Liz and Mike's 11/11/2007 Wedding Review with Non-Pro Pics: Woodbury Country Club, Flower Michele, 12th Night, Mittermax, FM Entertainment and many more - VERY LONG!

So here goes my review of my wedding. My DH and I were engaged on November 10, 2006 and we planned our wedding in exactly one year. We started with a conservative budget but we ammended it less than a month into the planning realizing that the vendors we liked cost more than we originally thought and the guest list kept growing. However, after ammending our budget and being more realisric with what things cost, we managed to stay pretty much under the new budget. I first have to say that I was completely stumped at first. I had only been to one other wedding in my life so I was unsure of where to start or what needed to get done. Thank Goodness for LI Weddings. I wasn't a huge poster on the boards but I did get a lot of ideas from everyone on here and I loved reading other bride's reviews and reccommendations. Without LI Weddings, I don't think my wedding would have been as amazing as it was because I would never have looked at the vendors that I did since I live in Brooklyn, NY. So thanks to all the other '07 brides and congratulations! My review is long and I wanted to write about all of the vendors that I used so that hopefully this could help other brides in their planning just like other bride's reviews helped me in my planning. Sorry if it's a lot but I just wanted to be thorough. And without further ado, here's my review:

LI Weddings.com A++++++++++
As I said before, I wasn't a huge poster on the boards but I got so many wonderful ideas from the girls on this board and I was able to vent some of my "issues" that I had during my wedding planning to people who were impartial and could offer advice. Thanks to Ron and Liz for creating this wonderful forum for all brides and a special thanks to all the 07 girls!

Match.com A+++++
I was tired of trying to meet a nice guy in bars and clubs. I had tried online dating before but I never really thought I'd find anyone for real. I was always leary of guys that you meet online. But all I was finding in the bars and clubs were guys looking for a one night thing and I wasn't into that. And then I signed up for Match.com. And one day, this really hot guy send me a wink and so I think why not. So I wink back and after many emails and phone conversations, we decide to go out on an actual date on my birthday. So on July 9th, 2004, as soon as I saw him, I felt an instant connection with him. And three and a half years later, we exchanged vows and became husband and wife. I never thought I'd find my husband online but I found my soulmate and we probably would never had met otherwise since I lived in Brooklyn and we lived in Manhasset. So I have to give thanks to Match.com for connecting me with my prince charming.

My State of Mind: Before: B+, Day of: A+
I did really well though out my wedding planning. I had a few Bridezilla-ish moments but they mostly were to the two most nearest and dearest to my heart, my DH and my mom. I tried not to be demanding and planned the entire wedding by myself. I hardly asked anyone for help, except DH (but that's his job) because I wanted to do things the way I wanted and had imagined and I knoew other people had their own lives, one of my best friend's was getting married three weeks before mine and we were both in each other's bridal party and my MOH got pregnant 3 months before the wedding. But through it all, I think I held up well,
Fast forward to a week before the wedding. Well, I finally had my complete breakdown. See, my mother and her boyfriend decided back in January to redo their living room before the wedding. My mother wanted it all to be redone and extended with new furniture and everything. I freaked out because as much as I love her boyfriend, I knew his track record and something told me the room was not going to be ready in time. My mother assured me it would be done and it would look great. This was the house that I had grown up in and of course I wanted to get ready there and leave from there and have my pictures taken there but I was realistic too. I asked my mom every month from January on, would you like me to just book a hotel room for the night before the wedding so the pressure is off and we'll already be in Long Island and it'll make life easier. She kept insisting no and that it would be ready. So I kept relenting and praying it would be done. So the week before the wedding, I ask my mom how's the living room? Is it ready? She gets silent on the phone and says, to be honest Liz, it's not going to be done in time. I'm so sorry. You're sorry? Are you F-ing kidding me? I went ballistic. I had scheduled every vendor, florist, photographer, videographer, limos, hair and make-up, everything to come to her house and now it wasn't going to happen and all she could say was I'm sorry. I lost my temper and freaked out. I didn't want to talk to her for a few days. So in a panic and through tears, I called my DOC to tell her everything that had happened. My aunt tried to convince me to do it at my house but I had not cleaned or put anything away from the bridal shower and there was no room. So, DH calls around to a few hotels in the area of the Woodbury Country Club to see about their availability for the night before the wedding. We strike gold with the 4 Points Sheraton. They have a suite available so now I feel a little better. I tell Christine and she says that she will contact all of my vendors and let them know the change. But now, another problem arises. Three of my bridesmaids who were planning on getting their hair and make-up done in Brooklyn at 10am would not have enough time to get ready and drive out to Long Island in time for the limo to pick us up for pictures before the ceremony. So I decide, to make everyone's life easier, to pay for another hotel room for the night for them to stay in and to pay for Mia to do their hair and make-up the morning of the wedding. The girls felt bad but I told them that it was ok since I was putting them out by changing the getting ready venue a week before the wedding. It all worked out wonderful and it worked out better than if we had left from Brooklyn. The day of the wedding, I just relaxed and enjoyed my day. I cried quite a bit but they were tears of joy. Nothing major went wrong, little things but I let them roll off my back. I had an amazing wedding to the man of my dreams.
Oh and by the way, my mother's living room is STILL not completed and it is now February. In retrospec, she wished she had waited.

Save the Dates
MagnetQueen.com A+++
I knew that I wanted to use our engagement pictures for our save the dates. But after having our photo shoot with Geraldine from 12th Night, there were too many pictures to choose from. So I wanted to find a save the date format that could showcase more than one photo. So after searching around and getting some advice from the girls on LI Weddings, I found magnetqueen.com. They had so many different styles of save the date magnets to choose from and I found one that allowed me to use 7 different pictures. I also loved the style of the film strip on the side because I thought it was very different. It was so easy to upload the photos and the proof came via email really quickly. The magnets came really quick and were amazing. Better than I expected. They even gave us an extra magnet of one of my favorite engagement pictures on a magnet just for me and DH just as a thank you. I was so happy. I have no idea how they knew that was my favorite picture but I was so pleased and surprised! I did pay a good amount for them but they were well worth the price and everyone made comments about how much they loved our save the dates. I was very pleased with them and will use them again if I ever need to send a magnet announcement for something...maybe when I have a baby? LOL


Invitations and Favors
Betcha I Can Getcha A+++++++++++
I was lucky enough that a friend of the family has a business specializing in wedding invitations and favors so I was able to go to her to get exactly what I wanted for a good price. I had found invitations on David's Bridals website and I knew it was what I wanted once I saw it in her store. It was a tri-fold invitation which is different than most wedding invitations but I wanted this invitation even if it wasn't tradional. Having known the owner for years and having known what a beautiful job she has done for our family parties in the past (she did the decorations, my invitations, and favors for my Sweet 16, my aunt's 40th Birthday, my Grandmother's 80th and my mother's 50th and my bridal shower), I had full trust in her abilities. Nancy is awesome to work with and if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll give you her info. Her store is in Brooklyn but she does work all over NY and even NJ. My invitations came in great time and were exactly what I wanted.
The favors were another decision that I was completely confused about. Michael and I decided to create a martini theme for our wedding when the RH had told us about the martini bar and so we decided to continue the theme with our favors. We decided to do martini shakers along with a martini mix with our names and our wedding date. I loved the idea and it went over huge with our guests. It was very different and I thought it definitely went with our theme. She tried many different ways to wrap our favors but the best way to do it was to wrap the martini shaker with the mix inside in purple paper and tie it with a lighter purple ribbon which read our names and our wedding date. It was very beautiful and as always Nancy did a great job.


Calligraphy
A friend of the family A+++++
I was lucky that a friend of the family does calligraphy as a side business and offered to do it for our wedding invitations for free. She did a great job and also did the calligraphy for our place cards as well. She had different styles to choose from and they were all really pretty. She also did the calligraphy is the color that I wanted, purple, so that made it even more special for me. She did a great job and if anyone is interested in calligraphy, please FM me for her information.

Bridezilla Yoga Tank, Bride Yoga Pants, Bridal Hoodie, Matron of Honor Tank, Boy Short Underwear
CustomGlamGirl.com A+++++
I absolutely LOVED the stuff that I bought from there. It is good quality and it came really quick. I bought a yoga tank top that I personalized to say "Bridezilla". It was absolutely perfect and holds up great in the washing machine and dryer. I also bought a pair of yoga pants that I personalized with "Bride" on the front flap and then our wedding date "11/11/07" on the back flap. I wore them while getting ready on my wedding day. My only problem was that they ran a little big so I ordered a medium and I could have used a small but they still fit and if I ever gain weight, they'll still fit. I also bought my matron of honor her tank top from there. I personalized that too with it saying "Matron of Honor" on the front and one the back it says "I survived Liz and Mike's wedding 11/11/07". I bought her a medium and she wore it on the morning of the wedding and she was already 3 months pregnant and had a belly and it still fit her fine. I also bought a hoodie personalized saying "Mrs. Michael Rolston Est 11/11/2007" which I absolutely love and fits perfect. I also bought a pair of Black boyshorts underwear that I personalized to say "Mrs. M. Rolston". I really loved customglamgirl.com and would use them again. They even had a question concerning my order and they called me to ensure that they had it correct which I greatly appreciated. I highly recommend them to anyone looking to buy clothing they want to personalize. Just make sure that you realize that their clothes run big so if you are normally a medium, you may want to buy a small.

Placecards, Ceremony Programs, Personalized Note Stationary
Exclusivelyweddings.com A-
This is another site that I would highly recommend to everyone. Because my wedding invitations were unique, I wanted to try and find ceremony program paper that would match my invitations. I happened to stumble across this website that had not only wedding ceremony program paper in the exact style of my wedding invitations, but place cards and note stationary. I was so excited! Originally, I wanted to do placecards as cookies from Cookies in Bloom and have each cookie personalized with the person's name and table number. However, it was really expensive and decided that in the long run, it just wasn't worth the cost. So when I found these place cards, I was convinced that these would be perfect. Placing the order was simple online and the order came relatively quick. My only complaint was that some of the note cards came bent and were therefore unusable but for mostly all of them were in good condition and the Ceremony program paper was really easy to use in my home printer. The website even gave me a template to use in Microsoft Word in order to create the program. They came out great and everyone loved that the programs, the invitations, and the placecards all matched each other. Overall, I was pleased.

Wedding Cake Topper
Miscaketops.com A-
I was unsure of what kind of Cake topper I wanted. For our engagement party, we received a cake topper that was pretty and traditional and then we got the Lenox Bridal Mickey and Minnie that I thought maybe we would use. But then DH and I decided we wanted to use a funny cake topper that would stand out. We started looking at cake toppers which allowed you to customize the bride and groom. I came across the miscaketops.com website and saw that they had the cake topper that Mike thought was funny which was the groom running away from the bride. They also had the one that I wanted which was the bride dragging the groom. We wound up flipping a coin to decide which one of us would get the cake topper that we wanted. I won but I gave in and bought the one with the groom running away from the bride. The website allowed us to customize the bride and groom down to the smallest detail. I made my dress ivory, my skin color tanned, my hair dark brown, wearing a pearl necklace, silver detailing to the bodice of the dress like my own wedding gown, added a tiara and veil, made the groom's hair brown, and made his shirt black and vest ivory as Mike actually wore on our wedding day. I was also able to customize the stand that the figire stood on with our names and our wedding date. Everyone got a kick out of it at the wedding and thought it was perfect. It was a little more expensive than I wanted to spend but it was too funny to pass up. Now its in my china closet and it's a keepsake from that day that I don't regret buying at all. My only gripe other than the price was that it took FOREVER to get here. I was afraid that it wasn't going to come in time for the wedding at one point. They did a great job but order this early to ensure that you get it in time.


My Wedding Band
Zales.com B+
I wanted a wedding band with diamonds in it. I had looked at a lot of different wedding bands and I was unsure of what exactly I wanted. One day, I was looking at Zales.com and I found the perfect band. It was a Channel diamond band that had 5 princess cut diamonds and then round diamonds on each side. What I liked most about it though was that it had a dip in it for my engagement ring to sit in. I thought it was perfect and I knew I wanted to buy it. The Zales.com website had it on sale so I was tempted to buy it but decided to try to buy it at the store so as to avoid paying the shipping charge. However, we went to the Zales store and the store clerk explained to me that the ring was a special order only available on the Zales.com website and that it was one of those that were limited order so if I wanted it, I should buy it as soon as possible. So after discussing with DH, I decided to buy it online. Well, here is why I gave them a B+. When I went to order the ring, I didn't get the option of selecting a size for the ring. I had to buy the size 7 ring. My ring size, however, is a 4 3/4 or 5. So the ring was way too big for my finger. The ring came fast from Zales.com via Fedex and it was packaged safely but I didn't like that I now had to go to Zales and get it resized and pay more money to do so. However, I decided against taking it to Zales because I wanted to ask the jeweler that DH and I trusted and who did my engagement ring and DH's wedding band to see if he could resize it. At first he wasn't sure that he could because he was afraid that the diamonds might fall out if he tried to make it smaller. The ring is gorgeous and I don't think I could have picked anything better but I just didn't like the fact that I had to buy a ring not in my size and then had to have it resized in order to fit.

DH's Wedding Bank, Engagement Ring, Resizing of my Wedding Band
Molinary Jewelers, Manhasset, NY A+++++
They did an amazing job with my wedding band. As I explained above, he was hesitant to resize the ring for me because he was afraid of ruining the ring but I insisted he try because I trusted him over the people at Zales. And you know what, my wedding band fits great and looks great. DH wanted a simple ring, just a two tone ring with a yellow gold center and a white gold ring on the edges. It came out perfect and looks great. I love my engagement ring as well as our wedding bands and Molinary did a great job. Highly recommend them. And it didn't cost an arm and a leg to resize my ring like I thought it might. Great vendor.

Photo Stamps for invitations
Stamps.com A+
I wasn't sure if this was an expense that I really wanted to pay but in the end, I decided to do it. I loved the idea of the photo stamps and so I thought it would be perfect to use for our invitations. So I used my favorite picture of me and Mike from our engagement shoot and uploaded it for the stamp. It was soooo user friendly and allowed you to center the picture just the way you wanted it. It wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be but it was definitely more expensive than a regular stamp. They came really quick and they were of great quality. I was very happy with the end result and everyone loved how they came out. I definitely do not regret the decision to buy them as they went over big with everyone.

Cocktail Mix and Wedding Ceremony Bubbles
MarryMeFavors.com A+
Another website that was great to work with. Our church didn't allow guests to throw rice, bird seed, rose petals or anything. I don't think I would have used anything other than bubbles anyway. I wanted something different though and when I found the bubble bottle shaped like a wedding cake, I thought it was really cute and perfect. I bought 10 boxes, not realizing that I didn't need nearly that many. I also ordered the personalized martini mix through this site. It was really cute and it was the cheapest price that I found online. It said "The Perfect Mix: Liz and Mike 11/11/2007". I loved it and it worked perfectly with our martini theme. The order came relatively quick and was exactly as described.

Keepsake Garter and Toss Garter
Garters.com A+++
I was unsure what kind of garter to get and at first, my MOH offered to lend me hers. But I decided I wanted a keepsake garter so I wanted to find my own. After searching online, I found garters.com that allowed me to personalize the keepsake garter with our names and our wedding date on the ribbon. I also got the garter in orchid (a lighter shade of purple, but darker than Lavender) which is my favorite color. I also added a cute little firefighter helmet to the garter since DH is a fireman and I thought it was a cute touch. The toss garter was the opposite of the keepsake, with the garter being white with orchid lace. It also had the fireman helmet dangling from the center. DH thought it was really sweet that I added that feature as it was for him. The guy who caught it is also a fireman so he thought it was awesome that it had that feature as well. And it wasn't expensive to add that feature so it was well worth the extra $5. The keepsake, even though I didn't wear it the day of the wedding, was worth the money since again it is another keepsake in my china closet.

Ring Pillow, Lavender Silk Rose Petals, Unity Candle, Bridal Party Thank You Cards, Blue Bride Thong with Swarovsky Crystals, Guest Book and Pen, Envelope Seals, Matron of Honor Candle
BridalPeople.com: Quality of Products: A, Customer Service: C, Overall Grade: B-
The reason they get a B- is because of their customer service and not because of the quality of their products. The reason they got a B- as compared to getting lower is because their products were of good quality. I had a hard time choosing a ring pillow and I wanted something that I wouldn't mind having after the wedding was over. I found the perfect pillow and it had a design similar to my dress and my flower girl dresses. I was so excited. I also loved the fairy tale series of the unity candle, guest book and guest pen holder. The saying on all three of them read "And they lived happily ever after" and I was able to persoanlize the unity candle with our names and our wedding date. The rest of the items were exactly what I wanted and worked perfect for our wedding. I wore the blue thong with the word BRIDE written across the front as my something blue on my wedding date and it fit well and was confortable for the whole day. The envelope seals were super cute and I originally wanted to use them to seal my invitations. Well, as you'll see below, they didn't come in time to use them for my invitations but I was able to use them for my thank you cards for my shower. I have quite a lotleft over and plan on using them for my Thank You's for the wedding. The Bridal Party Thank You Cards were perfect and had just the right amount of cards for what I needed. My MOH loved the Matron of Honor Candle and it had a very sweet saying on it showing my appreciation for all that she had done. Now that all the good stuff has been said, now I'll talk about the not so good stuff. I ordered all of these items in the beginning of July knowing that I wanted it sooner rather than later as it was getting close to the wedding. So I assumed that I would receive the items sometime in late July, early August. So I waited...and waited...and now it was the end of August. So I decide to call the company to see what is going on. They tell me that my ring pillow has been back ordered and therefore they haven't shipped any of the items until the ring pillow comes in. So I asked when the ring pillow was going to be available. They tell me mid to late September. So I said why don't they just ship the other items and then ship the ring pillow when it becomes available. They say they can do that but it will cost more in shipping, about an extra $10. So I say, alright I'll wait because it was $10 I didn't need to spend and September wasn't that far away. The only thing that was disappointing was that I didn't get to use the cute envelope seals for my invitations as I had planned to since I couldn't see the point of spending an extra $10 just for envelope seals that cost a lot less than that. So, fast forward to September. Now I'm still waiting and finally I get an email saying that the ring pillow is delayed again and won't be available until October. So now I'm just frustrated. So I call them again and find out what is going on. The girl on the phone was very apologetic about the situation and I explained to her that my wedding was in November and I needed to know if the ring pillow was going to be available before then. She assured me it was and I asked if I could have the other items shipped to me without the ring pillow. She said she could do that for the extra shipping price and I told her it was fine. So she shipped the items. I received everything...except the unity candle. But the shipping receipt said that it was supposed to be in the package that came. So now I am super pissed off. So I call them again and ask about the unity candle. The guy on the phone informs me that it should have been in the package that went out and I freaked out, explaining that it was NOT in the package and that I needed it before my wedding in November. He puts the manager on the phone and I explain everything to him starting from the very beginning with the ring pillow and how I was never even informed of the back order until I called up to the unity candle not being in the box. So he assured me that he would have another unity candle shipped to me and I would receive it before November 11th, guaranteed and no extra charge. Two days later, I get a package in the mail and guess what? It's my unity candle with the perfect personalization on it. I was shocked and impressed that they sent it out so quick. So all was right with the world except for the ring pillow. About a week later, another package came and by this point it is now the end of September. I open the package expecting it to be my ring pillow. However, it is another unity candle! So now I'm confused. Turns out that the original unity candle was not shipped with the original order and instead was shipped separately. But here's the kicker, the new unity candle that was sent to us for free made me even more upset. It was personalized with our names as I requested however the wedding date on the candle said September 11, 2007. Not only was this the wrong month but that date had already passed. So I was really pissed because if they had screwed up and not sent the other unity candle and had sent this one as a replacement, they would have gotten the date wrong and I would have had to return this one and wait again for another one. At this point, I just wanted my ring pillow so that I could be done with these people. FINALLY, mid-October my ring pillow finally came and I never had to deal with those people again. So now I have two unity candles, one with the correct date that I used during our ceremony and one with the incorrect date. I will probably wind up throwing the candle out since it isn't my wedding date and the date that is on there is not a date that I really would like to remember anyway. They have good quality stuff but the customer service is definitely lacking. Would not buy from them again.

Wedding Day Shoes
OnlineShoes.com F
I ordered a whole bunch of different shoes because I was unsure of what style I wanted to use for the wedding. I ordered four pairs and although I liked them, I wanted something more comfortable for my wedding day. I returned all four pairs via usps in one box. One pair, however, I requested an exchange for a smaller size. I sent back the return sheet stating the returns of the other three and the exchange of theone pair. However, they credited me back for the three pairs but never sent the exchange for the fourth pair and didn't credit my credit card for returning it. This fourth pair was the most expensive of the other shoes. So I waited and I never received the exchange. Unfortunately, I never pursued getting my money back or the exchange since I got busy with work and other wedding stuff and forgot to do it. I may still try to call but I kind of accepted it as a loss. I wouldn't order from them again after that incident.

Wedding Day Shoes
Coloriffics.com A+
I liked two pairs of shoes from Coloriffics and the first pair that I bought didn't fit quite right and I decided to go for comfort rather than look since most people don't see your shoes. Returning the first pair was easy and they credited back my account quickly. I ordered the second pair months later and loved them. They fit perfect and looked great with my dress. I was very happy with my shoes and wore them all day and all night and they never once bothered me. Even with all the dancing and running around, my feet didn't hurt in the least. Of course, not until the next day. LOL


Bride, Matron of Honor, Bridesmaids Tanks
AdvantageBridal.com A+
Another good vendor that I do not mind recommending. I decided that I wanted to buy these tank tops for the girls to wear during the bachelorette party and the morning of the wedding. Problem was that it was kind of cold during the bachelorette party and I forgot to give them out before the bachelorette party. So I told the girls to wear them the morning of the wedding while getting ready. The tabk tops were good quality and hold up well in the washing machine and dryer. One thing that I liked about them though is they had bigger sizes such as 3 XL. I had a bridesmaid who is overweight and I didn't want her to feel left out. All of the other websites, like customglamgirl.com only went up to XL and I knew that wouldn't fit her. So I was really glad that this site had larger sizes. The 3XL was still a bit too small for her but she thanked me for getting her the bigger size because of her size and she wore a hooded zipper sweatshirt over it so that the written part was shown but she could cover the rest of the tank top that didn't fit. Overall great experience and I was very pleased with the outcome.

Ivory Bridal Faux Fur Shawl
eBay A+++
Knowing it was November and November can be an unpredictable month, I knew I wanted a wrap for my shoulders since my wedding dress was strapless. I looked around on the internet and everything that I was finding was way over priced. The cheapest one I found was for $100 and I really didn't want to have to spend that much on just a wrap. So I turned to Ebay. I found the perfect wrap and did the buy it now option for $50. I was so excited and happy. The wrap came quickly and was exactly what I needed. It kept my shoulders warm the day of the wedding and looked nice enough to wear during pictures. I wasn't sure I wanted to use Ebay at first but I was very glad that I did.

Mother/Daughter Dance CD
WeddingMusicCentral.com A+
My dad has been in a nursing home since I'm 12 years old after suffering a stroke and an aneurysm burst in his brain. I knew that unfortunately he would not be able to attend my wedding and as much as this disappointed me, I had my wonderful mother. At first I wasn't going to do the father/daughter dance or the mother/son dance but I didn't want to deny DH of dancing with his mom. Then I decided that I would dance with my mom instead. It may look silly but I honestly didn't care. I thought it would be a nice and special moment for my mother and I. I already had asked her to walk me down the aisle and give me away and now I wanted to have a special dance with her. But I was clueless as to what song to use. After speaking with a friend of mine, she told me about this song she had heard which was a song sung from a daughter to a mother. It was called "To be a Woman" and the lyrics were perfect. I did a search online and found the song at Wedding Music Central.com. Not only could I buy the CD, but I could personalize the CD with a Love always, Liz 11/11/2007. It was great. The CD came in great timing and played perfectly. I let my mom hear the song and we both cried. I had found my mother/daughter dance song and what was even better than that was I gave my mom the CD as a keepsake after the wedding was over. Here are the lyrics if anyone is interested:

TO BE A WOMAN

When I was very little
My favorite game to play
Was to dress up in your pretty clothes
To be like you in every way

Were you my special guardian angel
When growing up was hard to do?
Youd kiss away my tears
Help me face my fears
I learned what courage is about
Because of you

CHORUS
All that I am and hope to be
All of my dreams I could always see
In your eyes ever shining through
I'm blessed cause I learned from you
What it means to be a woman

You were my rock and my foundation
The light that led the way
And your little girl is a woman now
Growing stronger every day

You have a special way of seeing
From a mothers point of view
All thats deep inside of me
You inspired me to see
My wildest dreams are made for coming true

CHORUS

Now Ive found love and Im loved in return
And so grateful to you for every lesson Ive learned

CHORUS
All that I am and hope to be
All of my dreams I still can see
In your eyes - ever shining through
I'm blessed cause I learned from you
What it means what it means to be a woman



Bachelorette Party Do Not Disturb Sign, Penis Pinata, Bachelorette Party Napkin Trivia, Pinata Filler, Penis Suckers, Penis Muffin Pans, Penis Serving Trays, Final Fling Before the Ring paper plates
BacheloretteSuperStore.com A
I decided that I wanted to go to Foxwoods for my Bachelorette weekend. I had a certain thing in mind for what I wanted for my Bachelorette weekend so I decided to buy some items along with my Matron of Honor to make the weekend memorable and fun for everyone. The Bachelorette Super Store had some great stuff and I got a little carried away. The Penis Pinata was really cute but really hard to stuff with the Pinata filler and really hard to break. We also had a hard time hanging it because there was nothing to hang it with. There were also no instructions with it so we had to cut a hole to fill it. We all wound up punching it and cracking it over our knees to break it. I would definitely NOT have bought it again because it wasn't worth it except for pictures. The cupcake pan was very cute though and I made cupcakes the night before we left and the penis cupcakes came out great! Overall, the stuff came quick and good quality except for the Pinata.

Last Fling Before the Ring Laser Door Banner, Bachelorette Party Dares Card Game, Last Fling Before the Ring Door Sign
Bachelorette.com A+
Again, these were a few items that the other site didn't offer and for $20, I got all three items and they came really quick. The were perfect and we put them on the outside of our hotel room doors at Foxwoods. It ****** because someone stole the Last Fling Before the Ring Door Sign before we could get a picture of it on our door.

Bridezilla Crown and Bridal Sash
MOH bought A++++
I was so excited when I found out from my Matron of Honor told me she bought a crown with Bridezilla on it. I wore it the entire Bachelorette weekend and even after that. I stayed pretty well on my head but after a while it did start to hurt my head and I had to take it off and give my head a rest. The sash was cute but it was definitely too big. We used it for a few photos but I didn't wear it because it didn't sit right across my shoulders.


REGISTRIES
Macy's: A
Overall good registry although their stuff seems to be overpriced. I only registered at Macy's since my aunt told me that I had to since most people all over the country could shop at Macy's.
Fortunoff: A+
I loved Fortunoff. Their prices were great and they had some wonderful stuff. I registered for all my china through Fortunoff instead of Macy's because of their lower prices. Their customer service was really good and they were easy to work with. Great experience with them.
JCPenney: A
I LOVE JCPenney and I registered for most of my stuff through JCPenney. The only problem with JCPenney is that they are primarily online and so it is really tough to find stuff in store. Not many people bought me stuff from JCPenney since it was primarily online and most of the stuff I wanted, you couldn't buy in the store. But everything that I got from there and bought on my own (after the wedding) was of great quality and I absolutely love.
Bed,Bath and Beyond: A-
They were a very good registry and had a lot of good things that I could only find there. My only problem was that they never sent my mom registry cards for the shower invites so no one knew I was registered there except for a few people. My mom wound up buying me most of the stuff off that registry since no one else really knew about it and she felt bad. I love my mom!

Bridal Shower
Vitales Restaurant Brooklyn, NY A++++++++++
My mom planned an amazing shower and she did it more or less on her own (with some help from my aunt, my MOH, and my grandmother). I'm an only child and since this was the only wedding (God willing) that her daughter was going to have, she wanted to do the bridal shower right. We have used Vitales Restaurant for many of our families parties over the years so it was no surprise that we were going to have it there. But my mom decorated the room, with the help of the friend of the family from Betcha I Can Getcha, awesome and I was so excited and surprised by how awesome it turned out. I had a great shower and it was better than I ever imagined it would be. I give my mom major props for planning a great party!


Rehearsal Dinner
Strathmore-Vanderbilt Country Club A+
This is my in-laws country club so it was in close proximity to the church and we knew that the food was really good. It was perfect fro what we needed and our rehearsal dinner was a great success. We had some good times and everyone enjoyed themselves. And now my brother in law and soon to be sister in law will be having their wedding reception there in October of this year so it worked out for everyone all around.

Bridesmaid Gifts
Bloomingdales A+++
I found these gorgeous necklaces online at Bloomingdales.com and I kept putting off buying them because I wasn't completely sure if I wanted to buy them for sure. Well, finally, I decided to buy them because they were just too beautiful to pass up and I thought they would look awesome with the bridesmaid dress neckline. Well, of course, because I waited so long, they were no longer selling the necklace. I was devastated. So I decided to call the actual manufacturer Carolee to see if I could order the necklace directly from them. However, when I called and described the necklace to them, they had no idea what I was talking about and couldn't find the style. I even had one of their booklets with the style number for the necklace and they still couldn'y find it. I was totally disheartened. Carolee was absolutely no help so I started to look elsewhere. So I started looking around for something else but was clueless because I couldn't find anything else that was as nice. At the time I was working for Cantor Fitzgerald on 59th St and Park Avenue, right around the corner from Bloomindales. So one day after work, I decide to take a chance and go see if they have the necklace. It's a long shot but I gotta try. So I go to the Carolee counter and right there in the display case is the necklace that I absolutely love. So I tell the woman that I want that necklace and I need 6 of them, one for each bridesmaid. The woman was super helpful and at first was unsure she would have enough of the necklaces. Lucky for me, she had 6 necklaces and wrapped them up nicely. She also gave me 2 jewelery boxes made of leather from Carolee since I bought so many. I decided to keep one and them give one to my MOH as part of her gift as well. So as I was getting ready to leave, I decided to buy one more for myself. Not to wear for the wedding but for after the wedding was over. The necklace was so pretty I couldn't resist. The girls loved them and still wear them now because of how pretty they are. I was very happy with my purchase and thank goodness Bloomingdales still had them in stock in the store even though the website didn't.


Mother of the Bride and Mother of the Groom Jewelry, FlowerGirl and Ring Bearer Jewelry
Macy's.com A+++
We bought our mother's both a sapphire journey necklace, one in white gold for my mom and one in yellow gold for his mom. Both of our mom's birthdays are in September so we decided to give it to them as a birthday/thank you gift for the wedding. They were be beautiful and we were able to get them on sale as they were originally priced at $600 and we were able to pay half that for each of them. My MIL bought these gifts for the flower girl and ring bearer and I never even got a chance to see them since they were wrapped at Macy's. I trust my MIL's taste in jewelry and I know she got my flower girl a gold necklace and my ring bearer gold earrings. You usually can't go wrong with anything from Macy's though.

Groom's Gift
Apple.com A+++
I bought Mike an iPod for a wedding gift because he never had one. Apple.com allowed me to personalize the back since it was a wedding gift. Mike was so happy and shocked that I got him an iPod since he really wanted one. It made me feel really happy to see him so surprised.

Day of Jewelry
Macy's A+++
Michael bought me a pair of white gold earrings with diamonds and a cultured pearl for his wedding gift to me. My mother had bought me a pearl necklace for my college graduation from NYU 3 years earlier and I decided to wear that as my something old. My MIL gave me her pearl bracelet as my something borrowed. And the earrings became my something new. They all matched perfectly and I LOVED my DOJ. I still wear the earrings after the wedding since they are so pretty.


4 Points Sheraton A++++++++
All I can say is WOW! The rooms were outrageous. This came as a complete shock since we were originally not going to stay in a hotel but when we did decide to stay there a week before the wedding, we were so thankful that they had rooms available since most other hotels didn't. They were not cheap rates but they were reasonable for a Saturday night. Our room was huge with a king size bed and a pull out couch and a jacuzzi bath tub. It was awesome. My mother and I shared the king size bed and my cousin slept on the pull out couch bed. Michael, before he left, said that he wished we had booked this room for our wedding night instead but it was a little late at that point. My other three bridesmaids had a large room as well with two double beds and a pull out sofa bed. Again, for the price, the rooms were amazing. The hotel was very accomodating and allowed us to use whatever we needed the morning of to do our hair and make-up. They also gave free morning coffee and tea and my girls and my vendors took full advantage of it. We did an express form of check out and all I had to do was sign as we were leaving. They were very nice and very friendly and told me congratulations as we departed. If only they had a shuttle service to and from the hotel, I would have totally blocked rooms there for our guests. They were outrageous!

Executive Inn at Woodbury A-
Not nearly as nice as the 4 Points Sheraton but not a dump either. Their prices were very reasonable for the weekend and we blocked 20 rooms for our out of town guests. The rooms were clean and nice and that was enough for one night. Mike and I booked a honeymoon suite for the night of the wedding which was a two floor suite with a full kitchen and living room and a bedroom upstairs. This was good for us because we knew that everyone was going to come back to our room after the wedding to hang out and party. The other reason why we booked with the executive inn was they had a shuttle service running to the Woodbury Country Club for free. This was perfect so that guests who were staying overnight could drink as much as they wanted and didn't have to worry about driving after the party. We offered the shuttle service before the reception and after the reception so that people could go straight to the hotel after the church and leave their cars and then ride the shuttle back to the reception. This worked out well for all of our guests. We also gave the hotel welcome bags for our out of town guests and they did give them out to all of our guests which I was pleased to hear. My in laws made up the bags and they were actually really cute. I'm sure someone has a picture of one of the bags made up so once I find it, I'll post it since they did a really cute job. After the wedding, the shuttle service was perfect. The shuttle ran from 11:00 to 12:00 and got everyone safetly back to the hotel. As I thought, everyone came back to our hotel room and we stayed up partying until 4am. There was a white catle run sometime around 2am and all the boys stood out on the balcony smoking cigars and joking around. It was a good night. The next morning, they offered a free breakfast buffet, which Mike and I unfortunately missed. But they served fresh coffee and tea so that was good. We all sat around in the hotel lobby area and hung out some more before everyone headed for home. Again, the hotel was nice and worked well for what we needed. The staff were helpful at times and overall we had a good experience with them.

And now...the important vendors!

Mother Nature A
November can go either way. In 2006, the weather was still warm outside and so I prayed that we would have another November like that in 2007. Well, it was definitely NOT as warm as the year before but it wasn't freezing either. It was cold and I had to wear that shawl quite a bit outside. But it was a bright and sunny day and it was beautiful. After a while, I forgot about the cold and just dealt with it. That is probably the reason that I got sick the day after the wedding and came down with a fever of 101. But you know what, I don't regret it and I'd do it all over again if I had to. I had a great day.

Wedding Gown, MOB Gown, MOH and Bridesmaid Gowns
Lotus Bridal A+++++++++++++++
Gown: Allure Style 8364 - Ivory

I LOVED Lotus Bridal and I highly recommend them to anyone who lives in Brooklyn looking to buy a wedding dress. I had gone to a few places to try on dresses like RK Bridal and Kleinfields and had ok experiences. But they were nothing compared to my experience with Lotus Bridal. They were just soooo nice and so accomodating. I had seen the Allure dress in a magazine when I first got engaged and fell in love with it instantly. I couldn't wait to go dress shopping to actually try it on. But I was also really nervous because I was afraid to try it on and then hate it. So the first time I went dress shopping at RK Bridal with my MOH, I tried that dress on last. But as soon as I put it on, I started to tear up and I knew it was the one. RK Bridal seemed a little pushy for my taste and too much of a churn and burn place and I wanted to go some place that was smaller and that would fuss over me (every bride should have that experience in my opinion). So I tried a few more bridal salons and didn't have the best experiences with them until I found Lotus Bridal. They were so friendly and so easy going and let me take my time and try on as many dresses as I wanted. They also allowed us to take pictures which all of the other bridal boutiques wouldn't let us do until we actually bought the dress. The first time I went, they started playing with different veils and tiaras on my head and it was so much fun. I knew instantly that I wanted thhis dress and I wanted to buy it from here. They also offered a discount of 15% off anything else that I bought from them. This was a great incentive and decided to use them for everything. I ordered my dress in February and it came in to the salon in August. I was so excited when I got the call and set up a first fitting immediately. They were so accomodating. Everytime I walked in to the salon, I got welcomed with big hello's and a willingness to help. I felt like a rockstar everytime and it was great working with them.
Alterations: A+
I used Lotus Bridal for the alterations of my wedding gown as well and again, I couldn't have been happier. I had been between a size 10 and 8 and they decided to go with the 10 just to make sure. I was trying to lose weight before the wedding and I had lost some (not nearly as much as I'd hoped) but when I went for the first fitting, the dress fit really well but definitely needed to be taken in. It wound up being fitted down to an 8 but I was glad that I had ordered the bigger size in case. I did a traditional bustle so that the beading on the bottom of the train would show and they did the threading color coded so that it would be easier for my bridesmaids to figure out. I went for 3 fittings but I only really needed two...I did the third a few days before the wedding just as a precaution. They were really nice and did a great job. They even sewed bra cups into my dress (since I wasn't wearing a slip or one piece underneath) so that I didn't have to wear a bra and it worked perfect. They were even so nice that I needed a bridesmaid dress for my best friends wedding that was 3 weeks before mine to be altered since the place we ordered from ordered me a size 12 because they wanted to charge me for the alterations. They offered to do the alterations for me within a week and did a great job. They shrank the dress down from a 12 to an 8 and made it look awesome. Overall, I was very pleased with their work!

MOB Gown: A+++
I didn't know if I was going to like my mom's dress at first because when I saw it on the floor model, I wasn't impressed. However, when she finally decided to try it on, she looked gorgeous in it and we both said "that's the dress". She ordered it in August and it came in September. She was also trying to lose weight for the wedding and did and so she went for three fittings as well and they did a great job with her dress too. I forgot the designer but I thought it was such a beautiful dress and my mom looked great in it!
MOH and Bridesmaids Dresses A+++
Gown: Impression
Again, I had looked at a lot of gowns and was very undecided about what I liked. A lot of the dresses I liked, the girls didn't like because of one reason or another. Also, I had to take into account that I had two bridesmaids who were bigger than the other girls and I didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable either. So I stumbled upon this dress while checking out the gowns that Lotus Bridal carried and saw an empire gown that was just gorgeous. I fell in love with it instantly, emailed the picture to all the girls and they all loved it. Especially the empire wait feature. They also loved the fact that their boobies would be popping in that dress so they were all sold. My favorite color is purple so naturally, I wanted the girls to wear a dark shade of purple. I picked aubergine for the girls and orchid for my MOH (to differentiate her from the other girls). They ordered their dresses in early April and they came in to the salon in August. The dresses were great! Funny story, when my MOH went to get measured for the dress originally, they told her she was between a 10 and a 12. They told her she should buy the 12 just in case but my MOH opted for the smaller size. Well, low and behold, 3 months before the wedding, guess what? My MOH is pregnant! And what's more, when she goes to get fitted for the dress, it doesn't fit! She didn't have it altered by Lotus because she lives in NJ but her seamstress had to rebuild the entire dress. She should have bought the larger size. LOL The girls looked great the day of the wedding and the dress was flattering on all of them. I was so glad that I found that dress.
Tiara: A+++++
I knew I wanted a tiara but I didn't want anything too big or gaudy. I wanted something elegant and not too tall but something bigger than a headband. While trying on my gown, one of the girls placed this tiara on my head and I thought how beautiful it was. I had looked at something similar by Thomas Knoell and although he does great work, he wanted over $500 for the tiara. I wasn't looking to spend that much. So this tiara was just as nice and was half the price so I was sold on it. It looked gorgeous the day of and wasn't too much to detract from the dress but not too little that it was hidden. It was just perfect.
Veil: A+++++
Again, while trying on my dress at Lotus Bridal, I started playing around with different veils. I didn't know if I wanted a blusher at first but I definitely wanted a fingertip length veil. Well, the girl placed this veil on me that has a blusher and a beautiful design along the edge of the veil. It came a little past finger length but the detail on the edge of the veil matched the detail on the bodice of my dress perfectly. I fell in love and had to have it. It matched perfectly with my tiara and what I liked was that it wasn't attached so after the first dance, I could take the veil off but still keep the tiara on. I was very happy with my choice as it was beautiful.

Flowergirl and Ring Bearer dress
David's Bridal (PA) C
Neither of us had little boys in our family to be a ring bearer so we asked Mike's two cousins who are sisters to be our flower girl and ring bearer. They both wore the same dress and I thought it was perfect. I loved the dress that I picked for them. I saw it on the David's Bridal site and thought it matched my wedding dress really closely. The girls went to try it on and didn't want to take them off. Here's why they got a C. From what I hear, the store ordered the wrong sizes for the girls and ordered them too big so that they had to do alterations. These are little girls and they are both tiny and there was no need to order bigger sizes for either of them. I felt horrible for their mother but the girls still looked great.

Tuxedos
Belle Formal, Belle Boulevard, NY A+
This was a vendor that I had no involvement in because DH handled him with his groomsmen. This was a vendor that everyone in his family has used for tuxedos in the past so he's become a friend of the family. Michael and I decided that we wanted a classic look but with something different. At first, DH's family wanted to wear kilts for the wedding but I was pretty adamant that the kilts would not work with my color scheme and I was not really happy with DH wearing a skirt to the wedding, especially when they all kept threatening to go commando so they could moon everyone. So what we decided was that Mike would wear a black tuxedo with a black shirt and ivory vest and tie while all the other boys wore back tuxedos, black vests and ties and ivory shirts. It looked awesome. I loved how the black shirt and ivory vest looked on him and it really stood out in the pictures. We even had our cake topper match that look since I thought it looked hot. Spiro was great to work with and DH got his tux free since all the other boys rented theirs from him. My two cousins who don't live in Long Island were able to call in thier measurements and it all worked out great. All the boys looked great the day of the wedding and I was very pleased.

Flowers
Flower Michele A++++++++++
Before the Wedding: After reading recommendations of the girls on LI Weddings, I decided to see a few florists. I met with LA Blossoms, Flowers by Burton, Flower Michele and one that my in-laws recommended Flowers by Pete. the two that I recommend are LA Blossom and Flower Michele (obviously). The reason we didn't go with Laurie is that Flower Michele quoted us a better price and the bouquet that I wanted was specifically John's creation (as I found it on his site) and so I went with Flower Michele. But even on my first visit with them, I knew I wanted to use them. John is so friendly and knows A LOT about Flowers. He has great vision when it comes to flowers and what works and what doesn't work. All I knew was that I wanted the purple roses, cala lillies and stephanotis bouquet on his website and that I wanted the girls to have all white rose bouquets. I had no idea what else I wanted. In talking with John and tossing some ideas around, we told him about our possible martini theme and how we'd like to somehow incorporate centerpieces with a martini glass. Well, he loved the idea and totally ran with it. He started talking about doing different colors for each table and then we thought it might be cool to name the different tables by a different martini drink and color coordinating the martini centerpiece to match. He loved it and said he could dye hydrangea and place that inside the martini glass to whatever color martini we wanted. It was such a cool idea and we totally decided on it. We spent a decent amount on flowers but he was the best price and I felt confident in the end result. A few months before the wedding, we went to see our sample centerpiece. As we were walking to the store, I saw it from outside the window and gasped. It was more beautiful than I imagined it to be. I was completely in awe and was so happy with it. I was completely confident in John before seeing the sample but now I was definitely confident.
The Day of: The flowers arrived early on the day of the wedding and my bouquet was exactly what I thought it would be. It was absolutely gorgeous and I was really happy with it. I wished it could have been a tad bit larger but still it looked gorgeous and was exactly what I dreamed it would be. The girl's bouquets looked great and the boys' boutinneers (mini Calla lillies) looked great. The only thing was that John used silk stephanotis for my bouquet and Michael's boutineer because the ones he ordered had wilted a little. I didn't care though because you couldn't even tell they were fake unless you looked up close. When we got to the reception hall, I was amazed at the centerpieces. John did an amazing job and they looked unbelievable. They totally colorized the room. They were so creative and lovely and everyone couldn't stop raving about them all night. People were fighting over who got to take the centerpieces home at the end of the night. I was unfortunate not to get one but a friend of the family did wrap one up with Christmas balls and tinsel and an ornament that said Our first Chirstmas and gave it to me as a Christmas gift which I thought was really sweet. Overall, I was very happy with the job John and Flower Michele did for my wedding and I highly recommend them to anyone. John is a flower genious and he's great at what he does. And what I liked most about him, is that he remembers his brides. We went to the LI Weddings Bridal Show and he was there and he saw me from across the room and said hi to me and called me the Martini Glass girl. I was stunned that in a room full of brides, many who probably were using them, he took the time out to say hi to me and remembered who I was. I love Flower Michele!


Limousines
Double Diamond A++++++++++++++++
This is another vendor that I am thrilled to recommend. I originally wanted a rolls royce for DH and I after the wedding (well, actually I wanted a horse and carriage but because my mom reminded me how allergic I am to horses and how my wedding day was NOT the day to have an allergy attack, we nixed the horse and carriage idea) but after talking about it, we really wanted to spend the time with our bridal party in the limo. So we opted for two limos, one 10 passanger Lincoln for the boys and one 14 passanger Cadillac Deville for the girls. The limos were clean and I didn't think about the limos since I gave this task to Mike to handle (this was his big important task when it came to wedding planning...lol). Well, a few weeks before the wedding, we went to go pay and we started talking with Tommy about the limos we were using. Well, he told us that he was going to upgrade us at no extra charge! We couldn't believe it. Instead of the 10 pass Lincoln, we were going to have a 20 passanger Lincoln Navigator and the 14 passanger Cadillac. We were totally amazed and excited.
Day of:
The day of the wedding the limos came right on schedule. We were picked up at the 4 points Sheraton and were brought over to the Woodbury Country Club for pictures before the church. Our limo driver was super helpful and attentive and was very professional. He helped me in and out of the limo as well as all of the other girls. The bar was fully stocked with drinks and champagne and were very clean. Once we got to the church, he helped all of the girls out of the car and left my mother and me inside the limo. He was so sweet because as we were waiting on the side of the church for the beginning of the ceremony, he came over to me and said, "I hope that you don't mind that I'm not being as attentive to you as I normally would be and paying more attention to helping your mom". Now here's the reason that this touched me more than anything. My mom has Multiple Schlerosis and it makes it very difficult for her to walk and she uses a cane. He was so attentive to her and helping her in an out of the limo and having her hold his arm to ensure that she was ok. It wasn't that he wasn't helping me, but he would help me but then help my mom and help hold her up so she didn't fall. I started to tear up when he said that and all I could say was, "You have no idea how much I appreciate you helping her. I'm fine. I'd rather you help her than me". It meant so much and I really felt safe with them. They got us to the church on time and helped fan out my dress before I was about to walk down the aisle and held the doors open for us as we walked in and as we walked out. There was some traffic on the way from the Church to the Woodbury CC but they didn't charge us overtime for the half hour over that we went. They were so helpful and I hugged both of them when they were getting ready to leave. I feel really great recommending them to other brides, whether you are in Brooklyn or Long Island. They are a good company and nice people. And, as part of our agreement, they also picked us up and drove us to the airport the morning of our honeymoon. He was right on time to pick us up and got us to the airport in perfect time and helped us with our bags and everything. Even offered to pick us up when we got back. We never called to schedule that because our plans changed while we were in Aruba but we thought that was a really sweet guesture. Highly Recommend!!!

Hair and Makeup
Mia from B R I D A L L O U N G E A++++++++++
I was very unsure about hair and makeup. After reading other brides's experiences and reviews, I realized that airbrush was the way to go for the wedding over traditional makeup. I went for a trial with Mia for my hair and makeup and I absolutely loved the way my makeup came out. I don't have bad skin or any flaws on my face but I loved the way the airbrush felt on my skin and how light it was. I also loved that it lasted all day and night. Mia knew exactly the right shade of make-up to use on me and since I have naturally tanned skin, I wanted my make-up to look as close to my natural color as possible. I was so happy. I give Mia soooo much credit for dealing with my hair. I have japanese straightening in my hair and of course for the day of my wedding, I want curls. I told her all this before I met with her so she was prepared. So during the trial, she used tons of hairspray (which I never use) and it actually kept a curl. She tried two different styles of half up and half down and I liked both. I felt totally confident in Mia's abilities and trusted that my hair would look great the day of the wedding. Fast forward to a few weeks before the wedding. After talking to my DOC Christine, I told her my concern about my hair not staying curled all night due to the japanese straightening. We talked about it and she told me that perhaps I should do extensions in my hair. Not I had thought about it but didn't know if I really wanted to have that cost. But, after a long time thinking about it, I decided I needed to do the extensions in order to have my hair the way I wanted it. Mia was more than accomodating and said it would cost a little extra but I knew it would be worth it. I just needed to add an extra hour onto the process. No problem...LOL.
Now we fast forward to a week before the wedding. So Christine told Mia the situation with my mom's house and how she would not only be doing my hair and make-up the day of the wedding but also my three bridesmaids hair and make-up as well. Mia was very accomodating. She showed up early and got straight to work. She put the extensions in my hair and curled my hair and the extensions and her assistant did my make-up and then they did the girls' hair and make-up and they all looked beautiful. She is so pleasant to work with and very accomodating. I would recommend her to anyone. You will not be disappointed in the least. My hair and make-up stayed all night long and looked flawless all night. The only thing was that it was incredibily hard to take the extensions out at the end of the night but it was the best thing I could have ever done. LOVE MIA!!!!

DJ
FM Entertainment B
Prior to Wedding: A; Day of the Wedding: B-
DH and I spent a long time looking for a good DJ and we visited quite a few. Most were really expensive and I was shocked with how expensive DJs were. I wanted a nice light show, good dance music, and I wanted projection screens. I had always dreamed of having a video montage of my baby pictures, my husband's baby pictures and pictures of us dating at my wedding. Mike and I had bought a Mac and I decided to get courageous and do it myself. So for a good three months I worked on this DVD and I did a really great job. I was very proud of the outcome. So when we met with Frank and Mike of FM Entertainment, we watched their showcase at their studio and we booked them on the spot. Frank wasn't available for our wedding so we were gonna have Mike as our MC. He was good and we liked him so we felt good and secure about our DJ. They were easy to get in touch with but we didn't need to until 2 weeks before the wedding to go over the music and all. So we explained to him what we wanted. I gave him my must play songs list and my "do not play list". We also spoke about line dancing and I explained that I only wanted two line dances played, the Cotton Eyed Joe and the Electric Slide. I definitely wanted the Cotton Eyed Joe played and I even starred it. It was something special between me and my friends so I had to have it played. Also, in speaking with Frank and Mike, I explained that I didn't want anyone to request songs unless it was cleared through DH or I first since I hate Disco and I didn't want people going up there and requesting disco songs all night.
So now, we fast forward to the reception. The introductions were perfect, except that Mike butchered one of my bridesmaids' names and she happens to be my cousin but it was all fine. Her name is Chevenee and so I can see how that can get confusing to say even though we did say it to him a few times before the intros but whatever. We go through our first dance and they have the spotlight on us with our names and wedding date cast upon the floor. Loved that touch. So after the first dance, we get whisked outside by the photographer and videographer to take some awesome night time photos. Meanwhile, the appetizer is being served. On DH's side, one of his father's aunts is a nun and he wanted her to do a blessing before the meal. Well, I didn't check it off on the to-do list because I had no idea his dad was going to do this. So he asks Mike for the microphone and Mike tells him no. Well, FIL has been drinking all day and starts getting into an argument with Mike and telling him he's the father of the groom and to give him the microphone. Mike refused, saying he would have to clear it through the bride or the groom. Of course, we're outside and oblivious to all this going on. So finally, after a bit more yelling, Mike finally gives my FIL the mike andthe blessing commences. When we come back in, FIL is furious and starts telling DH that he hates our DJ and that he's lucky he didn't punch him. Whatever, just let it roll off my back. So they play a lot of good mixes of songs, mostly the dance and hip hop songs that we wanted but he threw in quite a bit of oldies but goodies. However at one point, he puts on a song that was on my to play list called Party Up by DMX. What I didn't realize was that he decided to play the unedited version with every single cuss word. Now, I didn't have children under the age of 13 at the reception except my flower girl and ring bearer but everyone looked shocked at the cuss words from the song. Finally, through the middle verse, he finally cuts it off and moves to a different song. I was disappointed but I suppose I should have warned him and told him to play the edited version.
Now we get to dinner service and this is where my homemade DVD comes in. Except that Mike informs me it isn't working. It won't play. So now I'm freaking out. Three months of perfecting this and now it isn't working. Mike says he will try and fix it but he can't guarantee anything. I start getting upset but as the time drifts on and people are eating, I start to realize that my dream isn't going to happen and I paid for the projection screens for nothing. Mike finally walks back over to me, as the dinner service is coming to an end and tells me he fixed it. I jumped up and hugged and kissed him. He said that when I made the DVD, I didn't close it and so it was still open. He was able to close it and it worked perfectly. The slideshow was a big success and everyone loved it and complimented me on such a cute idea. They couldn't get over the cute baby pictures of Mike and I and I was so happy that it had worked afterall. The rest of the night went well. Mike played most of the songs I wanted played however, he didn't play either of the two line dances like I asked and I was greatly disappointed at that. The other thing that I found out from DH after the wedding, was that FIL asked Mike to play his wedding song with MIL and his mother's wedding song and Mike didn't want to play them. DH, after the incident earlier, had spoken with Mike and told him to play whatever FIL asked him to play and that he didn't need mine or his approval since he's the father of the groom. Well, he still refused to play any of the songs FIL asked for him to play. Overall, FM Entertainment did a good job but I was not thrilled with the way they did my wedding. In a way, they did do what I asked which was to not take requests without approval but after DH had spoken to him, he should have listened to FIL at that point. And I was greatly disappointed that they didn't play all the songs that I wanted.

Church
St. Mary's Church, Manhasset, NY B-
I hate rating a church but in this instance I kind of have to. The church was gorgeous and it was DH's parish when he was growing up. The one concession that I made to DH was that we would have a church wedding instead of an outdoor ceremony like I wanted originally. Leading up to the wedding, things with the church went ok. However, we couldn't get in touch with the music organizer and singer for the church. We called her every week for two months straight and left her numerous messages and she never called back. We got so frustrated that we called the church quite a number of times to try and get in touch with her and she still never called us back. Finally, about a month before the wedding, she calls back all apologetic. I just wanted to get this over with so I let it go. Music selection was easy as I knew I wanted to walk down to Pachabel's Canon in D. So, the night of the rehearsal, the woman running it was so unhelpful. She rushed through the entire run through and when I said I got confused on where we were supposed to stand at one point, she seemed to get flustered and ran through it so quick it made my head spin. I also gave her the breakdown of the three people who were doing readings, Mike's friend Joe, my uncle and my aunt. So the day of the wedding, everything is going perfect. It gets time for the third reading and for my aunt to go up, and Father McCann starts doing the reading himself. So me and DH start whispering to him to stop but he keeps going and finally, I say it louder for him to hear, "Father, excuse me, but we have a reader for that portion." Well, of course, the b*tch from the the rehearsal forgot to write down that my aunt was doing the last reading. So my aunt gets up and does the reading. After the ceremony was concluded, and he pronounced us husband and wife, Mike and I just stood there, expecting him to say "kiss the bride" but he never did. I was so disappointed. So DH and I kissed regardless and everyone started clapping. We walked out of the church and did the receiving line as everyone walked out but then we decided to go back inside for more pictures. Well, when we walked in, the church lights were pretty much out. Again, I was really disappointed. We got some great shots though inside the church using natural light and I'm excited to see those but it would have been nice to have the lights on for some pictures.

Photography
12th Night Photography A++++++++++
Before Wedding: A+, Day of Wedding: A+++++, After Wedding: TBD

I love 12th Night. When we first met with Dom and saw the albums and the DVD photo slide show, I immediately wanted to book them. We had looked around a little but after reading all the comments from other 12th night brides and meeting with them in person, we booked them immediately. Dom was not available for our wedding date but we were to have Geraldine and Gabe since we decided to have two photographers. We did our engagement shoot with Geraldine in a park in Garden City and we had a great time. The pictures came out awesome. We would up with over 300 pictures and I had a hard time choosing the ones I liked the most since there were so many to choose from. Hence, why we used 7 pictures in our save the date magnet. Geraldine was easy to work with and such a nice person and I felt natural with her just shooting away. I knew I was in good hands for my wedding.
Day of Wedding: Geraldine and her assist Akeem showed up at the 4 Points Sheraton right on time and got to work immediately. Gabe had gone to DH's mom's house to shoot the boys getting ready. Geraldine was not intrusive and she knew how to best utilize the light for all the photos. We used the bathroom which had a gorgeous glow from the sun and the blinds. My friends used their cameras to take non pro pics of what Geraldine was capturing with her camera and if her pictures look as good as theirs did, I can't wait to see them. Geraldine was always snapping pictures and when we got to the Woodbury Country Club before the ceremony for pictures, she just kept coming up with great shots. One thing that was so awesome was how nice they were. When we first walked onto the gardens at the Woodbury, they had a runner outside and my mom, having MS and who has a hard time walking, tripped and fell hard onto the ground. I freaked out and tried to help her up but with my dress and flowers, it was impossible. Not only did Geraldine, Akeem, and Andy (videographer) help her to her feet, Akeem took her arm and walked with her the entire time to make sure she was ok. First the limo driver and now my photographer. I was so happy. They staged the moment for DH and I to first see each other out on the grounds and it was a very special moment. DH even started to tear up and he NEVER cries. I was disappointed because the Woodbury wouldn't let us use the inside staircase because another party (a 40th birthday party) was going on upstairs but they said we could use it later. So we decided we would recreate the scene later using the staircase but never got around to doing it which stinks but what can you do. Geraldine and Gabe continued to take pictures althroughout the church and cocktail hour. She kept asking me if I wanted to do some of the pictures that I had written on my list and some of them I did do and some I regret that we didn't get to. Geraldine after the church told me and DH how much fun she was having with us and how we were such a fun couple to work with that she had to take a picture and send it to Dominic to tell him how much fun we were having. She used her own camera phone to take a picture of us and sent it to him with a funny message saying that we were having a blast. I guess he wasn't having as much fun or something. I don't know but Geraldine and Gabe seemed happy to be working with us and we were happy since we were getting some great pictures. They did the traditonal posed family pictures once at the reception hall and while Geraldine was taking the traditional shots, I know that Gabe was around somewhere getting more candids. once Geraldine left, Gabe took over and I saw him all over the place taking pictures. He wasn't obtrusive and I know that he took some great pictures. We took some outdoor pictures at night by the water and the bridge that I'm sure came out really awesome. He and the videographer left a half hour before the wedding reception ended (even though I thought they were going to stay until the end of the night) but it was ok. I know that I have well over 1100 pictures so I can't wait to see the pictures.
After the Wedding: It is 3 months after the wedding and I still don't have my pictures. I've spoken with Dom and I know they are running behind due to an overabundance of weddings in 2007. Dom did say that he would design my thank you card so that I can have it to send out during the month of February but I may have to wait until March for my DVDs and pictures. I'm just anxious to see them and I wish I had them already but I have no doubt that they will be gorgeous and I'll be happy with the result. I just have to be patient which I am trying to be...sort of

Videography
Mittermax A++++++++++
Before: A+, Day of Wedding: A+++, After the Wedding: TBD

Before: Again, my family is video people and I grew up with my mom and dad videotaping my every movement. So when it came to choosing a videographer, I knew that this was something that was very important to me. Dominic from 12th Night suggested Travis from Mittermax and once I watched his sample video, I knew why. When we met with Travis, he was so easy going and nice that we booked him on the spot as well. I had seen a few other videos by other videographers and wasn't completely impressed. However, I was impressed by Travis' video and the way that the footage was shot and presented. I was very excited to book Travis for our wedding. However, a week later, Travis called and told us that he unfortunately would not be able to shoot our wedding like he originally thought because he was already booked for another wedding. So instead, he offered to give us Andy as our main videographer and another videographer for free unless we wanted him to return our deposit. It turned out that one of the samples that we had seen had been Andy's work so I was confident and decided to stay with Mittermax.
Day of Wedding: Andy was there right on time with Geraldine and got straight to work. He was pretty funny and started cracking jokes as soon as he got in the room. He was very friendly and tried different angles and interesting shots to make it very different. He seemed to document all the important actions of the day. When we arrived at the Woodbury Country Club for the before the ceremony pictures, he was always shooting and trying different things so that the shots were not always the most traditional views which I am excited to see. The other videographer was with the boys getting ready and from what I hear, it was an interesting morning indeed so I'm excited to see their portion. He was all over the place at the reception and I have no doubt that he captured the important parts of the evening. Neither Andy nor his assistant were obtrusive and they seemed to be capturing all the action without getting in the way either. I'm very excited to see my wedding video and I know it'll be something very special for my future children to see and that I will treasure for years to come.
After the Wedding: About two months after our wedding, Travis let me know that all my footage was ready to start being edited but he needed my music. I finally got it to him by the end of the month of January. The only thing now is that I need to email him me and Michael's baby pictures, pictures of us dating and then our honeymoon pictures. I'm still finalizing the selection of those so that is probably holding up production a bit. I have no doubt the video will look good but Mike and I need to make our selections so that we can have it finished already. I'll update once I have the video.

Reception
Woodbury Country Club A+++++
Before: We went to a lot of wedding venues before deciding on the Woodbury CC. Originally, we wanted a Saturday evening wedding in September. However, the prices were outrageous and originally, we had a guest list of over 250. So, I started to think that maybe we should do November 10th or 11th since Mike proposed on November 10th, 2006. So, when we met with banquet manager Andrew at the Woodbury, he sat us down and catered to us by bringing us food from the cocktail hour and some desserts. He also gave us a viennese hour and thus an extra hour of reception all for the same price. The difference between a Saturday and Sunday was a $50 per person charge and they had November 11th open but not November 10th so we tentatively put a deposit down on the spot to hold our date. He gave us a month before we could change our mind and ask for a refund. So, within that month, we had a reception venue booked but could still look around. Well, we did use that month to shop around and nothing else compared to what the Woodbury was offering and the grounds were just incredible. So, after a month of shopping around, we were completely convinced that the Woodbury was perfect for our wedding. The times were not the best as our Church was at 3:30pm and the cocktail hour for the wedding was to start at 4:30pm. However, if we were willing to have the cocktail hour outside under tents, we could start the cocktail hour whenever we wished. So after seeing pictures of the tents, we decided to go for it so that we could start the cocktail hour at 5:30. The Woodbury also offered a hospitality hour for those guests who arrived early, serving champagne and strawberries. They were very easy to get in touch with and get my questions answered in a timely manner. They worked out a reasonable payment schedule and it made our lives so much easier than paying everything all at once. At our final tasting and meal selection, the amount of food that they were offering during the cocktail hour was unbelievable. We had four stations, an asian station, a carving station with two carvings (turkey and roast beef), an italian station, and a tex mex station. There were alsoso much passed food like coconout shrimp, potato puffs, etc. We got to try all of it and it was all really good. Then for the meal, we were to choose a salad, and appetizer, a main course and then we had the wedding cake and the viennese table. We all laughed and said that we were gonna need two stomachs for all this food. A few days before the wedding, we were able to bring all of our favors and other necessities for the day of the wedding. They were very accomodating and placed everything is a safe and secure location and labeled all of the boxes to ensure that it would be available the day of the wedding. We saw Andrew, the man that we had worked with since the beginning of the wedding, and I asked if he would be there on Sunday and he assured me he would be around.
Day of Wedding: We had agreed that we would be arriving to take pictures at the Woodbury at around 12:30pm so that we could have ample amount of time to take pictures before the ceremony. When we arrived, we were able to go downstairs where our reception was to be held and our bridal suite was. Because we were trying to capture the first moment that Michael and I were going to see each other, I had to hide in the bridal suite until the guys arrived. However, Geraldine came back with some bad news for me. Not only had the boys not arrived just yet (they were running late...and they always blame women for being late) and we couldn't use the staircase upstairs for the first moment because there was a party going on upstairs and we couldn't disturb them. They said we could use it later on but not right now. I was definitely disappointed but Geraldine said that we could utilize the gardens outside for the first moment. The gardens were gorgeous and so I wasn't completely disappointed but I was a little annoyed that the Woodbury wouldn't let us use the staircase since it was only a birthday party and not a wedding. So I was disappointed but I let it roll off my shoulders. But the grounds were gorgeous and we utilized them for all the pictures and video we could. Especially in the evening as we had the entire outside to ourselves and took some gorgeous pictures by the water and the bridge. Another thing that I loved about the Woodbury was that there was an elevator that went down to the reception floor so that my mother who has MS and my grandfather who is in a wheelchair could go down and get back out to the main floor with ease. This made me very happy and at ease.
Everyone raved about the hospitality hour and cocktail hour with the overabundance of food. Mike and I attended the cocktail hour so that we would be able to get around to most people to say our hellos and thanking them for coming. It was a smart idea however, we definitely did not get to enough people as we had pictures to take. And we didn't get to eat nearly enough of the good food at the cocktail hour as I had hoped which was disappointing. But everyone said that the food was awesome and plentiful. I was glad to hear that. About 10 minutes before the reception was to begin, we were ushered into the bridal suite and brought some food by the bridal attendent. I had a DOC so the bridal attendent was kind of unnecessary but she was sort of helpful. She wasn't around for a long period of time and I was disappointed in her lack of fucus on me and Mike but again, I had a DOC so I felt pretty well taken care of.
The reception room looked gorgeous and the linens and china were beautiful. The dais for Michael and I was set up at the center of the room across the room from the DJ booth. There were two open bars one on each side of the room and the dance floor was huge. I was super excited and so happy with everything. The food again was plentiful and very delicious. Luckily, I was able to actually eat most of my dinner so I was happy. Our Maitre D had everything running smoothly and on time. It was really cool because he brought us over whatever we wanted so we were never without a drink or food. We was super helpful and friendly and kept everything moving. The only other complaint that was made by a few of our guests was right before the viennese hour. One thing that I requested was that during the viennese hour, that the viennese tables not be set up on the dance floor so that people could continue dancing. They did just that and kept it off the dance floor and off to the side past the guest tables. However, the problem was that people who were leaving early wanted to sneak some before they left. The waiters however were not allowing people to take any of the desserts because the bride and groom hadn't seen the display yet. They actually made some people put desserts back until they were ready to serve. I thought that was unnecessary as there was an over abundance of desserts that the few people who took wouldn't have destroyed the display. But I suppose they figured if they allowed some then other people would complain that they weren't allowed to have any yet either. It was kind of silly but one waiter I heard was pretty rude about it which upset one of my guests. However, I heard another waiter/waitress packed up a little baggy for another guest who was leaving so perhaps my one guest was unlucky to have dealt with a not so nice waiter. Overall, the experience was a good one. The cake was from their bakery and it was strawberry mouse filling with vanilla cake. I only got to taste it when Mike smashed a piece of it into my mouth but from what I tasted, it was really good. I heard mixed reviews about the cake, some people saying it was outrageously good and some saying it was just ok. But everyone agreed that the viennese pastries and goodies were amazing. They had cakes, cookies, chocholate strawberries, fruit, ice cream...an unbelievable amount of desserts. I had a few pastries and what I had was delicious. Our party ended at 11:30pm and they were very accomodating at the end of the night as well. They didn't kick us out immediately and of course, as people do after a wedding, we stood around and collected our belongings and said our goodbyes to our guests and no one was kicking us out. The staff was quickly cleaning up around us and all but we were not rushed out which I thought was really nice. As we were leaving to go wait for our shuttle in the lobby, the maitre d gave us five boxes with pastries, cookies, and cakes from the viennese hour to take with us since they didn't want it to go to waste. They also gave us the top of our wedding cake for our first anniversary. Overall, I had an amazing experience and I was very glad that we had our wedding reception at the Woodbury Country Club. I highly recommend them and brides who are having their weddings there have absolutely nothing to worry about it. The grounds are gorgeous, the reception hall is beautiful, and the staff is accomodating. They aren't perfect but what vendor ever is perfect.

Day of Coordinator
Christine Viola of Exquisite Affairs Productions A++++++++++
Last but not least was my DOC Christine Viola. The first time I met with Christine I knew I was going to like her. She was so down to earth and what I liked was that she started her business after planning her own wedding. I didn't know at first if I wanted a DOC and if in the long run it would be worth it. She wasn't overly expensive, not like other DOC's that I have seen and inquired about, and she was so nice and easy to talk to. I booked her for my wedding and at first, I didn't really utilize her services much. It wasn't until about a month before the wedding that I really needed her help and she was my life saver.
I had become so wrapped up in my job that all the DIY projects that I had planned to do for the wedding fell to the waste side and pushed to the back burner. I knew that I wanted to do donation favor cards since we had made a donation to the MS Society (in honor of my mother) in addition to our favors and I also wanted to make menus for each table and table names for each table, instead of the table numbers used by the hall. Thank Goodness for Christine. For the price of only the supplies, which I would have had to buy on my own anyway, she was willing to do all of those for me so that I wouldn't have to. I was super relieved. This way, I would be able to have the special DIY projects that I wanted but since I didn't have the time to do them, Christine would do them for me. It was such a weight off my back. I also was going to make a card box for the wedding but again, Christine came to the rescue and told me that I could borrow her bird cage for the day of the wedding for all the cards. Again, Christine saved me. A month before the wedding, she came over to my house to go over the run down of my wedding day. She was so professional but at the same time, she was so cool to just sit and talk to. She was very organized and had everything all together for my special day. She was also the one who suggested that I have Mia put the extensions in my hair the day of the wedding so that my hair would look more full and stay curly all night like I wanted despite the japanese straightening. She called all of my vendors weeks before the wedding to ensure that everything was good to go and that they understood the run down of the day. This took A LOT of pressure off of me since I was still stressed out about work as well as getting ready to become a Mrs. Her suggestions were more than helpful. She was also a life saver, as I explained before, when the disaster struck and we had to change the "bridal getting ready spot" from my mom's in Brooklyn to the 4 Points Sheraton in Long Island. She contacted every vendor, while also keeping me sane, and told them about the change and everything worked out smoothly. She worked every last detail out for my wedding and I couldn't thank her enough. Looking back, I wish I had hired her to run the rehearsal too since the woman who did clearly had no clue and I know that Christine was on her game and understood how these rehearsals worked. But hindsight is 20/20.
The day of the wedding, she was on time and ready to get to work. She helped the girls with whatever they needed, she brought some food with her I believe and kept forcing me to eat and yelling at me if she didn't see me eat, which was very sweet even though at the time I found it annoying since everyone had been hounding me that morning about eating. I gave her the money envelopes for all the vendors and I had complete faith in her. She had done nothing to make me not trust her and this was her job and she was very professional about it. As we were leaving the hotel, I freaked out because I hadn't really packed all of my stuff and I was scared that we had forgotten things and then I didn't see everything and I totally had a panic attack. However, my bridesmaids informed me that Christine was on top of it and she had grabbed everything and put it all in the trunk of the limo and in her car. I was so relieved. Christine was always by my side for the remainder of the day, making sure that we had everything and that I was ok. She even joked with me at one point and said that I was one of the most self sufficient brides since I didn't really need much help. She helped coordinate the girls during the ceremony line up and again once they were all outside. She handled all of the tips and payments for the day and I never even noticed that it was being done. I kept asking my vendors to see Christine before they left and they kept telling me that she had already taken care of them. I was super happy with that. She helped me take my veil off after the first dance and placed it in the wedding dress bag so that it didn't get lost or ruined. She told my MOH to keep the lipstick for me in her bouquet so that if I needed to freshen up, it was close by so I could have access to it quickly. This kind of backfired a little because the suggestion gave way to my other bridesmaids placing their cigarettes in their bouquets which in turn started to turn their bouquets brown from the tobacco.
Christine was awesome and she was so helpful throughout the day. I thought a DOC was a luxury and an extra that wasn't completely necessary but it was nice to have. Well, I feel very lucky to have had her and if it hadn't been for her, things may not have run as smoothly as they did that day! She is great and is highly recommended. She has inspired me and now I want to become a wedding planner...maybe she'll hire me! LOL.

HONEYMOONS!!!
We were lucky enough to have two honeymoons, one immediately after the wedding and another one three weeks after that.

Honeymoon Part 1
Caesar's Pocono Resorts A+++++
This was our third time to Cove Haven but I had grown up going to the Caesars Pocono resorts. As a kid, my parents and our family and friends went up every year to Brookdale on the Lake, which was a kid friendly resort, and I grew up with Caesars. So, when it came time to decide on where to go for right after the wedding, it was a no brainer that I HAD to go to Cove Haven. They had updated the resort since the last time we had been there and it was awesome. We met with our honeymoon advisor who gave us free t-shirts, a free bookbag, a free firelog for our room, a free phot album, and free horseback riding for two. We also stayed in the Garden of Eden Apple suite which had a heart shaped jacuzzi and our own private swimming pool. What I like about Cove Haven and all of the Caesar Resorts is that breakfast and dinner is included in the price as well as entertainment and daily activities. We always have a good time when we go and this time was no exception. We made the most of our honeymoon and got involved in all of the activities, ate like kings, made friends and even won the newleywed/not so newleywed game. We plan on going back again soon and this time we'll be forever lovers and get a special discount. Plus, we also still have our voucher for a free horseback ride since it was too cold to use when we went back in November. Overall, I love Cove Haven and recommend it as a nice get away for honeymooners, newleyweds, whoever!

Honeymoon Part 2
Divi Resorts - Aruba A+++++++++++++++++++
Three weeks later, after our wedding we went for a 10 day, 9 night honeymoon to Aruba. My MOH's father had a timeshare at the Divi Village Resort and so we were able to use it for our honeymoon. Our in laws used their miles with American Airlines to and from Aruba so we were lucky for that. I wanted a direct flight to and from Aruba since I am not a huge fan of flying and they were not able to get us first class with a direct flight so we had coach seats but I honestly didn't care that much. As long as I was going straight there and straight back, I was happy. Originally, we had the timeshare from Sunday Dec 9th through Sunday Dec 16th. Right after the wedding, I got this crazy idea to add an extra day and fly up on Saturday and stay Saturday to the following Sunday. We called American Airlines and changed our flight to Saturday. Well, it was so easy that I was completely shocked. The customer service was incredible and the whole conversation took less than 10 mins. We called the Divi and tried to add another day and unfortunately someone was in our room the day before we were scheduled to arrive but they could offer us a studio room at the Dutch Village which was right across the road. So we booked it. It was only for one night. Well, the room was not so great and we were less than pleased. It was on the smaller side and we could hear through the walls of the room next door. But we kept reminding ourselves it was only one night and hopefully our room for the week would be better. Well, thank heavens it was...100 X's better. We had a one bedroom suite with a full kitchenette and balcony over looking the gardens and one of the resorts pools. It was a large enough balcony for a table and two chairs and it was perfect for the two of us. The suite had a living room area with a TV and the bedroom had a nice sized closet, a queen sized bed which was really comfortable, and another TV.
Aruba is gorgeous. The weather was unbelievable. Coming from NY where it was freezing to go to 80 degree weather was simply awesome. The beach was right across the street from our hotel and we were allowed to use the facilities and be involved in the daily and nightly entertainment at the other two Divi hotels across the way, the Tamarijn and the Divi All Inclusive. The beach by our hotel was so so uncrowded unlike the beach areas by the high rise hotels. We were originally supposed to stay at the Occidental Hotel and although it is gorgeous, the beaches were over run with hotel guests and from what I heard people had to get up really early in the morning to get beach chairs and umbrellas which did not happen at the Divi. It was easy to get beach chairs and umbrellas and there was space to lay out on the beach without being right up on top of your neighbor. It was really nice.
Aruba is not a party country and I think after the Natalie Holloway case, a lot of the more party places have since calmed down their act. Carlos and Charlies, which we thought looked so cool to go, was closed and was never going to be reopened. We were kind of disappointed in that since it looked like the most lively place on the island but we still had our own fun in the evenings. The Sopranos piano bar was a lot of fun and the piano man was hysterical. He took our song requests and played some great songs all night long. We also went to Mambo Jambo which was a bar/dance club which was fun too. The Divi All Inclusive had nightly entertainment from dance shows, to a house DJ playing music on the beach until 2am, to karaoke contest (which I won a bottle of champagne for the best of the night...not too shabby) and we had lots of fun. During the day we played 9 hole golf on the Divi golf course, lounged on the beach, went shopping in the downtown area, went sight seeing to see the California Lighthouse and the Natural Bridge (which is actually no longer a bridge since it fell a few years back), or went swimming in the enormous pool with swim-up bar and awesome water slide.
One of the best things to do on the island was EAT! And man, did we ever. We had an amazing meal every night and some of our favorite places to eat were the Chalet Suisse, El Gaucho, The Promenade and for breakfast Mulligan's Restaurant on the Divi Village Golf Course. There are plenty of other restaurants we can't wait to try on our next trip. I didn't want to leave. So we wound up extending our stay an extra night since there was a Noreaster hitting NY on that Sunday and I honestly didn't want to fly in that kind of weather. So we left that Monday instead and we unfortunately had to leave our room and move to a smaller studio but it was at the Divi Village Resort and it was just as nice as our room for the week, just a tad smaller but not a lot. We kind of wished we had booked this room for the first night we had stayed but again, hindsight is 20/20.
My only gripe with anything during our honeymoon was with one of the other Divi hotels, the Tamarijn. There is an internet cafe at the Tamarijn that you are allowed to use for a price which I thought was unfair but if you have a laptop, there is internet capability in your room. Well, unfortunatelt our laptop needed to be fixed so we didn't have one so we had to use the internet cafe for all our internet needs for the week. So our last night in paradise, I needed to email my office to let them know that I was staying an extra day and I'd have to use a sick day for that Monday I ask the night clerk for access to the internet. She tells me that she is out of internet cafe slips which have a code for you to use to log onto the computer. So I tell her that it's imperative that I use the computer and she tell me that she can't help me. I explain to her the situation, kind of embellishing the truth by sayins that American Airlines had cancelled our flight earlier to NY and I needed to let my office know. She again says that she can't help me and then walks away behind a closed door and doesn't come back out. I was super pissed. I was willing to pay for whatever access she could give me to the computer and she still refused. So we took a taxi into the downtown area to get to an internet cafe before they closed and unfortunately, they closed just as we got there and despite our pleas, they wouldn't let us in (even though it was before midnight when they closed which was really messed up and I was really upset). I eventually found a computer and informed my office that I would not be in. The next day, I told the clerk as we were checking out about what happened and he brought the manager over and we explained the whole thing to her. We got an apology from her and the manager over at the Tamarijn and promised that the woman would be spoken to for being rude and unhelpful. It was not enough to ruin our night though or our honeymoon and it would definitely not deter us from staying there again. Next time though, we will bring our laptop since it is now back up and functional.
We are already planning a trip back this year and we are super excited! I love Aruba so much and it was the most fun I ever had. I couldn't have asked for a better honeymoon and I am so glad that we went to Aruba! Can't wait to go back!

Message edited 2/20/2008 2:09:11 AM.

Re: Liz and Mike's 11/11/2007 Wedding Review with Non-Pro Pics: Woodbury Country Club, Flower Michele, 12th Night, Mittermax, FM Entertainment and many more - VERY LONG!

Great review!!! Congrats!! Your flowers came out great and you looked wonderful! Thank you for sharing.

Re: Liz and Mike's 11/11/2007 Wedding Review with Non-Pro Pics: Woodbury Country Club, Flower Michele, 12th Night, Mittermax, FM Entertainment and many more - VERY LONG!

Congratulations!

I like your centerpieces - very modern

Re: Liz and Mike's 11/11/2007 Wedding Review with Non-Pro Pics: Woodbury Country Club, Flower Michele, 12th Night, Mittermax, FM Entertainment and many more - VERY LONG!

beautiful pics! Thanks for sharing your experiences! Congrats to you and your hubby!

Re: Liz and Mike's 11/11/2007 Wedding Review with Non-Pro Pics: Woodbury Country Club, Flower Michele, 12th Night, Mittermax, FM Entertainment and many more - VERY LONG!

Wow thanks for the great review

Re: Liz and Mike's 11/11/2007 Wedding Review with Non-Pro Pics: Woodbury Country Club, Flower Michele, 12th Night, Mittermax, FM Entertainment and many more - VERY LONG!

Great review. I'm glad to hear that all went well at WCC. I'm having my reception there as well.

Thanks for the review.

Re: Liz and Mike's 11/11/2007 Wedding Review with Non-Pro Pics: Woodbury Country Club, Flower Michele, 12th Night, Mittermax, FM Entertainment and many more - VERY LONG!

Great review!!! You looked beautiful and your wedding sounded amazing!! Congrats!

Re: Liz and Mike's 11/11/2007 Wedding Review with Non-Pro Pics: Woodbury Country Club, Flower Michele, 12th Night, Mittermax, FM Entertainment and many more - VERY LONG!

Congratualtions! Great review