Wedding Cakes, Dresses & Halls In Queens
Planning Weddings In Queens NY
Queens NY / July 15, 2009. So you've finally made decided to spend your lives together. "Until Death Do You Part." Those are big words and after many months and frequently years of getting to know each other, you know you've made the right decision.
Wedding Vows & Receptions In Queens
But now you're in charge of planning and organizing the biggest event of your life. There's the ring, the church or mosque or temple where the wedding vows are to be exchanged, the caterers, the bachelorette party, the band or DJ, and the booze. There's the reception hall, the wedding dress, the bridesmaids dresses, the hair and skin preparations for the big day. There's the photographer, the invitations, the flowers; and the biggest trick of all, agreeing on who's to come and who's to pay for it all. Hmm, did I make the right decision afterall?
Of course you did. And this is your public announcement to the world that you and your betrothed are committing to each other for the rest of your lives in front of the people you hold most dear to you in your lives. So give yourself some time, but long engagements aren't recommended. Most planners say you can plan a wedding in three months if you want to totally stress yourself out and everyone else around you, but they recommend you plan nine to twelve months in advance. Oftentimes finding an open day at the wedding hall is frequently what determines the date.
Wedding Planning In Astoria & Queens
This report is the start of helping you get organized and helping you know what choices you have, right here in Queens NY. For purposes of this report we're going to focus on wedding halls, wedding dresses and wedding cakes. Believe it or not, celebrating your big day in Queens costs about what it costs in the top one hundred cities across the nation, and far less than in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Queens retailers frequently offer great value for the money.
Wedding Party & Wedding Reception Locations In Jackson Heights & Queens
Queens has many places to host wedding receptions and the exchange of vows. Most people generally exchange vows at the place where they attend religious services, or if not religious, they frequently exchange vows at some place that is special to them or at the reception hall. A popular non-denominational place in Queens to exchange vows is in the Queens Botanical Garden. There you can rent a portion of the grounds that is cordoned off in the midst of nature and beauty. You just have to hope that it doesn't rain, but they do have tarps.
Things to consider when surveying a reception location are its proximity to the wedding ceremony location, parking / public transportation, the appropriateness of the space and decor for your planned event [ie music / dancing] and, of course, the food service.
Queens Restaurants That Host Wedding Parties & Receptions
There's a wide selection of restaurants that have large rooms that rent out space for wedding / private parties of between 50 and 100 people. If this is the size of your groom's dinner party or you're planning a modest wedding party, you can likely find a lot of places in the borough. One place we have visited which has recently refurbished their private party room is the Cavalier Lounge in Jackson Heights. The restaurant is split into two sections so that a private party can be going on in one half of the restaurant undisturbed by the restaurant's regular clientele in the other half.
Generally the number of guests will determine the range of options available when it comes to hosting the wedding reception. Some prefer to exit the borough for the country clubs of Long Island or Westchester, but there's really no need to. A couple of Queens public golf courses have facilities which are used for wedding receptions, so that is a comparable venue. That said, there are many other great choices for hosting a wedding reception in Queens.
The Terrace On The Park is one such place, which is owned by the city government but rented out to an events group that largely uses the facility to host weddings, anniversaries, private parties and an occasional public party such as New Years Eve. It's not cheap, but it provides a beautiful facility that is centrally located and has a beautiful view. And it's located in the middle of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, so unless you're getting married on a Mets game day, there should be plenty of parking.
Other options include some of the restaurants with outdoor space. We know of several in Astoria and Long Island City and will inquire as to their involvement in planning receptions and report back here at a later date.
Wedding Dresses & Bridesmaids Dresses In Astoria & Queens
This is your special day and of course you want to look your best. It's been said that getting the wedding dress and bridesmaids gowns right is easily one of the most challenging part of the process, topped only by figuring out who is going to be on the guest list. The reason selecting a wedding dress and matching bridesmaids gowns is difficult is because of the high standards brides hope to set on one of the most important days in their lives. What complicates it is managing the matching dresses, expectations and wishes of the bridesmaids, all of whom have different bodies, different tastes and different color preferences. Add in your mother and your soon-to-be step mother and you have a conundrum more difficult to solve than rubik's cube.
In selecting a wedding dress it's best to find a dress shop that fits your style and personality. Many times wedding gowns are custom made for about the same as it costs to custom fit a designer dress. We found this to be true in Queens, where a family run dress shop, Yours & Yours Only, has been serving the public for decades. Joseph, one of the owners, is also a designer. He told us that about half of the wedding gowns he sells are custom made.
A lot goes into planning what the women will wear for the occasion. The wedding dress shop can help you with shoes, tiaras, hand bags and flower girl dresses so that everything will look perfect on your perfect wedding day.
Wedding Cakes In Astoria & Queens
Ah, one of the less stressful and more fanciful items to plan for is the wedding cake. Queens is home to many fine bakeries that have been baking wedding cakes for all ethnicities since the dawn of the last century.
One such legendary bakery is Omonia Bakery, which is run by a Greek family who's been in the restaurant business for decades in this country and perhaps far longer dating back to their Greek roots. They were asked to bake the wedding cake featured in 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'. According the John, the owner, this was actually a simpler cake than they like to do. Frequently use Wilton Industries cakes designs and accoutrements, as Wilton is one of the nation's largest purveyors of wedding cake accessories.
Anyhow, finding the right bakery is likely the difficult part. Once you have a solid partner handling the cake, after you select the design the rest is basically handled. It's good to be sure the bakery has experience with wedding cakes, because the difficulty in creating such cakes lies in its structure, which is frequenlty multi-tiered which requires an understanding of cake densities and support, while ensuring good taste.
So good luck with planning your big day. We'll return soon to help in the areas of jewelry and beauty tips, including hair and spas, soon. Congratulations.
Planning Weddings In Queens - Related Links
Click here to view the home page of Omonia Bakery wedding cakes in Astoria Queens, the Cavalier Restaurant for private parties in Jackson Heights Queens. Click here to view the home page of Yours & Yours Only wedding gowns and bridesmaids dresses in Astoria Queens.
