 or 3 of the invites were not totally printed correctly. They print was lighter or it was crooked.

Vistaprints- A+ (I got the free business cards and attached them to magnets for my Save the Dates). This website was easy to use, they came quick, and they were FREE!!

Invitationkitsdirect.com- A+ (wedding programs) This site was awesome!! I have never in my life experienced customer service from a website like this. The owner emailed me several times after I emailed her a question. She wanted to make sure I didn’t need any further help and wanted to make sure the programs got here on time. She was so helpful. I really recommend this site. The program kits were beautiful.


Audrey's Bake Shop A+ The cake was amazing. Thomas dyed the bow to match the Bm dresses. I loved it and it tasted good too.


AND FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!

El Dorado Royale- (honeymoon) A- OMG.. So great. The ONLY reason they didn’t get an A+ is because I really didn’t appreciate being hounded (seriously) about time share the whole time I was there. I was made to feel guilty about not listening to the 90 minute talk. In the end I spent more than 90 minutes all week trying to avoid them ( really, I am not exaggerating, it was awful) I just felt like it rained a few times so we really didn’t want to waste 90 minutes of sun listening to something we weren’t interested in. It’s our honeymoon for pete’s sake. BUT OTHERWISE.. great resort. The food was awesome. The service was amazing. It was so romantic. You NEVER felt crowded. It was the best vacation I ever went on! The beach was pristine. The water was so nice (a little seaweed after the tropical storm and before the hurricane.. but oh well LOL) We booked through an American express travel agent so somehow we were led to an AM EX travel agent to book our tours in Mexico (some desk in the hotel) He was so nice and sent us on some really great tours. We really relaxed and explored and had so much fun. We did everything from swimming with the dolphins, explored the jungle, toured the ruins, swam in a cave, to riding horses through the ocean, bareback! This place was secluded, not near and crowded resort areas like Cancun. It was just perfect.



Link to honeymoon album

Link to MOH's album from the wedding

Link to Diva bride's album of the wedding.

Link to my Aunt Cathy's wedding album

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Here are some of the pictures that posted as red x's.. hope they work.

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

A quick little review on all of my DIY projects… How they came out, Difficulty, etc. Admittedly this a little bit of bragging ( insert me patting myself on the back here LOL LOL )… BUT Damn I am proud of my crafts!

Ribbon wands- These were so hard to make. We tried spraying them with paint but weren’t getting even coverage, so we hand painted them. They stuck to everything and the paint peeled off in spots. We had to do touch ups and they were lumpy in some spots… IMO buy them online. They are 2 dollars. This project was not worth it.

Table Kissing Bells- The only annoying thing about this was formatting it. Trying to figure out the placement of the text so the circle for the bell fit was tough. Once I nixed using the circle cutter and got a large hole puncher the project went pretty quick… Well worth it.

Programs- These were really easy. I bought the kit, downloaded the template, inserted my info and printed them. Then DH and I set up an assembly line and put them together.

Flower Girl Kissing Balls- SOOO easy to make. They are adorable and really, really were simple. Well worth the time to make and saved us $$ with the florist.

Pew Bows- These were easy to make but time consuming. They came out nicer than the ones in the store but, the ones in AC Moore would have been fine. However…. I saved tons of money making them. I only bought one roll of tulle and one roll of ribbon and two spools of 28 gauge wire. I think the ones in the store would have cost me 100$.

Favors- (mason cookie jar things)- These were easy and cheap. They came out so cute. Once FH, MOH and I got an assembly line going they went really fast. I would recommend this favor to anyone.

Card Holder/Photo Cube- This was really fun and easy to make. FH helped with the drilling and painting and it really was rather easy once we figured out how to actually do it. Thanks to Azad for great instructions on this.

Ring Bearer Pillow- This was sort of easy. However if I could do it again I would leave off the ruffle. It came out crooked and was difficult. The ones in the store were nicer and I spent more making it than I would have buying it.

Toy Boxes for FG’s and RB’s- These were sooo simple and easy. They came out really cute. I made sure not to put anything messy in them. I put travel board games, coloring books etc.

Tank tops: I made “Just Married” and “Mrs. FXXXX” ones. SO EASY. I got the tanks from Old Navy and bought iron on letters from AC Moore. I cut them out, ironed them on and viola!




Ring bearer pillow


Flower girl kissing balls


link to my DIY album

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Congrats! Thanks for the detailed review. Love your cake!!!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Great review! Thanks! I love your cake!!!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Congrats! I loved the color scheme, so unique!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

congrats great review

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Congratulations! Everything looks great! Its funny b/cwe went to look at the Vanderbilt the day of your wedding - I saw your cookie jar favors and the photo cube there. They had said what a wonderful job you did on things - it had looked great! Nice to see the pics! You looked beautiful.

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Congratulations on a beautiful wedding! It sounds like everything was perfect. You looked beautiful!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Thank you so much for your review! Us LI brides live for the reviews! I love your creativity as far as making many of the items yourself. Great job! Where did you get the template for the bells? Did you buy the WE DO letters and paint them yourself? Best wishes

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Congrats! You looked beautiful!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Congrats!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Tricia, thank you so much for sharing your special day with Chris and me. We had a wonderful time and we both left the reception knowing that was THE BEST WEDDING we've ever attended. The Vanderbilt Mansion was even better than I had imagined. Congratulations!!!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Congratulations!!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

yay!

love the review except for two stupid pics of me!

you had a wonderful day.

i think it's funny that mike made it into your review! he'd get a kick out of that.

love your maid of honor forever,
lisa

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

i'm glad you had a great time!! i'm kicking myself about the video also!!! i wish i would have done it.

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Congrats!!!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Congrats!!! Your pics look great! Sounds like everything went so well and you did a great job w/ all your DIY projects!!!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

Loved reading your review! The color pink you chose is so pretty and I love the BM dresses. And you looked beautiful!!

Congrats!

Re: Review of our July 1st wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion

CONGRATULATIONS!!! The review was excellent - especially your DIY section! Love it!!

Looks like the wedding was absolutely amazing!