Wedding Calling all MI/Detroit/A2 brides!

[ladyciel]

There are enough of us MI gals here on PS that I thought it'd be a good idea to start a thread for us to meet up, talk about our vendors, get local advice, etc. I do have a question I'd like to start off with, but feel free to steer this thing wherever you please! We can even make it a gallery to show off our MI weddings.

So, for my selfish start: I need to find a seamstress, but I'm really nervous about it. Have any of you found/used somebody that you would recommend? I tried the Knot, and everyone there raves over this woman named Hanna. However, Hanna lives well over an hour from me (I'm in Ann Arbor). Part of me says hundreds of glowing reviews can't be wrong, just make the drive and quit whining, BUT I'd like to consider other options. I'm kind of wary of the seamstresses at the bridal shops, mostly because I'm wary of bridal shops in general.

 

[mimzy]

hey lady!

I haven''t found a seamstress yet because my dress won''t be in for another few months, but the owner at i do too said that while they dont have any on staff that they always recommend two ladies that do independent work. you might want to call them and see if you can get their names, even if you didn''t buy from them!

besides rachie (i think that''s who it is?) who else is a MI bride?!?

 

[Rachie]

Hello ladies! I think that I am going to be using Hana for my alterations but only b/c she lives really close to me. I know that doesn''t help too much but I have heard wonderful things and not just on the knot. A woman that my mom works with had Hana fix her daughter''s dress 3 days before the wedding b/c the bridal salon messed it up so bad! She was able to fix it without a problem.

 

[Mannequin]

I am a MI LIW, but hopefully will be a BIW by summer''s end.

When I was previously engaged, I heard a lot of good things about Hanna, too. No personal experience with her to share, though.

 

[ladyciel]

Mimzy, I actually have the cards for the seamstresses I Do Too recommends - they gave them to me when I was there. I''ve been debating calling them to set up first fittings and get quotes. Maybe see if I feel comfortable with either of them?

Lucky you, Rachie! If I lived close I think using Hana would be a no-brainer. Our photographer has heard of her, too - said her brides rave about her and drive crazy distances to see her. It''s looking more and more like I might join that list. Really, I''m thinking at most it would require 3 trips to see her, and if I''m lucky just 2. But, that''d be 2.5 hours of driving for each trip.

One of my concerns is that the side seams of my silk dress (it needs taking in at spots) are 1) littered with beading, and 2) pleated/ruched for the entire length of the bodice, only held in place at the sides. I''ve heard that silk can be difficult to work with, and I fear that anyone who isn''t really careful/detailed could ruin the whole look/feel of the dress by messing up how the ruching drapes. I''m not as worried about the hem or bustle, since they''re both pretty straight forward. I had a nightmare last night that nothing was ready for the wedding and that the seamstress had ruined my dress. It was so hard finding the right one that now I''m terrified to hand it over to a stranger, you know?

 

[ladyciel]

LIW are welcome too, Equestrienne! I seriously think Hana has become a legend...

 

[mimzy]

i think that you should definitely give them a call! plymouth is a lot closer than the east side (which i''m only guessing is where this hanna lady is) and it couldn''t hurt.

i don''t know about other vendors because i think that we all have or photographers (mine is http://www.agirlinlove.com) and our venues! i''m not doing flowers, and my cake person is going to be up near pontiac by the hall (lafayette grande) and i think we all have our dresses! booo. i wish we had collaborated earlier. it would have been nice to talk to others about it!

equestrienne - where are you at in MI??

 

[ladyciel]

Yeah, no kidding! We''re still looking for a florist. I have another appointment on Saturday for that, and my hair/makeup trial with bridal beauty on location (Sylvia) is on Friday. So, other than florist and seamstress, I think we''re pretty much set...

 

[Mannequin]

Mimzy - I currently live in Utica, but will be moving in with the BF over the summer in the South Lyon area. SO much closer to IKEA, yay!

 

[Rachie]

Ladyciel~That is a long way to drive! I would meet with the recommended seamstresses first and if you don''t feel that they are confident enough to alter your dress correctly, then give Hana a call. Hopefully, they are good enough to do what needs to be done b/c gas isn''t exactly cheap right now!

Mimzy~A friend of mine got married at the Lafayette Grand two years ago and it was really nice! It''s a cool venue. What are you doing instead of flowers?

Equestrienne~I hope you become a BIW this summer! I remember when you were planning before and I am so happy that you were able to find someone that makes you happy! And yay for being closer to IKEA!

I have the two major things booked (in my mind anyways), the venue and photographer. Oh, and I have my dress! We are meeting with a dj on sat. Who are you guys using? We are meeting with rent-a-dj b/c that is who my photographer recommended but I am open to other suggestions as well.

 

[ladyciel]

Sadly, Rent-a-DJ was already booked for our date, though so was Dionne (photographer). A stroke of fate helped us get her, because the very day I contacted her, so did one of her brides needing to change their date. We're using Marc LaRochelle, who WAS working as In Play Productions. I just went to his website (www.inplayproductions.com) and discovered he's joined up with Night & Day. Perhaps the economy has been THAT bad for DJs?

Let's see - I guess it couldn't hurt to just list all of our vendors, right?

Ceremony Location: Matthaei Botanical Gardens
Reception: Campus Inn Hotel
Photographer: The Shooting Gallery (Dionne Haglund)
Officiant: Mary Stevens (Life Cycles)
Cake: Bake Shop Wedding Cakes
DJ: Marc LaRochelle (formerly In Play Productions, now with Night & Day)
Ceremony and cocktail/dinner music: Robert Jones, a classical guitarist (Guitar Interludes)
Day of Coordination: TwoFoot Creative
Dresses: All purchased from Pearl's Place. Mine: Angelina Faccenda 1012. BMs: 4 different WToo styles, all midnight blue chiffon and tealength
Tuxes: Mens Warehouse (MWTux)
Hair/Makeup: I have my trial this Friday with Sylvia Farmer from Bridal Beauty on Location. Fingers crossed!
Invitations: I'm DIYing them. Still need to choose a printer, though.
Save-the-Dates: Free postcards from Vista Print. I designed them in Illustrator, and the quality from VP was awesome. Can't beat free! Sign up for their emails and you'll get free offers really frequently.
Florist: TBD...

 

[Rachie]

Oh, you are using Ana from Twofoot Creative? I am thinking about using her as well. I have heard great things. What is your opinion of her? Obviously you like her enough to use her but what made you choose her over someone else?

 

[ladyciel]

So, actually, we''re using Nicola, who Ana has taken under her wing as an assistant. Ana was booked for our day, but Nicola was available and so we got her for a reduced rate compared to Ana. We didn''t start out planning to hire a coordinator, so we didn''t have much budget for it. With Ana/Nicola, we found we could get as much if not more help for the day of than we could get with some of the other people we contacted who wanted much more money. The day-of package includes unlimited time at the rehearsal, plus 10 hours the day of the wedding. And, they''ll do basically ANYTHING you need them to do that day. Ana has two other assistants, so she''s using one for the wedding she''s doing that day, and Nicola is getting the other. So, basically, 2 helpers for 10 hours that day. Really a PRICELESS help, but at a price our budget could handle!

Ana is staying involved in all the planning up until the day, so we met with both her and Nicola before we hired them. On first impression, I would say Ana isn''t a sales person, but we liked her. When I say isn''t a sales person, she wasn''t the type to take charge and run the meeting and tell us how awesome her services are. She asked us to tell her a bit about our wedding, and then she just gave us a basic rundown of what they do. Nicola is from England, where she worked in corporate events. She''s been in the states for a number of years, and Ana is helping her learn the US wedding culture. She''s doing a bunch fo weddings with Ana between now and ours in September, so we''re counting on her being ready and capable to do ours. We figure if anything comes up that she isn''t sure about, at the very least she can make an emergency call to Ana.

 

[mimzy]

Date: 5/15/2008 12:02:29 AM
Author: equestrienne
Mimzy - I currently live in Utica, but will be moving in with the BF over the summer in the South Lyon area. SO much closer to IKEA, yay!

that''s awesome! my mom/stepdad and dad/stepmom both live in south lyon/green oak, as does my cousin. it''s nice out there! not super built up yet, but still close to a lot of things (including ikea

)

 

[mimzy]

Rachie - that''s good to know! there really aren''t any reviews of them as a venue to be found (but there are a lot of ghosthunter related hits on it if you google the place!). we''re doing mostly candle lanterns and berry branches for our centerpieces, and fruit (plums and limes) in other places. SO much cheaper than flowers! plus, i''m being super picky about the color scheme, and there just aren''t that many flowers that are lime green and super dark burgundy!

 

[mimzy]

i guess i''ll list the rest of my vendors too!
dress: Anjolique 930 from I Do Too bridal in plymouth -AWESOME shop
venue: lafayette grande
photo: melissa squires at agirlinlove photography
limo: Palace limo and transport - they do one way transfers! no three our package for us
chair covers: candlelite linens (rita)- cheapest i''ve found, but poor communication!
church: firt presbyterian in pontiac w/ their pastor. nice guy!
DJ: some guy my dad hired? haha. I think his name is Mike Bowdell or something. He did my dad''s friends'' daughter''s wedding and he got him for cheaper than his normal rate is, so it works for me!
hair: donna thompson at salon innovations in northville. she''s the only person who has cut my hair since i was 2 (except myself and my sister)so this was a no brainer! she''s great
makeup: tbd. i''ll probably have one of my stepmom''s arbonne people do it for me for free!
STD: vistaprint postcards! (ours were free also )
invitations: still have to find a printer for our designed ones
day of coordination/florist: my sister in law! she''s on board as my wedding manager/floral designer for my bouquet and the bouts.

if you do''t have a dj yet, i''ve heard good things about the people at mike staff productions: my cousin''s wedding was last weekend and the guy that did theirs was really good. i think they start at 1k though..

 

[Rachie]

Thanks for the info Ladyciel! We weren''t going to the DOC either but I figure it will help lessen the stress that day and a DOC has more experience with this than I do!

Here is a list of the vendors we have booked so far:
Ceremony/Reception: Addison Oaks
Photographer: The Shooting Gallery
Dress: Birnbaum & Bullock in NYC
Possible DJ: Rent-a-DJ
Officiant: One of our best friends! (We just got him ordained online the other day)

Hmmm...I think that is it so far. We still have a year and 3 months to go so we still have time to book the other things. I just wanted to get as many big things out of the way as soon as possible so that we could get the vendors we wanted.