Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

It’s true what everyone says…it goes by so fast. It was such a wonderful and happy day for us. I’m glad that we decided not to elope! I would totally do this all over again and not change a thing. The weather was actually great, cold but sunny. It had been raining all week so it felt wonderful to see the sun on our wedding day….
Here’s my very long review….and some pics.

DRESS: I bought my dress from a vendor on ebay about a year ago. I thought my dress looked good but not awesome but I kind of felt that way about a lot of stuff I tried on in the bridal shops as well. This was a great way to save some money. The only draw back is that then you have to find a seamstress to alter it. The alterations were actually more expensive than the dress. LOL! I did like the seamstress I went to although she is in Chicago so if anyone is planning from Chicago and needs a referral, FM me.

Hair: Christie’s Salon and Spa in Bay Terrace Shopping Center :
I been to this salon before and have always pleased with the results but I have to say, I was a little disappointed with the way my hair turned out that day but that’s partially my fault. I think it looked much better the day of my trial but I didn’t bring my picture with me the day of the wedding. I was so stressed out and worrying about everyone else that I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t notice ‘til I looked at it in pictures later. I don’t hate it but I feel it was a little tighter than I wanted. Of course I’m the only one who feels this way and everyone else said I looked fine. I guess I’m too self-conscious. On the other hand, everyone else looked awesome. Kudos to the salon for getting 10 women’s hair and makeup done in about 2 hours and we were not the only wedding there that day!

Limos: Ultimate Class:
We did a pick up and drop off service since we were getting married at the hall. I found this vendor on LIWeddings so thank you guys for the recommendation. I handled this all over the phone and I’m sorry that I don’t remember who I dealt with. We used two vehicles, a 12 passenger limo van and a 40 passenger limo bus for our OOT guests and family. I rode in the van with my parents and bridal party on the way to Carlyle. The van was clean, looked new and our driver Edward was really nice. I totally recommend this option over a standard limo. It was so much easier to get in and out of than a regular passenger limo. The limo bus was huge! Everyone else loved it but I’m sorry that I didn’t get to see the inside of it.

DJ Stefano Productions
I was kind of stuck because I needed to have an MC that could speak Italian and I had to have Italian music played. Unfortunately I thought most Italian wedding bands I liked were way,way, way out of my budget. My family uses Stefano for a lot of their parties and while I wasn’t sure, I ended up booking him w/o even seeing him in action. It turned great! Everyone was dancing all night long and we got lots of compliments. Looking back, I don’t think we heard every song on our playlist, but I was too busy dancing that night to notice. I think it was hard to fit everything in between the fast/slow American music and the fast/slow Italian music. Anyway, the dance floor was packed for every song so I can’t complain. We were supposed to do the anniversary dance but I didn’t even notice that it didn’t happen ‘til the next day! This was a nice option for those who need Italian MC/wedding band but need something a little cheaper. If anyone needs his info, FM me.

Celebration Studios
We had Rita and James the day of our wedding. Of course we haven’t seen the proofs yet but they were absolutely wonderful to us and our families that day. I’ve seen Rita’s work and thought it was absolutely gorgeous so I couldn’t wait to see my proofs! The only thing I’m worried about is that we didn’t have enough time to take pictures. So many little things went wrong that day that made everything run late so I’m a little worried that we didn’t get enough time to take pictures by ourselves. Of course, this is not the photographers fault at all. I’m just warning you to give yourself enough time that day because you will feel so rushed and pulled in different directions. Also, make a list of people you want photographed. I didn’t want a lot of formal posed shots and was kind of laid back about this but in the end I should have mention specific tables to focus on. There are a lot of friends and family members I would have like to have pictures of.
We just got the proof last we and they are great. I’m having a hard time narrowing things down.

Queens Garden Florist : This was one vendor that I did not have a choice in at all because they are good family friends. Not that I was worried because I just love their work and they are the nicest and most generous people. I worked with Peter most of the time. He was really good at trying to accommodate me, especially since I had some pretty grandiose dreams and limited money to spend. I had wanted a high stand centerpiece with candles and he searched until he found one for me. They made me a trial centerpiece about 3 different times. Anyway, the flowers were beautiful that day. We got so many compliments on them and the room looked gorgeous. For the ceremony I had just asked for candles and they got us these really nice stands and decorated them with flowers too…so pretty. We took pictures outside before the flowers arrived and I’m kinda disappointed because I like a lot of the shots but I don’t have my bo-K. Oh well.


Invitations: Lizard Designs Excellent service. Everything was done online and through the mail. Liz is really nice to deal with. They don’t have a lot of designs to chose from but I do believe they can custom design invites too. I wanted something different. They are a little pricey and I can’t even believe I spent this much on invites but I fell in love with them and couldn’t dream of getting anything else. Oh well. On the other hand you do get a lot of extra service for the money. The invite come stamped (both envelopes), addressed (it wasn’t calligraphy but still a really nice script font that I got to pick) and they were also pre-assembled. All I had to do was check the addresses and lick them shut. Big timesaver. They also give you a bound guest list so you can keep track of responses and gift and thank yous. Very helpful.

Adria Ramada Inn , Bayside, NY- Clean, small but cheap rooms. And that’s what we wanted. This was pretty tough because we had a lot of people coming in from the Midwest and hotels in NY are sooooo expensive. I didn’t know so many hotels in Manhattan don’t have private baths! Anyway, this hotel was convenient for us because my family lives in Flushing and were close by. The LIRR is a few blocks away on Bell Blvd which was very convenient and our guests could be downtown in 20 minutes. I had gift baskets delivered for guests but they were forgetting to hand them out so I had to call my friends and family and remind them to ask the front desk for them. Everyone said the hotel was OK and very convenient for them to get into the city.

Tuxes: Men’s Warehouse 100 We chose them because they have stores all over the country which made it easy for us because all but two of our GM were from out of town.
DH’s family used the stores in Illinois and picked things up at the Bay Terrace store in Bayside Queens. They were super nice. All the tuxes came in early. A few of the GMs had problems with their suits but it was taken care of within a day. I though the service was awesome.

Ceremony and Cocktail Hour Music: Bravo Chamber Music
Awesome. They were a really nice touch and I really enjoyed listening to them during the cocktail hour. My advice would be to plan early. I waited ‘til the last minute to submit my music list and there were a few things they did not have music to but would have been able to get if I had given then enough notice.


Officiant: Fr. Henry Fehrenbacher
Fr. Henry came recommended by Carlyle and he was awesome. I really enjoyed just meeting with him and getting to know him a little. He is a real live RC priest who is willing to perform mass outside of a church. Both DH and I are catholic but do not belong to a church in NY and this was just so much easier. My mother is probably still praying for our poor unbaptizable children.



Carlyle on the Green:
Spectacular. I just cannot say enough about this place. They have been wonderful to work with from the first meeting. The party was just beautiful and the food was excellent. We really felt pampered that night and did not have to worry about a single thing. My parents’ table had an Italian-speaking waiter. I don’t know if this was done on purpose but it was a really nice touch. My parents have gotten a lot of compliments about everything and I’m really happy that they were pleased with the way everything turned out. In a way this day was more important to them than it was to us. The desert café looked awesome but we didn’t get to eat much because we were busy taking some last minute pictures and saying goodnight to guests. The Illinois contingent, who’d never been to a NY were also pretty impressed. My FIL joked that he’d like to have one of his other kids marry a NYer so he can go through this all again.

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Here are some pics.

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Ok i promise just one more!

• 
• 
• 
• 

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Congratulations! Great pictures... brings me back!

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

WOW! Great pictures! I can't wait for my day there!

1 question... did Carlyle provide the menu on the table?

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

You have to make the menu cards yourself. They actually do suggest it becasue it makes it easier on the waiters.

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Congrats! You looked beautiful!

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Congrats!!! Everything looked so pretty!! In case you didn't know it's Lisa from St. Lucia!!! Hope married life is great!!! Congrats again!!

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

congrats...

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Conrats-you looked beautiful!

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Congrats!!!!

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Congrats! You looked beautiful!!

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Congrats! Looks like you had a beautiful day!

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

beautiful!

how did you make the menu holder? i was going to have them on top of the plate but i like your idea!

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

---

Posted by Empire State

beautiful!

how did you make the menu holder? i was going to have them on top of the plate but i like your idea!

---

You look so puuurrty!! Thanks for the review. I think I heard that the menu holder was in martha stewart magazine, but I went out and bought the magazine and I didn't see it. I too would like instructions on how to make the holder.

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

Here's a link to one of the threads that had the directions listed. It took a little practice to get it to look right. I think it was from a martha stewart from last summer.
menu card stand

Re: Review: My 11/26 carlyle wedding, with pics!

OMG ! EVERYTHING LOOKS AWESOME!
I cant wait till my wedding there....the place looks awesome!!!!!