My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

07-07-07 was by far the best day of my life! I will post pictures when I get more time but here is the beginning of my review!

Weather - A I did not give this an A+ because it was really hot and the church isn’t air conditioned. I would definitely prefer this to rain though J

Miller Place Inn: A+++ This is a wonderful place to have a wedding ladies! The banquet manager, Christopher Regina treats you like a queen. He is a very hands-on owner and pays attention to every last detail. My mother and stepfather came along with DH and I to select the menu. Every time a dish with sausage came up my stepfather wanted to pick it (he’s German haha). My mom and I vetoed it so Chris surprised him with a dish of sausage and peppers at the cocktail hour, just for him. My mom mentioned in passing how she loved lemoncello after she tried it on a trip to Greece last year. She was presented with lemon cello during the Viennese hour. During the cocktail hour DH and I were taking a photo in the reception room before they let the guests in. Chris - the owner - was lighting votives on the tables himself. Also, my nephew was the ring bearer but he’s only three and my sister and I decided it would be best not to have him at the entire reception. Her in-laws were going to pick him up after the cocktail hour but Chris let them attend the cocktail hour at no charge. Lastly, three days before the wedding (after I had given the final headcount) I had two guests cancel. I called him on his cell phone, on the Fourth of July no less, and he did not make me pay for them. HE IS THE BEST!!!
My ONLY complaint about the Miller Place Inn was that my bridal attendant was also taking dinner orders that night so she was hard to find at times. For example, my dress had a very long, heavy train. I wanted it down for the first dance but bustled immediately after. I couldn’t get her attention because she was taking orders so my mom had to help me. We had a lot of trouble and eventually she came out to help us but I missed the first three songs after the toast. Oh well.

Music: James Faith Entertainment: Paul Errico Band B+
This was the same band that played at my sister’s wedding in 2000. They got rave reviews so I booked them too without really looking elsewhere. These musicians are very talented and played great music. The problem was with the organization. They were supposed to announce an anniversary dance instead of a bouquet toss. My grandparents have been married for 60 years and I wanted to honor them. The band never did this. I was so caught up in the moment I didn’t remember until the last 15 minutes. My grandparents had left already. Also, the parent dances were not really announced so when I was dancing with my father, there were some other people on the dance floor who didn’t realize what was going on. Finally, I had requested a lot of fun disco/70’s songs to dance to. They played these while most guests were in the other room getting their desserts from the Viennese table.

Limo: Sir Oliver A
I had a good experience with Sir Oliver. I had read so many reviews of their outstanding service. I was pleased but not overly impressed. We booked the 1940 Cadillac. The interior is the original - a nice touch I guess but I was hoping for something a little more luxurious. My fault I suppose for not looking at it first. The drivers were nice, very chatty, but got us where we needed to go on time. That’s the most important thing.

Invitations: And I Quote, Port Jefferson Station B
I had quite a saga with the invitations. I received an invitation to another wedding with the names of the couples printed on the lining of the inner envelope. I thought this was so cool and had to have it. The only company that does this is NuArt. So, I ordered my invitations and waited for them to come in. Strangely, one day, I receive a call from And I Quote. When I answer, they said they called by mistake. Odd. Then, a few days later I went in to the store to drop off a few missing addresses for printing. I asked if by chance my invitations had come in. (The owner of the store was not there, it was another girl.) She looks in the back, doesn’t say anything to me and then grabs the portable phone to call the owner and hides in the back again. Apparently, my invitations had come in (that’s why they called by mistake the other day) but there was a problem. The invitations were all warped and bent, so they were having them reprinted. They didn’t want to tell me and worry me. Fine - it‘s NuArt‘s fault not the store‘s. Except when the invitations actually came in, they were warped again. This time, the store was less helpful. I had to either pick a new invitation and start over, or accept the bent ones and get $50 off. The total cost of the invitations was around $800. That didn’t make much of a dent. Honestly, neither one of these options appealed to me. NuArt’s excuse was that when you print on thick paper like they use, the heat warps the invitations. UMMMM then why do you sell them?????!!!!! Anyway, with more of a discount I would have been satisfied but no one would budge. I accepted the bent invitations because I couldn’t deal with it anymore and I guess no one noticed. I did. Again this was not really And I Quote’s fault, it was NuArt’s but the store didn’t really go to bat for me with the company. I would not recommend using NuArt invitations.

Florist: With All My Heart (located at East Wind) A
This was a very easy vendor to deal with. They were so helpful, priced within my budget and my bouquet was exactly what I wanted. I called with a few changes after the deadline and no one gave me a hard time. My flowers stayed nice all day long! The reason I did not give them an A+ was that one of the four roses in my mom’s corsage broke off before the ceremony even started. There was no time for a replacement but I felt badly for her. Also, FH’s boutonniere was supposed to have stephanotis and a rose. The stephanotis was fake! I remember the owner saying something about how it is a delicate flower and wilts quickly, but I didn’t realize it was going to be fake. You couldn’t tell and it was fine, but I’m not sure if she ever mentioned that. I was so overwhelmed with the planning that I certainly could have missed that part.

Favors: Godiva A
They were beautiful, delicious and very easy to deal with. (SO EXPENSIVE THOUGH!)

Wedding Gown, veil, bridesmaid dresses, shoes, slip: Fantasia Bridal, Rocky Point B+
I had a roller coaster experience with this place. They were so wonderful to deal with when I picked out my dress. Stephanie was helpful, friendly and pleasant to work with. I visited my dress several times and tried on the sample when my bridesmaids came in from out of town and she never gave me a hard time. I never needed an appointment I just showed up. The problem came with alterations. First, I told them I would be buying a slip from them. They told me I didn’t need to do it in advance, just purchase it at the time of my first fitting. When that time came around, I went for my fitting and they didn’t have any more ball gown slips in stock. That meant they could only fit the top of my dress, not the hem. I had to come back in two weeks. It wasn’t a big deal because the wedding was a while away, but there were few apologies made to me about having to travel there for no reason. What if I was from out of town? Then what? Next, when it came time to pay for alterations there were some hidden costs. Alterations were capped at $200 but that doesn’t include bustle points (I needed 13 of them at $10 each!) and cups. All total I spent $350 on alterations. Finally, the day I go to pick up the dress (four days before the wedding) I had an appointment at 1:30. I was on my way there when I get a call asking to push the appointment to 3. I said fine, but when I got there it wasn’t ready. I sat down to wait and when they opened the door to the back I saw them frantically steaming my dress. They hadn’t started yet!! They gave me a story about how someone never showed up to work that day so they were swamped. That’s not really my problem. I was getting frustrated because I had other errands to do, and no one really apologized for my having to wait 45 minutes. This is after my appointment was already pushed back. I spent over $1500 there. I expected a little better service. Even so, my dress was gorgeous, I was so happy and I felt like a million bucks on my wedding day. That’s all that matters, right?

Hair: Altima Salon, East Setauket A+
Denise has been doing my hair for the last three years. I gave her a picture and she worked her magic. I felt so beautiful! In addition - she can do an updo in record time. My hair was done in 30 minutes and not a piece was out of place at the end of the night, even after dancing and sweating in the hot sun!

Makeup: my mom A+

Soloist: Tara aka GettinHutched (a fellow LIW bride!) A+
Tara came all the way from New Jersey to sing at my wedding. She has an amazing voice. She literally brought my mom to tears singing The Lord’s Prayer. My mom loves the Barbara Streisand version and I was worried that nothing would compare - how silly of me! Tara was amazing, and so pleasant to deal with. She even posted some pics on LIW that night. Here’s one!

DIYs
I made my own OOT baskets and now I’m turning this into a business! The guests loved the personal touch and the girl at the front desk at the Holiday Inn Express said they were the nicest she’s seen. I included local tourist info like a walking map of Port Jeff and Stony Brook as well as some snacks and a bottle of wine from Pindar.
Bird seed packets: This was another DIY. Brides - take my advice - don’t throw birdseed!!!!!!! It looked cool in the pictures, I will admit, but it was stuck in my hair and down my dress. I took my dress off at the end of the night and my rug was covered in birdseed. It was stuck to my body - everywhere!!! Plus it kind of hurts when they throw it!

Pics will be added soon! FM me with questions about any of the vendors!!

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Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

Thank you for the review! Congrats!!! You looked great!

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

Great review!
And you looked beautiful!

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

thanks for thereview... I cant wait to see the pictures

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

Your gown was beautiful!! Thanks for your review!

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

Great Review! You looked beautiful! We also have a lot of our vendors in common so I am happy that you had such great things to say about them!

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

congrats! you looked beautiful!!!

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

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Posted by Michy

Great Review! You looked beautiful! We also have a lot of our vendors in common so I am happy that you had such great things to say about them!

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If you have any questions about them please FM me! I would be happy to help

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

great review...you looked gorgeous!

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

Awww Kristin! I'm so glad to see your awesome review!! You were such a gorgeous bride and I was so happy to sing at your wedding! It's so funny to be in a Wedding Review as a sort of vendor! Thanks hon! CONGRATS!!

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

great review! and your dress is gorgeous!

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

Congratulations! You looked GORGEOUS!

We just booked the MPI - we thought Christoper was great and that's what really 'pushed us over the edge' to book it... its good to know that the greatness doens't end once the contract dries (I have heard horror stories). I got the feeling that it wouldn't as he seemed SO genuine - but your post was so reassuring to me - so THANK YOU!

Any helpful hints and tidbits would be appreciated - you don't see much chat on the MPI. I can't figure out why because I think that its such a gem (but hey, I am partial - right? LOL).

Thanks again for the reassurance and all the best to you and your new hubby!!

Re: My 07-07-07 review! Miller Place Inn, Sir Oliver, With All My Heart, Fantasia and more

great review... I cant wait to see the pictures