My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Let me start off by saying that I am happy with my wedding experience overall and am so happy to be married. I did have some very specific and significant problems with a few things that happened. I guess it's pretty important to be ready for not everything to go perfectly.

Hall - Thatched Cottage: B
I had the absolute most gorgeous weather possible for an outside wedding and the grade would probably have been lower if not for that. It is important for future Thatched Cottage brides to know that 'one bride at a time' does not mean one affair at a time. Maybe you girls do know that, but I was never told that, and I felt this was extremely deceptive on their part. There was a Communion party going on at the same time as my wedding. It was in the same room as my cocktail hour would have been in if it rained. I shudder to think what chaos there would have been if it did rain. When my MIL spoke to the Thatched Cottage about this (and other concerns) they told her that the party started way after ours, but this is not true since I remember looking up at the windows during the ceremony and seeing people watching.

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful due to the weather and the outdoor setting (which was the Thatched Cottage's response to many of our concerns - as if they had something to do with the weather). I heard that the cocktail hour food was amazing. However, for whatever reason, the cocktail hour was extended by 20 minutes, and when it came down to it, the reception started at 8 instead of 7:30, which made it a little rushed. The dinner food was okay, not great. I can't really comment on how the cake tasted, I don't remember. It wasn't decorated as I asked due to some communication malfunction, but it was still very pretty and elegant. As far as alcohol goes, when someone asked for Grey Goose vodka, the response was 'we don't do everything top shelf,' but we eventually got some. My biggest complaint outside of the second affair was the Maitre'D. He wasn't very attentive to our wedding in my opinion. Numerous people had to make requests several times before he actually would do it. I think he was burned out from the weekend. My bridal attendant on the other hand, was absolutely wonderful. I might still recommend the Thatched Cottage for a spring/summer wedding, but with reservation.

Band - Milestone: B-
Depending on your taste, not everyone would give this low of a grade. There is no doubt that for what they play, they play extremely well. However, I made a specific request for no slow songs outside of the special dances, which was completely ignored. When my husband went to speak to them during the wedding, they said they need to feel out the crowd, but my crowd wasn't interested in slow songs. They did not play 2 of the songs we asked them to learn, and they did not play most of the songs we asked them to play from the set list. They did do our special dance songs very well, especially our first dance song.

Makeup - Jackie from I Make Up You: A+++++
She did such a wonderful job. My makeup was so beautiful and exactly how I wanted it. I never get pimples on my chest, and I got two right before my wedding, so she airbrushed them for me. People who knew I was freaking out about them came up to me and asked how I got rid of them so quickly. She really did an excellent job and I would highly recommend her.

Hair - Salon Osio: A++
Our hair came out great and stayed perfect all night. I can't believe how well it stayed. I was so happy with this.

Photography - Mariola from Ray O'Connor: A+
I don't know how the pictures came out yet, but she was wonderful. She was so fun to be with the entire day.

Video - On-Point Productions: A+
Again, I don't know how the video came out yet, but Paul and Ed were really nice and were very unobtrusive.

Flowers - Pedestals: A++++++
I was so happy with my bo-k and my girls bo-k's. Everything came out so beautiful. And, when they got to the Thatched Cottage and realized my cake wasn't tiered (we spent $150 to put flowers between the tiers), they went back to Mineola and got vases so we could have floating roses at our cocktail hour and not waste our money. I loved the bouquets so much.

Bridal Gown - Iman's Bridal Couture: A++++++
I know some people on this board have had problems here, but I could not have been happier. Benita, the seamstress, is absolutely amazing. She made these big changes that had to be made without a problem. She fit it up until the very end so it would fit perfectly against my body. I went to pick up the dress the Thursday before my Sunday wedding, and I had lost weight, so she fixed it again. The dress was stunning. I am so sad I can wear it only once.

Bridesmaid Dresses - Bridal Reflections/Massapequa: A-
The people there were very nice, but the seamstress wasn't so great. The prices seemed reasonable.

Hair/Makeup - Technicolors: A+
Two of my BMs went there for hair and makeup to save some money. If you live in RVC and don't mind going into the salon, they were great. Suzanne did an awesome job on their makeup.

I went to Hawaii for my honeymoon. The Princeville in Kauai and the Hapuna Beach Prince on the Big Island. I loved my trip.

ETA: Limousine - Royalty: A+
They did ask for a tip when my father forgot to give one to his limo. Other than that, they were very good. They arrived at every location early and knew exactly where to go.

Got my proofs back from Ray O'Connor (used Maryola). They're more formal, but that's because I didn't get photojournalism. I think they came out great. I am so happy. Here is a link to some that I scanned (if anything is cut off, it's because I messed up, it's not the picture).

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAOGTZk2atWzg4

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Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Congratulations!! I'm glad you had a great day.

I appreciate the honest review - as a fellow Thatched Bride I'm a little concerned now. Especially with the other events. I just noticed that they wrote 'Only Wedding' across the top on my contract, not only EVENT. Good to bring up.

Can you FM me the name of your Maitre'D and attendant?

Thanks again for the review - can't wait to see more pictures!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Thanks so much for the review. Was your reception/cocktail hour upstairs or downstairs?

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Congrats!!!!! More pics please!!!!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Thanks Shellee for the review...i can't wait to see more pictures!

I sent you FM

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Congrats on your wedding!! You looked soo beautiful!!

THANK YOU for the honest review, Shellee... not only will this help future brides at the TC , it will help ALL brides to remember to ask lots of questions and clarify everything on their contract! I'm so very glad you had such gorgeous weather and you didn't let any issues get in the way of your wedding. Everything else seemed to go great and it seemed like you had a wonderul day overall

But forget all that... most importantly, you are MARRIED! Again ... CONGRATS and best of luck!!!

And of course we hope to see more pics soon!!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Congratulations!!!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

congratulations!!! can't wait to see more pics

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

You looked beautiful!! Congratulations!!!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Congrats

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

You looked BEAUTIFUL!!! I loved your bo-k....I am using pedestals...who did you work wtih there.......agian you look beautiful

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Congratulations! Let's see more pics...

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

you look gorgues!!!! Congratulations on your day!!! MORE PICS!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

congrats... I am glad to hear despite a few issues you had a great time...

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Congratulations!!!! You look very nice!!!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Congrats!! I was waiting for your review for my friends wedding was also that weekend and she had 2 other parties going on!! Not enough staff and NO drink service. FM me for any specifics but future brides go get everything clarified!! They were serving drinks out of a closet and there was goose poop everywhere outside!!!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Congrats! You looked beautiful!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

I added my limo company and scanned some proofs - finally!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

beautiful pictures!!!
you looked so happy
and that cake - it's gorgrous!!!

Re: My May 30th Thatched Cottage Wedding

Beautiful pics! Love the ones at Npt harbor (although I am partial as it was the site of my own ceremony!!).

Gorgeous flowers & cake! Congrats!