Another beautiful post-fall day began at the Dearborn Ritz-Carlton where Lisa and her girls were chilling in her suite with hair and makeup by Rashida from The Glam Doctor and Nicole Pizzini. Nicole actually did my hair for my wedding too, and does my hair on a semi-regular basis; I love familiar faces!
Lisa was amazingly calm! I think a good portion of this can be attributed to her totally awesome and sweet Matron of Honor, Carrie. Carrie was excellent in communicating and contacting me all day and night. We gathered all of her reception boxes to take down to The Gallery ballroom downstairs. I made a few trips hand-carrying the centerpieces, as I am not sure how they'd fare on a porter's cart and we wanted them all to make it in one piece. Lisa DIY'd her centerpieces (and ALL of her flowers, actually) with yellow calla lilies and they looked terrific!
Guest favors were silver heart-shaped bottle openers, personalized in a box with a band noting the bride & groom's names and wedding date, placed on top of the napkin on each charger plate:
The Gallery ballroom was both a gorgeous and intimate setting for the couple's 70 guests:
Rather than standard rectangle banquet tables, The Ritz had a beautiful wood credenza in the lobby for Lisa's signature mat and escort cards: I loved the extra detail on the escort cards.
Arriving to the church, we quickly realized that the church was also holding an Oktoberfest event on their grounds that day! Luckily they had saved parking for the wedding guests though! Tammy, the church coordinator, was cooperative and easy to work with. Thanks Tammy!
The ceremony went well with a special appearance by Brooklyn, Lisa and Austin's 2 year old daughter. She was adorable, as were all of the flower girls! The couple was pronounced, and exited the church to guests blowing lots of bubbles.
Getting back to the reception site was challenging for us and guests due to the closure of Southfield Fwy southbound (cannot wait until construction "season" is over in MI!!!) but we made it back in plenty of time to check the reception room and do some last-minute touches. Guests were treated to and open bar and a terrific buffet with plenty of wonderful food options, including a full dessert spread and the wedding cake (Cakes by Stephanie 730-240-CAKE). The Ritz staff were professional and very accomodating to our needs and provided excellent service all-around.
Music for the evening was provided by Dean at Thomas & Thomas DJ's and was a good mix of Jamaican sounds and of course, popular US dance tunes. Lisa's heritage is Jamaican, and some of the guests and family had traveled from all over to attend this wedding. BTW, thanks for your help Dean!
Congratulations, Lisa & Austin! XOXOXOX!
Rachel you did a fabulous job at our wedding. We couldn't have done it without you.
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Austin and Lisa Garcia
XOXO Lisa, much love to you!!
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