Vendor Reviews:
Venue: Mansion at Pine Knob
The first visit we made to the mansion we fell in love! It was a little more expensive than other venues we were looking at but it was well worth the money. People raved about the food and atmosphere. The planning process with them was easy. They were very responsive with all communication which was a huge plus for me. I couldn’t have picked a better place to have the ceremony and reception. We rented the Peppino Room to get ready in before the ceremony and I recommend spending the extra money if nothing else because of the pictures you get by being in that room, the space is gorgeous.
Now for the few things I didn’t like so much about the mansion, there wasn’t much though. It was a little annoying that we had to pay the same amount for the kids as we did for the adults for the meal. Not a deal breaker by any means but just annoying. Also we had a stir fry station added to the buffet which was a huge success with the guests that got it. The down side though, not many guests got it because they only had one guy taking care of all 130 of our guests. As a result of just having the one guy the line got really long and most people just went back to their seats instead of trying it out. Also one last thing, the tables in the front are supposed to hold 8 people but that is pushing it they hold more like 6 comfortably.
Grade: A- Communication: A
Photography: The Shooting Gallery
I can’t even begin to say enough wonderful things about Dionne and Joe. They were everywhere that day. The worst part about using them will be waiting the 8 weeks to see the pictures. Dionne is well worth the investment. I was a little apprehensive spending that much money at first but once I had my first meeting with her I knew that it would be worth the money. I can’t wait to see the pictures!!!!
Grade: A++++ and beyond Communication: A
DJ: Mary Ann Productions
Mary Ann was fabulous to work with. Not only did she do a great job at keeping the guests on the dance floor but she really helped keep the day moving. While I was waiting in the Peppino Room to walk down the aisle Mary Ann came up to check on me while I waited and asked if I needed anything. She is now offering day of coordination services and even though I didn’t officially use her for that I would highly recommend her for that service. Like I said before she really kept things moving for the day and kept everyone on time. If I had to do it all over again I would have used her for that service as well. I can’t say enough great things about her!
Grade: A+ Communication: A
Flowers: The Parsonage
Liz was awesome to work with. The flower arrangements she came up with for the tables were gorgeous. I loved my bouquet it was exactly what I had in mind. We used them for linens as well and they turned out perfectly too! I would highly recommend The Parsonage to everyone. Liz is just wonderful to work with. She was very prompt with her responses and very reasonably priced.
Grade: A+ Communication: A
Cake: The Home Bakery
I ordered a groom’s cake and wedding cake from them. We got one yellow and one chocolate both with butter cream frosting. The yellow one was the best out of those two if I had to choose. The prices are very reasonable and they did great work. The only reason I lowered their grade a bit is because they called me the day of telling me the cake was ready and they closed in an hour. In other words, come pick up your cake because we aren’t delivering it. In the end the cakes were delivered on time. A misunderstanding but still unnecessary stress an hour before the wedding! Other than that minor snag I loved them.
Grade: B+ Communication: B
Videographer: SR2Productions
We met Adam the day of and I couldn’t be happier with him. He was all over the place at the wedding but never got in the way. I have been to many weddings where the video guy has a huge flood light and just seems to be in the way. That was not the case with Adam. He was professional and very affordable. I obviously have not seen his work for our wedding yet so I can’t speak about the final product at this point. I am confident however that the final product will be great!
Grade: A Communication: A
Hotel Block: Courtyard Marriott Auburn Hills
The hotel itself was perfect, the sales office on the other hand was terrible. For the hotel, the guests were happy with the location and what they got for their money. I also heard many of the guests comment on how much they liked the courtyard in the middle to congregate in. The manager of the hotel Brian was very helpful throughout the entire process. The hotel offers breakfast for 9.99 which I think is a bit steep for what you get but they do with a little bit of negotiating offer it to you for 4.99 instead. You get a free shuttle for booking with them which is nice. My only complaint there is that the hotel told the shuttle company we had 30 guests when really we had 30 rooms booked so more like 60 people. The shuttle company sent us a shuttle that was entirely too small for the number of guests we had. We ended up starting the wedding 30 minutes late because of the shuttle having to make an extra run. I’m not sure if this was the hotel’s fault or the shuttle company but either way a little disappointing.
The sales office, first of all I was given three different people that were in charge of my block which was frustrating when we were trying to figure things out. Also I was told when the block was close to being filled I would be called so we could add more rooms. On several occasions guests of mine called me and told me they were unable to book the hotel because we were out of rooms. The coordinator never called me as promised and I was the one who had to call them and request the extra rooms. Nothing earth shattering but a little disappointing.
Grades- Hotel: B Sales Office: C
Hair & Makeup: Deux Adore
I used Stephanie and Jen from Deux Adore and couldn’t be happier. My entire bridal party got many compliments on their hair and makeup the entire night. Even though it was so humid our hair and makeup held up very well. The best part about having them is they came to my hotel room. It was perfect and made the day so much more relaxing to have them come to you. The prices are very reasonable and I highly recommend them. The only downside is sometimes they are a little slow to get back to your emails or phone calls but they do this on the side and have regular 9-5 jobs to keep up with so I think that is a huge factor in the communication lag.
Grade: A Communication: B
Day of Coordinator: Bliss Weddings
I was grateful to have an extra set of hands for the wedding day. It was nice that Amanda and her assistant stayed and cleaned up everything. It was just one less thing to worry about that day. Throughout the entire process I was disappointed with the communication I had with Amanda. I would sometimes not get a response for several days to a basic question. That being said once I spoke to her about the communication problem it did improve. I know that on a couple of occasions Amanda was unable to communicate with me due to extenuating circumstances. I do however think a basic out of office message would have sufficed and then I would have known there would be a delay in a response.
The day of I was also a little disappointed with some of the things that I think should have been handled by Bliss but were not. There were no major issues, just small things that I think could have been handled differently.
Grade: C Communication: C