Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

*I will update my review when I get pro pics on disk and our video*

So here it is, my turn to write a review, I can’t believe it! I’ve read a lot of reviews and I know how helpful they were for me throughout my planning so I hope that this helps out some future brides!! If you have any questions please feel free to FM me, I’m happy to help!

Let me see…where to begin?! We got engaged October 4, 2006. We had a fairly long engagement and we got so much flack for it, but I think it was totally worth it because it gave us time to save up!! I have to say that I honestly loved every minute of my wedding planning. Yes, there was definitely stressful moments, but in the end it was the BEST day! I miss coming home and working on all my DIY projects!! People were telling me before the wedding that it was more for the guests and we wouldn’t enjoy ourselves because we would be pulled in all directions, but we said F that, we are going to have the time of our lives…and we did! Make sure you take a moment with your DH and take it all in! Also, (this is something I wish someone would have told me) make sure you factor tips into your budget, we couldn’t believe how much money we shelled out just for tips!

LIW- A+
This site was great throughout the whole planning process. Whenever someone I knew got engaged I told them “you have to join LIWeddings!” It was nice to have a place to come and chat about wedding finds, DIY projects, or the occasional vent! I found most of our vendors through this site and they met our expectations and more!! I got awesome ideas from the wonderful ladies on here, things I would have never thought of and it’s those little details that helped to make our day that much more special!

My Shower- A+
Blue Lagoon Restaurant
My shower was a complete surprise. I really didn’t think they could pull it off without me finding out, but they did! Everyone was so generous and we got some awesome gifts! It was such a good day and I had a great time! I really didn’t eat much because of my nerves, but everyone said the food was delicious. I would really like to go back there one night for dinner.








Rehearsal Dinner-A+
Carriage House in Babylon
I told my MIL that I wanted a restaurant that was close to the church. Babylon has so many nice restaurants in town I figured picking one would be easy. I was very happy with her choice. If you’ve ever been there, you know that it tends to be a little loud, but we had the upstairs room and it was very private. The Carriage House is a great place to eat, the food is good and it’s a cool atmosphere.


My Wedding band: Kristin Jewelers in Bayshore-A
I had a really hard time finding a wedding band that went nicely with my engagement ring, I didn’t like how everyone I tried on had a big gap. Kristin Jewelers was recommended by a friend so we checked them out. He showed me a ring that had a slight dip in it and it made all the difference. I gave him an A because he told us he would make a mold of the ring for us to see and call us in two weeks, if it was to our liking he would make the ring….well a month went by and we still hadn’t heard from him so DH called and the women who answered said “oh yeah that’s been here for weeks”. He ended up just making the ring and no one called us. The ring ended up being perfect, but I was still a little annoyed that we didn’t get to see the mold first to make sure.

DH’s wedding band: Dorothy Jewelers in Sayville- A
Dorothy’s was recommended by a coworker. DH found the ring he wanted right away, but unfortunately they didn’t have anything that worked with my e-ring, which is why I got my ring elsewhere. The reason I gave them an A was because DH specifically said he wanted a titanium ring and asked the lady if the one he picked was titanium and she said yes. When the ring came in it came with a card that said it was tungsten…ok not what we thought we were ordering, but DH is very happy with it.

Invitations-A+
A Bridal Paperie- Judi
Picking our invites was a roller coaster ride, I kept changing my mind! I had won a gift certificate from TWOTY for A Bridal Paperie so naturally that was the first place I went to. After meeting with Judi, I kept hearing about Te$$a and I really liked her work and was told she works with your budget. I went through the long process with her and ended up getting quoted triple what I said I wanted to pay so that put an end to that. Shortly after I saw another LIW brides invites and fell in love. I sent Judi a pic, along with a few changes I wanted to make and she said it was no problem. Judi is such a nice lady and extremely patient! They came out absolutely gorgeous, I was beyond happy with them! We received sooo many compliments after we sent them out!


DIY’s-A+
I had so much fun with DIY’s! I did our menus, the slipper basket and tags, table numbers, monogrammed cake topper, favor packaging, bathroom baskets, card box, placecards, fan/bubble basket, photo cards and kissing balls for my flowergirls. My mom was a big help with all this and I think she enjoyed the projects just as much as I did!









Digital Calligraphy for Invites-A+
http://www.weddingink.net
I might be slightly bias because WeddingInk is my company, but the addressing on my envelopes came out great! It kind of happened by accident really, I had a highly recommended vendor in mind that I was planning on using for the job, but when the time came to get the work done I encountered a lot of frustrating issues with this vendor and decided to look elsewhere. The problem was other companies I looked at were charging a lot more and I was short on time. I decided to take matters into my own hands and do it myself…and WeddingInk was born! This is the best pic I have, you can kind of see, but I should have gotten a better one!


Favors-A+
Cookbooks from www.Morriscookbooks.com
We really didn’t want to give out the usual favor and wanted something that people could use. A friend from work gave me the idea to do cookbooks. Her niece had done it for her wedding a few years prior and I just loved the idea. I was a little nervous that no one would submit anything, but we collected a bunch of recipes. Morris cookbooks has a great program you can use that offers a number of ways to save some money on the books and also offers monthly coupons, all of which definitely came in handy. Guests can submit recipes right to a website and you have full editing control. We were able to put a picture of us inside along with a special note to our guests. My mom bought us the “love beyond measure” measuring spoons to tie on the front of the packaging. It took some time and patience, but the finished product was awesome. It’s great to hear that people have used the cookbook and really enjoyed getting it as a favor!




Village Bridal in Babylon-A+
Maggie Sottero-“Mirabella”
Mirabella was actually one of the first dress pictures I had ripped out of a bridal magazine and I was so excited when the store actually had it! Village Bridal was one of the nicest bridal salons I went to when on the hunt for the perfect dress. The whole process, start to finish, was so smooth with Village. The girls there are so nice. My dress came in when they said it would and I had no problems with the alterations. At first I thought the cost of alterations was high, but then I read on the boards what other girls had paid elsewhere and they were actually one of the lowest priced.
I love, love, love my dress. I tried it on at every salon I went to! Maggie Sottero dresses are great because they are beautiful and affordable! I couldn’t imagine my dress being anything other then “Mirabella”!




Day of Shoes-A+
Coloriffics Maya
I originally ordered a different pair of shoes a year before the wedding, but then found “Maya” and had to have them. Unfortunately I don’t think the website I ordered my shoes from is in business anymore, but I got them for a great price. They weren’t the most comfortable shoe, but they looked fantastic with my dress!


Veil and Day Of Jewelery- Estelles- A+
We originally went to Estelles to look for my mom’s dress and ended up finding a veil and jewelery that I loved instead. I thought it was all reasonably priced and I was very happy with the purchase.


Bridal Reflections-B
Bridesmaid Dresses-Watters and Watters, Wtoo Style# 416
Bridal Reflections has a good selection of dresses. They had the dress we ended up picking and for the cheapest price so we decided to order them there. The shopping and ordering experience was fine and the dresses came in on time, but the alterations are another story. The seamstress there is so mean! My MOH was telling her that the fold on the top of the dress needed to be tacked up and the lady kept insisting it was fine….the bottom fold was literally hanging down and clearly needed to be fixed. When my SIL picked up her dress she said she wasn’t happy with how it was altered and again the seamstress insisted it was fine and she was forced to take it as is. When my MOH picked up hers they didn’t even alter it! Keep in mind she lives in PA and was picking her dress up 3 days before the wedding! She ended up being there for 4 hours! My other bridesmaid didn’t get hers altered there and when I called to tell them that she was just going to pick it up the lady on the phone was a nasty witch! I explained to her that my friend lived 5 hours away and that hopping in the car for multiple appointments was just too hard. She gave me such an attitude because she was going elsewhere for alterations. They seriously need to take classes in customer service because it’s lacking!



Flowergirls dresses-A+
http://www.pinkprincess.com/
I had two flowergirls so I wanted to find dresses that were reasonably priced. After searching online I found the perfect dresses. They came with white sashes so I ordered black sashes separately and affixed them to the dresses myself. The price was right and the girls looked adorable!



Tuxes-Mens Warehouse-A+
It really isn’t fair how easy guys have it! DH waited until about month before the wedding to get the tuxes in order…talk about giving me a heart attack! He found something he liked online, went into the store and not even an hour later everything was good to go. The nice thing about Mens Warehouse is that your groomsmen can go to any location to get their tux. DH was very happy with how it was altered and all the guys looked so handsome.


MOB Dress-Omnibus-A+
My mom and I went to a few places before checking out Omnibus and when we walked in I wasn’t sure we would find something because the store is fairly small. She found a few dresses she liked and tried them on, but nothing really wowed us. The sales girl brought over a dress that she said was her favorite MOB dress and that my mom had to try it. Well she did and she looked amazing in it. My mom ordered it that day! Her dress came in on time and the seamstress did a great job on her alterations. It's hard to tell from the pic, but her dress was a dark purple.



Bridal Party gifts-A+ for all
I got my girls handmade tote bags from an Etsy seller (Pinklemonadebags) Caroline was a sweetheart and really worked with me to get the right colored fabrics. They were very well made and I loved how they came out, I wish I got one for myself! I filled the bags with a pair of slippers, their day of jewelry, which I got at Kohls (A+) for a great price, and I paid for part of their hair and makeup costs. The bags were a huge hit and I think they really appreciated the fact that the bags were handmade and were in our colors.
For the guys DH got pocket watches from a kiosk in the mall for a great price. They were so cool looking, you could see the gears moving! He had them engraved with our wedding date at Things Remembered, it was a nice subtle touch. Our best man got married a month after us and he wore his pocket watch for his wedding, that really meant a lot!


Hair done by Jenn the Hair Genie-A+
Makeup done by Oksana-A+
My friend Chrissy had gone for a trial with Jenn and Oksana and when I saw her pics I had to go for a trial myself. I was happy with the result and ended up booking them both over a year in advance. These girls are great at what they do and they are so fun to be around. They definitely eased my nerves that morning! I loved my look and I thought all my girls looked gorgeous. My mom got her hair done by a friend, but used Oksana for makeup and she looked fantastic too. They book up fast and just know that it does take some time for them to get back to you if you email them because they are in demand, but are totally worth it!




Flowers- A+
Our flowers were done by a family friend. I gave her a few pictures of what I had in mind and she really out did herself! I was sooooooo happy with my BoK’s and centerpieces.


Limos- Dynasty- A+
We’ve used Dynasty before to get to other weddings and for a few Christmas parties so naturally they were on the list of places to check out. I definitely wanted a Rolls Royce for our car so the condition of the car was a huge factor in our decision. Dynasty’s Rolls is in great condition, such a pretty car! I don’t remember the names of the drivers, but the Day of they were on time and were really nice. They helped block me on the way into the church and they helped signal everyone on when to walk down the aisle. If they weren’t there my dad and I would have had no idea when to go! Haha. We never felt rushed by them(I have with other companies) and the pictures we got with the car came out awesome.


EJ the DJ and The Unionn- A+
http://www.ejthedj.com/
I can not say enough good things about this vendor! We used them for the lighting, the music (DJ & Band), the photobooth, zap shots and photo favors….I have to say that our guests really enjoyed the photo favors, everyone was posting them on facebook the next day! The DJ played great music and the band was beyond amazing! I think the only time the dance floor was empty was when the main course was served! The lighting really added to the feel of the room and I’m so happy we decided to do it. Our guests were definitely impressed when they walked into the cocktail hour and saw our name in lights!







Patken Photographers (Jared)- A
I had requested Vinny or Jessie, but neither was available for our day. I will admit I was a little nervous when they told me Jared would be our photographer because you don’t really see his name mentioned on the boards. We met with him and looked at his portfolio and I no longer had worries. He was great and very personable with everyone. It’s funny because he ended up knowing a few of the guests who attended our wedding, small world! We got our proofs back exactly one month after the wedding and we were so excited to pick them up. He got some beautiful shots and we are going to have a hard time picking only a few for the album. The reason I gave him an A is because I was a little disappointed that he didn’t get good pics of just my dress. All in all though, everthing else came out great. This is the only pro pic I have scanned on my computer.


Pennylane Productions-A+
We won’t get the video back for a few months, but I am giving him a A+ because I have no doubts that our video….I mean film will be nothing short of amazing! From the moment we first met Adam I knew he would be filming our wedding. He showed us a sample of another wedding he had done and I had to fight back the tears! It was so beautiful and I was determined to have him as our videographer. You can tell he really loves what he does and I like that. Day of he was great, my dad was getting such a kick out of him. He took my dress outside and a few minutes later my dad came back in and was like “this guy is nuts he is rolling around on the ground out there!” haha! We met with him after the wedding to go over music and when I told him I didn’t have a good shot of my dress by itself he showed us a sneek peak of the video he got of it and it looked gorgeous! We can’t wait to see how it all comes together!


St. Josephs Roman Catholic Church in Babylon- B
This church is gorgeous. I feel bad giving the Church a B, but they had me so stressed out at times. The Deacon we first met with was all over the place and kept getting our date wrong and forgetting things we talked about earilier. We were so nervous he was going to get up there and say the wrong names. I won’t go into all the fiascos I had to deal with, there were a few, just the one that really got me mad! Six months before the wedding I called to make sure we were on track and after leaving several messages for the Deacon, we come to find that he is no longer with the church! WHAT! Why didn’t anyone call us, it would be nice to know who is going to marry us. Then we find out we are missing all kinds of paperwork…uh it was just a headache. I always had to reach out to them for things they should be calling me about, I mean they are the ones who do this all the time! Oh they did, however, get in contact with me (multiple times)when it was time for our “donation”, not cool. When it was all said and done the Day of went smoothly and, eventhough they gave me a few heartattacks, we had a really beautiful ceremony.




Hamlet Willow Creek-A++++++++
We looked at a ton of halls. We really liked The Watermill and were just about to book it when DH told me he wanted to look at a few more places before we signed anything and left a deposit. DH likes to play golf so we looked at The Hamlet in Commack and it was beautiful. I wanted to book there, but the price per plate was over our budget and the room was really two big for our size wedding. This led me to Hamlet Willow Creek in Mt.Sinai. It was perfect for us, not too big, gorgeous view overlooking the golf course and within budget. That was it for us! Barbara is such a funny lady and so great to work with. She always answered my emails, was always helpful and gave me honest opinions about the cake when I was in between designs. The Day of she was on top of everything going on and even threw off her jacket and got down on the ground to help bustle my dress! (you can kinda see her head on the left in the pic!) Cocktail hour was set up so nicely, there was sooo much food. All the food throughout the night was delicious… believe me no one went home hungry! I can honestly say that everything was truly perfect! HWC girls you should have NO worries for your day, you are in good hands!
P.S. the bathrooms are really nice too! Haha!









Hampton Inn Long Island-Brookhaven- A+
We weren’t going to get a room at the hotel, but friends of ours did so we figured we could all hang out after the wedding. Check-in was smooth, the rooms were nice and the beds were comfy. No complaints here.

Honeymoon- A+
Sandals Regency St. Lucia
Marta from Rogers Travel
At first we weren’t going to use a travel agent, but I really didn’t want to worry about things that a travel agent takes care of. Marta was recommended to me by a coworker who has used her many times in the past. She can be a little hard to understand at times but she was too funny, she didn’t hold anything back! She really knows her stuff when it comes to Sandals. We decided on the Regency because again DH really enjoys playing golf and there is a course right on the property. St. Lucia is absolutely beautiful. The view from our room was ridiculous! Gorgeous sunsets from our balcony every night…ooooh yeah! We were also just steps away from the pool and can I just say, swim up bars are awesome! The butlers we had were just ok, they didn’t really go out of their way for us. Friends of ours went a month after us and had two men butlers who were fantastic, we had two women so I don’t know it that had something to do with it. The food was pretty good, sometimes the portions were small but overall tasty. Highly recommend ziplining and the Souffrie catamaran boat excursion. We had a great honeymoon and would definitely do a Sandals again!








The End!!

I hope this was helpful and I hope I didn't forget anything!! I look back and have nothing but the fondest and dearest memories!! Lots of luck to the future brides of LIW, I hope your special days are all you dreamed and more.

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

Great review! You were a stunning bride and you and DH are such a cute couple!!!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

great review!!! Congrats!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

congrats! everything looked great!!! your dress was gorgeous!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

congrats! great review!!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

great revieww!!!!! your favors are sooooo cute!!! congratssss!!!!!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

Great review! Congratulations!!!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

great reviews--- thanks and congrats!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

congratulations!!!!!!!!!! everything looked really beautiful!

im also doing cookbook favors! im going to fm you, i have a few questions

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

Great review date twin!!! Everything looks great!! So glad you had just as wonderful of a day on August 9th as I did! I really need to get around to doing one of these reviews!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

Congrats you looked beautiful!!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

Beautiful and congratulations!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

Great review! Congrats

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

Congrats great Review

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

AHHHH!!! I was so excited to see you were married at the Hamlet Willow Creek! andd I'm beyonddddd happy you had such a nice experience with them!

Great review! you looked absolutley stunninggg!!

CONGRATS!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

Congratulations, and thank you for such a wonderful review.

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

great review!!!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

awesome review, you looked so prettttttttttyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

CONGRATS and great review!

Re: Our unforgetable August 9, 2009 Wedding!! Hamlet Willow Creek, Pennylane, Patken, EJ the DJ, The Unionn, Oksana, Jenn the Hair Genie, Dynasty Limos...

Congratulations! You make such a beautiful couple!!!