South Bend, Indiana 

http://www.gretasbridal.com/

http://rubberstamps.net/

http://www.anchorpaper.com/

http://www.mygatsby.com/

Printing and cutting for ceremony programs

Rich McCormick, the owner of preferred printing, went well above and beyond what I expected.  I hadn't planned on having my programs professionally printed, but I ran out of time in the last weeks before the wedding so I went looking for a printer.  Rich's prices were great (cheaper than color photocopies at Office Depot or Staples) and he had them done in two days.
The morning I was supposed to pick up the programs, I realized I had sent him the wrong copy of the front of the program (one that contained a typo).  I was in a panic, but Rich saved me by reprinting the front pages for FREE. He also cut all 125 of the programs for me at no cost.  



My Publisher
http://www.mypublisher.com/
Guest book and album for parents

All the books I ordered turned out great and I got so many compliments on them.  Great, consistent quality and fast shipping.





Whittaker Woods
New Buffalo, Michigan
http://golfwhittaker.com/

Where to begin . . .
Let me start off by saying despite all the issues we had with Whittaker Woods, the reception went off without a hitch and in the end you wouldn't have a clue about everything we had to deal with leading up to the reception.

I am just going to write a brief summary of the problems.  If you want to know anymore, you can e-mail me at strawberrijam30 {at} yahoo {dot} com.

Issue #1 - Banquet Coordinators
From the time we signed a contract and put down a deposit till the wedding, there were six different banquet coordinators at Whittaker Woods.  Besides the stress this put on me, I was continually telling different people the same thing over and over, since whenever one coordinator would leave, all the notes in my file would go missing.  Thankfully I  had copies of contracts and notes from all the meetings.

Issue #2
Mr. O'Brien, the owner of Whittaker Woods.  I had the displeasure of meeting him once, and after that terrible meeting it became perfectly clear why so many banquet coordinators had quit.

Issue #3 - Limo Service
We agreed to use Whittaker Woods' limos for transportation from the church to the reception.  We were told we'd have use of two limos that would comfortably seat 8 people each.
Well, the day of the wedding the limos show up, and they each seat 6.  There were fifteen people in our wedding party, and some of the guys weren't what you'd call small people.  My bridesmaids and I ended up riding in one limo, and all 9 of the guys somehow managed to stuff themselves into the other limo.  From what I heard, it was far from a comfortable ride for the 45 minutes it took to get to the reception.

Issue #4 - Bar Service
This is something I personally didn't have a problem with, and didn't know about until a couple days after the reception.  When you're the only one wearing a big white dress, it's obvious that you're the bride and the wait staff will accommodate you.  However, I heard from many people that they waited a long time to get a drink from the bar, and that the bartenders weren't  very pleasant.  
Jake, THE GROOM, waited for ten minutes before a bartender acknowledged him, and it was only after he told them he was the groom that he actually got any service.

 

First of all, I just want to say that my hair is naturally stick straight and very fine.  It doesn't hold a curl for anything and gets frizzy if there is a hint of humidity.  I didn't think I had any hope of wearing my hair in the style I wanted, but Kate made it possible.  At my hair trial, it turned out fantastic, and even though I was skeptical of its staying power, it still looked great after 12 hours of shopping, trying on dresses, and going out to the bar.
On the day of, I think Kate did an even better job than she did at
the trial. I love how my hair looked and am very grateful to Kate for making it happen.


Elliot's Bakery
Wedding cake

Of all the bakeries I checked out for the wedding cake, Elliot's by far tasted the best, unfortunately it was out of my price range.  Since Rob (the owner) had been so helpful at the tasting, I e-mailed him and let him know I loved his cake, but it was just too expensive.  He responded that he would be willing to work with me on the price, and in the end I payed exactly what I had budgeted for and got a great tasting and looking cake.
He also decorated the cake table for me with fresh grapes and grape leaves at no cost.



David's Bridal
South Bend, Indiana
Bridesmaid and flower girl dresses

I had reservations about using David's Bridal since I had heard so many horror stories about them.  
Thankfully, we didn't have any issues, all the girls dresses arrived on time and were exactly the size, color, and style ordered.






Men's Warehouse
South Bend, IN  Kalamazoo, MI  Viera, FL
Tuxes

Jake and I picked out the tuxes at the MW in Viera, which is also where 3 of the guys were fitted.  The rest were split between the Kalamazoo and South Bend stores.  The Viera store was great, and we had no problems with them.  The South Bend store had issues finding our wedding information when some of the groomsmen went in, but it was easily straightened out with a phone call.
The Thursday before the wedding when the guys went to pick up their tuxes, all but one were good.  One of the ushers, Scott, went to get his tux and it didn't fit at all.  They promised to fix it and told him he could come back the next morning and pick it up.  When he went back, the tux was still didn't.  The pants were too long, and if he raised his arms the sleeves of the tux went up to his elbows.  
He wore the tux, since there was no time to get a new one and it looked fine in pictures, but he was terribly uncomfortable.
Also, something I didn't notice till after the wedding, the ring bearer was supposed to receive a white vest matching Jake's, but he got a black on like the rest of the guys.  Not a big deal, just not what we had ordered.


Hot Fix Queen
http://www.hotfixqueen.com/
hot fix Swarovski  crystals

Best prices I could find for hot fix crystals.
Great selection and quick shipping.








Jammin DJs
Lansing, Michigan
http://www.jammindjs.com/
DJ for reception

When we arrived at the reception, the DJ met us in the parking lot and introduced himself.  He went over a few details, and then offered to go get the bridal party drinks, since we were going to take pictures before we made our entrance.  Throughout dinner (even though the bar was closed) he managed to bring us another round of drinks, and continued to check in with Jake and I on the time line for the evening.
He acted as a day of coordinator, which was something I never expected from him, and kept things going smoothly.
He followed our play list for our special dances exactly, and played requests from all the guests, from the polka for my grandparents to the Cupid Shuffle for our friends.  If a song wasn't working and the dance floor cleared, he quickly transitioned to another.
He was polite, professional, and went above any expectations
I had for a DJ.



Meister-Witkowski Photography
Stevensville, Michigan
http://www.meisterphoto.com/

Amy Witkowski is the type of person that can make you smile,
no matter what.  She was a pleasure to work with,
and was always upbeat and positive about everything.
She kept us on schedule throughout the day, and managed to wrangle our extended families and take some fantastic big group shots.
I love all of our wedding pictures, and every time I look at them I am amazed at how gorgeous they all turned out.
She took so many fantastic detail shots, and some great candids of Jake and I dancing that are among my favorite pictures from the wedding.
We received our proofs and the CDs containing all of our pictures in just under a month, and I couldn't be happier with them.








Whittaker Woods, continued

I do have some word of praise for Whittaker Woods, it wasn't all bad.

Jan McComony
Jan was the banquet coordinator that was working there for the wedding.  Since she was the sixth person I had dealt with, and she started working there only a month before the wedding, I had my reservations.  In the end, she did a great job considering what little time she had to prepare and the fact that she had to deal
with Mr. O'Brien.

Set Up
We were able to come in the Thursday before the wedding and do all of our decorating.  That was extremely helpful to me, and left me more time to do other things the day before and the day of the wedding

Fairway Hall
The building where the reception was held is absolutely gorgeous.  It is one of the reasons I chose Whittaker Woods.  We had use of two huge rooms, one that was set up with dinner tables, and another where the dance floor, bar, and cocktail tables were.  There was also a patio off the cocktail area we made use of.

Clean Up
The wait staff was kind enough to gather all the table decorations for us (something that we were supposed to do ourselves) so we could easily carry them out and take them home.
They also boxed all the leftover cake, free of charge.

Wine and Red Bull for the Bridal Party
Even though it wasn't included in our contract, Jan was able to accommodate my request to have bottles of Tabor Hill Demi Red (my favorite wine) on the head table and supply red bull, even though it is not included in the bar package we had decided on.