Share your Vendors! GR, Holland, Muskegon, Kzoo style!

1.

Hostess

9,018 posts

Buzzing
Beekeeper

daydreamwanderer DC

Hi hive!

Some of the other local boards have been sharing vendor lists, and I thought we should take part in the fun too! Share your vendor names, locations, and their websites. Feel free to include any details of your experience thus far too. Hopefully it will help gives brides just starting planning (or those looking for that one last vendor) a great place to start!

Wedding date:
Venue:
Caterer:
Coordinator:
Photographer:
DJ:
Florist:
Cake:
Officiant:
Dress:
Shoes:
BM Dress:
Hair Stylist:
Make-up artist:
Invitations:
Rings:

I don't actually have any vendors of my own to share yet (hopefully I'll have a venue after next week!), but will fill one of these bad boys out as soon as I do!

2 years ago

2.

Member

80 posts

Worker bee

lindz221 May 29, 2010 Chicago, IL/Grand Rapids, MI

Sure I'd love to! I live in Chicago and I am getting married in Grand Rapids, so the vendors are a little split between the two.

Wedding date: 5-29

Venue: First Cov Church/Noto's Italian

Caterer: Noto's

Coordinator: possibly JS events

Photographer: Paul Carlson

DJ: friend from college

Florist: J's Fresh Flowers - DIY!

Cake: Costco, baby

Officiant: my fiance's dad!

Dress: Beckers

Shoes: DSW, by rocket dog

BM Dress: Bari Jay/House of Brides

Hair Stylist: probably Design 1 in Cascade

Make-up artist: same

Invitations: friend is doing these

Rings: We designed with Christopher Taylor Timberlake - amazing experience if you live in Chicago! We are so excited to get these.

So far everything has been good, I will say Noto's didn't really pay me much attention until a month or so ago but otherwise they've been very helpful. Everything else has gone very smoothly

2 years ago

3.

Member

16 posts

Newbee

heatherp 09/25/2010 Grand Rapids, MI

Reception in Ravenna, ceremony in GR:

Wedding date: 09/25/2010

Venue: St. Jude Catholic Church (ceremony)/Nutt Farms (reception)

Caterer: TBD, leaning toward Adeline Leigh

Coordinator: TBD

Photographer: Ashley Folkema www.ashleyfolkemaphotography.com/blog

DJ: TBD

Florist: www.silkbridalblossoms.com

Cake: TBD

Officiant: Deacon from St. Jude

Dress: David's Bridal

Shoes: TBD

BM Dress: David's Bridal

Hair Stylist: TBD

Make-up artist: TBD

Invitations: JoAnn Fabrics

Rings: TBD, either K-Mart, Bauble Patch Jewelers, or Rogers and Hollands

2 years ago

4.

Member

498 posts

Helper bee

gvsusara November 7, 2009 Chicago/Lakeview

Great thread!! I live in Chicago, but went to college in GR and lived there eight years prior to moving. I had the BEST wedding planner ever and the whole process was amazing stressless and smooth. I never stressed out or worried about any of our vendors. Her name is Cheri Hall with RSVP http://www.events-by-rsvp.com/ Our wedding was AMAZING and wouldn't change a thing.

Wedding date: November 7, 2009

Venue: church--Cathedral of Saint Andrew Reception--Amway Grand Plaza Imperial Ballroom

Caterer: Amway Grand Plaza---the food was delicious. Guests kept commenting on how much food and how good it was!!

Coordinator: Cheri Hall with RSVP

Photographer: Jen Kroll www.jenkrollphotography.com

DJ: DJames Productions

Florist: Elizabeth at Posh Petals--You can find her on facebook. The flowers were GORGEOUS and affordable. I was simply stunned by what an awesome job she did.

Cake: No cake. Husband has a gluten allergy. We did a dessert display instead.

Officiant: Father Tom at the Cathedral. He was great. Really made our service personal.

Dress: Eva's of Oak Lawn (Chicago)

Shoes: Kate Spade

BM Dress: Enzoni (sp?) from LeDress in Chicago

Hair Stylist: Rachelle Pike---My hair was perfect. She is an independant contracter, but works for a well known salon in GR. I will be happy to pass on her email. She was VERY affordable. Think my hair was around $30??

Make-up artist: Maureen Terpstra-----AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have her email as well. She does makeup as a side business and is a total doll!!!

Invitations: Nicole Collins of Nixy Designs. She did all the paper products for my wedding and they all matched. It was a custom design job and they were simply beautiful.

Rings: Steven Quick Jewelers in Chicago

Please feel free to email me and I will send photos and info regarding my vendors. I can not believe how many guests complimented us on our amazing wedding day. It was simply perfect.

2 years ago

5.

Bee

882 posts

Busy bee

powderpuff July 11, 2009 Chicago

Hi everyone! For those of you who are newer to the hive, you may not remember me, but I'm Mrs. Powder Puff, and I was married July 11, 2009 in Spring Lake! I thought I would hop on here and share my vendors with all you fabulous girls!

Wedding date: July 11, 2009
Venue: The Trillium, Spring Lake, MI- I had a great experience with The Trillium! They are really helpful, and their facility is beautiful. One of my friends who attended our wedding loved it so much that she's getting married there this September!
Caterer: Food through the Trillium, done by The Gilmore Collection- The Gilmore Collection owns many popular restaurants in the Western Michigan area, ie The Kirby Grill, etc. The food was FANTASTIC! Really, really yummy, and nicely presented.
Coordinator: No one! Well, scratch that. It was me, and then my aunt helped out the day of. She was a lifesaver!
Photographer: ShutterSam, aka Samantha Vanderlist. I can't say enough good things about Samantha. She's SO much fun, easy to work with, has reasonable rates and our pictures turned out GORGEOUS! Plus, she had them back to us super quick. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend her. To see our photos, just click on Bloggers, Mrs. Bloggers, and find my name to view my recaps.
DJ: Dance Tracks DJ
Florist: Essential Designs, Spring Lake, MI
Cake: Mr. Powder Puff's aunt
Officiant: Pastor Ron, who is a friend of the family
Dress: Becker's Bridal
Shoes: Eek, I really don't remember!
BM Dress: Each bridesmaid chose her own dress. Most of them went with something from J.Crew. One got hers from Anthropologie.
Hair Stylist: My cousin's wife. She's awesome.
Make-up Artist. Me!
Invitations: Me again! I bought the paper from Paper Source.
Rings: Zales. We went with simple, white gold matching bands, 'cause we're cheesy like that.

So that should do it! If anyone has any questions, or just wants more info, please feel free to private message me!

2 years ago

6.

Member

915 posts

Busy bee

Miss Britt June 25, 2010 Kalamazoo, MI

Hello hive! Fiance and I are both living in Kalamazoo. He went to Western and I went to Grand Valley. Our wedding is this summer and so far we have the following done!

Wedding date: June 25, 2010

Venue:Ceremony, Kindleberger Park - Reception, The Fountains in Parchment

Caterer:The Fountains

Coordinator: Don't have one yet! Still deciding if it's in my budget!

Photographer: The lovely and talented Valerie Ott.

DJ:Todd Todd from Mobile Music Entertainment

Florist: Sofia Floral in the Radisson. I met with Jana and she was so awesome! I am a complete flower idiot and she was so helpful!

Cake:We are meeting with Confection in February to have a tasting. We have also tried Continental Bakery in Battle Creek. They were decent with good prices. But nothing too special.

Officiant: Rev Gary Lacy, a family friend of my FI

Dress:This little number from Davids Bridal

Shoes:The ones I tried on with my dress at David's

BM Dress: Haven't decided yet, but probably ones from davids

Hair Stylist:Angela from Hairmasters on West Main in Kalamazoo. I have been going to her for years and she's great!

Wow, filling all that out makes me feel really organized!! Hooray for other West Michigan brides!

Make-up artist:I haven't decided on makeup yet, but since we are staying in the Radisson the night before the wedding, I am thinking the salon Idun in the Radisson.

Invitations: Invites from Wedding Paper Divas

Rings:Fiance got my set from Kay's and I picked his out at Helzberg Diamonds

2 years ago

7.

Hostess

9,018 posts

Buzzing
Beekeeper

daydreamwanderer DC

Okay, I don't have all of my vendors yet, but I'm been itching to fill this out, so I'm going to start it now and I'll re-post a complete one later. Maybe I can get myself to wait until after the wedding ;)

Wedding date: 10-02-10
Venue: Calvin Seminary Chapel + Prince Conference Center (no, I didn't go to Calvin)
Caterer: done through the Prince Conference Center
Coordinator: none, but if anyone wants to do a DOC swap, PM me...
Photographer: the wonderful, the talented, the amazing Katie DeWinter - who, sadly, is moving to Detroit and will probably no longer be a part of the West Michigan photography circut. It's a shame ya'll are missing out!
DJ: The Right Note DJ & Lighting Services
Florist: my mom is growing our flowers in her backyard! (The only flowers we're having will be bouquets, so this isn't as big a task as it sounds)
Cake:(absolutely no idea - we talked about ColdStone, but their cakes are just so ugly....)
Officiant: family friend/elementary school teacher
Dress: April Bridal
Shoes: (almost for sure) Rocket Dog
BM Dress: (undecided)
Hair Stylist: (undecided - maybe a friend?)
Make-up artist: (undecided - maybe a beauty school student?)
Invitations: DIY + Bridesmaid Cousin Extraordinaire
Rings: (bought in DC where we live) Tiny Jewel Box

2 years ago

8.

Member

80 posts

Worker bee

lindz221 May 29, 2010 Chicago, IL/Grand Rapids, MI

Daydream I am wearing those same shoes to the reception - the Rocket Dog ones! (mine are teal). I love them, so comfy. I'm wearing the 4" heels for the ceremony though, so we'll see how that goes!

2 years ago

9.

Member

25 posts

Newbee

lallison August 2009

daydreamwanderer saw my post on another local board and asked me to share my vendors from my West Michigan wedding (DH and I were married August 29, 2009) and I couldn't be happier to oblige and...I like links, ok?!?

Wedding date: August 29, 2009
Venue: Ceremony - St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Grand Rapids; reception - Aquinas College Wege Ballroom, East Grand Rapids
Caterer: Aquinas College - we had to use the in-house caterer, but it was delicious, and reasonably priced
Coordinator: we had the DOC offered by our florist, plus the event coordinator at Aquinas
Photographer: Phrene - I linked our sneak peek here because I am SO IN LOVE with all of our photos - and she gave us almost 900 images (which is a lot, IMO). Anyway, we had a crappy, cold, blustery day in August and she still took gorgeous shots!
DJ: Complete Music - we won a credit towards this company at one of the Bridal expos; he was great and definitely kept the dance floor full!
Florist: Modern Day Floral - stunning. I literally gasped when I saw all the florals! They were also really willing to work within our budget, plus, they offer the option to use their DOC, which was really helpful and definitely eased my mind!
Cake: family friend
Officiant: Fr. Bernie at St. Alphonsus
Dress: Allure Exclusive Bridal P740 - yep, Mrs. Sea Breeze's dress! I LOVE THIS DRESS. I got it at Bridal Gallery in Grand Rapids; they were awesome!!! My highest praise for them is that when, one month before my wedding I noticed a huge TEAR in my veil...that I may or may not have put there...I called them and was able to run right down that same day and exchange it, no problem!
Shoes: LizClaiborne Massy from DSW
BM Dress: This dress from David's Bridal in Pool - to be honest, the GR store was NOT a good experience....they just had the best selection and price for my girls. We picked flower girl dresses from David's as well.
Hair Stylist: Hannah from the Edge, downtown GR. I can't say enough about her - I love love loooooved her. I have made her my permanent stylist! She is so warm and friendly and amazing. Seriously. She loves getting brides ready and it shows. I'm not 100% sure on the price as my mama treated me, but I know the bridesmaids were around the $50 mark.
Make-up artist: same as hair stylist, Hannah from the Edge. She did such a beautiful job with my woke-up-with-bags-under-my-eyes-at-6am-face. Again not sure of the cost.
Invitations: I made 'em myself!
Rings: Kay Jewelers
Transportation: Crystal Limousine Service

And that'll do it! Feel free to PM me with any questions

2 years ago

10.

230 posts

Helper bee

speulie December 29, 2011

Wedding date: October 23, 2010
Venue: St. Cecilia Music Center - Presidents Room & Dexter Ballroom
Caterer: The Gilmore Collection & Martha's Vineyard
Coordinator: N/A
Photographer: Karyn May www.karynmayphotography.com
DJ: Pro DJ Productions
Florist: Horrock's and Costco
Cake: M&M Bakery
Officiant: Ken Kibby
Dress: Davids Bridal - WG9828 http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?catentryId=6110588&searchDimension=689%2B4294965107&subCategory=-49999486%7C-49995498&searchKeyword=wg9828&searchKey=All&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49995498&searchSort=&searchDimensionName=DavidsBridal.com&langId=-1&currentIdx=55&search_category=689%2B4294965107&storeId=10052&ddkey=http:EndecaConnectionQueryCmd
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik - Thanks to my girl Emily who works in the fashion industry!
BM Dress: Davids Bridal - F13920 in Marine http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=3001804&currentIdx=19&subCategory=-49998976%257c3001467%257c3001614%257c3001804&catentryId=6142397&sort=
Hair Stylist: Charisma Hair Design in Cascade
Make-up artist: Myself
Invitations: Costco
Rings: Alex Jewelers in NYC

2 years ago

11.

Member

14 posts

Newbee

TawnyEyes 05/28/10 Grand Rapids, MI

What a great idea for a post! When I started planning my wedding last September, it seemed like there was so little for weddings in GR so I had to hunt down everything myself. Here's what I got so far though:

Wedding date: May 28, 2010
Venue: Fallasburg Park in Lowell
Caterer: Adeline Leigh Catering (very reasonably priced!) www.adelineleighcatering.com
Coordinator: Myself, and my mom and my future sister-in-law
Photographer: Randy Bass, he does great photography and he's a friend of the family.
DJ: A guy named Ted, can't think of his last name for the life of me. Another friend of the family. (It's awesome to know so many people in the business!)
Florist: Ludemas ludemasfloral.com
Cake: M & M Bakery. They are AWESOME!!!!! And, they are dirt cheap!!! People have been reccommending them to me since day 1, and I am so glad I'm going with them. It's like biting into a piece of cake heaven! No website though.
Officiant: Pastor Bruce Osbeck of Faith Reformed Church. (Another friend of the family)
Dress: Davids Bridal
Shoes: None yet, but seriously thinking about DSW
BM Dress: Got the idea from a dress at Bridal Gallery, but my MOH's grandmother is actually making them.
Hair Stylist: A woman who has been doing my mom's hair since I was a baby, her name is TJ and she lives right next to the park.
Make-up artist: TJ again!
Invitations: Got them from a kit at Michaels. Just made them last weekend and they turned out awesome!
Rings: He got my engagement ring from Richard Engals, I think. Some smaller family owned place. And we're getting our wedding bands from a friend of his that used to be a jeweler.

2 years ago

12.

Hostess

9,018 posts

Buzzing
Beekeeper

daydreamwanderer DC

Thanks for sharing your vendors everyone! This list will continue to grow (hopefully, haha) and be helpful to brides in the future. :)

Don't forget to post Vendor Reviews after your wedding as well - that's another great resource if you're still looking for any vendors!

2 years ago

13.

Member

7 posts

Newbee

uridiscence

There are new photographers in the Detroit area that are willing to make the commute to Grand Rapids for weddings! Dolce La Vie Photography started this year. You get two photographers and the prices are low for 2010 while they build their portfolio!

dolcelavie.smugmug.com

2 years ago

14.

Member

86 posts

Worker bee

artsybride10 July 31, 2010

Wedding date:7.31.10

Venue: Shipshewana Town Center (indiana)

Caterer:Shipshewana Town Center/The Blue Gate/Victorian Pantry (Indiana)

Coordinator: My Mother... :)

Photographer: Jessica Bernardin jessicabernardinphotography.com (S. Indiana)

DJ: Total Impact

Florist: Vogts Florist **** STURGIS MI**** They are fab!

Cake: Das Dutchman Essenhaus (indiana)

Officiant: Our Family Pastor

Dress: Memories Bridal, Kalamazoo ---Great atmosphere....beautiful dresses....

Shoes: Colorful Creations Danse (online)

BM Dress: Bella Bridesmaid (online)

Hair Stylist: A Lasting Impression

Make-up artist: ....STILL LOOKING!

Invitations: DIY

Rings: Zales ...Love em love em love em!

I felt as if I lived in an area that wouldnt have a lot to offer, but as it turns out.... That is not the case.

2 years ago

15.

Member

86 posts

Worker bee

artsybride10 July 31, 2010

Wedding date:7.31.10

Venue: Shipshewana Town Center (indiana)

Caterer:Shipshewana Town Center/The Blue Gate/Victorian Pantry (Indiana)

Coordinator: My Mother... :)

Photographer: Jessica Bernardin jessicabernardinphotography.com (S. Indiana)

DJ: Total Impact

Florist: Vogts Florist **** STURGIS MI**** They are fab!

Cake: Das Dutchman Essenhaus (indiana)

Officiant: Our Family Pastor

Dress: Memories Bridal, Kalamazoo ---Great atmosphere....beautiful dresses....

Shoes: Colorful Creations Danse (online)

BM Dress: Bella Bridesmaid (online)

Hair Stylist: A Lasting Impression

Make-up artist: ....STILL LOOKING!

Invitations: DIY

Rings: Zales ...Love em love em love em!

I felt as if I lived in an area that wouldnt have a lot to offer, but as it turns out.... That is not the case.

2 years ago

16.

Member

7 posts

Newbee

r5morris August 20, 2010

Wedding date: August 20, 2010
Venue: Vineyards All Occasion Banquet Hall
Caterer: Family Friend
Coordinator:
Photographer: Lucas Merrill
DJ: Celebration Entertainment
Florist: Dorothys Floral
Cake: Sweetified Bakery
Officiant: Red Arrow Ministries
Dress: Memories Bridal
Shoes: Davids Bridal
BM Dress: Davids Bridal
Hair Stylist: Ola @ Identities
Make-up artist: DIY
Invitations: DIY
Rings: Zales

1 year ago

17.

Bee

3,224 posts

Sugar bee

meerkat December 14, 2010 Riviera Maya, MX / Kalamazoo, MI

Hair: Angela from Hair Masters on W. Main in Kzoo

Miss Britt pointed me towards her and she is amazing. No one has ever been able to make my hair stay curled but she did. It looked awesome for engagement photos last week.

1 year ago

18.

Member

30 posts

Newbee

ashmarie03 August 20, 2011 West Michigan

What's the capacity for Fallasburg park in Lowell, those of you who have used it? I love the rustic look of it, but it seems too small for my 300 people.. Thanks!

1 year ago

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