My July 4th wedding review - Vanderbilt Mansion

Hello All -
First and foremost, a tremendous thank you to LIW and all the brides (past and present) on these boards. I had a long engagement (2 and 1/2 years!) and planned long distance, so these boards were a god-send...with advice, idea sharing and honest reviews, thank you all very much!

Rehearsal Dinner - Captain Bill's, Bayshore 10
Very affordable, incredible food, attentive wait staff, very nice views of the Great South Bay. When I dropped off my bridal party gifts the morning of the rehearsal dinner, I stacked them in a corner of the room. When we arrived, the staff arranged all the gifts on a banquet table, in front of the room. Small attention to detail by the staff...very nice. Like, a dirty martini on the corner of the bar for me all night long...very very nice!

Reception - Vanderbilt Mansion at Dowling, Oakdale 10
After the Chapter 11 drama with John Anthony's, and less than a year to go, we booked the Vanderbilt.
Now, this is the wedding business, and all of our vendors are there to make our day perfect. Why wouldn't they? It's their business...
The Vanderbilt and their entire staff takes this one step further. Every single solitary detail is taken care of. And, taken care of with so much class. I can list example, after example...guests who approached me after the event was over, 'Our waiter was so great, etc'. But I will say this, I could never have imagined a vendor being so focused on the customer (bride, groom, parents, guests) as the entire staff at the Vanderbilt Mansion. (And Maryanne the banquet manager and Suzanne the matre'd were genuinely nice people, too!).

Hotels - Wyndham Wind Watch Hotel 9
Very accommodating. We blocked 25 rooms, for a 4th of July weekend wedding. They gave us the best rate with not one problem. I looked at other area recommended hotels and they were a joke...so much so, I contact their corporate office. But, they will remain nameless...

(to be continued...)