Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
I just want to add my experience with shahnai restaurant. I was attending the wedding of my relative there in july it was ok and food was also awesome.
I also had the chance to llook at the glimpse of next hall and it was like color mehndi and decoration was like a castle.
I would suggest they are best in houston in terms of price and food.
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
I would never go to shehnai My cousin did his daughters aameen there they served burned biryani.. Another friend of mine used their wedding package and few weeks before the wedding shehnai guy added whole bunch of extra charges and when my friend refused to pay up. He refused to do his wedding 
imagine few weeks before the wedding u have to run around and arrange everything not just that the shehnai guy called and tried to cancel his wedding reservation at the hotel ( since it was done thru him). There are wedding I went o where food was not good at all and itwas catered thru them…
Surprisingly we always had good experience at taj hall 
good food, service and decor
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
Aliyadar
Can I just say how extremely horrified and embarassed I felt after reading your post!!
As a freelance MUA it upsets me to hear of fellow MUA’s who feel that as their profile increases within the industry, the level of customer service should consequently suffer. This shouldn’t happen at any level and I’m so sorry to hear the experience you had.
It takes a few heartless individuals to give the profession a really bad reputation. But please be assured there are many MUA’s around the country who still pride on delivering exceptional customer service. No bride should be made to feel like this especially as the last person they will spend time before the event is the MUA.
I hope you have a wonderful married life x
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
Thank you sooooo much for posting this Aaliya, even though I was horrified at all the things that happened, the tips you gave really opened my eyes to how to not get ripped off. I’m getting married next year (on a budget!), so many of my friends have gotten married and it’s so easy to spend more than you can afford. I’m so gonna get my dad involved, he’s doesn’t take crap!!
But i hope there were some memories that you cherish, and i hope you enjoy lookinng at the silly moments in your wedding video!
really useful post, i’m heartbroken for you but i hope that we can all learn from it!! x
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
Originally Posted by Fatso [
can’t find any within my budget
I got married in Houston recently. I chose sugarland ballroom but my heart was set on safari ranch, it was a bit out of my budget at the moment, but if you havent booked one yet, check those out. Also, the Plazzio had redone everything. These are ofcourse the more common ones. If you are looking for something more modern check out Bell Tower, omg its beautiful but super expensive.](“http://www.paklinks.com/gs/wedding/516693-im-not-a-princess-this-aint-a-fairytale-warning-this-is-very-long-post8436795.html#post8436795”)
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
Everyone tries to get safari because the prices are so great for such a beautiful venue, good point!
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
Aliyahdar - I read the entirety of your post ..word for word and am extremely horrified and sad by your wedding experience 
It is terrible that you had to go through horror after horror.
But thank you for posting your experience on here… like you said and I have said it too - GS is an amazing forum for bride to be’s to get great advice,tips, and read reviews… your particular post had invaluable advice in it…
Recently I posted the story about my wedding experience.. which was positive but I want to again highlight an important piece of advice that I gave in it - I am an attorney so it came as second nature to me .. but girls MAKE SURE THERE IS A WRITTEN CONTRACT with any and all vendors. And if if you are signing a contract- read each and every term - if there is something you do NOT like - mention it!!! The professionals out there will not take it personally! If a vendor does NOT have a contract - MAKE ONE YOURSELF AND HAVE THEM SIGN IT. Put in detail - all of your terms and conditions along with the cost and expectations. You can use google now a days on making contracts. One does not have to be an attorney. And again - it is the professionals that will not care to sign your contract… they understand how seriously you are about this wedding and they also are there to do the best work for you so it will not scare them to sign a contract.
I re-wrote ABCi’s contract. I did not find it to be as thorough as I would have liked. They are a HUGE Film/photography company based out of Canada who work internationally. They were amused, negotiated a few of my terms with me, but in the end - signed a copy of MY contract. They even told me that I saved them the expense of hiring an attorney because my contract was so much more solid than theirs. True professionals.
My DJ never even saw a contract in his life… i got him word of mouth way… he was a last minute find… but he signed it as well. It did not bother him and he stayed true to the terms. Even though he never asked for a deposit, I insisted on paying him a deposit as a way to enforce one of the terms of hte contract ..that it goes into effect once the vendor has been paid any sum of money.
As a freelance makeup artist - Like DiamondArtBeauty , I am also horrified by how unprofessional the MUA was! No bride should ever have to go through with something like that on her wedding day. She messed up your hair, she should have done it over. That was her job and she did not do it. It is horrifying that people like this think it is ok to behave in this manner!
But again - thank you for sharing your experiences… it will help other brides…and that is the silver lining in the dark cloud hun.
And though this is corny… while reading your post a sex and the city scene came to my mind.. I do not know if you ever watched that show but there is an episode where one of hte main characters - Charlotte is getting married and EVERYTHING seems to going wrong on her wedding day.. like EVERYTHING. When the other main character in the show - Carrie finds her in the bathroom crying, she tells her that focus on the important part…that she was marrying the guy of her dreams and who cares about how messed up the wedding got.
So i think its important to always think about the positive things going on in your life RIGHT NOW whenever you think about your wedding. and you know what? don’t watch that wedding video if it bothers you. Watch it only when you are ready and know you are fine with whatever had happened… bc it seems trivial compared to life at the present. You, yourself will know when that time will be.
Best of luck with married life - think positive! 
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
Have no worries - Malaika Adnan is phenomenal … Stoppit recommended me to her and I could not be more grateful for her recommendation. Your bridals are in good hands. She is one of the most kindest and most professional designers I have ever encountered. And I love that her peices are one of a kind. She takes your suggestions seriously and makes changes accordingly if you are not satisfied with something. The main thing is that SHE IS GREAT WITH COMMUNICATION. I live in America and the fact she always picked up the phone, returned my call, returned my email ..even though she lived in pakistan was amazing. Shows you how professional she truly is. She sends you pictures of the dresses as they are being worked on - and I will tell you now, pictures do not do justice to how beautiful the dress/ the kaam truly is until you see it in person…and it takes a whole other effect when you wear it. So please do not worry about this …
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
hi punjabirose happy to see u here hw ru? its a good point and truly professional i have never thought about making a contract may i know what did u write? or is it okay if u can send me a copy of urs as i am a totally zero in these things hope u wont mind
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
awe thanks! yea I wasn’t on for a long time bc the hubby and I moved to our new condo and had no internet or cable for a veryyyyy long time due to verizon’s strike! But im back and connected to the world. haha. I would love to share my contracts with you! I wrote up 2 - one for ABCi and one for my DJ - completely from scratch. PM me your email addy and I will send it to you 
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
thank you so much its really nice of you email id sent !
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
thanks punjabirose I actually decided to go with her based on your suggestion and I am super pleased with her so far 
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
PunjabiRose, can i please have Malaika Adnan’s contact information?
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
Thanks PunjabiRose, I appreciate your kind words. I also read your wedding post in its entirety XXX
Heyy did u do a guest blog for asian wedding ideas on fb? i read ur bit about the makeup artist n sounded familiar.! U looked gorjus on ur day but it seems like u went thru sooooooo much.! Thank u for the heads up.! I’l deffo be considering everything u have said wen it comes to my day inshallah x
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
Hey, yeah! Rabbia, whose blog it is (she is also a Guppan) wanted it for her blog. I wrote it originally for Asian Wedding Online but the magazine didn’t run. Are you in London? Also, thanks for your kind words xx
Heyyy im from Birmingham aw yay i love her blog very informative and helpful i read your review and thought omg she looks so relaxed in her pics cant imagine u had to go thru all that but its true it happens.! My cousins mehndi outfit and her two sisters their outfit didnt turn up, and she ended up buying something off the rail on her mehndi morning as they promises it will be there but nopeeee.! Im feeling more nervous nw my fiance is like relax wev gt like 11 months to go and im always saying its not enough lol xxx
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
Hey Aliyah, Thanks for posting your experience, I read it word for word. I actually didn’t have a great experience around my wedding either. In the end I was just happy to be married, but I was shocked by the number of things I didn’t know, that I wish someone had told me. Part of the reason why I like writing my blog, I guess. Anyways, I didn’t catch your post on AWI, can you link to it?
Double post oops
Re: I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale warning, this is VERY long
BellaShabba - 11 months is not enough, you’re right! Keep us updated with all your wedding prep xx
Hey AsiyaAainaBridal - You’re on my Facebook! (for quite some time) I’ve ‘liked’ your page Me too, there were a LOT of things that I didn’t know…I guess that’s why they call it hindsight :-s
If you go on to www.asianweddingideas.blogspot.com and I think it’s under ‘real weddings’ the title is ‘Behind the Fairytale’, alternatively you can type in ‘Behind the Fairytale’ in google and it should come up. It’s a watered down version of what I have written here but hey ho. If you need anyone to guest blog on your blog, think of me! xx