The Brides' Review - My Perfect WCC Wedding

AwaitingAugust Posted: Oct 18, 2010 10:48 PM+

AwaitingAugust MEMBER SINCE: 11/09 TOTAL POSTS : 13758 WEDDING DATE: Aug 15, 2010

Posted: Oct 18, 2010 10:48 PM

My Perfect WCC Wedding

WEDDING REVIEW:

Registry #1 - Williams Sonoma
RATING: D
WOULD USE AGAIN: nope
DH and I registered at Williams Sonoma until we looked at their merchandise and realized that everything is SOOOOO overpriced. Not only that but you can't add the perishable food items to the registry (not from the internet, at least) and we LOVE their food and whatnot so that was annoying to us. We decided to close this registry down after about month because we just couldn't bare having our friends and family spend so much extra money for nothing.

Registry #2 - Amazon
RATING: B
WOULD USE AGAIN: prob not
Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE amazon. I'm on amazon at least once a single day! So yeah, Amazon was a no-brainer for our registry. We liked that we could register for ANYTHING from video games to bed sheets to pots and pans to random gadgets. In actuality though, the amazon registry was kind of a failure. Things are just too difficult to return there so when we got something that we didn't want (because the picture online was misleading, or because we found a nicer version of it elsewhere, or because we just didn't need that item anymore), we felt like we were stuck with it. I still love amazon but i probably would not set up my registry there.

Registry #3 - Bed Bath & Beyond
RATING: A
WOULD USE AGAIN: yeah
This was a replacement registry after we cancelled Williams Sonoma. We like BB&B much better because it's decently priced, located everywhere so it's easy for guests to buy there, and always has those 20% off coupons. We also like that it was really easy to return any un-wanted gifts if we wanted to.

Registry #4 - Honeymoon Wishes
RATING: A
WOULD USE AGAIN: probably not
This is the HM registry that DH and I found. It's decent but ultimately charges more than some of the other HM registries out there. In the end, i think we should have not had this registry so that people would give cash instead. It'd save on the service charges! But we did get a few gifts from this and are excited about the extra money. Ultimately though, we only received $430 through this registry.

Engagement Party Invitations - eVite
RATING: C
WOULD USE AGAIN: no
We wanted to be cheap since we had spent a lot of money on the e-party venue and wanted to save money on the invitations. My mom sent out an evite since all of the people we were inviting had email addresses. However, since most of our friends didn't have my mom's email on their 'not spam' list, many evites were not received. This required a lot of calling to find out peoples' RSVPs. I wouldn't use an evite next time - it also made the event a lot less 'formal' since the invitation sets the mood for the party (though i didn't know this at that point). Oh well, se la vi

Colbeh in Great Neck (Engagement Party Venue)
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: absolutely!
They were extremely nice and accommodating and the food was amazing. They have mediterranean food and it was served 'family style' (big plates in the middle of each table and everyone serves themselves). Everyone was raving about the food - it was different than what people were used to, but extremely delicious. It was really cold there though (it was winter time and they didn't turn the heat on high enough) and everyone was freezing but that was an extremely minor thing.

Princess Bridals (Bridal Boutique)
RATING: F--
WOULD USE AGAIN: hells no!
Words will never be able to explain just how awful these people are! The store is small and cramped, the alterations room is a filthy mess (with tons of pins on the disgusting carpet), and worst of all, the employees themselves are the absolute most nasty people in the world. My first experience with them was amazing though, which is why I purchased my dress there (i bought it on the spot). Once they got my money, i was nothing to them and they treated me like dirt. I went in there a week after purchasing my wedding gown along with my MOH to find dresses for her. They quoted me $200 for the MOH dress (and it was fairly plain). I asked if they could give her a discount of sorts and mentioned that we found very similar dresses at another store for $100. They gave me attitude and said to me: 'Ok then go to your other store and buy those dresses but i'm telling you that those cheap dresses will fall apart at the seams as she's walking down the aisle!!!!'. Clearly we didn't buy the BM dresses there. There were many many MANY other instances where they were nasty to me. I'm going to just mention one other (huge) thing, though. When i went to pick up my dress, they brought it out and opened the zipper of the dress-bag to show me the gown. There were 5 large wrinkles right on the front center of the dress. I pointed them out and the guy started examining it, moving his head back and forth and left and right as if he couldn't see the wrinkles. Frankly, this was BS - a blind person would have seen them! They were literally the length of my hand and there were 5 of them right next to each other! Anyway, the guy (i think he's the owner) looks at me and asks me what i expect him to do .... i say 'um ... re-steam it! I should not be taking it home with wrinkles!' ... he made a face at me and took it. Meanwhile, the woman behind the counter who had seen and heard all of this mutters something about not understanding why i care so much. Very very rude! I did not meet a single employee of that store who was a nice person (except for the alterations lady). One other thing with this store is that they never called me when my dress came in so I never had the joy of getting 'the call' ... i had to make it myself. Not a big deal except that I had to call about my dress 3 times and was told three different dates that the dress would come in!

Wedding Dress (Alfred Angelo style 1612)
RATING: A+
WOULD USE AGAIN: yes
It was beautiful and comfortable. The corset top did not need to get re-adjusted at all during the wedding day. The only dress issue I had is that the halter strap (which was connected to the dress using little hooks) unhooked on one side during the reception - the piece of string that the hook hooks into just ripped. Luckily, there were two sets of hook-strings on each side of the dress so I just put it back in and went back to the party

Veil #1 - at Bridal Store
RATING: B
WOULD USE AGAIN: never!
It was a very pretty one tiered veil with a pencil-edge satin trim. Looked great, but was VERY overpriced. I would have used this, except that I needed a blusher.

Veil #2 - Wedding-Veil.com
RATING: B
WOULD USE AGAIN: maybe but probably not
I thought I ordered a two tiered veil with pencil edge but received an extremely poofy two tiered veil without any edging. This was my mistake, but the fact that I had difficultly ordering turns me off from them. It should be more clear. The veil did arrive very quickly though and was not wrinkled at all.

Veil #3 - ebay seller
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: yes
This was the veil I ended up using. A pretty two tiered veil with pencil edging and it was extremely affordable! It arrived fairly quickly but was extremely wrinkley. I hung it in the bathroom for a few days and let the steam from showers fix that and it looked great after that.

Headband and DOJ
RATING: A
WOULD USE AGAIN: yeah, but I wouldn't spend as much on the headband
I bought the headband from the bridal store which, as you already know, I hate. I really didn't want a headband but my mom convinced me it was the greatest thing ever and that I should buy it. So I did and I regretted it. However, looking back, it really did look good and was a nice addition. It was definitely overpriced though - I wish I bought a cheaper one someplace. I guess that's what I get for buying from the bridal store

. After I bought the headband, DOJ was a huge pain since the headband was gold and there really aren't many gold bridal DOJ sets out there that aren't ugly. I FINALLY found a set that happened to match my headband perfectly! I really like my DOJ, but the earrings have pearls shaped like flowers and the 'flower petals' moved around too much and are too flimsy. It didn't bother me though and I was happy and I looked good.

Shoes (Bandolino 'Revati')
RATING: B
WOULD USE AGAIN: maybe
I knew I'd probably never wear these shoes again so I wanted something affordable. I found these shoes for about $40 on overstock.com and decided to buy them. They were fairly comfortable for the first few hours but started to hurt me for the last hour or two of the reception. My toes were actually numb for about four days after the wedding just because of these shoes! But I rarely wear heels so I'm sure that had to do with it. I liked these shoes but the ivory color was a little too bright - i wish it was slightly closer to white.

David's Bridal (Bridesmaid & FG dresses) in Westbury
RATING: A
WOULD USE AGAIN: yes
The employees are nice, but dumb as a rock! I walked in asking for 'the dress that's cocktail length in the front, but full length in the back' and the woman said 'which one...? oh wait, i know EXACTLY which one you're talking about! it's the one that's cocktail length in the front, but full length in the back, right?' :LOL: So yeah, not the brightest people, but at least they tried. We did not have any issues with ordering the dresses, and they came in extremely quickly (within about a month). When it came time to alterations, they were a bit sneaky. They had told my MOH to order a size higher than what she wanted to buy 'just in case'. She didn't need to do that though - they then charged her $40 to take the dress in a full size! So it was their sneaky way of making money. Also, they had told my MOH that alterations would be ready at a certain time, but when she got to DB at that hour, the seamstress was just starting with her dress! She had to wait an extra hour or two while the dress was being altered!

Men's Warehouse (Tuxes for Groom, GM, RB, and fathers)
RATING: C
WOULD USE AGAIN: probably not
DH did this on his own so I can only tell you what he's told me. The tux shopping process was annoying because DH could not physically try on the tuxes, but rather had to choose them out of a catalogue. MW doesn't have too many tux types in-store to try on, apparently. Then, when the tuxes came in, DH ended up HATING the way his vest and tie looked. MW told him they can't really do anything because again, they don't have anything in-store for anyone. Luckily, DH's brother was there and was nice enough to purchase a vest and tie for DH (cost him over $100...!). DH was extremely happy with this and did not end up hating his tux which was good

. As for the GM, 3 out of 4 of them (and DH too, in fact) needed their tuxes re-altered because they came in the wrong size. Lastly, the RB tux fit correctly, but they gave him the wrong color vest and tie! He was supposed to match DH (the original vest and tie) but they had him match the GM. The RB's parents didn't even realize this and just picked up the tux with the wrong color, so that's what he wore. In the end, everyone looked great though and there were no other issues.

Four Points Sheraton in Plainview (Hotel Block)
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: yes
It looks kind of crappy from the outside, but the rooms themselves are very large and beautiful. Every room has a plasma TV too, and there's even a pool in the hotel. Minor gripe - my hair stylist called the front desk to get directions (she was lost). They gave her the wrong directions!!! She called back after the first set of directions didn't help her and a different person gave her the same directions (also wrong!). So I guess the front desk employees are a little dumb at times.

Mya of Cosmetic Artistry (hair and makeup)
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: yes!!!
I had a hair trial with her about a month before my wedding and booked her on the spot. She did 4 different (but similar) styles in about an hour! She nailed it right on the head! I loved the way my hair looked! She called me the day before the wedding to follow up with me on the time and location where she'd be meeting us. She got to the hotel on time (even after getting a bit lost) and ready to work. My hair lasted all day and didn't move, yet didn't have that 'helmet' look or feel to it (where it's too stiff). She also did my mom's makeup for the wedding and it looked great too.

Sandra Baldini (Makeup)
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: yes!!!
I had a makeup trial with her and loved everything about her. I don't usually wear makeup so it was really important for me to not feel like a clown

. She started with very light makeup (and brown eyeshadow) and moved on to brighter and bolder (which i actually liked even more). She used all MAC makeup and is clean and doesn't re-use brushes (like for mascara) which is extremely important. She also 'waterproofs' you so that the makeup lasts even if you cry. I didn't end up crying, but it was nice to know I wouldn't be a mess if i did

On the day-of, she came to the hotel early (which is good) and came fully prepared with a chair and everything! She was very nice and put us all at ease. Everybody loved their makeup!

Wedding Invitation Kits from Target
RATING: A
WOULD USE AGAIN: yes, but not for a wedding
I went to Target and saw some really nice invitation kits (I didn't like the ones that Michael's had at the time, though they have much nicer ones these days!) and spent about an hour in the store deciding on the right look. There were many kits I saw there that I loved, but when I opened the box to see them in person (not as a drawing on the front of the box), the paper was very flimsy. I finally found an invitation that I really liked and that was printed on good paper and bought it. Invitations ended up costing me about a dollar each which made me happy (invitations weren't all that important to me since they just get thrown away). I really liked my invitation however, I now feel like it might have been a little too simple and that we should have added something to it. However, I'm not entirely sure if I feel they were simple because they really are simple, or because I'm jaded by all of the insanely fancy invitations I've seen on this site. If I could re-do my invitations, I'd probably use something a little fancier, but I'm still happy with what I had anyhow

Woodbury Country Club
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: Absolutely!
We got married in the Garden area (the downstairs room, outdoor cocktail hour, and ceremony by the pool area). It was beautiful and everyone said it was amazing! We're Jewish so we used the outdoor gazebo as our Chuppah and I think it was a little bit hard for our guests to see us - the gazebo is quite short so the tops of our heads were cut off (just a little bit) in all of our guests' pictures. The chairs used at the ceremony were just white plastic chairs which I felt were a little tacky, but it didn't bother me THAT much. The Cocktail Hour was great and everything looked very nice. There is a big tent set up on one side of the grounds, and the rest is outdoors. Minor complaint is that there was a bunch of food inside the tent but a majority of the people were outside so they missed the platters inside there.
FOOD:
Woodbury offers about 20 different kinds of passed hors dourves which all taste great but my mom had mentioned that there weren't enough people walking around with them. We had three stations during CH - Mediterranean Station, Asian Station, and a Mashed Potato Bar. After tasting the food from the Mediterranean Station, I would have opted for something else - it was kind of a waste of a station. The Asian Station had amazing food (especially the dumplings and spring rolls), and the Mashed Potato Bar was a huge hit, especially with our friends (the older crowd was not as happy with it). At the reception, we went with the Grilled Veggie Napoleon & salad duo as our appetizer. it was hit-or-miss. Half our guests loved it while others didn't even touch it. I would choose something else if i had a second chance. For entrees, we chose the Shell Steak, the Herb Crusted Salmon, the California Grilled Chicken, and Shrimp Oreganato. Everyone who I had spoken to said their meals were amazing. Then came dessert - we had the mango sorbet. It was amazing and extremely refreshing and everyone ate it and enjoyed it. We were so warm by that point in the night that a nice, light dessert was perfect. And then the wedding cake of course (to be described in the cake section). One other thing to add is regarding the Glatt Kosher meals. We had 9 guests who ate these and heard they were really not very good. The meals apparently came in tv-dinner like trays and just didn't taste good. They also did not receive salad or anything along with their meals. I felt a little bad, but there's not too much to do (i wasn't about to make my entire wedding glatt kosher just for these 9 guests)
EMPLOYEES AT WCC:
WCC actually gave me two Bridal Attendants (Linda and another girl whose name i forgot ... sorry!). Both were top notch! They were so nice and easy to talk to and were amazing. We wanted to give them bigger tips but we ran out of cash

. Our Banquet Manager was originally Carolyn but she was a little nasty to us and we felt like she was just treating us like 'any another couple'. About a month before our wedding, we switched to Steven who was amazing. We really felt like he was totally rooting for us, and trying to get us everything we wanted, and then some. One thing with him is that he was a discombobulated at times. I had spoken to him about the wedding cake 2 weeks before the wedding and he said he'd follow up with me (he had to speak with the bakery first). About a week later, *i* had to remind him that he needed to call them! ... and then i had to 'stalk' him and call / email him 3 more times before i heard back from him. i FINALLY heard back from him about the cake on the Thursday night before my Sunday wedding! It was a little stressful since we didn't know if we'd even have a cake for sure, but it worked out in the end. Our Maitre D' was Chris and he was great! Everything ran smoothly thanks to him!
Oh, i just remembered one little no-no - when it came time to sign our Ketubah, we each had to have a witness there. DH's witness was nowhere to be found. The bridal attendants went to look for him but said he wasn't in the lobby. We finally opted to just use our 'backup' witness. When we spoke to the original guy after the wedding, he said that he was upstairs in the lobby the entire time! He had told people that he needed to go downstairs to sign the ketubah with us but they wouldn't let him go downstairs! Oh well, not a big deal, but a little annoying.
And one other annoyance: when DH and I booked with WCC, we had also gotten a cordials bar at the end of the night (this was actually thrown in for free) but we never saw this. I never followed up with WCC because it just didn't matter at all (it was a free-be so it's not like we lost any money here)

Ketubah.com
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: absolutely!
Ketubah.com had the biggest selection of ketubahs that I found. I literally spent an two days looking at other websites to see if I could find a prettier ketubah, or one that's more affordable and found that Ketubah.com was the best! They even validate your text with your rabbi and he/she needs to approve the text before they'll actually print it. After it's approved (by you and the rabbi), it gets printed and shipped. I don't remember exactly how long this took, but I remember it was fairly quick. I ordered the larger size (but not the largest) with the customized text in it and was very very happy with the way it came out.

Ketubah Framing - Michael's
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: yep
I went to Micheal's when they had a 55% off coupon for framing. The frame still cost almost $150 but it was well worth it. The woman was extremely nice and helped me choose a really great mat and frame. It was framed within a few days (without the glass since DH and I needed to sign it on our wedding day, obviously). We will be taking it back to Michael's to get the glass added (this won't cost any extra - the price included the glass too).

Yarmulkes - KippotCenter.com
RATING: A
WOULD USE AGAIN: yes
KippotCenter.com had the most affordable yarmulke's that I found. I ordered black suede yarmulkes with a silver edge to them. They were personalized for free and looked great. The only reason they received a rating of A is that it took a long time for the order to be shipped. Their site said it should take about a month, but I received them after about two months, and only after contacting customer service. It really wasn't a big deal since I had ordered with plenty of time to spare, but it was a frustration nonetheless.

Pedestals Florist
RATING: A
WOULD USE AGAIN: sure
The flowers all looked great and everything matched so nicely! I only have two small gripes. First of all, I had a cascade bouquet and the cascading part of it kept losing flowers. I had to pick them up off the floor and stick the stems back into the 'foam ball' in the center of the bouquet. I probably did this about 4-5 times during the day and it was a little annoying. Second gripe is that I was told I could come see my personals (all bouquets and boutenniers) the day before the wedding. They told me to call and find out when I should come in. I called and was told they'd be completed by 3pm. DH and I got there at 3:30pm and only the BM bouquets were done. My bouquet was not going to be ready for another 2 hours, they told us! I was really upset that we took the drive out there (half hour drive each way) for nothing. Not that it really mattered, but I had other things I could've been doing that day. Meh, whatever ... all flowers looked so nice and nobody knew about this little issue - no harm done

Rabbi Michael Eisensten
RATING: B+
WOULD USE AGAIN: probably not, though he was ok
He was really nice and we really liked him a lot. But there were a few issues. First of all, we asked to review the 'script' of what he'll be saying (word for word) prior to the ceremony and he kept promising to send it, but he never did. The ceremony itself was a little on the boring side (started off great, but ended kinda slowly). When it came time for us to recite our vows (that we had written), I had forgotten mine. Since the Rabbi had asked for DH and I to send the vows over to him, I assumed he would have printed them out for us in case such a situation occurred. Alas, he didn't. I had to recite my vows from memory (which surprisingly worked out pretty well). Lastly, DH and I asked him to add a paragraph saying that we both wish our passed grandparents were here with us to celebrate - we even gave him the wording - but he never said that stuff. A few days after the wedding, we actually received a small gift from him and his wife (a Shabbat plate and two candleholders). It was very sweet of them to send and we definitely appreciated the gesture!

Wedding Bands (Rings) - Tri County
RATING: A+
WOULD USE AGAIN: yeah
I don't remember which vendor we bought our wedding bands from but it was one at the Tri County Flea Market. I definitely recommend going here since their prices are really great. We went to a few different vendors here and were able to barter. It's a little intimidating up there, but if you are nice to the vendors, they'll give you great deals.

Weddings Wings 4 You (Dove Release)
RATING: A-
WOULD USE AGAIN: yeah
Frank was extremely nice and answered all of my questions. He was also the most affordable Dove Release vendor that I had found. In addition to being affordable, he also allowed DH and I to actually hold one dove each and release them from our hands (the other 10 doves would be released from a basket). DH's dove was squirming a lot and he couldn't hang on to her so she 'escaped' a little early - the rest of the doves were released right after that and everybody LOVED them. We had all of the children at the wedding open the doves basket - the kids' parents were thrilled that we involved them! The doves flew out and up (and one pooped on the photographer's leg since he was sitting on the floor right underneath them

) and then made a big circle in the sky around us before flying back to their homes. Note: These are not actually doves - they are white homing pidgeons so they fly back home when released. My one small annoyance is that Frank came a little late and we didn't even know if he was there or not until the ceremony itself (hence the A- rating, and not A++).

Variety Music (DJ)
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: abso-freakin-lutely!
Variety Music was a great fit for us from the very beginning. We met with Ray and felt like he was a real human being who cared about DH and my wedding (we weren't just a job to him). He was so nice and professional and knew what he was talking about. We asked Ray for advice a couple of times during the planning process (like when we asked if a photo montage would waste reception time and he told us that it would be played during dinner so we wouldn't lose out on dancing). He definitely made us feel much calmer and we had no doubt that they would be anything but perfect (and we were right - they were amazing!). We booked the following things with Variety: ceremony music, CH music including a steel drummer, reception music (obviously) along with a percussionist, and the 2 plasma screen DJ setup with zap photographer. We also booked our videographer through them (see review below). All of the guys that Variety Music brought to us were AH-MAZE-ING!!!! We had Danny and Sal as our MC and DJ and they were great! Everybody was dancing the entire day and nobody was bored. There was not one song that was played that I disliked. Both guys were so nice and even came up at the end of the wedding to us to congratulate us again (not all vendors did this so it was nice to see that they really cared about DH and me!). The steel drummer / percussionist (it was the same guy) was SOOOO good! Everybody loved him and said he definitely made the wedding have a more elegant yet fun feel. DH, myself, our parents, and some other guests all played the percussion instruments at the reception and had a blast! The zap shots guy we got was so good too! He took over 400 pictures and the pictures were actually pretty good shots (i've heard that zap photographers take awful pictures and was prepared for that ... but i really love a lot of the shots he got!). It was also really great to have so many pictures immediately after the wedding. DH went to our hotel room and immediately looked at the pictures. Variety Music was so good that I can't think of a single complaint about them!

Variety Video (videographer)
RATING: I'll update this once I receive my video
WOULD USE AGAIN: we'll see when I get my video
I booked the videographer through my DJ and got a good price. I had two videographers come and capture the entire day. They seemed nice, but were just too business-y and didn't seem to want to be there. They did do their jobs however and definitely filmed the entire day. At the ceremony, they hooked one of those clip-on microphones onto DH's tie (you could barely see it) so the audio on the video would be good. They seemed to definitely know what they're doing. When I spoke with the woman who does the actual editing, she seemed extremely nice and friendly and personable. She said she'd even give us the raw footage if we wanted (we def want it). She seemed like she knew what she was doing and was willing to accommodate our desires.

Menus - Vistaprint.com
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: yes
I had a coupon for 40% off with free shipping to VistaPrint so I decided to use it to make my menus. I had 100 Rack Cards printed out for me and it cost just over $20. I was very happy with the cost and the way that they looked. Making the menus was a little annoying though since I had to manually center all of the text and adding text was not as easy as it could have been. It was still do-able though and the annoyance of setting up the menu design doesn't change my rating of this vendor.

Mustache Sticks
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: Absolutely!
I found these things called Smitten Sticks on etsy and fell in love with them. But they were waaaay too pricey. So this ended up being one of my DYI projects. My BM drew these face parts out and I printed them out (at kinko's) on cardstock. My other BM and I then cut them out and glued them on extra-long pick up sticks using a hot glue gun. They were a bit time consuming but ended up costing about a dollar each. They were totally worth it!

Francesco's Bakery
RATING: A++
WOULD USE AGAIN: yeah!
Francesco's is the bakery for WCC. They are really good and nice people. The bakery itself is pretty and smells amazing. The cake also tastes great. The tasting they offered was awesome, too! At other bakeries, we got to stand in a corner of the bakery with some squares of cake, and paper cups with fillings. Here, we went in and picked up a big box full of pastries. There were about 15 different flavor combinations, and all tasted really good. Francesco's even gave us some marble cake on the side because we wanted that and it wasn't in the pastry box. And as if that wasn't enough, they also gave us chocolate strawberries just for fun

Everything tasted great and we had a hard time deciding on a cake. We went with marble cake with white chocolate mousse and french custard wtih fresh bananas. We probably should have chosen the regular chocolate mousse instead of white but that was our fault

When DH went in about a week after our wedding to order some cakes for us (we had company over), Francesco recognized DH and asked how the wedding went. We told him that unfortunately, the cake topper didn't make it (long story - DH and my fault so it's not written in this review anywhere) and they offered to give us a discount on buying a new cake topper for our 2 month anniversary (we'll be away on our 1 month). Again, they're great people there and so nice! We'll definitely be buying our cakes from there from now on!

John from Ballroom Dance LI (Dance Lessons)
RATING: A+
WOULD USE AGAIN: yep
John was extremely nice and friendly. The dance lessons are given in a private room (no other people there) and there are several different locations to choose from. His schedule is pretty flexible and we were able to schedule our lessons without any problems. We booked four lessons (one every other week) and, although we did well on our dance, we could really have used a little more time. Anyway, John is great and is a good teacher too. He was able to catch what DH and I did wrong and tell us how to improve. One thing I have to mention is that he can be a little over-talkative at times. It might have only been a few minutes of chatting here and there, but I feel like we lost out on a bit of our practice time when that happened. It really wasn't a big deal at all, but I wanted to add it in here since I want my review to be as thorough as possible. All-in-all, DH and I really liked John and don't regret booking with him for a second! Oh, one other thing to add is that he is among the most affordable dance lesson vendor I had found which was obviously an added bonus

Buy Merchant.com (flip flops for slipper basket)
RATING: A
WOULD USE AGAIN: no!
I ordered 72 flip flops for my 115 guests (we originally thought we'd have 140 guests based on the amount of people we invited) at about $1 each. There were three designs available (palm tree, flower, and butterfly, i believe) and I chose to get a mix of the three in mixed sizes. I received a phone call the following day saying they had run out of the butterfly design so I said that I will take all flower ones. I received the shipment about a week later, all palm trees. I didn't really care and honestly, i'm not entirely sure if it was my fault or not (though i could have sworn I asked for the flower, I may be mistaken). Anyway, this didn't bother me and i kept them. The sizes ran a little small (i'm usually a 9 but the 10 was a better fit for me) but it wasn't that big a deal. Guests loved having the flip flops, but I had about 30 pairs left over at the end of the night (probably because I had ordered so many more than were needed). That was my experience with this vendor BUT about a month or two after my purchase, three different girls were saying that this vendor started yelling and cursing at them when they asked for a small change in their order. Again, I didn't have this experience, but based on others', I would not re-order from them.

Dreamer's Cove Inn (mini-moon)
RATING: C
WOULD USE AGAIN: um no!!!
DH surprised me the night of the wedding and took us on a mini-moon at Dreamer's Cove for the night. We got there and there was nobody at the front desk, but there was a sign that said the key was in the room waiting for us. We went to the room and the key was in the door (super-weird but whatever). We opened the door and they had set a path of rose petals going from the door to the bed, with heart-shaped roses on the bed and two swan-towels whose heads formed a heart. There were chocolate covered strawberries in the room and a bottle of champagne. The room overlooked the water and there was even a back door where we could go right onto the beach. Sounds awesome, looked awesome ... till we realized it was kind of ghetto in there. The bed sheets were not soft, the bathroom was a little dirty and disgusting, there was no phone or clock in the room! I refused to shower without flip flips

I wouldn't go there again, but for what it was, it was nice enough.

Honeymoon
We flew to Vancouver Canada and stayed a night there in the Hyatt Regency. It was centrally located and the room was nice and clean. We didn't do much that day because we were exhausted from the flight. The following morning we got onto our 12 day cruise to Hawaii (on the Carnival Spirit). The ship was really nice and large and the staff was all so nice! The room was awesome (a balcony room) and the 6 days we spent at sea were fun since there were planned events every day (trivia, competitions, shows, comedians, karaoke, etc). The ship had 4 hot tubs, 3 pools, a waterslide, and a mini golf area (9 holes). It also had a spa which we didn't take advantage of. The food was great (some days better than others) and we enjoyed pigging out lol. We then got to Hawaii:
First stop: Kona, Big Island - we didn't have anything planned here as far as excursions so we decided to just walk around town and explore. There were a bunch of shops around the dock and some beautiful things to see. Ultimately though, we got bored pretty quickly so we rented a jetski for an hour. DH loved this, but since i was riding on the same jetski as him, he flung me off a couple of times and I got frustrated with that experience (i was wearing jeans since i didn't think i'd be getting wet). I got off the jetski after about 20 mins but DH continued. He def enjoyed himself

Second stop: Kauai - again, nothing was planned for this day. We just hung out and walked around the ship. We went to Coconut Marketplace for some shopping and then to Duke's bar for some kick-a$$ mai tais ... oh, and lunch too

- Duke's is right by the dock and i definitely recommend it! The food and drinks were awesome! DH fell in love with the turkey sandwich there.
Third Stop: Hilo, Big Island - our first excursion. We booked a bike riding tour through the ship ... bike riding down the volcano. It was so much fun! There were 13 of us (9 of which were older people - i'm surprised they made it, to be honest!). The riding was really interesting and we got to see a couple of places that are closed to cars so that was cool. It was a bit scary though to go down some of the very steep parts ... but nobody got hurt so all's well

The excursion actually lasted an hour longer than it was supposed to and DH and I were a little disappointed. We were planning on visiting the Macadamia Nut factory after this but ended up not having enough time. Oh well, we bought macadamia nuts elsewhere

Fourth Stop: Maui - We rented a car here (a convertible) through Enterprise. If you're doing this, please make sure you know which location you're renting from (apparently there are 2 locations extremely close to the dock). We didn't realize this and went to the wrong location originally. Luckily, this didn't really matter and we only lost about 1/2 hour on this mistake. Anyway, we drove the Road to Hana - a definite must in Maui. It's just a beautiful road with lots of gorgeous places to stop and take pictures. The road sounds scary since there are 50 one lane bridges and lots of sharp curves but it's really not THAT bad if you drive carefully. Note: put on sun screen if you're doing this - especially if you have a convertible. We got a bit overly suntanned ... oops

The entire drive took us about 6 hours. We got back to the ship, showered, and went out to a luau - the Feast at Lele. It was an awesome luau. It was open bar, and the food was served to you (not buffet). The show itself was cool too and we really enjoyed it.
Fifth Stop: Honolulu, Oahu - our last stop was in Oahu. We had a Lost tour (the tv show) and thought it was extremely awesome

. Unfortunately, most of the props that were used on the show were already removed since the show obviously ended already. But a couple of props remained (like the cages where the polar bears were held, and the temple from season 6). Those were our favorite locations. The rest of the locations were just places on the island. It's kind of funny though - when we were there looking at the locations, we SORT OF recognized them ... but when we saw the pictures we took, they were identical to how we remembered them on the show. I guess we just had to see them on a screen

. Also in Oahu, we went to Diamond Head crater. This is a big crater with a nice view. It was nice and cheap to do it on our own so do NOT do this through the cruise ship (ship was charging $40 per person for this, we took a bus and walked on our own for $3.50 per person). The hike up the crater was kind of hard though so definitely be prepared with water, sun screen, hats, sneakers, etc. Also, don't push yourself to walk up ... we saw a woman sitting on the floor because she felt she was about to faint. It is just a walk though, no climbing involved. We stayed in Oahu one extra day at the Hawaii Prince Hotel. It was really nice there! We had an oceanview room and it was HUGE! The only gripe is that it got a little loud in the morning (something outside the hotel that we heard through the window). The view from the hotel was a dock with a bunch of ships (not a large dock so the cruise ship was elsewhere). The following day, we walked around Waikiki Beach which was nice. We also walked to the shopping mall which was a really nice and huge mall. We thought it was weird that the mall's hallways were all outdoor though (but it was 3 stories tall). Def nice mall, but make sure you put on sunscreen if you're going there

Here are some things that might help somebody in the future

Songs we chose
-- Processional - You and Me by Life House
-- Bride's Processional - Life And Death (from the Lost TV show)
-- Recessional - Amber by 311
-- BP Entrance into RH - You’re my best friend - Queen
-- Parents entrance into RH - Walking On Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves
-- Bride & Groom entrance into RH - I'm So Excited by The Pointer Sisters
-- First Dance - Colorful by The Verve Pipe
-- Dance with parents (DH with his mom and me with my dad simultaneously) - I'll Stand By You by Pretenders
-- Bouquet Toss Song - Foxy Lady by Jimmy Hendrix
-- Garter Song - The Stripper Song
-- Cake Cutting - Eat It by Weird Al
-- Last song of the night - Closing Time by Semisonic

Signature Drinks
DH and I had two signature drinks (both were green, but that was pure coincidence).
* Craig's Crazy Concoction *
1 oz melon liqueur
1 oz banana liqueur
1 oz coconut rum
1 splash 7-Up soda

* Gimme Mor Caramel Apples *
2 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz apple schnapps
1 oz butterscotch schnapps

Bridal Party Gifts
Groomsmen - a pair of ray-bans sunglasses, and a pair of 'Groomsmen' socks.
Bridesmaids - a 2cttw diamond bracelet, and a small 'survival kit'.
Flower Girl - a Disney doll wearing a wedding dress
Ring Bearer - we used a Build-a-Bear teddy bear instead of the RB Pillow so he got to keep the bear

MY ADVICE TO FUTURE BRIDES:
-- stole this rule from another bride but I'm going to share anyhow: have a 'five foot rule' at the CH & reception. In other words, don't be more than five feet away from your new hubby's at any point (except to use the restroom, or re-apply makeup or whatnot). DH and I did this and really loved that we did - the time flew by so quickly and we were happy to have as much time together as humanly possible
-- make sure to drink enough water at your reception!
-- bring extra water with you to the hotel room (when you're staying on the wedding night)
-- don't stress about the minor details - my friend got married about a year ago and, while i was stressing over something, asked me 'do you remember the color of my linens at my wedding?' ... i thought they were white, but apparently i was way off. She told me that my guests probably won't notice the tiny details either (color of the linens, font on the invitations, whether the table numbers are perfectly centered or not, etc). So save yourselves a bit of stress and don't be perfectionists

-- if you need something with you, have your DH put it in his pocket rather than leaving it in the bridal suite. I forgot to bring my vows to the alter with me ... oops

-- bring extra cash (at least $500-1000!). We had to pay for a few extra guests on the wedding day, then had 3 extra vendors than we expected (one extra MC, one extra Bridal Attendant, and one extra Videographer). We had to borrow money from my family to give them their tips! (we only brought about $500 extra cash so it wasn't enough for us)
-- if anything goes wrong on your wedding day, ignore it ... the day goes so quickly and you don't want to waste any of the time being grumpy. Just breathe and move on

-- if you're getting ready in a hotel, make sure you have enough chairs in the room for everyone to use (if you have one hair and one makeup person, make sure there are 2 chairs there). We had to 'steal' a chair from my mom's hotel room.
-- give yourself at least 1/2 hour of extra time to get ready. Even if you didn't need that time, it's better to have extra time than not enough.
-- when you're giving your final numbers to the RH, give them about 5 people LESS than what you really have (as long as it doens't go below your minimum). Make sure to also put 5 less people on your seating charts because that's what they use to count up people, ultimately. Give your correct seating chart as late as you can (with everyone on it). Or possibly don't put a sibling on there but just tell them where they'll be sitting (since they won't have a place card either)
-- please please please get your engagement rings appraised and insured in case anything happens to it