~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

Planning the wedding was fun, difficult, stressful, exciting – there were so many emotions involved. I tried not to get so caught up in the planning. I was lucky enough to have an extremely helpful DH. I was fine the day of the wedding. I got up, ate breakfast, started my hair, then makeup and everything was great. As soon as I got into the limo leaving my house, it was as if I entered another world. I can’t even tell you what the weather was like because I really don’t remember. I can honestly say I enjoyed every second of my wedding day. There were some things that went wrong... but it didn’t matter because I married my best friend on November 4th, 2007. It was truly a magical day!

LIW is an amazing site! I’m not a big poster but I received so much help and so many ideas from this site. Just searching through reviews and reading everyone’s opinions helped with a lot of decisions so THANK YOU everyone!

From the beginning, I had faith in my vendors. Even though I read some bad reviews or heard horror stories, I was confident that they would all be great... I knew the day wouldn’t be perfect but I felt like I hired these people for a reason and I was comfortable with all of them. I didn’t give grades – I tried to explain everything as best as I could; and hopefully my review will help others.


ENGAGEMENT RING & WEDDING BANDS
Jewels by David Lloyd in Westbury Jewelry Exchange (Westbury, NY)
After being together for 7 years, Mike & I decided it was time to get married! I’m extremely picky and so we decided to look for an engagement ring together. We went to so many jewelry stores – it was getting frustrating. We came across David’s store one afternoon and were so glad we did. David has all different types of bands on display and then he had different size & shaped diamonds that he can put in the bands so you can actually see what the ring will look like. Mike picked out a gorgeous setting and with David’s help we decided on a princess cut center stone. Mike said he wanted to think about it before making a final decision and that was the last time we spoke about it so I really didn’t think I was getting that particular ring. Four months later, he proposed with the ring! I was ecstatic!

We also got our wedding bands from David

PROPOSAL
Borgata Hotel & Casino (Atlantic City, NJ)
We went to the Borgata for an overnight stay… Mike ended up proposing in our room that night. He definitely surprised me!
We’ve been to the Borgata many times and I adore it there, however, the one thing that upset me is this: Mike told them we would be getting engaged that night and even asked if they could do something special in the room when we came back from dinner… They did NOTHING, no roses, no champagne, no congrats, nada. It doesn’t really matter but it would’ve been nice.

ENGAGEMENT RING APPRAISAL
Jewelry Judge (Garden City, NY)
I highly recommend getting your ring(s) appraised and insured. The jewelry judge explained every part of the appraisal process to Mike & me so we really understand what he was doing and why. We had the ring insured through Jewelers Mutual.

ENGAGEMENT DINNER/PARTY
Joe Abbraciamento Restaurant (Rego Park, NY)
We didn’t want to have a huge engagement party; but we did want to have our immediate families and close friends together to celebrate, so we looked at a few local restaurants (we had about 60 people in total). As soon as we walked into Joe Abbraciamento, Marie greeted us with a smile, helped us pick out a menu and was extremely helpful with all our questions and concerns. Neither Mike nor I had ever eaten at Joe Abbraciamento but heard great things about it. The day of the party, everything went smoothly (despite the pouring rain). Everyone there was so accommodating. There was never an empty glass and the food was beyond delicious. We even got to take some leftovers home. We got so many compliments from our family and friends about the service and food.

BRIDAL SHOWER
La Bella Vita (Ozone Park, NY)
I wasn’t involved in the planning – it was a surprise. My mom & sister did an amazing job; and my bridesmaids were awesome. The food and service were great the night of my shower and everyone was so helpful afterwards getting all the gifts into my then-fiancé’s van. I know my sister used Linda’s Lovelies for the invitations and centerpieces at the shower.

I ordered photo cards from snapfish.com to use as Thank You cards for the bridal shower. If I had to do it again, I would’ve gotten smaller cards – trying to write in 100 5x7 “thank you” cards takes A LOT of time and my hand was killing me when I was done!!!!!

REGISTRIES
Bed, Bath & Beyond & Macy*s
Registering was easy to do at both stores (I actually did most of it online). Returning was super easy too. I liked BBB better since they give you cash back; Macy’s gives you store credit.

REHEARSAL DINNER
Matteo’s of Howard Beach
We wanted to book Joe Abbraciamento for our rehearsal dinner since they were fabulous for our engagement dinner but there were some miscommunications and they ended up booking a big party the same day as our rehearsal dinner. Our second choice was Matteo’s since we had been there so many times and were always happy with everything. We had a private room downstairs. The food was great and plentiful as usual! Our rehearsal dinner was on a Tuesday night and they were very accommodating.

BRIDAL PARTY GIFTS
We got the Groomsmen gifts from e-bay (Kenneth Cole watches) and Coach Outlet

We got the Bridesmaids gifts from Tri-County & Macy's


…And now onto the wedding!!!

BRIDAL GOWN; MAID OF HONOR, BRIDESMAID, JUNIOR BRIDESMAID & FLOWER GIRL DRESS; ALL ALTERATIONS
Valentina Bridal (Brooklyn, NY)
Looking for a dress was by far one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. After the fourth attempt, I was extremely discouraged. My sister kept insisting I go to Valentina since that is where she got her wedding dress. I was skeptical because of the travel – Valentina is in Brooklyn and I live on Long Island – but I let my sister make an appointment one Saturday morning and we went. We worked with Michelle and she was a doll! She brought out so many dresses and by the third one, everyone had tears in their eyes. I was expecting this “OMG WOW” feeling that I didn’t get but when I looked in the mirror, I imagined myself walking down the aisle (I hadn’t felt that for any of the other 20+ dresses I tried on) so I took that to be my sign. I also got my tiara, slip & veil there. While I was there, I had my two MOHs look at bridesmaid dresses upstairs. They fell in love with two Bill Levkoff dresses and we decided to use one style for the bridesmaids and the other style for the two MOHs.

All alterations were done at Valentina Bridal. They did an amazing job on everything especially my dress! I loved my dress when I first tried it on but hated the straight neckline. Valentina told me not to worry that they could make it a sweetheart. I was skeptical but put my trust in her. It took more than 3 fittings to get the neckline perfect and I kept losing weight before the wedding so the dress had to be taken in many times. The end result was perfect!

One of the junior bridesmaid dresses was too small and they quickly ordered a new one. Also, one of my bridesmaids became pregnant after the dresses were ordered. Suffice to say her dress didn’t fit. A new dress was ordered and it came in 4 days before the wedding. Alterations were done and the dress was ready by the Friday before the wedding. There was one minor issue with the bridesmaid dresses alterations. I wanted the sashes cut so that they were the same length of the dress. Somehow when the girls picked up their dresses, none of the sashes were cut so I had to bring all the dresses back. The issue was immediately fixed.

HAIR
My wonderful sister-in-law Lisa did my hair. I knew I wanted my hair all up and pushed back. We waited until I got my tiara to have a trial (which was two weeks before the wedding). The day of the wedding, she did an awesome job although my hair didn’t want to cooperate fully. I loved the curls and the little rhinestones she added to the back.

MAKEUP
Jacqueline Nicole
Jacqueline is a sweetheart and an amazing makeup artist. I had a trial done and booked her on the spot. I loved her work and all the colors she used. The day of the wedding, she arrived on time, setup and was ready to begin. I opted for airbrush, which was so light and it didn’t even feel like I was wearing a lot of makeup. I did bring powder cover-up with me (which my cousin told me to bring) just in case my face got a little shiny throughout the day (and it did but I only remembered about the powder halfway through the reception). And I forgot to reapply lipstick after the church (even though I bought lipstick from Jacqueline). There was so much going on, I couldn’t remember everything!

TUXEDOS
Ray’s Tuxedos (Franklin Square, NY)
Everyone there was super friendly and able to deal with our rowdy bunch. They had vests that matched the bridesmaid dresses nicely and my husband opted for a silver vest/tie instead of white (well I really picked it out LOL). The guys got measured about 2 months before the wedding and the tuxedos were picked up the Thursday before the wedding. A few guys had minor alteration problems but since they make you try on the tuxedos when you pick them up, they were able to fix them on the spot. All the tuxedos had to be back the Monday after the wedding. Since our wedding was on Sunday, they had to be back the next day.

MOB & MOG DRESSES
Effie’s Boutique (Brooklyn, NY)
My mother gets the majority of her dresses from Effie’s – she’s been shopping there for years. They carry a variety of dresses and sizes in the store and can order pretty much anything. My mom ended up getting a completely different color than what she was looking for but the dress looked fabulous on her. My mother-in-law had a bit of a hard time finding a dress. She went to a bunch of stores on her own and finally agreed to come with me to Effie’s. The first dress she tried on was the one. It looked perfect on her.

Their alterations were done around the block from Effie’s (sorry, I don’t remember the name of the place).
This is a small place and they do great work. My mom’s dress only had to be taken in on top by the halter and needed a hem. My mother-in-law’s dress had to be taken in on both sides on top and they used her shawl to make cap sleeves. Both dresses were ready in 2 weeks and they are very reasonable priced.


FLORIST
Pedestals (Garden City Park, NY)
I’m really not into flowers. I mean I like them but I don’t know too much about them. Mike & I knew we wanted to use Pedestals because they have such a great reputation and we’ve seen their work many times. We met with Phil and went over preliminary ideas & thoughts. The one thing we were sure of was that we wanted two different centerpieces. Months past and the next time we met with Phil, it was one month before the wedding and we were seeing sample centerpieces. I was a little skeptical since we really hadn’t discussed color schemes and he didn’t know what color the bridesmaid dresses were but I went in with an open mind. The sample centerpieces blew me away. Without knowing, Phil had captured what I was looking for. We discussed adding more colors and taking out some of the greenery in the centerpieces and using colored, not white, flowers for my bouquet. On the day of the wedding, the flowers arrived at my house early and were beyond beautiful. The church and reception flowers were also gorgeous. And the centerpieces looked great!!! I realize now after looking at pictures that the centerpieces were a little different than the samples but they did look awesome so it’s okay. Pedestals also did the fabric draping and rose petal drop from the ceiling during our first dance. At the end of the night, we had two guys come back to NRC and wrap the centerpiece flowers so that each couple got to take some home.

LIMOS
All Star Limo (Farmingdale, NY)
I don’t even remember how many limo companies we went to, but it was a lot! Mike & I both saw a limo bus at a bridal show about a year before we starting looking at limos. So of course, that was the bus we wanted. After going to about 5 companies (who said they had this bus) and finding out they didn’t have any bus (basically wasting our time), we took a break from looking. We went to the LIW show in January 2007 and there was another, bigger bus that we liked even more. We met with Debbie at All Star a few days later, saw the bus again, and booked them. We had the 40-passenger Limo Bus and a 10-passenger white Lincoln. Both limos arrived on time and were super clean. The drivers were extremely friendly and helpful. Of course, I don’t remember their names! At the end of the night, we had an SUV pick us up at NRC and bring us to Fox Hollow Inn.

PHOTOGRAPHER & VIDEOGRAPHER
Creative Compositions (Oyster Bay, NY)
NO COMMENT!

CHURCH
St. Mary Gate of Heaven (Ozone Park, NY)
This has been my church for years. I went to school and received both my Communion & Confirmation there. They were very accommodating and didn’t mind that I no longer lived in Ozone Park – they still allowed us to get married there. Father Tom was awesome! He did such a great homily and got all the guests involved. He literally walked up and down the aisle talking to the guests in the pews and at one point was on his knees at the alter talking to Mike & I. We couldn’t have asked for a better ceremony. I am so happy we got to be married at SMGH

RECEPTION HALL
North Ritz Club (Syosset, NY)
The first time we went to see the place, I will admit, I wasn’t too impressed. Again, I am such a picky person it’s ridiculous and this place was actually everything I was looking for (one wedding at a time, a place no one in my family had been to, etc.) but I wanted to keep looking. I will say though that after seeing NRC, no other place compared and we booked it a week later – this was January 2006. The next time we went to NRC was for a tasting in March 2007. I loved all the renovations; the food & service were amazing and Ida & Nadine are sweethearts. I finally got really excited about having my wedding there! We met with George (the Matre’D) about a month before the wedding to finalize the menu and all details. Since we were using a lot of different vendors and had a lot of details, Mike & I discussed hiring a DOC. George assured us that NRC would be able to take care of everything…boy, was he right.
The day of the wedding was awesome! George, Monica (bridal attendant) and the entire NRC staff were on top of EVERYTHING. They took care of all the details (two cake toppers, putting labels on the placecard tins, making sure the children activity bags were on the right tables, coordinating with all the different vendors, etc etc). I was starving after church so Mike called NRC and asked if they could have some food ready for me. As soon as I got off the bus, Monica had a plate of food waiting for me. For some strange reason, a lot of our guests showed up early (like 45 minutes early). George was nice enough to open the cocktail room early to accommodate them.
I can’t say enough great things about the North Ritz Club. From planning to the wedding day, everyone there was a pleasure to deal with. The service is unreal – our guests are still talking about how great everyone there was. No one had an empty glass and no one went home hungry! The cocktail & Viennese hours are insane. Even though I missed the cocktail hour, Monica brought me everything I wanted. They are so accommodating and extremely helpful. I really believe our wedding day was a success due in a great part to NRC.

ENTERTAINMENT
Mike & I both work in the event planning industry so of course we had a few tricks up our sleeves when it came time to entertain our guests. I have to thank everyone involved here – they went above & beyond to help us…

Singer – Michael
He performed during the cocktail hour, while food was served during the reception and even sang our last dance song – Michael Buble “Save the Last Dance”. He is an awesome singer & performer. He interacted with all the guests and people even questioned whether he was lip-syncing…but he wasn’t. He sang every song with a little instrumental music. I will admit, he is a little hard to get in contact with but is definitely worth the wait. A lot of our guests having been calling us for his number so I’m sure we will be seeing him again soon!

Disc Jockey – Johnny T
Where do I even begin? We have known John for many years. He is an incredible DJ and works for a lot of DJ companies. When he heard that Mike & I got engaged, he immediately said he was DJing our wedding. Planning process was pretty easy. We spoke a few times throughout the 18 months leading up to the wedding and then had two meetings to go over music. I didn’t give him a “must-play” list. I’ve seen him DJ so many times and he is extremely talented in being able to read a crowd. I gave him a list of the specific spotlight songs and then a few songs for each category (cake cutting, entrance, garter, etc.). I let him pick and play the songs he thought would work and it turned out fantastic. The dance floor was packed! He played everything from disco to hip-hop, oldies, Italian and more! I was on the dance floor all night long. I can honesty say I enjoyed every minute of the music. (My husband on the other hand enjoyed every minute of the bar!)

John got us in touch with our emcee Mario (who we’d actually seen at a few parties before). He is a great MC and just what we were looking for. Mike & I both agreed that we didn’t want someone who was loud or pushy. Mario is none of that. He really knows how to get the crowd going without being in your face. And he speaks Italian, which was a big plus for my family. Mario was able to bring Italian songs that our DJ didn’t have. A lot of the night was played by ear (so to speak) – our ring bearer was sick so we had to change the line up, we weren’t sure if a few people would be participating in the spotlight dances, etc. so we kind of winged it. One of our biggest things was asking everyone to come up and catch the bouquet and garter. We asked married people, engaged people, divorced people, single people and all! I think Mario was a little skeptical about that but he went with out. It was something different and it turned our extremely well. Mario did an amazing job!

John also got us in touch with a great percussionist. I can’t remember his name (sorry) but he was awesome! He rocked it out like no other and was able to give the music that extra umph. Everyone loved him.

NYFF Events & Entertainment
We got a lot of our extra entertainment from NYFF.

The Photo Booth was a hit! We had people use those photos and sign a scrapbook. Some of the pictures are hysterical and it’s a great keepsake. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different.

We had a Walk Around Magician (Mike K) during the cocktail hour. Guests were amazed at the close up tricks he did. Mike & I didn’t get a chance to see him in action since we were busy taking pictures but everyone was raving about him.

We also had a Living Statue (Penny) during the cocktail hour. This was sort of a tribute to the Borgata Hotel & Casino (where we got engaged). She really freaked out people. Almost everyone thought she was a real statue until she moved or said something and scared the sh*t out of some of our guests. Again, we didn’t get to see her in action but heard through the grapevine that people were cracking up with her.

Lighting & Plasmas
We used color blasts around the main ballroom and had 4 plasma screens setup. During our entrance and spotlight dances, we had live feed, which played on the 4 screens. We had zap shots, where someone was taking pictures throughout the night and those pictures would go up on the screens. I had made a photomontage to also be shown on the screens but it wasn’t cooperating (no biggie). The screen saver on the screens was our monogram, which was pretty cool. We also had custom gobos with our monogram. There was a bit of miscommunication between my husband and I… I wanted the monogram to be stationary on the dance floor and he misunderstood so the monogram was part of the lighting sequence. I didn’t get to see it so I’m not sure how it looked.

Cigar Roller
The Little Cigar Factory (Massapequa, NY)
We had the Cigar Roller come during the Viennesse hour. He arrived super early with an assistant and got right to work hand-rolling cigars. There are a lot of cigar smokers in our families so they definitely loved this extra! We also put personalized matches on the table.

INVITATIONS
Linda’s Lovelies (East Meadow)
Invitations were hard to find. Well it was easy to find ones I liked but not easy to find ones I liked AND in my budget. I must’ve met with Linda at least three times and was getting tired of looking at invitations. Linda was so patient with me. She would call when she got new books in and never rushed me. When I was there one night, Linda told me about a new sample book that she was waiting for. She really thought I would like the invitations in that book and she was RIGHT! Once we found them, the rest of the process was quick & easy. I came up with the wording, finalized the colors and BAM, it was done! We also got our ring bearer pillow, cake cutting set, and monogram cake topper from Linda.

FAVORS
Mike & I looked high and low to find unique favors. We kept bouncing ideas off of each other and whenever we thought we find THE one, one of us would think of something else. It was 3 months before the wedding and we still didn’t have favors. Mike came up with a corkscrew and the search was on. After ordering about 5 samples, we found ones we liked from Absorbent Ink (www.absorbentprinting.com) and had them engraved.

The box that the individual corkscrews came in was small. I really didn’t feel like wrapping 200 little boxes. I found these satin bags from ebay seller efavormart and decided to just put the corkscrews in there. (We also ordered customized matches and napkins from efavormart).

Maybe a month before the wedding, I found these personalized air fresheners that I thought were adorable. Since North Ritz Club only does one event at a time, I figured the valet could leave the air fresheners in the guests’ cars as they left the wedding. Again, NRC was so accommodating and the valet did a great job. All our guests thought the air fresheners were the greatest things!

We also ordered dessert boxes from www.papermart.com. Our wedding ended at 12:00am on a Sunday and we knew people would leave as soon as the Viennese opened. The dessert boxes were handed out so that guests could take home some desserts. I’m not sure if people realized what they were for because we had a lot left over.

DIY

Church Direction Cards – metallic silver paper ordered from www.bluedotpapershop.com
This website had just the type and color paper I was looking for. I ordered a few samples beforehand just to make sure I had the right color.

Rehearsal Dinner Invitations – I bought one of those plain white invitation packages that come with the invitation and envelopes from Michaels. I used a picture of Mike & I as the background, cut the edges and voila! I included direction cards to the church & restaurant.

Bathroom Baskets – baskets purchased from Michaels; accessories purchased from Dollar Tree, BJs and Bed, Bath & Beyond
There was nothing left from either of the baskets at the end of the night so I guess everyone liked them!

Cardbox – all supplies purchased from AC Moore
I printed two 8x10 pictures on plain paper, ordered a photo collage from snapfish and used some wedding cards for the fourth frame. DH made this….it took him 2 days! I think he did a really good job!

Ceremony Programs – I used the same paper from the Church Direction Cards and went with a tri-fold layout. I used a boning tool to make creases in the paper and that took a while. It kept me real busy the night before the wedding.

Menus – I used metallic cardstock from bluedotpapershop.com. My one mistake was not testing the cardstock in my printers. After I setup the menus and went to print them out, the paper kept getting jammed. My wonderful DH brought everything over to Sir Speedy in Syosset and they were able to print all the menus in two days.

Table Numbers – There was a bride on here who posted incredible and easy to follow directions for doing the table numbers with pictures (If I haven’t thanked you before…Thank you MrsQ-in2007). I used pictures throughout our relationship and ordered gold frames from Penn Photomounts. I loved the way the table numbers came out.

Placecards
Silver mint tins from www.favoroutlet.com, round labels from ebay, silver M&Ms & Jordan almonds from www.jordanalmonds.com
I call this DIY a “labor of love”. It was one of my first ideas when wedding planning and it seemed so simple. Well it wasn’t so simple and became a royal PITA to make sure the fonts & numbers lined up on the labels and to make sure it was legible. In the end, I was sooooo happy with the way they came out.

I got a little nervous that some people wouldn’t understand what table they were sitting on because of the way I formatted the labels. My sister had given me this accordion wedding frame so I decided to type up the guest list with table numbers and put them in the frame. Another PITA that took me two days to complete; but I so loved the outcome.

Children Favors/Activity Bags – I filled each bag with a coloring book, crayons, and assortment of candy. The only children at the wedding were in the bridal party so it was six total. Their parents loved these bags since it kept the kids busy all night.

FOX HOLLOW INN
We stayed here the night of the wedding. Four of our guests also stayed here. We really only slept here so there wasn’t much to see or do. Our guests actually paid less for their rooms and I think their rooms were much nicer than our “honeymoon suite”.

Re: ~11.04.07~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

great review!!!!Love the gown btw !!!!you looked beautiful. wow you had alot of diy projects! pictures were very nice!

Re: ~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

Great Review! and i agree with everything you said, the wedding was amazing from beginning to end since i was lucky enough to be there!!! you made a beautiful bride girlie :)

Re: ~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

I was lucky enough to be part of the bridal party, and all I can say was that it was so much fun! I danced all night and got leg cramps galore, but it was worth it. You looked beautiful, as you always are inside and out, and I never saw your husband smile so much. Memories!!

Re: ~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

Congrats! thanks for sharing your experiences!

Re: ~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

OMG I LOVE LOVE LOVE THE STATUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: ~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

beautiful, congrats!!

Re: ~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

gorgeous centerpieces!

Thanks for the review and CONGRATS!!

Re: ~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

Congratulations you look like a princess!

I love all of the details and am now seriously considering a cigar roller!

Re: ~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

congrats beautiful review

Re: ~11.04.07 Review~ Jacqueline Nicole, Pedestals, North Ritz Club, All Star Limo, Creative Compositions and more!

beautiful review! Sending you FM about the air fresheners!