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Jennifer met with me back in May, and her main concern was being able to set everything up on her wedding day without having to worry about it herself or ask any family members to do so. Her centerpieces were all DIY, and the chair covers she rented did not include installation and take-down so those would also have to be set up! Since her guest list was 75 (ending at 84 - there are always add-ons!), I was willing to set up the chair covers with an assistant. I don’t think my back could handle it for a 200 person wedding!

My assistant and I arrived at the Lafayette Grande at 1pm to start setting up. The building has gone through a lot of renovation since the new owners bought it, and the entire family (sons included) are so proud of what it has become and on future improvements they are planning! My assistant and I got the grand tour of the building later on that night, and it is definitely unique! There is a chapel on the 5th floor, ballrooms on the 1st, 2nd and 4th floors, a restaurant/bar for rent on the first floor, a martini bar, and a wine cellar with an awesome fountain.

We got the chair covers and centerpieces up before heading over to Victoria Wedding Chapel to make sure the ceremony went off without a hitch, which it almost did! The chapel has very strict rules about arrival and departure times, as well as no formal rehearsal due to the insane amount of weddings they hold there back to back. It might bring in the bucks, but it definitely doesn’t make for an organized wedding! Rehearsals are so crucial, just so everyone feels comfortable about what they are doing, so people who haven’t done so yet can meet each other (including the wedding planner!), and so backup plans can be discussed. Fortunately the weather held out, but by the time everyone was ready and the ceremony took place, there were only about 10 minutes left for formal pictures.

After the ceremony, we headed back to the Lafayette Grande to finish setup of the head table, cake table, guest book table etc. before guests started arriving. The white chair covers definitely brightened up the room! Jennifer also used some of my eiffel tower vases to bring some height to the lower tables. My pictures of course turned out terribly, but below is a shot of the room once it was set up!

Since most of their families live in Detroit, Jennifer and Dewayne rented an Indian Trails bus to shuttle guests to and from the wedding and reception, which is always a good idea when guests are drinking anyways! They rode on a horse and carriage from Pinecrest Percherons and Carriage Service to the reception and were met by all their guests’ cheers- pretty cool entrance! Their videographer, from Dreamcatcher, was sure to catch the arrival and he was wonderful to work with all evening. He set up a “studio” later in the evening for guests to provide some well wishes for the newlyweds.

Their cake was provided by Lakes Cakes, and it was one of the best wedding cakes I have tasted! People went back up for seconds and thirds… The wedding ended a bit earlier than anticipated, and the bride and groom did not seem at all upset about getting some rest after a day of smiling to the camera! My assistant and I packed all their stuff up at the end of the night for pickup the next day, made sure everyone got out safely, and made sure the couple left with their gifts and personal belongings!

Congratulations Jennifer and Dewayne, it was a wonderful wedding! You two radiate with love for each other; I wish you nothing but the best of fortune and happiness!

Monica was one of the first brides who booked me last year, and I have had so much fun working with her! She is incredibly busy, and wanted as long as possible to plan the wedding because she knew she wouldn’t have enough time to do it on a “typical” wedding planning timeline. I helped her out with her timeline throughout the process, as well as keeping her payments on track and finalizing everything with her vendors over the last four months before the wedding. I even went to her floral “mock-up” trial for her and took pictures, negotiated alternatives, etc. which was a lot of fun!

The ceremony and reception both took place at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. It is a gorgeous location no matter where you end up, but the Atrium is by far my favorite. The lampposts are just so unique and unexpected, as is the glass ceiling. My assistant and I arrived at 3pm to make sure setup was going according to plans. There was a miscommunication interms of linens, where the rental facility had just dropped them off and no one was sure who was supposed to be setting up… It was cleared up quick enough, and Silk Thumb went to work with the centerpieces while I laid out all the chargers on the tables.

Monica’s “extras” were all done by Gourmet Invitations, including table numbers, menu cards and programs, as well as the seating chart which directed guests to their table in lieu of place cards.  Instead of a traditional guest book, a typewriter was brought in for some “old fashioned” messages to the bride and groom. They also had a wish bowl out to give guests a choice. The cocktail hour went by quickly, as the bridal party finished up formal pictures on the grounds of St. John’s. They were lined up by 7:15, a couple minutes late, after Monica was bustled by her grandmother and changed into a birdcage veil!

Dinner was a bit different than usual - they chose food stations scattered around the adjoining rooms! The choices were a carving station, salad station, stir fry station, and pasta station with a simply sweet finale for dessert! It was fun to get up and walk around, try different things, and not feel bad about getting up for more!The cake was added to the sweets table, which left the couple with a ton of leftover cake! It was done by Elite Sweets, topped with flowers from Silk Thumb.

Another cool addition that Monica and Freddy chose was lighting - they had Amber wall washes around the room, as well as a custom gobo that shone on the highest brick wall. I love lighting, it adds so much to a room once the natural light has gone for the day, or in a room without any natural light whatsoever. St. John’s now offers their own lighting packages, which I am very excited about! It makes it a lot more affordable for couples to choose lighting, as well as a lot less hassle to bring in outside vendors.

Above the head table, Monica had four pomanders that she wanted hung. We got out the ladder, and one of the St. John’s waitstaff was willing to climb up and tie them for me! The only problem arose when the head table was blocking one of the four sides… There ended up being two people on the ladder - one to tie and the other to hold - but the job got done and it looked great! Taking them down at the end of the night was trickier…

Monica’s professional photographs (as opposed to the point and shoot ones you see on this page) were done by the phenomenal Blaine Siesser, who was so much fun to work with! They also used Videocrafters for videography, who never stopped working for a minute and always seemed to just love what they were doing (I love that!). Finally, their DJ Wayne from Rock Out Entertainment did a great job at getting and keeping people on the dance floor - it was full until lights turned on at 1:00am!

Congratulations on a beautiful wedding Monica and Fred - you are a wonderful couple and it was a pleasure working with you to make your wedding come together as wonderfully as it did!

Chrissy and Dave are my first out of state clients! Their wedding was held at the Church of the Gesu in University Heights, OH. It is a beautiful church, and the coordinator there was great to work with which always makes for a good experience! The rehearsal the night before went smoothly; the only thing I would have liked to have done differently would be having the flower girl and ring bearer there. It is always better to practice with the kids the day before, get the tears out of the way, and then hopefully they are ready for it “when it counts”.

The day of the wedding, I got to the church at 11am to make sure flowers were being set up and delivered as planned, and to inform the photographer and videographer of the church’s rules. The flowers, done by Studio Floral, looked absolutely amazing (and even more amazing at the reception later on!).  They were very attentive to detail, stayed to pin on bouts (this rarely happens, so I thought it was great!), and just did such great work.

The photography was done by Andy at AJF Photography. He was very professional throughout the day, was constantly loooking for great shots, and his work is very nice - I can’t wait to see the pictures! Video was done by Pro Duck Productions (I am curious how they got that name!?), who I barely noticed at all during the day. That is a good thing! You definitely don’t want your videographer to be the star of the show, and I notice when they are able to stay out of the way while doing their job.

At the reception hall later in the day (they had a 5 hour gap between the ceremony and reception. If you have to do this - definitely print out directions and ideas for your guests about what to do around town!) I set out the menu cards that had been created by Square 1 Mailers.  Angela (the designer) also created their invitations, thank you cards and place cards for the event and they were all very nice! Since Chrissy didn’t have her seating chart done in time, Angela had to send the place cards without table numbers, which Chrissy was then going to fill in by hand. With the excitement of everything else going on, Chrissy forgot about doing that, and I was busy filling out 200 place cards right before guests began to arrive! Fortunately her mom had the seating chart with her - I will definitely ask for a copy of it from my clients in the future!

The reception was held at Sammy’s at Legacy Village in Cleveland. It is a gorgeous space, with tons of natural lighting (windows on three sides), drapery and lights on the ceiling (fabric, not tulle), chivari chairs, and amazing food. They were very hands-on in the planning process and so committed to ensuring that everything went smoothly the day of the wedding. It was very refreshing to be a part of!They even boxed up the meals that were not served and cookies that weren’t eaten to take home at the end of the night, which were great the next day for brunch! Chrissy’s bouquet (above) will be sent to a company in California to be pressed (each petal individually with some whole flowers) and made into a painting for her new home!

Music for the evening was done by the Paul Otten band, and they kept the dance floor packed all night long! I organized the toasts and grand entrance with them when they arrived for setup, which went very smoothly. Everyone had a great time dancing; they did such a wonderful job reading the crowd. At the end of the night, they were cheered on with requests for “one more song!” as guests hesitantly left the reception. It was such a great party, congratulations Chrissy and Dave and thank you for letting me be a part of your wedding day!