Alrighty...so I finished my vendor reviews and posted them in the sticky, but I figured I'd post it here too since it seems like we have a good number of new knotties! Sorry it's so long, but I hope it helps! Enjoy and happy planning!
Ceremony
Ceremony Site:
Martha-Mary Chapel - A ($950 but normally $1500)
The Martha-Mary Chapel is on the grounds of Greenfield Village. It was absolutely lovely. The chapel is lit by candle light and has a pipe organ (which was my only requirement)! The only details that might pose a problem for other brides is that it has a strict capacity of 125 people seated, ceremonies can only be scheduled for 3, 4, or 5 pm, and you only have the chapel for 1h 45min for set-up, ceremony, and pictures which is kinda tight. Other than that, it was just perfect!
Officiant:
Rev. Jordan Hartley - A+++ (free)
He's my uncle and Godfather, so he was phenomenal.
Ceremony Music:
Carol Wheaton - A+ ($165), Cousins - A+++ (free)Carol was our organist and she was great. Very friendly, learned new music, and gave great insight. She was really nice to work with. My cousins sang and played guitar for our unity candle song and it was just precious. I couldn't have asked for anything more special.
ReceptionReception Site:
Lovett Hall, The Henry Ford - A++ ($1500 room rental)
We ended up booking Lovett Hall after we lost our original venue, and we could not have been happier. It was exquisite, and more than anything we could have ever hoped for. Amazing. Emily was our coordinator provided via The Henry Ford and she was so accommodating and helpful and wonderful. The only gripe I have is that e-mail communication was a little slow and sometime questions got missed. I'm sure this could have been avoided if I called more, but I was dealing with a 3 hr time difference that makes phone communication very difficult. Other than that she was amazing. The best part about The Henry Ford is that they were never pushy. It was so nice and refreshing.
Caterer:
The Henry Ford - A+ ($19,000 food & beverage minimum)
Outside caterers are not allowed at The Henry Ford, but that is A-Ok. They food is ridiculously delicious. One thing I loved is that they used local ingredients for everything. Another thing I loved is that it was well staffed so that the guests were served their food at pretty much the same time. I always felt uncomfortable at events where one table is just getting their salads while another is indulging in the main course. The cocktail hour was also delicious. The
hors d'oeuvre options are a great mix of exotic and palate-friendly for even the pickiest eaters. Yummm. We are still getting compliments of the food! The price (obviously) is the only downside, but this could be much less for a Friday or Saturday wedding or a wedding out of "wedding season". Either way, you will not be disappointed.
Chair Covers/Linens:
Sposa Seating - A+ ($1.75/chair cover+sash, $5/runner) Sposa Seating was so easy and stress free to work with. Maya has great communication and has a friendly ear and wise words in those last few stressful days.
The chair covers looked fabulous and consistent from chair to chair and I couldn't be happier with them. Highly recommended!
Bakery:
Carmen Humes - A+++ ($2/slice)
Mrs. Humes has been doing our cakes since 2002 when she did my graduation party cake. She works out of her home which is why she can keep her prices sooo affordable. And her cakes are so good that I didn't even get a piece of my own graduation cake. I mean, who runs out of cake?! Cake is always left over. Our wedding cake was no different. We ordered a cake for 20 pieces over our guest count, and there were only 7 pieces left by the end of the night. Also, honestly, I would have been perfectly fine not having a wedding cake since I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but wow. The cake ended up being one of my most favorite details of the entire day. If you would like her information please let me know!
DJ: Joe Spiteri - A ($900)
Mr. Spiteri is an excellent DJ and emcee. He has an amazing knack for reading the crowd and kept the dance floor full the entire night. He also did a great job of keeping guests in the loop like a good emcee should. I've never seen so many people gathered around a cake cutting in my life. I didn't give an A+ because there were 2 must play songs I had listed that did not get played, but DH's did. I also did not go up and remind him either, so that's something I could have done that I didn't do. All-in-all though, he did a phenomenal job and was incredibly responsive to the guests! Even The Henry Ford staff was telling us how great he was which is a huge compliment since they see and hear it all!
Favors -
Photobooth (see below)
OtherShuttle: Royal Transportation Company - A ($495)
This is virtually one of the only companies I could find that allow you to split time for the purposes of shuttling guests between the hotels and the reception venue. Other companies make you pay for that idle time and the next cheapest offer of the 6 companies I contacted was $4000. No thank you. Anyway, the shuttle ran for 2 hours to get guests to the reception and for 2 hours to return guest to the hotels (and there was 3.5 hours in between those shifts). They were very easy to work with and had fabulous communication. I never actually set foot on the shuttle (so I can't give it a +) but the guests really appreciate it and had no complaints. They also transported a rather animated groomsman at the end of the night (trying to lead a PG-13 chorus of "The Wheels on the Bus") so God bless 'em.
Florist: Michele Nonis - A+ ($1110)
I love Michele. She was so nice and very responsive to my ideas. And the flowers were...wow. So fresh. So vibrant. So gorgeous. She gets them from local farmers, so I love the whole support the local economy deal. This price included my bouquet, 7 bridesmaids bouquets, 5 boutineers, 4 corsages, 2 pomanders, 17 centerpieces (that included votives), flowers for an 18 (!) person head table, and a throwaway bouquet. I have no complaints. Highly recommend, Michele!!
PhotographyPhotographer: The Camera Chick - A+++ ($1250 for 2011 pricing)
I cannot tell you enough how much we love Sandy and Tim. It's true love. Seriously. I booked The Camera Chick and the end of May 2011 (!) when our original photographer went MIA. We were very lucky to snag them on such short notice as this was the only Saturday that was available the entire summer. It was so meant to be. Sandy and Tim are so nice and so personable. I wish I could meet them for happy hour everyday or something. They just feel like your old friends. And they certainly go above and beyond. They even ran behind horse and carriages carrying equipment and taking pics with no gripes. The price includes 2 awesome photographers, unlimited time/locations, thousands of pics, hundreds of edited pics, and the rights to all the images. My MOH who is getting married next August has since booked them for her wedding which is a great compliment considering she got a pretty in depth preview of their work. Did I mention how much we love them?
Photobooth: Rock the Booth - A+++ ($550 for 4 hours service + $100 for scrapbook) Amazing. This was such a hit with the guests and Rock the Booth was excellent to work with. They have great communication and are very friendly. We used the booth for wedding favors and we got the scrapbook (which is an addition) as our guest book. People are still just raving about how much they loved the photo booth as well as the company itself. And the scrapbook is going to be one of our most cherished keepsakes. A photo booth is definitely something you should make room for in your budget for if you're at all considering it. Amazing fun and amazing memories. Do it.
Picture Locations:
Greenfield Village - A+ ($600)
So I have a price here because in order to do pictures in the Village, you have to rent historic transportation. This can be Model T's or horse drawn carriages. We went with 2 carriages: 1 4-seater and 1 16-seater. The first carriage is $400 and additional carriages are $200 each and you have them for 1 hour at this price. We did pictures all around the Village and the wedding party just kept saying how amazing the pictures are going to look. It's just gorgeous there. One of the coolest things ever that happened is we made a quick stop a neat looking train shed for just a few shots. I saw an engineer in the background and hoped he'd stay there because it's cool, but sadly (or so I thought) he disappeared. A few seconds later steam started billowing out from this steam engine and he started driving it out! AH!! It was so cool! And then he spun it on the turn table by hand. Wow. It was ridiculous. Definitely one of my favorite memories from the day and totally in line with how awesome the entire Henry Ford staff had been from security gate guards to the wedding coordinator. Just awesome.
Engagement Pictures:
Winnie Forbes Photography in Seattle, WA - A ($300) We did our e-pics at Discovery Park in Seattle, WA (where we live). Winnie was so great to work with. She's young, fresh, and friendly we really enjoyed working with her. We also brought my dog along and she captured some of the most adorable pics ever.
Beauty / Attire (more to come...I'm tired.
Rings: Vatche from Diamond Ideals - A ($1500; mine), Overstock.com - A ($50; his) Both companies were great and both rings look awesome!
Wedding dress:
Casablanca 1914 from Antonio's in Birmingham - A ($850) I had a great experience at Antonio's and Vida was great! They have a really nice selection and just moved to a new locations that has a great boutique feel. One thing I really loved about trying on dresses there was that Vida pinned the dress up to fit you rather than using those bulky clamps. It was just a nice touch.
Alterations:
Vida at Antonio's - A ($350)
Yes, it was not the cheapest. But Vida actually makes wedding gowns and my dress was all lace. The bulk of the price came from bustle which was pretty difficult. I think it ended up with 15 points. But that bustle ended up being one of my favorite parts of the dress. It was just gorgeous!
Tuxes:
Men's Warehouse - A- ($125 for groomsmen, free for groom)
Everything looked really sharp in the end, but the quality of service you get from store to store just varies so much. And I really wish they would just measure correctly the first time. Ten of the 12 tuxes had to get some component altered/switched/etc but it was ill-fitting. But it all looked really nice in the end.
Bridesmaid Dresses: Alvina Valenta via RKBridal.com - A ($180)
These dress ran $280 in the stores (way too much), but I called around to get the lowest price, and then rkbridal.com has a guarantee that they will be the lowest quote by 5%. So I ordered all the dresses through them and total cost per dress came to $180. There was no tax and I think about $30 shipping but I just covered the shipping cost. RKbridal.com was so great to work with, and they also have brick and mortar store which should help easy your mind about ordering online. The dresses came out beautifully! Definitely keep them in mind!
Hair and Makeup: Jason at Changez Salon - A+ ($189)
I went to Changez in Royal Oak on a referral from another knottie. It was awesome. I loved Jason. He was like my soul mate, and we both love Mr. Dressup. The $189 was the price of a package that included trial hair and makeup and day-of hair and makeup. Also, the salon did all my bridemaids' and moms' hair for ~$50 each. Not too bad! They also let us bring in delicious breakfast foods and drinks to enjoy during our pampering. Will definitely go back! Paper
Save the Dates: Various sources (~$1 each) For our save the dates everyone got a postcard of a different Old Hollywood star. The postcards came from different sources with the majority coming from the UK (oddly enough): old Hollywood star postcards from Kramers General Store (
A - ebay), pictureproductions.co.uk (
A), long-black-nylons.com (
A+). I then designed a rubber stamp that had all of our info in it and ordered it through rubberstamps.net (
A+). It was awesome.
Invites: DIY with the help of Paperandmore.com and Costco (~$1.25/invite) I had so much fun doing our invites and all the paper supplies came from paperandmore.com (
A+). They were fast, the cheapest for my needs, and the quality of their product is awesome. Samples are also very easy to get. We had the printing and cutting done professionally (DH's one request) at Costco (
A++). Wow...they were awesome and BY FAR the cheapest. For 200 pages of color printing (one-side) and cutting, I paid $67. Yeah, you basically can double that for anywhere else. It was a great deal and they looked great.
Programs/Menus: DIY
OtherRehearsal Dinner: Hockeytown Cafe in Detroit - A+ (~$20/person) Hockeytown Cafe went above and beyond for us and we could not be happier with them. We had a large RD, and therefore needed a large space. We originally had the Celebration room on the second floor, but due to some other disgruntled person who would have been below us that evening (who also booked last minute), Hockeytown Cafe offered for us to stay in room or have the entire roof for no extra charge. Ummm...roof, please! It was amazing, and we are still getting as many compliments on Hockeytown as we are for the wedding. The food was delicious, the staff was great, and they have a sound system to which you can hook up your own iPod. It was awesome, and better than we could have hoped for.
Hotel Block: The Henry Hotel - A+ ($99/night)
We use The Henry (formally a Ritz) for our hotel block. Wow, were the accommodating. They were very nice and very easy to work with. For that weekend, rooms were running at ~$200/night, but our guests got a special rate of $99. It's an amazing price for a stunning hotel. With 10 rooms, we also got a complimentary stay in one of their suites. A-mazing. The bathroom had 2 showers. Two! And it was large enough to accommodate myself and 13 other bodies comfortably to get ready the day-of. On the wedding night we came back to champagne and strawberries and a sweet note from the hotel. It was a really nice touch. The only negative was that the room key needs to be used in the elevator and only takes you to your own floor. So running to other rooms to see friends and family isn't as easy. But that's pretty minor. Overall, The Henry was awesome and they treated everyone like royalty.