The Brides' Review - July 20, 2008 Westbury Manor wedding

Labelladonna223 Posted: Jul 31, 2008 12:39 PM+

Labelladonna223 MEMBER SINCE: 6/08 TOTAL POSTS : 2 WEDDING DATE: Jul 20, 2008

Posted: Jul 31, 2008 12:39 PM

July 20, 2008 Westbury Manor wedding

Dress: Davids Bridal Houston Texas and Carle Place B (But only because I liked my dress)

We relocated to Houston, Texas but had our Wedding where both of our families are in NY.
I looked online and picked out a dress that I thought I'd look good in. When I got to the store in Texas I tried it on and loved it. First choice, Love at first sight. I did all of the rest of my shopping at Davids Bridal by the source mall in Carle Place. The service at Carle Place by the source mall was horrible. They were rude and very slow. Also I found and earing set and necklace set that I wanted to wear on my wedding day and they told me that I couldn't buy it because it had been mismatched by one of the sales girls. Very unaccomodating. But they have good stuff there at a decent price so if you can ignore the rudeness as I tried to, they yu can get great deals. If you buy your wedding dress there they give you discounts on everything else.
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Bridesmaides dresses and Mother of the Brides dress: Davids Bridal Carle Place B

The bridesmaides dresses were beautiful. No complaints about that. They were exactly what I was looking for and looked great on all of the girls, Short, tall, large chest, small chest. The lady even mistakingly gave all of my bridesmaides a 20% discount on there dresses because I bought my dress there. The dresses came in promptly and everything was great. I was told by several of my bridesmaids that the sales girls were rude to them. I instructed the girls to NOT get alterations done there because of all of the bad reviews I heard about them on LIWeddings. Most of them didn't need alternations at all while a few brought the dresses to a family member for alterations. My mom went all over Long Island looking for her dress. AS soon as she walked into Davids Bridal she saw her dress and ordered it right away. Again Great products- Bad Attitudes!!!!

Shoes- Again Davids Bridal B
Marissa shoes were confortable until I got to the first hour of the reception after wearing them all day. Then I was sooo happt That I also purchased a pair of slippers from DB. THey were a life saver. I switched between both shoes throughout the night.
While we're I the subject I also purchased my necklace, earings and veils from DB. The veil that goes over your face for the ceromony that they sell at DB for $20 is VERY cheap looking. It looks like a piece of crappy tulle attached to a hair comb. I upgraded to a real veil that was less expensive ($45) then the other longer veils. It was soo much nicer!! Everything that I purchaed there was beautiful!!!

Bridesmaides Gifts: Tri County in
Levittown <<(I think) A+++++

What a life saver. I looked all over Texas AND all over Long Island to find a nice set of jewelry to give to my bridesmaids. They were either really cheap looking or way too expensive. Finally I decided to go to Tri-County. I found a gorgeous necklace/earrings set. Because I was buying Four sets the sales lady gave me a discount. What a relief!

Groomsmen Gifts: Things Remembered A++++
Last minute we strolled into Things Remembered for the Groomsmens gifts. We were unsure of what to get. We saw these classy looking flasked that had double banded stainless steel lines on them. They even Personalized them for us and we revived them the very next day. Another relief. To accompany the flasks we bought and wrapped bottles of Grey Goose Vodka.
( Noticing a theme?)

Invitations- Again Davids Bridal A++++ Online

They offer a 20% discount on invitations if you buy your dress there but you have to order them online, which is a bit of a gamble because you never actually get to see the invitations until they are swent to you already written. Well I gambled correctly because these invitations were flawless. We received so many compliments on how classy and elegant they looked. The postage cost me 97Cents per invitation, and 42 cents for each response card. All in all it was an expensive order. 'Next time' I'll just call people. lol

Hair and Makeup - D Lets just say it was a nice girl with little talent that charged way too much. Noone was happy with their hair including myself.

S&S Tuxedos Hicksville NY A+

The guys all looked great. The men working there were quick. Everything ran smoothly exect for a few minor alterations last minute.

Ceremony St. Patrick's Church Glen Cove Ny A

The church was beautiful and the ceremony was nice. But they had a baptism scheduled at 1 o'clock for 8 babies and I was due to walk down the aisle at 2. I figured I'd just show up 15 minutes late and it all worked out fine that way. Just go with the flow.

Limos Royalty Limo's A
The drivers were great! We got a 59 Rolls Royce for my father and I and my husband and I The air barely barely worked. It was 90 degress and humid in a big poofy dress with no air. Wished I was in a nice big Limo but It photographed really well. The other limo for the bridal party looked nice but my Husband said it was really old and dingy inside.

Photographer: Franklin Square Photography A+

Greg was the photographer. He was great. He really likes taking pictures and is VERY Enthusiastic about it! But Thats what we paid him for and I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. The only con is that they are VERY expensive. But it is the only thing that you have to remember your wedding by so we opted to go with the best.

Videographer- Franklin Square Photographer A+++

Very unintrusive, Barely knew he was there but did a great job!!! We almost diod not get a video of our wedding. We thought he's be intrusive and annoy us with lights in our faces all night. The night goes by soo fast and it is is the ONLY thing that will help you remember the greatest night of your life. Pictures are great but they only capture still poses. Its great to see your relatives gettin down on the dance floor and saying funny things into the camera. We are soo thankful that we decided to get a video!!

Florist Clolonial Florist Belmore A+++

They were great. THe flowers came out beautifully. Victoria is a genious when it comes to putting arrangements together! All of the guests commented on how gorgeuos the flowers were and how they made the room! They even came to my house at 6am, to decorate with balloons and ribbons. Everything looked wonderful thanks to them. I highly recommend them, Especially Victoria!!!

Reception hall: Westbury Manor A+++

They cocktail hour was astounding. People said it was over the top beautiful. The food at the cocktail our was out of this world and with a bunch of Italians THE FOOD is VERY important.
The Bridal Attendings were (I can't say Enough) It was incredible how organized and helpful theyt were. At one point my shoes hurt me. I told her that i needed my slippers. Within seconds she radioed someone and was putting on my slippers as I did a shot at the bar. I could not have chosen a better reception hall. Many guests said to us at the end of the night THIS IS THE BEST WEDDING IVE EVER BEEN TO~!! I do however have one complaint about Westbury Manor. My family and I ate at Their Polo Lounge so that we can taste the food. We got the Filet Mignon. It was the best piece of meat that I have ever had. We were assured that that is the exact type of meat that our guests would receive and that it would taste just like what we had just eaten. On the day of the wedding they brought my husband and I a Sample tray to try. The Filet was soo tough and fatty and dry that we really couldnt even swallow it. I dont know what happend but most of the guest complained about theit filet. I was mortified because I had recommended it to EVERYONE I talked to before the wedding saying that they'll never have a better filet mignon than at westbury manor. I intend to write them a letter asking what the reason for this was. But other than that Our Day was beautiful and stress free thanks to their exceptional service.

Erga Bakery (Used by Westbury Manor) F- - -

Why they use this bakery is beyond me. Before decided to order a cake from the bakery trhat Westbury Manor uses I decided to go over there and order a sample cake. I got a vanilla cake with chocolate mouse and Canolli filling with whipped cream icing. I was so excited to try the wedding cake. All of my Italian relatives were over that day. We cut into the cake I literally almost chocked. It was so dry that I couldnt swallow it. Now I'm not picky about desserts. All sweats are great to me but this cake tasted like it was our one year anniversary cake. Also tasted sour and gave me and my mother a stomach ache. We called up the bakery, went there and the baker was very upset that we didn't like his cake. He tried it himself and said it was delicious. (So we ruled out any chance of the cake just being a bad one) We decided to use another bakery and pay the extra money. Westbury Manor Also uses them for Pastries. The pastries are incredible!!! So delicious, Not sure what happened with the cakes

Wedding Cake Butter Cooky Bakery
Franklin Avenue A++++

We got the same cake from this bakery Choc. Mouse n canolli filling and it was so moist it melted in your mouth. I tried a sample cake and the relatives were over again. They said the cake was unbelievable. It was $550 for a 5 tier cake. We ordered it and they delivered it to Westbury Manor that morning. It wasn't AS moist on the wedding day as I had hoped but it was well worth the extra money to not use Erga. Westbury Manor gave us a $200 credit.

Wedding night Hotel (La Quinta Inn Garden City)
(Formerly Wingate Inn)
A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And them some.
When we got to our hotel after the wedding we were welcomed and given our room key. They had upgraded us without our knowledge to a HUGE suite with couches and tables and a flat screen tv and a huge california king size bed. It as amazing. They even had a bottle of champagne on ice and chocolates waiting for us! Our only regret is that we couldn't stay there longer. We joked that we wished our honeymoon room was that nice!! HIGLY HIGHLY Recommended!!

Place Cards: Michaels Arts and Crafts Store

Westbury Manor gave us the place cards for free. The space for writting peoples names was sooo small that there was no way that anyones names Italians or not would fit. So I went to Michaels and purchased big place cards and pretty self adhesive bows to go on them. All I did was stick each place card in my printer and print out the people names that I had already saved on my computer. When it was printed I stuck on the self adhesive bow and thats it. It was so easy, fun and they came out Gorgeous!!! The place cards were not in the wedding section they were in the party section.

DJ
Starlight Express Intense Entertainment A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I could NOT have asked for a better DJ. They were the highlight of the night. We saw them at our friends wedding 2 years ago and knew right away that we had to have them. Being that we are out of state, my parents went to one of their show cases. They were blown away at how great and professional they are. People wre on the dance floor all night. It was amazing. I could write a 10 page review on how great they were.

Cocktail hour entertainment Alessandro
(Italian Singer and starlight express)
A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
People raved about how great of a singer Alessandro was at the wedding. He sang all though the cocktail hour and during the wedding at meal times and special dances. He sounded just like the real original singers. He and the DJ really MADE THE WHOLE WEDDING. I highly highly recommend both of them. If you want a great wedding this DJ Company is the one!!

Favors DiscountMugs.com A+++++++

I ordered pretty wine glasses which were personalized with my husband and I's names and wedding date. I purchased Jordan almonds from party city and personalized ribbon from ribbonwarehouse.com and placed them in the glasses. Then I put each glass in a box and wrapped it. They came out so pretty!!

Honeymoon Sandals Royal Bahamian Bahamas

A+++

Everything was great so relaxing. Read reviews on tripadvisor. com. Theyre awefully. Since reviws were soo bad our expectations were low. We were very pleasantly suprised. I mean we've stayed in better hotel rooms bbut it was a nice VERY COMFORTABLE bed. Now If theres one thing in this world that I am picky about its food.
I expected horrible food from an all inclusive. I had not one single complaint the whole trip with any meal. Even the Italian fod was pretty good, which we were shocked about. We ate at every restaurant and they were all good. Our only wish is that they had snacks for late night other than burgers and fries from criters pub. Just some fruit or chips would have been good. Bring your own late night snacks, or stock up at spices for later. lol The pools were great. Manor pool didnt have many chairs but Windsor pool did. Beach was VERY small. VERY VERY Small. But the private Island made up for it. The frozen drinks were very yummy but VERY watered down. If you wanna catch a buzz order a Screwdriver. The customer service wasn't great. Very unreliable. They have a stocked bar in the room, that they are suppose to restock daily. You have to literally write them a letter to restock it for you. We were out of shampoo and Conditioner and it was never replenished. Even after writting a note to replensh it. But all in all these were just minor details and it didn't take away from us having a great honeymoon.