Bay City Brides?

Laura1027 · August 2011

Anyone out there in the Bay City area? Would love to compare notes!

10-15-11 wedding date

LinzynDave24 · August 2011

I am! Well, Saginaw/Bay City. Just in the beginning process, looking for photographer and a place to have our ceremony at the moment.

albutler29 · August 2011

I'm a Bay City area too! I've only been engaged for 2 months and have our ceremony site and reception venue booked. Currently looking at photographers and DJs. Getting married in September 2012.

Laura1027 · September 2011

Hi to you both and sorry I didn't see this til now; I can't seem to find a way to sort posts with new responses on TK...

Anyway, Congratulations to you both!

I've heard great things about the old train depot in BC as a ceremony site; very inexpensive and very nice! Our ceremony is 10/15 at the Planetarium in BC; I'll let you know how that goes, but so far they've been very accomodating and I can' wait for all the special effects! We're using Signature Photography in Auburn and Wonderland Sound for our DJ; so far I'm super happy with both of them, but of course it all comes down to the big day! Memories by Candlelight in BC is said to be "taking over the wedding business" around here because Audrey is so creative; they're doing my flowers, linens, and centerpieces...Maybe some of my homework will help you guys, lol.

Do you have your dresses yet? What are your colors? Can't wait to hear all about your weddings!

Good luck to you both!

albutler29 · September 2011

Congrats to you! I hope all goes well!

I haven't heard of Memories by Candlelight at all, so I might have to check them out. I think we have some good options for photographers, but not sure on a DJ yet. And I haven't even begun to look at a florist or someone for our cake.

We are currently facing a bit of a dilemma with our reception venue. We put a deposit down at Bay Valley around the beginning of August. Well a recent article just came out saying that the place is going up for auction. They have said that even if they don't find a buyer, they will try to continue to operate, but who knows how long it will stay open and there is always the potential now for them to go out of business. I don't want to lose out on our deposit ($1000), but the auction isn't until Oct. 20th and until then I feel like we're stuck in limbo. Also, waiting until the auction might mean that other places might have their dates all booked up....ugh, this has kind of turned out to be a bit of a mess.

Anyways, I'm going for blue colors (maybe a dark and a light shade) since I don't want the traditional fall colors. I think I found a dress, but I need to go and try it on again before I'm absolutely certain. Thats about all the progress I've made, lol. Not a whole lot, especially since my reception venue isn't exactly guaranteed anymore.

Laura1027 · September 2011

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that; I saw the article about BV and wondered about upcoming events there. Don't panic; I booked the Doubletree for a Saturday night only 4 mos ahead so it can be done, especially if you can be flexible on the date. Oct 20th is only 35 days away; there's so much other stuff you can be doing until then, including looking for alternative venues. I hope you can get your money back or they can guarantee they will remain open.

Memories by Candlelight is doing both my flowers (super reasonable; I was totally impressed with their prices, especially in light of their great reputation!!!) and my linens/centerpieces; that's one of the things I liked about them is they can coordinate pretty much all of the decor so it's cohesive.

I'm chuckling; my colors are midnight blue, cornflower blue, and silver...and for the same reason as you; I didn't want traditional fall colors (hate fall; I know what's coming weather wise lol).

You've got time to put it all together; hang in there with the Bay Valley situation! I wish I had tried on more dresses before I bought mine, lol, but I do love it. Would love to see pics of yours when you buy it!

albutler29 · September 2011

Thanks for the encouragement! Thankfully I did keep all of the information from the venues that we toured before, so it would just be a matter of deciding which one we liked the best as an alternative and what dates we had available. Our date is flexible, but we were pretty in love with mid-September, so I guess we'll just see what happens and go with the flow. The only downside is that we can't really book any of our other vendors, but I think we are going to keep researching so once we have this issue figured out, we can get everything else booked pretty quickly.

Memories by Candlelight sounds really nice! You will have to let me know how everything turns out on the day of! My mom was thinking of buying some fabric and making our own table runners/overlays but if the price is reasonable, maybe we won't have to do that.

Thats funny about the colors though! I just had a friend try on bridesmaid dresses last night, and it came in a pretty royal blue color which I liked. Not exactly sure yet where on the spectrum I'll end, but it will probably somewhat similar to yours. I will try to post pictures once we decide on something. I hope the weather doesn't get too cold in the next month for you!

This weekend we are taking engagement pictures! We are going up to the U.P. (we both went to school up there) and a friend of ours is doing them and I'm really hoping that the leaves will have some good color. I'm pretty excited - hopefully it won't take long to get our pics back!

Laura1027 · September 2011

It really is too bad you can't book your vendors yet, but you do still have plenty of time; it'll be ok!!!! I think the most frustrating part is that you probably want to get going; you know you have a lot to do! But at least you can do all the research now and be ready to book as soon as the venue situation gets cleared up. Did you check Apple Mountain? They were our 2nd choice...very nice, but we will have a lot of out of town guests so we wanted a place with rooms on the property.

I will definitely let you know how it works out with Memories! I've been super impressed so far and everyone I talk to speaks very highly of them. Audrey and Alicia are sisters who started the business together; they make a great team. Another bonus; they do all the set up and tear down; so much less to worry about on the day of! That's huge to me. My mom was going to make overlays for me but after you buy the fabric, and consider how much work it is, it actually did make more sense to rent.

What I didn't realize that might help you is just how much stuff, including linens, is available for sale on the wedding classifieds here on TK. There are also websites that sell linens for weddings; I found that out too late as I had already contracted with Memories, so I didn't do any price comparisons; you might want to check into buying them and then maybe even being able to sell them after...

What fun! I hope you have perfect weather in the UP this weekend for your pics! Would love to see you post a couple if you're up for that. I'm in Holland this weekend and it's a bit grey but at least not raining and tomorrow is supposed to be nicer.

Too funny about the colors; my MOH is wearing David's Bridal discontinued color Midnight Blue and my BMs are wearing the cornflower. They look beautiful together, IMO. My Flower Girl has a beautiful white dress with a cornflower sash.

I hope you have a great time this weekend, and don't hesitate to ask if I can help since I'm so much farther along; I'd love to think I've learned a few things, lol. 29 days til our wedding; OMG!!!

Laura1027 · September 2011

You know, just a thought; have you tried asking BV for your deposit back? Under the circumstances, maybe they would just give it back to you. If it were me, I think I'd rather go somewhere else where I could be more confident they will still be open next September. Just a thought...

albutler29 · September 2011

Yeah, not being able to book any vendors is really frustrating. Up until this point, I felt really on top of things and was having a lot of fun and didn't feel stressed out about anything at all. Now I just feel like stress overload about everything. We're trying to figure things out and talk to people in the area to see if we can get more information. My fiancee went there at the beginning of the week to talk to BV and they gave us a written document stating that our contract will be upheld, but that is giving the fact that they are still in business. I don't think he asked for our deposit back exactly, since we were still a little hopeful at that point that we could still have it there, but I'm thinking we don't have a whole lot to lose by asking at this point. I do like Apple Mountain, but like you, my fiancee and I liked having rooms at the site and plus the person at Apple Mountain told me with the size of our wedding, our bill would have to have a $12,000 minimum. We are hoping to keep our costs below that and I just didn't like that we would essentially be forced to pay at least that amount.

Good idea about looking on here for linens. I'll have to do a lot of cost comparison stuff and see which is the best deal/option. My mom isn't really opposed to making them (she turned my bedroom into a sewing room when I moved out, lol) so I guess we'll see what we can find.

I'm hoping the weather will be good this weekend too! Its been getting pretty chilly lately, so I just hope that it will still look nice up there!

I'd love to see pics of your dresses and of the big day, just a month away! Are you excited/stressed/anxious...? Our 1 year mark was yesterday (maybe, who knows now!) but I'm so excited for it.

Laura1027 · September 2011

Lol, don't start stressing yet! You really do have time and it will all come together. I'm laughing at myself as I type this; I was about ready to kill anyone who told me I had plenty of time! But then again, we started out doing a cocktail party for 50 and it turned into dinner and dancing for 120...and I'm doing it ALL in 4 months! So I really didn't have time...There's a ton to do, and the best way of course is to keep on top of it.

Our area is really limited for venues...Are you getting married in a church, or do you need a ceremony site too? I couldn't believe how fast the dollars added up at the Doubletree (I'm sure the same happens everywhere). We hadn't considered things like appetizers and of course when it got down to it, we decided we really wanted the premium bar (I hate draft beer and that was the only way to get bottled), etc...It adds up fast!

My mom sews too, thank goodness! She's done a bunch of little stuff, like making purses for my BMs (she has a thing about how they should all match...) and adding the sash to the FG dress.

4 weeks from today we're getting married! I'm mostly excited, but maybe a little stressed too. I still feel like there's so much to do, and not only am I out of town this weekend, but we're also going ot Vegas for a convention for 5 days way too close to our wedding date. My dress is down in Detroit so I have to go all the way there for fittings and to pick it up, and I just found out my purse won't take the dye to match my blue shoes. I did find a silver bag yesterday and I guess I'll use that instead; it's really pretty, just won't show Grandma's brooch as well....little details...Your one year will go quickly, and yes, I'll post pics from ours!

Hang in there and let me know how it works out with BV and I can't wait to see your dress and your girls BM dresses! How many BMs will you have? Is your wedding going to be really big? The guest list seems to creep up constantly; my FI just tried to add 42 people to ours last week!!!!! I got him down to 8, lol, but NO MORE!!! I think I have him convinced if we add anyone now they will know they are add ons because it's getting so close...Men!!! Lol, he had NO idea of the details...until I made him sit in on the final meeting with the hotel...hehehhee - I think he kinda gets it now!

albutler29 · September 2011

Oh goodness! I can't believe that you have had to add so many people! I probably would have freaked out about that too. Right now, our guest list is hovering somewhere inbetween 200-250 people. And yes, I have a lot more time than 4 months (I don't think I could do that!) so it will hopefully all work out.

I know, I hate how much there is a lack of good venues in the area. I am getting married in a church, so no ceremony site is needed. Thankfully the church is currently really flexible with dates, so if we need to end up changing ours, it shouldn't be too difficult to change it with them.

Weather for our engagement pictures this weekend was absolutely PERFECT! Not a cloud in the sky and a slight breeze, but otherwise we couldn't have asked for anything better. I will post some pics when I get them (hopefully soon!). I'm so excited to see them and hope that they turned out nice!

Well I'm glad that everything is falling into place for you - hopefully your FI won't try to add any more people! My FI has been pretty good about everything - much better than what I had originally anticipated. He at the very least gives me some kind of opinion to work off of. Don't stress out too much! I'm sure everything will work out lovely!

Laura1027 · September 2011

Glad you had good weather for your pics; can't wait to see them!

If I can just remember to breathe, lol, I will be ok! My mom came up (she lives in the Detroit burbs) today and we finished the programs and the signs. My attendant gifts are almost all wrapped...still feel like I have tons to do, but I'm chipping away at it!

Let me know when your pics are done!!!!

farmgirl2012 · October 2011

I'm getting married March 3, 2012. We are using Memories by Candlelight for flowers. I heard alot of good things about them. We're going with Barb Bierlein (Bbielein@yahoo.com) for our cake. She does them out of her house.

albutler29 · October 2011

Sounds nice! I actually know Barb and she does a great job! Her cakes look great and they are delicious! How far out did you girls start looking at flowers? I still have about 11 months left and feel its still a bit early? What did you all do?

farmgirl2012 · October 2011

I looked at flowers just last month. It was suggested that I wait until I had the girls dresses/color swatch. My wedding is March, not a real busy time. Florists can book up earlier for the Summer/fall weddings. Did you figure anything out about BV yet? We're having our reception at the Hellenic Center (the greek church on Mackinaw/McCarty in Saginaw. I can't believe all the positive things I've heard about Hellenic Center and much better price wise. What are your colors? Where's your ceremony?

albutler29 · October 2011

No...no word on BV yet. The auction is the 20th, so I guess we'll see. I really hope that someone just buys it so that we know what we're dealing with and can move on from there. I'll probably start looking at flowers after the first of the year, especially since I'm not very picky about that, just want something that looks pretty! I've been to the Hellenic Center and it is nice! He are having our ceremony at St. Boniface in Bay City and are doing jeweled tone colors of sapphire, emerald, and ruby (with sapphire being more of the emphasis). What about you? Are you feeling good about everything or are you getting more stressed out as it gets closer?

farmgirl2012 · October 2011

Oh my gosh, our wedding is at St Boniface also. Oh, the colors sound pretty together. We're doing blue and silver. It's inbetween navy and light blue. Every so often I get stressed out but I have most things done. I'll be picking out invitations in the next month or so. Just the little things now. Looking for flowers in January sounds like a good time. I stressed out so much this past January deciding on the hall and church/no church that I was feeling sick. I did a lot in the beginning, then took a break for a few months. BTW, have you been through the FOCUS class at St Boniface?? Also, with your wedding next September, even if BV falls through, you should have enough time to book some places.

albutler29 · October 2011

Aww, thats awesome! Sounds like you have a good handle on everything. I was like you though, I've been trying to power through and do a lot these first few months, but things have kind of slowed down a little, especially with having to wait on BV. I'm sure things will definitely pick up again soon, especially once the holidays pass. Anyways, I have not done the FOCUS class at St. Boniface yet. I'm actually not sure if my fiancee are going to do the class there or where I am now (I actually live in Milwaukee right now but I grew up in Bay City). Fr. Dale said we could do either and that it didn't matter. My fiance is a little nervous about doing the class at St. Boniface since my parents help run the class and do everything and he doesn't want it to be weird or awkward. So...who knows. Still undecided on that front.

farmgirl2012 · October 2011

My thinking is since we're supposed to "enjoy" the planning for the big day, it's best to do a little at a time. Sounds like you're doing the same. I can understand your fiance's thinking, however, everything we talked about would be only if we wanted to share something with the group. They don't walk into the rooms when you're talking 1:1. The class was a lot better than I had expected. But for you, why would you want to come home and spend all day there.

albutler29 · October 2011

Yeah, we understand that it was a "share what we're comfortable with" basis, but we just wanted to make sure that we could share freely and be open about everything. The reason that we were thinking about doing the session at St. Boniface was so we could pretty much get it all done in one day, versus having to do possible multiple sessions in Milwaukee (fiance is still in the Bay City area, so it would require extra coordination with his visits out here). So that was our concerns with all that. I still have to call and talk to the church out here about how their class is structured.

Right now though, I kind of feel like I should move on and start trying to tackle something else on the list. I'm getting a little anxious about what to starting trying to focus on next, but until we get the reception venue issue figured out, I feel like it might be silly to do too much. Sorry...small rant! Being held back by the whole BV thing has me frustrated.

farmgirl2012 · October 2011

If the one is Milwaukee is 3 sessions, then I can understand doing the 1 day. The church I grew up going to in Saginaw was a full weekend. Ahh, rant away, that's what we're here for. It might be a little early to do much more, just on timing alone. I bought my dress and reserved the hall and church within the 1st month. After that, nothing really until 3 months later. Maybe think about doing some research on different things, just get information but don't need to make any decisions yet. At least you're involved and excited about the items. I'll be watching the news closely and thinking of you. I completely understand your frustration.

Laura1027 · October 2011

Hi albutler! I wanted to check back in with you and see if you know anything about how the sale of BV will effect you yet. I was thinking about you yesterday and read about the "undisclosed buyer" in the Times...Were you able to get any more info? And did you get those engagement pics back? Would love to see 'em!

Our wedding went great; almost 100% perfect! Our vendors were great with the exception of the cake lady (Bonnie who works from home; we tried something a little different and it turned out looking kind of amatuer, IMO). More on vendors later if you like; it's super late and I'm beat, lol.

Here's one pic I got from my photogs; they were AWESOME! Stayed til we went up to our room in the elevator....super easy to work with...Hope you like it!

albutler29 · October 2011

Hi! I'm so glad to hear that everything for your wedding went well! Your picture looks great! I would absolutely love to see all of your vendor reviews! We are trying to start nailing down and booking our vendors, so that would be extremely helpful!

As far as Bay Valley, my fiance went there today to make sure that everything was still good to go. They told him that business is continuing on as usual and that they are booking events for 2013. Apparently there is a 45 day holding period until everything is completely final, but it looks like we should be in the clear. My fiance also said that there was a bunch of Charter people when he was there, taking a bunch of tvs in and out, so it appears that they might be making some good investments in the place too, which is always good.

Oh yes! Below are some of our e-pics. They were just done by a friend, and he was still going to do some touch ups and final editing on our favorites.

No clue which one to use for our Save-the-Dates! Such a hard decision!!

Laura1027 · November 2011

Hi albutler! Sorry it took me so long to get back; we just returned from our honeymoon...we had a fabulous trip to St. Martin; I didn't want to come home! Your pics are great; they're all good and you look so happy! The last one is a little different and if I had to pick, I'd say that's my favorite...it makes me think of comfort and support at the end of a long day...

So glad to hear it's a GO for BV! What a relief! Like you said, now you can get back in motion with your other vendors and it's a good sign that they're upgrading for sure.

I wrote reviews on our photogs (Signature Photography from Auburn; they were wonderful!) and our florist/decor/linens people which was Memories by Candlelight on Columbus in Bay City - they did a phenominal job for us! I'll see if I can find the links to them or just go to their FB pages; I put the reviews both here on TK and on their FB pages...

I was disappointed in our cake so I won't recommend her (Bonnie Galpin from Kawkawlin; she works from home). To be fair, we tried something a bit unique so if it's something she's done a million times it could be fine, but I thought ours looked kinda amatuerish...I've heard great things over and over about Petit Four in Essexville though; I'd go there if I had it to do over. I've had some of their stuff, including a cake, and it's both beautiful and delicious. I should've listened to my gut and ordered from there after all the places I checked out.

Ah, DJ! We used Wonderland Sound from Bay City. They're cousins who've been doing this on the side for 18 years (they're in their early 40's). They did a great job; kept the dance floor busy, played lots of the styles we told them we wanted, and went out and bought some music they didn't have that we had requested. I'd recommend them unless you want an extensive light show; they were fine for us (an older crowd, lol) but if you want fancy lights, they don't have 'em. They were also VERY VERY reasonable; about 1/2 of what most DJ's in the area seem to charge; we gave them a nice tip. I would've been a little bit nervous about them except that a good friend works with Erik and she has been to some of the events he's worked and swore we wouldn't be disappointed...and we weren't!

Gotta tell you, enjoy the planning and this year; the day itself really does go amazingly fast; the letdown is a little tough, lol. One other detail that was important to me; personally, I feel that if I'm paying top dollar for a premium bar, AND a 20% service charge, the bartenders have absolutely NO business putting out a tip jar and nickel and diming my guests. Halfway through the evening, I found out there was one...even after I was assured there wouldn't be. If you care about this, I suggest you check and double check and be adamant about it; I was very unhappy when I saw it out!

Good luck with the rest of your planning!
I hope all this helps, and if you have questions, feel free!

Edit: here's the link to the reviews I wrote...
http://local.weddingchannel.com/Wedding-Vendors/weddingchannel/views/reviews/reviewaggregationview.aspx?MsdVisit=1

albutler29 · November 2011

Congratulations again!! Glad to hear that you had such a great day and a wonderful honeymoon! Right now we're in the process of sifting through photographers and djs and trying to find one that we like. I will definitely take a look at the ones you used! DJ seemed a bit like a nightmare for me, so I'm glad to get some good feedback!

I was definitely thinking about what you said the other day though - so much planning for one day, that the letdown is sure to be rough! Its all about keeping perspective, I think. I agree with the whole tipping thing. Its crazy how everyone expects to pay so much with service charges built in, and then another tip on top of that! I can only afford so much! I think I'll only be giving good tips to those that really deserve it!

Thanks again for your reviews - they are very helpful! Enjoy the married life!

albutler29 · November 2011

Hey Laura! Quick question - does Wonderland Sound have a website/FB page/email to contact them? I've tried looking on FB and searching google and can't find a way to contact them. Thanks!!

Laura1027 · November 2011

The guy who owns Wonderland is Erik Boks and his number is 989-686-4258

off to bed!

L

sarahkarp · November 2011

Hi girls - I am newly "officially" engaged 2 weeks ago. We knew we were going to be engaged soon so I started getting ideas together and since the official engagement have really started planning. Our wedding date is this New Year's Eve! We are doing a brunch reception at Apple Mountain. I am really excited about having an early wedding and brunch reception so that people can go do what they want afterwards. I am needing help with finding a cupcake/cake person (I have an email in to a girl who does them on the side "Leeh's Pieces") and a salon that is actually open and willing to do hair very early in the morning. Any tips will be very appreciated - I am planning like crazy and trying to get a lot done quickly!

Sarah

albutler29 · November 2011

I know that there is Sugar High, which is out in Frankenmuth, Mary's Creative Cakery in Saginaw, and Petit Four in Essexville for cake stuff. Not sure as far as salons that would be open early enough. I think you would just have to call and ask them about it. I know for Bay City there is the Saginaw Street Salon and JcPenney's also has specials for bridal parties.

Laura1027 · November 2011

First, congratulations! Wow, New Year's is going to come up fast! I love albutlers suggestion of Saginaw Street Salon; they're great! The owner, Debbie, is very nice and if she won't be open, she may know of someone who would be willing to come to you. You might also ask Alicia at Memories by Candlelight (awesome flowers, centerpieces, linens; very creative); she used to be a hair stylist and still knows people in the business who work independently rather than trying to find someplace that is open.

Here's the link to my reviews from our 10/15 wedding in BC; hope they're helpful to you and good luck with your planning!

here's the link to the reviews I wrote...
http://local.weddingchannel.com/Wedding-Vendors/weddingchannel/views/reviews/reviewaggregationview.aspx?MsdVisit=1

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