The Brides' Review - My rainy day, kid-filled wedding - Riviera, FM, April, Flower Barn

mathteach Posted: Oct 04, 2008 11:58 PM+

mathteach MEMBER SINCE: 8/07 TOTAL POSTS : 2714 WEDDING DATE: Jul 27, 2008

Posted: Oct 04, 2008 11:58 PM

My rainy day, kid-filled wedding - Riviera, FM, April, Flower Barn

****Disclaimer**** I-photo decided that my photogs gave me too many photos so it compressed them for me as I uploaded them. Ugh..They are actually much nicer than they appear.

If you think back to that day of the horrible thunderstorms in July – that was the day that I got married. I was sooo looking forward to outdoor pics with my husband , our outdoor ceremony, outdoor cocktail hour. There were hailstones at my RH an hour before I got there. The rain finally stopped 10 minutes before the ceremony. The weather was the one thing I had no control over, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter. The employees at the Riviera were joking that all day they kept saying that if rain on your wedding day is good luck, then I would be married for the rest of my life!

I am a little sad that there are no sunset pics (no sun), or any pics that were just me and DH at our special location, also that we had to share our first meeting with EVERYONE around, instead of privately, oh well.

Let me also preface this review by stating I didn’t want a big to-do, I wanted a destination wedding. With 3 kids and a mortgage, I didn’t want the stress and the money, but DH has never been married before and wanted this. We had a budget of $16,000, which we pretty much stuck to. We had a small wedding, but I poured my heart and soul into the planning. I know this is obnoxious, but I want to share this email I received the day after from a former co-worker:

“I love you so much! Yours was about the most beautiful, storybook wedding I've ever had the honor to attend. You are so beautiful and you and your new hubby were glowing with happiness. I'll never forget it. I loved your kids, too. A perfect day!!”

It really made it all worthwhile, to see that someone else saw what I saw in my wedding day, that to her it wasn’t just a cookie cutter wedding.

LIW- I got so many great ideas and some of my vendors from you girls, so thank you! I never made any of the GTG’s, except the one focus group, but I feel like I “know” so many of you. It was great to have a place to talk about the wedding in an anonymous way.

I learned a lot of cool ideas from these boards from all of you ladies, so thank you all again!

Bridal Shower – International Buffet – Garden City – It was cheap for my BM’s (Like $9pp for Sunday afternoon) and the food was great. We had a private room and everyone had a lot of fun and food.

Bachelorette Party – Perfect Nail & Spa – West Babylon – This was the best idea ever. I wanted to do something that my 12-year-old daughter could join in on. They closed 1 ½ hours early and allowed my BM’s to bring in food and drink. We all chilled and got our nails done together. It was tons of fun and very relaxing. One of my friends was even able to bring her 3 month old daughter with her.

Shoes – Piperlime – I ordered a pair of Nina shoes in Powdersand, they were not exactly what I was looking for, but they matched my dress perfectly and they were really comfy and cheap!

Bracelet & Earrings – Jewelrystylist.com I sent her a pic of my dress, she recommended the two things I bought. It was inexpensive and I got a lot of compliments on them.

Necklace & Hair Combs – It’s a place you’d drive right by on 110 in Huntington. My hair friend told me about it. I paid (not kidding) $10 for my necklace and $15 for my crystal hair combs (the pair). Her stuff is good quality, some things are eh, but the kiosk in Walt Whitman with all the hair things buys them from her and doubles the price. It’s called Crystal Accessories and I think it’s 110 & 18th Street.

Invites, Program Fans, Tictac placecards, cardbox, table numbers, centerpieces – ME!

I found these invite kits at Staples that literally had everything one would need for a wedding on clearance for $13. So I bought 3. I ordered the brown cardstock for the pocketfolds from Anchor paper, which I didn’t know at the time could custom cut it. I ended up taking it to Kinko’s to cut, long story, which was my biggest expense. But I used the scrap paper for so much that it was worth it anyway.

I cut the invites down and used some brown and blue scraps to make the flowers. I used the extra stock in the kits to make the inserts. I loved them a lot!

The program fans I used the template from aylee’s. What a PITA to cut, but well worth it.

The tictacs I bought at Costco and just used labels from Staples.

The cardbox and all supplies were bought at Michael’s for less than $10, I really enjoyed making it.

The table numbers: by now you know the drill – vellum paper and dollar tree vases. Still look pretty, though.

The lanterns for the centerpieces were bought at Pottery Barn, DH’s idea. We had to have some of them shipped from other stores because it was a special item that was not online and stores only received a certain amount. Throw in some shells and a votive and voila! I made 2 bigger ones for the dais, we have them at home, so pretty.

Sign-in frame was also from Pottery Barn:

Flip-flop basket – I got them the day they were a dollar at Old Navy, made tags out of the placecards from the invite kit and stuck them on tags cut from the leftover brown. They were a hit and I wish I would’ve bought more. (no pic - sorry)

Favors – we got the wine at Trader Joe’s, Merlot and Sauv Blanc. Again, I made the cards out of placecards and leftover brown stock, used the string from the organza bag to tie on the tag and all told, each one cost me $3 per bottle.

Banana Republic – DH’s suit & shirt, as well as the Groomsmen’s shirts & pants. We bought the linen-ish khaki suit and a textured collared shirt. We hit a sale day, opened a card and ended up buying everything in one day. Sadly, only one of our GM’s has reimbursed us. I bought them coordinating (not matching) ties at Macy’s. The guys were comfortable and happy that $130 went towards an outfit that they could wear again (shirt, pants, tie) instead of a tux. Plus, I liked how it looked.

Renate’s Boutique – Dress, veil, BM’s, MOB. B+ - The only reason I give them the B and not the A is I felt they nickel and dimed us a lot. My mom spent over $300 on her dress, $125 for alterations and then they charged her $10 for a garment bag. Plus my MOH knew she would need a panel, it even says so on her receipt. But it was never ordered and we picked up her dress at 4 the day before my wedding. The girls there are very sweet and I would definitely go again in a heartbeat, but I feel like considering the volume of our order, they could’ve given my mom the damn bag!

We did the Alfred Angelo separates and they loved them. Everyone had a different top, but the same skirt. My SIL picked something she could wear to her DH’s business parties, my party girl picked something she could wear out with jeans.

I had the Maggie Sottero Michelle in light gold. I love my dress even though I lost 5 pounds week of and the top, of course, was too big. Oh well. And as a side note: for those who get a corset dress, be wary of those who say you don’t need a bra. I had cups put in and very quickly, the beading on my dress was so heavy it actually pulled the bodice down and I look like a porn star!

Back of dress and veil detail:

Flower Girl Dress- Mygirldress.com - FG lives in Atlanta, so it was convenient, I gave her a choice of 5 dresses, her parents ordered. It was fast, cheap and cute, what more could we want?

Salon Odyssey – Hair & Make-up – Gio is a close, personal friend of mine, our daughters are BFF. She was supposed to be a guest as well, but her grandfather died a few days before the wedding. She still came in because she knew it was too late for us to make other arrangements. She did my mom, my daughter, my aunt & my MOH. We all looked beautiful and it lasted all night. Plus she is much more affordable than most salons.

Flower Barn – A+++ I looked there first because friends of ours had used them for their wedding. Turns out my friend used to be their delivery boy in high school so they gave us a great deal. Once they were booked I really had no contact with them, other than to pay them, which I am fine with. The day of the wedding, Mike called to make sure I was holding up okay with the torrential downpour that was ruining my outdoor ceremony. He actually made me laugh about it. The flowers were so perfect that someone actually thought they were fake. I loved my bo-k and the girls’ as well. The spray that was supposed to go on the gazebo was placed on the place card table and it was the first thing I saw when I came in. It was beautiful!

Grey Dog Photo- A+ for fun, final pending photos. Erika and her husband Rob are very cool. I found them on Craigslist and we had our first meeting at a bar. At our final meeting, they spent 2 hours at my house having coffee and just general bs-ing. I loved having them there the day of. A lot of the time, I felt like they were guests, they fit in so well with everyone. Once I received my photos I almost cried. They got so many shots that seem more like stolen moments that mean the world to me.

My son who is photo-phobic just hanging out with my bro's BFF...

My son beyond bored during the ceremony...

Me trying not to let anyone see I am crying...

Couped Up Productions Video – A+ day of, final pending. Rob was awesome to have around. He is funny, charming and I think ½ of my female guests are in love with him, especially the younger ones. I actually forgot he was there a few times. I cannot wait to get my video. His prices are reasonable and he doesn’t try and push extras on you.

FM Entertainment – I love, love, love Frank. Music has always been very important to me and my tastes can run a little odd. I gave Frank a list of songs I loved and said, “I understand if you can’t play them, because people dancing are more important than me hearing my songs.” Lo and behold, he played my weird songs (The Lemonheads, Old 97’s, The Clash, Metallica) during dinner and dessert. He also had carte blanche for requests and handled everything beautifully. Even people who didn’t dance still complimented him on the music. I highly recommend FM.

I am not sure why my son no longer has on his shirt and tie

Reverend April – A+ infinity- She was my favorite vendor and the first one I booked. I am not a crier, but she had me crying at every meeting. She surprised me by having my kids come up and kiss me during the ceremony. It was a beautiful ceremony and she even had my brother’s best friend crying. She even matched our handfasting cord to my gown.I love her; if you are still looking for an officiant, call her now!

Stan Wiest music service – Bagpiper – I booked him through LIW as a surprise for my DH. I had him play for the ½ hour before the ceremony and then he did the recessional. He played on until the cocktail hour started. He was fabulous, but I have no idea what the actual piper’s name was. My DH and his family loved it, actually everyone did. He was my cheapest vendor and worth every penny. Plus, knowing it was a surprise; Stan was very discreet when contacting me.

Ceremony Music – my friend Luisa is a classically trained opera singer and very generously offered to sing at the wedding. My all-time favorite song, “In Your Eyes,” she didn’t know BUT not only learned it, but learned to play it on the guitar. She accompanied the entire wedding party down the aisle. She was amazing!

Transportation – My ex-husband took care of this for me. I know he paid $150 each way for pick-up & drop-off for a Cadillac Escalade. It sat 16 people so we ended up taking the neighbor kids with us. Plus Bill, the driver, knew my DH and I had yet to see each other so he arranged it so that we were in the same car, but couldn’t see each other. If you would like to know the company, FM me and I will find out from my ex.

Cake - Black Forest - What else can be said. I loved the math teacher nerdiness of the octagonal layers and the deliciousness of it all. Paul the MD decorated with flowers left by Flower Barn...

The Riviera – If you have yet to book any place, run, don’t walk to the Riviera! We went just to shut FBIL’s friend up, we were dead set on Timber Point. We fell instantly in love, plus it was the cheapest place we found. We were so looking forward to the ceremony in their gazebo outside (haha) and the gorgeous patio for the cocktail hour. The entire staff felt so bad for us that they worked extra hard to reassure me and in the end, we had a beautiful ceremony on their dance floor and once I was married, I didn’t care where it had taken place. Everyone there is soo nice, our BM was Meghan and she was on top of everything, we had a different Megan for our Bridal Attendant and she fell in love with my son and his bff, our neighbor. She was actually outside playing manhunt with them at some point. When she helped pack the limo, she asked if I would send her a pic from the wedding because she loved it so much. Paul was our MD and I actually told him that he was working too hard!

My friends from work that live in Queens thought that the cocktail hour was the meal so they were gorging themselves and we had to tell them to slow down! The food (what I ate) was delish and people are still raving about it. My neighbor’s daughter actually stood in front of the chocolate fountain for about 20 minutes, until DH’s aunt came and told me about it. Notice the same little girl in every picture.

The best thing is that everyone had an awesome time. The barflies loved the spacious bar and friendly bartenders. The kids loved the grounds and the chicken fingers and played a lot of games outside. The girls loved FM’s music and danced all night long and the parents especially loved the fact that kids were occupied all night long and they could relax and have a good time. I know that my situation is different, but I know that kids/no kids is a hot topic: I can honestly say that having kids at my wedding made it so much more fun. I have their cute little signatures on my sign-in frame, I had little girls dance all night, I had little boys dancing with my friends from work and it made the wedding feel like an entire family affair. KWIM?

Thanks for reading!