Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot

LIW - A+
I could have never planned such a fantastic day without the help from the girls on these boards. On top of getting great ideas from some really creative people, I was able to research vendors without having to make appointments, and make a ton of great friends! Thank you all for your help ; )

Engagement Party: A+
Perabell Food Bar, Patchogue –
I’m a little biased when it comes to Perabell, as my cousin is the chef/owner. Either way the food here is phenom! I was oppose to having an engagement party but DH really wanted one, so we compromised and decided to invite just close family and the bridal party for a cocktail style party at Perabell. John was very accommodating and let us use the whole bar area on a Sunday evening. Our friends had a great time and everyone enjoyed all the yummy appetizers.





Bridal Shower: A++++++++++++
ART Space, Patchogue
My family surprised me with a creatively thought out bridal shower. All my family and friends know my favorite things are wine and art, so they just combined the two! Art Space is basically a gallery in the artist colony in Patchogue so my mom rented all the chairs and tables, but used the gallery’s artwork as a back drop. There was wine tasting, tons of cheese, great games, and lots of laughs. The only negative (my own fault) was that I thought I was going to my nephew’s award ceremony there arrived a half hour late due to taking too long to get ready…as usual. I felt kind of bad for my guests that they had to wait for me and definitely felt bad for my sister who kept telling me to hurry before I missed my nephew getting his award. I’m sure it was pretty stressful for her!









Bachelorette Party 1: A+
Elegant Eating, Smithtown –
I had a mini bachelorette party with my cousin and sister b/c they’re moms and couldn’t come to AC with the rest of the BP. We decided to take a cooking class and it was awesome! We learned how to make tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons, a delicious fall salad, salmon and roasted brussels sprouts. After the class did all the cooking, we were escorted to the main dining room and served by the staff. We brought along a bottle of wine and enjoyed our food. The best part was for desert, the staff surprised me with bride and groom chocolate covered strawberries. Of course, I cried. This is a great place to bring a group of friends or even your mom/aunt for a birthday dinner.

Bachelorette Party 2: A+++++++++++++++
Revel Resort and Casino, Atlantic City NJ –
This was my first time going to AC and let me just say, I’m bringing DH back there for our 1 month-aversary lol. Revel was a beautiful hotel. The staff was kind of dumb, but the food made up for it. Ugh Amada’s was the best! My girls did a great job planning this. We arrived early on Friday and spent the day at the spa going in and out of the relaxation pool, salt rock detoxification room, sauna, steam room, and hot tub. So relaxing! That was followed by dinner at Amada’s which was insane and we ended the night with a table at the burlesque club. The next day they surprised me with a private lesson with one of the burlesque dancers and champagne. We had a blast with her and I learned some new sexy moves lol.
We ended up having an amazing weekend, eating lots of food, drinking lots of liquor and creating tons of memories!



Rehearsal Dinner: A+
Gallo Tropical, Patchogue
This place is great. We had the upstairs room here for 3 hours and the owner played his iPod for background music (which at first was house music). They set up the room beautifully; you would have thought we were having a sweet 16 there. Our friends enjoyed the unlimited beer, wine, and sangrias (so strong!) and the food was really good.

Grooms Cake: A
Family friend
DH is obsessed with zombies, so I pinterested zombie cakes and found the perfect one! My mom recommended one of her friends to me, and I definitely had my doubts b/c my mom doesn’t always have the best suggestions, but when we saw that cake at the RD, she was right on the spot! The brain, the blood, the taste! Ugh it was soooo yum. Everyone loved it, especially DH. Sorry, I don't have a picture on my computer...I kind of want to just get this review done and over with! Lol.

Invitations: A+++++++
DIY and Paper Presentation, NYC
I work as a CAD artist in the fashion industry so basically I live in Photoshop and Illustrator 9 hours a day. I knew I wanted to do a lot of DIY stuff, but I didn’t want it to look DIYish. I ended up finding some invitation ideas online for a Gatsby wedding and knocking it off. From there I was able to create all of my paper products and I had most of it printed through Vistaprint. They were unbelievably cheap, especially after coupon codes, and the quality was top notch. I must have saved at least $600 on the invites alone. I bought all of my fancy paper that I was going to print on at work from Paper Presentation in Union Square. If you like crafting beware – you will get lost in this store for hours! I stocked up on pocket fold invites and people seriously thought they were professionally done. So worth the time and effort. Also, I was able to use my home printer for printing the addresses on the envelopes. Guests actually asked me if I had a caligrapher write them!






Tuxedos: A
Mens Wearhouse, Patchogue
They were easy to work with. Idk, I wasn’t really involved with this aspect of the planning. That was DH’s one duty. Pick up your tux! Lol. But I knew I wanted them to wear something simple and classic. FH looked very handsome on our wedding day.



Bridesmaid Dresses
Bridal Suite, Bayshore – C
This place blows. Two of my bridesmaids bought their dresses from here. The other 3 couldn’t stand the sales women, and neither could I. She had no knowledge of what she was talking about so it was almost comical. I had a voucher I received from an expo for the Bridal Suite in Bayshore for 50% off a veil. That’s all it said! When I picked out my veil I was told by the owner that a) she didn’t know what I was talking about and the girl that handed them out doesn’t even work there anymore. b) I didn’t purchase my dress there so I couldn’t use the coupon. And c) even though the coupon doesn’t state any of that- it’s just how it is since she’s the boss!
Like really? I can’t deal with terrible costumer service. When my BM dresses did come in, we were never notified about it. My friends had to call multiple times to find out that their dresses were already there. Apparently there were other things that happened there that my bridal party, as wonderful as they are, chose not to tell me. Amen! Ef this place.

Bridal Suite, Centereach –B
A bit better than its sister store. Here the consultants seemed to know what they were talking about and let my bridesmaids and mom know when their dresses came in. The one issue was my sister’s dress was finished and ready for her to pick up 3 days before the wedding b/c they had to keep fixing it. She was a little stressed about that but it all worked out. But 3 days? And it was the MOH dress? That’s really cutting it close Bridal Suite. Really.





Flower Girl Dress: A
Davids Bridal online
I looked online for a flower girl dress and was shocked at how slutty some of the choices were! Like these are little girls, not toddlers in tiaras! My sister and I ran into DB one day, found the first dress without spaghetti straps, and called it a day.



Day of Jewelry & Headpiece: A
I bought my earrings and bracelet at a random jewelry store by M&J trimming. I think I spent about $20 total. I didn’t really care about my DOJ b/c I knew I would NEVER wear it again, but I’m happy it looked nice and went with our Gatsby theme. As for the headpiece, my mom and I made it with feathers and stones from craft stores.




Wedding Bands: A
John Sampieri, Canal Street NYC – DH and I had no clue where to go since my E-ring is my late mother in laws. We were referred to J. Sampieri by my friend who just got married and they bought their rings there. They were wonderful to work with and very patient while I looked at a million wedding bands to go with my vintage ring. The owner found the perfect one for me and they were very willing to work within our budget. Unfortunately, I shattered one of the diamonds! Apparently baguette diamonds are not that strong and while opening a door or grabbing the subway pole too hard, I shattered it. Luckily, they fixed it for me for free and even made sure the prongs on my E-ring were tight while I was waiting. Lesson = get ring insurance!




Bridal Gown :A+
RK Bridal, NYC
I knew EXACTLY which dress I wanted. I found in a magazine, ripped it out, and always looked at it as “my dress”. It was great b/c the top part came off so I felt like it was two for the price of one! I did some research and found that they only carried Jason Alexander at RK Bridal and Klienfelds. I made an appt at Klienfelds since I always wanted to go there anyway, but RK bridal didn’t take appts, so I would just have to walk in. I went to RK bridal during my lunch break and tried on my dress by myself. The minute I put it on, I was in LOVE! I knew this was it and it was just in my moms budget. I knew this dress would be double the price at Klienfelds so I cancelled my appointment there and had mom drive into the city to see “the one”. She loved it just as much as I did and that was it! Alterations are capped at $350 which wasn’t too bad considering my dress was lace. Overall, this is a no frills salon. If you’re expecting champagne and attendants sucking up to you, don’t go here. I think RK is for the bride who knows exactly what she’s looking for.





Wedding Shoes: A
Some random website from China! They were comfortable, vintage looking, and didn’t break. That’s all I cared about.


Wedding Venue: A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Bourne Mansion, Oakdale
I don’t even know what to say about this venue except that it’s absolutely breath-taking. Our guests were floored when they walked into the mansion. It went perfectly with our Great Gatsby theme and they were very accommodating to myself as well as the bridal party. Ben was the BM I worked with the whole time and although he didn’t always answer my calls right away or email me back immediately, he did respond to me within a couple of days and never more than that. Our Maitre’d, Steve was amazing. He made sure DH and I had a drink in our hands the entire night, and he even asked our guests to let us be while we ate dinner…thank God, b/c you don’t get to eat much at CH so I was starving! The food was delicious, and they even gave DH and I two entrees and dessert to bring home which we ate the next day. I’m still hearing from friends and family how beautiful this site was and that no one knew it even existed! Highly, highly recommend the Bourne!



Look at this creep lol





STD, Table Numbers, Instagram Frames, Programs, Timelines, Peanut Bags, Feather Combs, Menus: A++
DIY
I’m a graphic designer so I knew that when the time came for me to plan a wedding, I was going to be a DIY freak! I did a ton of research on Etsy and Pinterest, as well as collecting lots of Gatsby inspired clip art I came across and got to work.







Cheeky Details: A
Jamie and Heather
These girls did a wonderful job! Jamie and Heather ran up and down the stairs to the bridal suite at least 10 times to get my stuff. They made sure I got all my “Must take” photos and assured me that everything was going smoothly. At one point the DJ was so loud that it set off the fire alarm in the venue, but we literally had no idea! Cheeky was right on top of it and made sure the alarms went off quickly and without me stressing over it. They went above and beyond my expectations. Highly recommend these two!

Florist: A-
Dalsimers, Valley Stream
The main reason I chose Dalsimers was b/c they were the preferred vendor at the Bourne. Little did I know that all a preferred vendor is, is a vendor who pays money for the venue to drop their name. I originally worked with Rich who after the first meeting was never seen or heard from again lol. I had a very specific idea of what I wanted and had plenty of tears to hand over to the floral designers there. The first time I saw my sample CP, it was wrong! I wanted all red roses and they mixed in white, so I was a little nervous. Then I found out I couldn’t use tall candles in the Bourne due to the draft, so I had to rent hurricane vases from Dalsimers for an extra cost which was kind of annoying. Like, if they’re the preferred vendor, why didn’t they know that I couldn’t use long candles!? Whatever, in the end they did a fabulous job! My flowers lasted for days and I eventually hung them upside down to dry and they still look beautiful. I gave them an A- for the disappearance of Rich.





Hair & Makeup: A+++++
The House of Makeup
Crissy and her team did a fabulous job! She always got back to me right away whenever I had a concern or question. She even went out of her way and treated my mom to her hair style on the wedding day which almost made me cry! Her team was very professional, on time, and had us all ready before we had to leave. I got so many complements on how I should really cut my hair into a bob-cut! Also, I had a terrible, AWFUL stress related breakout right before the wedding. Like literally…week before, cystic pimples, and cortisone shots to face type of breakout. I was so nervous that people would be staring at my face and would be able to see the redness, but Crissy completely hid every flaw. She calmed me down when I called her and assured me it would be fine b/c she was not only using airbrush foundation, but color correcting concealer AND stage makeup. Seriously- my skin looked flawless. Cannot thank Crissy enough for making me look fab!




DJ:A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Marc Bauman Entertainment
Marc and his crew were totally OOC. From the moment I met him, we just clicked. He was totally on the same page as me and DH. We wanted a more “club feel”. Minimal talking, lots of mixing. We also asked for a “90’s hip-hop/pop” set and our friends went nuts. He kept the floor packed the entire time. I danced about 90% of the night and was so sore the next day. I guess I’m getting old.




Wedding Cake: A-
Black Forest Bakery, Lindenhurst
I knew I was getting my cake from here no matter what b/c they were the bakers for the Bourne, but I also knew I was going to want to upgrade. We went to our cake tasting with tons of Gatsby inspired cakes from pinterest and when I showed them to the woman we met with, she had to keep getting up to ask the baker if he could do the designs I picked out which I thought was weird. In the end we had to pick a design out of their book otherwise the cake I wanted would have probably been like a grand. The strangest part was when we finished. She was like, “Ok you guys are set!”. I looked at DH and back at her and was like “Isn’t this a cake TASTING? We didn’t taste anything!” So then she was all “Oh you want to taste something? Hold on, I’ll get you both a cupcake.” LOL so at that point I felt like a 7 year old as I shoved the most delicious funfetti cupcake down my throat. We went with a 3 tier fondant funfetti cake and I’m not gonna lie – it was freakin delicious. So all strangeness set aside, Black Forest came through.



Card Box, Unity Candles, Ring bearer pillow: A
Michaels
I wanted to DIY these things but you know what happens? You run out of time! We used our 50% off coupons and stocked up on all the last minute things.

Caricature Artist: A
Aron Laikin
Aron did an awesome job at the wedding. His drawings were insane and our guests LOVED that we had a caricature artist. The problem was they loved him a little too much. At one point there was a line like 8 people deep. We ended up having to use Aron an extra hour b/c he was in such high demand. I feel like it would have gone quicker if he wasn’t doing full color portraits, but like I said, the drawings were pretty on point. Negative – DH and I never got to sit with Aron since we were so busy getting married and all, so we never got a caricature of us. I emailed him a picture of us from the wedding hoping he would just mail us a quick sketch, and he emailed me back with a discount on his studio rates which were really pricey! Thanks, but no thanks.




Videographer: A+
Capture the Moment
I met with Jessica at a local Starbucks and from the beginning she was so easy to work with. She was wonderful with getting back to me in a timely fashion and such a doll. We literally got our teaser 2 days after the wedding. Like how is that even possible?! And it was good! Really good! When we got home from our mini moon, she had already mailed us all the raw footage. DH is a pro at editing and decided he wanted to edit the wedding himself (and I’m holding him to it!). But luckily they had so many great shots to work with. Even DH was impressed….and that in itself is impressive lol.

Wedding Trailer

Photographer: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Matthew Sowa
By FAR my favorite vendor!! We knew this was our #1 priority. DH and I are both into art and photography and really wanted our pictures to reflect that. After seeing what Matthew did with our engagement photos, I knew the wedding photos would be just as beautiful or even more so. Our friends and family were in awe of our photographs and DH and I are still drooling over them. Although we spent a good portion of our budget on Matt, I would have paid double that just to have him be our photographer. One of my girlfriends just got engaged and I’m PRAYING she uses Matt so we can work with him again.

























Limos: A
Camelot
When I first met with Camelot I wasn’t impressed. I felt like they were very “salesman-ish”, which was kind of a turn off. Joe gave us a great deal since we were booked with Cheeky Details. The limos were on time and clean. We had the 18 passenger Audi which was tight for 14 people, but most of the guys in the bridal party are built like football players so I guess that didn’t help. Either way they did a great job.

Hotel Shuttle: A+
Can’t remember anything about this guy except that he was super nice and super cheap! My mom found him through a friend. He owns one large shuttle van and took as many trips as he needed to from the hotel to the venue and vice versa. I think he only charged us like $400 which was a steal compared to some of the other shuttle companies quotes.

Hotel for OOT guests: A-
Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, Ronkonkoma
We had a lot of OOT guests coming from Manhattan and BK and I didn’t want them spending an arm and a leg on a hotel room. We met with the nice people at Clarion and they totally hooked us up. After 10 rooms were booked DH and I got our room for free. Here’s the best part – we got the Jacuzzi suite! We seriously died laughing when we walked in. The Jacuzzi was right when you walk in, on a stage, with lights over it. I call it “the birthing tub”. We actually ended up using it since we were so sore from the day. I didn’t take off my 6” heels the entire night so my dogs were barking. Bed was super super cozy and our room was very clean. The next day we took over the restaurant and had breakfast with all of our OOT guests at the buffet, which was good…but not great. Needless to say it was food and it cured the hangovers!

Minimoon: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
South Beach, Miami FL

Oh Miami! This was our first trip to this little tropical gem and we fell in love! The first day we got there we were ready to move in. The weather was perfect, the restaurants were great, and the people were so nice. We stayed at the Riviera Suites right off Collins. Our room was so much nicer than we expected and we were pumped b/c we were in the middle of the Art Deco District. We spent 3 days there just living off the high from the wedding, and eating everything that was a “no-no food” for the last 10 months. We decided we want to go back every 5 years. Can’t wait to do it again!

Honeymoon: pending
Going to Italy in May so I’ll have to update this post. Also working with a travel agent so I’ll review her as well.

Hope you enjoyed my review. I tried to keep it as real as possible! Sorry I'm missing some pictures of things. Wait until you have to write one of these. It's very time consuming. In the end, don’t sweat the small stuff….all that matters is that you found the one and you get to live the rest of your lives together!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

This might be my favorite review! I LOVE all of your DIY paper stuff. You could totally go into business for yourself!! I'm in need of good invites! Lol. Your venue is gorgeous, you're both gorgeous, your pics are amazing!! I love everything about this!! Congratulations!!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Loved the review! You look gorgeous!! So happy you had an amazing day!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Awesome review Marie!! You were such a gorgeous bride!! Totally Bride Magazine worthy :)

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

This review was awesome! You are hilarious and gorgeous!! I was cracking up about the flower girl dress comment hahaha also I'm using Dalsimer for the exact same reason haha I'm glad the flowers in the bouquets and center pieces looked beautiful!

Congrats on a perfect wedding day! Everything looked amazing!!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

great review marie! you made a beautiful bride

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Beautiful pictures and looked like such an amazing day!! Your invites btw, are gorgeous!!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Looks like you had the BEST day!! Wonderful review :)

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Your wedding looks so amazing...Congratulations

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

What a beautiful wedding! Is that Father Tom Coby? I grew up with him as our priest!!!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

loved your review!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

You looked beautiful and everything looked amazing !!!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Awesome review!!sounded like an amazing night

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Awesome review!!sounded like an amazing night

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Great review! Everything looked beautiful!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

My favorite review!!!!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Wonderful review Marie! Everything looks incredible and you looked gorge!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

your review is amazing, you're stunning, and I'm so happy for you! xoxo

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

You looked gorgeous Marie! Great review!

Our Glam Great Gatsby Wedding at the Bourne Mansion! Marc Bauman, Cheeky Details, House of Makeup, Matthew Sowa, Capture the Moment, Dalsimers, Black Forest Bakery, Camelot - Long Island Weddings

Great review, Marie! You looked absolutely gorgeous!