SHOES.COM – My shoes: A+ I loved my shoes! (although they hurt like a mother by the end of the night!). They are Ariana from Colorrifics and I paid around $45.00. The price was right and they were shipped quickly
FLORAL FANTASYLAND – My veil: APatchogue, New YorkI loved my veil! I bought the elbow length 2 tier veil with pearls and swarovski crystals on the edge. It looked gorgeous and I loved it at first sight. The customer service here was fine and the price was okay.
AMY’S BRIDAL ACCESSORIES – My Jewelry: Awww.amysbridalaccesories.comAmy does beautiful work. She has a lot of classy designs on her website and I fell in love with “Starstruck”. When I received it, there were some spaces in between some of the swarovski crystals. The pearls and swarovski crystals looked like some were missing, in other words. I called Amy and she immediately fixed it and sent it back
QUEBLESSED3X (Ebay seller): A++This woman does beautiful embroidery! I actually got her information from a fellow LIW bride (yes, you, Christine!!). I bought my bouquet ribbon, father’s handkerchief and matching bride and groom t-shirts with our names and wedding date on them. Her prices were very reasonable and her work is wonderful!
ELSA RINGS – My wedding ring: A-Farmingdale, New YorkAt Elsa, they custom make engagement and wedding bands. It is a very long process of meetings with the mold makers, seeing the mold, etc. My e-ring didn’t have a match so I had to have one custom made. Elsa gave me a decent price (much less than the jeweler who sold Anthony my e-ring). My wedding band is absolutely beautiful and I have received numerous compliments on it. The only reason that Elsa gets an A- rather than an A+ is that when I originally went to pick up the ring because it was finished, Elsa told me the ring was perfect. However, when I looked at it, I clearly saw a space in between 2 baguettes that should not have been there. She tried to say “it was the light playing tricks on my eyes”, but after making her look at it again, she saw the mistake. She said it would take another week to fix it and I was very annoyed because it was 2 weeks to my wedding at this point and I was freaked that it was cutting it so close. All is well that ends well because she had it fixed in time.
VIP FORMALS – Tuxedos: A+www.viptux.com, Massapequa, NYWe received a good price for tuxes here. They carry a large selection and Anthony was able to try on samples in his size (and he’s a big guy). All of the tuxes were in perfect condition, none of the horror stories that I’ve heard about other places. One of the ushers lives in PA, and he just called in his measurements. When he picked up the tux, it fit perfectly.
THE CARRIAGE HOUSE, Babylon Village – Rehearsal Dinner: A+www.babyloncarriagehouse.com, 631-422-5161The food at the Carriage House in Babylon Village is absolutely amazing. We had a private room upstairs for 20 people. We had trays of chicken encrusted with parmesan and lemon chardonnay olive oil, marinated Romanian skirt steak, salmon in a honey mustard glaze, and penne ala vodka. Everyone loved the food! (especially the skirt steak – it melted in your mouth) The cake was made by the Black Forest Bakery and was delicious! Everything from the décor, food and service was outstanding! Totally recommend them.
JENN, THE HAIR GENIE: A+++Jenn is so talented and I love her! She did my hair, my mother’s and 2 of my bridesmaids. She joked and laughed with us and put us at ease. I have very thin hair and she used extensions of me and you couldn’t even tell. She gave me the EXACT hair style that I wanted and I felt so beautiful!
OKSANA – Makeup: A+++There isn’t a rating high enough for Oksana. She is truly an artist in how she applies makeup and blends eyeshadow – I’ve never seen anything like it. My mother had her makeup done too and was very happy with it, and she was nervous having anyone do her makeup. My makeup stayed on the entire night and people commented on how gorgeous my eyes looked. Not only is Oksana a gifted makeup artist, I consider her a friend also. She has a wonderful personality and I can’t wait to hang out with her!
ROSALIE FROM EXPRESSIONS – D.O.C.: ARosalie was there with me from beginning to end. I can’t even begin to list everything that she did for me and how she calmed me down. She fixed my dress (see above regarding my alterations), paid everyone, making me drink wine before the ceremony (it calms your nerves, trust me!), fixed my lipstick the entire night, took polaroids of everyone for my guest book, assembled the favor bags and handed them out to everyone, helped pack up everything at the end of the night, moved me along when I took too long to talk to everyone at the CH, etc., etc., etc. Some people may think having a DOC is unnecessary, but for me, she lifted a lot of the BS off my shoulders. I remember my mother coming up to me at the reception and had a question about something. I didn’t even listen to what it was, I said “go ask Rosalie”. I didn’t want to be bothered with anything except having the time of my life and I did! Everything was handled by her so that me and Anthony could drink, dance, and have a blast! The only thing that I have to say bothered me is that she didn’t take care of the Polaroid guest book like I wanted. She just took pics of some of the guests, not all, and didn’t have them write a message. That was important to me, plus I spent like $200 on the guest books…
CROSS OF CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH: AThis is same church that I was baptized and confirmed in, so it meant a lot to me to be married there as well. My church happens to be strict about a lot of things (no pictures during the ceremony, no “here comes the bride”, etc.), but I really like the pastor (Pastor Joanne Bond). She has always been wonderful to me and she did an amazing sermon at my ceremony. The only reason that the church doesn’t get a “plus” is because during the rehearsal, this awful woman named Barbara is the usher and the “be all and know all” at my church. She is the epitome of “church lady” and seems to make all the rules for the church. At the rehearsal, she says that I can’t have the tulle going down the pews (“we don’t do that at our church”). I didn’t need to hear this the night before my wedding and also I paid the florist $250 for the tulle! I took the pastor aside and said “ummm, I was baptized here 35 years ago, so this is MY church, too, and what’s the big deal about the tulle?”. Pastor Bond let me do it and it all turned out okay (it looked beautiful, too!), but the pastor told my mother a week later that they aren’t allowing anyone else to do it because it’s a “fire hazard”. Also, no one else can throw rose petals anymore because someone can slip and fall! Ummm, that’s what the “cleanup fee” that I was paying is for isn’t it? For someone to clean up the rose petals? Whatever. I got what I wanted! I feel sorry for future brides, though!
CEREMONY MUSIC – Stan and Anita: A+++++Stan is my church organist/singer and Anita is in our choir. I was only going to have Stan do the organ, and not have any singing, but Lutheran wedding ceremonies are typically short, so I wanted to add something special to it. Stan and Anita sang duets, “Not for Heaven’s Telling” and “All I Ask of You” and it sounded beautiful. There were definitely some teary eyes in my church that day! Having songs during the ceremony was a wonderful touch and I’m glad we decided to do it.
PARAGON DESIGNS – Chair Covers: A+++++www.paragondesigns.org, 718-205-3133Jamila was fantastic! She was great to work with, gave us a good price, and totally delivered! Villa Lombardi’s is a beautiful hall on its own, but I wanted to add even more elegance to the room so we decided to get chair covers. To us, it was TOTALLY worth the expense. We had white covers, lavender sashes, and a plum rose in the bow in the sash. It looked AMAZING! It totally coordinated with the alternating lavender and plum napkins that Villa’s put on the table and my CP. When we were walked through the reception room before the guests arrived, the look of the room totally took our breath away. Beautiful!!! 100% recommend Paragon Designs! The chair covers looks flawless!! This pic is really small, but you get the idea....
ROYALTY LIMOUSINES: A+www.royaltylimo.com, 516-326-9100We had the Excalibur for me and Anthony, and a 14 passenger stretch Lincoln for the bridal party. The limos came early, were spotless and the drivers had great personalities! I am so glad that we had the Excalibur, it is truly a beautiful car. When we were driving down Sunrise, everyone was turning their heads at the car! Especially when our driver, Ricky, played the bridal horns! I loved how they sounded and made him do it a lot . I’m like, “do the horns again Ricky!”. They had red carpets from when I stepped out of the limo to the entrance of the church. Also, they provided a limo from Villa Lombardi’s to the Marriott. Service was top-notch and we received a great price, too!
TIMELESS TREASURES VIDEO: A+ www.timelesstreasuresvideo.com, 631-399-1868We booked Ray without seeing anyone else. We were impressed with his work and his personality and style. He was so unobtrusive that we didn’t even know he was there. He wasn’t “in your face” whatsoever, which is what we wanted. Based on the samples we’ve seen of his work, we are excited to see how he does our DVD. He is so artistic and classy, no cheese at all. I’ll add more to the review once we receive the final product, but for now, he gets an A+!
UPDATE: We received the DVDs last night and were absolutely BLOWN AWAY!! I didn't know what to expect, but I can tell you, I wasn't expecting to be in tears and I was! Ray did an incredibly fantastic job and I would recommend him in a heartbeat. It was so wonderful to sit and watch my wedding, much of which I can't remember because everything was such a blur. From Oksana making me laugh, to seeing Anthony's expression when he firsts see me, to seeing my guests dancing and being silly, everything was captured beautifully. Ray gets an A+++++++++++++++++++++++!!!!!!
DANIEL KRIEGER PHOTOGRAPHY: A+++www.dankriegerphotography.com, 631-928-8417Dan doesn’t get a lot of attention of this site and it’s a darn shame. He's an extremely gifted photographer and the pictures came out absolutely stunning! I hired his sister-in-law, Kristie (she's a doll!) for photojournalism and they both took such wonderful shots – many of which I didn’t even know about. Dan got all the group and family shots done before the cocktail hour, which was a must for us. He’s been in the business for over 30 years and it shows in his work. Anthony and I felt totally comfortable with them. I feel kinda bad because I was turning into a bridezilla at one point when we were taking pics in the hall. My bouquet felt like it was 100 pounds, my feet hurt and I was getting super-cranky and wanted them to stop. They ignored me and kept snapping away. I am so glad they did because I have so many beautiful pictures (they must be used to bridal temper tantrums!). I really recommend Dan Krieger!!!!! I forgot to mention that even though my church doesn’t allow photos during the service, Dan still took some (without the flash) and they came out surprisingly good. I am so thankful that I have actual pictures of my ceremony!!! Thanks Dan!!!
I forgot to mention that we were able to view the proofs 3 days after our wedding online! We were on our HM and checking out all our pics! Very cool!!
SIMPLY STEMS – reception florist: A++++++www.simplystems.com, 631-351-0257This is another vendor that should get alot more attention here. Sandi and Cecilia are FANTASTIC! I loved, loved, loved my flowers! I didn’t want the typical round bouquet of roses, I wanted something more artistic and they came through with flying colors! They used flowers not usually used for my centerpieces and the BM bouquets. I was so thrilled when the bouquets were delivered to my house and I saw my flowers for the first time. It literally took my breath away. So many people have complimented the centerpieces and loved the idea of having 4 mini versions of the CP so each couple got to take flowers home! Sandi and Cecilia were one of my favorite vendors and I hope more girls use them. I sent my bouquet out to get preserved because I want to have them forever! Simply Stems are truly brilliant, friendly, reasonable and a pleasure to work with.
WHITE IRIS FLORIST – church flowers: B+This is the florist that my church uses and was told that it would be easier to have them do the flowers for my church, since they have a key and everything (whatever!). The flowers were very beautiful, but I thought they were expensive for what I was getting. Also, the owner never once returned my phone calls, I had to call him several times to get answers for things. I wouldn’t have used them at all for this reason, but the church wanted me to use them for church flowers, so what was I to do? All in all, the flowers came out nice, but the customer service was definitely lacking.
TOMMY’S TUNES: A++++www.djtommystunes.comI am so glad that I booked them. We had Joe E. as the MC and we hired Gene Santini as the Sinatra singer for the cocktail hour. I can’t tell you how many people commented on Joe’s personality and the talent of Gene. What a wonderful touch it was to have a singer for the CH! He sounded brilliant and it was such a classy addition. Not many people dance on my side or Anthony’s, but somehow Joe got a lot of them up. The only thing was that they played and Copacabana and I absolutely hate that song! I can’t blame them though because I didn’t have it on my “do not play” list. The intelligent lighting was fantastic, it felt like a dance club and that’s what we were going for. Anthony and I were literally dancing the entire night and it was fantastic! I loved how they played the Soprano’s theme song for the entrance of me and Anthony! The guests loved that! Tommy’s Tunes has a great reputation and for good reason – they are excellent at what they do. Joe E. was a fantastic MC and he books up quick, so if you want him, book him early!
MAS TRAVEL – Travel agent: A+++++++www.mastravelservices.com, 631-588-5887John and Maryanne Sokolowski are wonderful people, more like friends than a vendor. They welcome you into their home and treat you like family. Anthony and I loved spending time with them. I could call or e-mail John anytime and he was readily available to answer any questions that I had (and I had a lot!). They got us the lowest prices possible for our honeymoon and the airline tickets. I didn’t have to watch for the prices lowering at any point, John did it for us. He’d contact me and say, I re-booked your HM at a lower price because Sandals is having a sale. I didn’t even know about it. Anthony and I are going over there to show them pictures of our HM and Maryanne promised to cook homemade manicotti! I adore them! Anthony and I are planning to use them for all of our travel needs.
THE ELEGANT, CLASSY, VILLA LOMBARDI’S: A++++++++++++++++++++++www.villalombardis.comVilla’s is an UNBELIEVABLE reception hall. Breathtakingly beautiful, top-notch service, and the food is outrageous. I can’t tell you how many people have come up to me and say that my wedding was the absolute best wedding that they have EVER been to! What an incredible compliment that is! From the moment I walked into the hall that day, we were treated like royalty. Our maitre’d was Steve, and he was so incredibly wonderful to us. He walked us through the rooms before anyone arrived and made sure it was to our liking. He kept getting us drinks all night, all the time asking if there was anything we needed. Even though they are not “allowed’ to wrap up any food from the cocktail hour – Steve knew me and Anthony LOVED the butler-passed neopolitan mushroom pastries and had a TRAY wrapped up for us at the end of the night! The service from Steve, as well as the rest of the waitstaff, was top-shelf. Every time we left our table, plate covers were put over our food to keep it warm. Our napkins were re-folded as well. Before I could even finish my drink, a fresh one was brought over. I never once had to ask for a thing. I had the “champagne march” which looked so cool, too!
I had a whole mess of things that I wanted set up a specific way – my gift-card table, slipper baskets, my memorial table, the favor table, how I wanted alternate-colored napkins at the tables, etc. Everything was set-up just as I wanted it. NOT ONE THING WENT WRONG! Everything was absolutely perfectly done. And the most important thing was the food. Villa’s has an impeccable reputation and is known for their amazing food. All people are talking about is how delicious everything was! Even the cake, which I know from experience isn’t usually that good at weddings. My co-workers told me that the cake was the best! We had yellow cake, and raspberry and cannoli filling. Included with the cake was ice cream and a platter of pastries on each table. People raved about the cannoli’s! There was such an incredible amount of food that I’m glad we didn’t do the Viennese, it would have been such a waste (even though the presentation probably would have looked awesome). One thing I vividly remember is the crepe appetizer (with ricotta and broccoli filling) It was HUGE and sooooooooo good! People raved about that, too! In all honestly, they raved about it all, and I’m so glad that we chose this hall. Villa girls, you have ZERO to worry about, TRUST ME! If I could do it all over again, I would, just to eat the food!
Oh and one more important thing I forgot about, I’ve had people come to me and say that this was the first wedding they’ve been to where there were enough seats in the cocktail hour!
SANDALS ST. LUCIA -- HALCYON: B We wanted to extend our honeymoon to 10 days at the Regency, but we couldn't afford it. John at MAS Travel suggested we stay at the Halcyon (one of the other 3 Sandals resorts on St. Lucia). We stayed at the Halcyon for 3 nights in the beachfront concierge room, which is their highest room (but still alot cheaper than the Grande or the Regency). The landscaping at the Halcyson was absolutely beautiful, but we weren't impressed with the food. Our suite concierges were absolute dolls, but the waitstaff were unfriendly. We ate all the restaurants there, Marios, Bayside, the grill and the Pier and they really weren't all that great. They do have some non-motorized water sports like kayaking and the hobie cats (Anthony loved that!), but this resort is mostly for people who want a quiet, low-key place to stay.
SANDALS ST. LUCIA 'THE REGENCY': A++++++++++++++++++++ OMG, this resort was outstanding! The food, the service, the drinks, the entertainment, all out of this world! We totally splurged and stayed in the top room -- the Sunset Bluffs which are 2-story villas with private plunge pool and butler service! The room was gorgeous and we had beautiful sunsets to watch every night (talk about romantic!). The butlers, Simone and Saffy were attentive and saw to our every need. Me and Anthony took a rainforest tour and when we got back, Simone had run our bath and put candles and flower petals all around so we could unwind after our tour. When we wanted a drink, they were there. When we wanted reservations at booked restaurants, they got us in. Anything at all we wanted, they got for us. It was totally unreal.
My birthday fell during our honeymoon, so Anthony planned a special day for me. First, it started with breakfast in bed. Then, we went off to the spa and had a couples massage, full body scrub, seaweed wrap, then a bubble bath with fruit and champagne! The spa decorated the rooms with balloons and even had a gift for me! It was incredible! Then, for dinner, our butler arrnaged for us to have a private dinner right on the beach! The waves were a few feet away! It was the most romantic day and night of my life!
Here are some pics of the rainforest and waterall. I've been to quite a few carribean islands, but I have to say that St. Lucia is one of the most beautiful islands I have ever been to!
Well, that's it, ladies! I truly hope you enjoyed my review and if you have any questions at all, please let me know!! smooches!!!!
- Michele
