10/25/15 Wedding

Watermill Caterers (Day of: A+, dealing before the wedding: A-)
We had a great time working with Watermill until our original BM left and then we had some trouble with them meeting our contract but after a long 2 hour meeting all our demands (aka all the things mentioned in the contract and via email) were honored. We added some upgrades, champagne tree and coffee station upon guest arrival, 500 shrimp cocktail, slider station, mashed potato bar and a Viennese hour. We arrived at the watermill around 9am the morning of for our first look photos since they have so many amazing locations for photos. Our bridal attendant was very helpful getting us drinks, providing food etc. but we felt she was a little too involved for us since we are so laid back and don’t like to be waited on. Our maître d was awesome because he gave us our space as he recognized our personalities right away. The Watermill throws a wonderful wedding and holy cow there was so much food we were all stuffed beyond belief! We had a non-traditional wedding and I would not have changed a single thing. We did a cocktail style reception where we had passed foods, veggies, fruits, cheeses for the first 45 minutes and then two-hours of action stations and buffet style food, breads, pastas, and carving stations that we had covering the dance floor by choice. After, we opened the dance floor up for a while and then we had an hour for our Viennese tables which were setup in a separate room and I swear there were 15-20 tables of desserts! The quality and amount of food was overwhelming but so tasty!

NY Marriages (A+)
Keith has such a great personality and we clicked the minute we met him at Starbucks. We were so pleased with our beautiful ceremony and so many people asked us how long we had known Keith for… Our ceremony was around 15 minutes and Keith captured exactly who we are as a couple!

The Capriccio Ensemble (A+)
Natalie played for our guests’ arrival as well as during our ceremony. I did not hear her during guests’ arrival but many people thought this was such a personal touch and were blown away with how amazing she sounded on a solo violin. Natalie was so easy to work with and she is definitely a perfectionist so I felt so comfortable knowing that she was going to make our ceremony extra special. Natalie has an extensive bank of songs that she knows and was extremely accommodating! She played Bittersweet Symphony as I walked down the aisle and it was out of this world. You will not regret hiring Natalie for your big day!

Iris Photobooth (A+)
We reserved an open air photobooth during an amazing July 4th promotion and let me tell you that it was the highlight of our reception. Danny was so quick to answers e-mails and very easy to work with. We had guests from 5 weeks to 90 years old in the booth. We cannot wait to get the USB with all the photos because we loved the guest book and cannot wait to print out some larger copies of the silly and crazy pictures. Most importantly, Danny made us an amazing photostrip based off our invitation! Iris and Danny were our attendants and they brought amazing props and always let us cut the line!

Dortoni Bakery (A+)
By far the most amazing wedding cake we have ever had! We decided on a buttercream frosting with yellow cake and chocolate mousse filling with a smear of raspberry preserves. We loved the cake so much that we ate the top layer the week after our wedding! This cake was included from the Watermill and we did not do any upgrades. We booked a tasting with Dortoni and it is our new go-to bakery.

Afresh Approach (A+)
Jeanne and Skip make the most delicious truffles and we have received so many rave reviews from our friends and family. We cannot wait to order truffles for the holidays. Jeanne is so easy to work with and she goes above and beyond to make sure you are happy with their product.

Hidden Essence (A+)
There are not enough words to describe how amazing the flowers in our room were! I loved working with Michelle and she absolutely nailed our centerpieces. The flowers lasted all day long and a week after the wedding! There were amazing flowers in our centerpieces that I had never seen before until we met with Michelle. She had such a great vision for a fall wedding. She also made our cake look outstanding!

Fire Monkey Hair Design (A+)
I love how amazing Dusti made me look the day of the wedding! The style was so simple and complemented my dress well. Dusti takes great pride in her work and coming from someone with pin straight, thin and silky hair, my hair held from 7am until we went to bed at 11pm! Dusti is so reasonably priced but does book up quickly. I hope I get to use Dusti again to do my hair!

Mary Kay (A+)
Julie has been my Mary Kay makeup lady for years and I just wanted a very natural look the day of the wedding and I knew she would doll me up just right. I was so happy with the amazing job she did. Julie is such a fantastic woman and her trials were free and the day of it was $60 and $75 for my mom and I. The best part was, we could buy products instead of paying her money which was a win-win for all!

Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge (A-)
We booked 4 rooms for us and family the night before our wedding and really had a nice stay. The hotel is beautiful but it does take forever to reach the front desk if there are problems (smoke alarm batteries were bad and started beeping every 30 seconds) but once we reached the desk, the maintenance department was up in less than 5 minutes. We did not do a room block but my mom did reserve a suite room which was huge and provided plenty of room for the two of us to get ready in the morning of the wedding. The rooms were comfy and clean so we were pleased with our quick stay.

Patken Photography (A+ pending photos)
Nick was our photographer the day of and he was so laid back and handled our crazy large families with ease including a 5 week old and a 3 year old. My husband and I had no wedding party and did photos before the ceremony and it was perfect. We had everything done by 10:30am so we were able to enjoy every moment of our day tougher. We cannot wait to get our photos back because we are sure they will be amazing but 6-8 weeks is such a long time. Nick even stood in the rain with us and shot photos and also took us out later in the day when the sun came out. He was always around and caught every special moment.

Beyond the Mix (A+)
We just wanted a DJ for our wedding who would play some nice music for a diverse crowd of ages. We absolutely loved working with John and he honored all our requests. We were very non-traditional: no speeches, no introductions, no MC and we just had a nice afternoon of music, laughter and friends. Beyond the Mix was an absolute pleasure to work with and you should really consider them for your wedding especia;y since they know how to read a crowd!

Etsy (A+)

SweetHomeWoods (cake topper): Our rustic cake topper was amazing and the owners are so friendly and shipped out so quickly! We have the cake topper on display in our home now!

PearlyJaneBridal (wedding bracelet): Loved the bracelet she made for me so I ordered a second for my mom. Instead of telling me she was too busy to fulfill her orders, she ignored my message and then finally rectified the situation and sent the bracelet with two pairs of free earrings for the inconvenience. She does great work though!

David’s Bridal (A+)
My mom and I went here on 12/23 and we were give the upmost attention from the staff probably because there was only one other bride in the store. I tried on 4-5 dresses and did not like them so I walked around the store and picked out my dress. One of the ladies working there picked out my belt which was a perfect match and I purchased my hair piece from there. I picked up my dress in January and the store was PACKED so I feel that I was just lucky to have the amazing experience I did.

Alterations Unlimited by Gina (A+)
There was no way I was getting my gown altered at David’s Bridal so I reached out to Gina and she was beyond fantastic to work with. She is so talented at what she does and even added small spaghetti straps for me to just pull up during our reception. She is so talented, she actually takes scissors to your dress and just starts cutting while you are still in it. I had a lot of alterations done (dress shortened, straps added, dress taken in, bussel, belt added etc.) and I paid under $500. The shop is very tiny and cluttered but she was great to work with. I picked my dress up about 3 weeks before the wedding which I know would freak many people out but it was done and I felt more comfortable having it at my mom’s then shoved in the bag. Gina insisted that my dress did not need to be steamed but we felt it was wrinkled so for $20 we took it to our local dry cleaners right before the wedding.

Minted.com (A+)
We ordered our save the dates and invitations from Minted.com and we were so happy with both products. The basic cardstock they print on is so thick and durable. We received our proofs within 24 hours, approved them quickly and our invitations arrived 2-3 days later – we loved that they also printed the addresses on the envelopes so it was one less thing to worry about. For our STD we went with the Carved Tree design and Fall Tranquility for our invitations.

Blum’s (A+)
I was daring and went with a strapless dress for our ceremony and knew that I needed a top notch corset so I went to Blum’s and was so pleased with their customer service – the corset I bought fit me like a glove and was beyond comfortable for the entire day.

Jack Rabbit Metal Works LLC (A+)
So my mom surprised my husband with an amazing laser cut metal FDNY sign that the Watermill was kind enough to display on an easel at the reception. The sign is so well made and has a protective powder coat on it.

Wedding Bands

Gennaro Jewelers - brides band (A-)
We picked out my wedding band back in December, paid a $200 deposit and was told to come back closer to the wedding to make sure it was sized correctly. Towards the end of summer we went back in to get sized and had no problems except for the fact that they told me the ring would take over a month to get back which put us at an October 1st pick-up date which we felt was ridiculous because it was too close to the wedding for our liking. What we found most frustrating is that the ring just needed to be re-sized as it was already in the store and it took 5+ weeks to do so. When I called on 10/1 to ensure it was ready, I was put on hold numerous times until someone told me they would call back because they had to check on that status. Thankfully, the ring was ready. Upon pick-up the woman who helped me suggested that I get my engagement ring re-plated for $65 so that my two rings would wear at the same rate. I opted to do this and they completed it within 5 minutes and my engagement ring looked brand new.

H.L. Gross - grooms band (A+)
My fiancé and I walked in here one weekday over the summer and within 30 minutes we purchased his band – we were the only ones in the entire store. The gentleman we worked with was so helpful and knowledgeable and the ring was ready within 2 weeks!


My advice to all you future brides:
a) Remember to do what you want and don't listen to other people's criticisms!
b) Forget the drama. We had no bridal party and we strongly believe that the day was so amazing because it was just about the two of us.
c) Don't forget to negotiate.
d) Make sure to do your HW! Reviews don't lie so research all your vendors and you won't be disappointed.
e) Give yourself some time on your wedding day for just you and your husband to be alone and soak it all in.
f) Delegate

10/25/15 Wedding

Great review! Thanks for sharing!

10/25/15 Wedding

Thank you for the review! Great advice :)

10/25/15 Wedding

thanks for sharing!!

10/25/15 Wedding

Thank you for a great review! I am going to the Watermill tomorrow! Would you mind sharing with me your quote in a FM? Also, did you have the big room? I have a smaller wedding, and he said the small room for the amount of guests I have. I love their Chapel room, it is beautiful.