Michigan-Grand Rapids

Southwest Michigan/South Haven Vendors needed!!!! Please help!

My fiance and are are getting married on June 18, 2011. We're wanting to have the reception in the South Haven, Michigan area. Unfortunately, this site is pigeon holed into Grand Rapids or other parts of Michigan, which aren't at all close enough to have vendors we'd actually use. My fiance is active duty military and is currently deployed. We live out of state, and we're going to be making a trip up to the area in october to meet with vendors and hopefully narrow some things down. The problem is, we have NOTHING to go on. All my searches are turning up places that are too far away or too big. Our reception is only going to be about 100 people, if that. Most of these halls are 250 to 300, and it's silly to pay for a building that big and not use the space.

If anyone is in the southwest Michigan/South Haven area and knows of vendors they can recommend, PLEASE post! We need a reception site (already have a ceremony site selected), DJ (must be karaoke), caterer, cake bakery, photographer, and videographer. Also, depending on the reception site, we may need a rental place for tables, chairs, linens, etc. I only have a few weeks to set up all these appointments to meet with vendors. Please please please help!

Re: Southwest Michigan/South Haven Vendors needed!!!! Please help!

  • akhensley81akhensley81 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi there!!

    I know exactly what you mean. Our wedding was in Holland and a lot of the vendors I was finding online were in Grand Rapids. South Haven has become a popular place for weddings, so you definitely have options. I found this website that might be helpful for you (click here). It's from the South Haven Visitor's Bureau and has about 4 pages of local wedding vendor listings.

    Good luck! :)
  • kujerseygirlkujerseygirl member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm especially having difficulty finding caterers and bakeries for our cake. The few places I've found are either too expensive/fancy or already booked.
  • edited December 2011
    I got married in South Haven on June 12th of this year. My suggestions are as follows:

    VENUE: Foundry Hall http://foundryhall.com/index.php/hall-rentals We fit 130 people in there easy. The price for the entire day was $800 and they are so lax with hanging decorations and moving things around. We truely loved the place and people.

    DJ AND VIDEOGRAPHER: Chris Mills of A Mills Masterpiece http://amillsmasterpiece.com/ He was wonderful and helped out a LOT when it came down to executing events throughout the night. His price was great AND he is also a videographer so we got a discount for booking both through him. His prices were the lowest I found and everyone raved about his DJ skills!

    CATERER, CAKE BAKER AND LINENS: Adeline Liegh Catering http://adelineleigh.com/ There food was nothing short of amazing and so were there prices. Their staff was very helpful thoughout the night and very curtious. We didn't get our cake through them (family friend made it) but they did cut our cake and put them all out on a table for $30! And since we used them for catering, they offered linen rentals for like $2 a table cloth and we got free napkins. We did have to meet a certain price point to avoid a delivery charge but we had no problem meeting the price stipulated.

    PHOTOGRAPHER: Nicole Haley of Nicole Haley Photography. You can see a taste of my wedding pictures here:  http://www.nicolehaleyblog.com/marella-ben-wedding-foundry-hall-south-haven/ She was great to work with, her prices are quite reasonable and the photos are AMAZING! We would not have changed a thing after working with her.

    CHAIR AND TABLE RENTALS: RentalEx Events in Kalamazoo, MI. http://rentalexevents.com/ They had great prices and their product was clean and in good condition. They do charge a set up and take down fee but it was well worth it! Plus, their prices were better than everyone I found in Grand Rapids.

    In the end, we wouldn't change a single thing we did or vendor we used. Our day was more beautiful than we could have every imagined and would do it all over again in a heart beat.

    HTH!!

  • akhensley81akhensley81 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    MarellaK- Make sure you add your reviews to the Vendor Reviews sticky at the top of the board!

    OP- I believe the DJ that I used will also cover the South Haven area. DJ Sound Solutions - you should be able to find him with a Google search. He's based in Marion, IN but he has a business partner in Holland, MI so they cover both states.
  • kujerseygirlkujerseygirl member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I think we've narrowed things down quite a bit and used some of the recommendations found on these boards to find some great vendors!
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