Cindy & Mike

Ceremony Location: Our Lady of the Woods, Woodhaven MI

Reception Location: Orlando Familia, Riverview MI

Wedding Colors: Celadon Green & Ivory

# Guests: 230

Emergency Kit Items Used: Tea Lights, Sewing Kit

This chilly April day began at Orlando Familia in Riverview, MI with lots to do! Each centerpiece had 5 candle holders of varying sizes atop a foam platform and a mirror, surrounded by celadon green rose petals. We also set place cards, and photo sharing info cards which went at each place setting. I got my assistant John set up to finish the rest of the room while I went over to the ceremony location to pick up the memory table items and check on things.

Cindy and her girls looked beautiful with hair & makeup done by Via Bella Salon in Woodhaven. The ceremony went well according to Bev at Our Lady of the Woods Catholic Church, and the bridal party was then off for photos with Entertainment Express Limo.

Back at the reception hall, everything was coming together and we were finished a little earlier than planned (yay!). The only thing left to do was light lots and lots of candles!

Cindy and Mike arrived with their bridal party and greeted guests in the lobby while waiting for their grand entrance. In the meantime, I had to bust out my sewing kit to re-sew some buttons on to the tuxedo jackets of Mike and one of his groomsmen. It may sound kind of warped, but I love using items in the emergency kit! Makes me feel needed, haha!

Guests were served a buffet dinner and the food at Orlando Familia was delicious, especially the Italian Sausage! The staff was efficient and everyone had their dinners in no time ~ Very impressive considering the number of tables to be served. Cake was served for dessert (Cakes By Kara) and later DJ John Frasson of DJ & Music kept the crowd going. Lots of family group photos were coordinated later on taking place on the staircase of the lobby at Orlando Familia with photographer Will Carroll of Carroll's Photography. Cindy & Mike each seemed to have doubled their already-large families!

All in all, the day went as planned and I must give much of that credit to Cindy. She was organized and really had things together which made the whole day very easy for us! The staff at Orlando Familia helped out a lot at the end gathering all of the candles for the centerpieces for us to pack up quickly.

Cindy was so easy to work with and one of my first bookings many, many months ago. She had faith in me long before I was able to show her more weddings under my belt and I appreciate that. I was also so glad to finally meet Mike who was very easy-going and such a nice guy! I wish you both the best of luck! Thank you so much for trusting us to help with your day!

Heather & Steve

Ceremony Location: First Presbyterian Church, Plymouth MI

Reception Location: Plymouth Manor

Wedding Colors: Teal, black, silver

# Guests: 185

Emergency Kit Items Used: Wire cutters, tape, static spray, tea light, pink Sharpie (the guest book markers died and I usually have black on me but could only find my hot pink one, lol!)

I think this day had to be THE coldest day of the year so far, bitter cold and windy! However, this did not stop bride Heather from glowing! She was radiant, happy, and so calm.

Heather is a makeup artist (as a matter of fact, she did my makeup for a trash the dress session back in October!) and she and her girls started off at her employer, Visions Spa & Salon in Novi for hair and makeup. Everyone looked terrific!

My assistant and I arrived at Plymouth Manor first to set up the reception room. Magnolia Florist of Plymouth -and- our groom Steve had already been in with centerpieces: half were floral and half were DIY assembled earlier that day by none other than the groom himself with the help of groomsmen! (Normally this is included in part of our set-up, but the Heather said she was putting her husband-to-be to work that morning!) We set up the standard items (cake knives, signature mat, framed photograph, signature drink menu, toasting flutes, etc)....they also had individual frames acting as both favors and place cards, menu cards for each place setting, crystal trees for the two-tiered head table, and lots of votives. The room looked really pretty with linens by Maya of Sposa Seating complimenting the whole look.

At the church, we set up the unity candle, programs, and vase with flowers in memory of some of Heather's family members. Jen MacPherson of Amanda Williams Photography (love them!) was there and ready to go (some pro photos here). Church coordinator Janet works for First Presbyterian Church and knows her facility, in which case my assistant and I hung back and were available to assist her in any way. After briefly losing one grandma along the way (!!!!), the ceremony went off beautifully.

DJ Lawton Lunce of Sweet Sounds was ready for the couple's grand entrance to, "It's All Been Done" by Barenaked Ladies which was a unique choice for an entrance song. I love it when couples dare to wander even a little bit off the 'norm' with their song choices! Lawton kept the dance floor going crazy all night!

Guests enjoyed signature drinks, a plated dinner, and delicious Elite Sweets cake (another personal favorite!) for dessert.

All in all, a great first wedding for my year 2010. This wedding and reception were right in my neighborhood and about a 5 minute drive from home also! I love it!

Heather and Steve, you were AWESOME to work with and I wish you the best of luck! I know I'll see you again soon too! XOXOXO!!

Adrienne & Brian

Ceremony & Reception Location: Colony Club, Detroit

Wedding Colors: Burgundy & Gold

# Guests: 190

Emergency Kit Items Used: Double-sided tape, white ribbon, tea light

Adrienne is quite possibly one of the biggest sweethearts I've ever met! I was looking very forward to this one after meeting her once again, and spending quite a long time chatting at the good old Town Pump downtown a couple of weeks prior to the big day. She was soooo organized that she even made up a booklet for me that was chock-full of all of the wedding details. No information is bad information and I SO appreciate everything I can get my hands on!

This was my first wedding at Colony Club and it's a gorgeous venue. The main ballroom is just breathtaking with all of the mirrors, high ceilings and balconies. I was a little worried about parking, being downtown and all, but they have a nearby parking garage that is free for wedding guests and vendors.

The day was a bit chilly but still overall good (no snow storm at least!). We arrived to Colony Club and began setup. CC staff had already set out all of Adrienne's gold charger plates which saved us a ton of time!

The cermony was also to be in the ballroom where the reception was being held. Silk Thumb Florist arrived at the same time as us, and got busy setting up some beautiful arrangements with gorgeous black magic roses. Half of the tables had arrangements, and half had these really cute burgundy feather trees with gold glitter. Another festive touch were the placecard holders which were holiday ornaments. I am so sad that I forgot to take mine home! It is not neccessary for the bride to make up a place card for little ole me, but it makes me feel extra special when they do :)

There were so many pretty things to be set up and they all looked just beautiful in the room. The gold Chiavari chairs and ivory linens really tied everything together. There was a definite "wow factor" seeing everything put together!

Adrienne, Brian, the bridal party, immediate family and of course the famous Dionne Haglund of The Shooting Gallery (some pro photos here) met in the room prior to the ceremony for formal photos. Great idea! This allowed the couple and bridal party to attend and enjoy their cocktail hour immediately following the ceremony.

The ceremony went well, with Rev. Stephen Goodrum officiating, and Panache Entertainment accompanying. As mentioned, immediately following the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails and appetizers on the first floor while myself and the Colony Club staff got the ballroom changed over to complete the reception setup. Instead of a traditional long "head table," the couple opted for a "captain's table" in which they and the bridal party sat all around a large rectangular table versus all in a long straight line. It turned out beautifully once setup was complete.

The room was then once again opened up after the cocktail hour for the reception to begin and for Adrienne & Brian to make their grand entrance. Dinner was absolutely delicious. I've never had a piece of steak I could cut with a butter knife. A butter knife! It was perfectly cooked.

Bertha and Eric at Colony Club were absolutely accomodating and professional, thanks to both of you! I have two more couples who have receptions booked at Colony Club for 2010, so I am looking forward to working with their staff again.

Dave Lavasseur of Mike Staff Productions kept bodies on the dance floor all night, playing some great tunes. It was fun to be able to watch everything from the mezzanine/balcony area.

Other vendors for the day included Aleksandra Adams for makeup, Jason Meyers (248-626-9900) for hair, Cakes By Stephanie, and Adam of SR2 Productions doing video. Invitations by Kate at Custom Paperworks.

Congratulations, Adrienne & Brian! Hope Jamaica was WARM and relaxing! Adrienne, I will miss talking to you, keep in touch!

Taryn & Brian

Ceremony & Reception Location: Bavarian Inn, Frankenmuth MI

Wedding Colors: Red, Gold, Brown

# Guests: 130

Emergency Kit Items Used: Safety pins

I was looking forward to this one, as I have not really been to Frankenmuth in years. It also turned out to be a lovely day weather-wise!

We arrived at Bavarian Inn and stopped in to Taryn's suite where her makeup was being done by Jen at Deux Adore. She was energetic, happy, and looked so pretty! We then trekked around to the banquet room area to locate everything and began setup. The banquet lobby at the Bavarian Inn was decked out for the holidays with an impressively HUGE Christmas tree and all sorts of other holiday decor. It looked gorgeous.

Marcia at MK Designs did the florals and centerpieces, and Maya from Sposa Seating was ready with her team to begin the chair covers.

The room really came together after all was complete. Taryn had some of the cutest table numbers I've ever seen, and the DIY Jones Soda bottles (also slightly unique to them because this is also her married last name now) were a huge hit! A soda bottle was placed at each guest setting, on top of a small square placemat in the wedding colors, and we then also placed a ribbon tag on each bottle. We also set up the placecard table and all of the other items for both the reception and the ceremony (which took place at the same location in a different room).

In the ceremony room, even hotel guests could watch it from the balconies of their rooms that looked out to the area. It went smoothly and Taryn & Brian gave each other a cute "high five" after they were pronounced!

Guests headed to the reception room lobby after the ceremony for some appetizers and cocktails. Bavarian Inn served beer, wine and some assorted punches that were delicious.

The dinner buffet to follow was huge and seemed never-ending! There were so many choices and all were tasty! Bavarian Inn staff was very accomodating and on point, even bringing drink orders right to guest tables.

Later the party got started with DJ's Ed & Jason of E & J Entertainment. They did this really cute "Newlywed Game" with Taryn & Brian that everyone got a kick out of, and later a traditional German wedding event called "Sie Leben Hoch" in which the newly married couple are raised in to the air on chairs to be cheered and wished well.

It was also great to work again with photograher Amy Boeve. She does beautiful work and is so easy to work with (some pro photos can now be seen here). Jamie of Shutterspeed Productions was also there to do the video ~ I saw the sneak peek preview and it was great!

Congratulations Taryn & Brian!

Katie & Frank

Ceremony Location: North Congregational Church, Farmington Hills

Reception Location: Dearborn Inn

Wedding Colors: Navy Blue, Light Blue, Ivory

# Guests: 130

Emergency Kit Items Used: Absolutely none! A first!

Talk about perfect weather this day - wow! For November, it was sunny, mild & just all-around a gorgeous day for a wedding! I know I often start my blogs with how the weather was, but this was simply a beautiful day.

My assistant and I started out at Dearborn Inn to check on all of the couple's wedding items and make sure everything was there. Due to another event the Dearborn Inn had going on that day in the Alexandria Ballroom, vendors were unable to get in to the room for any setup until about 5:00 pm. Had it been another venue I might have been worried, but having done two other weddings at Dearborn Inn in recent months, I knew they would do an absolutely fine job of getting the items set up correctly while we were off at the ceremony.

After checking in with the bride and groom, we went to the church to prepare for the ceremony. Katie was amazingly calm and looked beautiful. Hair and makeup for she and her bridesmaids was done by Posh Brides.

Not a lot had to be done at the church as far as decor, it's a large and beautiful church all on its own. Fortino's Flowers had already been in and tied some lovely ivory pew bows with some greenery, and placed some floral pieces on the candelabras at the altar. The ceremony went off beautifully with the church's organist Kim Marlinga and Rev. Mark Jensen.

And, I was absolutely right about Dearborn Inn. We arrived after the ceremony to find that all items had been placed as we had specified. Katie's favors were small tins of chocolate-covered dried cherries; she also had place cards, some wonderful framed photos of her and Frank's parents' and grandparents' weddings (this is a personal favorite thing of mine to see, I looove looking at old wedding photos), toasting flutes, cake server, table numbers, personalized stir sticks for the bar and cocktail napkins. Fortino's Flowers had also been in and did a beautiful job with florals for the centerpieces, cake, and head table. We also brought the candelabra flowers back from the ceremony and placed them on the head table. The cake was done by Pastry Palace and chair covers and cocktail table linens by Affordable Elegance. Everything looked just gorgeous!

Cocktail hour began in the ballroom lobby with ceremony organist Kim now playing the beautiful piano Dearborn Inn has. Guests enjoyed a rather nice spread of hot and cold choices and of course, cocktails.

The Alexandria Ballroom was then opened to the guests and a little while later the bridal party made their grand entrance. Music and MC was done by The G-Daddy's. Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely adore live music! And yes, I also realize that this day was not about me (haha) but of course I enjoyed the band. The G-Daddy's did a terrific job with appropriate music for dinner and all of the special dances, and great live music later on with the dance floor overflowing a bit most of the night!

Special thanks to Joan Verla at Dearborn Inn; she was wonderful and extremely helpful. As always, Dearborn Inn did an absolutely professional job. I am a bit sad that I do not yet have any 2010 brides with this venue. We also thoroughlly enjoyed working with photographer Duane Orris of Orris Photography and his 2 assistants.

Katie, Frank and their entire bridal party were so good to us and fun to talk to and work with. Congratulations Katie & Frank, we hope you are having a fabulous time in Hawaii!

Angie & Paul

Ceremony & Reception Location: Fox Hills, Plymouth

Wedding Colors: Chocolate Brown, Latte, Orange

# Guests: 100

Emergency Kit Items Used: Shout wipes, scissors

What a unique room for a fall event! Fox Hill's Log Cabin Room at Fox Classic was rustic and warm. The fireplace plus lots of votives burning, and all of the warm shades of brown table linens, chair covers (done by Erica at EcoPosh Events), with burst of fall colors, really gave the reception a strong fall feel.

Fox Hills staff was excellent and so very accomodating, even assisting me with the setup of all of the couple's wedding items: lots and lots of candles, unique fall-themed candle centerpieces, shot glass favors, and many silk fall-colored leaves. Instead of a traditional guest book, the couple had guests write a message on paper fall-colored leaves and place them in a 'wishing bowl'. The registration table was beautiful with all of the assorted fall items and candles.

Despite the rain, chilly air, and the need to switch to the backup indoor ceremony plan, Angie & Paul's ceremony was beautiful. I could not get over how gorgeous her dress looked - it was a deeper warm ivory color, loved it! It is disappointing when you have your heart set on an outdoor ceremony and it can't happen due to weather, but Reverend Victoria Kowaleski (victoria@ministeratlarge.com) wrote and performed the ceremony beautifully and professionally. It even made me tear up a little, and I don't do that too often.

Sam & Nicole from Everlasting Images (http://www.everlastingimages.biz/) didn't miss a beat. They were on-point and in position for anything and everything that happened. I really enjoyed working and talking with them and look forward to the professional photos! Music was done by DJ John Davis of Davis Entertainment; Photo Booth by Mike at MC Entertainment.

Paul's mother had made a cake for cutting, but also many many apple and pumpkin pies - a few of which were displayed on the cake table on assorted stands - that were later served for dessert. I tried the apple and it was delicious!

All in all, the day and evening ran beautifully and on-schedule. A special shout out to Metro Cars due to a near catastrophe with the couple's hotel shuttle - even though it was solved in the end, I thank you for your flexibility and for taking my frantic phone call!

Congratulations to Angie & Paul and your beautiful family! I really enjoyed working with you!

Jennifer & Michael

Ceremony & Reception Location: Canterbury Castle, Lake Orion

Wedding Colors: Red, Black, White

# Guests: 63

Emergency Kit Items Used: Shout wipes, packing tape, Kleenex







(Some pro photos located here)

Considering the cold, rain & wind the previous day, Jennifer & Michael's wedding day turned out to have GREAT weather! Both the ceremony and reception were at Canterbury Castle in Lake Orion; what a unique location!

The King Henry ballroom was decked out in red, black & white and looked absolutely cool. Chair Covers & Linens did an excellent job on the linens, as did Beth at Amazing Petals on all of the bridal florals and centerpieces. Instead of tent place cards, Jennifer had little trees on the registration table, with guest names hanging on cards. I took a photo, but today my blog is not cooperating with me to be able to show you any more photos!

Jennifer & Michael were so easy-going and completely adorable. Their ceremony was simple and to the point and went off smoothly despite poor Jennifer shedding some heavy (but happy!) tears immediately before her mom walked her down the aisle.

Ron and his assistant at Night & Day Productions (http://www.night-and-day.com/) kept the dance floor going all. night. long. This surprised me since this was a smaller crowd, but Ron knew exactly what to play and when to play it - so much so that the couple hired him on the spot to stay even later than he was originally contracted! It was also great working again with Jason at JS Photography (http://www.photosbyjs.com/), he does gorgeous work and really knows how to get the job done quickly and beautifully.

Guests were treated to appetizers on arrival, and later a yumy buffet dinner, so good. I also must say that the cake by Flour To Flour was delish, especially the frosting! I love me some good frosting and have become a cake conaisseur of sorts lately!

Other than a stain on Jennifer's dress and me suffering a minor stab with boutonniere pin (ouch!), the day went off without a hitch! *Of course* I always attribute this certainly not only to myself, but also to a great team of vendors who cooperate with each other.

Congratulations Jennifer & Michael!