My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

First I want to say thank you to everyone for your honest posts and reviews. Without a site like this we would be lost and wouldn’t know the real deal. So thanks to everyone!

OK Let’s start from the beginning: (FYI: all pics are non-pro, will post pro ones when I get them)

Engaged 11/12/05: My husband came down to visit me at medical school and completely surprised me. Then we went to St. Barths for 5 days, which we title our
engagymoon. It was such a fun time and I was in shock for most of it.



I didn’t know anything about a theme or anything but I knew I would be home for Christmas so we decided to have an engagement party then.

11/05-
Engagement Party Invitations: Invitation Consultants.com- They were fast and very efficient. They had spelled my husbands name wrong on the first shipment and they FedEx’d a new shipment without any complaints.

Favors: My wedding favors.com: I wanted to keep it simple and I know everyone loves candles so I ordered them. Delivery was fast and easy.


Engagement Party: Don Pedro’s 96th and 2nd: My husband went to high school with one of the owners so it pretty much worked out for us. I have to hand it to my husband on this one because I was away at medical school and although I ordered the invites and favors he was pretty much in charge of going to look at the venues, doing tastings and pretty much putting the whole thing together. It was a good time we had about 25 people and served appetizers and drinks. One of my mother’s friends who’s a chef made us a beautiful cake.





Wedding planning: When I came back to NY from school in 4/06 we decided to start planning the wedding, and I knew that I would have a lot on my plate so I did a lot of researching, planning and booking last summer. And stumbling on LIW was the best thing ever. I just wanted someplace where I could see reviews for vendors and actually know something about them before booking or even agreeing to go for a meeting. So here we go!

Save the Dates: Hallmark and Snapfish: 12th night took one of our Engagement pics and turned it into a Save the Date. We were sending it out around Christmas time so we decided to use it as a holiday card. It was simple enough and everyone thought it was so cute.


My Dress: Lillettes: I hated dress shopping, I went to Davids Bridal with one of my BM’s late last spring and she begged me to try on some dresses and NOTHING looked good on me! I hated it. And I didn’t look for a dress for like 1 month until we went to Beautiful Bride in Lynbrook to look at the BM dresses and the woman was so nice she helped me find nice dresses and told me what style to go for and what color would look good. And I needed that. I didn’t get my dress from Beautiful Bride but I would highly recommended that store just because of the owners.
So I finally got the wedding dress bug and the next weekend I made an appointment with Lillettes. Christine helped me and was very patient. I put on my dress and right away I was like “OK this is it!”. My BM was like are you sure and I was completely done. The alterations department is nice and it was nice to have to woman altering my dress actually care about me and my wedding. Lillettes was great throughout the whole process and I would highly recommend them.





Veil & Tiara: Barron’s: Once again this was a gem I found on LIW and they did a great job, I described my dress to her and she made my veil accordingly. They were very helpful throughout the whole process. And I was at that counter for like ever!



Shoes: Grace Crystal: My Glass slipper.com: I found these Grace shoes that I wanted and I went to Bridal Reflections to try them on and realized I could get a better price online. But my trip to Bridal Reflections in Massapequa was not a wasted trip (see Below). I ordered the shoes, they came quick and were perfect.

DOJ: Bridal Reflections: I searched forever for jewelry and didn’t find something until August. My mother had told me from the beginning that she wanted to get me something nice for my jewelry that I could keep forever as a memory but I couldn’t find anything!. I went to Macys, Fortunoff, Lord and Taylor, the hit up jewelry stores in Manhattan and LI and I wasn’t feeling anything. Then we went to Bridal Reflections to look at the Grace shoes and ended up loving the jewelry pieces they had in the case. So I got earrings and a bracelet and I was happy to have finally found something.

Make up: Lynda Lane: I did a bunch of trials and she just worked well with me. The make up looked so good and natural, not all caked on and ashy, so I booked her and I am glad I did.



BM Dresses: Lillettes: Bill Levkoff: When I started planning and saw this dress I knew I loved it and how clean it looked. I didn’t have my dress yet but I knew what I wanted for the BM’s. When I went to try on my wedding gown, I saw Lillettes had it too and they offered the girls a discount since I got my dress there, so we went for it. Again their service was perfect. Even when one of my out of town BM’s didn’t have her dress ordered in July!!!!(Long story) They ordered it rush and took care of it no problem.

BM Shoes: Bellissimabridal shoes.com/Shoe buy.com: Colorifics Desire. I loved this shoe as soon as I saw it, and almost got it for myself. It looked great with the dresses.

BM/MOH Gifts: I knew I wanted to use pearls as the main stone for my wedding again I liked the clean look of it I started looking in February and I lucked out. I was able to find freshwater pearl necklaces for my BM’s at a great price . Then I just found the earrings to match and it was perfect. For my MOH it was a little harder because I wanted to get her something different from the girls, but again it took me forever to find something. I went all over and finally found something at Fortunoff like 2 weeks before the wedding, but it was beautiful and I was happy that she loved it.

Since the wedding was in Sept. and you never know about the weather I also wanted to get the girls pashminas and my friends mom was going to India in March so she bought the pashminas for me. I thought it was a nice touch that the pashminas were actually from India which was pretty cool!





MOB dress: This was another never ending search, my mom never seemed particularly excited about anything. We went to every store on LI and she finally found something she loved a Sugarplum. And she looked damn good! I highly recommend Sugarplum, it is pricey but you’ll be sure to find something nice and original. After going to all of the other Bridal stores, a lot of them carry a lot of the same dresses but at Sugarplum I didn’t see anything I had seen already.

MOB shoes/ and shoes for 1 BM: Sandy’s shoes in Massapequa: That store is the best! I went there literally like 15 times during this whole process and they were perfect every time. I went there to try and find shoes for myself which didn’t work out. But then we went to find shoes for my mom, and when we did they dyed it to perfection. Then when the late BM had to get shoes I bought her there and they ordered the shoes and dyed them ivory. Which was great because I was very stressed at that time.



Tuxes: Men’s Wearhouse: We used the Men’s Wearhouse on Old Country Rd. in Carle Place and they we always very attentive and took care of everything. The majority of the tuxes fit on the first fitting. Only had 2 that didn’t fit and they quickly got the proper size.





Groomsmen’s Gifts: Things Remembered: My husband had his mind set on the gifts and he got engraved flasks for the groomsmen and a pocketwatch for the Best man. All the guys we so excited when they got it.

Rehearsal Dinner:

Bertuccis in Melville: My husband and I both love Bertuccis and we wanted someplace with a good room at a reasonable price. Everyone loved it and the food was good. They were also very accommodating because our rehearsal ran late and they stayed open late to accommodate us.

Grooms Cake: Audrey’s Bakery: Audreys makes the best cakes hands down. They are the house Bakery for Lands End and after tasting their cakes I knew I would use them for the Grooms cake. My husband (it feels weird writing that) is obsessed with cars so I got him a Lamborghini Gallardo. He was very surprised and loved it. Bonus: the cake was yummy!







Wedding:

Invitations: Not from a box.com: I planned early and as soon as I started planning I saw pocketfolds and I fell in love with them. I decided to use them but they were so expensive. Not from a box was the best price I found at the best quality. They were easy to work with and handled any of my concerns quickly and efficiently. When I emailed Britta to tell her I needed another 20 invites they sent it out to me before even charging my card or anything which I thought was nice, showed they cared rather than just getting paid.




Calligraphy: I decided to get computer calligraphy done and I wanted to go with CJB designs but she was on vacation the week I needed them so I went with Calligraphy by Dawn. She was very nice however on certain cards where it was addressed to 2 people it was kinda like she didn’t look at it just put it through the computer and they had to be redone. Also in retrospect she was pretty expensive for computer design.

Cardbox: For the Modern Bride: My cardbox came out great! I thought about doing a photo cube but I didn’t think I was that DIY inclined so when I saw the Cardbox from Stella I knew it was one. I ordered it in May and got it the week before my wedding. Stella assured me that it would be there on time and it was. It was one of those things were I had to just let go and it came out great.



Signing Board: Ebay (I don’t remember the sellers name) : It has a poem in the middle that explains the purpose of the board, then afterward you can remove the poem and put in a pic. I knew I wanted a sign in board and this one worked perfectly. I got a frame from AC Moore and it went off great.



Unity Candle: Ebay: I ordered it online with the scripture on it, and then I just glued the ribbon onto it. It was simple and it looked nice.

Wedding Bands: Diamond Roof in Tri County: My husband got my engagement ring in the diamond district but we didn’t really have the time to go out there. So after reading on LIW we went to a bunch of jewelers on the island and also in Tri-County. My husband fell in love with a band at the Diamond Roof and when I told them what I wanted they custom made it for me. It turned out beautiful and we are both sparkling!

Photo: 12th Night: Like I said we went booking early and we went to a lot of the vendors here on LIW but when we went to 12th night they were so great and their pictures were beautiful. I wasn’t sure about the fact that they don’t have a package with album but when I realized they give you a CD of your pics and they have an option for making albums I was sold. Plus my fiancé loved them so much we went for it. The day of I had Geraldine and Vicky. They were prompt and very nice throughout the day. I am glad we booked them.

Video: Rambling Rose: Again we booked early and shopped around a lot. We decided to go with Rambling Rose because they had good prices and their videos were beautiful. The day of we had Danny and he was so nice and professional. I can’t wait to see the video because I know there is a lot we missed.

DJ: Elegancia Entertainment: We searched around and went to a lot of the popular DJ’s but my husband and I wanted someone who we were confident could play hip hop, reggae and Haitian music. After check on LIW and reading some reviews we decided to go see Elegancia and they were perfect. Jose knew exactly what we were looking for and we were on the same page from day one. They showed us some sample weddings and we were hooked. I’m happy with my selection because people are still calling and emailing us saying how good the music was, how that was the most people they’d ever seen on the dance floor at a wedding, and I know a few people who even went up to the DJ and got their card.

Wedding wands: my wedding favors.com: My church didn’t allow us to throw anything so we needed to come up with a nice alternative. We were gonna do a dove release until we went to my husband’s cousins wedding a month before and they had a dove release. So we decided on ribbon wands. They came out nice and I can’t wait to see pics.

Limos: US Limo: I don’t know about this vendor so you can read below and decide for yourself. My husband and I booked with them early and had everything set..we were getting the white Porsche cayenne, a van before and after for guests from the hotel, and a limo to bring us back to the hotel. About 2 weeks before the wedding Kathy calls me and asks me if we wouldn’t mind taking the silver Porsche Cayenne because they had another party who really wanted the white. Well my response was yes we mind and we would really like the white, we booked with you guys because you had the Porsche that we wanted and now you’re saying we have to change. She was like what can I say you’re the customer if you want the white you’ll have the white.
Monday before the wedding she calls all of a sudden the white Porsche’s engine blew and can we take the silver……sounded a little fishy…..anyway we said no we want the white Porsche or something comparable. She was like well you can have the Hummer or the Excursion. My husband was like no f***ing way! So the week before my wedding when since I had done so much prior planning I should have been putting the finishing touches on my wedding, I was stressing about Limos. Finally after having to talk to the General Manager, they got us the new Escalade and a car to drop us off and pick us up from the airport. The Escalade was an upgrade which she initially wanted us to pay for but then they ended up giving it to us for free. So you see they solved the problem but they caused so much drama in the interim I don’t know what grade to give them.

Florist: Burton’s: Now I had done a lot of research and shopped around but in the end I decided to go with Burtons because a. I am not big on flowers, b. they gave us the best price and c. I went with them based on reviews from LIW. The day of the wedding started off well. They delivered the bouquets and boutonnières to the hotel on time and they looked beautiful! I loved them and I was so excited for the rest of the day. Fast forward to the reception hall…..the flowers looked like s**t!!!!! I was so pissed! There were barely any flowers in the centerpieces it was horrible. I just had to shake it off and move on with my life because I was so livid! I had my final meeting with them and in the meeting I repeated like 5x that I wanted the centerpieces full and I also have a copy of my final contract where he wrote “very full” on it so I don’t know what happened.





Hotel: Hyatt Regency: From the beginning Connie was like don’t worry about the hotel we’ll take care of it. And she did that. She was nice and always responded to my emails quickly. She took care of the OOT boxes and all the guests loved it there. We had an after party at the hotel bar, everything went well. When we got there, there was a personalized note from Connie thanking us and when we got back after the wedding there was champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us.

Church: St. Lawrence The Martyr: My parish is St. Boniface but since St. Lawrence was so close to Lands End my pastor asked the pastor at St. Lawrence if he could use his church. They welcomed us with open arms and were pleasant and supportive throughout the whole process. The Pastor of St. Lawrence came up to me on my wedding day before the ceremony and congratulated us and he started crying! He was so sweet!

And finally Lands End:

We went everywhere. Like I have said throughout this review we did a lot of research and visited tons of places. We saw about 20 places over the month of June 2006 and Lands End was the second place we saw and in the end it was between Lands End and Bridgeview Yacht Club. But we couldn’t let go of Lands End so we knew we had to have the reception there. They were amazing and you definitely get what you pay for. People are still raving about the food, the cocktail hour, how waiters were waiting as soon as people came on the grounds with apple martinis and daiquiris. How there was so much food for the cocktail hour. People were floored by the view. We have a friend of ours who is a chef at a 4 star restaurant in DC and she kept saying how amazing the food was and how it was not the normal wedding fare. All of that is exactly what my husband and I wanted. We wanted to have something memorable with good food, and a good location where people could feel like they escaped to a resort and people felt exactly that.
The attendants were right there, they always had a drink for my husband and I. Even the guests said there was never a time when they were without a drink. Everyone is so attentive and they are really there to make your day special.











DIY: I was very proud of myself because I do not do DIY’s at all so here it goes:

Rehearsal Dinner invites: Luckily I found a kit that had blue cards at Office Max, I printed it out and then used shell stamps I got from Micheals to add some flair. Everyone loved it and thought I had it printed.

Programs: I knew the style I wanted but figuring out how to do it ******!!!! I spent many a night adjusting and getting the templates right, but once I did it was so easy. I ordered the paper from paper and more.com, and I got the ribbon from AC Moore. I realized I needed a paper cutter so I got a cheap one from Officemax for like 15 bucks. I made 100 of them it took forever and I had to enlist help to assemble them but in the end they looked great.


Here comes the Bride Banner: I wanted to order it online but after hearing about all of the problems I decided against it. I told my mom about it and she took care of it. We got the material and she made the banner and it looked great.



OOT Boxes: I had to order 100 (so if anyone needs any let me know) and my husband and I went to Costco and got the small water bottles, some bars, orbitz and the small bags of chips and put it in. Inside I wrote directions to the church and info on things to do in the area. EVERYONE loved it. People were so surprised to have that waiting for them at the front desk. They all said it added a special touch.



Sand dollar table numbers and sand dollar love letters: I ordered the sanddollars online and painted them myself, they turned out nice and everyone loved the special touches.





Starfish place cards: again I ordered the starfish online, cut the placecards, ribbon from AC Moore, and my husband has good penmanship so he wrote the placecards.



That's it for now! I hope someone gets something out of this review the same way I have from so many others.

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Congrats!!! great review!! you looked beautiful

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

congrats! i love ur dress its amazing!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

BEAUTIFUL!!!! you look goRGeouS!!! EVERYTHING looks perfect!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Beautiful review!! Everything was gorgeous!!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Thanks for the awesome detailed review! You looked absolutely stunning and sooo happy! Congrats to you and your husband!!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Congrats! Beautiful wedding! Thanks for the review!!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

You looked beautiful. The dress was gorgeous. Eveything looked good.

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

You had a beautiful wedding! Congrats to you and DH

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Awesome review and beautiful wedding!

Congrats!!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

congrats! great review

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

everything looked great...congrats!!!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Wow, everything looked beautiful! I loved the sand dollars! Congratulations!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Congrats on a beautiful wedding.

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Awesome! I may steal a few of your ideas!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

You look BEAUTIFUL!!!! I really love your dress! Wonderful review!!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Congrats to you and Hubby. I love you DIY stuff, especially the place cards and table numbers.

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

I love all your special touches. Congrats!

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

thanks..beautiful

Re: My 9/15/07 Wedding Review!!!

Thanks Everyone!!!!