Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Wedding Review

THE DATE: Saturday, August 24, 2002

Nicholas & Tina planned an elegant mid-summer’s afternoon wedding ceremony in New York City for 18 months (1½ year). They introduced their formal affair with ivory/gold invitations featuring an insertion card with gold scripted lettering. The couple’s wedding attire reflected a classic and very elegant New York flair. The bride found her inspiration from her one of bridesmaids, Cassia, who picked-up a beautiful champagne gown from the rack at Estelle’s Dressy Dress in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York on a bridesmaid gown fitting afternoon day. Her three bridesmaids were dressed elegantly in long champagne spaghetti-strapped gowns with a touch of sparking gold and coated with a sheer overlay. Her junior bridesmaid was dressed elegantly in a long ivory gown with the same concept of a sheer overlay. Tina wore her hair in perfect curls and a classic rounded rose beading headpiece with ribbons hanging to match the ribbons on the back of her bridal gown. The bride chose stephanotis, ariana, vendella, white casablanca lily heads, and white wax flowers for her bouquet finished with a white bow with long streamers and Nick’s boutonniere is a matching stephanotis. For the bridesmaids’ bouquets each had different arrangements displaying a variety of mid-summer’s colors. For the maid of honor, an abundance of champagne, ariana, vendella, message versillias, blue bird roses, pale blue delphinium, and white wax flower with ivory bow and long streamers in a slightly bigger size than the rest. The two bridesmaids had bouquets that were equal in size but the colors were taken from the maid of honor’s bouquet. Tina’s first bridesmaid, Samantha had a bouquet filled with pale blue delphinium, white wax flower, arena, champagne and vendella roses while her second bridesmaid, Cassia had a bouquet filled with bluebird versillias, message roses with white wax flower both with ivory bows and long streamers. The junior bridesmaid, Monika’s bouquet consists of a much smaller size yet filled with variety of colors from the maid of honor and for the groomsmen’s boutonnieres champagne was an obvious choice. Their ceremony programs were personalized and hand made by Tina to include their photo, a poem, a sentence about šakotis, a traditional Lithuanian wedding cake, their wedding websites, and of course the basics of a wedding program: proceedings, bride and groom’s parents’ names, wedding party members, officiant, and organist names.

It started to drizzle in the morning which Tina was hoping the weather would clear during the day but never did, but accepted rain as good luck in her marriage. Carrying a huge smile and suited in a sharp classy After Six tuxedo, Nicholas walked between the rails of the alter sparkling the chapel as he awaited the grand entrance of his soon-to-be-wife. “I could not wait to see my soon-to-be-wife in her bridal gown,” says Nicholas. “She was hiding it from me for 18 months and she looks absolutely gorgeous and beautiful, like a princess.” The unity candle’s two tapers were lit by both mothers before the ceremony began and again by Nick and Tina after their vows were completed. The middle candle was lit together by gathering the tapers as the source, so their marriage will always have light.

After a civil ceremony, guests headed into Queens to their reception, Caffé on the Green for a plentiful cocktail hour. The historic venue hosts a history of legendary actor Rudolph Valentino’s former home which was then transformed into New York City’s former Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s summer home after Valentino’s death. The bar downstairs where a large portrait of Valentino with his wife Natacha Rambova hanging above the original fireplace of Valentino’s former home transformed into a waiting area as guests anxiously awaited the cocktail hour since the weather did not permit an outdoor patio cocktail. As soon as Nicholas & Tina re-entered the room for their introduction as Mr. & Mrs. Kurihara through the grand arch formed by their wedding party, they then stepped out into the spotlight for their first dance to Eagles’s “Love Will Keep Us Alive,” which was performed by their band, “The Projekt.” The couple glowed on the dance floor and mesmerized their guests with their steps as Tina twirled herself lifting her gown brightening the whole room. This was our favorite memory.

The cake boasts four book-filled tiers of chocolate mousse filling in yellow food coloring to fit the champagne theme while representing Tina’s personality, two adorable mini teddy bears dressed in a bride and groom stood as their cake top. “We’d also had Raguolis or Šakotis, a traditional Lithuanian wedding cake,” explains Tina. “It’s a two-foot high, spiky cylindrical Christmas-tree shaped Lithuanian wedding cake made by adding dough in layers to a rotating wooden pole in front of a hot fire with dollops of battered eggs and lemon. It’s delicious and important as it incorporates Nick’s cultural background. Although I’m Chinese American and Nick’s half Lithuanian and half Japanese we’re both Americans and incorporating four (4) cultures would overwhelm our guests and be very confusing. However, we’ve only incorporated minimal traditions which I wore several Chinese jewelry thus my cultural background would not be lost completely.”

Although magnificent in size, the Bridgeview and Bayview Rooms were kept intimate with dim lighting and votive candles on their 13 tables. The couple chose the Valentino menu consisting of six (6) choices of entrées for guests to choose from. On each plate a miniature menu was given to each guest describing each entrée: Scaloppine of Veal: artichokes, radicchio, mushrooms, and roasted peppers in a cognac sauce. Sea Bass Mediterranean: boneless filet of sea bass braised with shiitake mushrooms, leeks, carrots, and spinach. Chicken Boscaiola: grilled breast of chicken with asparagus, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes, in a Madiera wine sauce served on a bed of herbed potato puree. Eggplant Parmigiana: lightly battered, thinly sliced eggplant, topped with tomato basil sauce, baked with parmigiana and fresh mozzarella cheese. Filet Mignon: served with a creamy cognac sauce. Muscovy Duck Chambord: roasted muscovy valley duck semi boned, served with a chambord sauce.

Centerpieces of ariana, vendella, champagne, versillias, message, bluebird roses, pale blue delphinium casablanca lily heads, lavender roses, hydrangea, and white wax flower sits on a tall glass tube pedestal filled with white stock flowers floating in water rested each table that caught the sparkle of the chandlers lilting the room. Added sparkle came from the gold-tinted chairs and the four-tiered white and yellow chocolate mousse wedding cake with the šakotis, Lithuanian wedding cake. Nicholas and Tina ate their dinners at a sweetheart table with big white chairs fit for a king and queen overlooking their guests.

BREAD, WINE & SALT
Following Lithuanian tradition, the couple’s parents offered the newlyweds the traditional blessing with the Elements of Life using bread, wine, and salt as the ingredients. Nick and Tina dipped a piece of rye bread into a cup of salt then drank a glass of red wine. Bread represents a wish that there always be food on the table, wine symbolizes the sweetness or joy of life, and salt signifies the bitterness of life.

Afterward, guests listened to the Best Man’s speech given with honors by Roosevelt who did an outstanding job projecting his voice clearly and acknowledged himself as Nick’s college friend while bringing humor about Nick’s personalities of a Mets fan, being a computer wizard, favorite actor Robert DeNiro to finish with a toast to the happy bride and groom. Guests then gathered on the dance floor to participate in the conga line and the classic “YMCA” by The Village People. Couples, singles, and children enjoyed the night, taking their cue from the newlyweds. Cassia displayed her musical talent with a beautiful rendition of Shania Twain’s “From This Moment On” with their band, The Projekt. Tina was overwhelmed with joy on her big day expressing it by twirling Samantha, her bridesmaid and then Marianna, the Maid of Honor, in a loving gesture to her dearest friends. To show Tina’s appreciation to the entire bridal party she designed the sitting arrangements for all of them to be seated together along with their guests at Table #3. To keep all bridal party members informed and updated during the wedding plans, Tina took the time to design 12 monthly newsletters of The Wedding Party Corner in the 18 month (1½ year) engagement period which first debuted on October 13, 2001. Monika’s parents said “the newsletters were very good and very informative, you’re very organized.” To further display her meticulous organizational skills, Tina printed each guests’ names on clear labels for the seating cards as she refuse to hand write them. “Why hand write guests’ names when technology simples life? The printed clear labels with a script font make it elegant and neat.” A foam-poster board also handmade by Tina sits on an easel bearing their names, wedding date, websites personalized with formal college portraits and the same photo from on their websites placed next to the escort-card table and later moved next to our band. Each table had a disposable camera for guests to snap candid photos during the night. Disappointingly, several of these cameras were not returned to Nicholas and Tina by the end of the night. A funny tradition that originated at Nick’s material family member’s wedding several years ago is the passing of Uncle Tomas’s naval hat, in which each individual puts it on and has their photo taken. The bride said “why not put Uncle Tomas’s hat on? It’s our big day and you only get to have things go your way once in your life.” Thus, Table #2 and the sweetheart table were passing around the famous naval hat from one head to another and saluting with their hand on their forehead to the camera.

Nicholas and Tina gave each of their guests a shot glass decorated with their names, wedding date and a “Just Married” car, hoping that many guests will be reminded of their special day for years to come. Trying not to make a mistake while tossing her throw-away bouquet, Tina bent backwards and tossed it into the crowd of eager single young ladies to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper without realizing whom caught it. Surprisingly, Monika, her Junior Bridesmaid of 12 years old, caught the bouquet. Next was the garter removal which was a tough job for Nicholas who dug under Tina’s elaborate long bridal gown to “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison under her ball-shaped bridal slip to pull it out with his teeth. Nick tossed the garter to the crowd of single men, and Matthew LeBlanc, who is Michael’s younger 9 year old brother, caught the garter. The fun was not over, as per Tina’s request the band played on having Matthew put on the garter on Monika which gave guests quite a laugh.

As the night came to a closure, guests concluded their dinners with plentiful Italian pastries accompanied with their two wedding cakes. Their band sang the last dance song “Late In The Evening” by Paul Simon with lead vocalists Cookie Kurtz and Lewis La Medica who taught Nick and Tina with their guests an elevating dance to kick their feet sideways. “It was the perfect end to a perfect day,” remembers Tina. “It was the happiest and most beautiful day of our lives. We orchestrated a success!”

INGREDIENTS
CEREMONY SITE: Church Center for the United Nations, New York, NY, (212) 661-1762

RECEPTION SITE: Caffé on the Green, Bayside, NY, (718) 423-7272, www.caffeonthegreen.com

OFFICIANT: Reverend Karl W. Gillmeister, (212) 982-5094

PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY: Cassarino Studios, Mineola, NY, (516) 877-2700, www.cassarinostudios.com

WEDDING GOWN: Mori Lee, www.morilee.com from Estelle’s Dressy Dress, www.estellesdressydresses.com

SHOES: Candy by Dyeables, www.dyeables.com

HAIR: Hair Creations by Inge Buium

MAKE-UP: Janet Bari Beauty Studios, (718) 423-4066, www.janetbari.com

BRIDESMAID DRESSES: Dave & Johnny Ltd., www.daveandjohnny.com

FORMALWEAR: After Six, www.aftersix.com, from Estelle’s Dressy Dress, www.estellesdressydresses.com

INVITATIONS: American Greetings, www.americangreetings.com

PROGRAMS: Ribbons: Rexcraft, www.rexcraft.com; Stationery: Rexcraft, www.rexcraft.com; and www.masterpiecestudios.com

MISCELLANEOUS WEDDING ACESSORIES: Rexcraft, www.rexcraft.com

FLOWERS: Ceremony: Flowers by Akemi, (212) 753-1244; Bouquets & Reception: 1800FLOWERS.com

WEDDING CAKES: Four tiers of champagne cake with chocolate mousse filling frosted and topped with white chocolate. Šakotis or Raguolis, a traditional Lithuanian wedding cake, a gift from one of their guests.

FAVORS: A&S Novelty, Farmingdale, NY, (631) 694-6265, www.aandsnovelty.com

ORGANIST: Paul Murray, Holy Family Church, (212) 753-3401

MUSIC: “The Projekt” by Sound Check Entertainment, Mineola, NY, (516) 877-0550, www.theprojekt.com, www.soundcheckentertainment.com

TRANSPORTATION: Ultimate Class Limousine, Hicksville, NY, (516) 935-4444, www.ultimateclasslimo.com; and Manhattan Travel Inc., New York, NY (212) 966-2121, www.manhattantravel.tv

GUEST ACCOMMODATIONS: Crowne Plaza Hotel at La Guardia Airport, East Elmhurst, NY, (800) 692-5429, Fax: (718) 899-9768, www.basshotels.com/crowneplaza
LaGuardia Marriott, East Elmhurst, NY, (800) 882-1043 or (718) 565-8900, Fax: (718) 898-4955, www.marriotthotels.com
Courtyard by Marriott at LaGuardia Airport, East Elmhurst, NY 11369, (718) 446-4800, Fax: (718) 446-5733, www.courtyard.com
Millennium Hotel New York UN Plaza, New York, NY, (212) 758-1234, Fax: (212) 702-5051; www.millennium-hotels.com
Wingate Inn, Garden City, NY; (516) 705-9000, Fax: (516) 705-9100 www.wingateinngc.com

GIFT REGISTRIES: Macy’s Herald Square, New York, NY (888) 989-9333 www.macys.weddingchannel.com; Crate & Barrel, Manhasset, NY (516) 365-7600; The Knot.com (877) THE KNOT 843-5668 www.theknot.com/members/tinachan&nicholasg.kurihara

HONEYMOON: Paris, France by Liberty Travel, www.libertytravel.com

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Belated Review

Hi! Glad to hear that you had an amazing day. Just curious about your thoughts on The Projekt. We have them booked for our April wedding. Any tips or suggestions? thanks!

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Belated Review

Wow Picture are wonderful and you look beautiful. I got married on the same day and you think your review was late....I didn't even do mine yet!

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Belated Review

do you have any outdoor shots of your wedding or CASSARINO did not do anything creative

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Belated Review

Updated with more wedding and honeymoon pics!

Our Wedding Pics

More Wedding Pics

Married Life Pics

Our Wedding Web Site

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Belated Review

Tina! Everything looks beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing all those pics!!!!!!

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Belated Review

Today is our 2 Year Wedding Anniversary! We were married Saturday, August 24, 2002! We're going to celebrate with dinner at our reception venue, champagne, and exchange cards and our cotton gifts.

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Belated Review

Our Wedding Ceremony

I. Prelude

II. Candle Lighting–Our Mothers

III. Processional
“Trumpet Voluntary” by Jeremiah Clarke

IV. Entrance of the Bride
“Wedding March” by Wagner

V. Opening Statement
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the presence of God to join Nicholas and Tina in holy marriage; which is instituted of God, regulated by his commandments, blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be held in honor among all people. Let us therefore reverently remember that God has established and sanctified marriage for the welfare and happiness of humanity. Our Savior has declared that a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife. By his apostles he has instructed those who enter into this relationship to cherish a mutual esteem and love; to bear with each other’s infirmities and weaknesses; to comfort each other in sickness, trouble, and sorrow; in honesty and industry to provide for each other and for their household in temporal things; to pray for and encourage each other in the things which pertain to God; and to live together as the heirs of the grace of life.

First Reading–Book of Genesis (2:18-24) (Read by our Best Man)
A Reading from the Book of Genesis
The Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.”

So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him.

So the Lord God made the man fall into deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclose it in flesh. The Lord God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.

The man exclaimed:
This at last is bone from my bones,
and flesh from my flesh.
This is to be called woman,
for this was taken from man.
This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body.
The word of the Lord.

VI. Prayer
O Creator of Love, we thank you for giving us the gift of love. On this joyful occasion let your blessing rest upon Nicholas and Tina. We praise you that they have been drawn together in love and have come to be joined in marriage. Give them grave and wisdom for life, honesty with each other, and devotion to you, that they may find strength in time of trouble, patience in time of trial, and joy in companionship all their days.

VII. Bride is Given Away
Minister: Who gives Tina to be married to Nicholas?
Father of the Bride: I do.

VIII. Questions of Intent
Nicholas, will you have Tina to be your wife (husband), and will you pledge your life to her (him), in all love and honor, in all duty and service, in all faith and tenderness, to live with her (him), and cherish her (him), according to the ordinance of God, in the holy bond of marriage?

IX. Vows
I, Nicholas Kurihara, take you, Tina Chan, to be wedded wife (husband), and I promise and covenant, before God and these witness, to be your loving and faithful husband (wife); in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live.

X. Rings
Blessing of Rings
Bless, O Lord, these rings, that they who give and wear them, may abide in your peace, and continue in your favor, unto their lives end.

Nicholas (Tina), will you receive this ring from Nicholas (Tina), as a sign of his (her) love and sincerity, and will you wear it as a symbol of your own love and sincerity to him (her)?

XI. Closing Prayer
O God, with deep joy and thanksgiving we turn to you. Nicholas and Tina have bound their lives together in the most binding commitment of love we humans know. Bless their love; help them fulfill their vows; and allow them to grow into one heart and life. May their days know joy; may they be given courage to overcome troubles and sadness; and may they be happy living life together.

Second Reading–1 Corinthians (13:4-8) (Read by My Bridesmaid)

A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians
Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails
XII. Unity Candle Lighting Ceremony
God said, “let there be light,” and there was. And God saw that the light was good. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” How good it is to have light. Light illuminates, light brightens. What a blessing to have light.

Nicholas and Tina, each of you takes a light representing your individuality and your own background. Together you light a candle which represents the new life you enter. This is a new household, a new being, a new beginning. You will note that this act dramatically symbolizes that your individuality is not lost, but is fulfilled and brightened. Your marriage, instituted and blessed by God, the great light of the world, does not take away your individuality, but fulfills it as the two of you become one. May the flame of love burn forever in your hearts.

XIII. Concluding Rite and Final Blessing
By the authority committed unto me as a minister of the church, I declare that Nicholas and Tina are now husband and wife, according to the ordinance of God and the law of the state. Whom God has joined together let no one put asunder.

XIV. The First Kiss
I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Congratulations and you may now kiss the bride. (Guests applause)

XV. Recession
“Hornpipe” by Handel

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Belated Review

Absolutely beautiful!

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Belated Review

BUMP.

Re: Nicholas & Tina's August 24, 2002 Wedding Review

You both looked great. Can you let me know about your experience with Cassarino photographers? We've booked them for next September and I'm a little nervous. Who was your photographer? Thanks for the input.