Miller Place Inn, Grey Dog, Top Shelf, Carolyn’s Salon, Fantasia, Bridal Suite, House of Brides, Center Moriches Florist, Elite Transportation, Pipeline Bagpipes, Stakey’s Pumpkin Farm

Miller Place Inn, Grey Dog, Top Shelf, Carolyn’s Salon, Fantasia, Bridal Suite, House of Brides, Center Moriches Florist, Elite Transportation, Pipeline Bagpipes, Stakey’s Pumpkin Farm,

Sorry this took so long, but the news is ALL GOOD!

Mother Nature, A+
We all really thought it was going to rain. We even went out Thursday and bought umbrellas and a bunch of decorations in case we had to move the ceremony inside. Didn’t need them!




Pipeline Bagpipes – Kilt rentals, A++++
We rented 4 full Prince Charlie formal kilts, my sister’s boyfriend rented a full Brian Baru, and we also rented a kilt for the photographer and one for the best woman’s husband. They were out-of-this-world gorgeous. I was a little worried that the time frame was too tight, but we had no problems with any of the sets. That in itself was slightly surprising, since we had to change sizes for 3 of the 5 guys a month before the wedding (you usually need a few months, since stock is limited). Great communication, we loved the shop, there’s so much there that makes for a beautiful day. They’re really the only game in town if you’re looking for a kilt rental, but fortunately that makes them professional, not complacent.






House of Brides – Bridesmaid dresses, A
I ordered 5 dresses through them, they arrived a week early, matched perfectly. One dress had a small snag in it, but it wasn’t noticeable. In fact, when I looked at the dresses the first 3 times, I didn’t notice it. Good communication, packaging, I highly recommend saving a ton of money and getting BM dresses online.







Fantasia Bridal – First (unworn) wedding dress, B
This was kind of a saga, some of you might remember it. I bought the Maggie Sottero Grace Marie but didn’t like the way it looked after the alterations. Please note- the alterations were done perfectly. The quality of the work itself was excellent. The seamstress added panels that made the corset close completely, but we couldn’t take out any of the paneling because it would be too tight at the hip. It wasn’t really a sleek a-line anymore. I’m not exactly streamline, if you catch my drift.
Also, we added a sleeve. It had to be the length that she made it in order to be level with the empire waist, but it was no longer flattering at that length. Making it longer would have screwed up the line.
Everything came in on time and in excellent condition. They did everything right, the dress was just totally wrong for me.

Bridal Suite – Second wedding dress, B
I bought my second dress from their clearance rack. It had paint on it. I walked in 3 weeks before the wedding, handed them cash, and took the dress immediately. I felt they were asking too much for alterations, given that I only needed to take in the bust. In the end, I scraped the paint off, took in the bust myself, got tall shoes, and then hemmed just the front satin layer and tacked up the embroidered overlay. I also bustled it myself. I did this 3 weeks before my wedding. Seriously, if I could do it myself, they were asking too much. Granted, I didn’t have the polished results you’d get from a shop, but no one asked to see the seams of the corset, and it didn’t fall apart.
My mother got her dress here, and also felt that she overpaid for alterations. She looked great, but says she’ll only buy off the rack from now on.








House of Tartans, A+
We ordered a less-than-common tartan for our handfasting, it was so beautifully crafted that it’s a shame we can’t untie it and use it as a wall hanging. They also provided the tartan for the best woman, it draped beautifully, moved well, and really tied her in to the guys in their kilts. I had worried that it wouldn’t look formal enough, and I worried for nothing.







Grey Dog Photography, A+
Erika and Colin were absolutely fantastic! Mad props to Erika for having the pro connections to pull off a high-quality last minute switch. Colin jumped in, and he stepped up completely. Seriously, how many people are going to show up to work your wedding on 12 hour notice, then gamely take off their pants and put on a kilt? Not many, I assure you.
I also can’t thank them enough for the sensitivity they showed my family. My uncle (who passed 2 weeks later) had just been released from the hospital, and earlier that week we had put a hospital bed in the living room, literally 3 inches from where my father is standing in our pictures. The wrong photographer would have made the whole scene very uncomfortable for him, and instead he was able to say that he was glad to see us all that day. So easy to work with, good communication, very flexible, the guests liked them and felt comfortable asking for pictures, and we got about 1100 shots without spending a fortune.


Carolyn’s Salon, A+
Fantastic, spacious shop which is ¼ of a mile from my parents’ house, and about ½ a mile from The Vineyard in Aquebogue. Carolyn calls in however many people and blocks off however much time you need to accommodate your party, she’s very reasonably priced, and all of the people she works with do beautiful work. They’re so on-the-ball that they were able to do my aunt’s hair at the last minute in addition to the wedding party and my mom. Hair and makeup lasted all night, no problems!






Stakey’s Pumpkin Farm, A+
We didn’t want pictures at the beach, but wanted them outside. Mr. Stakey’s farm is absolutely beautiful, and actually very easy to negotiate in a gown, due to the grass parking lot, rather than the dirt. If you’re looking for a nice alternative, with a lot of color, take your pictures here! The Stakey’s were so nice, and we really had the run of the place!








Rev. Dr. Angela Heil, A+
What a sweetheart! Writing your own ceremony leaves lots of room for turning things into an inexplicable mess, but Rev. Angie did a great job including the handfasting without turning the ceremony into pagan-palooza. She had tons of source material for us to look through, answered emails almost immediately, showed up early, walked us through the ceremony, and decorated the altar. She really will go over and over something until it is exactly what you want, and can smooth over the parts that don’t seem like they could possibly work together.






Fat Cat Paperie, A+
Although we made our own invites, Pam was always had a fix for whatever issue we were having. Everything came in on time and perfect.

Center Moriches Florist , A+
I can’t possibly rave enough about Judy. I’m not a flower person, half my bridesmaids are allergic, and frankly, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to deal with flowers – I was thinking fans. I’m so glad my husband hated the idea. Judy spent so much time with us, and gave us bouquets, bouts, & corsages that were gorgeous, and a dais that was nothing less than spectacular. Every item – stems, filler, ribbon, pumpkins, straw, gourds, baskets, vases – all of it was perfect. Not one single bruised or wilted anything! The best part? People got to take things home. It was like raiding a nursery. The only item at the dais that was not from Judy’s shop was the clan crest in the center which was made by my husband.









Top Shelf Entertainment, A
People were dancing as soon as our first dance was over, there was no absurd banter or cajoling people out to the floor. They didn’t need to rant and rave, the music was good. Also, a guest unexpectedly asked to perform on a Native American flute, which required some microphone work, and there were no problems. They lost the plus for some very very very minor issues. First, I was pretty sure I asked them not to play Hot Hot Hot. It is possible my husband erased it from the Do Not Play list, ‘just for fun’. Second, and this is really more our fault, there were no microphones in the gazebo, so only the first row heard our ceremony, and no one heard the readings. I thought we had discussed it, my husband says we only talked to the RH, not the DJ. Always be absolutely clear! Third, we were halfway out of the gazebo before the recessional started playing. We started leaving, I stopped for the music, it wasn’t coming, I started walking again, my husband realized we should wait for the music so he stopped – it was unpolished. Fortunately, we were walking away from the crowd, not through the middle of it. Of course these are not things that any guests would recognize, nor are they particularly important, and everyone loved the music and the job Steve did.

Elite Transportation, A+
Ok, there was some confusion here. We had at least 12 people staying at Danfords, so we arranged for a shuttle. It came time for the shuttle to leave, and there was ONE guest there, our best woman’s husband. They called my husband with this information, who asked me what we should do. How the f(&^ should I know, I’m getting married in 30 minutes!!!!! At this point, I shuttered myself in the bridal salon, realized I was incapable of finding, let alone using, my cell phone, and made my bridesmaids start calling guests.
Turns out, traffic was a nightmare and many guests were either carpooling or driving in their own little convoys, so they were all late together. So we told the shuttle to transport the one guest. This led to about 1/3 of our guests showing up DURING the procession. More on this below*. Of course, that left four of us on the 20 person bus back to the hotel that night. None of that was their fault – they were on time, clean, friendly, and put up with all the stuff that we schlepped back to the hotel (I mentioned the dais earlier – the driver thought were were actually going to put a bale of hay in his bus. He didn’t actually object, to his credit).

Create-A-Cake, B+
They’re part of the package you get when you book MPI. I was disappointed in two particulars, not very huge issues, just things I would have preferred to be otherwise. The cake toppers were not on top of the cake and the ribbon darkened almost to black. I know they’re kitschy and silly, but I actually hand painted that Dalek bride (it was all-gold), made the veil, and drove those little buggers to the bakery a week before the wedding, just to make sure they’d fit. The woman took them into the back and said, “Hold on, let me measure them just to make sure.” She came back and assured me they fit on top of the cake. I also brought her the ribbon when I dropped off the cake topper. I asked if it was ok to use regular ribbon, and did it matter if there were loops on it, and would it look ok? Oh yes, it’s fine, not a problem, we make this cake all the time, it’s a beautiful color, it’s going to be fabulous. So we get to the wedding, and the topper is next to the cake, the ribbon ends are completely visible, and it turned black on the cake from the oils. It was a beautiful cake, and it tasted fine, it just wasn’t over-the-top good. I kind of expected that the ends of the ribbon would have been hidden, or at least all on one side of the cake. I knew that the color change was a possibility, so I brought it in and asked. I would have spend the $3 for lighter ribbon, I don’t mind, just tell me. And I would have found a base for the cake topper. They said we could have any topper up to 6 inches, then they made the top layer 4 inches. How was I supposed to work with that? I know it’s silly, but it irks me when a cake topper is not a topper. On top. Top, dammit. Whatever.








Miller Place Inn, A++++ !!
Christopher is the best! They let us in on Wednesday to set up, split tables for us, answered a gazillion questions, and were never less than professional, courteous, and smiling. Every person was spot on, the facility is beautiful and impeccably maintained, and they know exactly how to manage your event – timing, details, all of it. It was a chilly day, so when the guests came in from the ceremony there was hot cider waiting. We didn’t plan that, it wasn’t our idea, it was all them! The food was unreal. I had 3 entrees and 5 desserts in front of me (no, I couldn’t eat everything, although I really wanted to try). I was never without a drink. Toasting flutes, cake topper, extra centerpiece items, guest book table, it was all unpacked and repacked for us.