Beach Princess Review of 6/21/08 Wedding including Chateau La Mer, April Flowers, Thomas Paul Photography, After Hours D.J., Jill Harth, Roseanna Amador, Enchanted Video, Etc.

congratulations!!

Congratulations!

Congrats

That was a great review. I am going to look at CLM tomorrow and based on bios I've read and pics I've seen, its my #1 choice.

You mentioned the bakery, but I don't remember anything about the food itself. Any comments?

Is there anything else you can say about them?

Thanks for all of your help!!

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Posted by EngagedInAruba

That was a great review. I am going to look at CLM tomorrow and based on bios I've read and pics I've seen, its my #1 choice.

You mentioned the bakery, but I don't remember anything about the food itself. Any comments?

Is there anything else you can say about them?

Thanks for all of your help!!

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Hi! I'm back and so sorry I did not mention the amazing food at Chateau La Mer!!!! I loved the fact that our price included a HUGE cocktail hour with tons of choices as well as the guest's choice of four different entrees and a fifth vegetarian option. They also had chicken fingers and fries for the kids, which was great! The food was absolutely delicious! I have to say the one chicken dish I got was a little on the dry side though. Everything else was fabulous! I need to look at my website to remember what we ate and I will be back!

So, back to the food at CLM. So yummy! We had butler style passed Hors D'oeuvres, cocktail hour stations with pasta dishes and meat carving, fresh fruit, wine with cheese and crackers, caviar, etc.

After the cocktail hour, the guests got an appetizer during the seated dinner as well as a choice of a caesar salad or mixed greens salad with rolls and butter. For our appetizer we did the pinwheels of mozzarella, prosciutto, and basil layered with tomato, grilled eggplant, and drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. It looked so pretty our photographer took a picture of it and tasted just as good! Then we had the lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate.

Our four choices for entrees were Chateaubriand, Chicken Francaise, Chilean Sea Bass, and Jumbo Stuffed Shrimp. What I really liked was that as Bride and Groom they give you small portions of all the entrees, so you can try everything on your wedding day. I loved it all! Probably my only suggestion is pick something other than the Chicken Francaise, which was a little dry that day.

I highly recommend going to CLM's tasting. You get to try all the food for free and bring along guests like your parents. They don't skimp on the tasting either. You get huge portions of everything!!! The only thing I did not like about the tasting is that they did not offer every single entree choice to try. I did not try the Chicken Francaise, so I did not know it would not be that good until the day of the wedding. You can take the food home with you from the tasting and they have an open bar for free.

Lets talk about the bar for a minute! Oh wow! You get five hours top shelf liquor and cordials, imported and domestic beers and wine, champagne, martinis, frozen tropical drinks, and assorted tea, coffee, juices, sodas, and sparkling waters. Honestly, I was not impressed by the watered down drink I got at the tasting, but on my wedding day I ordered a Pina Colada and it tasted totally top shelf and just like they had it shipped from the Bahamas just for me. My guests were ordering Long Island Iced Teas all night (which was included--Yay!) Everyone loved the open bar! I also liked the fact that as soon as my ceremony was over every guest was handed a glass of champagne with a strawberry as they exited the ceremony.

The only thing I did not like about CLM was that they promised me that plates of assorted cookies and puff pastries would be given to each table (which I never saw and neither did my guests). Also, we spent extra money on a really beautiful ice sculpture, which was hidden away in a corner of our cocktail hour. I was not even sure it was there until someone showed me a candid pic they took of it.

I cannot say enough good things about the staff at CLM. They really took care of me. I especially liked my bridal attendant. She was very sweet and helpful. She helped with the decorating, switching my veil/tiara, switching my shoes, bustling my dress, etc. She made sure everyone went on cue for the ceremony, which I also had at CLM. Seriously, she made it so I did not have to worry about a thing. I highly recommend going to a hall that includes the services of a bridal attendant. This way my bridal party and my mom could enjoy the wedding and did not have to be helping me the whole time.

Also, CLM offers the 'yacht ride' around the Bay. I have to say that was pretty neat! I think they are the only hall that does anything like that. It was a lot of fun, but watch your hair whipping in the wind! It was neat seeing our guests lined up on the dock to see us come in from our boat ride.

I used Cruise Control Limousines in Lindenhurst for wedding transportation. For the most part I was very pleased with them. The drivers were on time and friendly. The cars were clean and nice looking! I got a white stretch limo to pick up the guys for the wedding first and then they came back and got the girls and dropped us all off at CLM. It was cheaper to get a smaller limo and do two drop offs than to rent a bigger one, plus I did not want my FH to see me in my dress.

Word to the wise, make sure you know exactly how long it will take to do your makeup and hair and for the bridesmaids to be ready before you call up the limo to reserve it. We found out we did not need such an early pick up time because CLM does not let anyone into the hall before 10:00 a.m., so I had to call the limo company and try to change my times a few months prior to the wedding. They were able to accommodate me; however, they said the driver had another wedding right after ours and might have to rush to get there.

I noticed our driver in the morning seemed really distracted and in a hurry. He left before I could tip him. I was a little upset though because he did not even open up the door for my bridesmaids to get out of the car in their floor length dresses.

Our experience after the wedding was much better. We got an amazing looking antique Rolls Royce and the driver took us to the beach for pics. He was a really nice guy! Very laid back and opened doors for us. He played the bridal horns for me.

I would recommend Cruise Control, especially if you are getting married at CLM cause they are in the same town.