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Slow Board....some discussion points maybe?

So this board is a little slow I have noticed. I was wondering, if anyone is out there, where you are in wedding planning process, when your wedding is/was, what your favorite and least favorite parts are/were and your favorite vendors? I have read through the vendor review sticky at the top but it seems to be pretty outdated. 

I thought I would give a little intro too. I used to be on TK a few years back when I was researching for a wedding that never happened thankfully. I loved the camaraderie of the site, and the informative forums so I thought here would be a great place to start when I got engaged on New Years Day to a man who has been one of my biggest rocks and friends over the past 7 ish years. This will be his second wedding, my first. My two kids are 8 and almost 2, his daughter is 12. 

We have yet to make up our minds on how to go about this. We would really love to have a super small ceremony with just the absolute important people with a big informal bash later. We will most likely end up just having a big old shindig as fancy as we can afford to keep the peace with our respected families. 

We both sing in a local rock cover band so our wedding decor will most likely not be floral and will involve some level of music, guitars, records, and possibly sheet music. We won a grand prize photography package from Bak Photography so we have an appointment set up to take a look at their work. We would love to save 1200 on photography,  but if we don't like what we see, we probably won't take advantage of the prize. Looking forward to a venue! 

Anyone else? 

Re: Slow Board....some discussion points maybe?

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    We are getting married in two months - May 17th. I'm so excited, but starting to stress about the little stuff!

    We have all of the big stuff booked and honestly I've been really pleased so far. Of course we'll see how it all goes the day of! :)
    Ceremony: Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament
    Reception: Detroit Athletic Club
    Rehearsal dinner: Detroit Golf Club
    Band: Joyride
    Photography: Margaret Newton
    Flowers: Lucy's Flowers
    Limo: A Dream Limo
    Invitations: the Paper Source
    Dress: the Wedding Shoppe
    Overnight accommodations: Greektown Casino Hotel

    There's other little stuff too, but those are all of our big vendors. :)
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    Congrats on your engagement!

    We got engaged on 12/14 and are nearly done planning our 9/13 wedding! Here's what we've chosen:

    Ceremony and reception space: Detroit Golf Club (private club - you can only book if you have a member as a sponsor) eee @*elle. you'll love having your dinner there!
    Rehearsal dinner: THIS IS THE ONE THING that is plaguing me. Cannot find anything reasonably priced at a reasonable distance from the club that will actually return an email. 
    Entertainment: Piano Wars dueling pianos (SO EXCITED)
    Photography: Moxie Photography, Diana Vermeulen
    Flowers: Happiness is... The Little Flower Shop in Farmington
    Invitations: Carlson Craft
    Dress: The White Dress in Brighton, Allure Bridals 9117. Will go for BM dresses too - they'll give a 15% discount since I bought my dress there. And they're fantastic.
    Cake: Love and Buttercream in Royal Oak
    Accommodations: Marriott in Southfield, and they're providing a guest shuttle too
    Hair and Makeup: Ashlee Ann On Location
    Guys accessories: The Tie Bar
    Officiant: Roy Thomas marryusinmichigan.com

    My favorite part was the cake tasting! Some places let you taste for free. At L&B, they brought a big platter with bite size chunks of the 3 cakes we wanted, and piles of the 3 fillings and 3 frostings we chose. That way we got to mix and match bites. I loved that it was something my FI was really interested in - he loves frosting! 

    Least favorite part has been choosing the hotel and rehearsal dinner. Our location kind of sucks... the venue itself is gorgeous, but there isn't much else to choose from at 7 and Woodward. 

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    @Lolo8383 agreed about the location of the Detroit Golf Club - it's in a complete out of the way spot, but it's sooo beautiful! :) Did you look into doing your rehearsal dinner at LDV? Or maybe someplace downtown Ferndale?
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    @*elle. yes, his mom suggested La Dolca Vita... it seems pricey though (and we're footing the whole bill for 40 people). We're hoping to stay around $1000. Tried Crispelli's in RO but they had a $1500 food minimum plus $250 rental fee... emailed 1917 American Bistro and got no response... I need to find time to try calling Como's, One Eyed Betty's, other downtown Ferndale spots... we're worried about crowds and parking with it being a Friday night though and most places nearby aren't very big. :-/ 

    Our original plan was Champp's or Bahama Breeze in Troy since that's where our first date was (dinner at BB/trivia at Champp's) but then we had to move our hotel block from Troy to Southfield since Troy didn't have suites available. I wish Copper Canyon Brewery was still open! Super frustrating when everything else seemed so easy!

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    UGH the DIY Street Fair is going on in Ferndale that day!! FML.

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    If you're willing to Crispellis, check into Vinsetta Garage. Omg we love that place and wish Fi's parents would let us do the RD there! They have a private little room too! :)
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    Also, you mentioned trivia so now I'm curious. Which trivia did/do you play?
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    edited March 2014
    @*elle. I think it was My Trivia Live they had going on there at that time, but it's been taken over by another company since then so we don't go anymore. We totally kicked butt and decided we made a really good team. :) Plus winning free gift cards lent itself really well to subsequent dates! We went every Wednesday for the better part of a year!

    (ETA - the Champp's in Livonia, not Troy, although Troy is closer for the RD)

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    So fun! My FI and I were totally hooked on trivia for awhile. We don't play much anymore, but go every once in awhile.
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    carliealissacarliealissa member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    edited March 2014

    Hi guys! I wish I was as far along as you! Engaged 11/16, wedding is 12/26. I am loving planning but every now and then I get a stab of anxiety when I think about how much there is to do- and what I might be forgetting- hope I'm not driving myself crazy 2 months out!

    Ceremony: Holy Family Church in Greektown
    Reception: Lovett Hall
    Rehearsal dinner: Not planned but I assume Andiamo
    Band/DJ: ??? For some reason even researching this one is overwhelming me!
    Flowers: Bruce at Breath of Spring Florist
    Invitations: DIY- planning to order plates from Boxcar Press
    Dress: Elizabeth's in Northville
    Overnight accommodations: We're thinking Dearborn Inn but haven't seen it yet

    Honeymoon: South Africa!  Is it bad that this was the focus of my planning energy? :)

     

    I also miss trivia... we used to play every week living in Chicago and occasionally in East Lansing.  Didn't really know of anywhere around here! 

    edited: weird html jibberish

     

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
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    South Africa sounds amazing! I would be putting a lot of energy into that too! What a once in a lifetime trip!!
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    @carliealissa, being a dj, I know a lot of them. My suggestion for that would be to start at the venue, find out if they have a list of people they like working with, bands that may have performed in the past and what genres they perform. Then narrow down what you are looking for from there. Or if there is a band/dj at a local bar/establishment that you like to see, ask the bar to pass on their contact details. There are a ton of us out there. Might as well get someone you will enjoy working with or that knows your venue well. South Africa does sound awesome as does Lovett Hall. In a fairytale world, I would love that. :) 
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    @2leadsingers, thank you so much for the advice.  I think my issue is even choosing between a band or a dj.  Our wedding is kind of 20's style, and the hall has that great bandshell so I feel like having a jazz band would really set the tone perfectly.  I would love to have 20's music during cocktail hour/dinner.  On the other hand, I don't think I actually know how to dance to anything but modern music, and not sure if our guests will want to either.  I know the band could play today's hits but for some reason I'm usually not a huge fan of cover bands.  So I guess I am looking at either hiring a band AND a dj, which sounds like a lot of work and possible great expense, or maybe there are people out there who do both?  I mean, bands play recorded music when they are on break anyway right?

    Thank you, I kind of wanted to just get married on our trip, or before at the courthouse, but he wanted the big wedding (his family thinks our wedding is going to be "very small and intimate".. the invite count is at 180 yikes)  I'm actually kind of nervous about being up in front of all these people.

     

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    Are you hiring musicians for the ceremony? If you are, a three piece band or jazz ensemble might be able to perform for both your ceremony and cocktail hour for less expense than hiring one just for cocktail hour. When I worked at a country club I saw a lot of band/dj combos, but more often than not it was for mitzvahs than for weddings. The weddings had one or the other. A good dj will be able to obtain music for the style you want if he doesn't have any of it already, but most have a pretty wide range. Make sure to ask before you book though, if they have the style you are looking for or are willing to obtain it. 

    The band we sing with doesn't typically do weddings, but yes most bands will have some sort of music available for during their breaks. Some bands may be willing to learn a few songs in particular for you as well. Keep in mind that a lot of cover bands cater to a particular kind of music. A band will cost significantly more than a DJ most likely, unless you are packaging services with photobooths, uplighting, dance lights and spot lights etc. 

    Most of the weddings I have seen are a mixture of modern and classic rock to get people out on the dance floor, but that could just be the circles we move in. It is absolutely typical to hear the Cupid Shuffle, the Wobble, Eyes Don't Cry, and Old Time Rock N Roll all in one night. 
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    I've actually never been to a wedding that had a live band, which could be why I'm having a hard time envisioning it I guess.  Our friends are having one at their wedding at the DIA, but it's a month before ours so our planning will be done by then.  Thanks again for the info!  I suppose I just need to start doing some hard thinking about what we are looking for and start researching/making phone calls.

     

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    Is there a specific board where I can post wedding items for sale??
    BabyFetus Ticker
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    @mrsdrbrew the Wedding Classifieds is the for sale board. I know that the Detroit board used to do a day of the week listing items for sale in this area, not sure if they still do it as the board is pretty slow as of late. I personally feel that if you are in the area I would rather you post it on the detroit board rather than me having to search the other one for items close to me. But that might just be me. Other people create for sale bios and post the link in their signature so that when they post people see it. Congrats on the baby BTW. Enjoy the pregnancy. 
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