Wedding Planning Hotspots in Bellmore

Wedding planning can be stressful, costly and time consuming. However, the process is eased when brides and grooms can trust the vendors that they hire.

No one wants a dry cake, wilting flowers or a poorly altered gown, so choosing the right people for the job is crucial. Bellmore offers a wide range of high-quality wedding professionals to assist couples in crafting their perfect day, all the while exemplifying high quality and service.

Finding a gown early in the game is key, since many designer styles can take anywhere from six months to a year to be delivered. Lillettes is a full-service bridal salon, where ladies try on gowns that meet both their style and budget. When the dress comes in, the shop will do all of the alterations in their seamstress department. Styles for bridesmaids and flowergirls are also offered.

Laura Sorrentino, a soon-to-be bride, raved about her experience at Lillettes.

"I love Lillette's, and Gerri is a godsend," said Sorrentino. "She worked with me for over two hours and I walked away without picking anything. Then when I finally found a gown at another store, I just knew I wanted to order it through Gerri."

"Unfortunately, they didn't have a sample of that gown in house, but Gerri went to all lengths to call the designer, get a price quote, get a price on a hollow to hem measurement, and find out if they could even order it. She got back to me immediately and I was back in the store a week later to order it," she added.

Ordering invitations is another step that must be accomplished early in the planning. Stuffing envelopes, trips to the post office for stamps and eagerly awaiting the return of RSVP cards can take months. And that's not to mention finding the invitations. Luckily, Have You Heard? Inc. custom crafts invitations to make the process more simple.

Ginny McClean, co-founder of Have You Heard? offered the following advice, "The correct time frame to order invitations for a New York wedding is optimally six months prior. Invites get mailed out approximately 11 weeks before the event. The invite sets the tone for the entire wedding as it is the first thing the guests receive for the big day."

Brides and grooms want to make sure that the tone they set truly reflects the style, formality and personality of their wedding. Therefore, customization is key. McClean said, "We treat every order as a custom order to provide the utmost service to our clients. Invites with photos of unique venues and/or the couple and layers of many specialty papers with color specific ribbons are among the most unique designs we've created. If you can imagine it we can produce it, but remember custom means expensive."

Have You Heard? also offers other wedding services such as calligraphy, assembly and mailing of invitations, favors including wrapping, unity candles, cake serving sets, garters, toasting flutes, gifts for bridal and baby showers and more.

Some couples opt to have their invitations match their floral arrangements, and some choose to have completely different vibes for each. Either way, a professional, such as Petite Florist, must be called in to attend to the details.

Petite offers both bouquet and centerpiece options, and like the best wedding planners, pays attention to the details that the couple wants. They have a large selection of flowers to choose from, and can bring in ones that they do not carry. Designer, Debbie M. said, "It all depends on what the bride wants. We can absolutely customize designs, and we've imported flowers from Holland, Israel and so forth. "

Some engaged couples do not want the traditional centerpieces composed of solely flowers, and Petite can cater to them as well. Debbie adds, "We can also do arrangements made with flowers and candles, flowers and vases with branches, flowers and ice rocks in the vase and we've also done some arrangements made with balloons."

Decorations are a very important component of the event, but brides and grooms need to pay attention to the details of the ceremony like the exchanging of rings. Picking out wedding bands together should be romantic and exciting, not stressful, and Rena Marie Jewelers loves to help couples in that decision.

Rena Marie has a wide assortment of rings to choose from, including but not limited to metal, 14 karat, 18 karat and platinum styles. However, rings can be customized as well.

Robert Sanicola at Rena Marie said, "Couples can completely personalize their rings. They can design and create them from scratch. They pick out their stones, and we place them into the mounting based on what they are looking for."

Engagement rings can also be purchased at the shop, and Sanicola noted that engagement rings and wedding bands are a major part of their business.

While picking out a ring is a private event, one activity that bridesmaids and groomsmen always want to come along for is the cake tasting. Creating the perfect cake is a process, and chef and owner of The Cake Gallery, Thomas Shipley, filled me in on what exactly goes into it. He said, "Most couples desire a great tasting cake that is beautiful and reflects their style. I show photos of cakes that I have done or a sketch based on the couples' ideas. The couple needs to trust the person making their cake and we usually earn that trust quickly. We have formal cake tastings by appointment or a quick taste of cakes and filling on hand at any time, all for no charge."

When asked about unique designs he has made, Shipley responds, "I have made so many it's hard to pick one. We recently did a cake for a house painter that had ladders and paint cans made out of sugar that spilled 'paint' to match the cake colors down the sides of the cake." Professional service, beautifully decorations and fabulous taste are all components of a cake from Shipley's shop.

Most of the planning belongs to the couple, but the bride gets to sit back and relax when it's time for shower planning. However, her input is important in locale selection, and The Teapot is a perfect place for her to suggest, as they are a premiere location for bridal showers.

Owner Sadia Ahmed, describes the space as "a Victorian inspired tea room. We have pink walls and feminine touches. We have dolls, candles, hats and a Victorian settee. We also feature a small gift shop in the back of the tea room." Therefore, the locale is a perfect spot for a sophisticated and classy ladies' event.

The menu is extensive, and truly completes the feel of an old fashioned Victorian tea party. Ahmed adds, "For each bridal shower, we offer four sandwiches per guest, along with one to two scones per guest and two different types of pastries. The food is all served on floral tiered stands. Additionally, we rotate unlimited pots of tea throughout the entire event. The host chooses four different types of teas from our selection of 35."

After all the details are planned, and everything is set in place, couples have one more event to host: the rehearsal dinner. Chef Owner of Piccolos, Tom Valenti, noted that most rehearsal dinners are 30 guests or less. However, they have three party rooms where they can accommodate both rehearsal dinners and weddings, and they have hosted weddings with 400 guests.

Valenti said, "Without a doubt, we work with the bride and groom to customize the event. They want a party as nice as the wedding, and we treat the people the best that we can."