Hi Ladies, I don't post here often, mostly because I am not on The Knot too much, but I remember when I started planning I was DYING for vendor reviews from the area and they're hard to come by on this board. Anyway, here are my preliminary reviews. If you have any questions, or want to see pictures, I can be reached at jackieanderic2009 at gmail dot com. When I have pro-pics back I'll post them to my bio. I'll check this post often for questions as well! The Ceremony & ReceptionsI had both my ceremony and my reception at the Grand Ledge Opera House (GLOH). For those of you who want an outside wedding, this is a great option for you. It's a great location, right outside of Lansing on the Grand River, lots of beautiful landscaping, great ballroom, etc. The ground are so pretty, and the building in and of itself it great. I picked it in large part because it does not need any decorating. You can rent the downstairs (which is not as lovely) and that comes with the grounds, or the upstairs (main ballroom) and that comes with the parking lot. Tricky. I rented both so that we could have the grounds for the wedding and the upstairs for the receptions. Now for the feedback :: First, I have to say that the day of coordinators provided by the GLOH were amazing. They went above and beyond to be helpful to my family and me and also to my guests! Aside from them, I have very little good to say about the venue. Again, I was so excited to be planning my wedding here, BUT. First, as I said, we paid a lot of money to rent both the upstairs & the downstairs of the venue (which is well worth the money if you go this route), and for that price you have the venue from 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. However, you have to pay an additional $60 to book a rehearsal, and you can only do it if the venue is free, and you cannot even confirm until two months before your day. Considering the cost of the rental, I thought that paying another $60 for the hour and a half rehearsal was a bit much! Moreover, when I showed up for the rehearsal they were PAINTING the building. I mean ladders propped against the side of the building, painting crews everywhere, the veranda & patios roped off, entrances blocked, complete paint job going on. And this was 24 hours before my wedding! Moreover, my BIL is in a wheelchair, and when I asked that the veranda (and only handicap entrance!) be reopend they asked if we could just get him down a step or two. Uhhh, NO! I very calmly asked an employee to confirm that the painting would be done in time for my wedding the next day and was told that as my ceremony started at 6:30 p.m. they would all be gone by 5:30 p.m. I reminded her that we had paid to rent the venue starting at 8:00 and WERE NOT TOLD that this would be happening, she was ten shades of rude with me and told me that the painting would be done an hour before my outdoor wedding started. (She later came and found my mom and apologized and promised that everything would be cleaned up and everybody gone by 12:00 p.m. the day of my wedding). When we showed up on Friday, the wedding day, despite her promises the night before, the painters were still there. And this was at 3:30 p.m. My mom went to the office to see what was going on and the coordinator we had been working with for the last nine months (Nancy) said nothing, and the rude woman from the night before said she would take care of it. Granted, she did immediately go outside and the painting was cleaned up within the hour, but still! All in all I would give them a D and only because the people working the night of our wedding were so fantastic.The FlowersRick Anthony did my flowers. Both of my sisters had Lansing area weddings and we never, never found anybody whose prices could even compare with his! My bouquet was 36 roses, mostly red, and are still thriving today, one week later. I strongly encourage you to use Rick, and unless you're super sure of what you want, tell him your general idea and let his creative spirit take over. This is what I did and the flowers were all amazing! An A++ FOR SURE!The FoodI used Adeline Leigh out of Wyomin, MI. If you are looking for good food at great prices, I highly recommend them! They were very friendly, and quite accomdating to our somewhat picky requests. Also they had options for every budget, and every style wedding. They have breakfast options, cookout options, fancy plated options, and everything in between. The fruit salad was fresh fruit, nothing frozen or from a bag, the bread was homemade and the staff was super friendly. My only words of caution :: Make sure you buy some type of pitcher if you order any drinks from them because when they leave (and that will happen almost immediately after the last person has finished eating) they will take the drink service tools with them! They left us the punch, but we would have been in trouble with no way to serve it. Overall, I give them a B+ and recommend that you consider them for your event!The LinensFor my linen rental I used Event Depot on Chandler Rd. Heidi is amazing, and the linens were beautiful. I didn't do any decorating really, because our venue was really pretty as was, but Heidi & Event Depot have everything you could imagine. An A!The PhotographerI used a family friend who only does a few weddings each year, but after seeing my preliminary photos, I am begging him to go professional. If he agrees I will post his info immediately! An A+++++, pictures to follow once I get them all back!The DJWe used Jump Start DJs for our wedding and for our reception. The DJs themselves were great! Our guests had an amazing time, and good music never stopped playing. Chris from Jump Start was my contact during all of the planning and was so accomodating. We needed just a little bit of music for the actual wedding (seating of guests, entrances, exits, etc) and Jump Start was great! They set up a smaller station at the ceremony site, and were patient with us and the weather while we waited to see if we would be able to go outside. (We were not able to--MI rain kept us inside!) We give them an A and are happy to provide info to anybody who needs some! A! The Hotel BlockWe booked our block of rooms at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Lansing/Delta Township (for the Lansing Residents out there, the hotel is locted on Delta Commerce just down from Horrocks). Rooms were about a hundred dollars per night for suite style rooms. DH's family is from out of town and this type of room was ideal. They had mini kitchens with stoves & refrigerators as well as the best free continetal style breakfast I have ever seen. The general manager was a delight to work with. Hubby and I stayed at the sister property next door (Fairfield Inn) the night of our wedding, and it was also wonderful. Both staffs were great, and easy to work with. Rates were perfect. A+. The HoneymoonWe went a non-traditional route, which wouldn't be idea for every bride & groom I am sure, and camped in the Cheboygan State Park for the week following our wedding. If you are looking for a wonderful, relaxing honeymoon that won't cost a fortune, I highly recommend checking out camping. We rented a popup tent camper from Dennis Trailer Sales on Grand River. Northern MI is beautiful year round. We day tripped to Charlevoix, Mackinaw, Mackinaw Island, and various tourist spots "up north." The total cost was well under $1,000 (the price of airfare to most of our other considered destinations), and we had a relaxing, carefree week together following our big day. Another bonus? If you're like me and can barely break away from you BlackBerry, being so far north allows you the perfect opportunity to claim you lost your signal and could not respond to emails. I give Dennis Trailer Sales and the Michigan State Parks an A+! I hope this helps some of you. Please feel free to respond with questions, or let me know via email if you want to see specific pics of anything!