My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding - Update 12/14 w/ Professional Photos

First, be warned, this review is incredibly long, and incredibly detailed. It includes little sources of amusement, random explanations as to why I did or didn’t do something, as well as the nitty-gritty of individual vendor reviews. It is broken up into pre-wedding, day of, and will be edited to add
professional pictures, since I wrote it as I went along. All the pictures that are currently posted were taken either by myself, one of my BMs, my amazing DOC, or another LIW bride! Whenever it says FH instead of DH, you know that part was written before the wedding. I didn’t rate every vendor, but instead let my words speak for the quality of service. If there is a rating, it is on a scale from 1-10. There are no ratings higher than a 10. As a law school professor once said to me when I questioned my grade (he had taken off ONE point for an oral argument, after he told me he couldn’t find a mistake during his critique) no one is perfect, and just because he didn’t notice it, it didn’t mean I didn’t do something wrong. Essentially this means, a 9 is really the highest score I was willing to give unless the vendor was spectacular. Every once in a while you may think - didn’t I read that already? You may have, but some things are worth repeating.

I suppose the best place to start is at the beginning. That brings me all the way back to 2003 and a coworker who asked me to join his 9-ball team. I figured why not? I really couldn’t play well at all, but that wasn’t a concern, since at that time what the team needed was a body to fill an empty roster spot. The league is broken into 3 sessions per year. After the second session, the captain of the team asked me to join their 8-ball team. I declined. He asked again after I completed my third session, and this time I agreed. I played two sessions and promptly quit the 8-ball team. I did not like 3 of the team
members at all, and the experience was so NOT fun. Eight weeks after I quit, my coworker basically begged me to come back to the team. He told me that the 3 people I didn’t like were no longer on the team and had been replaced, but the team couldn’t find a replacement for me. When I asked who the three new players were I was told that two of them were people I knew, and the third was a friend of the team captain that I had never met. I suppose you can guess who that turned out to be! I should note at this point that FH insisted we had met in the summer of 2003. I have absolutely no recollection of this meeting, and his reason for remembering isn’t all that clear. We played side by side for months
with him showing NO signs of being interested in me at all. He intrigued me, but I was more than just a little gun shy. It had been quite a while since my last serious relationship, and I had basically resigned myself to being “old” and alone. Something about him got to me though, and I finally got the nerve to ask him out on a date - dinner at my place. I was such a nervous wreck that night! First, I hadn’t had a real date in many years, and second, his “yes” to my asking was sooo noncommital I could have been
asking him if the sky was blue!

Well, we talked the night away. So much so that dinner got cold, and had to be reheated to eat it!
Before the night was over he had asked me for a second date. I know from discussions, his one regret from that night was the kiss good-bye. It was the lamest kiss I ever got from him - either before (geez, the good-bye kisses I got on a pool night were better than that one) or since!! By our fourth date I knew he was the one for me!

Shortly after this I went on vacation for a month. Part of me was scared to death - I wasn’t sure which adage would hold true: “out of sight, out of mind” or “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
However, in the hope springs eternal category of things, I bought him a wedding gift in New Zealand. One which I held onto until our wedding day.


When I got home, FH proposed, sans ring. There was no romance involved in this proposal. We had started having a conversation about getting married. We discussed budgets, and guest lists, and even picked a date! About an hour after we ended this conversation and had shifted to discussing other things, he said “by the way will you marry me?” It was April 1, and I had to ask if he was serious!! He was!! I promptly bought Wedding Sites and Services magazine, and we started selecting halls to look at. I also scoured the internet to begin looking at dresses, and of course subscribed to a few bridal magazines. I’ll skip the reception hall search for the end of the “before the wedding” part of this review.

So, here I was, engaged, without a ring, so, like any bride to be I started running around trying on
wedding dresses, and looking at reception halls with my mother. Mom and I got some funny looks at some reception halls (most notably: Giorgio’s), and at some point she said she wasn’t looking anymore until I had the ring.

Wedding Bands & E-ring:
Van Chion Jewelers
720 East Jericho Turnpike
Huntington, NY
631-423-7774
After FH proposed he kept saying he would save and get me a ring. One day, he just decided he had waited long enough and wanted me to have the ring NOW. I said, well, Tony is right over there, I’ll introduce you. Tony Chion is the owner of the store. He also happens to play in the same pool league with me & FH, hence the “he’s standing right over there” comment. Back in the 80's I managed a Radio Shack next to his jewelry store. I used to window shop daily and drool over the gorgeous one of a kind pieces he had. I never thought I would be lucky enough to own a handmade piece from him. FH made an appointment to meet with Tony. He took my mom with him to go look at diamonds.

Funny story: The following account comes from my mom & FH. They went into the store, and Tony
pulled out a bunch of diamonds. He then realized I had told him I wanted a solitaire, so he put one of them away (apparently it was a marquis). He handed my mother a stone and asked her if she could see the flaw. My mother looked at it, and said yes. Tony asked her “on a clock face where is the flaw?” My mom said 2:00. Tony took the stone back from her, and said “you’re right, I can’t recommend this diamond” They looked at a bunch more, and FH picked one that he thought was stunning (IT IS!). We had found a setting we both liked months earlier. FH brought Tony a picture of it, and he recreated it perfectly. So, on July 26, FH presented me with a gorgeous ring. Of note, until I
had the ring on my finger, no one outside my family knew of the engagement.

Funny story: FH went to pick up the ring on a Monday, but Tony wasn’t in. Tuesday came, and I got a message on my voice mail at work from FH that he had called Tony, he was in, and he would go pick up the ring. About ½ hour later, I got another message, that he was leaving work to go get the ring. An hour later I get another call, he has the ring, and is on his way back. I called him back on his cell phone and asked if he was coming to my office. Can you believe he said no!!! If I wanted my ring before 6:00 PM, it would be up to me to go and get it!! Off to his job I went for lunch. FH came out the employee entrance holding a green bag. He handed it to me, and made some random comment about how Tony gave him wrapping paper and a bow, but since I knew what was in the box he didn’t bother to wrap it. Sure enough, in the bag was the green box, wrapping paper, a bow, a jar of jewelry cleaner and a bunch of CDs. FH made a joke about the CDs being DVDs with the entire Tour ‘d France on them. :rollseyes: He knows I have no interest in cycling. I reached in the bag, and instead of pulling the entire box out of the bag, the top came off, and it was EMPTY!! I looked at him, and called him a wise arse. He looked right back at me and said “perhaps you were looking for
this” as he pulled a green velvet box out of his pocket. When he popped it open I was in shock! It completely took my breathe away! Not that it was a surprise by any means, but until he pulled it out I hadn’t seen it. I just kept saying “oh my god” over and over. FH was crying (he’s such a mush!) and I finally managed to ask if he was going to put it on my finger. He did. We then went and had lunch.

When it came time to get the wedding bands, there was no question - we went back to Tony. I tried on a bunch of bands, even though I knew what I wanted was a plain platinum band without diamonds or anything fancy. Needless to say, I got what I wanted. DH found a band that he loved. He asked me if I minded that his would be white gold, while mine would be platinum. I, or course, had no problem. Considering the size of his ring finger, platinum would have cost a small fortune! The rings came in very quickly. I went back a few months later to get his ring engraved as a surprise.



I should note, that the captain of the pool team told FH he would take him to the diamond district to look at rings, but that never materialized. FH also had a friend who was a jeweler, but he didn’t want to take advantage of that friendship. My brother also has a friend who is a jewelry designer. After FH visited Tony, I suggested he at least price out rings from any of these other sources and he refused.
One thing I can say is he doesn’t negotiate. He takes things at face value, and doesn’t believe in
playing people off one another with price quotes to get the best deal. That said, I know Tony did right by us. He is a retailer, so the price was a little higher than if he had gone to the diamond district, but I have a very high quality stone, a lifetime of free cleanings, and something I always wanted - a piece of jewelry from that store!!

The week after I got my ring I happened to be in court, so I went to talk to my favorite judge. I say
favorite judge because he is fair, impartial, takes the time to consider the law, looks it up if he is
unsure, and genuinely cares about each and every case in front of him. He is exactly the kind of
person you want sitting on the bench. I didn’t have a hall yet, but I asked him to perform our
ceremony. He said yes immediately, and it was obvious that he was very touched that I asked him.
During the course of the planning I showed him our e-pics, I gave him an STD (which is on the file
cabinet in chambers) and discussed the ceremony etc. Many girls have asked if you have to invite the officiant to the reception, or whether or not anyone is doing so. I invited mine, together with his wife.

So, I had my ring, I had visited 25 halls, and selected one and put down a deposit in August, but hadn’t yet ordered my dress, or done anything else wedding related that didn’t involve the internet.

Funny Story: Another girl I worked with had started dating a fellow employee about the same time FH
& I started dating. In fact, our respective third dates were exactly the same - Super Bowl Sunday at the pool team captain’s house. Our supervisor started planning our respective weddings in February. One day in the office she mentioned that she had a discussion with her sister (our office receptionist) about our weddings, and she had decided I would look fabulous in a Vera Wang wedding gown.
As a result, after actually getting engaged, but before the ring, I checked out Vera Wang’s website and discovered a sample sale!!!!

Wedding Dress: Burton’s Bridal
Bride’s Dress: Alfred Angelo Style 1242


I found this dress online. I fell in love with it. I was planning on attending the Vera Wang sample sale, and my sister mentioned that if I loved the dress I saw online, I should try it on before going to Vera Wang. I called every single bridal salon on Long Island that carried Alfred Angelo. Only one shop had it - Beautiful Bride in Lynbrook. I ran over there the same day, because it was the only night of the week they were open after 6PM, and I was headed to Vera Wang that Saturday. I put on the dress and it was perfect! I tried on some other dresses, but nothing compared. I went to the Vera
Wang sale with my mother and sister. I found one dress that I would have purchased IF I hadn’t tried on the Alfred Angelo, and one I would have bought if it wasn’t a size 2 that didn’t fit (and never would have even if I lost 20 pounds!). A few weeks later I brought my mom back to Lynbrook to see the dress. She thought it was great. We went to Princess Bridals in Farmingdale that day as well, to try on a dress my sister had tried when she was looking. I tried on a bunch of dresses, and there was one that I might have been interested in, but they refused to tell me who the designer was etc. They were supposed to check about adding the embroidery that was on the bodice of that dress to the hem and call me back, but I never heard from them. A few weeks later we went to Bridal Reflections to try on specific Eve of Milady dresses. Despite the fact that I had called, and given them the design numbers, and they said they had the dresses, when I got there, they didn’t. They called the manager over to try
and explain the mix up with the Eve of Milday dresses. The manager was rude, and told me that their bridal salon was “the number one salon on Long Island” and they did the best that they could. Needless to say my experience in that bridal salon was not a good one, and not someplace I would go back to for anything! Beautiful Bride quoted me a price that was within my price range, but the thought of driving an 1 ½ hours for fittings, did not appeal to me. My sister had the most amazing experience at Helen’s Wedding World so I called them. Unfortunately they don’t carry Alfred Angelo wedding dresses, only bridesmaids. So, I called Burton’s Bridal in Huntington. When my sister got married, this was the store where we purchased my dress (reverse situation, Helen’s had her wedding
dress, but not the BM dress she wanted). We had a good experience, and I knew that their prices were lower than most. They quoted me $350 less than Beautiful Bride. Two weeks later, I ordered my dress from Burton’s.

Between the day I ordered, and the day I got “the call” I stopped by without an appointment more
than once, made random phone calls to ask crazy questions, and Karen was ALWAYS super nice, super understanding, and just wonderful. Although they were always nice, and always
accommodating, I don’t actually recommend doing this. The shop is small and cramped, especially when there is a wedding party in trying on dresses. Alfred Angelo discontinued my dress, and when I called hysterical, Karen calmed me down, assured me I would get my dress, and made me feel better.
Because it was discontinued, they (Karen & Carole) let me take the Alfred Angelo catalog out of the store at 4:45 on a Friday in December (they were closing at 5:00) and run down to Kinko’s to take a color copy of the dress so I would have it. During one phone call, Karen told me it would be in March 27. At least, I think she did. She might have said, it would ship March 27. Either way, the dress came in on April 5. So, either a week late, (no big deal, since it was still 6 months before the
wedding) or exactly on time. I called Carole, and set up an appointment to “visit” my dress. I arrived right on time for my visit. Carole said “hi Darlene” the second I walked in. I was surprised she knew my name because I had really dealt with Karen for the most part. My dress was hanging up right next to the dressing room. She unzipped the bag, and I was in love all over again. It was still sealed in the manufacturer’s plastic inside that white bag. I just kept staring, when she asked if I wanted to put it on. Of course I did!!! Admittedly, once it was on, I was less than thrilled. It was crystal clear that I had put on weight since it was ordered, and it just didn’t look right. There were bulges in all the wrong places. Everyone who was in that day said it was gorgeous, but I felt miserable. Of course,
the fact that I was upset about something else before I even got there didn’t help. My mother, who up to that point hadn’t really said much about my dress choice, couldn’t stop saying how gorgeous it was, and how much prettier it was in pure white rather than ivory. I told her the sample at Beautiful Bride was white, just dirty from hanging in the store and being tried on so many times. She kind of shrugged her shoulders, and said that she couldn’t believe I considered trying on other dresses when this one was so perfect for me. Carole suggested adding a crinoline underneath. I tried a two tier, and that is when my mom really started gushing about how beautiful it was. There were lots of other people in the store, and I had to go to work, so I reluctantly took off the dress. I scheduled my first fitting that day. Lucky me, by setting up an August fitting in April, I got to schedule it for a Saturday!!!

First fitting, August 2006, almost exactly one year to the day that I ordered the dress. Sue helped me that day get in and out of my dress. She kept saying it fit perfectly. I suppose it did. It needed the hem, the bustle and the straps needed to be shortened, but not taking in, or letting out. I borrowed both my sister’s crinoline and SummerBride06's crinoline for that fitting. My sister’s was totally inappropriate (too ballroom gown poofy), but Carol’s was perfect!!! It gave just the right amount of fluff to the very bottom of the dress. I also had my veil at this point, and it was truly perfect with the dress.

I had my final fitting a week before the wedding, the morning after my bachelorette party. I was hung over, bloated, and feeling like garbage. Therefore, I naturally was displeased with the way I looked in the dress. Despite how I felt, I can say the alterations were perfect.

So, I had a ring, I had a hall, and now I had a dress. I just need all my other vendors! This is where LIW really started to come into play. I joined in August, and did research on almost all my remaining vendors through this site. First up, photographers. We visited a total of seven before making our choice.

The Velvet Studio
Route 110
Huntington Station, NY
631-425-4900

When all is said and done, the pictures are what you have left. We wanted high quality photos, a good price, and someone that we could spend the entire day with. After meeting with 6 other
photographers, we determined that Bob at Velvet fit the bill. He was excited and enthusiastic about
our wedding, and the individual touches we were incorporating. He also assured us that we could in fact take pictures at night, (unlike the others we met with) since our ceremony at that time was
planned for 6:30 PM at our hall. He had some nighttime pictures to show us that weren’t dark and really captured the subjects. He explained that all he had to do was drag the shutter, and/or use his lighting assistant (which would be included at no extra charge) to capture the evening photos we thought we were going to have. Overall, we loved his work. Because Bob is a commercial photographer by trade, he has a different perspective, but still captures the “standard, posed” pictures.
He works with his wife who takes the photojournalistic shots. Getting three different perspectives was intriguing. When we took our engagement pictures we had a blast. We drove around the golf course on golf carts and had fun. FH & I were freezing when all was said and done, but we loved the results, and it only served to confirm what we knew - Bob was the photographer for us.

DJ:
High Voltage Sounds
313 North Albany Street
North Massapequa, NY
516-694-7921

This was the only vendor that we didn’t shop around for. Based on LIW recommendations we met with Vinny at High Voltage and booked him the same day. There was no question. His personality completely won us over. There was no hard sell, or anything we didn’t want. By very funny coincidence, the weekend after we booked him we were at a party where one of his other DJ’s was providing music. Round about April 2006 another bride posted a very negative review. Needless to say, it freaked me out a bit. I sent out FM to “my girls” venting and asking for advice. They all came through with support and advice. Two days after the review Vinny himself called me. We discussed the situation, and other things for an hour. I don’t want to discredit another bride, so all I will say is that there are two sides to every story, and after hearing Vinny’s side of things all the panic and doubts I had went away.

With all things wedding, I gave myself a schedule of two major things to have completed each month, with the goal of having every major vendor booked by Christmas. Next up flowers and transportation. I had set a deadline of October 31, 2005 to have both things booked. Transportation, no problem, flowers, well, let’s just say, I never thought flowers would be so difficult!! Right about this point in time, we decided to accept a very intriguing offer that had come our way months earlier.

Ceremony Site: Private Residence


We were planning on having our ceremony at our reception hall. However, most of the photographers we met with scared FH about taking pictures at night. We both really started to feel that we weren’t going to be able to take advantage of the beautiful grounds because the ceremony start time at the hall would be 6:30 PM, and sunset on our day is 6:24 PM. Enter my friends, Henry and Ted. They own a lovely home overlooking Northport Harbor. They offered not only to host the wedding, but also the reception. FH and I discussed this option for several months before accepting their offer to host the
ceremony. Their house was built in the early 1800's. Their gardens were photographed and published in Newsday. The house sits on the side of a cliff above water level, complete with a dock on the water, and beautiful staircase with a gazebo halfway down. Parking is a challenge, and that was part of the discussion. I priced out valet’s but couldn’t afford one. Then I found out with permission of the Mayor, I could have the guests park 2/10 mile away on a private road. I secured permission, and had the Chief of Police enter it into the computer so our guests would not be ticketed the day of the wedding. Shuttling the guests to and from the parking area became a key point while interviewing limo companies. Serenity and All Star both said they could shuttle the guests the short distance in the limos so we didn’t have to hire a shuttle bus. Our other concern was what to do in the event of rain. If you
remember, during October of 2005 Long Island was hit with 8 straight days of rain. That rain
coincided with the one year countdown to our day. We had planned to visit the house to see the
sunset at the same time on the actual day, but the rain completely ruined that idea. It did however allow us to see that the location is beautiful even in the rain, and that our friends had a backup plan for rain. We officially accepted their offer on October 9, 2005. One of my friends offered to decorate. I bought tulle from AC Moore, and bows (in my wedding colors) from Michaels.



This decision cause no end of angst for my mother. She had planned on booking a room near the reception hall and getting ready there. Now that I was getting married close to home and having the reception far from home she wanted a limo for herself and the family so no one would be drinking and driving.

Well, now that I had done something so crazy as to have the ceremony someplace untraditional, I
realized that I couldn’t go it alone. A DOC was in order. FH & I discussed it, and he agreed without
any argument whatsoever. I just needed to stay within the budget.

Day of Coordinator:
Francesca at Dazzling Affairs
516-455-1751
After we made changes to our day and decided we were going to have our ceremony at a private
home with major parking issues, I decided I couldn’t go it alone the day of. There was just too much stuff that would be happening and I didn’t want to leave it to my mother, my MOH, or anyone else. There were lots of recommendations on the boards. I interviewed a few and didn’t get that warm fuzzy feeling I thought was a necessary component. Then I decided to post on the Vendor board. I got a response from Francesca. We set up an interview and she was AMAZING! She came to my house to meet with me. That initial interview lasted more than 3 hours!! I just knew that with her around on my day if anything was to go wrong she would take care of it. I really, really liked her. That day she came with me to the ceremony site. I’m sure she didn’t expect to spend that much time with me, but she was warm and enthusiastic, listened to my ideas, offered suggestions, explained TONS of different things, and never once did she make my feel like her time would be better spent elsewhere! From the moment I signed that contract I felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Francesca suggested setting up a wedding website that included all the needed
information about our ceremony regarding parking and staircases etc. As the months passed, Francesca came through with lots of different things. She hooked me up with the rental company for the chairs I needed for the ceremony. She priced out the invites FH & I fell in love with but couldn’t afford, and got us substantial savings. One day out of the blue I got an email from her about a horse & carriage. She was talking with one of the vendors she works with and remembered that I mentioned
wanting one. Frankly, until speaking with her after getting the email, I didn’t remember mentioning it. Just goes to show you the level of care she puts into each wedding she does.

Round about April 2006, when I was freaking out about Vinny I sent her an email asking her opinion
on the situation. She gave me a completely different perspective, and encouraged me to call and speak to him directly about my concerns. I suspect the phone call I got from Vinny was at her
prompting, although I don’t know for sure. However it went, she was an ear that listened, and her response to me showed great thought and care. Weeks later I got an email from her saying that she “heard” I was looking for a string quartet with a price quote. This caught me quite off guard. I had never mentioned it to her, I hadn’t posted it on the boards, I didn’t even mention it in private FM to any ‘06er - all I did was send two vendors a request for a price quote. I was very excited about the price quote, because by this time the thought of a string quartet for the ceremony had gotten to me. It no longer had anything to do with Vinny, but became about the elegance that strings would add to our very romantic waterfront ceremony site. Unfortunately, FH said there was no way we could afford it.

When my invites arrived Francesca sent me an email letting me know, and telling me they were
beautiful. Due to my continuing computer problems, I got it the day after she sent it. She said they were in and to call her so I could pick them up. Turns out, that she was going to be in my neck of the woods that day and offered to drop them off. She met me at the pool tournament!!!! She was right - they were beautiful!!! She had assembled one for me so I knew how to do it when the time came. Although, I think I screwed it up based on the number of times I took it out to show people.

As the wedding day got closer things started going wrong, and Francesca was never further away than an email or her cell phone. She always helped to put things in perspective. We had two face to face meetings to finalize details, and she always went above and beyond to make sure the meeting location was convenient for me. She met me at a hair trial once, and at the ceremony location once.

Limo:
Serenity Limos
631-929-8888
I met with all the biggies, All Star, Royalty, and Sir Oliver. Then I found Eddie and Serenity at an East
Wind showcase. His personality completely hooked me. Here was a guy that would keep my
laughing the day of my wedding. One other thing that Eddie did that the biggies refused to do was
create a package that met our needs. Our ceremony was scheduled for 3:00 PM (it was later moved to 2:30 PM) and our CH wasn’t scheduled to begin until 7:00 PM. All the other limo companies wanted to sell me a “3 hour wedding package” and then add overtime charges. I thought that was total B.S. considering you can book limos for an entire night of bar hopping in NYC. Eddie was completely willing to work with me and the needs for my wedding and charge me accordingly without all the nonsense about wedding packages. I didn’t book him at the showcase, because OF COURSE I had to come check the boards and read any and all reviews. The reviews matched what I
thought, so by week’s end I booked 3 limos with him, two for us, and the one for the family. During
the months that followed I ran into Eddie at a variety of showcases. He always recognized me (very important), said hello, had a big smile for me, and even though I was already booked we talked each time I saw him.

During one meltdown day I called over there and left a message for him. When he called me back he managed to make me laugh for the first time in days. I know calming down a bride a full month before her wedding is NOT in the job description for a limo driver/company owner, but Eddie came through like a champ!!!

Flowers:
Open House Country
Whitson Lane
Stony Brook, NY
631-751-3842
Oh, my, this was almost a harder task than selecting a hall!! After visiting a dozen or so florists, (including Flower Michele, LA Blossom, Burton’s, Signature etc) and after having a few samples done, I was at my wits end. Who thought flowers would be so hard?? It wasn’t that I didn’t like the florists I met with, (with one exception) I just wasn’t getting the “this is the one for me” feeling. I was frantic, because it was November, and I was behind the schedule I had set for myself. I came straight to the boards and asked for other recommendations. I got three. I decided to make only one appointment, and if I didn’t like that florist, then I would make the next appointment etc. Well, I met with Nancy at Open House Country and within 10 minutes got that “this is the one for me” feeling.
Nancy agreed to put a sample together for me with extra flowers from a wedding she was doing two weeks later. This was one vendor that FH truly wasn’t interested in. While he went to every
photography appointment, every limo appointment, and was by my side when we met Vinny, all he said about flowers was that he wanted them!! Needless to say, I had to drag FH with me to view Nancy’s sample. We wound up having a huge argument in front of Nancy about the amount of greenery in the sample, and I was so embarrassed by it, I almost didn’t book her because I didn’t want to go back. Even though I had described the same thing to everyone, her sample made my description come alive. I am not a creative person by any means, and up to that point I thought I just couldn’t articulate what I wanted properly. So not the case with Nancy. She got it, and the sample was the perfect evidence. Despite my embarrassment, how could I not go back after what she had
created??



By now, (November ‘05) I had found a BM dress that I was totally in love with, as well as a few
others. I managed to get my MOH into a bunch. Both my BMs live OOT, so getting them to try on
the dresses wasn’t exactly easy. One was very accommodating, and tried on each and every dress that I emailed her within a week. She also sent me pictures of her in the dresses, together with comments regarding whether she liked or didn’t like the given dress. My other BM on the other hand, well, I had to go to Virginia and call bridal shops and make appointments to get her to go!!

Burton’s Bridal:
Bridesmaid Dress: MOH, Impression Bridal Style # 1186 BM, Impression Bridal Style # 1192
I saw these dresses together in an Impression Bridal ad. I loved them. I searched online and found a bunch of other dresses that I also liked. I managed to drag my sister/MOH out to Burton’s one day to try on the ones I found online. Karen was extremely helpful and nice during the whole figuring out what we liked process. I sent my OOT bridesmaids the designer names and styles of the dresses we selected that day. The one that looked the best on my sister (from Dessy) looked lousy on one of my BMs. About a month later I dragged my MOH out again. We went to Helen’s Wedding World in Commack, (they had both Impression dresses available to try on) and the Wedding Center in Commack (they had another designer’s dress that I wanted to see). The ladies at Helen’s were AWESOME. I had my sister put on the dress I wanted for her, and I put on the BM dress. They were perfect, but the color was awful! Not to worry, they had lots of colors to choose from. I called Impression directly, and they sent me fabric swatches in the colors that I liked at no charge. Once again, I sent OOT bridesmaids emails to try on the Impression dress. One of them got back to me
right away. She liked the dress and it looked good on her. I had to go to Virginia and drag the other BM out to try it on. During that trip to Virginia, I managed to get her into a variety of dresses, including an Alfred Angelo that I had recently found and loved that none of the other girls had tried on. That particular dresses’ downfall was Alfred Angelo’s color selection, but I still loved it!! FH was with me, and both he and my BM liked the dress I had picked from the very beginning, not the Alfred Angelo. I have to say, part of me wishes they had both liked the Alfred Angelo, and part of me is very happy they didn’t. Getting them measured on the other hand, was yet another ordeal. Again, one OOT BM was quick with the measurements, and the one in Virginia had to be hounded regularly. My
MOH told me to just tell her when and where to show up to get measured, which I did, and she did!

Since I ordered my wedding dress from Burton’s they offered me a discount on the girls dresses. In February, ordering went smoothly once all the measurements were taken. The expected due date was 4th of July week. The day I visited my dress in April, I asked if the BM (and FG) dresses were still on target for July 4th delivery. Carole told me it had been moved up to early June!!

Well, June came and went with no call about the dresses. July 4th came and went, no call about the dresses. I finally called on July 11 and asked where they were. I was told that they had come in on Friday, July 7. I told them I would be in on Saturday, July 15 to pick up the dresses for my two OOT girls. This is where things went wrong. I ran to Burton’s between a wedding ceremony and reception. After all, how hard could it be to just pay for and pick up two dresses? I got there and waited about 5 minutes before I was helped - no big deal. Karen and Carole were nowhere to be found. The girl who was there was rude to FH and told him he couldn’t sit in the shop because women were changing. I know Burton’s is small, but this was not a day where the fake wall was up and people were changing in the middle of the floor exposed for all the world to see, so it was completely uncalled for. She pointed to where my girls’ dresses were, and I pulled them down and started to examine them. They were both covered in stains!!! One had a HUGE black water stain on it, the other had numerous white stains on it. The rude girl ran downstairs to get Carole. Carole came up and had the seamstress clean the dress with the white marks all over it. I discovered the black water stain on the other dress while that was going on. I repeatedly said to Carole that I wanted her to just call Impression, but she insisted they could be cleaned - and they were, but they stunk to high heaven for a few days. Well, FH was getting impatient sitting downstairs not knowing exactly what was going on, and some random bride that came in for her appointment “delivered” a message from him. With all this going on I paid no attention to anything other than the stains. It was a few days later before it hit me that I had ordered the same size dresses for both girls, but had TWO different size dresses!! I was not happy, but then again I wasn’t 100% sure. I had both receipts, but one didn’t have the dress size on it. So I contacted that BM for her measurements again, and sure enough the dress was one
size too small based on her measurements. I called Carole and she told me not to worry and that I should be worrying about my honeymoon instead. Ummm, excuse me, but I thought you always went with the bigger size because dresses can always be taken in, but they can’t be let out????????????????

Needless to say, I was freaked out about the dress. My grandmother is a seamstress, so I had my mother examine the dress to see if it could be let out. Before we even figured that out, my aunt noticed that the seams on the dress were sewn together completely incorrectly!!
My mother examined it closely, and sure enough - the seams were sewn together wrong. To explain - the dresses were chiffon. When you sew chiffon you have to pull the material taut so it doesn’t bunch together to get a smooth edge. This was obviously not done, because the seam was totally bunched. I then grabbed the other dress, only to see that it was worse than the first one. Now I was freaking out more than I was before. It was 72 days before the wedding, I hadn’t even looked at my MOH’s dress, but these two were awful!! I called Burton’s and told them I wanted to see my MOH’s dress. My mother and I went together with the BM’s dresses.

When we got there I told Carole there was a problem. She looked at it, and said that the dress just needed ironing. Mind you, during the cleaning process the week before both dresses were ironed. She had the seamstress iron the dress, and my mother stood over her and “supervised” but continually pointed out that it wasn’t doing any good. Carole brought over another dress to try to point out that all chiffon dresses are like that. My mother pointed out the difference, and Carole had to admit it, but tried to play it off as being the result of two different manufacturers. I told Carole the dresses were completely unacceptable. My MOH’s dress had one white spot on it, and the seam was a little better, but still not what you expect when you pay this kind of money. I left the dresses behind,
and told Carole I wanted her to call Impression and get me a refund. I told her to tell them she had a hysterical bride on her hands that had NO faith in their ability given the stains and poor workmanship and that I just wanted my money back - all of it!!! Unfortunately, I had to live through the weekend and a Monday before I had an answer.

So here it was, Tuesday August 1, Carole had called Impression Bridal and they wanted the dresses to see for themselves what was wrong and be given the opportunity to fix them. I was told they would be back in New York at Burton’s by Friday August 4. Needless to say I was very skeptical. I was pleasantly surprised that the seams on both BM dresses were fixed. However, my MOH’s dress was never returned as Carole misunderstood me when I said the dress was not perfect. She apparently didn’t hear the “not” and therefore didn’t ship it back. That however was not the end of the issues. The BM dresses were returned fixed, but not without NEW stains!!!

The OOT BM that was ordered the wrong size dress was in New York that weekend for my bridal
shower, and went to Burton’s to try on the dress. Although she told me not to worry it was fine, she
also said the top was so tight she couldn’t wear a bra (not a good thing for a girl with a D-cup size
chest), and that if she gained one single ounce between that day and the wedding it would be too
small. I’m sure she was trying to make me feel better about the whole thing, so I’m not sure she told me everything. One thing that she did tell me, which IMO was poor business practice on the part of Burton’s, was that she was charged for her alterations. I’m not talking $10 either!! Very, very disappointed in how this entire situation was handled. FH was, and continues to be, positively livid over the entire experience. My DOC did say however that my BM was charged half price for her
alterations. Fast forward to the end of September when I finally managed to stop playing phone tag
with said BM. She told me she picked up her dress from Burton’s and it was totally screwed up. She is short waisted and there is rouching on the side of the dress. Well, they tried to adjust the waist line so it sat on her waist but then couldn’t get the rouching to sit right, so they let the waist of the dress out. The problem with this was that the waist was already 2 inches larger than her waist (while the bust was too small), and letting it out made the dress look like a potato sack on her. She was there for well over an hour while the seamstress undid everything they had done to the waist line and the rouching on the side. I have to say when I found out I was pi$$ed off, not only at Burtons, but also at my BM. If she had told me what was wrong in August I would have eaten the cost of the dresses and
ordered a different dress with rush delivery etc. Instead, I wound up with a BM in an ill fitting dress.

After getting all the girls to agree on a BM dress, now I needed a flower girl dress. Back to the
internet I went. My FG lives in Virginia, and the weekend I was there dragging her mother (my BM) around, she was with her father, so I couldn’t drag her around. I emailed her pictures of dresses that I liked, and had her select what she wanted from those.

Flower Girl Dress: Sweet Beginnings Style # L408



I was in love with this dress from the moment I saw it. Luckily, when I emailed my FG a picture of it, together with a few others, she loved it too!!!! Jordan has a color that it almost identical to the
Impression color I picked, so I was able to order the sash for the dress to match the BM dresses. I
also ordered this dress from Burton’s. This dress came in with the BMs dresses. It was perfect!!!

Everything was coming together. My time line was basically being adhered to, and all the really big things were booked. We had a busy week between Christmas and New Year’s. We both had off that week we had planned on looking for invites, tuxedos, starting the registry, and . . . video!! Yup, after saying he didn’t want one, he now decided he wanted a video after all! FH was good about changing his mind. When I mentioned creating a website (he is a computer geek) he said no, then out of the blue on New Year’s Eve he said “let’s create our website!” He changed it more times than I care to count, and really made me nuts when he would take down a page to redo it, then not put it back up for months!!!

Videographer:
Wild Rose Video
631-224-7723
We certainly didn’t budget for a videographer, since FH was dead set against it. However, at some point FH redid the budget to include video. (I guess that would be around the time he changed his mind about NOT having a video). We interviewed a bunch, but when we got to Wild Rose our search was over. We met with both Bill and Marie. They showed us a bunch of different wedding videos. They spanned several years, lots of venues, and even one that included our hall. At one point, FH was moved to tears. When we walked out, FH said “we have to find a way to book them.” As much as I loved their work, I still wanted to book a different videographer because I honestly didn’t think we could afford them, and I thought it would be very easy for another videographer to recreate the “spin” so long as we described it. FH convinced me we could afford it, and since he has insisted on so little, I decided to give in. We called them from lunch, and booked them the same day.

Invitations: Nu-Art 7750


We had at some point decided that our theme would be calla lilies. I selected a bunch of invites with calla lilies on them, and then had FH pick which one he liked. At some point I realized this wasn’t fair, so we went to Lion in the Sun in Huntington during our week off. We looked through hundreds of invites. When FH saw this one, he was hooked. We looked at a bunch more, but kept coming back to this one invite. Lion in the Sun wrote out an estimate for us, but it was waaaay more than we had budgeted for invites. We left the store and I told him we just couldn’t afford them. He asked me to look online since I had gotten some really good prices on other invites. I did that, and then I remembered Francesca had mentioned she can get invites. I asked her to price them out with all the extras we wanted (colored ink, lined inner envelopes etc). Her price was the same as online once we
added the costs for proofs of everything. It was a relief to me to deal with a person and not an online company even though all the samples I had ordered were the same quality as the stores. This was another one of those things, that I deferred to FH. I loved the invite, but it was ivory, not white, had a heart on it, not calla lilies, AND was too expensive. With the decision to go with these invites, the calla lily theme went out the window, and hearts overtook us!!

When I finally figured out the wording I wanted to use, I sent my DOC an email with it and asked her
to start the invitation process. With all the changes and corrections I made the proof process took about a month. The time frame had a lot to do with me. I was having major issues with my home computer and AOL, so sometimes it would take me two-three days to get back to Francesca. Ultimately, I sent her a fax and viola - the proofs came back and were all perfect and the order was placed. It took no more than 10 days for the invites to come in once the order was placed. They were stunning! FH & I were so happy with them. Because Francesca deals with this on a regular basis she was actually able to save me money in the long run. Nu-Art charges for each proof, but she was able to negotiate for me and I only paid for one proof per item, not the multiples of each that were done. In the end, she was less expensive than ordering via the internet.

Tuxedos: Rogers Tuxedos Smithtown
Before the Wedding: 9
Day of: 9

We reserved tuxes with Tuxedo Park in Huntington Village in December 2005. On April 1, 2006, FH went with one of his GM to get measured. Lo and behold, the store was CLOSED! Not closed, as in they went during hours when they shouldn’t be open, but closed as in shut down, no longer a store on Main Street in Huntington closed. I honestly thought FH was playing an April Fool’s joke until I came onto LIW and asked. Sure enough, they closed the Huntington location a few days earlier. FH
said there was no way he was going to Carle Place, and since they failed to notify us he had no
intention of going to their new (as of then unopened) Massapequa location. So, now we were on the hunt for tuxedos - AGAIN. We went to a showcase at East Wind on April 5, and met with Rich from Rogers Tuxedo. To this point, we had only used one house vendor (Serenity). We spoke with Rich at length at the showcase, and told him we would visit the store on Friday. He said he might not be there, but his partner Ray would be if he wasn’t. When we got there,
neither one of them was in the store! Oops, they had gone out to dinner, but returned about 5 minutes after we walked in. Rich and Ray were great!!! FH & I are both HUGE Yankee fans - so is Ray. FH & Ray got into a big conversation about baseball while we were waiting for a dressing room to open up (there was another wedding party in picking up tuxes, and Rogers insists that they be tried on before being removed from the store, and another employee was helping them). Rich on the other hand was busy looking for fabric (yes, fabric, not color cards) swatches so we could match BM dresses. Rich is down to earth, has an opinion, isn’t afraid to share it, and thinks that tradition is overplayed, but loves a classic tux with a bow tie and cummerbund. Ray is also very down to earth and while he has an opinion, he’s a little more subtle than Rich with expressing it. They were both extremely helpful, and let me know if I changed my mind about what the guys were going to wear, I could do so up until @ three weeks before the wedding. After putting FH in a bunch of different tuxes, we went a completely different route than what we had decided on in December. We backed away from traditional tuxedos with vests and straight ties, and the cummerbund/bow tie look for the bridal party. The cost of the tuxedos also went down considerably with the change in stores.



Registry:
Macy’s:
We had no problems registering with Macy’s at all. We went to the Macy’s at Smithhaven Mall. The problem came a few months later when I got a notification of discontinued items. We went to Macy’s to fix it, only to be told only two of the 25 items were actually discontinued! A few months after that I went into Macy’s to check towel colors. I found the color I wanted and added them to the registry. When I got home I was flipping through the Fourth of July circular and lo and behold there were my towels with a big ad that said CLOSEOUT - DISCONTINUED! Umm, excuse me, but where on earth was my notice from Macy’s?? They sent me a notice that was wrong, and then never bothered to send me a notice that was correct?? Obviously, Macy’s has some issues with their registry that needs to be worked out.

Fortunoff:
We had no problems registering here either. Unlike Macy’s when I got notice that something was discontinued, it actually was. The problem I did have occurred the day we went to take care of the discontinued items. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t find the everyday dinnerware we registered for. I decided if it was that difficult for me, it would be too difficult for a guest, so we selected something else. I honestly don’t like it nearly as much as the first set.

Williams-Sonoma:
FH wanted to register here because he wanted a particular Caphalon sauce pan that ONLY they
carry. We added a bunch of stuff because it was silly to only register for one item. This experience
was OK. We were asked if we made a reservation to do our registry (we hadn’t), but said they would take care of us that day anyway. They did take care of us, and the various salespeople on the floor were very helpful and answered lots of questions about different things. I later tried to add things online. NIGHTMARE!! They do not list all their merchandise on their website.

Linens & Things:
This was not a good experience. We registered at all four stores in ONE day. We had to wait 45
minutes to get service at L&T. We chalked it up to the time of year. Once we got the gun it was
smooth sailing. However, the weekend we were running around fixing the discontinued stuff on at the other stores we went back to L&T to look at bedding since it was now close enough to our date. After waiting ½ hour for service we just walked out. Later that night we took L&T off our website and deleted everything from this registry.

Bed, Bath & Beyond:
We went here after our awful experience at L&T. Oh, my, what a difference!! They have an actual
registry counter with real live staff people at it!!! They told us we were welcome to come before and after hours while the staff was cleaning and/or stocking shelves to make changes. They have a fabulous return policy (cash!), and give you two years to complete your registry and still receive a discount. We ran around the store that day, and by the time we were done our BB&B registry was triple the size of the L&T registry. When we surrendered the gun, they took out L&T list and offered to add anything we hadn’t done ourselves! Adding stuff online was a piece of cake.

So, here it is New Year’s Eve. I had created an STD in October and asked FH to convert it to the
proper file format to upload to Vista Print, and I was still waiting. When I heard about the postage
increase, I made it clear I wanted them in the mail before the rate hike. Do you think this got done?? Heck no!! The STD file format conversion went along with the creation of the website, randomly out of the blue with FH deciding NOW was the time to do it!


Save The Dates:
Vista Print
Rating: 7

I “stole” the Mastercard commercial idea for the STD from another LIW bride. I used one of our e-
pics, followed her lead, played off how we met at the pool hall, and viola - a really cute STD. I
ordered post card sized magnets from Vista Print. They came in relatively quickly. I had to cut two small white lines off them around two sides, but I don’t know if that was our fault because we
uploaded our design, or their fault. It was a minor inconvenience, but everyone who got them thought they were really cute, and they are up on refrigerators all over the country! I bought blank cards and envelopes from AC Moore, printed them out on my computer at home. I attached the magnet inside the card with non-permanent rubber cement. Under the magnet was our website address. One problem I did have, that I do think is their problem, happened about two weeks after I ordered them. I got a phone call from ShoeBuy.com to verify an order I had placed before they shipped the item. Turns out, it wasn’t me who ordered it, and I had to cancel my credit card and get a new one. Vista Print’s site is not secure, and the STDs were the only thing I had ordered online in three months, so I am convinced it was through that order that someone got my number.

Things were really coming along at this point. There were some bumps in the road between me & FH - the usual wedding stress related stupid arguments. We worked through every thing as it occurred, and our relationship got stronger with each conversation. A few times we had “wedding free zones” wherein we would spend the day together with all wedding discussion off limits. I highly recommend
doing this when you start to feel stressed!

We also started talking about taking dance lessons. From the beginning of the engagement, FH said he doesn’t dance, he hates to dance, there would be no first dance, and that there was no point to dancing that he could see. My local department of Parks and Recreation had ballroom dancing lessons for a relatively low cost, and I convinced him to go. It was
eight classes of FUN!! Yes, I said fun. FH really enjoyed it. We went to public dances at churches,
he danced at the weddings we went to (something he didn’t do at the weddings we had gone to before the lessons), and even said he wanted to continue lessons after we were married. The other thing dance lessons did, was show us that the song we picked, although beautiful, really wasn’t a song that could be danced to unless you are a professional. We had to select another song. IMO, the words
didn’t convey my feelings about the relationship the way the first one did, but I think they conveyed his feelings.

The other things that occurred in January were expected, unexpected, and expected!

MOB/MOG dresses: Lord & Taylor
My mom purchased a dress at Lord & Taylor for another wedding she had to go to in November.
She asked me if I minded if she wore it to mine. It was beautiful, and she looked fabulous in it, so I
told her to go for it! She bought it on sale with a coupon, and got a tremendous deal.



My FMIL hates dresses. Two weeks after I got engaged she asked FH if I minded if she wore pants. I told him to tell her I just wanted her to be comfortable. After all, as long as she isn’t wearing white, why would I care if she wore a gorgeous pant suit instead of a dress? At Christmas she mentioned that she wanted me to go shopping with her. I was so excited. This was the first real interest she showed in the wedding. I realized later that the reason she was showing little interest was
out of respect, not lack of caring. She recognized that it was my wedding not hers, and didn’t want to step on my toes. So, on a bright Saturday afternoon, my mom, FMIL and FSIL hopped in the car and went to the mall to find a nice pant suit. Well, after trying on a bunch, she decided she wanted to try on some dresses! We found a lovely celedon dress with a short beaded jacket that looked great on her at Lord & Taylor. It was on sale and we got a good deal. She was very happy that day. FH told me later that she just couldn’t wait to show it to him when she got home. That made me feel really great!



Horse & Carriage: Eagle Carriage Company
Before the Wedding: 8
Day of: 10
My childhood dream. I honestly thought this was one dream I would have to give up. I shopped
around and the prices were waaaaaay out of my budget. Then I bought a magazine that had an ad for Eagle. I called and left a message, but before I got a call back my amazing DOC sent me an email with pricing for a horse & carriage. Lo and behold, the quote was from Eagle!! I talked with Sam on the phone, and met with him a few days later. The carriage was beautiful, and the price was within the “extra” money from our wedding budget. ( there is no such thing as extra money). My dream was becoming a reality. Best part, unlike every other carriage company I called, Eagle has a “day of” rain cancellation policy. I was able to book knowing that if it rained and the carriage was a no-go it wouldn’t cost me. The reason he doesn’t get a higher score for before the wedding is his office. It is a trailer on Main Street in Huntington that was hard to find. He never turned on a light during our meeting, and since it was January, and the meeting was after 5PM it was dark, and well, a little? spooky.

Wedding Day Hoodie:
EmbroidMe
Rating: 7/8
Janna (aka BktoLI) managed to find me a hoodie at Target. I took it to EmbroidMe on Route 111 in
Smithtown for embroidery. Their hours stink, (they’re not open weekends, or past 6PM any night during the week) but the quality is good. Janna had taken hers the week before I did. She dealt with the owner and had a great experience - got her hoodie back in two days, and said the owner was really nice. When I took mine, I dealt with a young man, who was very nice, but not too swift. He told me it would take a week, and it was more $$ than Janna’s but he couldn’t explain why. I called a week later to make sure it was finished before going over there on my lunch hour to get it. I spoke with the owner on the phone and asked why it took a week and cost more than Janna’s. Well, she got nasty with me on the phone. Said all projects take a week, and that mine was more because there were more letters (ummmm, only FOUR). Turns out, the extra $$ was for an additional line of text, not the additional four letters. She asked if I was going to continue to argue with her. I
wasn’t arguing, I just wanted an explanation. I picked it up without incident. Again, I dealt with the young man, as the owner was on the phone when I got there. It was perfect, and when I wore it out and about before my wedding, everyone thought it was great. I somehow managed to drop it in the parking lot at work without noticing, and had to get a new one. It took me months to find another plain white hoodie. I went back to EmbroidMe to have it done over. I was very happy to learn that they changed their hours and were now open until 7:00 PM two nights a week. This time, they did it in three days, and charged me the same price they charged Janna! Whatever! I had
my hoodie again and I was happy.



Shoes:
Wedding Shoe Boutique
Old Country Road
Mineola
Coloriffics: Total Eclipse
OMG! What a nightmare! I wanted ballroom dance shoes because I knew those would be the most comfortable. Unfortunately, Capezio discontinued the perfect shoe. I ordered a 71/2 wide from Zappos hoping they would fit and be comfortable. They didn’t. Then I found a gorgeous pair of Coloriffics on Shoebuy.com. They were extremely uncomfortable, and I had to send them back. I had gone to Craft Shoes in Commack once, and had the misfortune of being approached by the owner, who is obnoxious, and didn’t want to go back. But I did. This time, I was helped by Ethel. She is very sweet, and patient. I think I tried on 15 different pairs of shoes, but nothing fit right and was comfortable. She measured me and said my right foot was a size 6, and my left foot was a size 71/2. However, there wasn’t a single shoe all the way up to a size 8 wide that fit correctly. She recommended looking at Stuart Weitzman shoes online. There was no way I was spending $200 on a pair of shoes I would wear exactly once, so randomly one Sunday while FH and I were at Fortunoff
playing with the registry my brain remembered that a bunch of LIW girls had mentioned the Bridal
Shoe Boutique on Old Country Road. As we were driving to Macy’s to fix that registry I was
scanning Old Country Road for the store. I spotted it, but we were in the left lane. Lucky for me the light was red, so I jumped out of the car. Wouldn’t you know it - the store was closed!! I guess it was my lucky day because the salespeople were still there and they opened the door. They don’t have as big a selection as Craft Shoes, but there was one pair that I didn’t recall seeing that I asked to try on. They were 95% comfortable. Steve, the guy helping me thought I needed a wide width shoe to take care of the 5%. He didn’t have them, but said he could order them, and that I was under no obligation to buy them if they came in and weren’t comfortable. The store is closed on Monday, but they were in by Thursday. Quick huh? I put them on and had the same problem. Steve took them in the back and did something and they then fit like a glove. FH danced with me in the store just to make
sure!! Isn’t that totally sweet??

I need to mention that I considered getting them on Shoebuy.com. The retail price was $3.50 less,
and of course, no tax and free shipping. An LIW bride sent me a FM letting me know of a 15% off
discount code for Shoebuy.com. I actually ordered them, and then canceled the order. The reason I canceled the order was because of the free dying after the wedding. I found out it costs $15.00 to have the shoes dyed to black. I decided the actual savings of .66 cents wasn’t worth it to get them online. To me, dying the shoe

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

Wow! What a review! I think my eyes are bleeding! LOL...I'm just kidding. Congratulations! It all sounds like it was beautiful!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

Great review! I

Scott asked me to say Hi to you and Jay. Both of us want to see more pictures. We saw the ones that people posted. Your day looked wonderful. Congrats!!!!!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

congrats Darlene!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

Thank you so much for sharing, this is part of what make LIW so great!
Congratulations on a beautiful wedding!!!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

OMG-What a great review! Congratulations! You looked amazing and your day looked like a dream!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

Darlene it was such an incredible wedding experience. There was not one detail left out and your account of your special day is right on target. Thank you for allowing Ed and I to be a part of it. We felt a lot of love between you and JAy and your family!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

Darlene, it has been a pleasure to take this ride with you & Jay in planning our weddings together, and after everything you had done for me, I had to return all of the favors.

We were honored to be able to share in your day and we are both overjoyed to have you and Jay as our friends. Your day was a total reflection of the both of you and the love you both share.

Now stop editing the damn review and get to pool!!! We missed you at 9 ball!!!!!!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

WOW, what a review, Darlene!!! It truly was an honor celebrating your wedding day with you and Jay!!!!! It was beautiful, it was personal, and it was breathtaking all at the same time!!!!!

I'm so glad that we met through the GTGs and so happy we've had the time to get to know one another better!!!!! And partying with the other LIW ladies at the wedding was an experience in itself!!!

Your wedding was my first wedding as a Mrs and I never was I so happy when I received that invite stating that fact! Thank you!!!

Congrats to the both of you and I wish you both a lifetime of happiness and love!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

Darlene, now that is a review. WOW!!!!!! I have to say it was truly an honor to be there to share in your special day. Everything was perfect!!!!!!!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

wow your review was very long and detailed. Congrats!! Loved all he pics!!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

Thanks for sharing such a detailed review! Congrats!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

I have been waiting for this review I wish my internet access worked at O'hare yesterday since I wanted to finish reading it then

Amazing review!! Congratulations to both of you. Wishing you a lifetime of wedded bliss

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

You totally get my vote for the most thorough review EVER! Thank you so much for your honest review....I'm so happy to hear all went well! Congratulations again, and thank you for sharing!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

Darlene, that was an incredible review!!! You were such a beautiful, glowing bride and I stand by what I said -- I truly will never forget your first dance......that was the best I have EVER seen....everything at your wedding was lovely and I was so honored to be there on your special day!!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

great review darlene! congrats!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

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Posted by ChrissynRicky

You totally get my vote for the most thorough review EVER! Thank you so much for your honest review....I'm so happy to hear all went well! Congratulations again, and thank you for sharing!

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Thank you so much Christine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

congrats, i love your pictures!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

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Posted by akaMrsT

I have been waiting for this review I wish my internet access worked at O'hare yesterday since I wanted to finish reading it then

Amazing review!! Congratulations to both of you. Wishing you a lifetime of wedded bliss

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Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed reading yours!!!

Re: My Storybook Romance & Fairytale Wedding

AMAZING Review, Darlene!! You're way ahead of me, I just got my wedding done, I still need ot work on HM! You're review was great - you looked beautiful!!