My Nov. 6th Wedding Review at the Fox Hollow *NOW UPDATED WITH PICS*

I would like to start off by saying thanks to all the girls on LIWeddings for the great ideas, although I rarely posted I was able to get a great sense on what to do and what vendors to go and see.
I must say that our Wedding Day was PERFECT! My husband inscribed 'A Dream Come True' inside my wedding band and BOY WAS IT!! From the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep everything you can think about was absolutely perfect!
One thing I must say to the future brides is to ENJOY EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF THE DAY because it goes by REALLY FAST! Capture and absorb every moment to the fullest and remember it’s YOUR DAY and only concentrate and you and your husband!


Rehearsal Dinner; Chateau Briand A

Our rehearsal dinner took place on November 3rd at the Chateau Briand’s Europa Restaurant. When we originally booked we were suppose to get a corner of the restaurant for the dinner, since then the restaurant has closed to the public and is now only doing catering occasions. It worked out perfect because we had the entire place to our selves. The food and services was really good, everyone had a great time. It may be a bit pricey but definitely worth it!

My Dress: The Bridal Building A+

Tammy’s Fashion located on the 12th floor was excellent. Since the first day I went there I spotted my dress but of course my craziness I must have checked out 4 other Bridal Salons and tried on 11 different dresses all to come back to the 2nd dress I seen that first day. Their service was great and on schedule. I ordered my dress late February and they told me that it would take 6 months however the dress was in by the middle of June. “May” who is the girl who helped me throughout the entire process was great. They have great timing and whatever date they promise you the service is rendered. NO PROBELM AT ALL!!


Tuxedos: Dante's of Westbury B-

My reviews for Dante's are mixed, when we first went there to look for my Husband's Tux, it was great, the service was good, John (who is no longer there) was very attentive. As we started going back to book the groomsmen tuxes I was getting frustrated because of the lady that they have working there who seems not to know too much of what she is doing. After awhile we decided to only deal with the owner, Mike (who's very sweet and patient). Everything was fine; the tuxes looked great UNTIL the morning of the wedding when my father called me at the hotel I was getting dressed at to tell me that his vest and tie were missing from his tux! Let me just say that we checked for everything the day of pick up! Fortunately one of our best men thought really fast and was great to go out and rent another vest and tie from another tuxedo place since Dante's is closed on Sundays! Good thing is that my Dad got a vest and tie… bad thing was that we were not able to take pics at the hotel until we got to the church and his vest & tie was a different pattern from the others.


Bridal Party Dresses: Lestans in Brooklyn B

Lestans in Brooklyn was the only place that we were able to get all of the Bill Levkoff dresses that I wanted for the Bridal Party. Since the body shape of all my girls are different I wanted to get them something that they would feel 100% comfy in the day of the wedding. Both my Maid and Matron of Honor wore different styles and the other 2 Bridesmaids wore the same style. The service at Lestan was mediocre, very impersonal but they got us the dresses by the set date. If you go there make sure to pay for alterations when booking the dresses it is much cheaper than paying for them once you get the dresses.

Hair & Makeup: Willy A

I must say that I discovered Willy at a local Brooklyn salon and was amazed by his work. He is an excellent makeup artist and hairstylist. He showed up on time (6:30am) at the hotel with his assistant and immediately got to work. If you want further info about this great stylist and artist FM me. His prices are very reasonable!


Flowers: Atlantic Floral Showcase A +

WOW! What a GREAT JOB! Since day one the experience with them was great. Angie (the owner) really put together all of our centerpieces beautifully! The flowers were really fresh and the roses were the big ones, not the smaller ones that you usually get. The bouquets were exactly what I had asked for, and the delivery was made on time. No complaints at all!!!!!!!

Limos: Alexis Limousines A

I must say that I have no complaints with them, they were on time, the cars looked great and the drivers were really nice. They got us to the Fox Hollow at a perfect time were we caught some daylight for pics in the garden. The next day a limo picked us up at the Fox Hollow Inn on time and they gave us another complimentary pick up on Tuesday at 4am to take us to JFK.

Photographer/Videographer: Patken A +

We contracted Nick for photos and Raymond for the Video, man what a great team!
Nick is an excellent photographer! The day of the wedding he showed up at the hotel on time and got straight to work! He took pics that we were not aware of and boy do they look great! He captured every single detail and moment of the day. He made us feel really comfortable and was very patient. We received our proofs as promised 2-3 weeks after the wedding and let me just say that they are beautiful! Like I mentioned before he captured every single moment, looking at the pics is like reliving the entire day. We have not received our video yet but I am pretty sure that it will be awesome; Ray was present at all times throughout the day and party.
To all the future Patken Brides, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!

DJ: Elegancia Entertainment A+++

ONE WORD: EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!
I am still breathless on the work they did! Let me just say that all of our guests are still raving about how great the music was and EVEN the staff at the Fox was moving to the beat!!!!!!! I feel that this is the one vendor that I must have gone to 12 different places looking for the perfect DJ. Being that my Husband and I are from 2 different cultures we wanted someone who would reflect evenly our cultures. There were all sorts of music played; they specialize in multi cultural weddings so they had all kinds of music you can think of. Lucy and Jose (husband and wife) are the owners and let me say that they are great people! Dealing with them was beautiful. Being that we went with one of their higher packages they guaranteed us that one of them would be there for the party. It turned out to be that Lucy was our DJ along with another gentleman who helped her throughout the night and Louie was the MC (great!). We also had 2 percussionists who did a wonderful job and we got their famous lighting show entrance. People were amazed at the way the wedding party and we were introduced. They had all of our guests on the dance floor the entire night, and may I add that it’s not easy to get 240 people on the dance floor!!! I have not one bad thing to say about Elegancia, they really gave us what we paid for and much more!!!

Last but not least:

Reception: Fox Hollow A++++++++++

I am amazed at all the mixed reviews that the Fox gets, all I have to say is that we had NOT ONE COMPLAINT!!!
Frank Marino who was our BM was excellent form Day One; he is a sweetheart, whatever we wanted he gave us. When it was time to do menus and linens we dealt with Jennifer who was great as well. The day of the wedding everything we planned with Jen was done and much more!
From the moment we arrived Megan (bridal attendant) and Sam (Maitre'D) was there to greet us and took all of our stuff to the bridal suite. We were then escorted to the garden where a mini buffet was set up for us to eat while we took pics and then once it got a bit dark, we proceeded to the photo studio where there was another table set up with drinks.
Megan was an excellent bridal attendant, she got me whatever I needed or wanted and was very attentive throughout the night not only with me and my husband but with the entire wedding party and our parents. I highly recommend her! Sam our Maitre'D was great too he set up our grand entrance along with the DJ which was awesome!
I heard that Cocktail Hour was great; plenty of food and drinks, the only complaint were that they were not enough seats, but that’s okay because the Briar Fox is not designed to hold 240 guests.
Our reception was in the Garden Terrace, I am still in love with that room! Dinner choices were excellent we decided to substitute some dishes at the last minute and they were great! The Bartenders were great as well as the waiters/waitresses; everyone was very attentive to our guests. The big hit of the night was the chocolate fountain, so if you are contemplating on getting it I definitely recommend it. I have no complaints about the cake; I think it was pretty good; it was exactly what we asked for.

The only thing that I must say was not so good BUT that we had NO control over was the valet parking. There were a few complaints from our guests but the Fox Hollow took care of the problems immediately! One of my Bridesmaid's Boyfriend's car keys were lost so being that it was so late, the Fox accommodated them at the Fox Hollow Inn until the next day that a locksmith arrived.

At the end of the night Megan escorted us all the way to our suite in the hotel next door and brought everything over for us. Megan rocks!

OVERALL OUR EXPERIRENCE WITH THE FOX HOLLOW WAS EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fox Hollow Inn: A-
At first we were a little reluctant on booking the Inn due to all the complaints we heard. When we got there to book, we did not receive the warmest greeting; they were very impersonal and sometimes rude. We still went ahead and booked however we checked on the reservations three times just to make sure that we had a place to stay the night of our wedding. Fortunately we were given a really nice suite the night of our wedding, it was very romantic, and there were rose petals on the bed when we got there. I must say that breakfast was pretty good. If you are having your reception at the Fox, it is a great idea to stay next door. Some of our OOT guests stood there and had no complaints!


Honeymoon: Sandals Grande St. Lucian A

What a great honeymoon! The service at Sandals was perfect. From the moment we arrived we were taken to the concierge room where we were given a mini description of the services provided by the resort. We were given champagne and a warm towel and then escorted to our room. The room we had was a penthouse suite in the main building which I must say was very convenient. The food was really good, no complaints at all, there were 5 restaurants that we ate at throughout our stay. We did not venture off to any tours but still manage to have a blast. Although it rained everyday we did not care, the purpose of our trip was to spend time together and reflect on our wedding day!

I will post pics soon!