October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, Flowers By Brian, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

LIW (A +) - I would have been lost with out this site and all the wonderful brides! I have to say that you ladies are a great resource and I couldnt have done it with out you!

Weather (A+) we had a BEAUTIFUL day... sunshine and warm weather... what else can a bride ask for? I would have been happy even if it was raining cats and dogs, the only thing I asked was not to have an earthquake because a wedding can go on in rain, snow, hail, sunshine...

Reception Hall - Vanderbilt Mansion at Dowling College- Lessings (A+) I have to admit that this was the first place DH and I went to and we fell in love. The mansion had everything we wanted... small intimate wedding, one wedding at a time, BEAUTIFUL grounds, it was exactly what we wanted! Our guests could not stop talking about cocktail hour, they thought that was the dinner. The portobello mushroom tower was DELICIOUS. Jason was the best Matre d and the staff was wonderful!













Flowers - Flowers By Brian (A) DH's mother gifted us with flowers and we went to see several flower shops. I wanted to have tall tree like centerpieces. Some shops did not show us any samples, others didnt pay any attention to us. When I went to FBB I was wowed because I saw a Tree like centerpiece I knew this was the place. Joseph wowed us with his work and his wonderful personality. He even showed us the back where they were making centerpieces for a wedding! I was certain that Joseph knew exactly what I wanted and boy did he! Most of our HUGE centerpices were taken home and everyone loved them! Just one complaint was when we went the day before to approve the BM and Bridal Bo-K, I had my Thai ceremony that morning so I was the last appointment, when they showed me the BM bo-ks I was in love and when they showed me mine I was not happy. I gave them a picture of what I wanted and it was not even close. So FBB started to fix it. I was helped by the other workers there but they were not patient at all, they were rude because I did not take what they gave me, I was determined to get what I wanted and paid for! My BMs were getting frustrated and I was going to go bridezilla on them. So when Joseph was finally done with a client he came out and saw that I was not a happy bride. He saw the Bo-K and knew that it was not anything like the picture so he started to do his magic right in front of me and I had my dream bo-k and thats why they got a A not an A+









Photography - Yun Gen Yang www.yangphoto.com(A+) Photography was very important to me. I wanted nothing but the best and Yun is the best. I fell in love with his pictures and I stalked his blog. When we met with Yun he was so accommodating, at the time DH worked late and he stayed late to meet us. DH was very impressed with his work. everyone was impressed with his work, i made an album of our e-pictures for the wedding and everyone loved it. Yun even drove all the way to my dad's house while he was sick to personally hand me my picture! His slide show and dvd were a wonderful surprise! I cant say enough and hes the best




DJ - FM entertainment (A+) - FM was the only DJ we saw and we loved them. DH had specifics and FM listened to all of them and did exactly what he wanted. We booked with Frankie and he was GREAT! he did not over DJ and even danced with my aunt. everyone loved him and he kept people on the dance floor.




Limos - Camelot Limos (A+) - My friends do not have cars, love to drink so I wanted to proved a car service for them. I called Camelot because of all the great reviews on LIW, and they were wonderful! I called camelot 3 days before my wedding so we did a lot of back and forth because my friends dropped out, added and anything else you can think of. So many phone calls were made, contracts sent and at the end my friends almost did not have a ride back! But camelot pulled through and they got my friends safely there and back. My friends said the ride was smooth and my friends were early to the wedding. I highly recommend them!

Invitations - Costco.com (A+) - I ordered my invitations through costco.com, which is affiliated with einvite.com. Costco gives you a 25% discount. You do not need a costco membership to order invitations. I wanted something cheap yet elegant and I got exactly what I wanted. The invites came so quickly and the price was right I think I paid 60 for 100 invites.



Cake - Audrey's Bakery (A) - the wedding cake was included in my catering package and audreys was one of the house vendors. DH and I went and I was assured that we would get our cake. we ended up paying for the fondant and decoration upgrade but it was well worth it. Audrey's does do tasting but you can purchase a tasting cake, you need to order a head of time. DH picked up our tasting cake and unfortunately they got the filling wrong but made me a brand new one, again wrong combination and they made another one. When we finally tasted the right cake it was moist not too sweet and DELICIOUS. Audreys is really far for us since we live in the city so the wrong tasting cakes was annoying but they totally pulled through, thats why they got an A not an A+

http://www.yangphoto.com/BlogPics/tass-ken-w/IMG_6255-61_1.jpg



Cake topper - Etsy seller Nicole Clark http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5002527 (A+) Nicole made our toppers for us and she did a great job. we've got so many complements on the topper and she let us have our dog buddy with us on our special day. She answered all my questions, sent me multiple pictures and her packaging was beautiful!



BM dresses - My bms all bought their own dresses. The two saision blanche dresses were purchased at RK bridal with the alteration, the Jim Hjelm dress with the strap was purchased though RK's no frills program, the 2nd Jim Hjelm dress was purchased though http://www.perfect-bridesmaid-dresses.com/ and the nicole miller dress was purchased on ebay. unfortunately I did not order the dresses and do not know about the alteration so i cannot rate this.



Wedding Dress - Macys Bridal Salon Herald Square (A) - My Demetrois style 4200 was exactly what I wanted. When I saw the dress I fell in love but I didnt think would fit right. When I put it on I knew it was the one .I did visit it numerous time and Macys also had my wedding date wrong so it came in a year in advance!. The alterations was beautifully but my bustle button broke, not their fault some one stepped on it. I LOVEEDDDD my dress !









Shoes - JCREW.com (A+) I loved these shoes but they were so expensive, so i waited for a sale and got them for a great price with an extra 30% off. I can only wear jcrew shoes so i loved them and they were comfy, i did take them off towards the end of the day but thats to be expected.







Flower for my Hair - etsy.com seller ButterflyEnchantress http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5270569 (A+)- This vendor custom made my flower and it came out BEAUTIFUL! the shipping was fast and great communication





Garters - etsy.com seller garterlady (A+) - the garter was beautiful, but i did not wear it because of the post office messed up. it was not the seller's fault, i ordered late, she made me a custom order, the post office *****.



DH's Suite - Mens Warehouse (C) - We went to the mens warehouse in Huntington and the sales guy picked out a beautiful calvin klein suit for DH. it look great on him. DH was not impressed with the alterations when he picked it up and the sales guy did not order our groomsmen tie. He tried to tell DH that he told him to order wine color ties and didnt help us at all. So i went to 2 mens warehouses in the city and got the 5 ties.





BM Gifts - etsy multiple sellers (A+) - necklaces - teelee couture http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=23675 - Lisa was a doll to work with she found the lemon quartz for me and custom made the necklaces. They were beautiful and the BMs loved it!






Earrings - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=82007 (A+) Jasmin was great to work with too she custom made my earrings for me




Marriot Islandia (A+) - The suite was HUGE and clean. I was glad I got the suite because everyone had room to move around. We asked the front desk for an extra chair at 5am and they brought it up for us. DH surprised me with bagels and coffee and the front desk brought up utensils in a jiffy. The bell hop were wonderful moving all our stuff to a smaller room.

Oriental Trading (A+) - I bought personalized gum, my BM tote bags from there and they were great. you can google for their coupons and their shipping is super fast!

Hair and Makeup - Fresh Face Forward (A+) Stacey and Sabrina did wonders. My hair and make up stayed on until the next morning. They did exactly what I wanted and did it fast. I cannot thank them enough for making me the beautiful bride. My bms all looked beautiful!!!













NYC Photobooth - (A+) I originally booked with rentphotobooth, but after many emails and phone calls a contract was never sent to me, so I canceled the vendor. I then called NYC since they were a LIW vendor and they had great reviews. I knew I wanted a photobooth and was willing to shell out the extra cash for this. It was a HUGE hit and we had so many repeat offenders!





card box - my moh (A+) she did a wonderful job buying the materials from Jo Ann and Michales... She went above and beyond!



edit

I cant believe I forgot my grooms cake. It was made by my friend who just finished culinary school. If you need a cake email monstera cakes@gmail.com (no space)










Engagement Album - A+ I made an engagement album through mypublisher.com There was a buy one get on free on albums so I made a second album for DH's parents as a gift. It was so easy to make, drag and drop, shipping was fast and the quality was great!



Favors - A+ Our favors came from Thailand. My step mother ordered them for me and they came out wonderful. I wanted to have a part of my dog there since he couldnt come to the wedding. Everyone loved the salt and pepper shakers



Oriental Trading Company Gum - A+ Everyone likes to have fresh breath so I got some Beeches gum from Oriental Trading Company and they were a huge hit! I put 100 personalized stickers on them and it was therapeutic after so much wedding planning.



Guest Book - A+ this was another DIY. My MOH made me a scrapbook since we were having a photobooth. I got the scrapbook and the sleeves from http://www.scrapbooking-warehouse.com/ and my MOH got the picture tabs and paper from Jo Ann and michaels.

Message edited 4/9/2009 11:29:58 AM.

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

Congrats,the photo's are gorgeous!!! I love the whole intimate feel and the cardbox is great, I can't believe its a diy!!

Message edited 1/7/2009 1:44:43 AM.

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

Everything looks amazing. Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

Congrats Beautiful, love your review and pics. BM dresses are great. Thanks for sharing.

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

Congratulations. Amazing review and the pictures are gorgeous!!!! What a beautiful & creative bride!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

WOW, your photos are absoloutely gorgeous!!! Congrats!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

great review! EVERYTHING was stunning! Congrats!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

I love your wedding!! You look so happy!! Congrats!!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

Wow you're wedding looked spectacular!

You looked gorgeous and your photographer does amazing work!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

beautiful pics, & hot shoes...congrats!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

Congrats! Your pictures look great!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

thank you so much for the review !!! I am also yangm you just inspired me so much thanks again!!!! u looked stunning

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

You have great taste - I love everything! Great pictures!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

Tas, I love the review and all of your pictures look great!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, FBB, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

This is amazing. You're beautiful! This was my first choice but being Italian and Irish, we have HUGE families and we were over the maximum. Either way, you are stunning and your wedding looks amazing!

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, Flowers By Brian, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

What a gorgeous wedding! You look so beautiful! Congrats!! I loved your photos.

Re: October 12, 2008 Review - Vanderbilt Mansion Dowling College, Flowers By Brian, FM entertainment, Camelot, Fresh Face Forward and more

i LOVEE YOUR wedding! !