My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

We here is the review of the best day of my life!! Please note that all the proofs are scanned so these pics do not represent the actual quality of the photos!!

LI Weddings- 10/10

I honestly don’t know how I would have made it to my wedding day without the help of this site. Anytime I had a question I could just hop on the boards and it would be answered within minutes. I made two lifelong friends on here as well and for that I will be forever grateful, so THANK YOU Ron & Liz for creating this site!!


Mother Nature- 10/10

Well after torrential downpours on Friday and the news stations saying that it wouldn’t clear out till Sunday, I woke up to clear blue skies and a warm 70 degrees! We were actually catching some sun on the deck while we were getting ready. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.


My dress- Macy’s Bridal, Smithaven Mall- 10/10

I visited many bridal stores on my search for the perfect gown and ended up buying it at Macy’s because it was one of the closer stores to home (East Hampton). I originally tried the dress on there, but wanted to keep looking just in case. I headed into the city with my MOH and went to RK bridal to try on another dress that I thought I wanted. When we were there I found my dress (Maggie Sottero “Chantilly”) in all white instead of with the silver like most of the stores carried. When I tried it on there in the right color I knew it was the one!! I had them write down the price and brought it back to Macy’s where they matched the price plus gave me a 5% discount to take the dress home when it came in due to their limited storage space. The dress came in less then 5 months after I placed the order and fit perfectly. I went back for my fitting and the woman was so nice to deal with. All I ended up needing was a bustle (even the length was perfect!!) and that came out great. The only little thing that was annoying was that they only did alterations on Tue & Thurs nights so it was very busy in the store. Otherwise, I highly recommend them!!!





Bridesmaids Dresses- Macy’s Bridal, Smithaven Mall- 10/10

Again, I was thrilled with the service when it came to the BM dresses. I ordered Bill Levkoff #966 in Euro Wine and they came in about 6 months later. There is no cap on the alterations so it could get pricy, but they all came out great. Again, highly recommended!!



Mother of the Bride Dress- Bay Shore Bridal- 10/10

When I went shopping with my mom we ended up in Bay Shore Bridal. The saleswoman was fantastic to work with and she ended up with a Jovani dress that was beautiful. When the dress came in they had put a corset type thing in there which looked very strange under the dress. So when we went to pick it up after the first alteration we could see the boning popping out under the dress. The woman who did the alterations figured out the problem and removed it while we waited so we didn’t have to drive back. Now, the dress IMO was not worth even close to what we paid for it. It just did not seem like a high quality dress so I would suggest staying away from this brand. In the end she looked beautiful and I was very happy with the service we had a Bay Shore Bridal. I would highly recommend them.



Flower Girl Dresses- Lord & Taylor- 10/10

I knew I did not want the flower girl dresses to cost a fortune because my 3 year old nieces would be wearing them for only a short time. So I went with my mom to Lord & Taylor’s in the spring and found two adorable white dresses on the clearance rack. So we bought them and I ordered crinoline off of ebay to give them a little body. Also, I had ordered extra fabric that matched the BM dresses and my cousin sewed sashes onto them. They came out perfect and of course the girls were adorable!!





Tuxes- North Main Cleaners, East Hampton- 10/10+

This was one of the few things DH was totally in charge of. He did all the ordering and picked it out (I just gave the final approval). He had wanted the tux with tails from the start so that is what he got. They came in the Thursday before the wedding so he tried it on and we both looked at it and hated the way it looked with the white vest. So he called the shop and they were able to overnight the silver vest and bow tie so he could have it by Saturday. He stopped at the shop on Saturday and they had them waiting for him. I loved the way it looked with the silver vest and I am so happy they were able to switch it last minutes for us!! All the tuxes fit perfectly and everyone looked great!



Veil- Ebay

I ordered my one tier cathedral veil from Ebay seller tina0. I believe this was a veil that she had purchased and never used, but in any case I got it for under $15 and it was gorgeous!!



Hair Clip- Michelle’s Vintage Jewelry- 10/10

At the last minute I decided I wanted to wear my hair down and did not want to use the tiara that I had bought. So I searched online and came across this site and loved the clip. For some reason there was a problem processing the transaction, but Michelle emailed me right away to let me know there was a problem and ensured me it would be here in time for the wedding. Sure enough it arrived with plenty of time and the clip was beautiful. I have actually worn it several times since. And the price couldn’t be beat. I think it cost around $20 and looked like some of the Thomas Knoell pieces!!



My Jewelry- DIY project

I started getting into jewelry making during the wedding planning process and I realized that jewelry I made could be just as nice as some of the things I was looking at. So I ordered beads from artbeads.com. They were all Swarovski beads and really sparkle!! I made my necklace and my bracelet.


Shoes- Bellisima Bridal Shoes- 10/10

I found the shoes that I liked online and this site seemed to have the best price. The shoes fit, but they weren’t very comfortable (but I don’t wear heels very often either). They looked nice and as soon as I got to the reception I put on flip flops so they were fine for the short time I had to wear them!!

Invitations- DIY project
Cardstock- InvitesByYou.com-10/10
Envelopes- InvitationOutlet.com- 10/10

This was probably one of the first creative things I have ever done in my life!! After ordering samples of invites and seeing the prices some people were charging, I decided to get creative. I ordered the cardstock from www.invitesbyyou.com and it came very quickly. I had it pre-cut to the size I needed and didn’t realize that you order the amount of sheets needed not the number after it’s cut, so I ended up with double the amount of paper!! It came in handy for menus and other DIY projects so it wasn’t a waste. I ordered the envelopes from www.invitationoutlet.com. I used the lined inner envelopes which perfectly matched my cardstock. They came very quickly and when I needed more (because I kept messing up addresses) they sent them right away. If you are thinking about going the DIY route for your invites, it is a lot of tedious work but well worth it in the end. I think I probably saved over $500 by doing this myself and everyone compliments me on how beautiful they were so that made me feel great!!



Hair & Makeup- Jennifer Glass- 10/10

Jenn has been doing my hair for a few years now and recently started working out of her home after she had her baby. So when I started planning the wedding I knew I wanted her to do it! She came to the house at 7am with all her things and did me, my mom, & all the girls. I wanted my hair to be very basic since I really wanted to look like myself. I had a few hair trials and I just did not like the way I looked with an updo or with curls so we went down and straight!!! I was very happy with the way it turned out and I loved my makeup too. If you are getting married on the east end and want her information FM me for details. She is wonderful to work with!!



Bride & BM tanks- DIY project

I ordered the iron on rhinestones from wrapwithus.com and the tanks from Old Navy. It was very easy to do and the shirts were so cute. If you decide to do this, it took a lot longer then stated so you have to leave the iron on the shirt until you are sure all the rhinestones are sticking to the shirt. I have washed mine 3 times now and they are all still attached!!



Bridesmaids Gifts
Jewelry Box –Pottery Barn- 10/10
Necklace- DIY project
Tote Bag & Flip Flops - J.Crew- 10/10

I ended up getting the girls monogrammed jewelry boxes from Pottery Barn and they loved them. I made the necklaces that matched the dress. I also got them the tote bags and flip flops from the J.Crew outlet in Riverhead.



Favors
Boxes- Ebay vendor Efavormart- 10/10
Lindt Chocolates- 10/10

I decided to do boxes of Lindt chocolate truffles for my favors. I ordered the boxes from efavormart (2x2x2) and they have great deals on bulk items. We went to the Lindt outlet in Riverhead about a month before the wedding. I ended up knowing the girl who worked there so on top of the already low outlet prices she gave us a great deal. I wrapped them with ribbon and put an Avery label on that I had printed out on the computer. They looked pretty good, but I would have gone with a bigger box if I did it again.


Placecard Frames- Lenox

I bought these frames from various places including TJ Maxx and Ebay. They look nice and not too cheesy like some frames did to me.

DOC- Rosalie- 10/10 +++++

Before I came upon this site I did not even know what a DOC was. Then I started having problems with the hall and decided I needed someone to help on the wedding day to make sure the hall is doing their job. When we first met with Rosalie she drove all the way out to us and told us exactly how our day would run. We decided she would be a great person to have around on the day of the wedding. She came to our RD and pretty much ran the whole thing. It was great because the priest would never have told us how and where to stand. On the morning of the wedding she showed up at my house at 7am and was with me all day. She made sure I ate and that everyone was on schedule. When we got to the RH she really showed her colors. Apparently they decided not to give us a Maitre D’ so she ran the whole show without any help from the hall. I can honestly say my day would have been a disaster had she not been there. I can go on and on about all the little things she did for me that day, but in the end she was the best money spent. If you are even thinking about hiring a DOC then do it. So many people commented to us about how they thought we were crazy at first, but then when they saw how much Rosalie did for us they realized what a great idea it was to have her there!! So Rosalie- THANK YOU! You are the best!!


Limos- Sir Oliver- 10/10

We booked Sir Oliver sight unseen after all the glowing reviews on here and a recommendation from Rosalie. They arrived on the wedding day on time (I think they were even a little early!) and were so nice to deal with. The BP had the 10 person stretch limo and the driver was Don and ours was the Rolls Royce and Phil was our driver. I loved Phil!! He was so fun and was even telling Rosalie it was his job to do my train!! They had champagne for us on the way out to Montauk and when we have to extend the BP limo for an extra ½ hour there was no problems. We also used them for airport pickup and drop-off and Don was our driver both times. Our flight was delayed 3 hours and he was there waiting for us when we got back. I felt bad we threw the whole schedule off, but he didn’t complain and even stopped to let us get Wendy’s on the way back since we hadn’t eaten all day!! Overall- Highly recommended!!




Flowers- Strawberry Fields, Montauk- 10/10++

I had originally started to book with another florist, but when her final estimate came back over $700 more then her original “maximum” price I had to go somewhere else. I went to Mary based on a few recommendations and I am blown away at how perfect everything turned out! I really spent a lot of time looking at flowers and trying to decide exactly what I wanted so when the day came, I wanted it to be just what I envisioned. Well I could not have asked for more. I was thrilled with the bouquets (especially the BM bo-ks), and the centerpieces were beautiful too! She certainly went above and beyond and I am so happy I decided to use her. In the end, she cost me $1700 less then the other florist and I probably got 2x more flowers then I was going to get. I am thrilled with her and would highly recommend her to anyone!!






Cake- Cathy, Sag Harbor- 10/10

Cathy does cakes at home and is well known in our community for her cakes. When I called her she gave me the best price I had heard and would do whatever I wanted. We had chocolate cake with raspberry filling and it was delicious! The cake looked exactly like the photo I had given her. The next day they had an entire layer left over plus the top so we were able to eat the cake the next day and it was just as good then! If you need her information, FM me for details.





Church- St. Andrew’s RC Church, Sag Harbor- 10/10

This was the Church I grew up in and always imagined myself getting married in. They are great people to deal with and really did not try to make this process difficult at all. The Church itself was just restored last year so it is truly stunning!!

Officiant- Fr. John Drab

Fr. Drab married my parents and christened me and all my brothers so I was so excited when he said he would do our ceremony. He is 86 and has a great sense of humor. He was telling jokes during the homily!! We weren’t sure if he was going to remember our names at one point, but he came through!











Rings
E-Ring- Tiffany & Co.- 10/10
Bands- Kent Jewelers, Diamond District- 10/10

DH picked out my E-ring (with a little input!), but we were very happy with the service from Tiffany & Co. When we were looking for bands we ended up at the diamond district and went into Kent. They were able to make us exactly what we wanted for a fraction of the price. I would highly reccomend them.







Photo/Video- TimExposures- 10/10

When we first met with Jon, we loved his photos and his personality. We both agreed that he would be great to work with and his prices were very reasonable compared to some other prices we had seen. On the day of the wedding he arrived early with his lighting assistant AJ and they got to work right away. They never interfered and got all our shots over with quickly. We could have made the CH, but I decided I wanted some other shots around the RH so we missed it because of me! I just got the proofs back and love them! He captured a lot of the details that I had labored over without me even having to tell him to. I never gave him a “must take” list and he did not need one. I got so many great shots without it! Our proofs were in before we were even back from our HM, which is great because I want to get to work on the thank you’s ASAP!! We also used them for the video and Chris was our videographer. He was great!! We haven’t seen the video yet, but Chris was so fun to work with. The video should be ready in 4-6 weeks so I will update as soon as I get it. I highly recommend this vendor. Please note that all the proofs are copyrighted so give credit if using them.


DJ- Tommy’s Tunes- 8/10

I booked Tommy’s Tunes because I have been to a few of their events and loved them. I wish I could give them 10, but I felt like something was missing at the wedding. I think the MC’s name was Matt (don’t remember the DJ). I just wasn’t thrilled with the music selection. I never gave a must play list so I guess I am partially to blame, but they played Vanilla Ice and Jump Around which I really did not get. Then people were trying to make requests and they told them they had to ask me which was kind of annoying since I was trying to enjoy myself and these people kept coming up to me asking me if they could play songs I had already said no to. It put me in a strange position and I kind of wish they would have just said they couldn’t for other reasons. I don’t know, I just felt like I didn’t love the music but I also might just be a little extra critical since it was my wedding. Everyone danced all night long and said they had a great time so no one else seemed to notice!!



Montauk Yacht Club- 3/10

I wish I could give this place a 10, I really hoped they would come through for me, but they didn’t. I started having problems with them about a year out from the wedding. We sent in a deposit and never heard from them. We called a few times and the guy who we booked with was no longer working there (unbeknownst to us the management had changed hands). Then every time I called I got a different name of who I was supposed to speak to. Finally in January we met with Betsy Moreno who was the Catering Manager. She managed to calm my nerves somewhat about the management situation, but I was still a little on edge. Over the next few months I had a few issues that she took care of and I thought that we would be all set for the wedding.
Well on the wedding day we arrived in the middle of our CH because we went a little late taking pictures out on the bluffs. When we walked in there was no one to greet us so we just walked right out into the CH (my decision). A few minutes later Rosalie found me and told me we had to do my bustle and we should go to the Bridal Suite. At this point there is still no one around to take care of me or even offer me a drink!!! So I knew where the bridal suite was supposed to be so we went upstairs to the room I was told it was going to be in and it was EMPTY! I almost lost it right there. So we are all looking around and finally this woman comes out of an office. Rosalie asks her where the room is and she looks around and finds that they had set us up in another room (later we found out that it was due to water damage in the first room). So we go into the other room and it is sort of set up and there is NO water, NO champagne, and a tray of old food that looks as if it has been sitting out for the last hour. At this point I am ready to cry. So Rosalie tells the BMs to do my bustle while she finds out what is going on. She comes back with Betsy (mind you she is about 8 ½ months pregnant) and she takes our drink order. I never knew the catering manager was supposed to serve drinks!!! They finally get champagne up there, but it was too late. Apparently we were not getting a Maitre D’ and Rosalie was going to be running the show. Then I asked Betsy to make sure everything was in order for the breakfast the next day (something we had talked about at the tasting). Well she looked at me like I was crazy and then after Rosalie spoke to her later, she made DH hand out tickets in the middle of our wedding to anyone who might come to the breakfast!!! Then there were other things wrong. There was supposed to be a fireplace full of candles which were non-existent. The actually put the cake table in front of the fireplace so you couldn’t even see it. Rosalie said they never were going to do anything about the lighting so she ended up doing that too as well as taking charge of the cake cutting. I’m sure there are a thousand other things that went wrong that she just took care of without telling us, but in all they were terrible. Then the next morning we had the breakfast. People came and we were told where to sit (in the same room as everyone else dining there). It was a buffet so people kind of left when they were done. Luckily DH took a head count because when it came time to pay they handed us a bill and charged us for everyone in the dining room!!!!! It was for an extra 20 people! But the best part was that they waited for everyone to leave and then came up to DH and asked him for the tickets that we were forced to hand out at the wedding. We were like, didn’t you ask people for them when they sat down?? Nope, and then he keeps looking at us like we are going to pull them out of thin air-UGH. In all it was very disappointing. I would never recommend this place to anyone. The only thing it has going for it (and the reason it gets a 3) is that it is a beautiful location and the food was actually very good. Other then that, I would say if you want your wedding in Montauk- go to Gurneys. Their service is much better. I had a perfect day regardless of all their faults and we made it a great party, but when I think about the money I spent I wish I had gone elsewhere.

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Congrats!

Beautiful pictures!

Thanks for posting your review!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Congrats!!!! I LOVE your flowers!!!


-Kris

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

What a wonderful review! You look so pretty!!!
Congrats!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Beautiful pictures! Congrats!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Great Review, you look AMAZING!!!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Congratulations!!!!

You looked Beautiful!
Love your pics, I used Jon too!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Congratulations! Everything looked amazing.

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Great DIY invites! They came out great!!! Sorry about your RH, thanks for being so honest. Good for you for making the best of it! You looked beautiful!!!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Thanks for the honest review. I'm glad Rosalie saved your most precious day.

I really like your pics.

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Congratulations ~ you looked so beautiful! Great Review!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Congratulations - you look beautiful!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

everything is amazing and i looooooove your flowers!!!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

You have beautiful photos Date Twin!!!!!!!!! Congrats on everything - so sorry to hear that the RH didn't live up to its promises, but in the large scheme of things - you're married and that's all that counts!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Beautiful review!! Congratulations!!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

congrats!!!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Georgous! I love the pic of you walking down the stairs, very cool.
Glad you had a nice day. I love Montauk. Sorry to hear about the RH.

CONGRATS!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Yeeeaaa! A TimeXposures bride! What a gorgeous wedding you had- and beautiful pics!! I looove the pic in front of the church- I wish my church had a steeple like that!! I'll be certain to save your pics as my must-takes!! Eeek I'm so excited!

CONGRATS TO YOU!!!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Beautiful pictures and some impressive DIY projects!

Congratulations!

Re: My AMAZING 9/16/06 Review- Rosalie, Sir Oliver, TimExposures, Strawberry Fields, Montauk Yacht Club, Etc...

Congratulations!!!! You look gorgeous and so happy in your pictures! Everything looked incredible. I wish you and your husband a lifetime of happiness.: