My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

Here’s my review. Sorry it took so long! Sadly I don’t have pictures of everything but what I do have, I’ll post or leave a link so you can check it out.

• STDs – Sonic Stef – 9
Everyone by this point knows that Stefs rocks. Since I work in book publishing I knew I wanted to a bookmark or book related STD. Stef was more than accommodating and got everything to me quickly. The 9 is because I didn’t have her print them as I was trying to cut costs and do it myself. And this was a bit more complicated than I would have liked. But really - not a huge deal. You can check out my bookmark (under the name Taylor) as well as all her other stuff on her website: www.sonicstefdesign.com

• Invitations – Lion in the Sun, Huntington – 8
I really loved my invites – but I have to say I really wanted another invitation than the one I ended up choosing. I found this awesome invite in Martha Stewart Weddings by A Day in May Design, based in San Francisco. It was exactly what I wanted. Letterpress, fall themed, brown and golds. The problem was it was SUPER expensive and I was sending out a LOT (I had over 200 guests on my list) of invites. I could have pushed the subject with my parents, but decided not. In the end it worked out even better. I went to Lion in the Sun in Huntington and chose a William Arthur design and pretty much copied the invite from A Day in May – then had envolopments create a special folder it went into had it tied with Raffia –since we were doing a Fall theme. I’m working on getting a picture of this for you girls. The only thing that was annoying is that Lion in the Sun is not opened on Sundays and since I live in Manhattan it was tough getting in there on Saturdays. FYI, they also have a location in Brooklyn.

•Dress – The Wedding Salon of Manhasset - 9
I think I went almost everywhere for a dress. There were just so many options. Vera Wang – went, Amsale on Madison Ave-went, Kleinfelds-went, etc. I ended up getting my Kenneth Poole for Amsale dress at the Wedding Salon of Manhasset and it turned out great. I must say I at first fell in love with this other Amsale gown w/champagne sash – but it was $6K and a bit trendier than the Kenneth Poole I finally chose. I was a little disappointed at first, but ended up being really happy with the Kenneth Poole dress as it was more classic and will never really age in any of the pictures. I also had the good fortune of returning to the salon on the day Kenneth Poole himself was there for his trunk show. He was extremely kind and I asked his opinion on several things and it was just so fun to meet the designer in person. I also know that him being there helped me to directly negotiate the price of the dress. The only major complaint I have with the Wedding Salon was regarding my veil. They claim it was miscommunication which perhaps it was – but I remember being fairly clear. I was given my veil “free” as part of my deal with the gown at the trunk show, but the thing was my veil wasn’t a K.P. veil, but a Vera Wang veil and I was adamant on having it. (I really wanted a zero-pouf veil and felt that she made the best one.) When my dress and veil came in it was the K.P. veil. It ended up being rectified but only after I complained, they called K.P. directly and paid for the V.W. veil themselves. That being said though, my dress was a very distinct shade of Ivory and the VW veil did not match exactly since different designers use different shades of ivory. I was fine with it and no one could really tell but me and maybe my mom – but I felt that this should’ve been explained when I bought the dress and it wasn’t. Oh and this has been said before by other brides and I’ll confirm it-try and work with Sania- she was great. She’s not one for bsing you and saying you look wonderful in every dress. She definitely had opinions and I appreciated that.

• Shoes – www.bridalshoes.com - 1
I was interested in really comfortable, classic shoes with a sturdy, mid-range heel. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on my shoes, because I knew I would never wear them again. I found mine on www.bridalshoes.com
I cannot tell you how bad this vendor is - the shoes arrived on time but then I sent them back with a swatch of my gown to be dyed for free as they say they do online. I was supposed to get them back in 1-2 weeks. It took over a month. I wrote letters, called, etc. They have no customer service, just a phone set up with an answering machine that says someone will get back to you. No one EVER did. I was EXTREMELY stressed out at this point. I was on the verge of trying to find new shoes, when miraculously they shoes just showed up at my door. I definitely DO NOT recommend this vendor. Though my shoes were super comfortable – the brand was Special Occasions, Style was Samantha – you can find this brand in a lot of places.

•Makeup - Sephora – 10
This was extremely difficult. I do not wear a lot of makeup. Its not that I don’t like makeup, because I do, I just look so much better with less on. But everyone tells you that need to get it professionally done because of the pictures, etc. So I started out at the salon where I was getting my hair done. Big mistake. The woman, besides being a total flake, spilling foundation on me not once, twice (!!!), made me look like a prostitute. So I moved on to MAC – the branch in the flatiron building. I kid you not, the same thing. Not only do I end up looking like a prostitute again. The woman goes on and on about how long lasting and great this lipgloss is and then drops it on my brand new khaki pants (!!). At this point, I’m severely stressed out. My sisters suggests Sephora one weekend while I’m home on Long Island. I walk into Sephora at Walt Whitman mall and find the makeup artist with the least amount of make up on. Turns out we’re a perfect match. I certainly had a lot more makeup on then I usually do that day – but I still looked like me, which is what I wanted. She came to my house the day of and brought an assistant and did me, my mother, and my 2 sisters. She was fabulous. FM me if you want details I don’t want to post her name since I didn’t run it by her first.

•Hair – Cactus- 8
This was actually disastrous because a week before my wedding my mother went to confirm the appointments for like the 5th time and the salon (not Cactus) asked for 2-3X more money. We were flabbergasted. I had already had my trial and was happy and confirmed pricing at that point. They were now asking for a ridiculous amount. Plus my mother had been a long standing customer (over 10 years!!). I was freaking out. So, I called around the area and Cactus is where a friend had gotten her hair done for her wedding and when they said they could do it – that was it. I didn’t even have time to do another trial with them. My biggest complaint with Cactus (and I can’t really complain since we had no trial and they took us last minute) was that I actually wanted the part on the other side of my head .This sounds ridiculous but I forgot that the mirror reverses what side you think your part is on – so when I was looking in the mirror point to the side I thought I wanted I was actually pointing to the wrong side. What can I say – I was so nervous at that point, my adrenaline was racing, I was thinking straight. Also, I just wish my hair stayed in a little better. I felt like it wasn’t quite tight enough. But then again, it was a long day and I got my hair done so early that it might not have mattered who did it – by the time the reception came around I was on the hunt for more bobby pins. All in all I’m just still mad at the other salon for screwing us over. I just couldn’t go back to them even though I knew they would do a good job, at that point it was the principle of that matter.

•Jewelry
o Bride: I found these really gorgeous earrings at this wedding store next to The Wedding Salon. I can’t remember the name of the store but its literally right next store. Really cute stuff in there – but a bit pricey. Mom said she loved the earrings. Then she decided they were too big – even though I disagreed. So I ended up finding smaller ones that were more classic drop earrings encrusted with (fake) pave diamonds at RK Bridal just to make her happy. A bit of a headache - but not a huge deal.

o Bridesmaids: I had a really hard time with this. The girls were wearing a copper brown dress with gold shoes. And I just wanted something simple and easy and inexpensive since I was paying for it. I generally hate gold jewelry and couldn’t find anything I liked that didn’t look cheesy. Finally, I found 1928 jewelry online and found the perfect earrings. I highly recommend this website. It has totally different, quality, inexpensive stuff. Great colors for Fall Brides as well since a lot of their stuff is meant to look antiquey with jewel tones, etc.

• Bridesmaids Dresses – Kleinfeld Bridal Loft-8
By far, the easiest and one of the most affordable places to find a bridesmaid dress. The Wedding Salon’s bridesmaid dress store was the size of a closet and utter chaos. Thread in Manhattan was kind of pricey and didn’t have great sample sizes to work with so it was hard for some of the girls to tell how they looked. Jenny Yoo’s designs were really cute, but I thought really pricey for the quality you were getting. Overall the store was good, they let you rummage through the racks try on as much as you want and are helpful without being annoying. They get an 8 however because when it came time for the dresses to deliver not everyone got there’s on time. (Luckily I made them get delivered early so we were fine on time – but this could have been a disaster.) Also one of my girls got the completely wrong dress, wrong color, style, etc. But they did promptly take care of it and sent her a new one. Also, they don’t do tailoring, so we were on our own for that.

• Bourne Mansion – 9
The Bourne Mansion was great. The service was fantastic; the staff helpful and fun. The best part about this venue was that not a lot of people have been here before since they’ve only been doing weddings for about 2 years. It didn’t get a 10 because I found it hard sometimes to get in touch with the staff there. Also, I really wish they could be more flexible with scheduling their appointments on the weekend. It was really tough for me to get out there sometimes coming from Manhattan. Overall though they were wonderful. Steve was our Maitre’D and he really kept everything running smoothly. The head waitress was a sweetheart (even though she nearly spilled an entire bowl of red cocktail sauce on my dress moments before we were announced – but I’m a klutz too and luckily have quick reflexes so that disaster was avoided) and made sure that I ate my dinner – which she didn’t even need to tell me as I pretty much missed all the food at cocktail hour because I was a) too concerned I’d spill on my dress or b) I was talking to someone. Seriously, it’s hard to eat at cocktail hour when you’re the bride! People kept coming up to me and talking and I as just like I want to eat!! But the limited amount I did get to eat was great and I can vouch that dinner was fabulous – they gave us each entrée to try. Also I know the raw bar was definitely a hit as my husband got to that station. Also for those brides with a lot of guests, Bourne Mansion can accommodate about 200 in the main ballroom. I think the only other mansion type place that can do that is Oheka.

• Band - Bodyheat - 9
We received a lot of recommendations from people for Bodyheat – and they really did a great job. They played a great mix of music, we’re super easy to deal with (email is best for me) and were just overall really nice. Plus they weren’t ridiculously expensive. I’ve only seen one other band that I liked more and they more than double the price.

• Bagpipers-FDNY-10
This was a total surprise coordinated by Aunt, and it was a huge hit. After dinner they announced a special surprise and all these bagpipers came in playing. My huge Irish Catholic family and husband’s family and his friends from Notre Dame all totally loved it as well. My aunts were step dancing, everyone was clapping and it was just so much fun and such a great surprise. Being that it was a surprise though I don’t have details on the exact group and their cost but can find out if someone really wants to know.

• Photographer-Christina Bohn-10
Christina Bohn was awesome. I knew the minute I walked in her studio she was the photographer for me. I love her taste and trusted her completely. She did a wonderful job (I have my proofs.) On top of that – I somehow turned into this emotional basket case before the ceremony and she was a calming influence, it really really helped. She sent us (which I posted already) a brief slideshow before we got our proofs which was amazing and fun to share with family and friends. The proofs are great and arrived in this gorgeous toile fabric covered box. We’re in the process of doing our album now – so I’ll post more on that later. For those who didn’t see the slideshow – here’s the link:
http://bigshow.bigfolio.com/?s=000000964&t=87e52b40eab1191942049ba1381dc2c2

There was only one picture that I think she didn’t get and it wasn’t her fault. I didn’t realize that the chairs the church gave us to sit down at during the ceremony would really impede her from getting a good shot of the two of us standing at the altar with an unobstructed shot of the back of my dress (my favorite part). Since the chairs were there my train was sort of wrapped around it and not pulled straight out. I just didn’t think about that ahead of time. But a friend got a shot like the one I wanted right after they moved the chairs and we walked out – so not a big deal. If I had to do it again though, I’d have me and my husband face each other, not sit side by side. You live and you learn.

• Video – AVA Video – 10
Our photographer referred us to Anthony at AVA Video and he was just great. I just viewed the video last night and it was awesome. Since one of our groomsmen does this professionally as well we felt very prepared while interviewing videographers and Anthony at AVA answered all of our questions and fit all of our needs. He super the day of – got everything but wasn’t too intrusive. Plus he was really patient with us getting childhood photos and song selections to him. I think we were probably a month overdue getting that to him and never complained once. And again, since he works primarily through email too, it really worked out well.

•Flowers – Burtons – 7
Ok, my flowers were fine. They weren’t spectacular, they weren’t terrible, they were just fine. I had really wanted to use Sugar Magnolias to do my flowers but they were too pricey. I loved the owner (Heidi) and a friend had used them for her wedding and her flowers were great. I just put less money in my flower budget then some other things like photography, etc. So we ended up going with Burtons. It’s really no frills. It is whatever is in season and you go in and they look through a book and just make suggestions. You have to really know what you want and be really, really direct and adamant. I must have repeated I do not want yellow roses about 100 hundred times. I felt like I was dealing with a used cars salesman. There customer service was not great and they acted as though they could “pull a fast one” over me and my mother by trying to get us to change our minds on things that we simply weren’t going to do. But, they cost about 50% less than any other florist we visited. So you get what you pay for. I’ll post a picture of the bouquets.

• Favors – Multiple – 9
o Candy Bar
JMO, but I hate favors. I think most are tacky & useless. How many wine stoppers does a person need? Again, JMO. On the other hand everyone loves food. Thus, being that the wedding was Halloween weekend our favor was to set up a Candy Bar on the way out and have guests take candy with them before getting on the shuttle bus. I ordered vellum bags and these monogrammed stickers (that rocked!) from:
http://www.romanticflowers.com/invites_monograms_square_laurel.html
(great site for favor related needs – not just flowers!) to close the vellum bags with and it was a hit. Everyone was loading up on candy as they exited the mansion and were munching on it on the shuttle bus to the hotel. The candy was ordered from www.candydirect.com and since it was close to Halloween we went to a few local stores that were having sales. The vases/glass containers that were holding the candy were collected from various people/places and ordered off this great website that begins with a “j” and I can’t remember the name of it. When I remember I’ll update this. I have a pic of the candy bar that I’ll post.

o Chocolate Truffles –
5th Avenue Chocolatiere
Ok, so by sheer coincidence my parents neighbors own a fancy Chocolatier shop on 5th Ave in Manahattan. It was unnecessary, but they offered, and it’s a long story, but we didn’t want to insult them by refusing. Not that the chocolates aren’t FABULOUS, I just didn’t want to have coordinate another thing! Case and point, I wanted plain white boxes with gold ribbon to hold the chocolates. This was somewhat lost on my male, heterosexual neighbor who thought a spring-time floral motif box with a silver ribbon would be better for my late October, autumn colored inspired wedding. As you can imagine a bit of headache, but we ended up getting almost exactly what I was looking for. What can I say – how do you argue with a person you like, who’s your parents friend, who’s doing you a favor. Its near impossible without sounding awfully mean and demanding.

• OOT – Guest Baskets – 9
I did these with the help of my family and they really came out great, so I’m kind of biased in rating this. Unfortunately though we realized after we dropped them off to the hotel that we had forgotten to take a picture of them!! So sadly I have no picture or link to share but here are the details: Since it was the fall we got these 1/2 peck or Peck ( I can’t recall which size) wooden baskets – like what you see when you go apple picking. We lined them with different fall colored tissue paper and filled them with all sorts of New York and Philadelphia (where my husband’s from) treats (i.e. apples from the local orchard, tastykakes which are from Philly, and the usual water, granola bars, etc.). They really came out so cute. Plus each guest got to keep this really nice and cute basket. If you want more details FM me.

• Limo - 9
I’m sorry, but since my father coordinated this part, I really have none of the details. I just wanted to say, make sure the limo driver puts the runner down because although ours was super sweet and made me laugh when I was nervous beforehand – they totally forgot to put the runner down. I didn’t really care since I didn’t have a custom runner or anything made, but I can imagine that I’d be furious if I did. Other than that they limos were great. Clean, roomy, with champagne and toasting glasses ready to go. Oh and if you can spring for a Rolls Royce – do it!! It was awesome – one of my favorite parts of the day to be honest!

• Honeymoon – Liberty Travel -10
We booked our honeymoon through Liberty Travel’s Upper East Side branch. Our agent, Victor, was awesome. Since he’s from Hawaii he was perfectly suited for us. We went to San Fran, then to Kauai, then Maui. Anyone looking for specifics can fm me and I’ll fill you in. We stayed at the Westin in San Fran, Sheraton in Kauai, and the 4 Seasons in Maui. They were all great, but the 4 Seasons was incredible. I’ll post some pictures.

I'm posting non-professional pictures. I don't have my proofs here right now. Sorry!

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

ok-i need to post the rest of the pictures from home - I'll do that this weekend!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

Wow! Great review! Your and your husband make a beautiful couple!!! I love the pics of your dress and the flower in your hair looks really pretty. I'm looking forward to seeing more pics!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

love your dress

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

Thanks for the great review. You look beautiful.

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

Your pics are beautiful. I noticed the church, St. Phillips, did you graduate from Northport? You look very familiar...

Did we work together at a chiro's office?

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

WOW...your pics are beautiful..Congrats!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

such a pretty dress!!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

wow you looked so elegant! congrats!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

you are a beautiful bride!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

Beautiful pics!! congrats!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

Great Review!! Beautiful Pictures!!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

great review, beautiful pics of you and hubby

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

Great review. Beautiful pics keep them coming Congratulations

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

You look gorgeous! That's awesome about Sephora! They do such good work...

You really look beautiful!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

Great pics! CB is so talented! I think you went to my hs too but are younger maybe? Congrats!

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

very nice, thank you

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

beautiful dress! you look gorgeous

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

you are stunning!!!
Great review--thanks.

Re: My 10-29-05 Review Bourne Mansion, Christina Bohn, Wedding

Hey---

Can I ask about Body Heat in terms of prices? I'm just getting started on all this & would love a good band, but can't shell out the insane amount of $ some of these bands cost!!!

Thanks for any advice. Feel free to FM me.