The Brides' Review - Eastwind Country Gardens Review May 17,2008

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Eastwind Country Gardens Review May 17,2008

bonbabs Posted: May 26, 2008 10:13 AM+

bonbabs MEMBER SINCE: 12/07 TOTAL POSTS : 100 WEDDING DATE: May 17, 2008

Posted: May 26, 2008 10:13 AM

Eastwind Country Gardens Review May 17,2008

I did a very brief review on the chat board, and I feel I should elaborate since these reviews are helpful.

My wedding saga starts at Hampton Inn Broohaven in Farmingville. The hotel was clean, beautifully set up and VERY reasonable.They were so nice that after the wedding they let my guests use the breakfast room for all of them to hang out in. My guests brought in pizza and coolers and all they had to do was clean up. I would definitely recommend this hotel.

My hair and makeup was done by Chic Hair Trends (Tina) who came to the hotel. Tina is so sweet and she does such a great job. People kept complimenting on how fabulous my hair looked. The funny thing is half the people didn't recognize me first because I am now a redhead (born a blonde)

She did my bridal party's hair and my mother and my makeup. The only snafu was timing which was MY fault. I got picky and took a little longer and we ran out of time . I actually had to leave my mother at the hotel to make it to the hall for early pictures. My mother DID have a ride and she made it in time for the ceremony. It was pretty darn close though. Definitely use Chic Hair Trends, my hair stayed up the whole time, and everyone was so impressed with how I looked.

I got to Eastwind and my maitre's d was Kathleen who was so helpful. She was cool and calm and whatever I needed she helped me with. I still hear about how great the service was. The servers were attentive, and if if anyone needed anything they were right on it. The grounds were so gorgeous. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day or a prettier property. Everyone loved wandering around the gardens and we got married in the gazebo. We didn't do any additional decoration and it was just so beautiful. The archway had hanging plants and everything was so green and well taken care of it looked like a picture postcard. Gorgeous! The food was incredible and people told me that the cocktail hour 'ROCKED'.

My officiant was Reverend Deb (interfaith officiant). She worked with my fiancee and I right from the beginning. My ceremony was original and everyone was moved by how Rev. Deb said everything. My husband and I tried to make it a little different since we are of conflicting faiths. Typical Jewish weddings are in hebrew but I wanted to know what we were saying so it was fully in English. My parents walked me down the aisle (Dad stepped on my train ) and my husband did break the glass. Instead of the unity candle we did the sand ceremony in colors of purple and white. Everyone loved it because it was different. My vows were so great. Dennis and I wanted to add something a little off the wall and Rev. Deb just took it in step and added it. On the day of the wedding she verified if i still wanted it. We added to our vows Love, Honor and Torture .People were surprised, but it got a big laugh. Also we added that Dennis speaks Alyssa fluently (anyone that knows me was nodding their heads). I LOVED my ceremony. Husband did tear up (he says it was allergies). It started as soon as I walked down the aisle. Coincidence? I don't think so.

My photographer was Ward Photography (Darlene Ward). She was amazing. Unobtrusive and just great to work with. She was very open to new ideas, and didn't harrass you ( which I appreciated) . I would definitely suggest her.I can't want to see her pictures cause she does such phenomenal work.

I got my flowers from With Al My Heart (located in Eastwind). My flowers were so beautiful. We originally had compromised on purple flowers ( which I didn't want) and Lenee helped me every step of the way. I also got my invitation there which I LOVED. I changed my colors a little after our appointment to coral and she was very accomodating. Instead of regular bouquets I went with pomanders (flower balls). They looked so classy and different. My bridal party was so thrilled with them that they are drying them to keep it.. I also got my centerpieces which were a square vase, candles , and pebbles. You will just have to see what it looks like. People were fighting over them.

MY DJ was Dominic from Tommy Tunes. The music was so great. Everyone was dancing and there was a great mix. Dominic kept coming up to us, to see if we needed anything. For my ceremony my bridal party walked down to Aerosmith Don't Want to Miss a Thing. I came down to I'll Sill Be Loving You by Restless Heart.. I've always loved that song, so figured I could incorporate it. We left with Red, White & Blue from Lynrd Skyrnd because it has sentimental value to us. The Bridal Party was introduced by Stevie Ray Vaughn 'Pride and Joy'. Not your standard wedding music, which we liked. Our wedding song was ' I Wanna Be Your Everything' by Keith Urban. My husband gave me a hard time towards the wedding planning (he wanted Scooby Doo to marry us (uh no), so I played the Scooby Doo Theme for him. He was definitely surprised. He also wanted purple for flowers (I didn't like them with my dress) so at the end of the wedding I had the DJ play 'Superfreak' by Rick James and I put a purple pimp hat on him, and i wore a purple boa. He wanted purple, well I gave it to him.

All in all, my wedding day was exactly what I wanted. I would recommed everyone I went with. It was just so fun. Thanks to the LIW people and you girls for all your advice.

Onto my next step of moving to PA>

Alyssa

GinaZ Posted: May 27, 2008 09:43 AM+

GinaZ MEMBER SINCE: 12/06 TOTAL POSTS : 10861 WEDDING DATE: Mar 28, 2008

Posted: May 27, 2008 09:43 AM