New York-Long Island

HELP! Planning from afar and already having lots of anxiety!

Hi!
So I recently got engaged- yay! (:  We live in CA and both of our family/friends live in NY (where we are from).  We'll be going home in June for about a week for our engagement party and to start looking at places.  I am just worried that a week won't be enough time to even make a dent in the planning.
We are hoping to have a spring (late April-June) 2012 wedding but aren't super committed to that if we were to get a really great price on somewhere we loved another month.  
My ultimate question is what would everyone recommend we take care of right away and what can wait/can be left to our families to look into?  We have a few venues that we plan on visiting so that is our main goal.  Other than that - if anyone has recommendations for things like photographers, hair/makeup, djs, limos, etc that would be super helpful!  We are on a budget for sure so I'd like to keep things inexpensive without sacrificing quality.  
Thanks in advance!

Re: HELP! Planning from afar and already having lots of anxiety!

  • edited December 2011

    Me and my photographers can help you a great deal if you would like...I am getting married in March 2012 in Maine and my photographers have helped me book video, hair and make-up, entertainment, and catering. if you get your venue on lock down, or even if you do not, you should look into AlexisSteinPhoto.com - a photography couple (Alexis and Keith) who are also getting married this October. Since hooking up with them they have been my best of friends and helped me with so much of my wedding. I have helped many friends plan weddings and they have gone with Alexis and Keith (only a select few have not). Let me know if you need more help or info. I will be glad to assist.

    If you contact Alexis and Keith, tell them Karen sent you.

    Best,
    Karen 

  • KelBelle118KelBelle118 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hey girl! i am in your EXACT situation so i can share some of my experience. (sorry if this is long)
     I got engaged in december and currently live in SC. my fiance and i are from ny (long island) and our entire families are still there so thats where our wedding will be. We just went there last week for our engagement party and to look for venues. we were only there for a week and had 5 places booked to look at i wanted to get as much done in a day as i could. we ended up booking the first place we went to (we went to others just to look but went back becuase we got such a deal and we loved it!) but just knowing we have our date April 13 2012 ( we had to do a spring wedding and that week becuase he is a teacher and that is spring break) and our venue is a huuuuge relief. its super hard planning while being so far away but im having my mother in law get info on photographers and florists (prices and packages) and then we can make a decision. i went to bridal stores and picked out 3 styles of dresses for my bridesmaids then im going to have them go try them on.. give me their opinions. send me picstures and ill make my decisions based on that. 


    thats pretty much how im doing it.. i hope this kinda helped ... what area of NY are you looking at?!
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  • edited December 2011
    Hey ladies, here are some suggested vendors...me and many of my friends have used them...

    Photo: Alexis Stein Photography
    Video: AJ Films
    Florist: Roots Flowers
    Hair and Make-Up: Debbie Mulhall (can supply phone #)

    I know of a ton of venues and music as well...too many to list.

    Best,
    Karen
  • edited December 2011

    hey! i planned from FLA and got married in LI too:-)
    I used (if you want to check out  - everything worked out beautifully for me)
    photo: ADA photography- Big John
    DJ : LI Sound
    Venue: Giorgio's
    Hair: Hairsculpting by renee - she came to me that day at the hotel
    Video: Amore Video Productions - Mike in Islip

    Good luck!

  • edited December 2011
    oh yeah - flowers - Heidi Sugar Magnolias
  • tinarextinarex member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you all sooo so much!  I knew there would be some kindred brides who would come through lol!

    We are going home in about a month for our engagement party so and my fiance got the whole week off from work (pheww!) so we are basically going to pack it in by looking at our top 5 venues (more if needed...keeping my fingers crossed that there won't need to be more), meet with potential officiants, and wedding dress shopping for me.  There is also a bridal expo in Merrick that I'll be going to with my mom.

    KelBelle118- we basically want somewhere on the water on LI.  Currently considering- beach club estate, crescent beach club, venetian yacht club, lombardi's on the sound, georgio's...(so if anyone has been to/had a wedding at any of those input would be awesome!).  Out of curiosity, where did you end up booking?  We are considering April if we can get a good deal on a place and it sounds like you did!
  • edited December 2011
    I have been to 3 weddings and 2 other events at Giorgios and it was GREAT...I also love Lombardis on the Sound...I have more info as well. You can email me direct if you want and I can help you karenarnoldmaine@gmail.com

    Best,
    Karen
  • LMoncloud9LMoncloud9 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm getting married in September on LI and I live in VA. Distance wedding planning is definitely harder, but it seems like you're on the right track. Since I don't go to NY very often, any time I do go, we're usually booked with appointments. We spent (like you) an entire day running around LI looking at venues. I'm really happy taht we got that sorted out first, becasue many other things start falling into place after that. I went with East Wind. They have been very helpful as far as making things easy for me though I'm far away.
    My florist is A-MAZING and has pretty much helped me with everything else that I need interms of decorations, invitations, etc. They have made the planning process so easy especially since I'm far away.
    If you're interested, I can def give you the vendors that we went with. I've found them to be very helpful.

    Good luck!
  • SoonToBeGenaoSoonToBeGenao member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hey girl,

    So we will be having our reception at Jericho Terrace this coming October. They are SO amazing. The place is really beautiful and they gave us an AMAZING price for the amount of things we are getting. The main reason I recommend them- they give you a free wedding planner to use the whole length of your engagement up until a month before the wedding (you pay if you want her for crunch time). They also recommend 3-4 vendors for each thing. If you book a JT recommended vendor- the vendor gives you a price cut AND JT won't charge you to feed them (ie. DJ, MC, Photographer etc).

    Hope this helps and good luck!
    There's only 1 way 2 say those 3 words and that's what I'll do... I love you Image and video hosting by TinyPic
  • edited December 2011
    Venue venue venue!!!!  That HAS to be #1.  Also same goes for your ceremony.  If you're getting a church or a separate area from where your reception is.  I'd say the next most important thing is a DJ and a photographer because they seem to book up pretty fast around here. 

    Things that can definitely wait are the flowers, dress, and transportation.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • saram348saram348 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    hey girl! well I am less than 3 weeks away from the wedding and I started out planning my LI wedding from Buffalo. Heres a list of what you need to get done ASAP
    #1 Reception (you cant book any other vendors until you know what days the reception has open)
    #2 Food (all your guests are going to remember the food so make it count :)
    #3 Photographer( That day is going to be such a whirlwind that you need all of the pictures to remember the special day)
    #4Entertainment
    #5 officient
    It can be hectic and stressful but just make sure your fiance is there supporting you the entire way. Try to stay as relaxed as possible, it was super stressful for me and now im just ready for it to be over and spend my life with my future husband
  • moyajenechkamoyajenechka member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats and don't worry - everythign will be just great :)  We had Event Remembered planning our event and helping on the Day of but if you don't need a planner, you can still contact them (they had a great site) for the photo, video, flowers, you name it.  Good prices, great vendors, very easy to deal with and pleasant.
    Good luck :)
  • alithebridealithebride member
    Name Dropper 5 Love Its First Anniversary First Answer
    edited December 2011
    another on the water (with only one event at a time) harbor club. dh and i had our reception there and it was wonderful. it's in huntington. they're super to work with and will absolutely bend over backwards for anything youask for (or dont). they pulled all of their outdoor tables and chairs f rom storage for us since we had a super warm november night.

     

  • edited December 2011
    We are using Red Sweatshirt Photography for our wedding and they pretty much helped us plan the wedding by answering questions and giving suggestions...along with some referrals. Their website is http://www.theredsweatshirt.com
    Just Married Photo
  • tinarextinarex member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Oh my gosh thank you so much everyone for all the responses.  I thought I would've been subscribed to this thread, so I didn't realize that anyone had posted until now!
    Anyway- we are getting close to going home so this weekend we are going to sit down and pick our top venue choices and then I'll call to make appointments.  I am hoping some places will do at least something as far as a tasting goes since we are from so far and won't be able to come back again for a tasting.
    Photographer is definitely something that really concerns me- a friend got married last year and hated her photos (the photographer missed some really important shots and all the proofs were washed out and unprofessional looking).  I don't think were doing e-photos so it will make it even tougher to get to know a photographer before the wedding.  If anyone has a good recommendation for my photo-journalism-y type photographers that would be awesome- we're not good at the whole posed, looking longingly at each other shots.
    i guess my big concern is it looking like 'us' instead of just a generic set-up since we might not be able to see some things in person until the day of. 

    alithebride- i think my cousin got married there too.  it was beautiful and the setup was so classy but laid back at the same time.

    LMoncloud9- i'd love to hear which vendors you used- thank you! 
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