*~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Ok, here we go.

Ugh! The weather -
I woke up the morning of the wedding, to raindrops beating on the sill of the open window. I just knew that the rain only came for blessings and good luck and by noon, the brilliant sun would shine through and add warmth to such a wonderful day that hath longeth to cometh.

LOL

That’s not what happened! It poured in the morning; the sun did not peek from the clouds at all that day. It was chilly and cold, and still I kept my fingers crossed, hoping that Nick or Lou over at Chateau La Mer knew how badly I wanted an outdoor ceremony, and would setup the outdoor spaces as if it were a warm summer day at the Bride’s request.

But seriously: April is a funny month when speaking of weather. You know the saying 'April showers, bring May flowers' and will also

bring a chance of rain to your day, if your wedding is in this month. I'm not being a bummer, I'm being realistic, something that I wasn’t when planning my outdoor ceremony. So keep in mind April brides, plan ahead for this kind of situation.

HOTEL
VENDOR: Hilton Huntington
LOCATION: Melville, NY
WEBSITE: http://www.hiltonlongisland.com
GRADE: B+

I stayed at the Hilton Huntington the weekend of my wedding. We booked 2 rooms. The bridal suites were booked way before I decided to stay at the Hilton, so I booked a Junior Suite for myself, and a double for DH.

The service there was great up until it was time to check out. We chose to pay cash on our “check out” day, which was a big mistake because while we were away on our honeymoon, they went and charged $850 on the card we used to book the rooms. We were also charged for services we never had. In the end, they refunded all the money because they found in the computer where we paid in full in cash

If I can do it again, I would have booked a larger room for myself with much more NATURAL LIGHT for better pictures, and I would not have checked out with cash





MY DRESS, HEADPIECE, & VEIL
VENDOR: New Natalie's Bridal
LOCATION: Atlanta, Georgia
WEBSITE: www.newnatalies.com
GRADE: B+

This place is located in a “not so good” area of Atlanta. It was November, and exactly 8 months before the wedding and I had no gown. I was GA for thanksgiving, so I decided to go gown shopping while I was there. I Googled bridal salons and came up with this place.

They had about 2000 DIFFERENT dresses in stock, and I tried on about 40 of them before I found my gown, which took 6 hours.

They had both designer labels and “non” designer labels. My gown was a “non” designer label, which did not matter to me, I was in love. Oh, and you also get a free tiara and veil with the purchase of your dress, only if you pay in full the day you order. I loved my tiara and veil.

See, I really wanna give these people a bad rating because the customer service was horrible. I WORRIED my BEHIND off about my gown. especially because they’re all the way in Atlanta. Every time I called , I never got an answer. I was always sent to voicemail. I left tons of voice messages and NEVER received a call back. I had spoke to one person, and she was rude as hell, and didn’t let me get through person I needed. . So, I had my mom spend the whole day redialing them and finally someone picked up, and they said my gown was on the way.
My gown was shipped to me exactly when they said it would.

If I can do it all over again, I’d swallow my spit and buy my gown from them again. The dress selection they have was insane, and the prices range from $50.00 - $5000.00. I had tried on a BUNCH of beautiful gowns for less than $500.00















My Headpiece & Veil








ALTERATIONS
VENDOR: Amelia's Bridal
LOCATION: Fleetwood, NY
WEBSITE: http://ameliasbridal.com
GRADE: B-

The customer service in this store was poor, poor, poor. I’ve been there a total of 5 times, and each time I went I felt as if I was bothering them. I had no choice, I couldn’t find another bridal boutique in the area that would have steamed my gown and have it back

to me in time. I must say that they have a beautiful selection of overpriced 'in-house' designer gowns. Some of which I have considered myself, but didn’t see the point of spending $3600.00 on a gown with no name, that’s just my opinion.

They did a great job steaming, and the French bustle was beautiful and to easy to do.
The even added a beautiful pearl handle to the bottom of my train in order for me to hold up my gown on my own. I thought the handle was so old fashion, but I found myself using it several times.

If I can do it all over again, I would shop around for better pricing. Many people told me that I over paid for their services.



HAIR & MAKEUP
VENDOR: Eritza (recommended to me by ***)
GRADE: B

Eritza was so pleasant. She truly catered to me and my hair and makeup needs. We spent over 4 hours on my makeup trial trying to

get it right. My hair and makeup was not done exactly how I wanted it to be on the day of. I was not happy about that, but we didn’t

have time to go back and change things., my limo had already arrived, and it was time to go.

If I can do it all over again:

1. Hair and makeup would have been scheduled for 6am instead of 7:30 am. This would have given me more time to change certain Things I didn’t like about my hair and makeup. And also would have gave more time for the makeup to set in.

2. I also would have bought the cheap hair from the beauty supply store. 22 inches in a yaki texture because I am familiar with the quality, and I know it would have looked better when freshly sewn in a day or 2 before the wedding and styled the morning of.
Instead, I had the hair that you buy by the ounce, it was $175.00 and it turned into a big nappy birds nest on the second day of my honeymoon, after swimming in the pool. It was so embarrassing I didn’t even want to take pictures

Here are a few pictures from my makeup trial:




Day of:
























SHOES - Coloriffics “The Carmen”
VENDOR: 6pm.com
LOCATION: Online Store
WEBSITE: www.6pm.com
GRADE: A-

I ordered a pair of Coloriffics – “The Carmen” the 3rd day after joining LIW. I had just finished getting

throughKatrina - akaMrsT's Review , and I LOVED her shoes (and her review) and

ordered them immediately. The problem was that I have big wide man feet, and the shoe wasn’t fitting so comfortably. I believe i even

ordered them in a wide. I tried breaking them in and wearing them around my apartment with garbage bags around them because DH

didn’t want to see them, but still, they were uncomfortable for me.

more SHOES - Ballerina Flats
VENDOR: Bakers
LOCATION: Yonkers, NY
WEBSITE: www.bakers.com
GRADE: A+

The day before the wedding, I went out the mall in search of beautiful ballerina flats and I found a nice pair from bakers for $20.00. I

wore these shoes 90% of the time. I wore both shoes but switched back and forth all day. I wore the heels for pictures ; getting

dressed and the garter toss, and I wore the flats the rest of the time, loved it! NO ONE ever knew that I wore flats. I will take pics of

my flats and post.





.

Ok, Makeup done, hair done, clothes on. A few pics of DH and I getting ready for our BIG day

I obtained my four ring hoopskirt through a fellow LIW bride using the good ol' barter system. I had designed her business cards and in return she offered to me her hoopskirt. I think it was a fair trade off.

4 RING HOOP SKIRT
VENDOR: Charisma - not really a Vendor, she's a bride here on LIW
GRADE: A+

















WARNING: Bulging BOOBS BELOW :)


Meanwhile, in DH's room . . .















someone's a bit curious:









My dad arrived early that morning to get ready in DH's room.












TUXEDOS
VENDOR: MW Tux
LOCATION: Bronx, NY
WEBSITE: www.MWTux.com
GRADE: A-

DH picked out his tux, along with the tuxes for his guys. He was extremely upset about the tux because buttons kept popping all night

long, but the bridal attendant was so nice to sew all the buttons back on. DH felt that the measurements were all wrong and he was

quite a bit upset about his tux, but you couldn’t tell cause he looked fab, and so did his guys !

Also, his tux was free because he they have a rental deal for weddings: I believe if you have more then 4 tux rentals, you get one free

for the groom.









.

BRIDEMAID'S DRESSES
VENDOR: David's Bridal
LOCATION: Carle Place, NY
WEBSITE: www.DavidsBridal.com
GRADE: A

I gave my girls a few rules:
1. Your dress must be in Azalea (at the time, there was a very similar color called Watermelon)

2.MOH’s & Sisters of the Bride can pick whatever long gown you want

3. All girls wear whatever shoes you want

4. Wear your hair back and away from your face

5. Order your gown by January 19th.

I left everything else up to them. I’ve seen to many brides get crazy over the details for their BM’s. I wanted to avoid this at all cost,

and they looked great. I had to lie to David’s bridal about the wedding date, and I suggest you do this too. I told them my date was

4.19.08, and would you believe that one of the gowns came in on 4.17.08, just 2 days before my fake wedding date!
Everything worked out fine in the end., and I think my girls looked fab.











FLOWERS
VENDOR: Flower Barn
LOCATION: Seaford, NY
WEBSITE: [L]www.liweddings.com/vendors/florists/barn[/L]
GRADE: A+

My flowers were amazing and everything I imagines plus more
I worked with Mike of Flower Barn. He was able to work with my budget of $1500.00.
I think I had the most amazing bouquet ever. It was so pretty and so vibrant.
My bouquet consisted of 40 hot pink roses. Mike called me the night before the wedding and said, 'Dana, I just completed you bouquet, and its huge and heavy.' I said 'Mike, that’s exactly what I want, don't change a thing, THANK YOU SO MUCH'

The concept for my centerpieces were rose bushes sitting on 30” vases filled with hot pink water and crushed ice in the water.

My centerpieces were a bit leafy, but I loved it anyway.

I also skipped out on the florals for the outdoor gazebo and we stuck to just ribbons for the pew bows:


our sample cp's and bo-k:







Day of:

























Ceremony Music /String Trio & Cocktail Hour/Pianist (A+)
MAS Music - Marie Stack

Ok, so I wanted a string quartet so bad, but many of them were out of my budget. I read someone’s review and they gave a great review to Marie Stack and said that she was reasonably priced and excellent to work with. Marie and I worked out everything such as
contracts, music playlist, and payments through the mail and email. She replied to every single email almost immediately. I didn’t really hear her play, but my guest told me that she did a great job. I met her at the end of the ceremony and she was very pleasant and
professional. We also hired her to play piano solo during the cocktail hour.













DJ (A)
The Pros Entertainment - Bill Mazzara

I was so nervous about this vendor because it was so hard for me to find to find a good review about them. I asked several brides about this company and no one had anything nice to say. I was even told to RUN for it. But I didn’t, I stuck it out, and Bill was great.

He played all the music we asked him to play, he participated with the guest, he played games to give out the centerpieces, he handed out party favors. He was great.



















Limo (B)
M&V Limo

I did a pick up and drop off service and they threw in a complimentary car for DH and I to go back to the hotel at the end of the evening. We had a 24 passenger Cadillac Escalade, a 10 passenger Cadillac DTS, and a Lincoln Town Car. They arrived to the hotel on time, got lost on the way to CLM, but we were still on time. The ac in my limo was broken and it was so hot in there. We accidently doubled tipped the drivers and of course neither of them said “oh no, we already got a tip” So they walked away with a $70.00 tip EACH ! My brother left his cell phone in the limo, they said they had it, and we asked them to send it to him in GA (which we will pay for shipping), which they never did. But otherwise, they were just ok.















Invitations (no pics), place cards, programs, guestbook, and menus
DIY


Place cards:


Programs:










The Menu:




Guestbook:
I bought a simple scrapbook, filled a few pages with our e-pics, added a stack of linen textured cardstock with a ribbon around it, and

a picture frame (snatched off my shelf at home) with the instructions printed inside:




Favors
DH and I wanted to do something from the heart, something homemade. Since we are both of Jamaican nationalities, we chose to make homemade jerk seasoning and bottle them ourselves. I ordered the jars, labels, and ribbons. DH and I stayed up one night to blend, bottle and label the seasoning. We did exactly 17 jars before we called it quits. There was lots of work involved, and the ingredients were becoming expensive. So we scratched that idea.

We ended up having to turn our little boxes of Jordan almonds into the main favor when it was supposed to be an addition.
I bought jordan almonds by the pack, and purchased the little boxes from target. Target has a nice selection on wedding stuff, but seem to be over priced. Inside the box of Jordan almonds, I included a small poem, which laid flat on the bottom of the box:
'Five sugared almonds for each guest to eat
To remind us that life is both bitter and sweet.
Five wishes for the new husband and wife --
Health, wealth, happiness, children, and a long life'





Monogram Cake Topper (A=)
A DIY Gift from a friend




Photo & Video (B)
Duet

I chose Sam’s team. They arrived on time, and Sam took my preparation pics, while TJ went and took pictures of DH. I felt that there was lack of creativity with my pictures while on the other hand DH had a full fledge fashion shoot with TJ, and I love them. You be the judge:




















They captured almost everything, but I am missing a few of the traditional shots such as: the detail on the back of my dress, my engagement ring, me inside the limo, a full view of the limo, and the list goes on. I did not receive my video, but will repost when I do.





























Many of the pictures post for my review we retouched in photoshop by me.

Ceremony & Reception (A+)
Chateau La Mer Catering

CLM met every single expectation. The food was amazing, Nick was amazing, my bridal attendant was amazing. I had a great time and everything ran so smoothly. When I arrived, I stepped out of the limo, spent a few seconds in the bridal suite with my attendant while they organized the march. I really felt like I needed more time to relax.

I cried tears of joy all the way down the aisle. I am not a fan of their indoor ceremony space, but I had no choice, it was just too cold and windy that day to be outside. To top that off, I had NO indoor decorations, just the white aisle runner and a few pew bows.




























I didn’t eat anything during cocktail hour, although there was a platter in my bridal suite which the entire bridal party attacked before I got there. DH and I had to sign of Marriage License to make it official and once we were done we were rushed outside for pictures.








I spent the entire cocktail hour outside with the photographers, and by the time I came inside, my bridal attendant tied up my French bustle and we were sent to line up in the cocktail room where I gave Marie Stack of MAS Music a huge hug. She congratulated DH and I. The reception was beautiful and they handled all the guest so well. We received so many compliments. Some said it was the best “wedding food “ ever. Nick went around to each table to announce that they can have second entrees. I really wanted a Viennese hour, I would have paid whatever they asked. I wanted desserts galore, that’s all I really cared about, but

We couldn’t get it. Since my wedding was from 11:30 - 5pm there was no way that they be able to extend my reception for another hour, and then have enough time to prepare for the party after mine, so I ****** it up and enjoyed the 'touch of Viennese' platters they placed on everyone's table. Everything ran smoothly back to back and at the end of the evening, they already had all of my gifts, toasting flutes, guestbook, left over favors, and left over cake all boxed up and ready for me to go. There was no last minute running around, they are so well organized.



Cake (A-)
Black Forest Bakery

DH was very particular about “his cake”. He was not too happy about the cakes that were included in out package with CLM, so we decided to go the bakery and place a special order. The cake was so delicious, it was the best wedding cake I’ve ever had, and I usually hate wedding cake. The only problem we did have was that the design was wrong, and the color was wrong. It was supposed to be more of a hot pink and not a soft pink, I even mailed her a color swatch and followed up with a phone call, and she told me it was doable. Also, the swirly decorations on the cake were supposed to be in white. It was still a very pretty and tasty cake.











Rings
Zales - My Band
Diamond District. – DH’s Band
I wanted an eternity band or at least the look of it. When DH and I went to Zales to buy the eternity band, they informed us that they do not sell eternity bands anymore because it was common for diamonds to pop out of the ring. I don’t know how true this is, but we
purchased a 1 CT. T.W. Diamond Band. It looks very much like an eternity band, but the diamonds do not go completely around.













Our Honeymoon (B)
Norwegian Dawn
7-Day Cruise from NYC to Bermuda

We were originally supposed to go on your honeymoon in June, but plans fell through at the least minute and DH and I really didn’t want to just go home after our wedding. We decided at the last minute to book something, and book if fast. With 4 days left to our
wedding, I went online and found the best deal for something out of NY. And there was the Norwegian Dawn, just waiting for me to click and book. We received a cabin upgrade which was great. Dh has never been on a cruise before, and I had gone on several, so I pretty much knew what we were in for. The unlimited food , the open casinos, the stage shows, poolside service, hot tubs, frozen drinks, and the list goes on.

This is a similar itinerary that we had:


There were 13 restaurants on the ship and you were entitled to any restaurant you want at anytime. They call it Freestyle Dining. You can even eat at all 13 restaurants in one night if you wanted too. DH and I never did this, I swear!

Now for some Facts:

The weather in Bermuda and en-route to Bermuda was about 60-65 degrees the entire time. Cold, Cold, Cold! This meant that the water was rough, and the beaches weren’t so pleasant. All of our shore-excursions got cancelled because of the rough water. We were supposed to scuba dive, do some horse back riding on the beach, and a Catamaran boat tour. We did none of them. Of course we got our money back, but still, we were looking forward to this. If you were to total up the hours that DH and I slept, you’d probably get 3.5 days straight. LOL. We spent lots of time in our cabin just relaxing, we also went to the El Dorado Spa onboard, and it was so relaxing.





Okay, so we pigged out just a weee bit!



Always trying to photograph myself when I remember too.



This is when DH thought he lost his ring

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Gorgeous gorgeous wedding! loved it!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Great review love the photographs!!!!! Nice pic of nick you should send him that You really were a beautiful bride.

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Beautiful wedding! U look gorgeous! Congrats!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Great review! And beautiful wedding! Congrats!!!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Wonderful review, very informative, love the pics!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

luv it D...keep it coming!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

What a GREAT review! Your photos are beautiful and you were such a gorgeous bride. And I LOVEEEE your cake!

Congratulations!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Beautiful review

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

thanks for the great review...everything looked great...pretty cake

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Your review was so helpful! I am a CLM bride- do you have any pictures of the indoor ceremony? I am nervous about it- any suggestions decor wise? Thanks!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

wow, that was so much fun to read. I was lol at the part about the yaki hair. your dress, shoes, and flowers were amazing!!!! you were a beautiful bride! congrats!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Thanks for the review. CONGRATS Such a beautiful bride, such a beautiful dress!!!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

I love everything about your wedding Dana. The DIY's were amazing. I wish you and R all the best!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

I love your gown and the colors...pink..my favorite

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Thanks for the great review! You were a beautiful bride and you & DH look so happy!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

wow great detailed review! I love all your pics! congrats!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Thanks !!!

I tried to be as informative as possible!
I'm still adding more and more everyday. I keep remembering little things to add

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

Thank you for this awesome review. You and your dress are gorgeous!!!

Re: *~*~*~*A Spring Wedding 04.26.08 . Chateau La Mer, Duet, Flower Barn, The Pros, M&V Limo, MAS Music, and many more*~*~*~*

This was a great review!! Thank you!!!!