Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Engagement Party: Molly Malone’s, Bay Shore: A+
We got engaged in Aruba on 9/10/07 and we decided to have our e-party October 20, 2007. My dad has had quite a few events at Molly Malone’s, so he suggested them for our party. I am SO glad we chose it, b/c we got such rave reviews from all our guests! We rented the large room on the 2nd floor b/c we weren’t sure how many guests we’d have. We ended up having around 50 and it was a very nice and intimate affair. I would recommend them to anyone!




The Swan Club: A-
This was the first hall we looked at and we were sold! We did look at a few others but none compared to the gorgeous gardens and rooms and prices at TSC. We booked the Camelot Room with Jordana and she was a complete doll throughout everything! We met with Joseph, the Banquet Manager, in early May, to choose our food and all. He was great! We later learned that he would be our Maitre’D, and we were very happy with that! He even helped me out when I called him frantically asking if there was ANY way we could use the Bridal Suite all morning the day of my wedding, to get ready. He accommodated us with no problems! The day of, everything went very smoothly! The only reasons I gave them an A- is because of my Bridal Attendant, Katina. She annoyed me to no end!!! The only thing she did that was helpful was sew my dress (but she made sure to blame me for the pins that kept coming undone before this) and put the flowers on my cake for decoration. She nagged us about eating… I would tell her that we’d be there in 1 minute, and she’d come back and nag some more. I appreciate that she didn’t want our food to get cold, but really, you told us, and you did your job, if it’s cold b/c we didn’t get there right away, it’s our own choice! And the thing she did that pissed me off more than anything else was that she forgot to pass out the guestbook pages to the guests! She and Joseph had asked me during CH if they could pass them out at dinner instead of having them on the plates when the guests come in. I said fine! Well, obviously it wasn’t MY job to remind them! Those pages didn’t get passed out until AFTER the cake, when more than half our guests were leaving!!! I was LIVID! I am not 100% sure if it was Katina’s fault, or Joseph’s, or a combo, but that was NOT okay with me, at ALL! Other than my BA driving me nuts, everything went perfect! We could not have asked for a better day, weather-wise, and we got to take advantage of the gorgeous gardens!



St. Hugh of Lincoln: Huntington: F
I feel terrible giving a church a bad grade, but I can’t help it. St. Hugh has been my church since I was born. Naturally, we wanted to have our wedding there. We met with the Deacon and set the date and all. A few weeks later, I was meeting with a prospective photographer, who ended up telling me that St. Hugh is VERY difficult when it comes to where they can take pics, etc. They can only stand in 1 location and not move at all during the ceremony. I contacted St. Hugh right away, this information was verified. THEN, to make matters worse, I was told that my guests wouldn’t be able to take any pictures, either! I said, “You mean pictures with flash, right?” The Deacon said, “No, no pictures at all. Don’t worry, I’ll make an announcement before we start but if I see people taking pictures anyway, I will stop the ceremony to ask them to stop.” I’m sorry, WHAT?! I couldn’t believe it! DH and I canceled our wedding there right after that. I spent the next few weeks calling other churches, but most wouldn’t let us have our wedding there if we weren’t already parishioners, or if we didn’t live in the area. Then, we found Corpus Christi…

Corpus Christ Church: Mineola: A+++
My parents were married here back in 1974, and my aunt and uncle were in 1996, as well. Deacon Brian Mannix was a complete doll! One of the first things I asked him (naturally) was if our guests could take pictures. He looked at me like I was crazy for asking, but when I explained the problem at St. Hugh, he understood. He said yes, our guests could take as many pics as they wanted, and our photographer wasn’t nearly as limited as he would’ve been at St. Hugh. We were sold! I was so happy to be getting married where my parents got married - that ended up being a really special part of the day for me.




David’s Bridal in Westbury: B+
We chose a day at the end of September and went to DB with all of my bridesmaids, as well as my mom and grandma, and DH’s mom. We had an appt and things went smoothly. My girls chose their dress, and my MOH decided she’d get a different style, which she ended up getting at Macy’s in Manhasset (see below). Myself, my mom and grandma are the only ones who ordered our dresses at the Westbury store. My mom and grandma also got their alterations done there. Everything was okay, and the alterations staff was pleasant to deal with. THAT being said, let’s move on to the Lake Grove store…

David’s Bridal in Lake Grove: BIG FAT F
Although I ordered my dress in Westbury, I took it to LG to be altered b/c it was closer to my job and just all around more convenient. My BMs and the little girls ordered their dresses in LG, but had them altered at a local seamstress (I should’ve followed them there). My 1 BM also bought her shoes at DB and had them dyed in the LG store – and they couldn’t even do that right! As for my alterations… it’s a long story but all I will say is that I didn’t take my dress home until 3 days before my wedding b/c of their constant screw-ups. On top of that, the straps on my dress BROKE during cocktail hour! My Bridal Attendant spent half the night re-pinning them, and eventually she came over with needle and thread and SEWED them on! DO NOT have your dresses altered at DB in Lake Grove!!! I cannot stress it enough!!!

Rosie’s Tailoring in Centereach: A+
My 3 BMs had their dresses altered here and so I am putting her in my review b/c they adored her! Her prices are SO reasonable ($40 for a hem I think) and she got the alterations done in a week or 2! She even told them to tell me to bring my dress there if DB couldn’t get it right (I should’ve listened).





Macy’s in Manhasset: B+
My MOH had a lot of trouble finding a dress style that she felt pretty and thin in, so when we finally went to Macy’s, we hit the jackpot! She ordered her dress back in January, and it came in May (still not sure why Macy’s takes months for their dresses to come in, and DB takes only weeks but ok). We went for her 1st fitting and she had to have MAJOR work done b/c she had lost 40 pounds! The seamstress she had (and I forget her name now) was amazing! She even gave her a strapless bra/girdle thing for a hugely discounted rate! We went back for a 2nd fitting, and the same seamstress fixed some little things. We went back the last time and planned to take the dress home, only the stupid staff manning the front desk had NO record that my MOH had paid for her dress in full – which she had… weeks earlier! My MOH was livid! They told her she couldn’t take the dress home until they figured it out. Unfortunately, she had paid cash, and tossed the receipt b/c she thought all was fine (she learned her lesson believe me). The next day, she called and spoke to the manager that was on the day before, and the manager decided she was just going to let her take the dress (very nice of them since THEY screwed up in the first place, BUT at least she didn’t have to pay anymore). Word of advice, IF you’re going to go here, keep any and all receipts, paperwork, etc., because clearly, they do not!
The 'before' shot



Diamond Cut Productions: DJ/MC: A+++++++
My brother is a DJ, and we knew right away that we were going to use his good friend Mike as our MC. Usually, my brother and Mike are a team (Mike is the MC and my bro is the DJ) but since my bro was IN the wedding party, Mike brought someone else with him. He gave us an amazing deal, and even though we didn’t pay for the package w/ the fancy lights and all, he brought them anyway. I cannot rave enough about him! Our dance floor was PACKED from start to finish, and it was all thanks to him! He’s amazing!!!




Madison Avenue Photo: A
Mike highly recommended them, as did my brother, so again, we didn’t even look around. We got a great deal – Bob was a doll to work with! We booked them for our photo and our video. We had Ted and his asst, Melissa, as our photographers, and Bruce was our videographer. Ted even did our engagement pics for us back in 2007, so we were able to get to know him a little before our big day. I had given Bob a list of must-take pics to give to Ted, and the only reason I am not giving them an A+ is b/c Ted missed quite a few of the ones I really wanted. Of course we didn’t realize this until the day after the wedding. Our video is also amazing!!! We barely knew Ted and Bruce were there all night!

Flowers by Burton: A+
Again, Burton’s was recommended to us by quite a few brides, so we didn’t even look around. Their prices were great, and they didn’t limit us to only certain types of flowers. I knew I wanted a fall-theme, and that’s what we got! I get SO many compliments on my bo-k, and the centerpieces! The ONLY thing that was odd was that they delivered the CPs when they delivered the BO-Ks, Bouts, Corsages and Pew Bows, so the CPs were sitting at TSC hours and hours before they needed to be. Burtons had told me they’d make 2 separate trips, and they didn’t, but since TSC didn’t turn them away, I was fine with it! Great experience!!!




Rachel Kiley (Hair and Makeup): A+++++++++++++++++++++++
Let me just thank the 09 bride who recommended her FSIL (Rachel) to us 08ers! Unfortunately, I cannot remember her LIW name but I am sure she knows who she is! Rachel was a Godsend from Day 1! I had my first makeup trial with her on April 17 since I was going to a wedding that night – she did a trial for my wedding and for my b-pics and I LOVED both!!! I scheduled my b-pics date with her, as well as my wedding date. I then learned that she also does hair! I didn’t know that, so I scheduled a separate trial for my hair, which I also loved! She lives in Ronkonkoma, so I went to her for the trials, but for the wedding day, she came all the way out to TSC for 9am (on a Friday morning in rush hour traffic, no less) to get to work on us girls. Myself, as well as my MOH and BM absolutely adore her, and all plan to use her for any occasions where we need hair/makeup done!!! I am recommending her to everyone I know!!!


Boudoir Pictures: Blue Daisy: A+++++++
What can I say about Mariann that hasn’t already been said a million times?! She was a joy to work with, and I was THRILLED with the way my pictures came out! I pretty much gave her free reign to do what she wanted in making my album, and again, I loved it! I gave it to DH on our honeymoon and he was floored! He couldn’t believe I had the nerve to do a photo shoot, but my fave comment was, “You know this is going in the safe!”



Sir Oliver Limos: A
They were a real pleasure to work with during the booking process (Jen is a doll!) and they were right on time the day-of. We booked a 14-passenger Excursion and the old Caddy for me and my dad, and then me and DH. Both cars were very clean inside and out, and the drivers were both very nice! We did end up going into overtime by ½ hour, but it really was not anyone’s fault, so it was fine. I’d definitely use them again!



Barrons (Veil, Tiara, Money Bag): A+
Not really too much to say. The owner (Mr. Barron?) was a real pleasure to work with. I told him the type of look I wanted for my veil, and he showed me a few, and then said he would add a few more rhinestones to the one I ended up choosing. He had a huge selection of veils and tiaras, and its nice b/c he lets you try everything on. The tiara I chose was exactly what I wanted, too! We went back months later and bought our money bag from him, as well. Excellent selection and service!



The Holiday Inn, Carle Place: C+
We blocked 10 rooms and only ended up using 4 of them. The whole room-blocking process was fine, no issues there. My problem with them came when they would not accommodate us in any way the morning of the wedding – we needed a place to get ready and logically, called them first. They were going to make us book however many rooms we’d need for TWO nights, since we’d need to be in them from like 9-3 on the wedding day. They wouldn’t give us a break on the price or really do anything for us! I spoke to 2 managers and both were not helpful. Thank goodness Joseph at TSC came thru for us and let us get ready there! DH and I also stayed at The Holiday Inn on our wedding night, but that was fine – no issues there. My big problem was that here they are, making money off us and our guests, and they would not cut us any slack at all. NOT good customer service!

Ballroom Dance Long Island: A+++++
What to say about John that hasn’t already been said?! He is a doll! DH and I took lessons with him from May-August! He not only taught us a routine for our first dance, but he also taught us the basics of Swing, Hustle and Salsa! We miss our lessons with him! Once we get some money saved, we may take lessons again, we enjoyed them that much!!!



Sandy’s Shoes: A+
What a selection! Both my mom and I got our shoes here. I spent WAY more than I wanted to on my shoes, but I absolutely fell in love with them! The girl actually cut me a deal on the price b/c she saw how torn I was. They were super comfy and I was dancing all night long!! Sandy's even dyed them black for me for free after our wedding, which was great! I already wore them a 2nd time to another wedding!


Invitations: A
In my search for favors, I had come across a website: www.favorwarehouse.com. I saw that they did invitations, as well. I was pretty stupid and didn’t even think to price them out in other stores and on other websites. In retrospect, we probably could’ve saved ourselves some money, but oh well. We chose a Birchcraft invitation that we just loved! The site was pretty good, they sent me proofs to approve before mailing me the entire order. The service was fairly quick, too. Another thing that was my own fault was not ordering enough the first time around. I ended up needing more, and they are right when they say reprints are much more expensive! Again, hindsight is always 20/20! Overall, a good experience.



Favors: A+
I actually did NOT end up ordering the favors from Favor Warehouse. We knew we wanted a photo album of some sort, since both DH and I are huge photo buffs! The ones I had seen on most websites were all the same, and we didn’t love any of them. I did a search one night for wedding photo albums, and came up with this website: www.myweddingfavors.com.
They had albums that we had never seen before, and we loved them!!! The price was right and I ordered them the next day! Unfortunately, where as with the invitations I didn’t order enough, I ordered WAY too many albums, and I have a ton of extra now. Hopefully I can find someone to take them off my hands




Capo Jewelers: Wedding Bands/DOJ: A+++
I had seen the jewelry that the model wearing my dress in the DB catalogue was wearing, and I really liked the way it looked! I ordered the jewelry from DB for $20 (necklace and earrings). The weekend of my birthday, we went into NYC to pick out our wedding bands from the jeweler where he got my e-ring. I chose something in white gold, with the antique set diamonds to match my e-ring, and DH chose a white gold band with sapphires in it. While we were there, he decided to buy me matching white gold, antique set diamond hoop earrings to wear on our wedding day, for my birthday present. And finally, as my wedding gift, he bought me a GORGEOUS white gold necklace with 1 single diamond in an antique setting. He refused to give me that until the night before the wedding, though LOL. I wasn’t able to return the set I bought from DB, but it worked out b/c my Aunt borrowed it to wear on our wedding day, so at least someone got use out of it! The bracelet I happened to find at a craft faire in Sayville only a few weeks before the wedding!
Necklace:

Bracelet:

Our rings:

The best one I've got of my earrings:


Men’s Warehouse (Tuxedos): A
I guess I really should be asking DH to review this, since I didn’t have anything to do with the choosing of the tuxedos. But, from what I understand, everything went smoothly during the ordering/measuring process, as well as upon pick-up of the tuxes. We thought they were fairly reasonable in terms of their prices, so we went with them. I thought all the men looked great on our wedding day!!!



Bachelorette Weekend: A+
Because my FSIL and MOH didn't get along at all, I opted for 2 separate bachelorette events. My MOH and BM took me to see 'My First Time' which is an off-Broadway show in the city. It was absolutely hysterical! Then, they took me to a yummy dinner at a place called Basilica's. So delish!



Two days later, my mom, FMIL, and 2 FSIL's took me to see 'Mamma ***!' on Broadway, and then we went to Tao for dinner. It was a great time!!!


Garters: A+
Thanks to LIW, I learned about all the cute garters out there that cater to your DH’s favorite things! My DH is very into hunting, so I began searching eBay for garters that would pertain to that. I found an adorable set from *SHEER SATIN AND LACE* and both garters (the toss and keepsake) even had a little deer on them! I knew DH would love them, so I snatched them up! She was a pleasure to work with. She shipped them out right away and I got them a few days later. Great service!



Ring Pillow: A+
I also purchased my ring pillow from eBay. My girls were wearing Truffle-colored dresses, so I was looking for a pillow that had some sort of Truffle accent on it. I found it at *Fishing for crafty deals on sale* and the price was great! I did have a few questions for the seller and she answered me back very promptly. I ordered the pillow from her, and again, it was shipped to me within a few days. I realized that it was Ivory, and not White, but that was my fault, since she did state the color on the site, I just missed it. I kept the pillow and our RB looked so cute with it!!!



Guestbook: A+++
Again, thanks to LIW, I learned about www.guestbookstore.com. I checked it out one day and knew immediately that that’s what I wanted for our wedding! I ordered our book and personalized pages, and it came within a few days. After I received it, I realized that in my haste, I ordered the “memories” pages and I really wanted the “predictions” pages! I emailed Amy thru their site and even though it was MY error, she worked with me! She ordered me the predictions pages at 50% off, which was great! I really appreciated that! And again, those pages came very quickly, too. Everyone loved the unique guestbook we had – well, everyone who was there to fill out the pages, anyway (see Swan Club review above). I would use them again for another event in a heartbeat!!!


Unity Candle: Curiously Creative Candles in Deer Park: A+++
I have my mom to thank for this little find! She had seen an ad of theirs in the Pennysaver, and I went and checked them out one day. They make all their candles in the store from scratch. They are gorgeous and so reasonably priced! Our unity candle only cost us $30 and it was hand-carved AND personalized with our names and the date. Doug, the guy who makes them, wouldn’t make it until fairly close to our wedding date (about a month before), since he didn’t want to risk it melting in the summer heat, which was very smart! They called me when it was ready and I picked it up. I HIGHLY recommend them! I even told them to look into becoming an LIW vendor!!!



Bridal Party Gifts: A+
This is going to be long since we got our BP quite an array of gifts from all different places! For my BMs and MOH, we got them: gift certificates to www.spawish.com, personalized tote bags & jewelry pouches from David‘s Bridal, personalized picture frames from *STORE*, and as a last minute decision, I got them their DOJ from Things Remembered, of all places! No complaints with any of the items, and the girls all loved them!




For the men, we decided to get them all a watch/money clip that was engraved with their names. We ordered from *STORE*. Then, we got them each individual gifts to match their individual personalities. We got our BM this gorgeous poker set, and it was personalized with his last name.

Our BIL we got this personalized humidor.

For DH’s cousin, we got an outdoorsman set, since he’s big into hunting. And for my brother, we got him a personalized beer stein and a personalized travel bag.

We ordered these gifts from 2 different stores: The only complaint we had was that the money clip that DH order for himself broke after like a week. We never really did anything about it though… the guys all loved their gifts!!!

Now for the kids! We had to buy for 2 Junior BMs, 2 FGs, and 1 RB. The girls all got the same things, just with slight differences. We got them all personalized tote bags, personalized picture frames, and personalized ornaments. We got 2 tote bags from David’s Bridal’s website. The other 2, as well as 2 of the picture frames, we got from www.jessicaswedding.com . The ornaments and other 2 picture frames we got from www.personalizationmall.com . Everything came out so cute! For our RB, we got him a personalized train bank and a little wooden keepsake box, also personalized. We got them at *STORE*. No complaints here, either!



Cute Clothes: A+++
One of my fellow 08 brides had posted a tank top that her sister, Christine, had made for her. It was absolutely gorgeous, so I contacted Christine and talked to her about making one for me, and one for my MOH. She is a complete sweetheart! We met up so that she could give them to me. Mine came out great! On my MOH’s, I had wanted her to do “Marisa’s MOH 2008.” Only problem - she spelled my name wrong LOL! She was wonderful about it and took it back and made me a new one, no problems!!! Love this girl!



I also ordered a shirt for me and one for DH from a booth at Tri-County called “Time for Tees.” It’s directly across from Barron’s. I ordered a tank top for me that said “Mrs. E******* est. 2008” and a T-shirt for DH that said “Groom est. 2008.” We wore them on our HM! So cute!



DIY: A+++++++++++++++++
Well I am giving myself a lot of credit for my DIY projects LOL! I made my own Table #s, programs for the church, and menus. Everything was very easy! Thank goodness for Walgreens b/c I had to go there several times to get my ink cartridges re-filled, but it was worth it!





Rehearsal Dinner: Piccola Bussola, Mineola: A+
My IL’s had asked me for a list of possible RD locations near the church, b/c they weren’t very familiar with the area. I gave them a list of a few, and they called them/visited them at their leisure. We ended up deciding on Piccola Bussola. It was literally right around the corner from the church. We had all been to the one in Huntington, and love it, so we knew it’d be a hit. Everything was absolutely delicious, and a great time was had by all!!! Highly recommend them!




Honeymoon:
Dawn’s Honeymoon Specialists: A+++
We ended up booking our HM through a TA I found on LIW: Dawn’s Honeymoon Specialists. Dawn is wonderful!!! She would reply to my FM’s within an hour, and answered all my silly questions! She and her hubby have been everywhere, so she was able to answer me very honestly and speak from experience. I recommend her to anyone!

St. Kitts: A
We had an amazing time on our HM, don’t get me wrong! We stayed at the Marriott, but we were a little disappointed in the staff there. They always looked as though we were annoying them when we would ask them something. When we left, I filled out the Marriott review thing they give you, and I was actually contacted by the manager there! I was very honest with him, and he was very appreciative (he didn’t give us a free stay or anything though LOL! Oh well!). It was nice that my review was even acknowledged, b/c a lot of the time, they are not. We had a blast anyway, though!!!





And that is my review! I realize I have to fill in some of the spots where I wrote “*STORE*” and I will! I wanted to get it up, since it’s been awhile!!! I hope you all enjoy reading!!!! This review was the least I could do to help my future LIW brides, since this site was such a help to me!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Great review!! Everything looked beautiful! I loved your bk

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

beautiful!!! congrats!!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Beautiful!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

awesome review. everything looked so great/ congrats!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

amazing review!!! congrats

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Your flowers were so pretty!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Great review!!! You looked great!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Great review Marissa! Everything looked beautiful & you look so gorgeous!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

great review! everything looked great!!!! Congrats!!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Marissa you did a great job! your wedding was so beautiful!!! you make such a beautiful bride!!!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Congrats!!! Everything looked great!!!!!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Congrats! Love your dress!

Re: Finally my review! The Swan Club, Madison Ave Photo, Burtons, Dawn's Honeymoon Specialists, and much more!!!

Fantastique!!! Thanks for the great review, so helpful!