Just Engaged!

swhite2012

Hey everybody. This is my first time posting on this board because I just got engaged last friday. Me and FI were on Mackinac Island and he proposed in the gardens of the Grand Hotel!

Anyways, I am finishing up my last year at UofM, he already graduated this past year. We are probably looking to get married sometime early next fall in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area. I love downtown Detroit, so somewhere downtown would be awesome. We haven't really set a budget or anything like that yet, so it's really early in the planning.

Any wise words of wisdom or some of your experiences with venues/vendors in the area would be helpful before we start getting serious about planning. Thanks!

Suzette70

Congratulations!

LOTON01

Congrats and welcome to the board.

shesheduke

Congrats, welcome and happy planning. This is one of the best board on tk and the ladies here are great and full of support. The advice that i can give is to know that no one will be more excited about your wedding than you will so don't take offense when you don't have people jumping for joy when you pick your wedding colors. Also really enjoy the planning. Now that I am in the home stretch i wish I would have relished each accomplishment as I made them because they are all getting me to the dream day that I pictured in my head.

Enjoy!

bamross

Congrats!! I have a lot of info on downtown vendors if you're interested. It would help to know a budget, style, or anything else particular you're looking for to narrow it down, so I don't bore you with all the details Or if you'd like all the details, feel free to PM me!

swhite2012

We are still not sure on budget, which will probably get figured out soon. We are looking to maybe keep it around 75 people, but a lot of the venues that I have looked into have minimums, so I'm not sure yet.

As for style, we are probably looking for a venue that kind of speaks for itself and doesn't need a lot of decorating. I kind of think that people spending a large portion of the budget on centerpieces and flowers is kind of a waste of money. Food/venue and apparel are going to be our most important things to us I think. We have a photographer in mind, they shot FI's aunt's wedding at the Rattlesnake Club and did a really fantastic job.

Ideally, we would like an outdoor ceremony with an indoor reception, and preferably at the same venue, but that isn't a must have.

EDIT: I also absolutely do not want a run of the mill banquet hall with no windows. 

baileyleev

Congrats!!!! So exciting! I am newly engaged as well and I've totally jumped into planning, words of advice: Worry about you and your FI and what you guys want and no one else (easier said than done lol)

matuofm

Congrats, and welcome to the board!

Meegles4

Welcome to the board! I am getting married downtown in April 2012 and I live downtown as well. Happy to answer any questions you have -- or at least try -- so feel free to message me!

Good luck and happy planning!

Meg1036

Congrats, and welcome!

My biggest planning advice is to make a guest list (tentative, can change a bit later) and budget first.  These are the hardest things, I think, but everything else depends on them.

MMRoberts11

Congrats and welcome to the board!

I think everyone gave you great advice so far.  This board is great for just about everything.  Feel free to post as much or as little as you want.

klreese0213

Congrats on your engagement.
my bigger word of advice is- enjoy your engagement.... there's no need to "skip" that special time in your relationship.

bamross

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_michigan-detroit_just-engaged?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:88Discussion:329289e9-3b6b-444a-9bbb-ca38e8c1a5c7Post:a030ec3a-dfe4-4cdf-94df-83f1d7e74eee">Re: Just Engaged!</a>:
[QUOTE]We are still not sure on budget, which will probably get figured out soon. We are looking to maybe keep it around 75 people, but a lot of the venues that I have looked into have minimums, so I'm not sure yet. As for style, we are probably looking for a venue that kind of speaks for itself and doesn't need a lot of decorating. I kind of think that people spending a large portion of the budget on centerpieces and flowers is kind of a waste of money. Food/venue and apparel are going to be our most important things to us I think. We have a photographer in mind, they shot FI's aunt's wedding at the Rattlesnake Club and did a really fantastic job. Ideally, we would like an outdoor ceremony with an indoor reception, and preferably at the same venue, but that isn't a must have. EDIT: I also absolutely do not want a run of the mill banquet hall with no windows. 
Posted by swhite2012[/QUOTE]

My ceremony is going to be on the roof of the Park Shelton (condos across from the DIA). The reception is going to take place at the T Plex (the original model T plant in Detroit, it is very raw and loft-like, and just a couple miles north of the Park Shelton off Woodward). We had originally planned for a reception in Campus Martius, but the required vendor for alcohol and the people running the park were difficult to work with.

I've heard that Greektown is really nice if you are looking for something more formal, and the person I spoke to there said the banquet room has windows :) LOTON01 is getting married at The Atheneum I believe.

This site helped me A LOT with my planning... <a href="http://www.bridgettesdetroitwedding.com/">http://www.bridgettesdetroitwedding.com/</a>

HTH, and happy planning :)

emarston1

Congratulations and welcome

sammichele

Congrats!

abbeylynne06

Congratulations!  Advice:  don't ask anyone to be in your bridal party for a while.  Enjoy the engagement, start deciding when things are, and ask later when you're like a year out from the wedding.  I had no problems with my BP, but it can cause some huge issues as relationships change, even if it's with people you never thought problems would arise with.

Sue-n-Kevin

Congrats and welcome!

I agree the first thing to do is figure out a guest list (start at the BARE minimum, ie first cousins yes, first cousin's kids, no, must have been a friend or coworker for at least 5 years, etc) you get the drift. That will partially determine your budget, multiply that by about $30 per person (a reasonable price around here), then add on your other vendors.

Ideally, we would like an outdoor ceremony with an indoor reception, and preferably at the same venue, but that isn't a must have.

Check my bio below, vendor tab. Our wedding is a month from TOMORROW at Greenmead Village in Livonia. Max capacity for the banquet venue is 99, same for the chapel. Lovely vintage historic village, fabulous grounds (if you check the photo link, our engagement pics were taken there). You can pitch a tent or have the ceremony outdoors, but their chapel is lovely. Our guests will park their cars, walk to the chapel, then walk to the banquet hall, and party!

It's now downtown, or "edgy", but it is elegant and "different".

Good luck.