Day Of Coordinator - Lynn Lucas, W.E.D, St. Johns, MI

Grade - A+

Lynn Lucas is amazing and was worth every penny we spent on her services, which cost $650 for day-of coordination.  She went above and beyond the call of duty several times and saved the day by finding me a shop to press my wedding and bridesmaid dresses the day before my wedding.  Lynn did more than man DOC's will do for their set price, including meet with me numerous times, spend an entire day with me scouting photo locations and meeting with vendors and venues, and unlimited phone calls and emails.  She is a true professional and knowing that I had her to take care of all of my wedding day details kept me at ease.  I was able to relax and enjoy my wedding day with very few distractions thanks to her.

Wedding Venue - MSU Alumni Memorial Chapel, East Lansing, MI

Grade - A

The MSU Alumni Chapel is an amazing venue for a wedding and the staff really knows what they're doing.  We had the 5:30 - 8:30 pm time slot, which cost $700.  We received tremendous service before the wedding from Kristina Baxendale (who books the chapel) and Steve (who runs the chapel).  On the day of the wedding, the student coordinator also did a wonderful job of getting everyone set up for the wedding and ensuring that we were on time.   The only thing that kept this grade from being an A+ was the fact that even with the air conditioning on, it was still VERY warm in the chapel and my husband couldn't stop sweating throughout the entire ceremony (and it wasn't because of nerves!). 

Reception - Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, East Lansing, MI

Grade - A

We had a wonderful experience working with the Kellogg Center and their team.  We had a $10,500 minimum on our room, Big Ten A, and we went just over that figure for 127 guests.  We loved working with Pam, the Wedding Coordinator and Rachel, the intern who stepped in while Pam was on maternity leave.  Pam is extremely thorough and made sure to have all of the details worked out during our planning meetings before the wedding.  We also worked with Rachel the week before the wedding on final details and service requirements, and she was very flexible and helpful.  At our reception, the Banquet Captain introduced himself to us before we entered the room and was available for anything my DOC or parents needed throughout the night.  The hors d'oeuvres and beverage stations were kept full and neat, and we had delicious food.  In fact, we ran out of some hors d'oeuvres before the bridal party got to cocktail hour (despite the fact that we ordered more pieces than recommended by Pam), and they made more for us immediately.  Everyone commented on how great they thought the food and service were, and we were very happy with the service from the waitstaff and bartenders.  My only complaints were that the team didn't cut all four flavors of cake for our guests (they served three of the four flavors) and that the room was a little warmer than we wanted.  Those things, though, were pretty minor in the grand scheme of the evening.

Photography - Loon Lake Photography, Battle Creek, MI

Grade - For now, B+ (pending final grade)

I was very impressed with Angie when I met her 11 months before my wedding and booked her services right away.  Their services cost us $4,750, which included a disc of photos and an extra hour of photography.  She and her husband, Matt, are the photographers and I fell in love with the photos on their website and blog.  They really seem to know how to capture perfect moments in their pictures and they seem like really fun people.  We had our engagement photos done about 9 months before the wedding, and while they took some great pictures, I was disappointed that we only got 32 pictures after being with them for almost 2 hours.  I was expecting at least 50-75 based on what other friends of mine have received from their photographers, and I expressed my disappointment with this to Angie.  Angie apologized that she was not clear about how many photos we should expect, I'm still not happy about the lack of photos.  She assured me that we will receive 300-400 images from our wedding.  Before and during the wedding, Matt and Angie were unobtrustive and available at all the right moments.  Our only disappointment on that day was with our photo booth.  It was only open for 30-45 minutes (according to our guests), and they didn't start setting it up until after dinner.  By that time, many guests had started to leave (since it was a late wedding to begin with) so not everyone got to take advantage of the photo booth.  I am looking forward to receiving our pictures in the upcoming months because I am sure that Matt and Angie captured some great moments.

Videography - Owen Video, Okemos, MI

Grade - For now, A+ (pending final grade)

Owen Video is one of my favorite vendors.  His services were $1995 for 8 hours of shooting and 3 DVDs.  He included a second shooter in his price.  I wasn't even sure I wanted a wedding video at first, but I said I'd spend the money if I found someone awesome.  I searched long and hard for a wedding videographer, and finally found Andy Owen (the owner) on Wedding Wire.  I loved the wedding video trailers that are on his website (they are AMAZING), and met with him 11 months ago.  I booked him right away and knew that he'd be perfect for our wedding.  Andy recommended our officiant, told me about Etsy (which I'm addicated to now) and told me about a website to create my own photo slideshow (for our Florida reception).  Before the wedding, he was SO helpful and friendly that it felt like we were catching up with an old friend rather than having a meeting about our wedding details.  Andy posted the video trailer one week after the wedding, and everyone is raving about how stunning it is.  It looks like a professional music video about our wedding rather than a cheesy wedding video like some services provide.  I couldn't be more impressed with Andy and his team's professionalism at the wedding, and I can't wait to see our finished wedding video.

Officiant - Pam Klusack, Matrimony and More, Lansing, MI

Grade - A+

We just love Pam Klusack and were really excited to have her as our officiant after we met with her back in September.  Her services are $150 and include pre-meetings, the rehearsal, the wedding and taking the paperwork to the court after the wedding.  Pam met with us again in early May to finalize our ceremony and talk through the events of the wedding.  She is expressive, fun and really made our wedding memorable.  She was willing to do any type of ceremony we wanted, and gave us helpful suggestions when we wrote our own ceremony and vows.  I recommend her to anyone looking for an officiant who is delightful and not stuffy or boring.

Floral & Decor - Petal & Forrest, Haslett, MI

Grade - B

I worked with Dawn at Petal & Forrest and we put together a floral and decor package costing around $6,800.  Dawn was great and willing to meet with me whenever I came to town so we could work on the details.  I'll start by saying that the flowers at the wedding and reception were amazing, and the banquet captain told me that he'd never seen that ballroom look more beautiful.  They did a great job with the ceremony decor and head table and rememberance table at the reception, and many guests told me how great the entire room looked.  I have to agree that on the whole, the room looked wonderful.  That being said, there were a number of issues.  First, there were orchids falling out of my bouquet and the bridesmaids' bouquets all day.  When my mom approached Dawn about it after the wedding, she blew her off by saying that the bouquets looked fine without the orchids anyway.  We paid for those orchids, though, so no matter what, they shouldn't be falling out of the bouquets.  Also, the flower arrangement on the escort card table did not contain the flowers we agreed upon in our contract, and the groom's bout was totally wrong.  The bout was supposed to be a frilly orange tulip.  Instead we got a dead tulip that was purple and green (neither color was used in wedding colors).  Luckily Petal & Forrest left us a spare groomsmen's bout that we were able to use on the groom.  Finally, I was very upset that an employee of Petal & Forrest came to my reception about an hour before it was scheduled to end and started removing flower arrangements and linens from the tables well before the party ended.  This was embarrassing, because our guests kept asking if we were being kicked out of the room.  Apparently there were also a lot of issues with the uplighting that was used in the room, since my DOC told me that they kept blowing circuits in the reception hall all night (which I noticed once when it blew the circuit the DJ was on, causing the room to go silent for 5 minutes).  I called Dawn and she agreed to give me a refund for my strike fee, the guest book table arrangement and the groom's boutonniere.  She is also sending my mom a personal letter apologizing for all of the issues.  Overall, our wedding and reception were beautiful and our guests didn't notice that most of this had gone on.  I'm just glad that Dawn was willing to take responsibility for the issues and did what it took to make things right.

Wedding Cakes - A Piece O' Cake, East Lansing, MI

Grade - A+

I found A Piece O' Cake through the Kellogg Center, and was very impressed with the professionalism of the owner, Kelly Kobus.  We spent $1350 on a 3-tier wedding cake with sugar flowers and an extra thick Philadelphia Flyers-themed groom's cake.  Kelly was very open to our ideas for the wedding and groom's cake that we wanted, and delivered the most amazing looking cakes I could have imagined.  They far surpassed my expectations and I can't say enough good things about the work they do.  The cake flavors were simple but tasted great.  The lack of variety in cake and icing/filling flavors is the downside to this bakery, but they make such beautiful cakes that I really didn't mind.

DJ - Tunes By T, Okemos, MI

Grade - B

We chose Tunes By T because they have an excellent reputation and were told that they always did an amazing job.  We spent $895 and the DJ worked our reception for 5 hours.  We had Josh as our DJ, and he was great in our meeting about one month prior to the wedding.  We completed the Reception Planner document and gave Josh a CD with all of our key music on it, including an edited version of one of the songs.  At the reception, though, there were two significant issues.  First, during our grand entrance, Josh announced us and called me the wrong name.  He called me Kelly, not Kari, which is my twin sister's name.  You'd think your wedding day would be the one day when you wouldn't be called your twin's name, but this was not the case.  Prior to the bridal party's entrance, Josh came and showed me his paperwork and I verified that all of the names and pairings were correct.  After we got to the head table, Josh came up and apologized for misreading his paperwork.  Then, he announced the Father-Daughter Dance, and my dad and I went out to dance and Josh was playing the wrong song.  I looked over to him and told him it was the wrong song, so he had to stop the music and start the correct song in the middle of our dance.  Josh told my fiance that his CD skipped (which it didn't) and that's why the wrong song was played.  At least when the correct song was played it was the edited version that we gave him on the CD.  The rest of the night he kept people on the dance floor and played many of our must-play songs.  We were happy with his music selections, but I was disappointed that two key moments for me were done incorrectly.

Sparty, MSU Mascot

Grade - A

We had a great experience working with Sparty and the SAF.  Sparty cost us $400 for a 1 hour appearance.  After reading some poor reviews of others' experiences, I was wary of how things would go on our wedding day.  We had no issues with booking Sparty.  We made the request in September, and got an email from the SAF asking us if we were still interested in having Sparty come to our wedding reception in April.  After a couple of vague messages (which were unclear as to whether Sparty was even really available on our wedding date), we finally got confirmation that Sparty was coming and sent back our contract.  I contacted the SAF in May because I wanted to make sure Sparty didn't show up in the middle of my Father-Daughter dance, and he didn't.  He entered the room at exactly the agreed upon time and was a huge hit with our guests. 

Limo Service - Dream Keepers Limousine, Ithaca, MI

Grade - A+

We rented a 20-person party bus from Dream Keepers for 5 hours, which cost $805.  The driver was on-time, very professional and the party bus was clean and in good shape.  The driver was ready to go when we were and was very accommodating with our requests for additional stops between photo and reception destinations.  There was even a sign on the back of the bus with our names, which was a nice touch.

Guest Hotel Accommodations - Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, East Lansing, MI

Grade - A+

We had a guest room block for our wedding and they blocked more than enough rooms for our guests.  We had very nice rooms during our stay, though we heard from some guests that their rooms were very small.  On the night before the wedding, the groom was staying with one of his groomsmen, who wouldn't stop snoring.  Knowing that he needed a good night's sleep before the wedding day, he went to the Front Desk and asked them if they could do anything to help him.  He was willing to pay for one night in another room, but the Front Desk agent gave him a room to sleep in for free.  Talk about great service!  They also made sure that all of our out of town guests received their OOT bags upon check-in.