otherme
Board Fanatic
Member since 3/05 462 total posts
Wedding Date:
10/30/2005 11:00 AM
Wed. Location:
Carlyle on the Green!
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Review for our 10/30 wedding at the Carlyle w/pics of course!
Hi ladies
Well, after 7 months of hectic planning and running around, our wedding finally happened. I have to say that it truly was the most wonderful day. My husband and I were treated like royalty by almost everyone that day and we truly felt special.
First i want to give a heartfelt thank you to LIWeddings. A friend of mine pointed me to this site when i got engaged and i've been one of those frequent lurkers and not so frequent posters.. but i've gotten some really good sound advice from a lot of people on here.
Now its my turn to pass along some advice to all the future brides....
The most important thing i can tell you is to relax. I know you've spent months (sometimes years) planning this day, but no matter what there will be something that doesn't happen according to your plans. Chances are that noone other than you will even notice, or care. Just remember that. If something doesn't match perfectly, isn't set up just how you want, or isnt done just right - dont let it get to you. Its really not that important in the whole scheme of things. Please please remember that. I can't tell you enough times to just relax and enjoy your day - its going to fly by and if you spend time worrying about little things, you'll miss one of the most wonderful experiences of your life. Trust me on this one ok?
Anyway, now on to the review...
Dress - RK Bridals 10
My dress was the 5th one i tried on and as soon as i tried it, i knew it was the perfect one for me. RK has a huge selection of dresses and the saleswomen there are very helpful. I recommend not going on a weekend if possible as it gets very crowded, but any other day and you'll be just fine. I wanted a dress for under $1,000 and i got the perfect one for me. Everything happened as it should have - alterations were fine, service was great, price was fantastic.. I highly recommend them.
Headpiece and Veil - Barrons in Tri County 10
After seeing all the rave reviews for Barrons on LIW, i had to go and check them out. I had been to a few other bridal places to look at tiaras/headpieces but hadn't found anything that jumped out at me. As soon as i saw my headpiece at Barrons, i knew it was just perfect. The design on the headpiece matched the scroll design on my dress and was so 'me'. The woman who works there ( i can't remember her name) was incredibly helpful and so sweet. i was there for about an hour before finding my piece and she must've put about 25 tiaras on my head! My headpiece cost $95 which was more than i wanted to spend, but not to bad in comparison to others i have seen.
When i finally decided what sort of veil i wanted (short, single layer, satin trim) I went right back to her and she made it exactly the length i wanted and it only cost me $25!
Hotel - Huntington Hilton 8
Overall they were pretty good, but with a few mishaps. We had set aside 25 rooms for our OOT guests and most of them were able to book rooms at the reduced rate with no problem, except for 3 people who called a few days before the cut off date and were told that there were no rooms left. When i called the catering manager, she said there were definitely 5 rooms left and that there should have been no problems in my guests booking. After my call to her, the guests were able to get their rooms at the reduced rates, but it was annoying that I had to intervene to get them what they should have had in the first place.
I had a full suite booked there for the night before and night of - the room was perfect for everyone to get ready in and with 2 nice big rooms.
Another problem was that on the night before, there were several rooms that were not ready at check-in time, so my father and some of my relatives had to hang around in the lobby for a few hours (well past the 4 o'clock check in time). The hotel staff were not as friendly or accomodating as they could have been considering people had just travelled 5 hours to get there and then had to sit around waiting.
I would say that the catering/sales staff there were absolutely helpful and accomodating, but the front desk staff was not..
Hair - Sherry from Cirage Salon in Bellmore 10!
Sherry came recommended from my usual hair guy in the city. I didn't want a 'wedding' hair person because I feel like some of the usual wedding hair i've seen is too stiff and not loose or natural looking. I went to sherry and showed her what i wanted - half up and with loose curls in the back. We had a trial and since my hair was more layered then it was hard to get it exactly right but i could tell she knew what she was doing. The day of, she and one of her assistants arrived at 5:00 a.m. to to my hair, my moms and 4 bms. Sherry worked on me for about an hour and i absolutely LOVED what she did. it was perfect, just what i pictured. all the other girls were nervous because none of them lived here and they didnt get a chance to do any trials. They all brought pictures with them of styles they liked and Kara worked her magic on them all to get just what they wanted. I was very pleased with how everyone turned out. If i didn't love my usual hair guy, i 'd definitely start going to Sherry.
Makeup - Denise from Angel Eyes 10++
I had one trial with someone else before Denise and was ok with it, but not thrilled. I decided to try Denise and as soon as i met with her knew she was just right. Her makeup lasted me all day, and all night - really. I felt so beautiful that day and i never had to reapply anything except for lipstick (which was my own). She was a professional and very down to earth. She took one look at the picture i showed her of what i wanted (smoky eyes, mauve colors) and did it exactly perfect on me. I highly recommend her!!
DOC - Rosalie 10++!!
I initially decided to hire a day of coordinator because I didn't want to have anyone in my family have to be bothered with the little extra things on the day of the wedding (like paying vendors etc.). I wanted everyone to just have a good time and the DOC would take care of any little details.
I had gotten an email from Rosalie when i signed up on this site and so i called her and we set up a meeting. After meeting her, i could tell right away that she was on top of everything and knew her stuff. She's done a ton of weddings and has seen it all, so i knew i could trust her.
Honestly, hiring Rosalie was the best decision i made. From the moment i got up in the morning (5 a.m.!) she was there. She got us all coffee and muffins since the room service wasn't open yet. She helped the girls get into their dresses, she helped me get into mine since i had no clue what i was doing. I swear, she cared more about how my dress looked than i did! She made sure everyone had their stuff before leaving the hotel too. Once we got to the Carlyle to take pictures, she was there to hold flowers, fix my dress, pin on flowers to the guys, find the flowers when they didn't show up on time, make sure i was always holding my dress right (i wasn't). In general, she was amazing. Honestly, absolutely everyone in the wedding party commented on how glad they were that she was there. When my dad decided to take a stroll around the golf course, she ran off to go find him and get him back for pictures. She made sure we were where we were supposed to be at all times and nudged us in the right direction. When my little sisters strap broke on her dress, Rosalie sewed it back on. When my mom's bra decided to peek out too much - Rosalie had double sided tape to keep it in place. If not for her, my bustle probably would have come undone after about 10 minutes but she noticed it was a little loose, so immediately brought me into the bridal suite and fixed it with safety pins and thread. She was so concerned with how it looked, while i was telling her it was fine. but in the end, im glad she fussed because that bustle didn't move! During the cocktail hour, Rosalie kept a discreet distance behind my husband and I and gently tapped me on the shoulder every few minutes to remind us to move along and get to see the next people. Its only because of her that we actually managed to greet and talk to just about everyone during the cocktail hour. Every time someone would hand us a card, we just passed to Rosalie and she tucked it in her jacket. She was an absolute godsend and i cant recommend her enough. Not only was she professsional, but a real sweetheart too. Even the guys commented on what a great person she was to have around (and you know they never notice stuff like that). I highly recommend using her!
She kept telling me i was the most laid back bride she's ever had and she didn't know what to do because i kept telling her that i didn't mind if my dress got dirty or if i had to carry it instead of her. honestly, such a nice nice lady.
Flowers - Signature Florists 10
Signature was the first florist i went to (got a postcard from them and i liked the flowers on it and they were near my house) and after meeting with 2 more florists, who i ended up using for 2 main reasons. I loved the chuppah they had - it was so different from the usual ones that i've seen and really seemed appropriate for a fall wedding (see pics). The other reason was that George was really very nice and seemed totally willing to work with us on pricing. His prices came in a little lower than everyone else, but he thew in more 'extras' and was willing to do whatever we wanted.
I knew immediately that i wanted a bouquet of black magic roses for myself, but i couldn't decide what to do for my girls as they were in platinum. George showed me many pictures and then helped me pick out Sahara roses (which are sort of creamy white with a slight touch of pink to the edges - sort of antiqued looking) and rice flowers. Turned out that he couldn't get the rice flowers the week before, so he gave me hydrangeas instead, which i know were much more expensive but he did it for the same price. The flowers came out absolutely perfect and I was very happy with them.
I knew i didn't want anything too crazy for a centerpiece and since my theme was red and silver, i went with low silver bowls with a mixture of black magic roses, sahara roses, circus roses (orange/red roses), spray roses, and greenery. I was very pleased with how they came out too. I showed George a picture of a cake a had seen with circus roses and black magic roses on it and said i wanted those for my cake - he gave me just what i wanted. Overall, i would recommend Signature highly. The flowers lasted beautifully and were just what i wanted. Simple but elegant.
Bridesmaids Dresses - Davids Bridal 4
The only reason Davids is not getting a zero is because i actually really love the dresses we got there and in the end, the girls looked great in them.
My BM's are all out of town, so i chose Davids thinking that it was a national chain and it would be easy for them all to go and try on dresses where they live and place the order and have it all linked up to my name. HA, was i wrong about that. They honestly have the most horrible ordering process there that i've ever seen. The girls were able to give their information, but I had to to be the one to actually place the order. We didnt' actually find that out though until much later. When my MOH went to order her dress and make sure that everyone elses dresses were ordered she was told that the order would be placed, shipped to her and the others would be shipped to each persons house. Well, a few months go by and i happen to be in Davids looking at a jr bm dress so i decide to check on their order. Turns out the order never went through because as one dopey salesperson told me 'the bride has to place the order'. Thats the most ridiculous thing i ever heard of and told them so. After much phone calling to the Boston and Atlanta stores, it turns out the orders were placed originally, but the dresses went to the stores where the orders were placed, and not shippped to the bm's houses, even though they paid extra for the shippping. My MOH had moved in the meantime and despite her having given them her new address in Florida, they sent the dress to the Atlanta store where she ordered it. After i spent 2 hours in the store in Carle Place trying to fix it all and getting very frustrated at the lack of organization and professionalism of the high school girls they have working there.. everyone's dress finally got shipped to where it was supposed to. When my MOH got her dress it arrived with a big fabric pull on the side of the skirt. She went into the store with the dress still in its shipping box, and was told that 'she must've done that to the dress' and they couldn't do anything about it. So, she has to get a manager and argue with them that that was how the dress was shipped to her. She finally got them to give her a new skirt - but the problem was that the one she ordered originally was discontinued. She had ordered an a line skirt that had a flare in the back, while the other girls had just a regular a line. So, in the end, she had a regular skirt like the other girls, which was fine, but we were very lucky. I can't tell you the amount of frustration we all had dealing with Davids Bridal - each and every one of us in 4 different locations around the country all got shoddy service. The only dress that went smoothly was my jr bms - we bought it off the rack at one of the stores. Problem was that the strap broke after she wore it for an hour.. so i guess even that dress got screwed up!
Tuxes - Town and Country in Wantagh 9
My husband has gotten tuxes from Town and Country many many times and he felt comfortable there so i had no problem if thats where he wanted to go. When we went in to look with all the guys, they were courteous, professional and thorough. All tuxes came in on time, a few had to be altered and they did it that day. I thought the guys ended up looking really sharp and was very happy.
Limo - Regency Limos 8
I ordered a 22 passenger Escalade to take the wedding party from the Hilton to the Carlyle at 7:30 a.m. Total cost $300. Limo arrived on time and was nice and roomy, very nicely kept. Only reason they get a 8 is because the driver had the nerve to try and charge me waiting time when we came outside at 7:40. I told him to shove it because i paid enough money for him to drive us 10 min. away and if he had a problem, i would take it up with his bosses. They never charged me the extra money.
Photographers/Video - Duet 10++
Another vendor I ended up getting because of the rave reviews on LIW. We looked at about 6 other photographers and chose Duet because of the price and artistry. They had the style we wanted, and the price we could afford. We had a 'casual' shoot with Joseph and Wu in Central Park and really loved the way the photos came out. They made us feel like celebrities for the few hours we were with them. Not posed, but very natural. After seeing the way those photos came out, i cant wait to see the wedding photos! I had also given them a few ideas for pictures i wanted to recreate and they made sure to do all of them, even bringing copies of those pictures with them for reference.
We had Hong for a videographer and until we see the end result i really can't say how he was except that i hardly noticed him the entire day - which was exactly what i wanted in a videographer.
And now for the big one..
Wedding Location - Carlyle on the Green 10++
From the moment we walked up to the Carlyle, we both knew it was the perfect place for us. It had just the right amount of elegance without being to stuffy and had an air of class about it. It didn't look like everyother place we had seen. We met with Cynthia who was very gracious and accomodating. She was able to work with us and our budget and ended up giving us a few extras (like extra cocktail hour stations and food) that were normally extra. The day of went incredibly smoothly. All the staff there are very professional and certainly know what they're doing. When i say that noone was ever without a drink, i mean it. I would literally be 3/4 done with my drink and another one would be placed in my hand. The moment we sat down at our table, we had everyone coming over to see to our needs. Gerald was the Maitre'd and what a great guy he was. He kept things moving smoothly and told us exactly what was going to happen next. He got us all lined up for the rehearsal, made sure everyone knew what to do and then for the actual processional, made sure everyone was where they were suppoesd to be. He calmed everyone down too. He really was a great guy. Can't say enough about the staff there too. Our bridal attendant (i can't remember her name) was constantly making sure i was ok and bringing us food and drinks. We got to eat pretty much everything as they brought us all the entrees too. I think one of the biggest compliments we got that day was from one of my husbands very rich relatives who are planning a wedding at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for next year. They said that after seeing our weddding, they wished they could change venues as the Carlyle impressed them so much.
Honestly, we felt so pampered and taken care of by the staff and just being in such a beautiful location really made the day that more special. The room there is all windows and the sunlight pouring in them was just gorgeous.
After the wedding, they packed up all our items we had supplied (cake topper, glases, pictures, extra programs etc) and had them all ready to give to us.
I can't say enough about the Carlyle - it truly was a magical place. I have a few pictures of the room before the flowers and candles were set up.
Band - Code Bleu 10++
After seeing a few other bands, we went to a showcase where Code Bleu was and I knew they were just perfect for us. At the showcase, Sean was sitting playing acoustic guitar before the band actually went on and i was impressed with his playing because it was obvious that he loved music and really got into it and was playing for the love it, not just for a job. When the band actually played, they got my attention because they were energetic, sang well and really worked well together.
My husband and I wanted some of our own music to be played while the guest were being seated for the ceremony so we made a cd up of music for that, as well as the music we wanted played for the ceremony. We met with Sean a few days before the wedding and went over everything with him. Total professional and very nice. They had a laptop and speakers set up for the ceremony and all the music was cued perfectly. I had Pachobels Canon for the processional, then i walked down to "only time" by Enya and it really was beautiful. For the recessional we had "fly me to the moon" by Sinatra. We had a piano player at the cocktail hour who was just perfect for the atmosphere too. When it came time to announce us, they played everything perfectly. We had the bridal party come into the theme from Indiana Jones, then Jeremy and I were announced to the Star Wars Theme - our first dance was 'at last' and Donna sang it just beautifully. Honestly, i don't remember much about the music at the wedding, but i do know that everyone was dancing the entire time and so many people came up to us and raved about the band.
For our favors, we did shot glasses with our names and a fleur de lis on it wrapped in silver organza bags. We got the bags from ebay and i used a vendor i know from work for the shot glasses.
We made our own programs and table cards and placecards as well as the Star Wars cake topper
Any questions.. FM me!
pictures to follow in next post..
Message edited 11/12/2005 1:14:03 PM.
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. Congratulations
