THE QUEEN OF 16
‘Sweet’ SI b’day bash tops most weddings
Clad in a beaded mermaid-style gown with train — and flanked by 10 female friends in matching lace mini-dresses and 11 guys decked out in bow ties and suspenders — Vanessa Early looked like the model bride. Except this was her Sweet 16 party. “I’ve always wanted a Sweet 16 ever since I was a little girl. It was a big deal to my family to make it special for me,” the Staten Islander, who turned 16 on April 15, told The Post.
Did they ever! The May 4 event, held at the swanky Richmond County Country Club, included a red-carpet style backdrop for photos, a flower wall, two pro dancers (including a former Nets Brooklynette), four sparklers shooting nine-foot flames, cherry blossomdraped chandeliers, a three-tiered, goldflecked funfetti cake, and a gazebo. Rosanna Early, Vanessa’s mom, even ordered special floral pink sashes from Ukraine to drape across each of the 220 guest chairs.
Vanessa, who planned the affair for a year and a half, admitted her party put others to shame: “[Most have] nothing too extravagant: a DJ, centerpieces.”
Dad Michael and mom Rosanna — a plumber and school worker, respectively — say they spared no expense to give their only daughter her dream party, which cost around $25,000.
“I’m not going to lie, I’ve never seen this before,” said Rosanna, who added that the expense was about $115 per guest. “It was up there — it was something we definitely had to work for to afford.”
Even veteran party organizer Robert Castellano of E-Squared Productions, which coordinated the event, admitted it was a cut above: “Sweet 16s are big, but not this big — this is a little over the top.”
Vanessa, a basketball point guard at the allgirls Notre Dame Academy, said she felt “like a princess” in her $1,000 Jovani dress from New Jersey’s Castle Couture. “[People in] the store started clapping and my mom started crying” when she first tried it on, she said.
Rosanna describes her daughter as low-key, but Vanessa admitted it felt great to be the lady of the hour. “I always wanted to be a model when I was younger, so I just loved the attention. It just felt perfect — like there’s nothing more I could have asked for.” And she knows she set the bar high: “I don’t know how I want my wedding to be — maybe more spectacular, if that’s possible.”