Wedding Forums > The Brides' Review > VINTAGEGIRL 7/07/07 Long Wedding Review - West Sayville Country Club, Travel Tom , Atomikart.com, R...
VINTAGEGIRL 7/07/07 Long Wedding Review - West Sayville Country Club, Travel Tom , Atomikart.com, R...
vintagegirl
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 01:00 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 01:00 AM
VINTAGEGIRL 7/07/07 Long Wedding Review - West Sayville Country Club, Travel Tom , Atomikart.com, Rev. Heil, Longislandmakeup.com - Lots of PIcs & Wedding Advice -New Pics on page 2
Wedding Planning to me has to be the most exciting eventful, learning experience I have encountered. More importantly I feel like it brought me closer than ever with family, friends and with my DH. When in your life areyou ever going to have a celebration like this where all of your dearest friends, family co workers all come together to have a great time.? A wedding!!!
The planning:
Coming from an art history, photography & visual background I took the wedding on as almost like an “art project” making sure everything visually came together along with interesting historic appeal. I can't
tell you how many hours, days weeks months of researching magazines, websites ( yes also Liweddings.com), weddings that I would go to and in addition buying Martha Stewart dvds in the beginning of the early stages of planning. Using these outlets and creating a “collection of inspiration” will help with your “ideal wedding” I settled on a inspiration from my love of photography,my collection of old vintage photographs, the Roaring 20s, J. Crew Catalogs, Art Nouveau and the artist Mucha.
THe key to a sucessful wedding is knowing what you want and how you want it. You can't expect your photographers, vendors, wedding hall etc. to know what you want if you don't tell them. Thats the problem I see with alot of brides out there is that they expect vendors to read their minds. To have everything clearly stated is the best sucess to an amazing and memorable wedding..
I want to be detailed with this review so I can help other LiWeddings.com brides find interesting ways to plan and create their a unique wedding on a budget. Our budget was under $20k and we def. met that mark including the honeymoon. Most of my budget went to the Hall ( of course) and the wedding photographers.
The internet is a valuable resource and tool to help with saving and cutting corners. Craigslist.com & Ebay.com and having a thrifty sense were my savors in planning and staying within our budget. As like most couples now, we paid for our whole wedding. Which can be difficult and frustrating to plan if you have limited funds.
A + LIweddings.com - Thank you for your valuable resources and thank you again for choosing to do a Liweddings.tv segment on us.
The first steps:
The first thing we did ( meaning my finance and I ) was decide on becoming engaged... After a year of living together with Keith and knowing him for 8 years.. we decided to go ahead an make the plunge.. but we needed a ring.. and I am not a Zales girl.. we went to Antique Engagement Rings:
Antique Engagement Rings
Antique Engagement Rings
& Wedding Bands
A+
www.antiqueengagementrings.com
owned by Jeweler Leigh Neight in the NYC diamond district. I love my eengagement ring and wedding band from this jeweler. He is the sweetest most patient man and even the most patient with particular people like me lol .. More importantly his prices were right.. The wedding band is from a antique mold from the 20's and the engagement ring is a 1920 art deco ring.
A+ HBS Jewlers/B] 44 Merrick Rd. in Amityville, NY
We got Keith's simple white gold band here with a beautiful engraving inside the ring. Wonderful family owned Store on Merrick Road in Amityville. They have been around since the late 1970s, they also have a beautiful collection of antique and reproducible engagement and wedding bands.
Keith's Band
Photos by Kimberly Hurst
photo by me:
Our Save the Date
I designed it through Photoshop and used an image from the artist Mucha as influence in the creation of it. I went to AC Moore bought a strip of magnets, ordered the postcards through Overnightprints.com.. Total cost less around $70 for about 120 of them.
A+ Rehersal Dinner - At my In Law 's home
Best thing hands down we did. We had a huge informal BBQ.. Most fun ever.. we had margaritas, Guacomole, steaks, salsa, we had family and friends over.. We practiced the wedding procession.. what a great night!
Kate our flowergirl/niece practicing thowing down flowers
Walking down the aisle
Photographers -
There are tons of talented photographers all over NY, be sure to meet with them to make sure you click.
Another important thing to remember with photographers is to pose, relax and have fun
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS:
Aaron Almendral – The first photographer I met with and enjoyed his portfolio was Aaron Almendral. I came down to the decision with him because he has a similar shooting style to the way I take photographs. ( detailed and photojournalistic )
Its also fun to get to see a different perspective of the wedding from another photographer. He did a great job covering the wedding, very personable, very friendly and knew how to interact with the wedding guests. His shots are really well thought out and uses some really nice cropping techniques in the camera. . The photos came out great, I highly recommend him :) Love ya Aaron!
0
Farnaz K – Farnaz K was a last minute addition to the chaos of wedding planning. IFarnaz is different from Aaron she comes from a more technical studio stand point with her shooting style. She took up wedding photography the year I hired her. She just started offering her services. She is excellent at photo editing, did a great job with capturing Keith and I. Her formals of Keith and I are amazing, very fashionable and artistic. She did a great job covering us. She is excellent at creating an 'atmosphere' in her photographs.
If you think about her and Aaron they both went hand in hand. Both these photographers offered different takes on the wedding as you can see in the photographs.
DAY AFTER PHOTOS
Kimberly Hurst
www.flickr.com/kimberlyhurst
Amazing work extremely talented, she has an interesting approach to photography and color in photography. She worked very well with us along with her posing styles. Our photos were taken at Cedermere Park in Roslyn. (She also did our engagement photos :) - Love ya KIM !!! :)
check her work out at Flickr.com/kimberlyhurst
Videographer:
Nada, just my dad and some friends. Honestly I am not a big fan of videographers.
A + My Friend and Day of coordinator (LOl my poor friend Amanda Ruter..) She offered help to coordinate things, I paid her back with tons of dinners at On the Border :). Not only did this girl work her a$$ off she put up my arch.. Coordinated the groomsmen.. calmed down me when I saw my cake was the wrong color.. Then had the guys hand out the programs and wedding wands. And made sure everything looked visually appealing at the wedding. I will be sure to pay her back on my wedding day!!!
A - Dj Cody of Alternative Sounds – www.alternativesounds.com
Tim Cody is a friend of mine I know through the club scene for the last 5 years. H e used to dj on Wlir with Malibu sue in the 90s, LUXE in Levittown.. he also runs Molly Blooms New Wave night on Friday nights in Amityville. He is extremely into new wave music .. and going with our taste we needed someone who knew our music and wasn't just any dj. I was a little meticulous and careful when it came to music being played in the wedding . I actually made cds for him for our processional, recessional * which was all instrumental covers of Depeche mode, u2, cure, Tori Amos, nirvana songs) and cocktail hours and made a “play only” list with Ketih of all the music we wanted played during the wedding. We basically wanted creative control.. it was hard for us to let someone else dj since since Keith and I dj on occasion on wusb.fm
Cody came through and I completely trusted him. He chose the right times to play the songs from our list and did some really cool creative mixing, . everything was great and he constantly came up to us and asked if everything was ok how everything was going...etc. Etc.. The hardest part is realizing that alot of the songs you want won't be played due to time and the fact you should please some of the guests with an ecclectic choice of music.. I was frustrated with that.. since I am so into music.. but its what happens..
Music we walked down the aisle to : ( these are songs from CDS .. there are lots of String quartets that put out albums and cover of famous songs.. they are great to walk down the aisle to and great to play before the ceremony)
Bridal Processional - U2 - With or With out you - STring Quartet off of the vitamin string quartet cd
Processional - Tori Amos - Pretty Good Year - string quartet version on cd
Recessional - New Order - Ceremony - regular version
Our Song - The sundays - Wild horses
Second Song - Mazzy Star - Fade into You
Intros
bridal Pary intro song -
Depeche mode - Never let me down
and we walked in to - lol
Star wars - imperial march ( that was for keith)
If anyone wants I can post a play list that I created : it has a mix of swing, fifties, new wave, electronic and synth pop music.. Worked my butt off on it!
A + West Sayville Country Club = Yes West Sayville country club isn 't your typical Long Island wedding venue. Back in Feb. of 2006, Keith's mom had saw an ad for them and after being throughly disappointed that we couldn't afford the Nassau county museum of art, or Coindre hall. We went with WCC which was ten times better.. and so we picked 7/7/07 not because of the lucky 7's although Keith and I tend to be lucky .. but it was just because my b-day was the next day.. WSCC or called the “meadowedge” has a distinct historical background as being the summer home to a daughter of a stockbroker I believe in the 1920s. The estate was bought by the NY State in the 1960s and Medowedge kaa WSCC is run by the Lessings corporation. There is a beautiful drive up to the estate and you feel like you are really entering into someones mansion. During the day many people enjoy golf, and there is a also a really cool Maritime Museum 100 feet away which is great for photos.
Our ceremony was in the back of the mansion under two oak trees facing Fire Island.
When I walked in there I was so amazed by how beautiful and simple it looked, plus it was right up there with my vintage theme, which wasn't that thoroughly explored yet.
It was right up my alley along with the beautiful sunset view. We met with Steve who is throughly professional, friendly and runs the West Sayville with prestige. Two days before the wedding I spent a couple of hours putting everything I was brining to the site into crates along with directions for where to put everything. They did a flawless job.. and I was happy because let me tell you I so OCDed two nights before with the organization of everything. Food was great.. and belive me I have been to about 20 wedding venues on long island.. this had some of the best dinner food at a wedding reception site that I had ever been to
Our Matre d that night did a flawless job and everything we smoothly. was good, the guests were happy and more importantly Keith and i were happy. (At WSCC the cake and Flowers are included) The only thing that is really different about this place from other venues.. is that the dance floor is located in an adjacent room. I liked this idea, because I know how annoying it can be if you are trying to eat dinner and the music is blasting. It worked out well for the elderly..
Non professional pics : ( the colors look bad in this because the flash is not flattering
) 
A - Commack Florist for Bouquets (not a vendor through WSCC)
Commack florists is a wholesaler florist. I found out about them through a friend of a friend who was using them for their wedding. I was getting frustrated with the prices of bouquets and just had to keep on looking for someone in my budget. This was the place! I met with Sharon, an extremely sweet detail orientated woman like myself so we clicked. We worked together on getting that vintage garden feel to the wedding I was looking for. I met with her twice and we worked on the flowers and ribbon colors. Now this is why I gave them a A- I went out a bought 5 rolls of navy ribbon for the bridesmaids to match the dresses they had on, the day of they still used the ribbon and some wacky pearl spray and lacey ribbon on the moms and grandmas corsages ( which were really tacky - i told them not to use it) Also t he guys corsages were supossed to have the bottoms curled up.. but they weren't..
It wasn't a big bump in the wedding but come on I went out and spent time picking out ribbon and making sure certain colors weren't used.
Overall I was amazed with the bouquet styles and the amount of beauty that went into the arrangement of my bouquets. I really think there was a miscommunication between Sharon and her workers on this one, she wasn't the one there putting them together. But overall again the flowers were extremely beautiful and arranged well. They did call me the day before to check with me with how I wanted the ribbon wrapped, etc.
In addition they remembered to put the art nouveau style broch that I bought on Ebay.. only $18 and complimented my bouquet well !
My bouquet
bridesmaids
PhotoS by me day after:
Close up of Mucha Art Nouveau Style brooch from Ebay - $18
Photo by me day after. the flowers held up pretty well :)
A + Maggie and Faith Flowers ( WSCC Vendor)
We upgraded our package, the basic centerpieces that are included with the WSCC package seemed really tacky to me and unattractive. I decided to upgrade for the additional $7 a table to a garden style look I wanted. I ordered 12 galvanized pails on ebay and delivered them a couple days before the wedding and they produced this beautiful and unique centerpiece with caspiacaspia and green buttons.. I didn't get our bouquets here because they were out of our budget. Maggie seems likes a really sweet woman. They were on time and set everything up really nice.. To close this up I was was pretty damn happy with the centerpieces.
Photos by me the day after:
A - Black forest bakery (vendor of WSCC)
When I went to Black forest bakery I was impressed with the owner who worked with me designing my cake. But was extremely disappointed to find out that he got the color of the cake wrong the day of the wedding. I constantly repeated myself over the color of the cake that I did not want white at all but rather a champagne color. (my friend Jen can def. said I repeated it to him 5 times) I don't understand how you could get something like that mixed up.
I didn't obsess over it, the whole night was going well and the cake still had the detail I wanted and asked for. And everyone loved the taste of our strawberry, fudge & chocolate & white cake!!!
The moment I found out lOL that my cake was the wrong color.. my friend amanda was trying to tell me it was ivory.. but I was saying it was white.. I look back on this moment which was literally a moment because I wa thinking.. ok it didn't rain .. everyone is alive.. I didn't fall on my butt .. :)
A+ Unveiled Bridal Designs
Unveiled Bridal Deisgns
Hands down best place to get a french Cage veil. I enjoyed designing the comb with Dorene and the tons of different accessories to create it with. We made mine with and assortment of champagne colored pearls and she dyed the veil champagne to match my dress. She has regular veils also, but her specialty is French cage and I know she is currently branching out with different styles ! Highly recommended.
from Unveiled Bridal Designs ( she takes photos of everything she creates)
A+ Classic Transportation Shuttle Service
[L=http://www.classictrans.com[/L]
We didn't get limos. We had Classic Transportation pick up the groomsmen and bridesmaids. They came on time and picked us all up at 12:30am and dropped us off at the hotel.
Well worth the $90 each way !
A +
Vintage Car - Model Ford A 1930's Car
I wanted a car from the era that was attempting to invoke in the wedding theme.. but didn't want to spend the $$ i was getting quotes on 7/7/07 that were exorbitant... Like for example $1100 to rent a vintage limo for 1.5 hours. I called, emailed and looked for different vintage car clubs for about 2 months on Long Island. I found one very thoughtful man that volunteered his time to come out to the wedding. I am so grateful that he came!!!
I can't wait to see the photos with the car.. all by Aaron
The other photographer Farnaz K took more with the car, so i will add them when I get them.
Non professional pics -
A+Hilton Garden Inn
easy check in, no frills, highly recommended..was great to go back hangout with our friends and the rooms were so comfortable. I just remember going back to the hotel with Keith and feeling so sore from standing all day..I was happy to crash on the bed.
B -
Bridal Reflections
Great place, nice salespeople! I think it was pure luck I found an off the rack dress there at a great amazing deal. But what I couldn't get over was the $190 alteration charge for my dress which I found absurd. Looking back on it i wish i had gone someone else to get alterations done.. ( but was fearful that the dress would get dirty at another place)
When I went to pick it up the dress two days before a seam that was supposed to be sewed up was still not done. I had to wait another 20 min for them to this. Even after I got it I still had to buy the fabric tape there and attach tape all over my dress to keep it in place at the shoulder and chest area. Anyway after all the tape.. the dress looked great with ten pieces of tape. but damn.. why do I have to hold a dress together? The day of the wedding the garment bag they gave me fell apart and the zipper fell off the bag.. Luckly the dress made it :)
A+ J. CREW & J Crew Bridesmaid dresses
www.jcrew.com .. I love their clothes and their vintage modern look. I used many pictures from their magazines including their new bridal line as an influence for our wedding. The Streamers on the flowers was a direct idea from their bouquets. Along with the simplified classic dresses. The dress I chose for the girls was the
Lyndsey Cotton Cady dress in Navy with a satin sash.
I didn't want to deal with a bridal boutique with this.. As I know in my own past with wearing crappy bridesmaids dresses I wanted a classic look that is rewearable. I didn't want my bridesmaids having to deal with the BS that goes down with some bridal stores with alterations..
Awesome timeless classic dress. Most of my bridesmaids ordered it through Jcrew.com or e bay for less the price. They went to their local tailors to get them altered. The avg. price for the dress was $150 + on avg. $40 for alterations. now that is reasonable.
A+ Target Issac Bridal Mizarhi Shoes
a lot of girls on LiWeddings.com bought these shoes and for the price of $29 they fit my vintage theme perfectly
A+ Wedding Website, Invitations, envelopes, seating cards & table numbers
Steve & Jen Castro of Atomik Art .com
www.atomikart.com
From
Steve Castro is a very hard working talented graphic design artist. Very easy to work with and whats so much fun is seeing the end product. I told him my art nouveau theme and he took it to the limit! His wife is equally as talented and assisted him on the creation of the products they created. I highly, highly recommend them for any wedding or event needs.
our wedding website was designed by Steve
www.keithandlaura.com
Envelopes to invitations
Seating Cards
Mike Bicknell – Celtic Knot Cord A+
We did a celtic knot ceremony at the wedding which means the officant ties a figure '8' also means infinity around each of our hands. Then she literally ties the knot. This was done in the medieval ages when couples did not have money for rings then it became more popular with the elite during the renassaiance.. and so on..so I needed something called a cord for the edding.. I saw some online that were fancy and simple.. so I asked my friend Mike at work who is a great art teacher and craftsman..
He is very good at his craft and designed for me 5 different types of cords to choose from .. the photos explain it all he is amazing .. The cord later in the reception was used as playtoy between the groomsmen.. got to love it. and it made great photos!
Photo by Rev. HeilPhotos by Aaron
Programs by Me- card stock from Target
I did all the design work for these. Printed them out on my ink jet. The paper stock is from Target and the inside is just regular xerox paper..
My friend Mike Bicknell designed the way the ribbon would go on the spine of the program.
A+ Mens Warehouse
FLAWLESS service, excellent selection of suits. Keith wore a champagne colored vest with a black Calvin Klein Suit. The suit was lightweight perfect for the summer. The guys wore black suits with black vests.
A+ Longislandmakeup.com Connie Kozel also from Macy's Sunrise Mall Massapequa Elizabeth Arden
http://www.longislandmakeup.com/portfolio.htm
After getting several makeup trials I wasn't happy with any of them, because the artists weren't doing what I wanted but what they wanted and rushed through the process. I was getting hopeless.. I had been to MAC, another makeup artist who acutally came to my home .. she was from red door spas. I told her what I wanted and she only worked on my trial for 10 min and then took her $40 and left. I wasn't sure what I thought of that trial until I posted on LIweddings and everyone was like.. 'laura try again' It wasn't what i wanted.. II did not want to pay for another trial.. nor I thought you should have to pay for one. $150 for makeup is ridiclous.. connie was $75 with 2 or more people it included transportation. It's free if you go to her at Sunrise Mall.
One day I was shopping in Macy's at Sunrise mall and thought hey let me check out who is working at the makeup counters and perhaps I can get a trial. I actually looked at how the Makeup counter employees applied their makeup to decide who to go to. I stopped at the Elizabeth Arden counter and met Christine who did a amazing trial on me. I found out later that she was going on vacation the week of my wedding so she suggested I meet with Connie her associate. Connie is the sweetest, most talented makeup artist I have ever met. I told her I wanted a vintage makeup look .. she knew what to do.. she did it! I feel like I have known her forever and made a great friend.
She does not rush, she is meticulous with her craft and will take the time to
make you look fabulous. The day of the wedding she was on time, and made us feel and look beautiful! I highly, highly recommend her!!!!!!! Connie's rates are affordable, trials are free if you go to her a Macy's in Sunrise Mall.
A + Suzan & Staff @ Salon Trio Jericho NY (Shopping Center Right next to Milleridge Inn) 516-433-1888
I had found out about Salon Trio through one of my friends. I always noticed how one of my friends had the best red head hair color, so I asked her where she gets it done and she was like Salon Trio.
I was also getting frustrated with this task of finding someone who could do finger waves well. I didn't want to pay $200-$300 for a trial which I found ridiculous. I met with Suzan she cut, dyed and created the daunting task of finger waves. She did a fabulous job and worked her but off. The day of the wedding most of the employees at Salon Trio were working on my bridal party. My 2 Moh's had their hair done by this one man ( i wish I could remember his name) MOH #1 got finger curls and my sister got a Scarlett johhanesn 40s hair look. Both styles came out AMAZING!!!! Salon Trio has some of the most hard working talented beauticians that I have ever seen, the do not rush but rather take hair design to the extreme. Their rates are reasonable and affordable! $50 for me ( i have short hair) and $65 and up for the bridesmaids. Cap was $75
Pic by my sister – Sitting under the heat for one and half hours..
I am holding the 4 page iternary for the day that I typed the night before ..
my friend jen getting finger curls
playing with my Nintendo DS
A + Wedding Wands – The Mangler.com
http://www.themangler.com/weddingwands.html
great looking, fun inexpensive, tons of ribbon colors to choose from.. More importantly your time cut in half to prepare them.. We ended up adding tags to them so our guests would know what to do with them.
A+ Officiant – Rev. Heil
Angela Heil Ministries
http://www.angelaheilministries.com/
Angela Heil can conduct various ceremony's to fit your needs. We wanted a non -religious ceremony , I co wrote the ceremony with her and included writings from Ayn Rand and Margret Atwood along with a Celtic Knot Blessing, which was unbelievable cool and different. Thus where tying the knot comes from !
Angela is sweet organized, and professional She was in constant contact with me during the ceremony writing process and came on time and conduct the ceremony in a professional manner. She gave us a lovely keepsake card of our whole ceremony. She also sent some photos she took during the ceremony to me the next day. :) Highly Recommended and affordable!!!
Favors: by me
assortment of Hershey kisses, in a art nouveau ornate style with a navy ribbon
box ranges from $9- $12 for 48 of them on e bay from ebay seller favorfrenzy
ribbons from AC Moore. .20 a spool,
Hershey Kisses – Costco 9 bucks a bag x 3 bags
old photo by me
A + Polaroid Guest Album – Ebay $40
Film will cost about a $1 a picture
Polaroid Camera - Target $35
Best $200 I have ever spent. Not only did we have fun looking at them after the wedding, the guests had an amazing time shooting pics of their selves and signing the book. The books you can find on ebay for about $40 a pop, ( i bought 2 for about 110 guests) Polaroid film I bought about 8 packs. All gone by the end of the night.
Polaroid taken by one of my friends right after we got married !
Miscellaneous
Ceremony Arch is by my friend Amanda and me. We got the supplies at AC Moore.. worked 4 hours on it LOL.. imagine all that time for a 15 min ceremony. WSCC had one but didn't fit my theme, thats what I made one last minute.
If anyone wants to give me an offer I would be willing to sell it.
Birdcage for wedding cards we got at a local antique store. We then slipped in photos of our great grandparents wedding photos in to it.
my pocketbook from an antique store
Bows for the chairs:
really realistic looking fake flowers bought at a country store where HBS Jewelers are : and I added champagne colored ribbons on it and wire to attach to the chairs:
A + Macy's - My Jewelery & Bridesmaids Gifts
I didn't feel the need to go to a wedding speciality store to buy jewlery when Macy's has everything you need. I got my pearl style jewlery there for a great deal through Carol Lee at Macys. My crystal bobby pins which I loved i purchased in the costume jewlery part of the store. for under $40
Photos by Kimberly Hurst
Bridesmaids - Pearl Necklaces and Earrings all at Macy's all real and reasonable. ( necklace and earrings together was bout $80) More importantly not tacky and rewearable. These girls got the real thing and I spent more on them than my own jewelery. They deserved it !
A+ Things Remembered Groomsmen Gifts
Drinking Flasks and Gunmetal Drinking Mugs all personalized .. the guys loved them
Toasting flutes, serving silverware = None.. We weren't into that at all so we didn't buy the items. We did end up toasting with our Personalized Gunmetal Drinking mugs!! lol
Laterns $15 @ Marshalls
A+ Candles & Frames - Target
Target has great deals on these items!
A
Honeymoon: Secrets Excellence Cancun in Riviera Maya
booked by Travel Tom
To be written :)
Ok all in all girls.. Please enjoy your wedding day, your planning and this time in your life. This is the best advice I can give you! I will be updating this page more as I get more photos and more thoughts on the day :)
I will update more .. I have lots more pics to do please enjoy these in the meantime.. all by Aaron Alemendral
-Laura aka Vintagegirl
The only pic I was able to take of myself with my camera the day after our wedding lol
photo with my friends camera
one of our vintage dressed couples:
More photos to come in August / Sept. from Farnaz K.
HONEYMOON REVIEW
A + Travel Tom of American Express Travel
[email protected]
– Travel tom is the greatest travel agent ever, meets your needs with anything you need or want. Extremely friendly and hardworking will contact you at your convince. I found a travel agent like Tom to be 10x's better than anyone from Liberty Travel. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
A - Honeymoon - Secrets Excellence in Riviera Maya -Mexico
I had went with a honeymoon in Mexico after talking to some friends at work. They encouraged me to relax during my honeymoon with Keith rather than renting a car and going to hotel to hotel in Ireland .. LOL ( We will be doing that next year) Keith and I like to being doing things or seeing places so a resort was something different that we were not used to. ( we had cruised in the past but cruising you are constantly moving and go port to port so the idea of relaxing on vacation was foreign to us lol)
Travel
As soon as we got to the airport in Cancun we had to wait through immigration, this takes time. We found the Amex counter (we booked through Tom who is connected to American express)
We waited maybe 10 min for a van to pick us and take us to Secrets.
Immediately we were floored by how beautiful this place is, you walk in they take your bags, you go to the counter to sign in they give you champagne.
Room They take your bags up to the room. We had an amazing ocean view jr. suite facing the ocean, we had nice view of the resort. ( which was a lot of fun to see) Inside the room it was decorated in that romantic “honeymoon” manner.. Champagne, roses, towels made into swans.. :)
Inside the room, two sinks, jacuzzi, a huge shower, lots of complimentary tolitieres, plenty of room for clothes a huge comfy bed a nice tv., a sofa. We were in room 6332 the top floor. Wow what a view! Ok couple of rumors that I will squash.
1. musty smell - non existant..
2. little bugs.. sometimes in the sink.. but duh you leave your room and you are outside.. of course there might be one or two bugs.. no big deal.. they are harmless
3 . Jacuzzi awesome :)
remember to only put a little soap in it .. the bubbles can go out of control :) but that can be fun..
The beach, activties & Water Activities – They have sailing, kayaking ( which we did) this was hard. I don't' really like going in rocky beach water so the only time i did touch the beach there was to go into the kayak. It seemed fine to me.. but a lot of people complained about it. I know this resort draw is the service not the beach.. so don't be surprised.
There are activities going on during the day, bike tours, chess, Texas hold em, air rifle shooting, archery, tons of fun things to do.. I even played bingo and won a cool mug :)
plenty of places to relax:
Food: Great restaurants to choose from Asian, Italian ( Loved)
Mexican ( LOVE LOVE Mexican food), French ( don't like French to much), steak & lobster. Amazing Desserts, during the day there are these huge buffets for breakfast and lunch. Food is amazing.
Tons of bars, great drinks, great martinis, hard working individuals who make this place run!!!
Entertainment: Very basic entertainment similar to cruise type shows: they had casino night, ( mock casino) this was a lot of fun, Mexican Night, Broadway Night, Caribbean Night with a great fire dancing show. Fun to watch!
we went to the Hibachi Grill one night.. what a great show !!
Two food themed nights - Caribbean & Mexican
Pools: tons of them they were empty, the pools near the bar were packed, quiet pools, no kids no screaming, . so relaxing.. plenty of room to lay out in the shade :) no the sun for me lol.. just shade..
Excursions: This is where the fun starts we ended up doing 3. You can sign up for them with your travel agent or with your travel representative at the resort.
A - Chichen Inza Archaeological Site- Hot as hell but worth every penny to see the amazing accomplishments of the Mayans. If anything I didn't' come to lay in pools and drink in Mexico but to see these temples. I was turned off by the amount of sellers and how the company that runs these trips to these sites really try to sell, sell, sell.. Dont' by anything at these places the silver they sell is usually plated and the pottery is usually poorly made. (especially at the archelogical site) The trip took all day long, they even stop at almost what I called a tourist trap to have us buy “cartouches” which many people did buy and one marketplace. There was cool sink hole that you could swim in.. I have never seen one of those before:
photo of a cactus that was there:
sinkhole
a Buffet lunch is included, but its not good at all, make sure to pack some food from the resort.
Pics of the Mayans on the way to Chichen Inza:
Chichen Inza- Hot AS HELL there .. but worth the pain and suffering of seeing these temples
the Mayan Children that will follow you to sell these handmade napkins.. there parents watch in the distance. One woman got surrounded by 7 of the kids.
Here she is being ' persued ' by like ten kids.. hey it was her fault for showing the $$$$
Having fun in the Chichen Inza marketplace ruins ( you can acutally see some nice pics of this in this months National geographic :)
Iguana's all over chichen Inza
A - Shopping tour – 2 malls and Marketplace 28 or 38 can't remember.
hey for $28 this well worth it. Mercado 38 a little scary if you have never been to a marketplace where there are tons of people screaming to get you into their store.. lol Keith was a little weirded out.. I had done it before.. lol There are shops after shops of stores with the same thing. You need to find a store price out the merchandise then start bargaining.. I bought some pottery, plates and vanilla. Keith and I also found this really cool store in a mall that sold seashells I think it was in Demar Mall.. Really exotic seashells.. we bought like 80 worth of seashells. The last market was shady and we didn't buy anything..
A+ Maya Adventura Snorkeling tour
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
omg this was the most fun ever! We jumped off a 30 foot rock into a fresh water hole, snorkeled.. then drove to a Cave and snorkeled in the cave with bats flying over our heads then we went to an ocean outlet and snorkeled over a coral reef.. afterwards had a delicious Mexican lunch..
It was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We also suffered horrible sunburns on our backs so the last 3 days were a little sore. Make sure to reapply sunlotion..
They served us the most beautiful Mexican lunch ever:
Overall we had a great time and glad we experienced a resort settings. Mexico was beautiful along with the people who work to keep it that way. Would we do a resort again? No, because we are just not the laying around the pool getting tan type. I highly recommend this resort if you enjoy just taking in the sun and swimming all day long on the beach, which is what most people do. I am glad I did have some of the days to sit and relax for those days under the shade.. ( where I was most of the time) We did enjoy the entertainment, the food and beautiful sun we had everyday. It was a great trip...
****Hopefully to be putting up more photos that I need to edit from Aaron :)
twinkletoes807
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 02:04 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 02:04 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
What a wonderful and thoughtful review. Thank you for taking the time to write it!! Your pictures are stunning! Congratulaitons to you and your DH! May you both have a lifetime of helath, happiness and love!
Lcakes
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 05:01 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 05:01 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
You look absolutely beautiful. Congrats!
JenMike331
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 07:05 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 07:05 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
wow! absolutely gorgeous and unique...and exactly what u wanted for a vintage style wedding....congrats!!!!!
Sept07Bride
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:08 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:08 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
great review!!! I am in LOVE with your pics!!!!
Lools
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:18 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:18 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
omg Laura!! Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! I love every little detail, the colors, the hair, you just look fantastic! That flower girl is WAAAY too cute! Your photographers did a great job!! CONGRATS!!
DNicholes
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:35 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:35 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
GREAT review!!!!!! Everything looked beautiful!! I love your vintage theme!Congratulations to you and your DH!!
nifheim
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:47 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:47 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
I have said it once before and i will say it again.. a wedding that truly expresses a visual designer's wet dream. THANK YOU for the review. Amazing pics and amazing wedding. Congrats.
Mmnnng
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:48 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 09:48 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love your wedding! It looked so beautiful and classy and perfectly off-beat! Absolutely amazing! You should consider planning for a career...what awesome ideas you had! Who would've thought craigs list for a photographer and you have great pictures!
erin05
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 10:14 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 10:14 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
Great review!!! Everything looked beautiful! Congratulations
jenlen
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 10:16 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 10:16 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
Your wedding looked amazing and very you (I'm assuming...since I don't know you!!
). Your pics are equally as fantastic....congrats! PS...love the JCrew BM dresses...i'm doing the same!
vintagegirl
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 10:31 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 10:31 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
Posted by nifheim
I have said it once before and i will say it again.. a wedding that truly expresses a visual designer's wet dream. THANK YOU for the review. Amazing pics and amazing wedding. Congrats.
Thank you !!!
Snickers76
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 11:32 AM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 11:32 AM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! You looked so unique and beautiful! Excellent review!
Mooshyboo
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 12:34 PM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 12:34 PM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
congratulations ! I love the uniqueness of your vintage theme ~ It was soo much fun over the time you were planning and seeing everything come together! Everything is so beautiful! Congratulations! Your review is awesome!!!!! Thanks for sharing!
GettinHutched
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 12:44 PM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 12:44 PM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
OMG Laura, that is one freaking phenomenal review. Your wedding was just out of this world! You looked like a movie star, the photographers did an amazing job- I loved EVERYTHING!!
Can't wait for your honeymoon review!! Why didn't I remember you were going there too?
Wow...I really can't get over how amazing everything turned out. It really belongs in a magazine.
All that hard work turned into magic!!! I'm so excited for you Laura!!
HamptonsBride
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 01:23 PM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 01:23 PM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
Great review and absolutely GORGEOUS pics!!!! You looked amazing...so glad you had a wonderfl day!!!! congrats!!!
AllJoy
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 01:39 PM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 01:39 PM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
Great review. Beautiful pics. Congrats.
magbride
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 02:37 PM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 02:37 PM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
So beautiful! Gorgeous pics. It could be in a magazine!
MrsQ-in2007
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 03:36 PM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 03:36 PM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
I love how you tied everything in to your vintage theme - great job and awesome pictures! I can't wait to see the pics from your other photographer too.Congrats!!!
milana
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 04:08 PM+
Posted: Jul 22, 2007 04:08 PM
Re: Vintagegirl 7/07/07 Wedding Review Part 1 West Sayville Country Club, Black Forest, Alternative Sounds, Bridal Reflections, Rev. Heil, Commack Florist, Longislandmakeup.com - Pro Pics
Absolutely Beautiful!!You looked stunning and your hair looked gorgoues! Congrats to you both on such a beautiful affair and great review!
Welcome New Vendors
- The Barn At Old Bethpage Discover the charm a...
- Jack & Rose Jack & Rose Floral D...
- Tellers: An American Chophouse Celebrate Your Love ...
- Cup Of Tea Creative Unique Wedding Gifts...
- Speeches for Milestones The Big Day Has Arri...
- Long Island Bridal Expo Connecting Brides & ...
- 1 More Rep 1 More Rep: Elite Fi...
- Bellport Inn The Bellport Inn –...
- Fiddlers Dream Music Experience the Music...
- Havana Central Celebrate Your Weddi...
- Primerica Nelida Flynn Primerica Nelida Fly...
- Acetra Affairs Here at Acetra Affai...
