May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

I finally have time to post this review....to all the future Ariana brides - you have nothing to worry about....everything was even better than I expected!!! Here's my review


Ceremony - Historic Chapel in Woodbury - A
I loved the chapel. It was exactly what I was looking for. Being that I was engaged for only seven months - I did not have a lot of time to plan the ceremony at a church. My church required 6 months advance notice and by the time I realized that, it was too late. So I searched for the perfect spot. The chapel was a LI Weddings recommendation. And I sincerely thank everyone who recommended it. The place was perfect for my ceremony, and the grounds were a perfect place to take pictures.

Organist - A
I'm not sure of the name if the person who did it, but he works with the Chapel. I definitely recommend him. Although we had a bagpiper outside, we needed music for the actual ceremony and he was great!

Bagpiper - A+++
A coworker of my husband's. He was great - I def. recommend having a bagpiper outside the church. I think it totally added to the charm of the ceremony.

Minister - April - A++++
She was absolutely perfect. The Chapel provided her - but I also know a few people on LI Weddings also recommended her. The ceremony was beautiful thanks to her. My husband and I were a little nervous about writing our own vows and had no idea what to write, so we told April we just wanted to do the traditional ones. Instead of just agreeing with us, she helped us formulate our own vows, taking our thoughts and putting them into words for us. The vows came out perfectly. She was also very understanding when I forgot the marriage certificate the day of the wedding! I had so much on my mind that I completely forgot. She immediately calmed me down and told me not to worry - and we met with her the next day to get it done.

Photography - Through Regal Bridal - A
The photographer was great. He was very professional and not at all intruding during the reception. I don't have the proofs yet - so I can't comment on the actual pictures themselves.

Limos - Regal Bridal - A+
The limos were great. Very professional - and on time. They were also very understanding. My father was very sick on my wedding day and we were very late and they were great about it.

Dress - David's Bridal - B+
I actually had a great experience with them. My dress was beautiful and the salespeople were very helpful. The only complaint that I had about them was that the alteration people were not very helpful and they had very few hours. I ended up getting the alterations done elsewhere.

Bridesmaids dresses - Bridesave.com - C
Being that my bridesmaids are all from different places, I thought it would be easier to order them online. While the dresses came to us perfectly and were beautiful, the buying experience was not so great. The customer service was horrible - all of the bridesmaids dresses were purchased and they kept calling me to tell me that two of my bridesmaids still hadn't ordered, so they couldn't place the order yet. It took me four phone calls, talking to four different people to make them realize that there were 7 bridesmaids and 7 dresses were bought!

Makeup - Jennifer at Jason Royce Salon-A+
Since I don't normally wear makeup, I wanted something very simple and Jennifer did that. The makeup lasted the whole night and I loved it.

Hair - Liz at Jason Royce Salon - B
During my trial, she was wonderful - she did a few different things till we got it like I wanted it. On the day of the wedding, she did a great job doing exactly what I wanted. The only complaint that I had was that it started to come out during the cocktail hour...it was very windy on my wedding day, but I thought it would last a little longer than that.

Hotel - Marriott in Uniondale - C
The hotel itself is beautiful and the service when we got there was great. My complaint about the place was the booking of the rooms. I blocked twenty-five rooms for my wedding, guaranteed them and I actually got charged a higher rate than if you went and did it yourself online! And then when I ran out of rooms and needed more rooms, they raised the price on me again. My father paid $199 a night for the basic room. On top of that, the bridal suite was a ridiculous price. There are hotels that are just as nice that you could get for a much better price. To me, the place just wasn't worth it.

Rehearsal Dinner - Borelli's in Uniondale - A-
The food and service were great. They offered great party menus and the staff was real accommodating. The only complaint was that the service got a little slow towards the end. However, I would def. recommend them for parties.

Invitations - Rexcraft.com - A+
I loved my invitations. They came out perfectly and very quickly. I have no complaints about them.

Flowers - Onlinewholesaleflowers.com - B
I don't know what I was thinking when I decided that I wanted to do my own flowers. It would have been perfect for someone doing just roses or something simple, but I wanted calla lilies and hydrangeas as well as roses. The flowers came to me in relatively good shape, although a few of the callas were already a little brown. The problem came when I had to transport them to the hotel and then make them into bouquets. Being that they started to brown already, I waited till the last minute to make my bouquet and I feel that I didn't come out that great due to the fact that I didn't have a lot of time. Out of all the wedding planning, the flowers were my biggest disappointment. I def. do not recommend doing your own flowers unless you're doing something simple - it was way too much of a headache on your wedding day!

DJ - Satisfaction Guaranteed - A+
Out of all the comments I have heard about my wedding - the thing I heard the most was how great the music was. They played exactly what we wanted without us actually having to pick out every song. We gave them an idea of what we wanted and they did everything perfectly. The MC was also great - I can't remember his name....he kept the dance floor full the whole night.

Reception - Ariana Waterfall - A
Ariana was great! Most things were perfect and above my expectations. The bridal suite was great and the attendants were on top of everything. Everyone was raving about the food and how great it was. The only complaint I had about them was that they got our main course mixed up and served roast beef and chicken marsala instead of sliced steak and chicken marsala. The only reason that bothered me was that we had roast beef during the cocktail hour and then they served it again. But other than that, things were great!

Honeymoon - El Dorado Royale through www.discount-all-inclusive.com - A+++++
Everything about our honeymoon was great. The travel agent we booked through was so helpful and everything went smoothly. The place we stayed at was absolutely beautiful. Everyone was so incredibly nice, the room was fantastic, and the food was great! I def. recommend this resort to others. We're already talking about when we are going to go back there.

All in all, my wedding day was great. I def. had some major problems during my day, with my dad being sick and forgetting my marriage license, but everything worked out in the end

Here's a link with some pics! There's not that many from Ariana - but I'll get some more on there ASAP!


http://www.liweddings.com/community/album/?ID=1081

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Congrats! Sounds like you had a great day!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Wonderful review ! Congrats again Just love Ariana, they truly are the best kept secret on LI

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

So beautiful! Congrats!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Thank you for the review!! You looked incredible and so happy!!! Congrats!!!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Great review!!!! Thanks for posting! I love your flowers!!!!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Congrats! Loved the pics.

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

congrats!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Congrats!!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Congratulations!! Glad everything went so well on your day. I hope your father is doing better.

I wish you a life of love and happiness always.

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Great review and wonderful pictures!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Your pictures came out great and you look beautiful! I love your dress too! Congratulations and best wishes to you and your DH!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Congrats and great pics!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Congrats You both look very happy

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

beautiful!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Great review! Sorry about your dad- is he feeling better?
I know you said you were unhappy with your bouquet but I absolutely love it! I would love to see what you could do with more time. It was beautiful. Great flower choices.

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Congrats! Lovely pics!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Congrats!!!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Congratulations!! You looked so beautiful and happy!

Re: May 6th, 2005 Ariana Waterfall review

Your flowers turned out great - I would never have guessed you did them yourself. Love the color of the BM dresses, too. Congrats!