Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

I didn’t post much on here, but I did find all of your advice and wedding inspiration super helpful. I wanted to post a review because I found them so valuable when I was planning. Overall, our wedding day was absolutely amazing. Here are the details:

Reception: Harbor Links Port Washington, NY A+
We booked Harbor Links because it is BEAUTIFUL and also a simple place (no flashy furniture or chandeliers) and the price is right. It was hard finding a place that only had one wedding at a time that was also kind of affordable. We were absolutely SOLD after we tasted the food. We worked with Jeanine who is absolutely fabulous. She was always so sweet and so on top of everything. Guest raved about the location (the outdoor tented cocktail hour was so pretty amongst the beautiful greens) and the food—If you’re looking for a garden party type of wedding (simple, green, beautiful but not over the top), this is definitely a perfect place.

Church: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Flushing, NY
We had Father Paul and he was wonderful. My husband is not Greek and Father Paul did a wonderful job making him and his family feel like part of the church. The ceremony was beautiful and the out of towners and non-Greeks loved it!

Photo/Video: Golden Moments A+
Amazing from beginning to end (well, no pics or video yet, but I’m pretty confident they’ll be awesome). We had Jason and Curt as our photo/video guys, but Dan and Pat surprised us on the day of and filmed for half the day (for free mind you…). Super super nice, super talented guys. Also, they’re really reasonably priced. We had an unbelievable experience with them.

Limos: It’s Showtime A+
I had met with some of the bigger vendors on here, and I really didn’t like the talk show host vibe I got from them. When I talked to Steve from It’s Showtime, he was really sincere and genuine. My dad (who is a VERY difficult person to please) came with me to our appointment and we booked him right away. He is VERY VERY reasonable as far as price and the day of was AWESOME. Limos were early, limo drivers were super accommodating. Everything went so smoothly!

Florist: Pristine Floral Design, Whitestone, NY A+
Let me start by saying I am obsessed with flowers. If I were rich, I would have gone insane with flowers. That being said, I am tough to please and I like really expensive flowers. I told Jennifer my budget and she worked with me and made three different samples for me. I made a bunch of changes throughout and probably drove her nuts. She may come off a little “hard” and we butted heads a little bit in the beginning, but I loved her by the end. She knows what she’s doing and everything turned out PERFECTLY. The bouquets and centerpieces were absolutely GORGEOUS. I mean, GORGEOUS. Not one brown flower, not one thing out of place—perfect. And the flowers at the church—even more beautiful. They are a teeny bit more expensive than other places (really not by much), but the end product is SO well worth it. Juanito, the floral designer is so unbelievably talented. I was so pleased with the flowers…

Music: Delta Music B
We needed live Greek music and a DJ. We met with a few people, but decided to go with Delta because the musicians were really good. I was a bit nervous before the wedding because the guy didn’t get in touch with me until about a week before the wedding to finalize the details. All was fine with the band on the day of the wedding, The band was fantastic—all the Greeks had an awesome time! What I didn’t like is that they don’t work with one DJ; they contract out which makes things more complicated. I had given the DJ a VERY DETAILED LIST of everything I DID want played. Needless to say, not everything got played, but a few cheesy songs that were not on my list did get played.

Dress: Fontana Salon D-
I went there b/c they had this Lazaro dress I wanted. As it turns out, the Lazaro dress looked terrible on me, but I ended up liking another one by some private label. The saleslady was SOOO annoying and kept telling me why every dress was good or bad and talked NONSTOP. I had my mom, my aunt, and my sister there and nobody talked but her. When we were negotiating a price (there was a sample sale), they barely gave us a deal and insisted we buy it then. We left a 500 deposit for a VERY expensive dress. I left feeling robbed AND I decided I didn’t want the dress. When I called back to get my money back, they said they couldn’t do it. 500 down the drain. It’s their policy, so fine, but they were NASTY. Even BEFORE we bought the dress.

Then I went to…

RK Bridal
Dress: A
Alterations: D-
I liked the fact that the people there weren’t pushy or overly doting. I liked being able to shop through all the racks. I found a dress I loved (La Sposa), ordered for a LOT LESS than what the other dress was going to cost, and it came in just a few months later. I thought all was well with the world of bridal gowns.

Then the alterations began. Oh my f-ing God. The woman spoke NO English, yes’d me to death, but made NONE of the changes I had requested (and needed—my mom is a seamstress and was APPALLED). I went back FIVE TIMES to fix the same little things and at the end of the day, the dress fit okay, but was still too effing long AND the bustle was all messed up. I had to dance the first dance holding my train and then my mom and her friends had to safety pin my dress up. That’s the only thing that made my wedding day a little less than perfect. I could barely walk without tripping over my dress and I was pissed.
When I complained to the OWNER of RK that the seamstress spoke no English and didn’t do a good job, all he said was, “Hey, imagine how I feel when I try to communicate with them!” What an a-hole.

I don’t think RK is a bad place to buy your dress, but the alterations will drive you up a wall.

Hair/Makeup A-
Euphoria Salon in Bayside

Affordable place and I loved my makeup and hair. It took two trials to get the hair right, and in retrospect, maybe I should have gone for a softer look, but that’s my own issue. They were great to work with, but I wish I could have gotten more than one trial look without paying two separate times (especially when I was simply displeased with the first one)


Eyelash Extensions A+
Roni at Euphoria Salon

Afforable and awesome. I think she charges 200 and then first touch up is free. What a difference it made! I didn’t wear makeup my entire honeymoon. Be careful though, I ripped them out when I got back from Africa (they’d been in over a month at that point), and I pulled out most of my own eyelashes. I suggest going back to get them taken out professionally (so you don’t lose your own). I am now using Latisse to help regrow my own.

Shower: Aegean Cove A+
Astoria, NY

My mom and sisters did an AMAZING job. The food was so good and the place was awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Rehearsal Dinner D+
Donovan’s of Bayside

My mother in law went with us when she was visiting for Thanksgiving (she lives OOT), and we met with a woman who gave us an awesome price for the whole back room (30 dollars per plate for a three course meal and beer and wine). The room was beautiful, the food is always good so we were sold!

Well, long story short, they are so disorganized there and they had booked another party that ended a half hour AFTER OURS WAS SUPPOSED TO START. I was f-ing LIVID and there was nothing they could do. Mind you, we had 65 people at our RD b/c of all the Out of towners. They put us in room next to the party that was going on and fed us cocktails and appetizers. Still, we didn’t sit down until about 8:40 (and we were supposed to be seated at 7:30). I was pretty pissed. Still, food and drinks were good…

Bridesmaid Dresses and earrings: Carina Boutique (Whitestone, NY) A-
A little expensive, but in the neighborhood and the price included alterations. Also, they went above and beyond for me when I was DESPERATELY searching for bm earrings a few days before the wedding. Overall, it was a good experience (though I do think they could be a bit rude on the phone sometimes).

Invitations and Favors: Anastasia’s Gift Shop (Flushing, NY) A
We LOVED our invitations. They were so beautiful and Anastasia spent a lot of time with us to help us choose what we wanted. My sister bought the favors (two espresso cups on a wooden heart with a sugar bowl) from here too (For Greeks, the koumbari buy favors), and they were so adorable…

Tuxedos: Men’s Wearhouse (Bayside, NY) C
All turned out ok, but they messed up a BUNCH of things (colors, sizes etc.). B/c we had a bunch of groomsmen who live out of town, we really had no choice.

Registry:Macy’s and Crate and Barrel A
Both fantastic. We earned SOO many rewards points from Macy’s. Well worth it (though they people who work in the store, particularly at Roosevelt Field, spend a lot more time gossiping than helping).

Mother Nature A+
She is the most amazing creature ever. Seriously. All of June (and most of May) was a rainy hell. Our day was picture perfect. Thank you, Mother Nature.

Roslyn Claremont: OOT hotel and day after Breakfast D
A TON of problems. We had guests sleeping on the floor. Front desk/Reception is TERRIBLE. John D and Shannon are really super nice, but there were too many issues to list here. They were the only decent hotel that was very close to Harbor Links. FM me for more details.

Chair Covers: TableWear (Donna) A+
Donna is a doll and so affordable. The chair covers were beautiful! I highly recommend!

Honeymoon: Tanzania A++++++
We did a week safari in and around the Serengeti and a week on the island of Zanzibar. We used Basecamp Tanzania for our tour operators and it was nothing less than f-ing spectacular. Seriously…

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Re: Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

Beautiful wedding. I love how your hairstylist did your hair, it's gorgeous! Great review!

Re: Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

YAY FELLOW HARBOR LINKS BRIDE!!!! CONGRATS!!!!

Re: Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

you look Beautiful! Congrats!!

Re: Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

Congratulations! Thanks for the review.

Re: Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

Congrats!!!! Thanks for the review

Re: Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

Congratulations! Thanks for a great review!

Re: Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

I am interested in booking Harbor Links for my wedding. Anyone have any other feedback about the place, either positive or negative?

Re: Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

u look gorgeous!

Re: Our 6/6/09 Review: Harbor Links, Golden Moments, Pristine Floral, It's Showtime Limos, Delta music and many more!

loved your review esp because most of the places you named were in Queens which is where i live! You looked amazing! Congrats!