Melissa & Joey- May 24, 2008-Terrace on the Park

Well I’m finally married! I can’t believe how quickly the day came and went. It seemed like it would never come and now here I am, MARRIED! It’s been a long time coming this review but I finally took the time to finish writing it lol. I do not know how to post pics otherwise i would. I tried and it didnt seem to be posting the pictures correctly.

These are the following vendors I used. I speak only from my own experience. If anyone else has used them and had differing opinions from what mine were, like I said I can only speak from my own experience.

LIWEDDINGS- A + +
I got so many helpful tips and advice from this site. It truly was a god sent.

PROPOSAL- Caffe on the green- Bayside
My Husband and I were celebrating our 1 year anniversary. We had talked marriage in the past but I didn’t know when it was coming. He took me to Caffe for a romantic dinner. The whole evening he was very nervous and jittery. When it came time for dessert he insisted that I order something. At this point I was so full but he kept on pushing, saying it was a special occasion we needed something sweet to top it off. I gave in and ordered dessert. When it came, the waiter said “Oh I see you ordered the very special dessert tonight”. I noticed the entire wait staff was standing by our table and I was like what is going on. Then I looked down. On the plate, written in chocolate was “Will you marry me?” I looked up and my Husband was on his knee with the ring. I said yes and we both cried. The whole restaurant cheered and many people bought us a round of drinks to celebrate


STD Magnets- Party City- Bayside- B+
I ordered my save the dates from Party City sometime in the beginning of January 2007. By Feb 1, I had not received anything. When I called them up about this, they had no record of my order! Needless to say I went down to the store with my receipt in hand to show them I had indeed ordered the STDs. Turns out the girl who took my order put it into the wrong printing companies folder and not the company that made my STD. A manager was called and the problem was fixed, plus he reimbursed me money on the order for having to wait and the problems. I thought this was a nice gesture. But, I do think they need people who are qualified to work the invitation counter, not some girl who is preoccupied with putting her lipstick on rather then doing a competent job.

INVITATIONS- Party City-New Hyde Park-A+
I decided to give PC another shot since they carried the invitations I wanted and gave me a discount. I used the New Hyde Park one this time and everything went smoothly. There was not a single problem with the invites. They came on time and looked great.

ENGAGEMENT RING- Diamonds by Janet- NYC- A
When my fiancée went looking for a ring he shopped around a lot. He knew I wanted a princess cut with side stones and he wanted to get a really good diamond. A perk was that he collects gemstones so he knows what he is looking for. Janet was recommended by a friend of his. She got him a gorgeous ring that was exactly what I wanted. The only thing that annoyed me was the fact that she initially said she would size the ring for free, then she charged him in the end claiming because he needed it sized more then 2 sizes. I thought that was wrong considering the money he spent.


WEDDING BANDS- Turkan Jewelers- Levittown-A++
Turkan came recommended to me by a coworker. When I went to check them out they were the picture of courtesy. I found my band right away and surprisingly, so did my Husband. They gave them to us for a much discounted price and sized and engraved them for free. I liked them so much I bought my MOH her gift there.

HAIR - Michele from Off Broadway Salon, Flushing- A+ + + + +
I have to start by saying I absolutely love Michele. She did (and always does) such a fabulous job on my hair that I couldn’t have been more happy. Michele has been my hairdresser since I was 13 years old and knows my hair inside out. Needless to say, when my wedding came near I wanted no one else to touch my hair but her. She came to my house the morning of the wedding and not only did my hair but my Moms, my Sisters, my Step moms and my Aunts.

MAKEUP- Maria- A Soft Touch by Maria- A
I found Maria when I went to pick out a flower girl dress at the wedding plaza. She showed me some samples and then we did a trial a few days later. The makeup came out beautiful and I booked her. She arrived on time the day of my wedding and made everyone look gorgeous. The only reason she didn’t get an A+ was because when she got there she started rearranging everything and was a little messy with spilling powder and stuff on the floor. My Mom was frazzled enough without having to then scrub the floor, but it was a small problem and I still think she did a wonderful job.

DRESS- Bonny Bridal Dress-Beautiful Bride, Lynbrook-A++++
I have to admit buying a dress was a scary thought to me. Being a plus sized girl and reading some of the horror stories people go through terrified me. The last thing I needed was some strange woman telling me I needed to lose weight to buy a gown. I didn’t want to go through that and ruin the whole dress buying excitement. Luckily I didn’t have to. Through searching LIWEDDINGS, I found Beautiful Bride. They were one of the stores that carried the dress I loved and had gotten positive feedback from other brides on this site. I called them to make an appointment and spoke to Nancy. While they carried the company that made my dress, they didn’t have my dress in the store to try on. However, for $50 they could order me a sample to try on in my actual size. If I bought any dress in the shop, not just the sample I was ordering, she would deduct the $50 from my dress price. When I arrived to try on my dress, Nancy had set out other dresses in the same style for me to try on, just in case. I fell in love with my dress the second I put it on. While I did try on the other samples, I just knew my dress was the one. I also felt so at ease in the store. Being a bigger girl, its uncomfortable having people look at you and critique you but here it was nothing like that. Everyone was so nice and complimentary that I felt like size 2 when I’m far from it. As far as alterations go, everything went fine. Didn’t have any problems.

VEIL- Barron’s- Tri-County Mall- Levittown- A++
I had read many amazing reviews of Barron’s and upon seeing how much a veil cost in a bridal boutique I decided to give Barron’s a try. My dress was diamond white so I thought my choices would be limited or I would have to wait sometime for the veil to be made. After describing my dress, the owner showed me several choices in my color that were already there. I fell in love with a double layer veil trimmed with swarovski crystals. The design matched my dress to a T. I was so amazed I could take the veil home that day as well. I highly recommend Barron’s for anyone looking for a veil.

ACCESSORIES (TIARA & JEWELRY) - Various- A+
Since I was young, I had always admired this one Swarovski tiara called the Princess Tiara. I would always tell my Mom that if I ever got married I wanted to wear that. When I got engaged my Mom bought it for me. We got it at the China Connection in West Hempstead. They give you a % off when buying any kind of china, Swarovski etc from them. My aunt had been using them for years. I was very pleased with their service.
For my jewelry, I wore an antique diamond watch that belonged to my Grandmother. My Grandfather gave it to her shortly after they became in engaged in 1951. So not only was it my something old and borrowed but it had immense sentimental value. I also wore a diamonique tennis bracelet that I purchased from QVC.com. Not having the budget to byt the real thing, this bracelet was very pretty, had a lots of shine and fooled many people. For Christmas that year, my Husband had bought me beautiful pearl and crystal earrings to wear on our wedding day. Only problem was I couldn’t find a necklace that I liked that matched it. I researched online and found www.looneymaiden.com, which made crystal jewelry. They had the perfect style I was looking for and it matched beautifully

MOB GOWN/GODMOTHER GOWN- Beautiful Bride, Lynbrook-A+++
The day I went to try on and inevitably order my dress, I took my Mom and my Godmother. As a wedding present my Godmother was buying my dress for me. Plus, she wanted to see some samples of dresses for herself. My Mom, however, was in no way even looking for a dress. Like me, my mom is also plus sized and she wanted to put off searching for a dress as long as possible. While I was trying on my gown, my godmother perused some of the racks. Nancy came over to my Mom and asked if she wanted to see anything. My mom reluctantly said “I guess”. Nancy ensured my mom she was in no way obligated to buy a dress but that it didn’t hurt to just get an idea of styles out there. She asked my mom what kind of style she liked and after my Mom gave her a detailed description of what she didn’t want, Nancy went to work. She pulled some beautiful dresses that were exactly like my mom wanted. When my mom tried on the dress she eventually chose, she looked stunning. My Godmother found a beautiful strapless dress that they converted to have sleeves. Both dresses were fabulous and not over priced (I saw my moms dress at another store for $100 more than what she paid). I can’t thank them enough for the kindness and attention they have not only me but my Mom and Godmother as well.

MOH GOWN- David’s Bridal, Garden City- B-
Alterations- David’s Bridal, Astoria-A
I first decided to use David’s because they are reasonably priced and because I thought it would be more convenient for my girls to shop at a chain store since they live all over Queens and Long Island. I took my MOH first and it was a madhouse. As we searched dresses, everything was in disarray. We managed to pick out two dresses for my MOH to try on with little to know help from the salesgirl. My MOH wanted something different from the rest of the bridal party so that she would stand out from the rest. After we had the two dresses, the sales girl practically threw us in a dressing room.
My MOH bought her dress the day she tried it on (she’s a size 4 so it wasn’t too difficult for her lol) and we put the bridesmaids dresses on hold so the girls could come in and be measured. The girl assured me everything is in the computer. All the girls do is come in and give our party name and the dress could be ordered. Cut to two weeks later, one of my girls goes to be measured and they no longer have the dresses. They’ve been discontinued. Now why couldn’t they tell me that when I was putting them on hold? They didn’t know two weeks before the dress was being discontinued? This annoyed me. I never even got a phone call saying my dresses were no longer available and I might want to pick another from the store. Only that my MOH had already purchased her dress, I wouldn’t have bought a thing in the store.
For her alterations, MOH went to the David’s closer to her home. They were much nicer there, the store was a lot neater and the alterations were done quickly and precisely. I should’ve gone to the Astoria David’s first.

BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES/FLOWER GIRL- The Wedding Plaza-Floral Park-A+
After the David’s fiasco I went to The Wedding Plaza with my girls. We picked out a dress that would flatter all shapes and sizes. I ended up with a Jordan halter dress in Violet. They came in when they said they would and looked great. For the flower girl we chose a white dress with violet accents. Simple, yet elegant.

TUXEDOS- Men’s Warehouse- NYC & Bayside- B+
Overall, it was a good experience. However, the day my brother went to get his tux, there was a problem. They cut his pants too short and he looked like a Steve Urkel impersonator. Mind you, this is the day before my wedding. Of course, no one wanted to take responsibility for the error and my brother, needing a tall length, couldn’t find a pair in the store that fit him. The manager told my Dad, who had had bypass surgery two months prior, that the Green Acres store had them and he could drive there to get them. Why should my father drive out there when it was THEIR mistake! My Dad was lucky he was driving locally, let alone to Long Island. Only until my Dad caused a huge fuss in the store, did one of the sales girls make arrangements to have the pants picked up and delivered to the store by that afternoon. The pants finally arrived and thankfully fit my brother. I was disappointed at how unaccommodating they were when it was there mistake not ours. One other error that occurred was not all the men got the discount for having their bonus card which they should have. We had to bring their receipts and dispute it to have the money reimbursed.


MEMORIAL CANDLE-http://weddingthings.weddingstar.ca-A+
My grandparents were very important people in my life. They helped raise me, along with my Mother. My grandfather has passed when I was 9 and my Grandmother shortly before I met my Husband. In fact, I always say she had a hand in bringing us together. Since I knew they would be there in spirit, I wanted to have something there to remember them by. My mom ordered these candles to be placed on our seating table, one for my grandparents and one for my Husbands. They came out beautiful and everyone thought it was a touching tribute

LIMOS- Whitestar Limos-Bayside- A+++++
I love love love this company. Not only are Peter and Anthony super nice, there customer service in awesome. I have used this company for everything. They are excellently priced and provide great service. They were prompt (early even) the day of my wedding and everything was smooth sailing with them. We had 3 limos in all. One 14 passenger, and Two 10 Passengers, plus a 1957 Cadillac for my Husband and I. Again sentimental since it was the same kind of car my grandparents use for their wedding. Cannot rave enough about them

BRIDESMAIDS GIFTS- Overstock.com- A+
I ordered a sterling silver amethyst journey pendant for my girls. It came within a few days and was priced just right. For my flower girl I got her a three stone amethyst pendant as well

GROOMSMEN'S GIFT- Linens n’ Things.com
We got our men, engraved beer steins from Linens and Things. Again, they came on time and looked awesome

SHOES- Dyeables- Wedding Shoe Boutique- Westbury- A+
I bought dyeables in Delilah. They were simple and elegant and I dressed them up with a crystal butterfly clip

DISPOSABLE CAMERAS- Theknot.com-F
I wanted to have the disposable cameras on the tables at the reception so people could take some shots. When the cameras were developed they were horrible. Every picture is dark and grainy. Even the outdoor ones. The quality was not as described on the knot. I do not recommend using these cameras

BUBBLES-theknot.com-A+
I ordered no staining bubbles to be used outside of church. They came on time and worked well. They made for some very cute pictures as well.

FAVORS- Orientaltrading.com /Yankee candle/myself-A+
Not being one for favors that no one will ever use, I decided to do the do it yourself kind. We knew we wanted to give a cd out as part of the favor. My husband and I compiled a list of songs that reminded us of each other. My MOH’s husband was kind enough to burn the copies for us. I bought Cinderella CD labels to match our theme. Since we were providing the romantic music we figured we would add to the ambience. From oriental trading we got personalized votives, then went to Yankee candle and bought an assortment of votive candles. We wrapped them nicely in a box and presented it as a romance package. Each couple got a different candle, along with the cd and personalized match book. This too was a big hit with our friends and family.

MENUS & PROGRAMS- Me- A+
Again a do it yourself item. For the menus, I bought fancy printing paper and typed up the choices for the evening. For the programs, I created one on the computer using various poem and Cinderella themed pictures. I took them to Kinko’s and made copies. It was simple and fast and saved me some money. I think the programs cost $100 (since I needed many copies) and the Menus cost $10 for the paper in Staples.


FLOWERS- Pedestals-A-
I was very specific in the flowers I wanted. I wanted a lot of color and very little white. When I first went to Pedestals, I was given Erin. I ordered Hot Pink, Lavender and Confetti Roses for the girls bouquets, Lavender, Hot Pink and White for my bouquet, Purple hydrangea, Lavender Roses, Confetti Roses, Hot Pink Roses and White Snap Dragons for the center pieces. When I went to see the sample, Erin no longer worked there and I was given Ginny. Centerpieces looked lovely and I couldn’t wait to see the final product. When I went to make the final payment, I was given Diane to work with because now Ginny only works weekends. This was annoying because I didn’t like being pulled around to different people. I also gave them two kinds of ribbon for the girls’ bouquets. The maid of honor was supposed to have different. The day of the wedding, flowers came on time, with the Swarovski initials I supplied in them, however the ribbon was wrong. Seems like a small detail but it was something I gave them in advance and went over several times. They even returned my one set of ribbon not even opened. Overall the flowers were amazing but it disappointed me that simple little instructions weren’t followed and I never had the same girl twice to help me.

CHURCH- St Andrew Avellino- Flushing
Like other brides, I will not give a rating to a church; however, I will describe my experience. I grew up in this parish and made all my sacraments here. The church is very Cathedral like and I love the beauty of it. I knew it would make for beautiful pictures. It was important I got married in this church. We initially arranged for Father Andrew to marry us. He was Polish, which is the same as my husband and I, so it was a nice added touch. When we met with him a second time he informed us he would be leaving the parish but not to worry because he would come back for our wedding. Two weeks prior to our wedding, and after no word from him, my husband called him at his new church. He informed us he could no longer do our wedding because he couldn’t get permission from his new Pastor. And when were you going to share this with us? Now I needed to find a new Priest. We arranged with Father John to marry us. Everything seemed to be OK until the rehearsal. The wedding coordinator for the church not only rushed us but was extremely rude. Seems the scheduled my rehearsal (which I reserved in January) and someone else’s for the same time. Instead of calling one of us when they realized the error to tell us to come later they just let us arrive at the same time. My entire rehearsal was 10 minutes long if even! She wouldn’t even wait for my mother in law to arrive! I came out of rehearsal in tears and unsure of what to do.
On the day of the wedding, we started early and ended early. I was supposed to start at 3 pm but started at 2:50 pm. Then Miss Rudeness comes over to my photographer and tells him he has 5 min for pictures then she is kicking us out because they had to get ready for 5pm mass! Mind you it was 4:05! What did they have to do to set up, remove 10 pew bows? My alter baskets were placed far back on the alter that they weren’t interfering. I thought this was so rude. Especially since I have been a parishioner here all my life and made many contributions to this church. We should’ve been treated better. I’m still sad I didn’t get the church pictures I wanted. When my husband called Father John afterwards, he just said oh well what can you do? How about treat me better after I just contributed $450 to your church, not to mention how much my family has over the years.

PHOTOGRAPHY - Ariana Studios- Floral Park-A
I went with Ariana because several of my co-workers have used them and were very pleased. Overall I was very happy with my photos. My photographer Nick arrived early and was very pleasant. My proofs arrived within two weeks of my wedding and were beautiful. I was very happy with how they came out and promptness. My only complaint, which isn’t entirely the photogs fault, is certain family pictures were never taken. I had wanted different shots and in the commotion of the day didn’t think to tell him to take these pictures. Plus certain shots I thought were standard and didn’t think to ask for them

VIDEOGRAPHY- Ariana Studios- Floral Park
Grade pending based on video

DJ- Hollywood DJ’s-B-
I’ve used this company for everything since my Sweet 16. So, it was a no brainer when it came to my wedding that I wanted them. I was looking forward to it being such a great night of music and fun. While it was those things, I was disappointed in their performance. I gave them a specific list of the songs I wanted to be played. They played 4 off the list. I even went over several times and asked for my songs to be played but again was told they would get to it and they never did. I never had a problem with them before but on the night of my most important party they failed to deliver. They were also so loud, it was almost deafening. I told them to please lower it a little at least 3 times and my husband 4. They just ignored us. They even got annoyed when after an hour of Spanish music (which is great but we aren’t Spanish) asked for something else. It seemed he wanted to play what he liked and wanted and to hell with what my husband and I wanted. Everyone else said they were great but I was upset by small little things that my husband and I wanted. Needless to say they lost me as a customer.
HALL- Terrace on the Park- Flushing- A+
When it came to choosing a hall, I knew I wanted something in the area of where I live. I originally had another place in mind, however, after meeting with them and being treated very rudely decided to look elsewhere. I had driven past TP countless times and never gave it a thought. One day my husband said, let’s look at that one and see what it is like. What could it hurt? I was very glad we did. Not only did we fall in love with the views, but the room was large, elevators had been remodeled and we were treated like royalty. We were given an excellent price since originally we were having our wedding on a Sunday. When the church fell thorough with out first date and we had to change it to Saturday, Mark, our banquet manager, honored the original price and didn’t charge us more for it being a Saturday night wedding. The day of our wedding, the place looked magical. We were blessed to have such a killer sunset, everyone was snapping pictures. The food was also amazing. From our cocktail hour to the Viennese tables, people couldn’t stop gushing. People also loved the martini bar and frozen drink bar. My attendant was as good as gold and was there for anything I could have needed. She really took care of my husband and me.
The only thing I could slight them on and the reason for not getting multiple pluses was my cake. The cake was included in the price of the hall and when I saw how much private bakeries charged for wedding cake, I said we will just use the one provided. A private bakery cake was not in our budget. Mark told us to tell him what we wanted and the cake would be designed to what we chose. I knew I wanted red velvet with white chocolate mousse for the inside and white with lavender accents for the outside. I was very specific that I did not want all white for the cake. I even reviewed this every time we met with Mark. Aside from a few of my bouquet flowers and my gown, I didn’t want anything to be white. When I arrived at my reception and saw my cake, my heart sunk. My mom almost had a coronary as well. Not only was my cake topper not on the cake, which they promised it would be, but the cake was all white! Not one ounce of color was on the cake. I told my attendant that I hated the cake and she said she would see what she could do. My husband also noticed a huge crack along the bottom of the cake. To try to save things but attendant got some of the extra flowers that Pedestals had sent and placed them on the cake, as well as putting the cake top on. This made it better but still not the cake I had envisioned or dreamed of. When my Mom went to Mark, he said what can you do? At least you got a nice day. My mom was in no mood to hear that but for my sake ****** it up. Looking back, I would’ve found some extra cash and opted for my own cake. Thankfully the inside was done correctly and tasted yummy.

HONEYMOON- Atlantis Resort- Paradise Island- Bahamas A++++++
We had the most romantic honeymoon one could ask for. From the minute we got there, till we left everything was perfect. The hotel was wonderful and the staff was superb. We always had something to do and the meal were amazing. I highly recommend this Resort to anyone.

Re: Melissa & Joey- May 24, 2008-Terrace on the Park

Congratulations!

Re: Melissa & Joey- May 24, 2008-Terrace on the Park

Thanks, tried to post pics but for some reason it wont work. Oh well lol