Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! NEW UPDATE ON NORTH ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

Our wedding was really and truly the best day of my life thus far. We had such a great time. Everything turned out exactly how we wanted, and the day went completely smoothly. So, here goes my review.
Note: All photos included are from North Island Photo, unless noted otherwise.

First, my advice for wedding planning:
-The time between your engagement and your wedding day is such an emotional time for everyone involved. The most important thing is for you and FH to stick together and plan the wedding you both want. As long as you do that, everything else will fall into place.

-Before you start making any plans, write down your basic wish list for your wedding. I wrote down a list of 3-4 things that we wanted our wedding to have (small guest list, certain foods, RH w/only one wedding at a time, etc.) and went back to it now and then during our wedding planning to make sure we were going in the right direction. It will help keep you sane and help you stick to what you wanted before you were overwhelmed by a million other ideas.

-Speaking of ideas, there are tons of them out there. Don’t think for a second that you need to incorporate every good idea you see into your own wedding. Pick your battles wisely, ladies. ;)

-Have a wedding you can afford. I’ve heard tons of crazy stories where the bride and groom were counting on their gifts from the wedding to cover the checks they wrote to their vendors, and worse. You really don’t need to go over the top to have a beautiful day.

-Hire good vendors. It’s important obviously for them to be affordable, but I don’t think that price should always be the deciding factor. In many cases, you get what you pay for. Another point about vendors: They are the experts; you should trust them to do what they do. However, you should hire vendors who respect you as well. They should answer all of your questions as if this is the first time the question has ever been asked, and not like “Yeah, trust me, I’ve done this before, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

LI Weddings A
I first found this site when I was researching West Sayville Country Club (WSCC). I did a google search and found only one review (I think it was babybug631) that mentioned WSCC, but I was amazed to find how many people posted on here, shared so much info. I thought everyone was crazy. But, of course, as you all know, you get hooked and before I knew it, I was on here every night after work, then also during work, then every chance I could get. I was so surprised by how supportive everyone is, and how positive the site is. It’s a great tool and a wonderful support system for going through the wedding planning process. I had a lot of help and support from my husband and my family and friends thru the whole thing, but the added help of the girls on LIW really made a difference. So thanks everyone!

West Sayville Country Club A
DH and I were looking for sort of an atypical wedding place and his friend had suggested we take a look at West Sayville Country Club. It was absolutely perfect for what we wanted. Every experience we had with them was great. Steve, the manager, never said no to us, no matter what we asked. We wanted to do a cocktail style reception, and even though what we wanted wasn’t typically what WSCC did on a regular basis, they accommodated all of our requests. We couldn’t be happier with how everything worked out. Our maitre d’, Dawn, was a pleasure to work with. The food was absolutely delicious. My only negative comment is pretty minor. I asked WSCC to put out drinks before the ceremony—apple cider and lemon water. Steve was concerned that it may attract bees, and said that if it did, they’d bring the cider inside. Well, the bees came, and they didn’t bring the drinks inside, or put out citronella candles or anything to help make the bees go away. Not a major thing, no one was stung, but I thought it was weird that they knew it would be a problem, but didn’t really do much to prevent it.

North Island Photography www.niphotoinc.com TBD
I’m a bit superstitious, so I don’t like to give them a rating until we’re completely done with them. But, I will say that Michael and his assistant Lisa are wonderful to work with and our proofs are absolutely gorgeous. They got all of the shots we wanted and then some, and really captured the emotion on everyone's faces so well, along with some beautiful details you'd never think of. UPDATE: We met with Lisa yesterday to pick out our album. She was so helpful!! We were stressed out about the whole process, but she made it so easy, listened to what we want and we left feeling so good about the album. I CAN'T WAIT to see it!! It may take a few months, but I'll be back with an update as soon as we have it.









Sugar Magnolias www.sugarmagnoliasflowers.com A
We decided to work with Sugar Magnolias over another vendor because I thought Heidi’s taste was just beautiful. You can see a difference in her flowers over others. I had heard that they were very expensive, and I guess if we needed more flowers than we did order, maybe we wouldn’t have been able to afford Sugar Magnolias, but we found they fit in our budget perfectly. Heidi is fun to work with and accommodated some last minute changes for me, which I really appreciated. Our flowers were ABSOLUTELY gorgeous. The only negative here was that instead of corsages for our moms, we got hydrangeas for them to carry, but they wilted almost immediately. I wish that we had either gone with the corsages, or SM had provided us with something that would last longer.




DJ Gary Hoffmann www.djgaza.com A+
One of my favorite vendors to work with!!! I really didn’t want the typical wedding DJ who plays the same thing at every wedding and keeps bugging people to dance. I kind of felt like the music should play, and if people danced, they danced. If they didn’t they didn’t. It was important to me that the music be really good and very tasteful. Gary fit the bill perfectly. He’s extremely talented, takes his work very seriously, and is an all-around professional. We had met with him the week prior to our wedding and planned out the way our reception would flow. However, that day, Gary read the crowd and saw that there were certain things going on that made it necessary to change the order of how things were going (first dance, toasts, etc.). He was able to go with the flow and adjust his schedule according to what worked best for our day, which I think helped to make the day such a great success. I HIGHLY recommend Gary.

Kleinfeld
Sales A
Dress by Henry Roth A+
Headpiece by Christina Garcia A+
Veil by ??(I don’t remember) A
Alterations – Josephine A+
I started shopping for my dress shortly after I got engaged. I had seen my dress online and kind of just knew that was the dress I wanted. I found out that Kleinfeld was the only place in NY that carried it. I was reluctant to go there b/c I had heard so many bad things about Kleinfeld, but decided that I at least had to go try the dress on. Keasha was my salesperson. I told her that I wanted to try that specific dress on, but she suggested that I try on others so that I had something to compare to. We gave her a price range and she stuck in that range. She also brought us into the area where the dresses in my range were and let us go through them and pick out a few on our own. I tried my dress on and liked it, but wanted to keep looking a bit more. I went to another store, tried on a few other dresses, but the next day, was ready to go back to Kleinfeld and get my dress. They were offering a discount that I wanted to take advantage of, which they said was expiring in the next day or so, but my mom had to catch a flight back to Miami the same day. Keasha let us come in before regular hours, I tried the dress on again, took FOREVER to decide on the color, veil and headpiece and she was nothing but pleasant the entire time. Marisa was the headpiece salesperson and she was really helpful and knowledgeable too.

When everything came in and I went for my preview (which I highly recommend, btw) My dress was beautifully made. It was great to find a dress that wasn’t ridiculously expensive, but was made so nicely. I got really upset after my preview b/c I realized that I didn’t like my headpiece as much as I thought I originally had. I called Kleinfeld to see if I could exchange it. I was really stressed about it too b/c their receipts all say that sales are final, plus they’re KLEINFELD, so I really didn’t expect to be able to change it, but long story short, I was able to exchange it for my comb instead. Granted it was the floor model of the comb b/c there wasn’t enough time to order a new one, but I was really happy with it.

Not much to say about the alterations other than that my dress fit absolutely perfectly. Josephine is a very sweet lady and definitely knows what she’s doing.


Blue Tux shoes www.bluetuxshoes.com A-
I found these shoes in a magazine, then went to the site and ordered two pairs. I had a hard time choosing, so I ordered 2 pairs, with plans to return which ever one I didn’t like. I couldn’t decide so I kept both (!) and rationalized that I could wear the wedge during the ceremony outside so that I didn’t sink in the grass and the others for the rest of the day. The shoes came pretty quickly, and they were comfy, so I was happy.





Mia
Hair/Makeup A+
What can you say about Mia that hasn’t already been said? She’s a doll. I loved the way I looked and everyone else she worked on did too. At first I thought my hair was too big, and she very patiently fixed it and made sure I was happy with it. My makeup was done so well that there’s actually a photo of my crying while I was dancing w/my dad and you can see my makeup still perfectly in place. She also gave me a great lip gloss that she used on me so that I could reapply throughout the day.



BM Dresses
Valentina Bridal in Brooklyn F -only because a lower rating doesn’t exist! FM me for details
Jim Hjelm A
The dresses were beautiful, after many alterations done by a family friend.



DH and BM Tuxedo
SYMS A
DH is 6’ 4” and always hates renting tuxedos b/c they never fit him quite right, so he and his brother decided to buy their tuxedos. They went to SYMS in Secaucus and got very similar tuxes for about $65 each. With shoes and accessories, I think they spend less than $150 each on their tuxes for that day. It worked out well b/c they were looking for pretty basic tuxedos, so it was easy to get the rest of our BP to match them.



After Hours Tuxedo – Source Mall, Roosevelt Field and Staten Island Mall
Customer Service D
Tuxedos A
We chose After Hours b/c our BP is kind of scattered across the NY area, and we wanted it to be convenient for them all to go for their tuxes. They caused a lot of confusion and extra work for us to try and get all of our GMs on the same page, and the details are just too long and boring to write up. The basic root of the problem is that no one seems to know what’s going on, and the different locations don’t all follow the same policies. In the end, it all worked out and everyone looked great. But, I think they owe my RB’s dad $20!




Parent & Usher gifts
Embroidered Handkerchiefs ww.newtraditionshankies.com A
I saw another bride use them on LIW. Their service was fast, and everything was embroidered correctly. No complaints from me, and everyone seemed to like them.


Groomsman Gift
Engraved guitar pick from TR Sterling www.sterlingguitarpicks.com A
My 13 year old cousin was hard to shop for, but since he’s learning to play guitar, I just searched online for a customized guitar pick. This site has them in silver, and engraved his initials into the pick. It came out great, and I think he was happy with it.


Jewelry for MOHs
Carolee, Bloomingdale’s B+
Lorraine at the Carolee sales counter was a HUGE help. I needed jewelry for my sisters who are 11 and 17. I didn’t want to get them anything cheap, but also wanted to make sure it was age-appropriate. The necklace and earrings I gave them matched their dresses perfectly. Negatives here were 1) price-I wish I had spent less 2) the beads on the earrings started falling off the morning of my wedding.


FG Gift
Bracelet, www.myfancyprincess.com A
This site has tons of adorable gifts for flower girls. The order came quickly, and was wrapped in a cute pink box.



FG Dress
www.Pegeen.com A+
I absolutely LOVED the dresses on this site. I contacted them via email and received incredibly quick responses from them. They sent me tons of swatches until I found one that I matched my MOH dresses perfectly. They also have a wonderful live chat service that was really helpful. I think I actually placed the order for her dress via live chat at 11 o’clock at night. Another great thing was that my FG didn’t fit within the standard measurements of their sizes, so they made a custom pattern for her. Of course, we had to pay more for it, but it was worth it because the dress fit her beautifully.



Sign in frame
Pottery Barn A
I wanted to get this as a keepsake that we could keep in our home forever. I bought a HUGE one from Pottery Barn, found it on sale and it was delivered quickly.



Infusion Jars
Amazon.com A
I was happy with how quickly these came, and how well-packaged they were. Price was good too.



Gable Boxes
Nashville Wraps www.nashvillewraps.com A-
They had a big selection of sizes and colors, and the order came on time, price was great too. They even sent me samples so that I could decide what color I wanted to order. I just didn’t like that you could only buy them in increments of 25. So, I needed about 30, but had to buy 50.


Dance Lessons
Start Dancing NYC www.startdancingnyc.com A
DH and I were trying to avoid taking dance lessons. I felt like it was yet another item on my to do list every week, and DH just didn’t want to. BUT, we both didn’t want to look silly during our first dance. We tried to learn some steps by renting DVDs, but when it got to be a month away from our wedding and we weren’t really doing very well, I convinced DH we needed help. However, we didn’t have much money left in our wedding budget to spend on lessons. I contacted Start Dancing and they had the perfect thing for us. An emergency lesson in our home! The instructor arrived on time, was very professional and quickly assessed what our needs were. I couldn’t have been happier with their service.



Wedding Bands
Kay Jewlers C
This story is way too long to tell. All in all, our rings are really nice and ultimately we were happy with them, but the stress in dealing with their sales people was way more than necessary.

Cupcake Cake B+
Audrey’s Bakery
WSCC’s package came with a cake either from Audrey’s or Black Forest bakery. After having tried both bakeries’ cakes, we decided to go with Audrey’s. We met with Tom, who was incredibly nice, and showed him a photo of what we wanted. He came pretty close to delivering that, but I have to say that I didn’t think the cupcakes tasted very fresh the day of the wedding. They looked really cute and everyone seemed to really like them, but I wasn’t blown away.



DOC
Christine Wheat Special Events B+
DH and I went back and forth on hiring a DOC, but finally decided to. I was very happy that Christine was available and willing to work with us to build a package that fit into our package. Christine is very professional and it made me much more able to relax and enjoy my day to have her around. One thing I had asked that she and/or her assistant do was to keep track of my must take photo list, and make sure the photographer was getting the shots I wanted. The day of, I noticed that neither of them seemed to be checking off a list or anything, but it seemed like we were getting the shots we wanted, so I didn't say anything. Looking at our proofs, I wish that someone had really sat and checked off the list b/c there are def. some shots that don't make sense. (e.g. I wanted a shot of me w/my brothers and sisters, but the shot includes my sister in law, which is fine, but then DH should have been included in the picture too.) Of course, this isn't something that makes or breaks the day, but this is something that I had hoped they would be on the lookout for.
There was also a little bit of confusion around signing our marriage license which resulted in DH and I having to get it back from the officiant after we got home from our Honeymoon, that I think Christine and her assistant could have helped avoid, but it seems to have worked out. I'll let you know when our marriage certificate arrives! ;)

Limos
Classic Transportation A
DH found this vendor. We had initially called Sir Oliver Limo b/c they were recommended by WSCC and they gave us a price that was literally DOUBLE what we ended up paying (including tip). We needed the least frills possible, and Classic was able to give us that at a great price. The limo and van we used were clean and on time.
The limo driver that dropped me off at WSCC actually got on the phone w/Mia for me to give her directions b/c she was a little lost. He said that his daughter had gotten married last year, so he knew that the day was stressful, so he was glad to help out, and wished me good luck. What a nice guy!

Hotel for OOT Guests
Courtyard Marriott Ronkonkoma A-
I think they gave us a good deal. I had wanted to try to plan some appetizers or something at the bar the night before the wedding, but their prices were just too high. I thought that since I was bringing them so much business, they should have been more flexible on their prices, but other than that, everything worked out fine.

Honeymoon
Oahu and The Big Island booked thru Expedia www.expedia.com A
We called Expedia just to get a general idea of what a honeymoon in HI would cost. We got the most helpful woman on the phone. We booked the trip on the spot. We stayed at the Moana Surfrider in Oahu, which was absolutely wonderful. We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on The Big Island, which we found pretty disappointing. We saw some incredible things, but probably the best was the helicopter ride over the volcano on the Big Island. We went on Blue Hawaiian Helicopter tours. FM me for more info.

Well, that’s it for now. Please FM me if you want info on any of these vendors. They were all so great, I’m happy to tell you more about them!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more!

Congrats!!!!!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more!

Congrats!! You looked beautiful and your dress is absolutely gorgeous!!! Can't wait to see more!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more!

Congratulations!!! Great to hear another great experience at WSCC. I love your dress!!!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more!

Congratulations! I cant wait to see pics!!!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more!

Congratulations! Your dress is absolutely beautiful. Can't wait to see more pics.

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more!

very nice review!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! UPDATED W/PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

congrats!
nice review!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! UPDATED W/PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

Beautiful pics, beautiful bride! The flowers are gorgeous—bouquets are so lush!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! UPDATED W/PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!! Everything looked beautiful!!!!!!!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! UPDATED W/PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

congrats to you and your hubby! thanks for posting!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! UPDATED W/PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

Nice!!! West Sayville ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! UPDATED W/PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

Your makeup is amazing! Please send me an FM with the hair/makeup artist information. I'd greatly appreciate it. Congratulations to you and your new husband...everything looked awesome!!!!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! UPDATED W/PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

Very nice
I can't wait to check it out !

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! UPDATED W/PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

Congratulations!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! UPDATED W/PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

great review

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! NEW UPDATE ON NORTH ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

Gorgeous, thanks for the review!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! NEW UPDATE ON NORTH ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

Beautiful wedding!! I love your cupcake cake! Its so cute! Great pictures!! And your flowers looked amazing!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! NEW UPDATE ON NORTH ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

I LVOE LOVE the cupcake cake! I want that!!!

Re: Our “Modern Classic” 9/30 West Sayville Country Club Wedding w/North Island Photography, the Amazing Mia, Sugar Magnolias, Audrey’s Bakery, and more! NEW UPDATE ON NORTH ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

congrats!!!!