Well, I got married on 10.22.10 and I am obviously a big slacker but here they are, finally! I hope you find them helpful. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions as I'm not super active on the board.
a.b.griffin@live.com
PS - hope you're ready for some reading, there's a lot!
Vendor Reviews
Ceremony Location: St. Raymond’s Catholic Church: B+
Cost: $200 for church, $250 for organist, $50 tip for priest
This is where my parents got married 35 years ago. This is also the church that my grandparents attended for 50 years. It was important to me to get married here. Oh, and it’s totally beautiful! There were no major issues throughout our engagement. The priest at St. Raymond’s advised us to seek a marriage preparation elsewhere because their parish was too small to have their own. The only problems that we had were with the organist who seemed to want to change up my music plan and was not overly cooperative in working with the violinist that we hired. Additionally, he charged an extra $50 for working with an extra musician which made me mad because it wasn’t even like they had an extra practice or anything. He basically did what he normally does and my violinist just went along with him. The only other problem was at our rehearsal. The priest tends to talk a lot, so he spent a lot of time telling stories and not a lot of time instructing us. So, when we left and went to the dinner, everyone was confused and asking questions and clearly nervous about not knowing what to do, especially because we had a full mass. But, in the end, everyone went with the flow and the priest just needed to prompt us a bit, no problems on the actual wedding day. So, overall, the ceremony location was sentimental and beautiful and those things outweighed the stress leading up to it.
Reception Venue: Lakeland Manor: A+
Cost: 30.95/person
We booked Lakeland about 2 years out from our wedding date. From that time, they were amazing to work with. They worked with our budget, offered extras and upgraded our bar when they found out that we referred friends to their other location. We changed our mind on the food a couple of times and they always graciously made any change we requested. We mostly worked with the manager, Craig, who was totally fantastic and really aimed to please. We brought tons of bins that included all of our items to be set up for the reception a few days before. We put diagrams of how they should be set up in there for a friend that was going to go and set it up. When my friend got there, Craig had already set up everything perfectly. My friend was able to just oversee everything and double check the details. The food was wonderful and we are still getting compliments about it. We had family style serving and I really think this was the way to go. Oh, and then we added coney dogs for a late night snack which was a HUGE hit! Overall, the service, food, room/décor were terrific. I highly recommend this venue.
DJ: MEII Entertainment: A
Cost: $550 for the night
Mark is Bryan’s childhood friend. He owns his own entertainment business and gave us the most spectacular deal ever! He has a great personality, attitude and the fact that he knew us and our families made the night more special. He was able to add some commentary to our slideshow, he knew exactly what kind of music we were looking for and everyone loved the selections. He did a great job of announcing the photobooth, keeping peoples interest and keeping us on a good timeline. The reason that I’m not giving an A+ is because there was a few times that it was difficult to get ahold of him or a delay in his email responses. Overall, he did a great job and kept people dancing and having a good time, which was most important to me. I would highly recommend him.
Florist: Courtyard Flowers: A-
Cost: I can’t remember the exact amount but it ended up being less than $1,000.
I visited about 4 florists and Katie at Courtyard was my last appointment. She was by far the cheapest and I felt like she understood my vision and her creativity was really exciting. We had her do our centerpieces (short and tall), boutonnieres, corsages, bridesmaids bouquets and my bouquet. We got tons of compliments on the centerpieces, that they really enhanced the vibe of the reception venue and also got compliments on our bouquets, that they were fun colors that still looked fall-ish. The reason for the A- is that there was quite a bit of hot glue visible on the bouquets, and that the bouquets were not wrapped in ribbon, the stems were in a Styrofoam holder which was then wrapped in ribbon, the white on the Styrofoam was visible and a little embarrassing. I’m not sure if this is normal and all florists do this or if this is something she just does. My bridesmaids said that they didn’t even notice, but who knows. Overall, the flowers looked great in pictures, the centerpieces were totally awesome and everyone seemed to like her work, including me! I would highly recommend her.
Linens: Stephanie’s Wedding Creations: A+
Cost: $1.75/chair cover and $8/table cloth
Stephanie was one of my favorite vendors, she didn’t bug you with questions and emails/phone calls/etc, but she was always available to me when I needed her. I booked her about 1.5 years out from the wedding date and she was always prompt with her communication and always had a positive attitude. When it got close, I was late with paying my balance because I had not received all of my RSVP’s by then, she didn’t make a big deal at all. Also, I changed my mind two times at the end and she totally went with the flow and did everything she could to get me what I wanted. And because I switched my mind at the very end, she wasn’t able to get something that I wanted, so she offered an alternative which ended up being even more beautiful than what I had wanted AND she offered me gold chargers for free just because she couldn’t get what I had originally wanted, even though it was my fault! I really like her and we got a lot of comments on how beautiful the linens were and how it really added to the vibe of the room. I would highly recommend her.
Photo Booth: Rock the Booth A+
Cost: $550
This photo booth, was by far the biggest hit of the night. There was a line the whole time. The attendant was great, keeping everything organized and moving fast! Everything worked perfectly throughout the night , no problems at all. The photo booth is such a great addition to a wedding reception, my guests went crazy for it and when I got the CD in the mail with all of the images (individuals and on strips), it was like reliving the night all over again. I recommend Rock the Booth 100%.
Photographer: Jen MacPherson formally from Amanda Williams Photography: A+++
Cost: $1325 (normally $1250, but we added an extra hour for $75)There is not enough room for me to say all of the things I want to say about Jen. We booked her about a year out from our date. We clicked right away. She “got me”. I felt like we were on the same page. She was on time and kept on a tight schedule. She had a positive attitude and made all of my attendants feel comfortable. She told us exactly what to do and never left us hanging. She was professional and friendly. The website said pictures generally come back after 9 weeks. Well 9 weeks landed on Christmas Eve, so it ended up being a little over 10 weeks, no big deal. The pictures were totally worth the wait. They were everything I hoped they’d be. I LOVE the pictures and I love Jen!
Transportation: Luxury Limousine of Detroit: C+
Cost: $680 (Normally $580 but we added an extra hour)
I booked this vendor in January of 2009.They were always good with communication, returning calls and following up. Also, we originally booked a hummer but later changed our minds and went with the party bus. They were happy to accommodate us. They were on time and the driver was professional on the wedding day. However, the bus appeared to be dirty and many of the “perks” were not there. The TV was broken, the lights weren’t working inside, etc. Bryan was really bummed about the bus not being in tip top shape and them not offering any discount or taking responsibility and telling us or offering us another vehicle. But, in the end, the driver was good and kept us on schedule and got us to all of the places we needed to be.
Violinist: Kimberly Becker: A+
Cost: $175
Kim was one of the first vendors that I hired. I saw her at a bridal show in November of 2008 and fell in love with her. Her playing nearly brought my mom and me to tears, so we hired her on the spot at the bridal show. We met with her a couple of months before the ceremony and made all of our music selections. We met at her home where she played tons of different options for us and helped us to develop a plan. She understood that I was stressed out by my church’s organist and offered suggestions and she offered to contact him to clear things up and work things out, which I appreciated so much! The day of the wedding, it was hard for me to pay attention but hearing that violin made such a difference in the music throughout the ceremony and mass, it was so beautiful and made a huge difference. I would highly recommend her. She is kind and professional and an amazing musician.
Bakery: Achatz Pies: A-
Cost: $500(ish)
We decided to do pies rather than cake. We wanted something different and pies seemed to fit in with our fall theme and who doesn’t like pie? We booked them about a year or so out and we had to give a $200 refundable deposit. We ended up having 30 pies with about 20 different flavors. The pie was a huge hit and I loved seeing the guests going up there and looking at all of the flavors and deciding on their favorite. We had a ton ton ton ton of compliments, everyone loved the pie idea. One of the best decisions we made by far. There are two reasons why we gave them an A- though, they made us pay to use their stands, and not by a refundable deposit, but an actual fee to rent them, which was high and I don’t think it was necessary. Additionally, we had to deliver them back to the office. The other reason was that we chose more fruit pies to stick with the fall theme, but the cream pies were the ones to go first. When we returned the stands, the sales consultant said that she knew that cream pies went fast and was concerned with our order. I was mad that she didn’t say anything and suggest we order more cream pies! That is what she is there for! But, overall, everyone loved the pie and no one left hungry!
Bridal Gown: Custom made by Dena Donahoe: A+
Cost: $700 (ish)
I must have tried on close to 50 dresses. None of them were “me”. I felt uncomfortable, hot, irritated in them all. I knew in my head what I wanted but I couldn’t find it anywhere. A friend of the family mentioned that their daughter had a dress made, we asked for the designers name and met with her. My mom and I felt like we were visiting an old friend, she was great. She got my vision right away; we went to the fabric store to look at all of our options and got a plan. She drew up a design and it was perfect the first time. She worked fast and paid attention to detail, wanting everything to be perfect. I felt confident with her the whole time. So, for $700, I got my dress, train and bolero jacket. I highly recommend Dena, my wedding day wouldn’t have been as special without her or her work. Oh, and she and her husband came to the wedding too!
Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal: A+
Cost: $145
What can I say about David’s that people don’t already know? They’re fast and affordable. We had no problems with them at all. Everything came in on time, as planned and beautiful. No one used them for alterations, but they were great for everything.
Favors: Pankiewicz Cider Mill: A+
Cost: $3.00/apple
We used a local cider mill and had them do caramel apples for us. They are a family owned company and were happy to work with us. They made the apples 2 days before, put them in bags and tied ribbons and our favor tags on them for us. They were very helpful. They did half plain caramel apples and half dipped in fall color sprinkles. They tasted absolutely amazing and they looked beautiful on the tables. I definitely recommend this business, the apples were a huge hit!
Cookies: Linda’s Edible Art: A+
Cost: $36/dozen
We did cookies for my bachelorette party and out of town bags. This lady does out of this world work. She is a true artist. The cookies are a lemon/vanilla flavor and she can do anything! She ships fast and they are super fresh. We have actually used her for lots of things since the wedding, I’m in love with her and her work!