Poor quality

So I received the invitation sample from the woman on etsy... I have to say that I am really disappointed.

The sample she sent was lopsided (the card looked like it was cut weird) the print was really faint in places..etc. I know that some people send rejects. However since my colors are blue and green. She made that one just for me. Its blue with a cream layer...etc. So since it looks like it was made just for me, because she said she tried to match my colors etc... I'm kind of disappointed that she would send me crap... or at least not put in her note that this is a reject and to not mind the crookedness etc... which it doesnt say AT ALL.

So now I'm questioning the quality of what I will receive if I order from her. So do I bring up my concerns? or will that just be weird? I dont know. There are others I like on etsy too but they are really slow at responding or dont respond at all. :(

Problems with David's Bridal

SUNDAY
I went to David's Bridal on Sunday with Aaron to pick up the bridesmaid dresses for my wedding. They had called Kerry on tuesday and told her she had to pick up her dress in 3 to 5 days. Which is really unreasonable for people to do when they live out of town.

So we get there and when they bring the dresses out they ask that I sign a piece of paper to state I received the dress. I told them I didnt want to sign before I see the dresses and make sure they are what we ordered.

So my fiance and I start looking over the dresses for damages..etc. I had recently read a post about someone having a pen mark on their dress and I just wanted to make sure everything looked okay before I signed for and took the dresses. After all its not my dress, its someone else's and i didn't want to say it was okay.. when it obviously wasnt.

Dress # 1 - size 10.

Looks okay. The zipper is starting to bulge at the bottom. Threads are starting to come out and the zipper is catching on the threads.

Dress # 2 - size 20

Looks okay. Same problem with the zipper. It looks bulgy at the bottom. Told that both dresses are okay and its just the way the zipper is tacked and would be easy to fix.

Dress #3 - size 14.

Really bad obvious threads pulling, making a big line across the bottom by the bottom of the zipper. The zipper is bulging at the bottom. Was told that they would have alterations look at it. I was walked back to alterations, saw the manager show the alteration worker, what I was complaining about, saw her write the problem in a book and we left the room and went back out front.

I was assured that all 3 dresses would be fixed and ready to go by Wednesday.

THURSDAY
I show up on Thursday with my cousin who is the owner of dress #3 that was the worst. I thought it was best to bring her incase they tried to do a "patch job' to make it look pretty like just iron the shit out of it. I wanted her to try it on and make sure it was really fixed.

We arrive and they can't find the dresses... because they are looking in receiving. I told them that they were in alterations because they were being fixed. They bring them out in a white bag and hand me the papers to sign for them. Of course I won't because I find it weird they are brought out in a different colored bag. When I tried to pick them up before they were in a clear bag.

So I start looking at them and they are ALL THE SAME. Nothing has been changed. When I try to tell them that they havent been fixed, they say that they werent supposed to be fixed, that they were only told to steam them. So I said that they needed to be fixed. She said there was no paperwork stating that they needed to be fixed, so they werent fixed. Like it was MY FAULT that there was no paperwork.

So they take the one that looks the best, take it in the back, press the hell out of it and it comes back looking okay but it still looks like its bumpy at the bottom. So I said that I thought that it was just a quick temporary fix and that I didnt want to sign for something that needed work to be done to make it look okay. She said No..no. Its fixed. It will stay like that. So i told her that ironing wasn't fixing it. I mean if you iron your pants, does that mean they will never wrinkle again? Seriously. Come on!!

Then the manager on duty says that they can get me a new dress but only for the one that looks the worst. The others are "okay" in her standards since they can be pressed so the flaws are only mininimally shows. What?

Then she goes on to say that since they are an "off the rack" dealer that the dresses are never new, that they might all have that same flaw ..etc. So I said well if I saw the dress before I bought it, I wouldnt have bought it like that. That the ones we tried on AT the store was not like that, I even pulled some off the rack and showed them that it wasn't like that. They said that there was no guarantee that they dress wouldnt come back looking like that... and it might take 6 to 8 weeks to get the dresses back.

So I said that I had 6 months to wait for a decent one.

Her reasoning was just dumb. Seriously. So what if they are an off the rack dealer. That doesn't mean I would go into macy's and buy a defective dress just because the dresses are off the rack. Either they can order me a new one (most retailers can call around to the local stores and see if they can find one in your size, or you can look online) or most places will give people discounts on defective merchandise. I know I've worked retail at two different stores.

It different when you buy your dress ahead of time and they send you defective merchandise.

Anyways, so after the manager on duty said there was nothing she could do. She basically kept trying to get us to take the dresses with us.. saying that they were all going to be like that etc. We left without the dresses and the promise that the real manager could help us tomorrow.

possible wedding invitations

Aaron and I have been looking for wedding invitations. We haven't found anything really that stands out that isn't A LOT of money. I looked into getting someone local make us some custom pocketfold invitations, but they were a little more than I expected.

The theme for most things I have encountered - People LIE over the phone or at shows. So you go in thinking its X amount of dollars and it ends up being XX amount of dollars.

Grrreeat.

So I looked around etsy and found this and liked it. I showed it to Aaron and he thought it looked nice too:

We can totally change the colors..etc. We ordered a sample to be sent to us.

I contacted some other people on etsy, but so far no one had really responded. I just don't want something ordinary. I can't find anything I really like. I'm just hoping that if we order from etsy that they turn out okay. It kind of worries me to order something from so far away.

One more bridesmaid?

since Maya quit (this seems to be a recurring theme doesn't it?), I told tasha that maya quit. So all of a sudden she wants to be in the wedding again..

So I kind of ignored the requests. Finally I told her I was concerned about her behavior and I really needed people who wanted to help and would help without being flaky... plus we already had even sides. Aaron had 4, I had 4. I told her later that she could be an usher if she wanted, or guestbook or something and she turned me down. Kerry, one of my MOHs, said that she wouldnt want someone as flaky as Tasha in her bridal party. I agree..

However, I was telling Aaron that Tasha had been bugging me about being a bridesmaid, but how she had already quit because she was flaky... and that I didn't really want her to be a bridesmaid because I didn't think I could count on her. I told him this because I said that she turned down my offer to be an usher.

He looked at me and said I was being mean and that if she wanted to be a bridesmaid, why didn't i just let her because why did it matter? So i said that it mattered because that meant an extra gift and an extra bouquet.

So he said well tell her she can be a bridesmaid if she buys her own bouquet.. lol.

So now I'm thinking, am I being mean? Should I just let her. One more bridesmaid is not a big deal....

Papapavlos

Our caterer just got a glowing review in our local paper...

4 star review

Papapavlo's may want to expand.

Sure, the Mediterranean bistro recently moved from its longtime 3,000-square-foot Pacific Avenue storefront to a 5,700-square-foot building in Lincoln Center. Still, the restaurant was packed on a recent Thursday night, and my dining partner and I had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. (Reservations are recommended.)

The wait, however, was well worth it. Our dinner at Papapavlo's was excellent, the wait staff was attentive and the atmosphere was intimate and relaxing.

We took the last two seats at the bar to wait. A diverse crowd surrounded us - on our right were two 30-somethings sipping drinks and dressed for a night on the town; to our left, a baby-boomer couple enjoying dinner.

Papapavlo's has an open kitchen adjacent to the bar, and glowing flames shot up from sauté pans as the staff worked. The restaurant is decorated in warm brown tones, which creates an intimate feel.

At the bar, we ordered hummos ($7.95), a spread of puréed garbanzo beans mixed with garlic and lemon juice. It was mild but still flavorful and tasty and accompanied by a basket of warm, soft pita bread.

Our waiter was quick to offer us another basket of pita bread once we were seated at our table. He stopped by constantly to make sure we had everything we needed.

My dining partner described him as "oppressively helpful." We didn't mind, but if you like to be left alone during dinner, it's something to consider before you check out the restaurant.

The menu is extensive and ranges from pork tenderloin medallions ($17.95) and grilled vegetable pasta ($14.50) to Mediterranean specialties such as moussaka (grilled eggplant casserole, $14.95).

Entrées come with a salad that isn't your typical pre-dinner pile of vegetables. It was a big meal unto itself that was highlighted by a tangy greek dressing and Kalamata olives. A small block of feta cheese topped it off.

My dining partner, a vegetarian, ordered spanakopita ($12.95,) a spinach-and-feta-cheese casserole served in a phylo dough pie crust. The portion was generous - two huge slices - the casserole was rich and the crust, crispy. We ended up taking home one of the slices.

I ordered the gyro plate ($15.95), which was a huge pile of meat accompanied by rice and tzatiki sauce. Gyro (pronounced year-o) meat is like Greek meatloaf; it's typically beef or lamb that's ground, mixed with spices and cooked on a rotisserie.

Since many Greek restaurants leave their meat cooking on the rotisseries throughout the day, gyros done poorly can be dry and jerky-like. The gyro meat at Papapavlo's, however, was perfectly hot and moist. It was still juicy when I ate the leftovers two days later.

Yet the main dishes weren't the best part of the meal for myself or my dining partner. We were both struck by the asparagus that accompanied our dinners.

They didn't seem like much, just a few grilled spears. But the asparagus had a phenomenal earthy flavor, as if it had been cooked on the world's best outdoor barbecue.

It was a small, simple thing that capped off an excellent meal.

Papapavlo's

****

Type of food:

Mediterranean/American

Centerpieces take 2

So Aaron did not really like my centerpiece attempt. He thinks that its risky to let a non-professional do the centerpieces and we should just add the centerpieces to the florist proposal before the deposit. That way we can always take them off, and we can have them as a backup incase something goes wrong with the diy ones. Like we can't get the flowers or something.

What about this for the centerpieces instead of my homemade centerpieces?
This was my attempt at a centerpiece:

Flowers as presented at the florist








When assembled from the florist they will be in a cube vase:


I took them home and put them in a vase of my own. The cube vase will have a ribbon around it too in that same color:

So what do you think? Does it look nice? or nicer than what i put together?

The only thing is my centerpieces cost about $5. The florist centerpieces cost about $35. I don't know if that is worth the added expense. I will add them in though and see what happens.

Caterers check...

Aaron and I went to our caterer tonight. We thought we were going to just meet with the owner to go over the menu and give them our deposit. I also made a reservation for dinner. We sit down for dinner and the owners aren't there yet. The hostess asks us if we are there to sample the food and we said no, we had already done a tasting...

Well apparently we got to do another one. They had our names down as a tasting and the staff just started bringing us food. It was good just to refresh our memory and make some changes. We got a plate of free appetizers, greek salad, grilled asparagus, oven roasted red potatoes, chicken and roast sirloin. We made some changes to our menu. The new items are in italics and the removed items are striken. We wanted to change things around but still keep the same price. We were able to maneuver stuff around and still keep it the same price per head.

APPETIZERS
Roma Tomato Bruschetta
Hot Artichoke Dip on Biscotti
Triple Cream Brie and Sautéed Apples Baked in Filo
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Spanakopita (spinach and feta baked in filo)
Fruit & Cheese Platter with Crackers

DINNER
CHICKEN ENTREE: Roasted Chicken Breasts with fresh herbs
BEEF ENTREE: Roast Sirloin with a Mushroom Merlot Demi Glaze
VEGETARIAN ENTREE: Mediterranean Pasta
Oven Roasted Red Potatoes
Mashed Red Potatoes
Sautéed Seasonal Vegetables
Greek Salad (dressing on the side)
Fresh Baked Rolls With Butter

DRINKS:
Wine (red and white)
Beer
Champagne
Sparkling Cider
Soda
Water
Coffee

DESSERT:
Wedding Cake
Maybe something else? pie? cookies?
Chocolate Fountain with various dipping items

All drinks will be provided either by our venue or by us. Our venue is serving wine, beer, champagne and cider at an open bar. We will be providing sodas, water, coffee etc.