Bridal GownMemories Bridal Kalamazoo MI - A+
I chose Memories because I was living in Kalamazoo at the time. They have an excellent selection with reasonable prices (all around the 500-1500 range) and the staff was very helpful, and not at all pushy. They don’t have an in store seamstress but recommend a few who will meet you in at the store for alterations appointments. Appointments are easy to make and I was overall very happy with my experience there! Bridesmaid dressesAnn Taylor Online Ordering - A
The dresses looked great, but we did have a few issues with their free returns. The process was confusing and one of the girls ended up just paying for the shipping rather than figure it out. Otherwise, we were able to get discounts and free shipping on quite a few of the dresses and appreciated seeing something different than the standard bridesmaid gown. Ceremony SiteMichigan State Alumni Chapel - A
The on site coordinating staff was helpful, and everything we requested was ready and set out. My only complaint was that the staff was trying to reach me two days before the wedding to ask questions about bridal party, family, type of ceremony, names of participants, music etc. This was a very busy time and I would have really preferred to talk to them at least a week before they called. We had checked in with them at that time and were not asked the questions them. Also the door to the brides room would not shut all the way or lock which led to lots of barging in. Overall though, we were very happy with our choice to have our ceremony there, and never felt rushed out of the space even given the limited time frame (3 hours). PhotographerOliver Howell, Kalamazoo MI - A+
I cannot recommend Oliver enough! He takes beautiful photos, is very easy to get along with, listened carefully to everything we wanted, and was never pushy about getting through photos. Everyone in our bridal party and families told us he was wonderful and his prices are also very reasonable. Flowers, centerpieces, decorationsPot and Box (Lisa Waud) Ann Arbor MI - A+
We chose a florist out of Ann Arbor because we wanted someone who uses locally sourced and/or Veraflora certified (like fair trade for flowers) flowers. Lisa did a fabulous job! Our initial meeting was over 2.5 hours and she really helped us flesh out some ideas and listened carefully to what we wanted. We left many details up to her and the results were wonderful. There was a floral emergency the morning of the wedding (my family accidently froze almost all of the bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages) and Lisa bought new flowers and rushed over to East Lansing early to make new arrangements. She still managed to make everything look beautiful, we only ended up missing a couple boutonnieres for the ushers. We were also very pleased with the look of the reception decorations and centerpieces which included six 8 foot tall birch branch arrangements Lisa had made. Reception Site and CateringUniversity Club of Michigan State- A+Our actual reception took place in the Atrium of the Henry Center adjacent to the University Club, but was planned and handled by UClub staff. The staff was always willing to accommodate our special requests and they went beyond our expectations. We especially enjoyed working with Marilyn Mays, the catering director. She was very kind, calm and thorough, we knew that our reception was in good hands! The day of, all of the staff present was kind and helpful to our guests. We received many compliments on the taste of the food and the room was set up exactly as we had discussed. Our only wish would have been for a larger dance floor, it was a standard size, we just had quite a crowd dancing. We were unable to keep to the reception schedule and the start of dancing got pushed back. However, this was most likely the result of a medical emergency that occurred, not slow service. We are very happy that we chose to have our reception at the University Club Guest Room BlockCandlewood Suites - A
The Candlewood Suites is connected to the Henry Center/University Club so it was the ideal place to have our guests stay. At first we had a hard time connecting with them to discuss setting up a block (they were going through some staffing changes). Once we were able to set one up, we were very happy with the service provided. We overfilled our block on both nights and they honored the block rate for the extra guests. They also made reservations for my husband and I the night before the wedding even though the entire hotel was technically already blocked out, which was very helpful. We had guest gifts bags for those staying, and they were happy to give them out. Also, many of the rooms were available for early check in which was very helpful for us and our families. Great place to stay and everyone enjoyed the kitchenettes! DJT2 Music (Matt Wade) A+
Matt did an excellent job, we were very happy with the music selection that kept our guests dancing. He was flexible, played mostly songs from our suggestions but also added some (good) ideas of his own. He interacted with the guests and was a wonderful facilitator of announcements. Also, I didn’t hear any complaints about difficulty hearing the announcements or toasts which are often issues at weddings. The music seemed to be the perfect volume and the fun lights he added later in the night were a nice touch. His setup was professional and neat and his rates are very reasonable for local DJ’s. He has done many weddings and it shows! Again, we’re very happy with our choice and would recommend him to family and friends. Dessert Grand Traverse Pie Company - A+
Since we don’t love cake that much, we decided to go with fruit pies instead. We ordered about 28 pies from Grand Traverse. They were very easy to work with, delivered the pies on time cut the way we had requested. They also gave us a great discount since we were ordering so many! Hair and MakeupSalon Meridian, East Lansing AThe Salon handled hair and makeup for myself, four bridesmaids, my mother and the flower girl. They gave us complimentary bagels and mimosas which were very welcome. I was very very happy with my hair (done by Carleana), even more than I was after my trial appointment. It stayed put even with the veil going in and out several times. Everyone else also looked great! My only concern was that one person was doing all the makeup, and we ended up a bit rushed with makeup at the end. I was not completely happy with mine but didn't have time to do anything about it. Otherwise though, I found their prices to be very reasonable for some of the other options around the area, and I was happy with my choice! TransportationThe Limo Company LLC - C
I saved this one for last because I hate to write anything negative about the vendors we hired for our wedding however, we were quite disappointed with this one. We ordered their Trolley, since we thought it would be something fun and different. It was more expensive than the other options. We only needed it for two hours, but they offered a discount on the third and since we thought it would be cool for our guests to see and for us to take pictures with, we decided on three hours. Everything went well working with them until the week before the wedding. My husband called to check on us paying the final amount with check on the day the wedding. They did not get back with him until the day before the wedding and told him that they needed a payment immediately because their trolley was in the shop and they were renting one from another company. This was unexpected and my husband had to call me frantically for my debit card number since they would not accept his American Express. He then called and confirmed with the second company that they were indeed sending a trolley for the wedding. The next day instead of a trolley arriving at the chapel at 4 there was a town car and a party bus. Apparently the other trolley had been unable to get fueled. They did not call us in advance to tell us or ask what our second preference was. We chose to take only the party bus since we thought we would all fit on it (it ended up being VERY tight, with one person having to stand). I HATE party buses, not sure why, just a personal preference and I had decided a lot time ago that they would not be an option for our wedding. We were both irritated but we didn’t have a choice, we needed to get around and take pictures! The service was fine, they took us where we needed to go and the inside of the bus was clean and suitable. A 20% gratuity was already built in to the cost so we didn’t have an option of not tipping them and they did not offer us any discount even though we had paid a trolley price for a party bus. We understand that this was most likely out of their control, but would have appreciated a phone call immediately when their own trolley was put in the shop so we were at least aware of the situation. We also have not heard from them since the wedding. There are not a lot of wedding transportation options in the Lansing area, so I would recommend them still but with high reservations. You might be in for a surprise on your wedding day!