Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Vendor Reviews/Our Wedding We got married on October 4, 2009 in beautiful Millburg, MI (which is right outside of St. Joseph/Benton Harbor). Here are my *long* reviews—I hope they help someone! Rehearsal Dinner Charlie’s Piggin n’ Grinnin’ A+++ We had our rehearsal dinner at Charlie’s, a bbq place in Benton Harbor. They let us rent out the entire restaurant, which made it feel really intimate; bring our own drinks, which made it inexpensive; and the food was amazing, which made us all happy (our favorites were the pulled pork and the banana pudding). If you are getting married in the St. Joseph area, we highly recommend checking out Charlie’s if you are looking for something casual and a little different. Nails Twin City Beauty College B The quality of the services varied (my nails ended up really good, my bridesmaids varied from good to not so good), but for $15 a person it gave us all a chance to relax and spend some quality time together. Flowers Global Roses A+++ We ordered 200 roses online for $160, 5 different orange varieties. We had enough for 7 bouquets (the bridesmaids and flower girl), with a ton left over, and they were just beautiful. I highly recommend this site for roses. Crystal Spring Florist A Got my bouquet from them because I was too nervous to DIY my own bouquet. It turned out beautiful, but after looking at the bouquets we made (for about $15 apiece) vs. the bouquet I got (for $126) I wish I had made my own too. Fifty Flowers F We ordered the Star of Bethlehem corsage package from them. They arrived beautiful, followed the directions exactly, and they were completely dead by our wedding. It was pretty disappointing, and a huge waste of money. I would not recommend at all. Hair Rachel from Salon 218 A Traveled from Indiana to do my hair, my mom’s and my sister’s. She did a beautiful job and was really easy to get along with and spend time with at our wedding. I definitely recommend her if you are looking for someone to come to you. Venue Blue Dress Barn A Beautiful location—we didn’t need any decorations outside (where we got married), and needed very few inside. Amy or Kirby (the owners) answered our questions very quickly when I called or e-mailed, and were very helpful. This is a beautiful site. My only complaint is that Amy told us that the barn staff would set up and take care of the fire (there is an awesome fire pit) while we were there, and then the (very young) woman who was working that night told us we had to be in charge of it. It ended up working out, but it was not something I wanted to deal with. DJ DJ Plays C Our dj was okay, and everything turned out okay, but he made some major mistakes that were really frustrating. First, he played the wrong version of a song for a processional (we asked for a specific artist—an instrumental version of the song—he played the original version). Then, my fiancée had set up a (surprise!) song for me, that he and his groomsmen had planned out. The DJ played the wrong version, and so their entire routine got messed up. Everyone ended up having fun, but the guys worked really hard on their dance/singing, and it was a bummer that the dj screwed up. Catering Victorian Pantry A We had heavy appetizers, soup, and pie/carrot cake for our dinner, and it was a huge hit. People loved the appetizers (especially the ham balls—sounds nasty, but got inhaled by our guests), the soup was awesome (especially the harvest pork), and the variety of pies and cakes seemed to go over well. Although Steve was a little bit flaky in some of our first meetings and emails, he ended up being great and we really enjoyed working with him and his staff. Bartender Sue Luther A Great, never had to wait for a drink, super friendly and helpful. I definitely recommend. Wedding planner Judy Benjamin A Judy was $300 for our entire wedding day (12 hours), plus our rehearsal (2 hours). She helped us set up, cleaned and helped us pack up, directed us when it came to the ceremony, and was a huge help. I don’t know if she is the person you want if you want a lot of help with the planning (because she didn’t do any of that for us—I just told her what I needed and she took care of it), but for the day of she was invaluable. I definitely recommend her, and I don’t know what we would have done without her. Photographer Marc Photography A Granted, we are still waiting to see our final pictures (they said it would be about a month) we have gotten our preview and the photos were beautiful. They are a husband and wife team, and they were super friendly and easy to work with on our wedding day. I loved that they got the formal pictures we wanted, stayed to take candids, and we didn’t even know they were there. At one point in the ceremony I thought they might have left. They didn’t, but they were completely unobtrusive, which I really appreciated. They made us both comfortable and so far the pictures are beautiful. You can see the preview at
www.marc-photography.net/blog. The posting is on October 14.