HamptonsBride's 6-07 waterfront beachy tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

First let me start out by saying that DH & I are “older”...i am 34 and he is 41 (yes, this was the first marriage for both of us. ) Dh doesn’t drink and i am not the partier that i used to be, so we wanted something fun and casual that wasn’t typical. We are not big fans of following tradition and DH has always hated typical NY weddings (he’s from Montana originally but has lived all over). DH lived in Israel for several years for work and loved how they did weddings over there...more casual, less structure and LOTS of food. After going to his best man’s wedding in Israel back in November I finally understood what he was talking about when he said he wanted an “Israeli” wedding..and we started to design our wedding in that way, even though neither one of us is Jewish ;). The dresscode for our wedding was “Elegant Beach Casual”..leave your suit at home & bring your flip flops instead.

Our wedding had very little structure...no receiving line, bp intro or garter toss. We had open seating except for 2 reserved tables, 1 for Bride’s family 1 for Groom’s family. All of our photos were taken beforehand at the beach. We started the wedding at 3pm..at which time guests arrived and could immediately grab some appetizers and drinks and enjoy the view. At this time DH & I stood at the garden entrance and greeted our guests as they came in. Around 3:40 we had the DJ announce that our ceremony would begin shortly and that everyone should go over to the ceremony area...and we had him play the theme from the TV show Survivor after he did this. Then we did our short but very meaningful ceremony, ran into the main house, signed our documents, bustled my dress and came out to do our first dance.

My wedding was everything I had always dreamed of & I feel blessed to have had such a wonderful day...I wish the same to everyone else!!!

All of our vendors get A+ marks & I would highly recommend them (except the mean old ladies at Fortunoff..haha...but Stephen there gets an A+)...that’s why I dind’t bother writing it next to each one. All of them were a pleasure to work with, extremely pleasant & great with communication and delivered wonderfully on the wedding day!

E-ring Setting & Wedding Band : Leigh J. Nacht, NYC www.AntiqueEngagementRings.com. I always wanted an antique style e-ring since I have my grandmothers and just love the look of it. I found Leigh on-line, made an appt and looked at settings since Dh had already purchased my diamond. After sneaking behind my back with a friend, DH worked with Leigh to get my e-ring made as a suprise. DH left my diamond with him for about a week (i died when he told me this, since I did find him thru the web & had no knowledge of him) Needless to say my diamond was not switched & my setting appraised for almost double what he had paid. Leigh is one of the nicest people to work with. No high pressure sales like many in the diamond district, and he wants you to be happy. After picking up my wedding band & wearing it around the house for a few hours, i realized it was too tight and uncomfortable. Since it is an eternity style it can’t really be resized, Leigh made a brand new one for me and exchanged it with no problem. He also fixed two of my antique pieces that had been my grandmothers’. He suggested adding diamonds to the pendant necklace and it just looked amazing. I never would’ve even thought of it! He also fixed an antique bracelet for a fraction of what i was quoted elsewhere. I love my rings and get compliments on them all the time. I highly recommend Leigh (pics in albums)

Grooms Wedding Band: Fortunoff. The majority of old bittys that work there are just useless and rude. On more than one occasion we dealt with rude women, so much that DH walked out of the store the one day so as to not cause a scene because he was so mad. But there is a younger guy named Stephen who is phenomenal.He knows his jewelry and is a sweetheart as well. I will only deal with him from now on. DH’s ring came in a few weeks later than they said it would but is beautiful. It is by Artcarved and is already scratched and banged up looking.

As for all the DIY projects...i am a Graphic Artist/Photographer and have been doing this kind of stuff for years, so if it seems like some of it was professionally done, it was...by me...haha. ( I am not currently looking for any freelance work so please don’t FM me with requests..i will gladly answer questions though ;)

Save The Date Magnets: CafePress.com I created the artwork for them & uploaded it onto magnets by CafePress.com. I ordered their bag of 100 for $85. They were high quality heavyweight magnets, not the flimsy paper-backed ones.I mailed them out in CD mailers on cards i made form cardstock I bought at Staples for like $10 for a pack of 250 sheets.

Invites (DIY Pocketfolds): cardsandpockets.com. I ordered my pocketfolds from them and loved them. They were great quality at a great price. My order came short about 5 envelopes and they were quick to respond with the missing ones as well as a few extra. I used their affiliated printer to do my RSVP envelopes with a custom graphic and our return address. She did a great job for a great price & saved me alot of aggravation! I created all the artwork for the invites & inserts in Illustrator and bought regular white cardstock at Staples to print them on, and then cut them myself. I bought square silver metallic envelopes to mail them in from ActionEnvelope.com for $20 for 50.

Dresses & Veil: Fantsasia Bridal, Rocky Pt. (Bride, MOH, MOB, FG)
I went shopping there on a Saturday w/o an appointment with my Mom. Right away we were greeted by Linda who was helpful and so friendly like all the staff there. I found my dress that day...and by chance when i loved the sample I had on, she told me they had one in stock, brand new, never worn, with the tags & all for half price...turned out it was my size..bought it on the spot! Got my veil there also...when you buy your dress they give you 1/2 off veils..and your BP & Mom gets a discount on their dresses as well. I have nothing but raves about them, they knew me when i walked in for appointments & were always so pleasant and helpful. I came a few times just to visit my dress to show friends & take pics and they were never rude, and said come as much as you’d like. Even my Mom commented on how nice everyone always was. My veil took forever to come in, but they will allow you to borrow the sample veils for hair trials if you need to. I thought this was just incredible...another gold star for them! We got my Mom’s dress, MOH & FG’s dresses there as well..and again very happy with how everything turned out & our appointments getting them.

Headpiece: DIY Headband. I bought a headband at Claire’s for about $5 and a starfish hair clip for $25 at a kiosk at the Source Mall by Fortunoff. I removed the rhinetones from the headband, filed off the excess metal, spread the two bands farther apart, respray painted it silver, and then hot glued the starfish to it for a completely custom piece. I was originally just going to use the clip in my hair, but after seeing a few headbands in bridal magazines i fell in love with the look and of course couldn’t find anything that i liked, so i made it! The headband was great at keeping my hair out of my face all day and loved how it looks in pics.

Silver Handbag: I had these bags made with my photography on it to sell in an art gallery. Turns out it also went perfectly with my beach theme and the silver matched my shoes and jewelry.

Grooms Attire & Groomsmen: Nordstrom. Dh wore linen pants & a button down shirt. He got his groomsmen the same. I bought shirts for my brothers there as well, since they were my “bridesmen”. As always they had excellent service and were able to get us a shirt in a tall size for DH & shipped it to our house.

Weather: God. It was a beautiful sunny day at my house when i woke up. My wedding was about 10 minutes from my house by the water. As we drove there and got close I realized it was extremely foggy on the beach & at my wedding locale. No big deal..it made for some great pics and a funky atmosphere for our wedding. Yes, it would’ve been nice to have bright blue sky, but i was just happy it wasn’t raining so we could have the pics on the beach & the ceremony outdoors! I think we would’ve roasted had the sun been out.

Ceremony/Reception: The Inn Spot on the Bay, Hampton Bays. www.theinnspot.com. I knew i always wanted a tent wedding on a lawn on the water in the Hamptons...unfortunately i don’t have any rich relatives or friends with such a house...haha. So in my search thru magazines i stumbled across an ad for a location in Hampton Bays, which is where we live. I had driven past this place all my life and never gave it a second glance and didn’t even know they did weddings. I called & spoke with the owner and made an appt to see it. It was a cold & cloudy day in February when we went to see it, and as soon as i saw the lawn and the view i knew that was it, even on such a yucky day it still looked beautiful. It was only the second place i looked at but we booked. The owner Colette is also the chef. She won Platinum Chef of the Hamptons the year before so we knew the food was good. Dh & I had dinner at the restaurant there several times and each time the food was amazing. We got to know the owners thru our planning & dinners and had a great time planning with them, it was like dealing with friends. The thing i liked the most about it was you are truly on the water, not like some other locations where you are on it, but hardly see it from the inside. You are on a lawn with a bulkhead that is right on the bay, and there is even a dock you can walk out onto..it is absolutely gorgeous.

They are not a typical wedding hall so they didn’t have a set menu that we had to choose from. They asked us what we wanted, what our budget was and we worked that way. We wanted a clam bake as the main meal and served full lobsters, muscles, clams, shrimp, etc...which was a hug success with our guests. We also had a chicken dish, beef dish and chocolate fetuccini (which sounds gross but is delicious). We did buffet style because we didn’t like the idea of stopping for a sit down dinner. Cheffe Colette also did my wedding cake, which looked as good as it tasted. She made exactly what I had explained and envisioned. The tent was beautiful, even better than i had imagined..it was so high you felt like you were in a huge space. We were able to get a dance floor that had plenty of room for everyone, and the tent was so big we had plenty of room for all the chairs and tables without it feeling cramped at all. It was a bit chilly at first so we left a side to the tent down and it made a huge difference without ruining the view.

The Inn Spot also has several seaside cottages and rooms in the main house that our guests stayed in. It was great because Dh’s huge extended family filled the place up and they were able to spend the few days before having a family reuinion. They set up a volleyball net, played bocci ball and had a blast hanging out on the lawn. The rooms in the main house were beautiful too and our friends from Israel let us use their’s that day as our Bridal Suite.


Make Up: Jacqueline Nicole. www.prettyme.com She is so sweet and extremely talented. For my trial she sat and listened to what i wanted, and looked at pictures I had brought as examples. She then proceeded to make me look gorgeous. I did the airbrush and she was able to get my reddish blotchy face to look amazing. The day of my makeup looked amazing, lasted all day and looked incredible in the pictures. She gave me a longwearing lipstick that i threw in my purse and re-applied maybe once the whole day. I got so many compliments from people saying my makeup was perfect, not too much but just enough. She also did my MOH & Mom. My Mom hardly ever wears makeup and was a bit hesitant at first, but Jacqueline made her look gorgeous. I had people telling me how amazing my Mom looked, and some didn’t even recognize her at first.My MOH(SIL) looked gorgeous too. She was on time and got everyone done with plenty of time to spare. I highly recommend her!!!

Hair: Valerie (non-vendor). I used my friend’s hair dresser who comes to her house. I wanted a casual kind of sloppy up-do and did a trial and loved it. I later decided to change my hair jewelry from a clip to a DIY headband so i scheduled a second trial. I loved how my hair came out that day and it lasted even thru the humidity with the fog. She did my Mom, MOH & FG’s hair too...everyone looked great!!! Again, my Mom who is very low maintenance looked amazing. She was on time and got everyone done in a timely manner and i now use her to do my hair all the time.

Florist: LA Blossom. www.lablossom.com Well first I have to thank Laurie for setting me up on a blind date with my DH! If it weren’t for her there never would’ve been a wedding! She has been my BF since we were in grammar school.So of course she was my florist, but her knowledge and experience in the business also helped me plan and choose all my vendors. From working with so many LIW brides she has come to hear about the good and the bad, and when i told her what i was looking for in a vendor she pointed my in the right direction. She had told me about Verdi before I was ever even engaged! And of course she turned me into an addict on this site. I did DIY non-flower CP’s which Laurie helped me perfect & set up and decorated with shells and made sure my tables looked fantastic. I went with peony bouquets and she suggested white for my MOH to go with her dress and have a different look from mine without having to sacrifice flowers or size. She made the most amazing boutineers for the Dads with shells & starfish, and beautiful orchid wristlets for the Moms & grandma. Laurie accompanied me on so many shopping trips for the wedding it was unbelievable. As a Mother, Wife and business owner she always found time to go dress shopping with me or listen to me ramble on and on about some of my ideas and visions for the wedding. I have seen so much of work first hand and her talent just always blows me away. She is so creative and enjoys what she does with all her heart.

Photographer: Photography By Verdi. www.fotoverdi.com As someone who does photography this was my most important vendor in my opinion and the one i was most picky about. As I said, my friend told me about them years ago, so i was always checking out their website. I love their shooting style..it is artistic and photojournalistic with consistent quality. What i like is they are also the owners. I knew when i booked with them that they would be the ones shooting my wedding, no changing of photographers. They have years of experience and an excellent reputation. Yes, they are a bit more expensive, but i have about 1200 or so proofs that are all amazing shots. They also did our engagement pics which were incredible...again so many pics to choose from that we loved. They are also such a fun couple to work with. Non intrusive, you hardly know they are ther but they somehow manage to get shots that look like they were right in the middle of it all.

Video: Wildrose Video - TBD....But from booking and working with them so far they have been fantastic. I think my cameraman was Paul? Can’t remember his name, but he was great...stayed out of the way and was fun to work with. Can’t wait to see the video! Will update after that.

UPDATE: LOOOOOVE my wedding video!

Day Of Coordinator: Laura - LA Productions. www.laproductions.net I was on the fence about hiring a DOC at first. But with a tent wedding, lots of OOT guests, and my SIL performing the ceremony I figured it’d be a good idea to get someone who knows the ropes to coordinate it all & keep things running smoothly. From my first meeting with Laura I knew it was money well spent. She had a list of questions I never even thought of. My MIL went with me to that meeting & was impressed as well. Laura e-mailed me to remind me of our 1 month out appointment and was always on top of things. DH met her at another meeting & loved her as well..and he is very picky! She called me a few days out to check up on me, and ran our rehearsal. She made sure our wedding was perfect, and if anything went wrong, I never even knew about it. Anyone contemplating a DOC, do it. And yes, there are newer people out there who may be cheaper, but I’d rather pay a little extra to get someone who has years of experience and is an absolute professional as well as a sweetheart. It’s no wonder she earned the Knots best of.

DJ: Music By Michael. www.musicbymichael.com DH & I wanted a very low-key kind of DJ. Basically just someone to make any necessary announcements and play music. And someone that didn’t sound like Mr. RadioAnnouncer when making the announcements..haha. Michael was awesome...exactly what we wanted and he did a great job. He works off a laptop and has an online music planner where we were able to pick songs and make our playlist...and it syncs up with iTunes so that you can hear song bytes to make sure it is the song you want. He also worked with us getting custom requests...DH loves abstract trance music and he was able to get all the songs we requested or use versions we had. Our first dance was a mix of 3 songs DH put together and it worked out perfectly. He also helped us with suggestions and was a pleasure to deal with.

Rehearsal Dinner: Indian Cove Restaurant, Hampton Bays
This was the one thing DH was in charge of..planning the RD. We were originally booked in an outdoor deck room but since there was a huge storm a month or two before it destroyed their awning for it and that room was unavailable. At first we were disappointed, but they just built an outdoor patio right on the canal where we had our cocktail hour instead. Turns out we liked that even better. The food was fantastic and so was the service.We had the upstairs room with a bar for the sit down dinner which was perfect for our large, loud crowd. Everyone loved the dinner & location.

Officiant: DH’s sister/Sundy Schermeyer, Southampton Town Clerk
We asked DH’s sister if she would get ordained so that she could marry us. Neither one of us is very “religious” as far as church goes, although we both have a strong belief in God. She was more than happy to do this, but it turned out that our marriage license place didn’t accept her ordination as a legal one. Soooo...we had to figure out a plan B. We still wanted SIL to perform the majority of the ceremony which she did, but we had our local town clerk come & do what was necessary to make our marriage legal. Sundy, the town clerk, was a pleasure to deal with and even met with us the day before to do a quick run thru of the ceremony. She was on time professional and has a good sense of humor, and it only cost us $75 to have her come and marry us. SIL also did an amazing job at giving us a personal and meaningful ceremony. We also recited our own vows, which DH gets an A+++++ for as well for blowing me and everyone else away that day with what he said, and the fact that he cried as he said the words to me. If you are thinking about writing your own vows, do it! It doesn’t need to rhyme of be Shakespeare, just from the heart to the other person. I will never forget that moment.

Dance Lessons : www.arthurmurraysuffolk.com/southampton.htm Arthur Murray, Southampton. Dh & I knew we wanted to do something fun and different for our first dance. Dh is the one that signed us up for lessons. We worked with Victor, the owner and not only created a first dance that was “us”..but had alot fun along the way learning and perfecting it. We both looked forward to our classes and it was a great way to spend some quality time together before the big day. We started out with My Wish by Rascal Flats...then the song changed to Something Stupid from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and we ended with Honky Tonk Budonkadonk (i kid you not). Our guests got a kick out of it, and DH and i had fun getting to be silly and ourselves, and it shows on our faces in the pics!

Favors: www.Shutterfly.com I wanted to give something useful and featuring my photography. So i decided to give a set of blank notecards with my beach scenes of the Hamptons as the favors. I used Shutterfly to print them, and stumbled across a buy one, get the rest half off sale. Let me tell you I saved about $75 thanks to that sale! If you sign up they will e-mail you coupons as well. I have used Shutterfly for years and have always gotten excellent results.

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Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

WOW!!!! Amazing wedding! Love how you structered it differently. What a beautiful spot for a wedding! Congrats!!!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

Wow, your wedding is my absolute DREAM wedding!
Everything looks fantastic and you were a beautiful bride. Congratulations!!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Kudos to you and DH for doing it YOUR way! I love absolutely EVERYTHING!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

Love your pictures, the first one is gorgeous. Your review was so pleasant to read!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

I love the way you did your wedding, I wish Icould do it like that!!! Congrats,all your pics are beautiful!!!!!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

what a beautiful and personal wedding!

congratulations!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

BEAUTIFUL! I'm FMing you w/a silly question!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

I Love Love Love your wedding...every detail is gorgeous !!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

Beautiful! I love that you did everything your way & I really like how everything just looks so relaxed & fun!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

Wow really beautiful!!!!
I love the theme, you looked amazing.
Thanks for the review!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

absolutly beautiful!!! congrats!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

Just beautiful!!!!
I love the theme...down to the shells and starfish bout. Great review!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

wow!! great review and pics!
i've always wanted a tent wedding!

thanks for sharing! congrats!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

What a fabulous, unique wedding!! Congratulations!!!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!

Your pictures are gorgeous! You look awesome! And I am so jealous that you had a clam bake!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

i loved ur theme!! everything looked great! awesome review!!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

What an awesome review! You looked so beautiful and it was a gorgeous wedding...you did an amazing job with everything!! So unique and special! Congrats!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

love the beach theme....

great review im glad you had a lovely day!

Re: HamptonsBride's 6-8-07 waterfront tent wedding with Photography by Verdi, LA Productions, Jacqueline Nicole, Wildrose, Music by Michael, LA Blossom, Fantasia Bridal & many DIYs at The Inn Spot

absolutely beautiful and your pictures are too die for!