September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

Hello everyone,

First off, thank you to everyone who has answered questioned, gave options, written previous reviews or helped me laugh during this process. The assistance I found on this site helped in more ways than you could possible know.

I never posted photos before, so please bare with me on this.

The proposal – Fitting
Was planned & spontaneous?
He had been planning to ask. He got the ring but didn't have a plan on how to ask.
Without planning, he asked during a good friend's wedding reception. (obviously the answer was yes) It was just between the two of us at the end of this big event, it was lovely, and it was fitting of him.

Bridal Shower - Irish Coffee Pub – Excellent
We had a private room. My mom planned it. She tried to make it a surprise, but the groom could not keep a secret (see proposal story). The food at the Irish Coffee Pub is AMAZING!! My mom said they were easy to work with. I know a few people did not show up on the day of and the Pub did not charge her for those people. I think that says alot about the place.

Invitations/Stationary – Vista-print – Excellent, Fat Cat Paperie – Great, Felicia at Glamorous Affairs -
Save the Date
If you don't know about it, discover VISTA PRINT - I love this company. Always offering free stuff (sorta, still paying shipping, which in the grand scheme of things, is reasonable)
My STDs were free, beautiful and I got so many compliments.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have done everything with Vista Print, STD, invites, menus, placecards, etc. If plan ahead, can have totally matching stationary at a fraction of the cost, and the company totally works with you (see below story of photosharing website).

Invitations
Initially working with Glamorous Affairs - was a bad experience for us. I believe she no longer works with LI clients. If wish to know more, please contact Giorgio's for details.
Finally product came from Fat Cat Paperie - Lovely to work with, very professional. Not cheap, but so worth it after our previous experience.

Placecards
Michael's - quick, easy, cheap - also very plain. Simple white card with a simple border. I never notice these as a guest and so we decided not to spend too much money on it.

Photosharing website card
Vista print - initial order did not turn out well. The print was so small, I could not read it (and I have perfect vision). I called up to talk about it and they replaced my order, with improved print font size, at no cost (and truthfully, the error was probably my fault). I cannot say enough good things about this company.

Also, a wedding website is good in theory but in the end, no one put any pictures up. Most people completely missed the cards. I ended up putting all the professional photos up and sent the site via email. Even then, I don’t really know how many people looked at them and still no one put any photos up.

Menus (really does anyone notice these beyond the fact they are there)
I like menus at weddings, but since not supplied by the vendor (which was disappointing all things considering), I wanted them but not at a lot of time or money. I turned to vista print. They turned out lovely without a lot of time or effort. Even the GM at Giorgio's was surprised at them from Vistaprint.

Bachelorette Party
Hen Night in IRELAND - nothing else to say really, except AWESOME

Hair - Jen at Trendsetters, Blue Point – great
She has been my hairdresser for years. She is fantastic! and not just for weddings. She and another hairdresser she recommended came to my house the morning of and did the hair for me and my bridal party, my mom and my brother's gf. She did a fantastic job, they both did.

Makeup – difficult to set up, but great results.
On Jen's recommendation, I booked Stephanie at Oliver West. She is the owner. She did a fantastic job. I had a specific idea of how I wanted my makeup and she got it right away. Her assistant/phone answerer was difficult and I almost went with someone else because of her. Just speak to Stephanie and work only with her. Her work is very good, its worth the difficulty.

Dress - Adrienne's in Islip – Great for the dress, overall good experience during alternations, end result of alternations poor.
Purchased at Adrienne's in Islip. Overall, good experience, but we went on a Saturday morning, when the place was empty. I got my veil the same day. My mom just loved the look and talked me into it.
Alternations at Adrienne's too. I enjoyed working with them, but the day of the wedding, after the church, a wire popped thru. By the end of the night, my under arm (where the wire popped) was ripped to shreds.
I did not contact them after the fact, b/c its after the fact. On the day of, I just ****** it up/ignored it, and enjoyed the day/night. But considering the cost and time, it was really disappointing to have it happen.
Also, while I wanted the bustle to be higher and not drag so much, I was told that its suppose to drag a little. Well, on the second dance (the first with the guest) my dress was stepped on and the bustle was broken! Also, I did not know about or where the wrist strap was, so I ended up carrying my dress almost the entire reception! Looks a little trashy, but oh well, suck it up and keep going. But this too was disappointing.

Jewelry - A birthday present from the groom. A big birthday.
Something borrowed - my father's claddagh ring from my brother. Worn on my thumb.

Bridesmaid's dresses - RK Bridal
The majority of my girls were out of the country,and I was out of state. Me and one of the girls went to look at dresses at Adriennes. Decided on the one dress style, but I loved the fabric of another. In the end, since I was getting the girls' their dresses, we decided to get the dress style we all liked, in the fabric/color I liked (yes, this cost extra, but not as bad as you may think). Everyone looked beautiful, they turned out so well. Since everyone was going to get measurements/alterations done outside of NY (except one girl) (and I wanted to splurge on the swapped fabric), the dresses were purchased at the place with the best price, RK bridal. Not the greatest place to go if you have no idea what you want. But if you know what you want & don't need customer service, this place is for you! All the girls got their measurements and sent them to me, I brought them to the store, purchased them, and picked them up at the store. They were beautiful, everyone looked amazing.
Jewelry - A set from Charter Club from Macy's.

Mother of the Bride Dress –
Cameron Blake dress style 17610 in blue/navy from Magic Moments store http://www.magicmomentsprom.com/
http://www.magicmomentscollections.com/item/Cameron_Blake_17610_Dress/2522
Magic moments is a great store, Busy but easy to work with.
Her jewelry was from Violet Blue, which is in the small shopping center behind the smithhaven mall. Nice store, beautiful costume jewelry, easy on the wallet.
Shoes – not sure where

Mother of the Groom – Alfred Angelo
Is a bridesmaid dress. Don’t have any details but I think should be easy enough to find.

Tuxes - Roger's Tuxs on Middle Country Rd.
Went to the same place the groom's sister used for her wedding. (obviously this was his job) Easy and quick. I do not think anyone had any problems. I'll update with the name of the place soon

Rehearsal dinner - The Cull House
This was were we had our first date (Ahhhh)
Great food, great service, we were like family that night. The owner, John, is fantastic. Great menu at a great price. Even lobster was an option! I highly recommend people look into this place. There are several areas depending on the size of your party. If under 40, there is a great back room during the summer time. We were over 60 and we had the main restaurant area as our own.
I loved my rehearsal dinner (probably more fun than the wedding!)

Since the majority of my guest were from out of state (majority were from Ireland), we decided to plan an event for the day between the rehearsal (Friday) and the wedding (Sunday). On Saturday, we planned a wine tasting.
We used North Fork Trolley - FANTASTIC. 3 wineries, 3 tastings at each (minimum) at $50pp. Best deal around. This was one thing I researched a lot! The driver was not super friendly, and you have to leave a message everytime you call, but for that price and getting the job done, its worth it!
If having a long weekend wedding, this was a great time to plan. Also, there were many bach parties. Its a great time.


Flowers - Flower's Michele
Working with John was probably the best experience of the wedding planning. We got creative and planned something I have never seen before. The centerpieces were a mixture of high/lows, highs being trees with hanging orchids and candles, the lows a water/light base with orchids on top (pictures do not do it justice). The bridesmaids bouquets & the groomsmen's boutonnieres were a mixture of deep purple calla lily and orange orchids. My bouquet was a bit boring in comparison, but it all works. The Groom's boutonniere fell apart early on, but we got two of them (unfortunately, he did not bring the second one with him. Remind your groom and someone you trust who will be with him, that if he receives two boutonnieres, he should bring the second one with him!)

On the day of the bouquets were smaller than I though they would be. I did not see one at the trial. If I did, I may have been more prepared for the size we received. However, the colors were awesome. Thanks John.
The centerpieces did not turn out like we had at the trial. I was overly emotional at this point of the day and ended up crying. John was still there and saw me. He calmed me down and immediately went to work fixing it too more like what I wanted. All I can say is, that John is more than a florist...He is an artist and a therapist! If you are lucky enough to have him do your wedding, congrats. and relax.

Also, we got uplighting for the room from John.

Limos - New York Style Limos.
I did not get this vendor from LIW. In fact, I think they are barely on here.
However, Anthony at NY style was fantastic to work with. He is extremely easy to work with, gave us a great price and on the day of, his driver was so wonderful. I totally did not plan my day right and needed more time. Without a second though, he immediately agreed. That crisis over. He knew what to do and directed me wonderfully, without me even noticing (how to enter & exit with the big dress, where to go once got to the church, etc.) I highly recommend NY Style limos. The limos were lovely and clean and basically everything you want from a limo company. True professionals.

Groom’s Gift – Family Wall Plaque
Got a double family plaque with both of our names on it. It was a huge hit. Its ordered from a company in Ireland. No photo due to last names, but see website. http://www.hal.ie/doubles.htm


The Church - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Lake Ronkonkoma.
This is the church my family attends and I don't believe in reviewing a church. It was a beautiful service. It was traditional, which is what we wanted. But note, the marriage license did get lost. I recommend you keep an eye on it or at least ask about it & follow up at the rehearsal. We didn't and it took a bit of time to get the paperwork done (again, we are out of state)

Receptions - Giorgio's
Giorgio's has a great reputation, and they deserve it. The food was fantastic (not that I got to eat much of it), the drinks were pouring, and the service was great. Melissa was the woman taking care of us. To be honest, other than the CH, I do not remember seeing her, but I'm sure she was there. Those 4 hours were very stressful and a blur. My stomach was in knots worrying about my guest, but everything was great and everyone said wonderful things. I do remember that she packed up some food for me to take with me (I did request this), because I could not eat my salad or dinner.
The place is beautiful and my photos are great.
Unfortunately, we worked with Glamorous Affairs because she was a Giorgio’s preferred vendor that we met at the Giorgio’s bridal event. When everything went bad, I wish more had been done to make us whole. It was rather clear that we only hired her because of the connection. While calls were made on our behalf, in the end, nothing happened.


Cake – Was part of the plan with Giorgio’s.
The baker makes a good cake, but he is not creative.
My cake was a design I saw in a mag that I loved. Not easy to get him to work on it, without being a MAJOR upgrade price. In the end it worked out, but probably would have been better and easier for me & the groom, if I had just picked one of his photos. In the end we got a red velvet cake and it was delish.
I did not eat it at the wedding, but had some the next day.

The flowers & candles by the cake were done by John at Flowers Michele.
I thought would have been done with color flowers, but really glad he did it with white flowers. Just trust him ?

Favor
Donation to the American Cancer Society
My father was not there because of Cancer. In the mist of all this extravagance, I always insisted that we do this as a favor. I didn’t realize, but ACS will provide you with a bookmark, scroll, card, etc. to let your guest know what you did. I’m really happy with what we did.

Music – Absolute Entertainment
Did the job, but didn’t trust me. I gave my top 10 and for some reason, several of my songs were played during times when people were TOLD not to dance. That was disappointing. However, they did a good job with the Irish music, until they didn’t listen to me when I told them to stop. Played one more song after I said not to, and the non-Irish turned it into a joke. Overall, a DJ is to play music and keep people dancing. Overall, this was done. Did I truly enjoy working with them, not really. Was I blown away, not really. Is it difficult to balance today’s pop, rock, classic rock and Irish music, definitely. So for that alone, they did a good job, I just wish they listened/trusted me more. I do know my family/taste better than strangers, even if it is their job.

First Dance/Dance in general
The groom set this up. And without realizing it, he had asked that a routine be created for us. I think this was overkill. If I had realized there was an option, I would not have done a routine. Too much pressure. You can see in the photo that my groom has such a serious look on his face because he is concentrating on the steps and not the moment. But one of my fondest memories of the day, was practicing the routine just he & I in the empty room while everyone is finishing up at the CH. I'll add the contact info soon (Sorry, not sure name, but its on middle country in centerreach, I think)


Photographer - Ken Hild
He has a very creative eye. Easy and FUN to work with. Definitely can't say that about all my vendors! Even though he didn’t have too, he stayed to the end of the night. I don’t remember talking or looking at the DJs, but I ran and hugged Ken!
We are currently work on the book.
I did not plan the photo sessions well. We totally missed our CH and well that was not what we wanted. Also, we gave our mother's free rein for family photos. WHAT A MISTAKE! Let them be mad at you, control the situation. We didn't and it was a mistake. Groom's family photos are minimal and not what he wanted. However, I got my big extended family photo, and I love it. But it did cost us the CH.

Also, between the church & reception, we went to the beach at Giorgio' for photos. I recommend you DO NOT DO THIS! My hair got ruined, the sun was in our eyes, and in the end, the photos were not the best. Not because of Ken. He was great and the photos are good, but not worth the cost of hair, dress, etc.!

Engagement photos - Again, planning a weekend when we could all do this, was not easy!
Hair, makeup, photographer, groom's and my schedule (from DC!) for a weekend is not easy, especially during wedding season (May thru August) Oh, and then there is the weather! The E-photos were also my trials for hair & makeup. Ken was super accommodating throughout this process.

Originally for NYC (my first choice) was canceled due to weather. Rescheduled for Winery (with a different makeup person). While I had my heart set on NYC, the photos are lovely. We discovered what poses we liked and didn't like.

On the day of, I discovered my list was too long. I told him I wanted to give him more rather than less. I don't think it was planned well. I recommend shorter list, and only the top top stuff.

Ken also shot our rehearsal. Not everyone does this, but we were having such a huge rehearsal that I wanted to capture it. He took great shots and probably began to realize the craziness that would ensue on the actual wedding day. The photos here are all his. Ken is great. Ken is creative and has a unique eye and makes sure that everyone looks good in the pic before moving on. Also, I’m not one for being before the camera, but I liked working with him. The last pic is Ken.

The little bits
Unity Candle - http://www.celticcandle.com/unity_candle_sets_1092_ctg.html
Beautiful set. The taper candles burn really quick. Got the gold shamrock holder set. Looks cheap up close, but looks great in photos (at least I think so). Also, no one sees them up close
Memorial Candle – homemade, placed with a family photo. Simple candle holder, taped clear paper and a candle.
Cardholder – Groom made it and it was a huge hit. I got the idea and the instructions here on LIW. On one side was a 4 picture frame with our grandparents wedding photos, another each of our parents and the final side was one of our engagement photos.
Shoes – I got great shoes at Nordstroms. And 3 inch flip flops at Victoria Secrets – EVERYONE SHOULD GET THESE!! I also got a pair for each of the bridesmaids.
Wedding Rings – Both from the NY Diamond District

Honeymoon - TBD
We took a minimoon in NYC for a few days. We had visitors from out of state and wanted to see people. There were events before hand so didn't have a whole lot of time after.
Also, as a NYer who had to leave NY for work, I truly enjoy every opportunity I get to spend time in the greatest city on earth!
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Midtown. Great location, clean and friendly staff. Did all the typically NY tourist stuff, that we both never did when we lived on LI. It was great.
A proper HM is in the works, Sweden/Italy/Ireland! As a HM/1st year anniversary.

If I forgot anything or you have any question, please feel free to contact me. Everyone has been so lovely on here, and these reviews were so so so helpful to me, I hope this one is for you too!

• 
• 

Re: September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

more pics

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

more pics

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

more pics

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

last pics.

Sorry, I have no idea how to coordinate the photos with the disclosure.

Btw - the last photo is Ken the photographer, taken by the assistant.

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

congrats! beautiful wedding :)

Re: September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

Congrats on your wedding. Love the card box

Re: September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

Congratulations! You are a gorgeous bride - love the cake!

Re: September 5 wedding Review - Giorgio's, Flower Michele, Absolute Entertainment, Ken Hild Photography, Adrienne's Bridal, etc.

Congrats -

I'm also a Giorgio's Bride, and I'm also using Ken. He's been wonderful in the process, and it is so nice to see someone validate both RH and photographer.


You're pictures are stunning and I love your cake!