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I got to the Grosse Pointe Academy Chapel at 3:15, and helped get everyone’s nerves at ease before helping Dana down the aisle (dress fluffing and such) at 4pm. As soon as she was down, I headed to the Grosse Pointe War Memorial (the reception location) to begin setup! I heard later that since they had only reserved the Chapel for two hours, they got 5 minutes (!!!) for formal pictures after the ceremony - for future brides, check your contracts!

Dana and Joe were very lucky, in that they had a family member who was able to help out with all their flowers! That is definitely a great way to save some money, and it gives an important role to someone close to the couple. I got to the Grosse Pointe Academy Chapel with the impression that I would be transferring the centerpieces to my car and taking them to the War Memorial with the rest of the stuff I had gotten from Dana to set up. However, when I asked Grandma Fran about it, she handed me the keys to her GIANT van and had me drive it because there was no way it would all fit in my car! I was scared to drive the van in and of itself, but with very tall and wobbly centerpieces in the back it was even more frightening! Everything worked out great, I dropped them off and headed back to the Chapel with the van and grabbed my car which had all the chargers and napkins in it!

Back at the War Memorial, the staff was flipping the room from a non-profit garden show to a 27-table wedding in less than 2 hours, I was very impressed with their efficiency! As soon as tablecloths were on (they used Sposa Seating), I did a quick count to make sure the accurate number of chairs were set up at each table (only one was off!) and then placed the chargers. Dana had folded all the napkins herself and inserted menu cards, which went on top of the chargers and the chocolate favors on top of that again. Mirrors, Eiffel tower vases and candles went in the center of each table to complete the look. It was a tight fit, some tables had to be pushed around a bit so servers could get by, but it was ready to go by the time guests started to arrive!

Dinner took a lot longer than planned, due to the fact that soup was served after the salad and not before (something to do with timing and heat - so if you are doing both serve soup first!). It wasn’t a big deal; the first dance was pushed back a half hour and the dance floor stayed packed all night after that! The only interruption was to complete formal pictures in one of the Museum rooms since there was not enough time to get them all at the Chapel.

Their DJ Kurt Cologne with Mike Staff was great, very helpful throughout the night and he played a variety of music which is always a good thing! He has a great voice for DJ’ing as well! My very favorite vendor they booked is Amanda Williams (www.amandawilliamsphotography.com) hands down! She is hilarious (had me cracking up on multiple occasions), and did a great job with the pictures as well (the photos in this blog that are of Dana and Joe are compliments of her)! It was so nice to meet someone else that just loves the wedding business, and it shows in her work. I would recommend her to anyone!

Congratulations Dana and Joe on a beautiful wedding, you did a wonderful job planning everything! I wish you a lifetime of happiness!

Amanda and Matthew planned their wedding from New York, so I didn’t meet them until the rehearsal! They are the sweetest couple, so happy together and so wonderful to work with! The wedding and ceremony were both held at the Guardian Building in Detroit, which is just a gorgeous location! The orange, blue and gold colors they used were stunning in the space, and went very well with the building itself. Stay tuned to their photographer Jessica Johnston’s blog for pictures, I am sure they will be amazing!

I arrived at the Guardian Building at 2:20pm, at which point I grabbed the personal flowers from the florist and dropped them off to Amanda and Matthew at the Omni Hotel in Detroit. Because of the bad weather, the florist had not received a shipment needed for the bouquet stem Amanda wanted, but other than that they were beautiful flowers! One thing I will definitely remember in the future is to bring extra boutonnière pins, sometimes one is not enough to hold them steady!

After dropping off the flowers, I headed back to the Guardian to make sure everything was set up and ready to go for the ceremony! A few things were moved to allow for the best possible pictures as Amanda walked down the aisle, and some last minute decor details were put in place, but overall it was not a ton of work to do setting up since they did a lot of it themselves the night before (I do not recommend doing this, you want to relax the day before your wedding)!

The cake arrived on time, but the Guardian was warm and the chocolate “fan” on top of the cake started melting a bit and falling over, so that was something I had to fix before the photographer got there for pictures! It ended up being a shorter fan with more pieces, and I don’t think anyone noticed! My emergency kit came in handy as well, as both the bride and groom had a headache (if you read this and have not yet gotten married - bring grapes! They make you feel full, keep you hydrated, and don’t make you have to pee!)

The ceremony went exactly as planned, just a few minutes behind schedule to allow for people to get there in the snow. They took a group shot in the lobby of the building and then did the receiving line on the way back up to cocktail hour. Somehow, the caterer’s contract stated food was to be ready immediately after the ceremony, while the final timeline had dinner ready at 7:30 (an hour difference!). This is something I will definitely be confirming in the future, I was told everyone had the same timeline I did but that was not the case! It didn’t matter too much in the end, the food was great and stayed warm, and the caterers were phenomenal to work with as well (I have been very lucky with the vendors I’ve worked with so far!).

They used a guitarist for the ceremony and dinner music, and an iPod for dancing. I have seen an iPod used twice now, and both times it was a huge hassle and very stressful for the couple. Unless absolutely necessary, I highly recommend a DJ! You never know what type of cord, setup and logistical issues you will run into the day of the wedding…

One thing they did that was such a great idea was a photo booth, set up with a large sheet and a camera on a tripod! Matthew is a photographer so he had a very good camera to use (it might not work as well with a point and click), and the guests just loved standing there and coming up with different poses and different combinations of people, it was fun just watching them all! Hopefully they put those up on a Shutterfly site for guests to look at later!

It was an early night, everything was taken down and packed into cars by 11:15! There were candles, vases, table numbers, extra programs and cake, branches used for the escort tree (they hung escort cards from mini-trees, so cute!), framed pictures of the couple at their bridal session, gifts, the top of the cake, cake knife and stand and a few other items to get out of the building.

Congratulations Amanda and Matthew, and good luck with everything in your future! Thank you for allowing me to be part of your wedding day!