I’m… married?!? The ring on my finger and the brief and fuzzy memories of my wedding day indicate so! The actual day transpired a whole lot faster than the monumental task of putting the wedding together. And like everything else in life, the wedding process from A to Z was full of decisions and choices. Fortunately for me (and in some cases not so fortunate), I obtained strong support from experienced wedding and special occasion vendors.
Three weeks after my wedding, the smoke and mirrors have cleared and I’m ready to share first-hand experiences and reviews of each of the major wedding vendors I worked with. Obviously, the main points of interest will be quality and cost. If you’re getting married or know somebody getting married, especially if they’re local (Michigan), I hope my positive and negative experiences will help you make more informed decisions. The main categories will be: reception venue, ceremony venue, floral and linens, formal wear, DJ, transportation, photography, and cake. I’ll use a simple numerical rating system in my reviews; five stars representing absolute satisfaction and one star representing the exact opposite.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Ceremony Venue:
Meadowbrook Hall and Gardens – Pegasus Garden
Price: 3
Quality: 4
Overall: 4
Our wedding ceremony was hosted at the Pegasus Garden, located on the beautiful Meadowbrook estate property. The wedding party had access to the breathtaking Meadowbrook mansion and most of the property for preparations and pictures both before and after the ceremony. The ceremonial walk originated from the mansion and flowed into the Pegasus Garden where the guests were waiting. Without painting a complete picture, the visual setup was absolutely perfect. It is a setup adequate for the rich and famous, without a Hollywood price tag. The service staff was nothing special; the general level of customer support from start to finish was mediocre. Fortunately, I only had my ceremony at Meadowbrook so it never created a problem or a source of any level of stress.
The wedding party arrived at 11:30am, guests at 12:30, ceremony started at 1pm and everybody had to be off the property by 3pm. I believe I spent around $3,000 in total for the ceremony. The price tag was steep for just a ceremony, but I factored in the value of using a multi-million dollar estate and the lasting impression it would have on the overall experience. Not to mention the pictures!
Reception Venue:
Infinity and Ovation Yacht Charters
Price: 2
Quality: 5
Overall: 4
Our wedding reception was hosted aboard the Infinity Yacht, part of the Infinity and Ovation Yacht Charters. Above all else, my priorities and goals for the wedding were to create something memorable and unique. I wanted something different from a traditional hall setting. From this perspective it was an absolute success. Besides getting lucky with beautiful weather all day (both ceremony and reception were held outside), the Infinity yacht was an absolute blast. We traveled from Lake St. Claire to the Ambassador Bridge on the Detroit River and back again. Guests boarded the yacht at 7pm, we departed at 7:30, and returned at 11:30. The level of service provided by Infinity and Ovation from start to finish was top-notch. My account representative, Karen Servatius, was a pleasure to work with and on top of everything from start to finish. She even provided a friendly courtesy call after the wedding to say thank you and evaluate our level of satisfaction. The yacht itself was very clean and well furnished, the service staff was exceptional and the food was top-notch. Though everything comes at a price, they are extremely flexible and more than willing and capable of adjusting to your interests and needs for just about any aspect of your wedding.
Infinity and Ovation markets itself as a quasi-full-service event management company. While this originally sounded great, it eventually established itself as not very cost efficient. They have ‘preferred vendors’ for all the essentials including cake, entertainment, invitations, photography, and floral and linens. Fortunately, these preferred vendors were of solid quality (which I’ll address in individual reviews), but not all is what it seemed. Look for specifics in individual reviews, but in short, there was a 26% fee added to EVERYTHING by Infinity and Ovation for everything outside our package. Not to mention a mandatory 18% (boat/water) tax added to the total cost. By the time the wedding was said and done, the cost by Infinity and Ovation was roughly 40% higher than what was originally anticipated.
If money is not of great concern, I highly recommend considering using Infinity and Ovation. They are not a very cost contentious or cost effective venue for somebody on a tight budget, but the service and quality is top notch from start to finish. Karen and the rest of Infinity and Ovation team, along with some lucky weather, helped me 100% accomplished the goals and priorities I set for my wedding from day one. I gave Infinity and Ovation a four out of five as their service and quality was absolutely top notch but their prices and fees were absurd.
Floral and Linens:
Emerald City Designs
Price: 3
Quality: 5
Overall: 4
Emerald City Designs was a pleasure to work with from start to finish. They are the preferred floral and linen vendor of Infinity and Ovation Yacht Charters. This venture was a breeze with absolutely no complaints beyond the price tag. They offered timely communication and were always on time wherever needed, operating behind the scenes to complete satisfaction. Again, my only complaint was the price tag. Included in our wedding package through Infinity and Ovation was the flowers and linens, but with very tight limitations. The linens were no problem as we didn’t need anything fancy. The package included basic linens and decorations for the tables and chairs. The floral package included the table floral centerpieces and wedding party flowers for the bride, groom, best man, and maid of honor. Flowers for everybody else in the wedding party, and any flowers outside of the standard selection were all extra cost. Any extra cost (which was inevitable as our wedding party was bigger than 4 people) was victim to an additional 26% fee by Infinity and Ovation. I still ended up paying over $1,500 for the floral and linens, even though it was ‘included in the package’. I still give Emerald City Designs a 4/5 as regardless of Infinity and Ovation’s fees, their prices are steep but their quality and service is top notch.
Photography:
MG Photography
Price: 3
Quality: 5
Overall: 4
MG Photography is a family business, owned and operated by Mike and Marcy Guimond. They work from their professional home-based studio and overall, offer years of experience. Mike alone has over twenty years of experience in various forms of professional photography. His wife, Marcy, is relatively new and aids Mike, but combined they make a superb team that creates superb pictures. Their level of quality and speed of pre-picture taking communication was very satisfactory. Though, once the pictures were taken, it took them longer than anticipated to return a product or schedule a meeting for picture review. For example, they quoted us two weeks before we could view our wedding pictures from the date of the wedding and it has already been three weeks and we have yet to hear from them.
I suppose that makes me unqualified to give them a proper final review since we don’t have a complete finished product yet. But factoring Mike and Marcy’s deep level of professionalism and dedication come game day, on top of our beautiful engagement pictures, and the overall quality of his studio and previous work, I have absolutely no concerns over the quality of our finished product.
Mike’s level of experience and professionalism comes with a price tag, though. There is nothing inexpensive about their services. Not counting the 26% fee included by Infinity and Ovation, we paid over $3,000 for their services; which included a handful of different sizes prints, a couple picture books, and about 120 pictures in digital format. I might be missing some smaller things, but no matter how you spin in, they’re not cheap or fast. But again, neither is their level of quality. With all things considered, I gave MG Photography a final score of four out of five.
Cake:
Olga’s Creations
Price: 5
Quality: 5
Overall: 5
Olga’s creation, owned and operated by Olga and her husband, was exceptional across the board. Her small team produces top-notch cake and desserts that not only look amazing but taste equally delightful. They are extremely busy and sometimes difficult to get in contact with or schedule a meeting with, but once we sat down and ironed out the details, everything was smooth as ice. The cake was included in our wedding package through Infinity and Ovation, and the small amount of extras ‘beyond the package’ amounted to no more than $150. Even the most elaborate of cakes that go well-beyond the standard package were not overly expensive. All in all, my experience with Olga’s Creations was definitely satisfactory and I would certainly recommend them to anybody else. For all these reasons and more, I gave Olga’s Creation a five out of five.
Formal Wear:
President Tuxedo
Price: 5
Quality: 3
Overall: 3
Like most people living in my part of Michigan, I’ve used President Tuxedo multiple times. It always seems to be a hit or miss experience. I was extremely fortunate (and extremely grateful) to have a hook-up to obtain the formal wear for my groomsmen and myself for free. Normally, a tuxedo rental (like the one I just rented for my friend’s wedding) runs around $160-$180. I’m hesitant to even say anything bad after receiving such a generous money saving gift, though for the sake of remaining subjective, I’ll say it how it was. Besides myself, all of my groomsmen were either missing some part of their outfit, had the wrong piece, or had sizing issues. Given we’re all easy going guys, and with a bit of luck, we made the best of it and everybody else was none the wiser. The level of staff quality and the experience itself was like any typical retail store; you go in, get measured, pay, pick up your tuxedo, use it, and return it the next day. All in all, I gave President Tuxedo a three out of five simply because, outside of my amazing hookup, they were mediocre across the board.
DJ / Entertainment:
Pro DJ Services
Price: 5
Quality: 5
Overall: 5
Pro DJ Services was the preferred vendor by Infinity and Ovation and was completely covered in our wedding package. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. The company owner, Jason Parent, handled our wedding himself and was professional and pleasant to work with from start to finish. Based on his calm nature and level of professionalism, you could tell that we were not his first rodeo. At one point I was worried that come game day he would not be very energetic or original, but he put all worries to rest. He was fun, interactive, and original. In fact, one of the best and most memorable moments of the entire reception was his idea that he suggested and executed perfectly. We held a couple phone meetings prior to the wedding where we discussed the music selection, rituals, games, and more. He officiated the entire reception from start to finish with great success. He was able to ‘read the crowd’ properly and adjust the music, pace, and tempo accordingly to keep the atmosphere right and guests of all ages involved. For all of this and more, I gave Pro DJ Services a five out of five.
Limo / Transportation:
Lavdas Limousines
Price: 3
Quality: 2
Overall: 2
Transportation for the bridal party was one of the only elements that wasn’t organized and managed by Infinity and Ovation. Similarly, it was pretty much the only element of my wedding that left me dissatisfied. I rented a white stretch Hummer that showed up to the ceremony nearly thirty minutes late. The Hummer itself was very clean and polished on the outside, but was mediocre at best on the inside. In many places, the seats were stained, tattered or slightly torn. The lighting, decorations and accommodations were nothing special for the steep price tag of nearly $900.
Our driver was very nice and accommodating, which unfortunately was not replicated by the mediocre customer support and poor professionalism of the rest of the organization. Our driver forgot to collect the payment in full when she first picked us up and by the time she dropped all of us off at the yacht for boarding and departure, she announced to me that she needed the payment in full, in cash. I did not have the $650 in cash on me, so she had me speak to her boss over the phone, who demanded that I leave the dock and go find an ATM to pull out cash. Rather than tell him to go fly a kite and potentially have the driver lose her job, I had to leave my wedding party, wife and guests and hitch a ride with the valet parking worker to find an ATM to pull out $650 in cash and experience over $20 in ATM fees and nearly be late to my own wedding reception. He was extremely rude and demanding over the phone and refused to take my credit card information as he demanded cash only. I will never again use Lavdas Limousines and I highly suggest anybody considering their services to stay away at all costs.
Did you use any of these vendors and have a similar or different experience? Please share in the comments! Was this article helpful? Again, please share in the comments.
