12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, A lot of DIY!

Review
Let me start by saying, THANK YOU to LIW! I could not have stayed sane through my 20 month engagement without you girls! I also wouldn't have a cardbox, pocketfolds, anything from etsy, or any other of my fun details without you!
My sister got married 3 years ago and I loved a lot of her vendors, so picking wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Here is my review!

The Proposal
When my sister got married, I caught the bouquet and DH caught the garter. Three years later, we were getting married! DH proposed to me in April 2009 on Easter Sunday in an Easter egg hunt with my family. I was completely surprised (which I thought was going to be impossible because I went through his luggage the night before -- even though I didn't find the ring) and I couldn't be happier! I had my heart set on a 12.11.10 winter wonderland so we started planning! He proposed using his grandmother's engagement ring :)




Invites DIY with supplies from Paperandmore.com and Michaels A++
I fell in love with pocketfold invitations, but at $5-$7 an invitation, they were not in my budget. I decided to try them myself! Paperandmore.com allows you to order samples before you order a large quantity, so I ordered a bunch of samples and was surprised at how easy they were to make. With the help of my bridal party (specifically the one I call my Asian factory worker), we stuffed 125 invitations in one (long) night. I got the ribbon, snowflakes, and snowflake stickers at Michaels. I was thrilled with the outcome and got SO many compliments on them!







Dress—Paradise Bridal A-
I went to Paradise because another LIW bride told me they had a great selection of plus size dresses. If I could do it again, I would have gone to a bridal salon closer to me. They do wonders squeezing you into dresses so you can see how they would fit, but I’m sure other places would do the same. Before I bought, the saleslady wouldn’t tell me who the dress was by. I kind of understand, but you don’t pay the price for a BMW when you’re getting a Toyota…I decided to buy the dress anyway and they STILL wouldn’t tell me who it was by! Finally, weeks after ordering, I called the store and they told me my dress was Allure. I could not find a picture of it online at all! When I looked at my dress, after getting married, while I was putting it away, I noticed the tag said Anjolique! I can’t find a picture of my dress on the Anjolique website either! So I really have no clue who made my dress, which is kind of annoying. The alterations were fine, although I was going to punch the seamstress during my first fitting when she asked if I was on my period or just fatter… >:( Overall, they were fine.









BM Dresses – David’s Bridal A
The girls got their dresses at David’s Bridal. Originally I was very anti David’s Bridal, but got dragged in by one of my bridesmaids when we were waiting to meet someone for lunch. They turned out to have a great selection and I brought my MOH and another bridesmaid to look at dresses. I let the girls pick decide which dress they wanted – it didn’t matter to me as long as it was blue. They wound up falling in love with a jersey material dress that was super flattering on all of them! Plus, with sales, my MOH wound up paying like $95 and the rest paid no more than $135. The only problem was with one of my bridesmaids – she ordered extra length, but the store messed up her size the first time and said she couldn’t reorder with extra length because it wouldn’t come in on time. It wound up being okay, but she had to wear flats to make sure the dress was not too short.





MOB/MOG Dress – Angel Bridal A+
My mom got her dress at Angel Bridal in East Islip. She picked out a beautiful dress that was very flattering on her. I’m not sure where my MIL got her dress, but she ordered it online and loved it.


My mom’s dress



Hair – Leanne D. A+
I wanted my hair blown out with big curls for my wedding. Every place I went wanted to charge me an arm and a leg for what I considered an easy hairdo. Leanne D. is starting out, but she’s really good. She offers lower prices because she doesn’t have much experience, but the quality is perfect. I did 2 trials with her before the day and she listened to all of my feedback. I loved my wedding hair!


(Don’t mind the dumb face!)





Hair Piece/Veil – Etsy/LIW bride A+
I got my hairpiece from the Etsy seller ButterflyEnchantress. It came quickly and was BEAUTIFUL. It matched my snowflake theme perfectly! I was very anti-veil, but my mom wanted me to wear one. Thankfully another LIW bride, Mor, was nice enough to give me one of the ones she was selling. It served its purpose and was off my head as soon as I was back down the aisle!








Makeup – Glam Me Up A
I basically tortured Kelly during 2 makeup trials. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted, but was mistaken when I saw it on myself. She did a great job working with me. I felt like the makeup wore by the end of the night and I wish there was a little more, but it was my fault for telling her to do less when she originally put it on. I wish I had a little more color on my lips too, but again it was my fault for telling her to do less. She is a complete sweetheart! I don’t have any really good close up pictures that will load! You can see the makeup in all the rest of the pictures though. Advice for future brides-- I think you should definitely take pictures to make sure your makeup will show up in pictures as well as you hope and take more pictures after a few hours with the makeup on!






Shoes – Manolo Blahnik A+/C
They get an A+ because they were Manolo Blahniks “Something Blue” and were the prettiest shoes in the world. They get a C because they’re not comfortable! I went to Nordstrom in Roosevelt Field Mall. They didn’t have my size, but they had the shoes in the size above and the size below, so I tried both on and figured out what size I was. No other store on Long Island had my size either, but I was able to order them and they came in perfectly!





DOJ – Etsy A+
DH bought me a snowflake bracelet from an Etsy seller (Rhinestonebird) for Valentine’s Day. I LOVED it so much that I wore it around the house for days after! I could not wait to wear it on my wedding day and it did not disappoint! I wore my mom’s diamond earrings that she bought for my sister’s wedding – they were elegant and sparkly!




Rings – Atias Flea Market A+
We got out rings from the Atias Flea Market. They were inexpensive and exactly what we wanted!



Tuxedos – RSVP A+
We wanted something a little different, so when we went to look for tuxedos, we didn’t know what to expect. The people at RSVP got what we wanted and helped us pick a tux to match the feel we were going for. They did not carry blue suspenders, but they matched blue bowties to the suspenders I bought for the boys, which were adorable! The boys looked so cute!!!







Boutonnieres DIY A+++
I made the boutonnieres myself! I was thrilled with the way they came out. DH is a musician, so I wanted a unique boutonniere for him. I did not want to have all the other boys wear guitars like him, so I took each of their hobbies into consideration when I made the boutonnieres. They were surprisingly simple to do. I got all the supplies from Maryann at Doll House Alley LLC in Wantagh; she was a pleasure to work with and ordered everything I needed!









Groomsmen Gifts – Target, Ebay, Liquor Store A+
I wanted the boys to wear something a little different from the standard vest, so I decided on blue Converse (at Target) and blue suspenders (Ebay). DH and I bought both for the boys for their gifts. In addition to those, we bought each boy a bottle of their favorite liquor, except for my little brother, who is underage and therefore got A LOT of Arizona Iced Tea. All of the boys loved their gifts! The suspenders turned out to be pretty entertaining at the wedding – they were used to limbo haha!








Bridesmaid Gifts – Etsy A+
I wanted to get Coach wristlets for my bridal party, but when I went to the outlet, I couldn’t find anything I liked. The only coach wristlets I’ve liked were discontinued and I think everything they make now is too small for my taste. So I went on Etsy and found a seller (maycascollection) who made beautiful bags! She took all of the different designs I liked and made bags based on each bridesmaids’ favorite colors and unique styles. I couldn’t have asked for anything more! In addition, I bought each girl a Swarovski crystal snowflake for them to wear in their hair and also a bracelet for my MOH with the same snowflake on it (made by TiarasAndFascinators). Originally, I was getting the snowflake hair pins from eleganzbycheri – I ordered them on April 21st. On June 9th she said they were almost complete. On August 21st she said she couldn’t do them anymore! It left me in a bind and I was so mad. Needless to say, I will never use this seller. The biggest problem was I couldn’t leave negative feedback because I paid in full in the beginning and it was past deadline for feedback!




Church – St. Patrick’s Church A+
We got married at St. Patrick’s Church in Bay Shore. Sometimes I want to punch the lady who runs the rehearsals, but otherwise they were great! I have belonged to that church all of my life, so there was no question about getting married there; it was beautiful!






Reception Hall-Larkfield Manor A+++++++
DH and I looked at a lot of reception halls, but I couldn't get Larkfield out of our heads. Since my sister had her wedding there, I was afraid I would feel like it was her wedding (take 2), so I avoided going there. Finally, I decided to go and see if I thought of her wedding when I walked in and I didn't! George was so accommodating and gave me a great price for the Saturday night wedding I wanted! He gave me everything my sister had and added on a mashed potato bar. They are more than accommodating for EVERYTHING and when I had a problem with a vendor months later, they went to bat for me! I can't say enough about them. The Manor room is beautiful, the dance floor is huge and the food is AMAZING. I can honestly say that they have the most amount of food that I've ever seen at a wedding -- especially Viennese hour.








Table Card Holders – Online A+
My mom bought little ornaments with snowflakes on them to hold the table cards. They were adorable and a little extra gift for the guests to take home.




Guest Book – Snapfish A+
My sister made my guest book for me on Snapfish. It came out great and my guests were able to write wishes for us and it doubles as a photo album!



Centerpieces (DIY) A+
I made the centerpieces myself. I got birch branches from Stables in North Babylon the year before my wedding. I got the ornaments at Walmart after Christmas the year before when they were on super sale (around $.25 a box)! I put them together in my living room 4 days before my wedding. I ordered the vases through my florist (she sold them to me for what she bought them at), which was AMAZING!! They saved me a ton of money. People started decorating the centerpieces by the end of the night, using the ornaments in the little vases to put on the birch branches. It was really cute.





Flowers-Villa Florist B+
My florist was great for getting me the vases for my centerpieces. I had a meeting with her about my bouquet and she basically made one for me on the spot. We agreed that it would be totally white and she would take the green stems out of the lilies to get rid of the green. When my flowers arrived the morning of, it looked like there was broccoli in my bouquet and the bouquets of my BMs. I took scissors and cut them out, but it was still slightly green. I really wanted an ivory and white bouquet with NO color. I was pretty disappointed by that, but they were good enough. They were wrapped beautifully.


(Don’t mind the stupid face I’m making)



Limo – LI Elite Limos A
I booked with the same limo company my sister used 3 years earlier. We booked Just for You Limo and thought nothing about it until a little less than 2 months to the wedding when I had to change a time. I called the numbers and no one picked up. I went by their store and noticed they were out of business. PANICKED, I tried to find another limo. Fortunately, my mom knows a guy who owns a limo company. I met with Charlie and discussed what we wanted. Later that night, Charlie brought the limo we discussed by our house and we booked on the spot! The day of, the driver was great, professional, and the limo was clean, early and fit our entire bridal party with no problems! The only reason they did not get an A+ was because the bar in the limo only had 12 beers (no other alcohol) and there were 12 of us. Some of the heavier drinkers were annoyed with that!




Cake – Black Forest Bakery A++++++++++++++
WOW! Our cake was included in Larkfield’s price, but I didn’t find anything in the book I loved. I wanted a very winter-themed cake, so I decided to go down to the bakery and talk to the baker about what we could do. We looked through the pictures and everything I originally thought I wanted was much more money (square cake, different flavor, different filling, fondant) and we had already gone over budget. I found the perfect cake on the last page! It looked like a big snow mountain with snowmen on top. We decided on chocolate cake and cookies and crème mousse for our filling covered in a creamy frosting with sugar to look like snow. IT WAS THE MOST DELICIOUS CAKE I’VE EVER EATEN – Really! I ate my piece and DH’s piece! We were sent home with our gigantic cake top and I ate 75% of it the next day (Don’t worry, I froze the other 25%!). I’m planning on ordering another one for our first anniversary! I drool whenever I think about it!






Cake Topper – Etsy A+++
My sister got me a custom cake topper from the Etsy seller Ginger Babies. It was adorable and perfect! It sat in front of the cake since Black Forest Bakery put the two cutest snowmen on the top of our actual cake!




Toasting Flutes/Cake Server Set – Only You Personalized Gifts in Islip A+
My sister got these for me and I couldn’t be happier. They went with our snowflake theme and were classic. I got her toasting flutes and a cake server set from the same store 3 years before. I went back there to get a friend her toasting flutes and cake server set a few months after my wedding and noticed a replica of my toasting flutes – apparently the owner thought they were so cute that she made a duplicate to put on display! They are so nice there and have a beautiful selection!!




Photographer/Videographer – Right Angle Studios A- and A+
I LOVED the photographer my sister used – there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to use the same one. I met with him, he was perfect and I booked him right away. The day of my rehearsal dinner, 2 days before my wedding, his father passed away. George called me right away to let me know and he also offered to have the videographer come to the house instead of starting at the church. The day of my wedding, I met the new photographer – I feel like he did not “get” what I wanted from my pictures. I kept saying “Take more pictures like George would,” but each photographer has his/her own style, so I couldn’t blame him. I later found out that he called George to make sure I was happy with the pictures. When we got to the reception, I found out George had sent another photographer to take candid shots so we had 2 through the whole reception. George was great and went above and beyond even though the situation was out of his control. My proofs came in 3 months and I disliked them when I first looked through them (hence the A-). I filed them into 3 piles LOVE, LIKE, & HATE. I couldn’t believe how many got filed into LIKE and from there, moved to LOVE. Originally, I told George I wasn’t happy with them and he offered to pay for my hair & makeup to get redone and DH’s tux to rent so we could re-take them at no cost to us. Although we did not take him up on it, it was great to know that he just wanted to make us happy. After looking through them a million times, I realize I love them! The video was ready a week after I submitted my form (another way George was trying to “make up” for my dislike of the original pictures – it worked haha!). The video was amazing and the raw footage was wonderful to look through. Right Angle Studios beat any other place I’ve ever worked with as far as customer service and that’s why they get the A+!!!


Santa was coming down the street in the fire truck, so I took a picture with him!


















Photographer – Joshua Waldman A++
Josh took the pictures of the boys getting ready. We have a fun group of boys and he completely captured their spirits when taking their pictures. I loved every picture of the boys getting ready and had quite a few laughs as well. He was perfect for the job! I know some of these pictures belong elsewhere, but I wanted to put all of his pictures together.




(the best man seemed confused by the “hardware” that came with the tux!)




(Yes, the boys broke out DH’s old Nerf guns…)





Cardbox – DIY A+
I got inspired to start DIYing in October/November 2009, so the first thing I made was a cardbox – it then had to sit in my house for 13-14 months! Luckily it stayed and it was perfect. It looked like a stack of presents, which went with our winter theme.




Favors – Hot Chocolate Cones (DIY with help from Costco & Staples) A+
I originally wanted snow globes as my favors, but I couldn’t find ones that were both reasonably priced and not hideous. So, I decided on hot chocolate favors. I bought cone-shaped plastic baggies and decided to make them myself. With the help of my MOH, 2 bridesmaids and my brother’s girlfriend, we mixed up, packaged and labeled nearly 200 favors. I went to Costco and bought everything I needed; it was really simple. The hot chocolate was made with cocoa powder, powdered creamer, dry milk, and powdered sugar. Then we layered chocolate chips and marshmallows on top! They got tied with a little ribbon and labeled with a monogram and instructions on how to prepare the drink (labels from Staples)!



That’s my review! FM if you want to know anything more about my DIY projects!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

Great review. I loved all your DIY projects! Great job

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

Great review! You looked beautiful.

I soooo want those shoes!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

i love the work you put into your wedding~ the bouteniers are adorable!



can't believe that wench made that comment during your fitting stupid woman!

and you look gorgeous, thanks

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

Great Review!! I'm having my wedding at Larkfield an cannot wait!!!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

awesome review! you looked gorgeous

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

i love the boutineers that you made! So creative!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

Awesome review! You are a DIY queen! Everything looked beautiful and went so well with your theme.

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

awesome review! Love your DIY centerpieces!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

i love your pictures! and the DIY bout's for the guys!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

Great job! I loved how fun you made everything.

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

I love so many aspects of your wedding. The dress is so pretty and so is the cake. The guys shoes & boutonnieres are really cool too. :)

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

love your DIY invites! :) congrats!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

I love the boutonnieres!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

Love Love the bouteniers and all your DIY projects. Great review.

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

Ok so first off... you got married on my birthday =) hehe so that was cool and secondly - I cant believe what a beautiful wedding you had. Everything you did was so creative and elegant. I couldn't have thought of all of that myself. My favorite was the hand made boutiners. wow. Your pictures came out so beautiful and your dress was gorgeous. I wish I could write a review like you did but it would take me forever!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

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Posted by ACZCAZ10

Ok so first off... you got married on my birthday =) hehe so that was cool and secondly - I cant believe what a beautiful wedding you had. Everything you did was so creative and elegant. I couldn't have thought of all of that myself. My favorite was the hand made boutiners. wow. Your pictures came out so beautiful and your dress was gorgeous. I wish I could write a review like you did but it would take me forever!

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Thank you!!!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

beautiful photos!!! congrats :) :) :)

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

Thanks for the detailed review! You looked so beautiful! I loved your hair, makeup, and the beading on your dress is gorgeous! And your right about Black Forest, I got my cake there too and it was PHENOMENAL! Congrats!

Re: 12.11.10 Winter Wedding, Larkfield Manor, Right Angle Studios, LI Elite Limos, Parties Alive, A lot of DIY!

great review love all your pics!!! beautiful