UPDATED WITH PROF PICS - LINK AT BOTTOM - Our 9/16/06 Wedding - Larkfield Manor, Duet, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Hello ladies,

Just wanted to drop a note. I've been lurking for weeks but things have been soo crazy since we have been back from our honeymoon with moving and all.

My quick review is as follows. I’m hoping to add some additional information and pictures in the next few weeks. I'm sure I've forgotten things. Sorry it’s so late! Please FM me if you want any additional details.

I am using a 1-10 scale with 10 being excellent.

ENGAGEMENT:
Gallucio Vineyard – 10
This is where we got engaged. My husband knew that I have wanted to go to the vineyards for a long time but just hadn’t gotten the chance so we planned to take a Friday off in May and go. I suggested we wait until the fall but he said why so I said o.k. ?
He planned the whole thing. The staff there was unbelievable, setup a beautiful table for us to eat lunch and we had to have tasted about 10 wines! We got there early so we were the only ones there and it was awesome. I believe the owners sold the vineyard to do weddings so they won’t do tasting's but it was a fabulous place.

WEDDING:

Weather – 10
It rained the entire week before the wedding so when I woke up the morning of the wedding and the sun was shining I was soo happy that I cried! The entire day the weather was beautiful.

LIWeddings – 10
The ideas and advice I have gotten from this site made my wedding even better than I imagined and I can’t thank Ron and Liz and you ladies for helping me along the way.

Marie Katz- 10
She was fabulous. She had a death in her family and still kept in contact with me. She was on-time and ready to go as soon as she got to my house. I had one trial before her and it was good but once I went to Marie I was SOLD. She is a beautiful and sweet person and I couldn’t have been happier with my makeup the day of the wedding. She did my mom and a couple of my girls as well and everyone was ecstatic? I would highly recommend her.

Jennifer from Artizan Salon in Merrick – 10
I like high hair and I had a couple of ideas of what I wanted for the wedding. She was great. Because I wanted it soo full she suggested I buy real hair to add some fullness and she gave me the location a really cheap place in Freeport. I did 2 trials with her and I was very happy the day of the wedding. She also did some of my girls and they were all happy. She brought another girl from the salon who was also fabulous. She was at my house on time and I loved the final look.

Diana from Pippy’s Sweets - 10
Invitations, Menus, CD Favors and Placecards
Diana was amazing. Everything she did for me was beautiful and I received nothing but compliments from everyone on them. She was great to work with, easy to contact and the process was seamless. I cannot thank Diana enough for all her amazing work and I would highly recommend her to any bride. Please keep in mind that I was very involved in all decisions and designing everything….this is what I wanted but isn’t for everyone. Affordable prices for High Quality work.

Larkfield Manor - 9.5
Cocktail Hour/Reception
My husband and I went to see many halls and when I was in California on a business trip my husband went to see Larkfield Manor. I suggested it after a friends wedding 2 years prior because the food and service was great. My husband saw the place and to be honest it wasn’t decorated to our taste, a little run down and compared to the other halls we visited he wasn’t impressed. After sitting with George and talking to him about all the renovations and changes they were planning to make we decided to go back. We had a food tasting and the food was some of the best I’ve tasted at a wedding hall. Since food was one of our biggest factors we decided to book there. Almost all of the changes he said they would have done before the wedding were done. In the ballroom they have a new dance floor, new ceiling tiles and chandeliers, new table linens, new crystal and china, newly painted walls and carpet. The lobby looks fabulous – gone are the fake pink flowers everywhere…the place looks beautiful. The cocktail room was completely re-done with new tables, chairs, linens, bars. The outside looks fantastic with wrought iron tables and chairs and a beautiful bar outside. They didn’t have the umbrella’s for the tables outside and they didn’t have the landscaping re-done outside but we figured that which was why we booked Old Westbury Gardens for photos. All in all we were very impressed.

The food was top notch, the service was excellent and my maitre‘d was awesome. Overall the place was outstanding and I would highly recommend it. I brought a lot of things I wanted setup and they took care of all of it – no problem at all. The Viennese hour was amazing and a great additional to the party. They packed up a ton of food (probably about 2 or 3 or every dinner) as well as desserts. Everything was exactly the way I wanted it. I was very impressed and so was my family. Everyone called our parents raving about the hall.

I rated it a 9.5 because there were a couple of negatives - only one of which family saw, the others only my husband and I. I don’t want to underscore that we had an amazing time and overall the place was awesome but I do want to mention the negatives in detail so if possible other brides can avoid these things.

When we arrived at the hall the other wedding must have just ended because there were tons of people when we pulled up. Our bridal suite was not ready. Our cocktail hour started at 6:30 and we arrived at 6:00 for family photos and we couldn't use the outside by the cocktail hour room - we had to use the front area. Needless to say I was NOT happy because it was chaos and almost impossible to find my family members amidst all the other people. My bridal party was tired and we all could have used a drink! I don't feel coming 1/2 hr prior to cocktail hour is unreasonable so I was very disappointed - what a way to start the night. They told me that they staggered the start so that each wedding began by itself but that was not the case for me.

After that we went into the bridal suite and my bridal party quickly left to join the rest of the party so my husband and I were the only 2 in there. We had decided because we had a 1 ½ hr cocktail hour to spend ½ hr eating in the room and then go out into cocktail hour. Food is very important to my husband ? and we both wanted to make sure we got to eat. I was told we would have a bridal attendant and an assistant. We only had a bridal attendant. We had a wedding party of 16 people not including our parents so I was a little surprised that we didn’t have 2 people, especially since they told us we would.

They put some food into the suite – maybe three of the hot dishes but that was it. We specifically mentioned prior to the wedding that we wanted a couple of each of the hot horderves and we didn’t have them. Our Bridal attendant left to make us plates and returned about 20 minutes later with food. I had no napkin so I couldn’t even eat the food in the room while she was gone. I was just upset because I didn’t feel we were getting taken care of appropriately – I mean this was our wedding and I’m stranded in the bridal suite! When she finally came back she didn’t really get any of the food we wanted. After that we had to rush into the cocktail room because I hired a cigar roller as a surprise for my husband and he was only supposed to stay for an hour and so we went into the cocktail room. We were rushed into the ballroom to see if before everyone came in and everything was setup perfectly. We were then rushed into the bridal suite only to wait another ½ hr. because they couldn’t get everyone into the ballroom so we walked out about 20 minutes late. After that the night ran completely smooth.

Two other small things – my bridal attendant wanted to take my lipstick and gloss at the beginning of the night and I said I wanted to carry it in my purse because I wanted it to be on the table in case I needed to touch-up. Well at one point she took it out of my bag and put it in her pocket…at the time I didn’t make a fuss because I was too busy doing other things but I wound up not getting back my lipstick/gloss that cost me over $30. They did pack up most of my belongings except for my bathroom basket and frame. I didn’t call so they might still have it.

St. Raphael’s Church – 5
Ceremony
O.K. I know that this is a church but your really have to rate the services provided overall and I must say that my experience was not great. The only reason I gave it a 5 and not a 1 is because pre-cana was pretty good and the church is very beautiful. I used a different priest and singer so I’m not including that in my rating. My biggest disappointment with the wedding was the music at my church. I specifically wanted violin. I shopped around and settled on someone but a girlfriend of mine said to wait and see if the church had their own violinist so I did. The music director’s son plays the violin so my mother and I went to hear him and he did a great job. We decided to go with him. Well it wasn’t him that I was disappointed with – it was the music director. I went to see 2 weddings and met with him 2 times. I told him specifically that I did NOT want the organ. I would rather have the piano for background but if he had to then he could use the organ for background ONLY. I hear the organ in that church and heard him play it and it was terrible. I told him I wanted the violin to be the primary instrument. Well the day of the wedding that wasn’t the case and it sounded like the other wedding that I had gone to that I did not like at all. The violin barely played so we paid him for nothing. Very big disappointment. It was extremely hard to get in touch with him and it was very hard for the woman doing the singing because it took 3 weeks to get in touch with him.

Also, the church had a lot of restrictions – some that not all catholic churches have. They didn’t allow rose petals or a runner which I wanted or allow flower arrangements higher than the alter. Plus I wanted the tool to be swagged and they never told me I couldn’t so the day of the wedding my florist had to cut all of it because they told her no. I would definitely use a different church if I could do it over again.

Cruise Control Limos – 10+
Rolls Royce, Escalade and 12-passenger van to hotel
I gave Cruise Control the extra + because they went above and beyond our expectations. The Rolls Royce was gorgeous and the new Escalade limo was beautiful. My drivers Brian and Sammy were funny and sweet. They were early and got us every place on time. The tip envelopes fell out of my husband’s jacket into the limo. He didn’t realize until we were in the bridal suite ½ hr later. Our maitre’d called the company and asked them to contact our driver to see if they could be located. About a ½ hr later they called to say that the driver had the envelopes and would be back after he dropped off his current customers. He dropped off all the envelopes with every single dollar in them. It was all cash and they could have easily took it. We all know that type of honesty and integrity in a driver and a company is rare so they get our highest recommendations.

Old Westbury Gardens – 10
Picture Location
The place was beautiful, they are very organized and we weren’t rushed. I didn’t see any other brides until we were leaving. For those considering taking pictures here I would highly recommend it. For us just the knowledge of knowing we had a beautiful place to take indoor pictures in case of rain was worth the money.

Signature Florist – 10+
Flowers for church, reception, bride/groom and bridal party
Flowers were very important to us or rather, to me? We wanted beautiful flowers but weren’t prepared to spend a ton of money. After seeing some of the reviews for Signature I went there with my mother to check them out. I met with George and after he did a sample for me and gave me a price I couldn’t refuse. I was highly impressed and felt we were getting a lot for our money. Several months later I called to make an appointment to review our final order for the wedding. To my surprise I found that George was no longer there and that Yalena would be taking care of my wedding. This made me very nervous. We reviewed everything and she made me up a sample. There were a lot of changes but when I came back a few days later it was almost exactly as I envisioned. From the minute I met with Yalena to finalize the flowers she did everything to assure me that we would have exactly what we wanted. She worked with me on the sample and captured the exact look we were going for. The day of the wedding we couldn’t have been happier with EVERYTHING, the bouquets, the church, the reception….everything looked wonderful!!! More than I could have hoped for.

The service she provided was above and beyond. Not only that but she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She amazed us at the reception. At one point in the evening we were requested to the dance floor and two big white balls were placed on either side of us. After we started dancing the balls were popped and tons of red balloon hearts started floating around us…it was definitely one of the most romantic points of the night. It left our guest saying “it was something they would never forget” and neither will we. We didn’t know if was Yalena until we were on our way to the bridal suite and saw her. It was the best surprise of on our wedding day and the fact that she came all the way to the reception hall to drop off our surprise late on a Saturday night and that she even thought to do such a wonderful thing for us really cannot be put into words!!! She is truly an amazing person and an amazing florist and I would highly recommend Signature to anyone and everyone!

Regarding the flowers, my only recommendation is that you make sure that she has everything in writing and that you ask her to label all of the boutonnieres and corsages.

Duet (Jay and Leo’s Team) – 10
Engagement Photos, Wedding Photos, Wedding Video
We didn’t do any shopping around for photo/video because my husbands brother and a good friend of mine used them and we saw their work and were very happy with it. We choose Jay’s team because while I think candid’s are important I was more concerned with the posed shots. We met with them and booked the same day.

We scheduled our engagement photo shoot in October and were very pleased with all of the pictures. We went to Bayard Cutting Arboretum and it was beautiful He was able to capture us beautifully and we were very comfortable. We had no problem communicating and had a lot of fun.

Prior to the wedding I met with Jay and provided a list of “Must-Take” photos 2 pages long. I also provided a “book” of pictures that we likes so he had an idea of the style we were looking for. I highly recommend doing this because almost all of the shots we wanted were taken on the day of the wedding. The day of the wedding I couldn’t have been happier. Since we had an 1 ½ cocktail hour and the Viennese our package didn’t cover the last hour for the 2nd photographer. Jay offered to come ½ hour early without making us pay extra which we appreciated. They were professional and courteous and I thought they did a fantastic job.

The finish product was beautiful. I have heard some brides that were not happy with their proofs or their album layout and I am happy to say that I am not one of them. One picture was better than the next. They were able to capture our day wonderfully. We have to have over 800 proofs and had a really hard time narrowing it down to 60 for the album so we got it down to 90 and paid for the extra pages.

The video will be available in March so I will update my review at that time. I must say that I’m much more concerned with the video than with the pictures. He didn’t speak much English which honestly is fine except that I wanted a couple of interviews of family, friends and me and my husband and I’m not sure how that turned out. TBD?

EJ the DJ – 10
They were awesome! Three of our friends used them and they were great for there weddings too. We wanted a live feel so we got a percussionist which I would highly recommend. The music was fantastic and really kept the party going. Our MC was great and we couldn’t have been happier.

Macy’s Bridal in Manhasset – Demetrios Salon – 9.5
Wedding Dress
Loved my dress. They gave me a discount when I mentioned that another store had it cheaper and I loved my seamstress. She was fabulous and spent a lot of time helping me decide what bustle I wanted. Since the train was detachable I had limited options because it was very long.

The only reason I gave it a 9,5 is that I found it irritating to wait every time I had an appointment for alterations. Other than that I had no problems. My dress was gorgeous, my bustle was awesome – custom-made to my specifications and I couldn’t have been happier that I could take it off part way through the reception! I would highly recommend a detachable train?

Bridal Reflections in Massapequa – 10 for service/ 8 for dresses
Bridesmaid’s Dresses
They were very accommodating and friendly. I didn’t have any problems with the service. I will say that the dresses came in very small even though they were supposed to be ordered a size larger. For some girls it was too big. I had the same problem with the one in Carle Place. It seems like they never order the right size so you have to spend a fortune on alterations.

Tri County Flea Market - 10
Bridesmaid’s Jewelry
Flower Girl Dress
Wedding Band!
Barrons - 10
Veil & Headpiece
Flower Girl Basket
Gloves (Mine and Flower Girl)

Wrap W Us – 10
“Just Married” Mints, “Just Married” Iron On , Silk Rose Petals, Tulle Rounds, Flower Girl Crown, Ring Bearer Pillow, Silk Flowers
Service was great. Very affordable high quality products.

EBay – 10
NYGiants Garter – Morning Glory Garters http://stores.ebay.com/Morning-Glory-Garters

Embroidered Handkerchiefs for MOB and MOG – Karen’s Personalized Gifts

Ribbon for favors

Custom Made Memorial Candle – Patrick’s Personalized Wonderland

Party Block http://www.thepartyblock.com/ - 10
Match Boxes

Metro Candy - 10
Jordan Almonds

Things Remembered – 10
Bridesmaid’s Jewelry boxes
Engraving for Pewter Beer Steins

The Walsh Brothers http://www.walshbrothers.co.uk/-10
Pewter Beer Steins – with the lid?

Rehearsal Dinner - 10
Fra Amichi - Massapequa
Great food, great service!

Dortoni’s Bakery - 10
Grooms Cake
It was expensive but awesome. I had them make a Giants helmet as a surprise for my husband and I also made a Homer and Marge Simpson cake topper that I had seen on this site. It was a great surprise.

La Rosa Cubana - 10
Cigar Roller
A HUGE HIT!! I had a wedding with 200 people and I ordered 100 cigars. They were gone in 20 minutes? It was a very nice touch a fabulous surprise for my husband. He loved it. Highly recommend them. They were on time and the cigars were great.

Estelle’s – 10
MOB’s Dress
Beautiful Sue Wong dress in green Italian silk and she loved it. This place is hit or miss but the dress was unbelievable for the price.

Advice: My wedding day was amazing and the best day of my life. I’d like to give some advice from my experiences.
• Eat at cocktail hour. I would have gone out to cocktail hour after about 20 minutes in the bridal suite. I found that everyone was ½ drunk and eating that they didn’t even notice us when we actually did go out?
• If you are very particular about every detail hire a DOC to ensure it all goes smoothly
• Go with your gut when it comes to vendors! I should have hired an outside violinist. The music at the church still might have sucked but at least I would have know that I tried.
• Open your mouth! You are paying these people for a service, voice your opinion, concern etc. whenever you want. Don’t assume they know what you mean!
• Set priorities and stick to them. We could have spent a lot more on things but honestly there was no need and I’m glad that I didn’t. We had a fabulous wedding!
• Don’t let anything bother you the day of the wedding. We thought we lost the tip envelopes and the whole time I told my husband – just forget it!! I truly enjoyed my day?
• You will realize a lot about people during the wedding planning process. Take this as a GOOD thing. You will realize who the true people are in your life and you will be all the better for it. It might hurt at first but in the end it’s to your benefit? Embrace the knowledge!

HONEYMOON:
Hawaii – 10+++
We loved Hawaii, so much that we thought about buying a time share. We did an NCL cruise on Pride of Hawaii for 7 days so we could get a taste for the Islands. 1 day in Kona, 1 day in Hilo, 2 days in Maui, 2 days in Kauai. We flew American into Honolulu and picked the cruise up from there. We then stayed in Oahu at the Hilton for 3 days and in Maui at the Westin for 4 days. It was unbelievable and I would highly recommend it to anyone!

Duet Layout

http://www.liweddings.com/community/album/?ID=9627

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Great review! Love the Duet layouts!!

Is that St. Raphael's in LIC?

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Great review and nice pictures.

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Great review!!!

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Congratulations! You looked gorgeous and the layouts came out just beautiful. Thank you for the awesome review!

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Congratulations!!!

Nice review and the pics are beautiful!!!

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Congratulations!!! Wonderful Review!!!

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Great review!!! I love your Duet layout!! Thanks for the feedback on Jay- I'm using him too!!

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

wonderful review! I am using the same florist & I am happy to hear that you loved them!

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Love the layout!!

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Thank you ladies!!

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

thanks so much for your review..

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Sounds really nice! Congrats!!

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

great review!! i just booked larkfield and theres not too many reviews on the place

Re: 9/16/06 - Larkfield Manor, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Great review! Love your pictures!!!!

Re: UPDATED WITH PROF PICS - LINK AT BOTTOM - Our 9/16/06 Wedding - Larkfield Manor, Duet, Signature Florist, Cruise Control Limos, EJ the DJ, Marie Katz & More

Thank you soo much ladies. I wanted to upload some professional pics just in case anyone was interested in seeing our vendors work.

Enjoy!