Michigan-Lansing

What Vendors are you using? (Or thinking about) 9-7-2014

Trying to get this board more active? 

What vendors are you guys using, or reception halls, etc? 

I am having my reception at Lakeview Banquet Center and I still haven't found a place for my ceremony (all the churches I have been contacting keep falling through.) 

My caterer is Country Spice Catering (They are the only one allowed at Lakeview) and the guy is super nice although I have a list of caterers that are cheaper if anyone needs one. 

My mother is doing all my bouquets and flower arrangements but we are getting flowers Gayle Green of Henderson. She's a great florist if you aren't crafty yourself. 

Still need a DJ, Photographer and Videographer...

So what about anyone else? 



Re: What Vendors are you using? (Or thinking about) 9-7-2014

  • I'm getting married at The H Hotel in Midland. 
    Photographer - Allie Siarto - East Lansing based. I spent A LOT of time looking at photographers because the photos are what I'll have the rest of my life. Allie's photos are beautiful and she is the most reasonably priced for her talent. She also worked with my budget.

    Music  - Brett Mitchell Music. Again, Brett could easily charge more than I am paying for his talent. He can play solo or you can book the whole band. He has a lot of great original music too. He's awesome. 

    Makeup - LC Makeup. This is my big splurge. I don't want to take any chances with my makeup and she applies airbrush makeup so the makeup will last all day. I'm gifting my BMs, Mom and FMIL with makeup too. 

    Hair - Structures Salon in Freeland. My sister is a stylist here so that was an easy choice. 

    Still need a florist, but I'll worry about that next year. No wedding coordinator. The H is handling all the arrangements for me and my photographer is helping with the schedule. 
  • I'm just starting with all of this.... so I don't have much to offer except for makeup. I called Christine 3 days after I got engaged and asked her to be my makeup artist. She did my sister's wedding earlier this spring and she's wonderful. 

    She is based in Royal Oak area, but I believe she travels. She's rated super high on The Knot and has done work on TLC!



    - AC
  • I have only the basics so far:
    Getting married at the People's Church of East Lansing.  Reception at the MSU Horticulture Gardens.

    Photographer: JR Magat.  He is AWESOME so far!  Super nice, professional, responds to emails quickly, etc.  I booked him because of the amazing work he has on his website. We had our engagement pictures taken Oct 5th and he already sent us a "Sneak peak" of 12 of them and so far we are happy with the results. Can't wait to see the rest!

    Music: Music Unlimited out of Grand Ledge.  I met Steve in person and he seems like a really awesome guy.  He had great ratings online and he was also 100$ cheaper than the rest of the DJs I got quotes from.  He does a standard fee for 6 hours, I really liked that versus charging by the hour.  He also has photobooth packages.  

    Caterer: Morton's Fine Catering.  A little bit more than I was anticipating spending by the presentation on their website really sold me.  Haven't taste-tested anything yet but heard good things about them from both my DJ and my day-of planner.

    Day-Of Planner: Lynn from W.E.D.  She had really good ratings so I met her and instantly I knew we needed her.  She has a ton of experience and she has been super helpful already.

    Save-The-Dates: Ordering them from zazzle.com; they often have sales which make it ~50 cents a piece for really cute postcards! Can't beat it.  

    I need help finding a florist!  Any suggestions? 
  • champi466 said:
    I have only the basics so far:
    Getting married at the People's Church of East Lansing.  Reception at the MSU Horticulture Gardens.

    Photographer: JR Magat.  He is AWESOME so far!  Super nice, professional, responds to emails quickly, etc.  I booked him because of the amazing work he has on his website. We had our engagement pictures taken Oct 5th and he already sent us a "Sneak peak" of 12 of them and so far we are happy with the results. Can't wait to see the rest!

    Music: Music Unlimited out of Grand Ledge.  I met Steve in person and he seems like a really awesome guy.  He had great ratings online and he was also 100$ cheaper than the rest of the DJs I got quotes from.  He does a standard fee for 6 hours, I really liked that versus charging by the hour.  He also has photobooth packages.  

    Caterer: Morton's Fine Catering.  A little bit more than I was anticipating spending by the presentation on their website really sold me.  Haven't taste-tested anything yet but heard good things about them from both my DJ and my day-of planner.

    Day-Of Planner: Lynn from W.E.D.  She had really good ratings so I met her and instantly I knew we needed her.  She has a ton of experience and she has been super helpful already.

    Save-The-Dates: Ordering them from zazzle.com; they often have sales which make it ~50 cents a piece for really cute postcards! Can't beat it.  

    I need help finding a florist!  Any suggestions? 
    You will LOVE Lynn.  I used her for 2 of my DDs weddings and would have been lost without her.  She is amazing.
  • @champi466 How much is the People's Church of Lansing? We had a church and a deposit all around but they never called us back after numerous meetings and discussions on price. I think they had a lot of stuff going on but it was still pretty frustrating. 
  • The People's Church is $1250 for the Sanctuary (holds 500) and $1050 for the chapel (I think that holds either 50 or 100? Sorry, I can't remem and that includes pastor, organist, coordinator, custodian, sound system operator, use of candelabra and pre-maritial seminar.  
    It is $1050 for the chapel they have.  I think only like 50 or 100 fit in the chapel, so we had to go with the Sanctuary which holds 500.  
  • Glad to hear recommendations for Lynn. I think we will end up going w/ her. Has anyone had her husband DJ?


    - AC
  • @champi466 We're using Stardust Floral Design from DeWitt. We met with them just this past week and the couple that runs it is incredibly nice and have good prices. If you look for them on facebook you can see some of their recent arrangements and they're really pretty, plus I haven't seen a bad review. The other place we considered was Smith Floral. They had good prices and seemed very knowledgeable. Stardust just had slightly better prices for what we wanted.
  • Glad to hear recommendations for Lynn. I think we will end up going w/ her. 

    Anyone have cake recommendations?


    - AC
  • acurls said:
    Glad to hear recommendations for Lynn. I think we will end up going w/ her. Has anyone had her husband DJ?
    We also used  her husband as the  DJ for the last DD's wedding.  I think you will really like him if you choose him.  We had no regrets whatsoever.
  • Has anyone looked into the Kellogg Center? I am thinking of booking it but they only give you 2 hours of set up before the reception starts. I really don't want to spend tons of money and hire a decorator, but I also want to enjoy my day and not have to worry about setting it up myself. Those of you that have had DOC's, what was the general price they charged for their services?
  • If you get the decorations around you could easily hire a decorator that is maybe just starting out. Or if you could get some of your family to volunteer they could decorate the place for you so you don't have to do it. 


  • We looked at Kellogg Center and I had similar concerns as you. I would've had to spend a lot more on an event planner/decorator to get set up there, versus the venue we ended up going with (Hawk Hollow). 


    - AC
  • Hawk Hollow was a close contender for us. We ended up going with the Kellogg and still not quite sure what we are doing for set up but I do plan on doing a lot of DIY stuff so I can get all of the decorations around early and hopefully just find someone to throw the stuff in the room. Fingers crossed! Has anyone looked into DJs or bands? I'm getting a couple quotes but I don't even know what is standard or reasonable. What have you guys found?
  • I totally need a DJ. I had one for really cheap (a family friend) but she had to cancel and now we only have a few months left. I have a few quotes too one guy is in the Lansing area, I think he's out of Dewitt or Bath. He costs 575, older but experience. Another guy is from St. Johns, Ovid, Elsie area and he is 500, 400 if you pay in full before the year is up. However, he's also known to be personally irresponsible by many people I've asked about him so I'm not sure if it's okay to trust him professionally if you fork over all that money ahead of time. 
  • Anyone know of any cool cover bands or dueling piano groups around Lansing??
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