Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

LIW- A++++++++++

Couldn’t have had my dream wedding without LIW. Thanks to ron and liz for creating such a great place where I have met great friends. A special shout out to my LIW guests Leslie and Kathleen for attending my special day and sharing it with me.

WEATHER-A+
OH MY.. I seriously had the most absolutely gorgeous day of the summer to date. It was PERFECT out. No humidity, not a cloud in the sky, a slight breeze… just absolutely amazing. I woke up to the sun shining and even took FRED for a little walk to get out of my crazy house for a bit. It was so beautiful that I called up then FH just GUSHING about how it would be the most perfect day ever.


Bridesmaid Gifts
Earrings
Sworavski in Smithhaven Mall

I forget the VERY nice and patient lady that helped me but she spent a lot of time with me to find the earrings that I wanted. Since I don’t have pierced ears, I felt so dumb trying to pick out earrings. I bought all six of the same pair and went shopping while she wrapped and ribboned and bagged and tissued my earrings. They looked SOOO pretty all packaged and I thought it was super nice of her to take the time to do that.

Cosmetic Bags-A+++++
www.bagettes.com
I ordered the bridesmaid bagettes from this site. I got the customized ribbon and wrote “thank you for sharing our special day!” and then our names and date. I uploaded and cropped all the pictures with their photo uploader/editor. All the girls cant stop raving about how great an idea this was.

Groomsmen gifts
Swiss army knives
Great idea and they loved them






Tiara—Ebay A+
Abridalveil
Awesome vendor. The tiara comb was as beautiful as pictured, if not better. IT was a great quality and arrived in a timely manner, I believe within a week.




Crinoline Slip—Ebay A+
Buydirectbridals
Wonderful vendor. Slip was super full and brand new with tags. It came quickly and was exactly as described.


Shoes
Craft Shoes in Commack

After looking almost every where to find low heeled shoes so that I could feel like a lady next to then FH, I finally hit up craft shoes and found GORGEOUS colorifics that matched my dress perfectly. The ankle strap was so comfy that I wore them around the house the whole night after I got them. The day of the wedding, I ONLY took them off because I went into the bridal sweet and saw my flip flops and said, “hey I should change into those”

GarterA+
www.gartersbygingersnap.com
This is one of my FAVORITE buys. I wanted a marine themed garter that didn’t look “cheesy” and this garter is sooo gorgeous. She hand makes all the garters and even does customized themes. I bought the set that came with a throw away and a keepsake for around $20 and was THRILLED when I saw them. GREAT VENDOR!!!!!

Invitations
Party City Centereach
We worked with Barbie and she was very nice and patient with us. The service was SOOOO fast. We ordered the invites late Sunday afternoon and received them that Friday. We then ordered extra invites on Monday and received them on Tuesday! They are gorgeous and there were no problems at all in the purchasing process.










Parasols (Bridesmaids) B+
www.whiteaisle.com
I didn’t particularly have a problem with this vendor; however, it took well over a month to receive the parasols. That being said, I did email them and was told that there was a hurricane that knocked out power in their offices for a while where they are located and that is what caused the delay.

Parasol (Bride)-Ebay A+
Hopekenneth
Amazing seller. Lace parasol is absolutely gorgeous. It is really breathtaking and exactly what I wanted. It took a little longer to arrive because it is shipped from out of the country, but it is worth the wait.








Veils-A+
www.sewdeb.com
Deb was amazing to work with. She sent be numerous emails and answered all questions I had. She looked at pictures of my dress and helped to design the perfect veil for me. I ordered the silk tulle directly through a vendor in the UK and had it shipped to Deb. The whole process took about a month and I was so happy with the results. Although I loved this veil very much, I decided to change my hairstyle and felt the tiara was too short. It is unfortunate I didn’t get to wear it, but I equally loved my other veil.

Veil I actually wore....
www.veilshop.com-A+

I ordered a 70 inch drop veil for 39 bucks. I got the veil within a week and it was GORGEOUS. I absolutely adored this veil and it didn’t have the poofyness that I didn’t like as with veils on a comb.









Dress A+++++ The went ABOVE AND BEYOND
Burton’s
Well, my dress was one of the very first things that I did for the wedding. I got it within the month when we got engaged, though I wasn;t planning on it. I saw a picture online and was OBSESSING about it, so my mom got sick of me and said, “that’s it, let’s go try it on so you shut up.” HAHA. So, at the time MrsB(05bride) was also trying on dresses and we almost ordered the same one (she switched to Grace) so she suggested to try Burton’s. Though it was a tiny showroom, Carol was awesome and I absolutely LOVED the dress, so we ordered it!!!!! Now, about 4 months later I saw a picture on the internet of a bride in my dress and it looked HORRIBLE. The lace was blended in with the dress and it looked like a curtain. I freaked out and searched a million sites for pictures when I realized the lace came in different shades. I realized the dress I first fell in love with had “frost” lace over diamond white, and I probably didn’t even think anything of it at the dress shop because I was just too excited to be trying on dresses. Anyway I emailed Carol and 9pm at night. At 10:30pm I get an email from her!!! She had just gotten home from her daughter’s concert and said she saw the email and couldn’t let me suffer all night. She said not to worry, we would fix everything and to call her in the AM. My MOH and I went down there and she was able to switch the order for me!!! I was sooooo thankful being that I never thought you could change an order four months later and now I definitely had my dream dress and it was 600 bucks cheaper than at Macy’s.
January 06
Another great Burton’s experience. Carol called to tell me my dress was in and I made an appointment to try it on. She suggested I bring just my mom or MOH so that I wouldn’t get too overwhelmed and she was def right. I was so nervous trying the dress on for the first time that I had hives. She explained how the “real” fitting would work and told me what to bring etc.

**.. ok here is where burtons literally almost saved the day. The day of the wedding Duet instructed my Bm’s to go get dressed so that they could then help me get into my dress. FSIL starts yelling form the bathroom and alas…she is missing the bottom half of her dress. She swore up and down they never gave it to her but was going back to the hotel to check… in the mean time. I call burtons and they were so helpful and understanding and offered to steam, hem and alter the sample so that it would fit my SIL AND drive it out to me. I felt horrible when FSIL came back to the house WITH her skirt that was in the back of her husband’s truck (it must have slipped off the hanger). I wrote carole a long email the day I got back from my HM explaining and apologizing.













Bustle


Bridesmaid dresses-A+
Burton’s
Bill Levkoff in euro champagne style 953
I made an appointment on a Saturday afternoon to order BM dresses. I had five of six girls with me, my mom and MIL. We were in and out and they were super helpful and answered all the questions my girls had. My MOH went and got measured a few days later and they put the order in.

The dresses were two piece, halter top, satin gowns with slight beading on the edging. I saw the dresses at the bridal suite in Centereach at first for $210 and Carole came through again with a price of $168.











MOG Dress
Burton’s
Forever Yours 84205
MIL found her dress at a shop and it was $460. A bit more than she wanted to pay so I called up Burton’s and they gave us an amazing price of $300.









MOB dress- Jovani
Burton’s
My moms dress at Macy’s was over 1k. They ordered her a size 10 and she lost a ton of weight. They altered it to a size 4 for her and it looked amazing.






Tuxes
RSVP-A+
RSVP in Bayshore
FH was worse than me! I picked out my dress before I even went to the shop and he spent a good 2 or 3 hours when we went. Thankfully the staff there was very patient even after we switched vests and ties about 50 times.

DH did all this stuff but they looked awesome and were always helpful. No problems at all.













Place card holders—Ebay
I can’t remember the seller, but it was a pleasant transaction. I received the place card holders within a week and they were in original packaging. They were MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than buying them off of a wedding site and were great quality




Unity Candle
Michael’s
I saw this gorgeous unity candle at Michael’s but for the set (base candle and 2 tapers) it was 50 bucks. I decided to go home with then FH and get coupons, since it was Columbus day they were 60% off instead of 40% off and we got the whole thing for like 20 bucks!!!!! They were gorgeous!






Sutter Home Merlot and Pinot Grigio (small bottles)

I ordered seven cases and the small bottles and the people at lake liquors so very helpful in helping me to get the best price/selection etc. The wine came in within a few days.

Wine Labels
I took one of the small bottles to Staples and found that the 31/3 x 4 labels were perfect for the wine bottles. FH and I played around with our monogram and printed them at home. VERY easy and painless. We put the wine in organza bags and WA LA.. a perfect favor.

Gold and red Organza Bags
Ebay: EFAVORMART

GREAT seller!! I originally ordered the 2 x 3 bags and realized after I purchased them that I needed 4 x 6. I emailed the seller because I won three different auctions and they not only lowered the price so that they were all equal, but combined shipping and switched to the 4 x 6 without a problem. The bags were just what I wanted and very beautiful.


DIY PROJECTS
Wish Bowl
All supplies were bought at Walmart.
• Large brandy bowl
• Sticker paper
• Paper baggies and inserts
• Frame
We printed out our monogram on the sticker paper and cut them out to place on the baggies. We also printed directions to put in the frame next to the wish bowl and it came out beautiful!






Centerpieces
After realizing I did NOT want to spend an ungodly amount of money on flowers, I decided to go the candle route. After inquiring about renting candelabras from the florist I realized it was even more expensive than the flowers! I decided to try and find my own and did so at WALMART. That’s right girls… for UNDER ten bucks I got my gorgeous candelabras that totally fit my theme and style. It took a few weeks, but I gathered enough candelabras for all the tables. They hold seven candles each so I then priced online and in stores. Target had the best deal (cause of the no shipping) and I got 3x3 unscented off white candles.







Cry packs
I decided to do these about 5 dyas prior to the wedding because my mom and gram were seriously going to bring BOXES of tissues with them. I followed the directions from the Martha Stewart website and made stickers using left over sticker paper from the wish bowl cards. I also included a flower that my mom had left over from my towel cake. They were a huge hit.




Ribbon wands
We made these the day we put together our invitations. My dad bought a piece of foam and spray painted them all for me and I went to home depot and got the little white caps that are meant to go on the ends of the white wire racks that you would use in a closet or bathroom. We cut the different color ribbon to a certain length (I think we did 26 inches) and then folded them in half , stuck it on the top of the dowel and put the cap on. We were originally going to use hot glue to secure it, but it was not necessary and none of them fell apart.





Table numbers
FH helped me design these using photshop and our mongram and we printed them out on cardstock



HAIR-A+
PJ’s hair salon-Christina(bride and MOB)
Also used Grace, Paul, Mike, Colleen
My regular stylist was supposed to do my hair, BUT she moved to Georgia at the last minute and was unable to do it. Christina copied what my other stylist did as best she could and my hair came out beautiful. My bridesmaids were all sooooo happy with their hair. My sister had never had her hair done before and was on the phone with her friends all morning saying how great it looked. My mom was a WRECK because she always hates her hair up and she was sooooooo happy with how it came out.














Makeup-A+
Jillian Gorgeous Faces
I have known Jillian for quite a while through other means. She is friends with a friend of mine and also did pampered chef shows for me. Anyway, she did 5 of us that day and through all the drama in the am never missed a beat. I had fake lashes that looked killer and my mom and SIL got them too. Everyone looked gorgeous!!!!!








DOC- Maxine A+
I booked Maxine because I could not afford to pay the money that other DOC wanted and really needed someone to set up all my DIY projects and just organize things. Well, I am SOOO happy I had her because of the drama with my BM dresses. She got to my house as the issue was being resolved but immediately told me I had to get dressed and once I started doing that, she was on her way to go to the boys and drop off there bouts. She helped them there and then came back to pick up all the church stuff and left again to decorate the church. Her husband was with her and handed out the cry packs and ribbon wands at the church. When I arrived she took my lipstick and gloss and right after the ceremony touched me up and even gave me a breath freshener spray! She also was on the phone with All Star the second we were done with pictures to see where they were and called them again when they were a few minutes late. She then came with us to the park and was so helpful. She took car of the parasols and canes that we had as props and held our bouquets when we weren’t using them. Again, she touched up my lipstick and also helped with Duet because I asked her to make sure we didn’t have a lot of kissing pics (we look dumb) and to make sure I wasn’t slouching. She left a few mintues before we did and went off to the hall for A LOT of setting up. She had to do ALL the centerpieces and unwrap all candles, rose petals, wish bowl, placecards, favors etc. When we got there she came down to check on me and my bridal attendant helped with pictures while she finished setting up. She came to ask me if it was ok that she used the extra candles and I said sure, but I was THRILLED when I saw what she did with them. We had left over rose petals and candles so she put them all along the fireplace and window sills up stairs. It looked AMAZING in there and everyone raved about how beautiful it was. Everything else was set up exactly how I asked and she was on top of my lipstick at all times. After the reception started, I didn’t really “need her” anymore but she made sure everything was being collected and left a little before the end of the night (which I totally approved). I gave Maxine an extensive list prior to the wedding and she followed everything. The ONLY negative thing I could say was that it took her a little bit to respond to emails, but she always got back to me.



Flowers-A
Burton’s
They get an A instead of A+ because they were about 15 mintues late getting to my house but the flowers were AWESOME. I loved my bouquet and the girls’. The bouts, which I was paranoid about bc the were champagne roses did not wilt all night. My DOC even commented on how they were the best latesting ones she had ever seen.





ALL STAR- A
Here is what I used all star for in all:
----Bachlorette party pick up and drop off in the city and return home
----10 passenger limo to get guys bring to church and then get girls and bring to church
----Limo Bus to take entire bridal party for pics and then to hall
---- 14 passenger van to pick up guests and bring to hotel after reception
----Airport transfers to and from for honeymoon

The cars and drivers were clean and amazing. They were normally early, however I will add that the limo bus was a bit late for our pick up from the church. It wasn’t a big deal because we just took more pics and still were ahead of schedule for the day. The bus was AMAZING. I don’t know if anyone took pics of the inside…. But I sure hope my brother has some on his camera because we rocked out on that bus. It was really the best idea ever and Rob and the other marines were able to change on it in the bathroom and everything. I have nothing but GREAT things to say about them and would recommend them to anyone.










DJ- A-
BPN entertainment (Scott)
They get an A- for the few very MINOR things that only I noticed that went wrong which I will explain in a moment. BPN was used by three friends of ours that we didn’t even realize until we asked them who they used and they all said the same person!!!! DH met with them and loved that they had the screens he wanted and the lighting. They send there own photographer to put “ZAP” photos on the screen which my guests LOVED and rave about to this day. They also do live video which was super cool. The best part was that they played a montage of us growing up and pics together which we surprised everyone with right after dinner. Everyone LOVED this, especially since DH picked his pics to play to “I’m too sexy” haha. They also put pics of me and dad up during our dance and DH and his mom up during theirs. Additionally, DH had this joke with a bunch of our friends about Napoleon dynamite in that they would always ask each other “Are you having a killer time” on job sites and so forth. I dunno how it started but it became this joke and the DJ GOT THE CLIP and played right before we made our entrance into the reception. DH’s work friends were rolling. They played all our requests and did a great job. Everyone was dancing the night away! The only things that were wrong were that they accidentally called MIL my mom’s name when he introduced her (but everyone laughed it off) and didn’t want the garter/bok ceremony, but he started to do it and realized so instead they had the girl who caught the Bok put it on the GUY….turned out hilarious and everyone had a great time.














Mess up


Cake-A+
Black forest
It was so pretty and tasted great!!!! LOVED it.




Photo/Video
DUET-A+++++++++++++
www.duetwedding.com

I booked Duet on New Years Eve of 2004. Eric was wonderful and explained everything to us. Since we booked in 04 the prices were much lower than I think they are currently and we even got them to throw in a bunch of stuff. Well, actually **I** got them to throw in some stuff. The FH was about to sign the second he walked in the place and thank goodness I had the sense to hold off a bit.

Casual Day Shoot
We had our casual day pictures at the end of July at 5pm in Port. Jeff. It was UNBELIEVABLY hot out. We were scheduled to meet with Scott, but Sam showed up at the shoot. He said he knew the area very well and that is why he came instead. Well, he was right! He took us on what was almost a pre-set path around the village and was snapping pictures like crazy. It was so hot and he was in direct sun holding all those cameras and never complained. The proofs were ready around 3 weeks later and overall I was happy with them. A few things that bothered me were minimal, but I discussed my concerns with them before the wedding. There was a bunch of shoots were my bra strap was showing and a bunch more were you could see the sweat stain on my shirt, I though he should have said something, although I know for the wedding pics things like that will be edited out. We received about 80 or so E pics and I received TONS of compliments on them.

After the casual day shoot I emailed Nicole concerning who would be the other photographer on my day. Around September or so I read some LIW girls weren’t as happy with some of the newer photographers that were hired due to the huge amount of business they were getting. Nicole said I could pick who I wanted and she would add it to my contract. I told her my concern that I have a large bridal party and needed someone who was able to deal with large groups and order people around pretty much. She suggested either Alberto or Scott and I chose Alberto after I did a bunch of research although Scott’s pictures are also so gorgeous. After that I didn’t here back from her so in about another month I emailed again. I had forgotten that she was expecting and so Sue emailed me a few times and checked the contract and Alberto and Sam were indeed written in there for me. YAY for Duet!!!!

DAY OF
Duet was early and shooting pics before they even got to the house. The flowers were running a bit late so I was nervous they didn’t have much to take pics of yet but they found stuff!!! I cant even imagine what my proofs will be like because they were just everywhere.. on top of chairs, on the floor, they never missed a beat. Alberto was soooo calm and relaxed the whole day which was a nice change from the chaos that happened in the morning.

PROOFS
I got my proofs exactly on time, actually one day early. When I went to pick them up, I just couldn’t leave there without looking at a few so I sat in my car and CRIED because they were so gorgeous. Seriously, I couldn’t be happier and it will be a nightmare to do my album because I love them all so much!
To see all the proofs I have scanned Click the link. The password is 7706
Duet Proofs




















CHATEAU LA MER-A++++++++++++++++++++++++

I don’t know what I could say about CLM that wasn’t said before. They made my dreams come true and I will never forget it. I went to CLM in Nov 04 and booked soon thereafter. I met with Lou, who I just adore as he is hilarious!!! We booked the upstairs room for a few reasons so this might be where my review is unique from others. We though we would have around 125 people and were nervous to meet the 150 minimum for downstairs. We also loved the upstairs room because the view was out over the water as opposed to being next to the parking lot on one side downstairs. After booking I became very nervous because our guest list grew to 205 invited. I called MANY times and Lou and Nick assured me that they would make anything work and they did much bigger wedding up there prior. They were just a pleasure to work with all along. The day of …OH MY G_D!!! I got there a bit early and they immediately took us out to the docks and started pictures.My Maitre D was Matt and he was outstanding. My dad guests joked because someone had spilled a drink on the dance floor at some point and they said it was like “special ops” because immediately like 5 people jumped out and cleaned it before anyone could blink and eye. My bridal attendant was Shannon, who was sooo sweet and helpful and always made sure I had a drink. My guests started arrived around 715 or so so at 730 so Matt opened the cocktail hour…..a half hour early!!!! My guests raved and raved about the CH (which I didn’t eat dang it). After I was done with pics on the dock, Shannon and one bridesmaid quickly bustled me up before I headed to the boat. It was the GREATEST. It was just so beautiful out there and we had some time to decompress before going to the CH. When we arrived on the dock all our guests were waiting for us and it was so amazing to walk off that boat into all our friends and family. The food was just outstanding and the whole night went off without a hitch. Wehad the chocolate fountain and everyone just LOVED it and the chocolate liquors. Like, I said I cant even say as much as I could or want to say because it was just the wedding of my dreams and there have been so many rave reviews about CLM to show it!!!












Palms and fountain








Ok I think I am DONE!!!!! Thank again to all who helped make my day spectacular..

Click below for my awesome El dorado Royale review!!!
EL DORADO ROYALE REVIEW

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Absolutely beautiful!!!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

YOu look amazing. Thanks for the review and best of you luck to both you and your DH.

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

congrats!! everything looks beautiful!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Im soooo not done yet guys....

Check back...

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Lovely review, thank you.

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Great review and beautiful pics!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

glad you had a gorgeous day!

The pics are great

great review!

I loved your dress!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

beautiful!! Great review!

Your flowers were absolutely gorgeous!!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Beautiful!!!!! What a great job you did!!!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Lots of love to you!!! I am so happy for you!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Wonderful review, Jen!!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Jen, you had an amazing wedding. I was so glad to have been able to come out to your ceremony, though I was waiting to see FRED pop out howling something! Ed and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with Kathleen and Tim. The food was delicious and the staff at CLM was on top of everything. I will also say that your photographers did not miss a shot! We were so impressed with how they were everywhere! Awesome review!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Fantastic Review Jen!!

Thanks so much for sharing!!

You looked gorgeous!! Congrats!!!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Omg, your wedding is gorgeous. I love everything you did. It looks like it was such an awesome day, thanks for the review. It was awesome

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Great review Jenn - gorgeous!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

EVERYTHING was absolutely GORGEOUS!! LOVE those parisol pics! Funny-- we had same invitations So glad another satisfied CLM bride. COngrats on your wonderful day----you looked amazing too!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Beautiful and so detailed!!
Congratulations!!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

Looks amazing! Congrats! I am totally stealing that photo of the little boy makin a muscle with the guys in the background. Our little nephews will look TOO CUTE doing that. Love it!

Re: Jen2999's FABULOUS 7.7.06 wedding review of Chateau la mer, Burton's, Duet, Jillian, All Starand MORE!!!

everything was beautiful! your pics gave me the chills! thanks for the review