April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Willi Wong,Thomas Knoell, etc.Edited to Add Honeymoon Pictures!

I just want to start out by thanking everyone on LIWeddings who gave me advice and helped me out in any way. You may not even know who you are because I got so many great ideas by lurking rather than by posting. If it weren’t for you girls I wouldn’t have spent so much money on all the little extras like my monogram cake topper, candy bar, and wine favors ? I never would have found any of my vendors either! Reading reviews is one of my favorite things on this website and although I didn’t post a lot I wanted to contribute to this board by posting my review. All photographs in this review were taken by Willi Wong or his assistant Robert, please don’t repost them without permission.
Church- St Anselms’
No grade, but I will say that the church and the ceremony were both beautiful. The priest did a wonderful job and I can’t believe I’m married!

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Flower Michele:- John A++
One of my favorite vendors. John did an amazing job with my flowers. My bouquet was made up of all white peony and white lilac. The girl’s bouquets were lavender lilac, pink peony and blue hydrangeas. John delivered them to my house personally and my jaw dropped when I saw everything.
John and his crew then went off to set up the church. When I saw the church I was impressed with the job they did. I arrived at the church an hour late and that pressed John for time because he had to take everything down from the church which was in Brooklyn and drive to Leonard’s and set everything up. John never complained about me arriving so late and delaying everything and we were never rushed. They were extremely professional.
When I arrived at the reception hall John had the room set up perfectly. The centerpieces were so full and the cake was decorated beautifully. John filled out the spaces between the cake tiers with blue hydrangea and placed the cake topper on top. I was so worried about the cake at Leonard’s but John made it look good!

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Willi Wong- A++
Another one of my favorite vendors. He arrived at my house early and quickly set up his equipment. He got to work right away by having one of my bridesmaids show him where everything was. He photographed my dress, shoes, accessories, flowers, etc. and I had no idea he was doing this!
My house was such a mess because we had out of town guests staying with us, as well as the bridal party and my parents so Willi moved everything around by himself so the rooms would look nice in the background. Because I was an hour late to the ceremony we were in such a time crunch for pictures but Willi managed to take 1800 pictures! After the ceremony we took so many pictures in the church in such a short amount of time. The original plan was to take pictures at the church then head for DUMBO. Even though there was little time Willi lead the limo to a spot in DUMBO that had the cobble streets, the beach and the city/bridge view all within a few feet from each other. We were able to get the shots we wanted and still make it to the hall in time for the cocktail hour despite the traffic. We even got in a few shots in front of Leonard’s. The rest of the night Willi and his assistant Robert were snapping away and at the end of the night he gave me a CD with all the pictures he took that night.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

I forgot to bring them with me on the honeymoon so I emailed Willi and he created a page on Kodak with a few pictures for me.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Videographer- Digital Art Video – To be graded once the video is in
At first I didn’t want to get a video so I didn’t research them at all. Then last minute I decided to book one. I wound up booking with Digital Art Video less than a week before the wedding. They were unobtrusive and offer great wedding packages. Once I get my video I will expand on this review.
Leonard’s of Great Neck- B+
They were easy to work with from the start. They were accommodating and the night of the wedding they set up everything exactly how I asked them. The food at the cocktail hour was delicious and so were the entrees. I didn’t get to taste most of the things at the cocktail hour but my guests said everything was delicious. Leonard’s set up my candy bar, the wine favors and the napkin holders. I didn’t like where they set up the candy bar but that was my fault for not telling them where to put it. It was placed in the corner and nobody saw it so I wound up taking all the candy back home and I was upset about this because I spent so much time on it.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

I was impressed by how organized Leonard’s was. I knew that they could hold many parties at once but I didn’t expect it to be so crowded on my wedding day. There was a wedding on every floor, two on my floor! And there were a few parties going on as well, including a sweet 16 on my floor. It was a packed house yet I never saw another bride or birthday girl nor did I hear music from another room. When we took pictures by the fountain and by the staircase with the large chandelier we never saw anyone. It was as if we had the entire place to ourselves. The only reason I knew about the other parties was because I asked Ian, the banquet manager if there would be any other parties going on that night.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

The only problem I had with Leonard’s and the reason they did not get an A was because of my Bridal attendant. She was absent for most of my wedding, I think she was working another party at the same time. She only asked me once if I wanted something to drink and at the time I said no but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to drink anything for the rest of the night. I wound up getting my own drinks/having people bring them to me. I had to get my own cordial and a cappuccino. She never served me any cake so I only got to taste one bite during the cake cutting. It didn’t ruin my night and I didn’t notice her absence until I started writing this review! Hahaha

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

DJ- High Voltage Sounds-Vinny- A
Vinny was very easy to work with. We didn’t provide him with much direction. My must play list was 5 songs long and my do not play list was even shorter. He just read the crowd and played what he thought they would dance to. He had everyone dancing all night long. Vinny is very good at what he does and I’m glad we booked him.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Limos- Royalty- A+
We ordered one escalade from them. The limo arrived on time and the driver was very professional. The driver knew I was late but did not stress me out by rushing me. After the wedding although we were running late he did not complain about stopping at DUMBO to take pictures nor did he mention overtime or ask for money. We wound up getting to the reception hall 1 hour later than planned(and an hour more than we booked) but just in time for the cocktail hour and our driver did not charge us overtime. After the wedding he picked us up in a large limo and drove me and my husband back to Brooklyn. He even stopped along the way to get me water and Advil because I had a headache. I was very pleased with the service they provided.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Mulvihill-Lynch School of Irish Dance- A++
My husband is Irish and I wanted to surprise him and his family by incorporating something Irish into the wedding. Through LIWeddings I found this dance school and I was able to have an Irish dance troupe perform at the wedding. These kids are super talented and they made step dancing look easy. Their costumes were so beautiful. Everyone was so surprised and everyone loved it. It was a real treat! I was amazed that I was able to keep it a surprise from everyone. I even forgot to tell the DJ, photographer and Videographer, everyone was surprised!

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Makeup- Mili B. Simon- A+
Mili did such a great job with my hair and makeup. She also did hair and makeup for 2 bridesmaids, my junior bridesmaid , my mother and grandmother. She made my mother look very elegant and my grandmother looked like a doll. I booked her when she lived in Brooklyn but she moved to California before my wedding. She flew in from California on Thursday night, started everyone’s hair at 5:30am and followed me around for the entire night giving my touch ups whenever I needed them. She was truly amazing. You can view some of her work on www.milisplanet.com

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Tiara- Thomas Knoell- A+
Thomas Knoell is amazing, I went to his flagship store in Long Island and he worked with me personally. (He does this with everyone who visits his showroom) I showed him a picture of my dress, and a picture of my hair trial and I told him my budget and he showed me 3 tiaras that looked amazing with my dress. The hardest part was choosing between the three.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Dress, Eve of Milady purchased at Kleinfeld’s A++
I’m still in love with my dress. I knew I wanted an Eve of Milady the first time I saw one advertised in a magazine. First I went to Lestan’s in Brooklyn to try one on but the service was so terrible that I went all the way to Connecticut to try on a few more Eve gowns. I was afraid of going to Kleinfeld’s because I thought they would be overpriced but I really didn’t want to drive 2 hours to Connecticut for fittings so I bit the bullet and went to Kleinfeld’s.
My sales person was Rita and she was wonderful to work with. Kleinfeld’s carries the entire Eve collection including unadvertised dresses so there were a lot of dresses to choose from. I described what I was looking for to Rita and she brought out a bunch of dresses for me to try on. She even took me to the back where they keep the dresses so I could look through the Eve Dresses myself. She never pressured me into making a decision and she didn’t try to make me spend more.I spent 3 hours in the store with her and she never rushed me. I tried on one very expensive gown by another designer and she told me that the dress didn’t suit me and that I should stick to an Eve Dress.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

After I purchased my dress I had my alterations done by Stella. She was amazing, she is a perfectionist and she made sure my dress fit me perfectly. She worked quickly and did an amzing job on my dress.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Mother of the Bride dress- purchased from Phyllis at gown find- A+
The dress was from the Montage collection by Mon Cheri and Phyllis had the best price plus free alterations. Phyllis ordered the perfect size for my mother so few alterations had to be done. When we to pick up the dress at the last fitting it was perfect. I loved the way my mom looked in the dress!

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Bridesmaid Dresses- Best bridal in the Bridal building- A
This store offered the dress for the best price. The shipment came in quickly and the seamstress does good work and she does it quickly. The only thing I didn’t like was the way they pressed the dresses, they were still wrinkly after they were picked up. Two of my girls had their dresses delivered to them out of state and there was no problem with the shipping.

Shoes- Grace- from RK Bridal-A+
These shoes were extremely comfortable. I wore them all day long and danced in them all night long. Although RK bridal seems like a madhouse anytime you go, they are extremely well organized.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Tuxedos- 1800 Tuxedos- D
I went to the Brooklyn location. The sales people there are nice but the reason they get such a low grade is because they forgot to order the Groom’s tuxedo! The wedding was on a Friday and I went there on a Wednesday to pick up the ring bearer’s tuxedo and I asked to see the groom’s tuxedo. They searched for the order form then they told me they forgot to order him a tux, but I shouldn’t worry because they’ll work something out. When my husband went on Thursday to pick up his tux a different sales person was there and he didn’t know anything about the mix up. When they told me not to worry on Wednesday I thought they were going to rush order another tux. Instead what they did was give him anything they had close to his size. This included a jacket that had a huge rip in the underarm which of course didn’t fit right. When the best man went there to return the tux he got an attitude from the sales person because he didn’t hang the suit on the hanger. I would not recommend them to anyone.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Ring-Elsa Jewelers- A+
I had such a hard time finding a wedding band that would match with my engagement ring since the band’s setting had antique engraving. When I went to Elsa’s they had a ring that was an exact match. I placed my ordered and I watched them make a wax mold of the ring. The next time I went back to see the diamonds, then I went back to see the metal setting. I went back again to see the metal setting with the diamonds and the last time I went back was to pick up the ring. Being able to watch the “birth” of my ring was so exciting and it turned out exactly how I expected and now I have a wedding band that matches my engagement ring perfectly. I found their prices to be comparable to similar rings that didn’t have the matching engraving. I would definitely recommend them to anyone.

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

My Mother- A++++
I saved the highest rating for her. She made so many little things for me including my veil, tear packs, napkin holders, cardbox, flower girl basket, and ring bearer pillow. I don’t know what she’s going to do with her time now that she doesn’t have wedding projects to do for me.

Cake Topper- A+
I ordered this from Ebay and had it customized with light blue crystals on the inside and an outline of regular crystals. I purchased it from ebay seller jbrazzi and would recommend this seller to anyone.

Thank You Cards: A+
I ordered these accordian fold Thank You cards from Kodakgallery.com and they turned out great. They were easy to make and look so professional. I got so many compliments on these thank you cards.
Front of Folded Card:

Back of Folded Card:

Back of Open Card:

Re: April 20,2007 Wedding Review! Eve of Milady, Leonard's, Flower Michele, High Voltage, Royalty, Thomas Knoell, etc.

Save-the Date- www.agiftfulheart.com A+
I love my save the date. They were easy to work with. I just emailed them the picture I wanted on the STD and they resized it and added graphics to it and mailed it back to me. It was printed on a very high quality heart shaped magnet. I got many compliments.

Favors- A++
I made them myself so that’s why I gave myself the high grade. This DIY project took forever to do. The wine was a Cabernet/Shiraz blend which I purchased from Astor Wines in the city. Created the labels myself, removed the old labels and placed the new one’s on the bottles. The whole process took much longer than I expected and if I had to do it over again I would just buy pre wrapped favors and give them out. Although the final product looked nice, it was way too much work.


Homeymoon Mini Review- Now With Pictures!
FH and I went to Phuket Thailand on our honeymoon and we had a blast. We stayed on 3 different beaches. The first was Patong beach. This is the place to go to schedule excursions. Be prepared to bargain with everyone for everything and never pay the asking price for anything. Almost every excursion we went on we got for half the printed price. We went to Monkey beach, monkey temple, James Bond Island. We took a tour of their jewelry store which was huge, it was the size of a football stadium. I suggest you don't go on jewelry tours unless you want to buy something because as soon as you set foot into the place people constantly make you try things on. I had fun but DH didn't like it. The jewelry there is much cheaper than in the US, especially the rubies and emeralds. The best thing about Patong are the tailors. You can get custom made suits for so cheap. If you go there you must get a suit but remember to bargain with them. We didn't bargain for the first suit and wound up paying double what we paid for DH's second suit at a different place.
The next beach we went to was Karon. The beach was immaculate and secluded. Not nearly as many tourists as Patong. The town is very small and things are cheaper there than in Patong. Everyone gets around Karon on a motorbike and they all make it looks so easy. Sometimes you see entire families riding on those things and they make it looks so safe. DH and I rented one and crashed after 30 minutes. We had to go to the hospital in Patong! The care at the hospital really went above my expectations. There was no waiting time. A doctor immediately came over and dressed DH's wounds. When she left, a few nurses took over. The entire staff spoke English which was a great relief. The emergency room was filled with motor bike accident victims, all of which had knee injuries! If only we had known before renting the motor bike. I did't get injured but DH scraped both his arms when he landed and he had a bad hematoma which stretched from his hip to his knee! He had trouble walking for about 4 days.
Our last stop was Kata beach. This was my favorite beach. The water was crystal clear and warm. There weren't too many tourists. Like all the other beaches there were beach chairs and umbrellas for rent. You could get a massage right on the beach. DH liked this beach so much that he pulled off his arm bandages so he could go into the water. We were in the water every day and the weather was so nice. Thailand has amazzing weather. When it rains, it only rains for half an hour then it clears up and becomes sunny.
Third and final hotel:
The food is fantastic everywhere in Thailand. Even the dingiest looking restaurant serve food that can compete against some of the finer restaurants. The drinks were delicious. My favorite thing to drink was coconut juice. They would slice open coconuts and put a straw in there. It was so refreshing and you could get this treat everywhere including on the beach.
The people in Thailand are so nice. I've never met kinder people anywhere. They were all eager to help you. When we fell off the motor bike so many people stopped to help us. They pulled the bike out of the ditch and made sure it was working properly. I never saw any Thai people get angry or raise their voice. It was a big change from NY.