Vendor Information

Ceremony Location - St. Mark's Lutheran Church
St. Mark's is a beautiful church and they were very accomodating. My family used the church kitchen the day before to cook all of the food and they we stored all of the food in the huge walk in refridgerator. Grade: A+

Officiant - Pastor Dale Schaeffer
Pastor Dale is a lovely man. He personalized our wedding as much as possible. At one point Pastor Dale asked what my favorite food was, which I responded spaghetti. He asked if I loved spaghetti and I said, Of course. He then asked if I loved Ryan, which I responded Of course. He then asked, well do you love Ryan or do you love spaghetti. Very loudly I said, well, I love Ryan AND spaghetti! Grade: A+

Reception Location - Wood County Jr. Fair Building
THis was an odd location for a reception, but it worked out really well. It is a HUGE area and is equipt with a kitchen. I was a little nervous about this location, but with a lot of hard work we made this enormous pull barn into a beautiful, spacious venue. It was cheap and they provided all the chairs and tables. We got the keys for the building Friday evenng to set up and had to return them Sunday afternoon, giving my family time to go and finish cleaning. For the entire weekend it cost us $450! Grade: A+

Cake Creator - Myles Street Bakery
Meredith was wonderful to work with. She went with my idea and it turned out INCREDIBLE! Everytime I've tasted any of her cakes they have been incredible, but I got a lot of mixed reviews the day of. I had tons of people tell me that the cupcakes were incredible, but my family insists that they were over cooked and dry. I honestly don't know, I didn't get to eat any of it, and the little bit that I did have was all over my face. It was BEAUTIFUL though! Grade: A-

Florist - Mackenzies of Grand Rapids
I loved the flowers that Mackenzie's designed for us, which included my bouquet, the bridesmaids bouquets, the corsages and bouts, and my unity candle flowers. I didn't like the Groomswoman's bouquet, but that wasn't her fault because it was exactly what I asked for. MY BAD! LOL! My mom and a family friend did all of the other floral decorations with fake flowers. They also turned out incredible! Grade: A+

Photographer - Steve J. Peterson
Well, you get what you pay for. Steve is a family friend, so I felt obligated to use him. Steve uses all digital which was great, but he isn't professionally trained and it shows. I filled out a checklist of pictures that I wanted taken and gave it to him, but he never once referred to it. Instead he kept saying, "Ok Heidi, what picture do you want next?" That is a lot of pressure for a girl that JUST got married and has so many other things flowing through her mind. THere are so many pictures that I didn't get that I wanted, but it's too late now. Grade: C+

Videographer - Steve Peterson
This is included in his package, it's nothing fancy but I'm glad we have it.

Disc Jockey - Buck O'Five
Larry is amazing! He is so funny and can really read a crowd. He didn't play any songs that were on our Do Not Play list and even helped us find an appropriate song for the Mother/Son Dance. He was very organized and kept us organized also. He even arranged for a lollipop toss for the little children before the bouquet toss (he brought the lollipops) and then made sure that EVERYONE got a lollipop after I threw the lollipop bundle. It was a HUGE hit! Grade: A+

Transportation - Childress
These guys were great. Ryan decided that we needed a limo to transport us from the ceremony to the reception THE DAY OF! He called and they delivered! It was a great suprise for me and the limo driver was really nice.

Hair Stylist - The Gallery and Anew
Well, this is a tough review to give. I was supposed to have 10 appointments at Anew. I called the day before the wedding to find out what time we should arrive and they told me that the appointments had all been canceled because I never had a hair trial. I go in crying my eyes out, explaining to them that I live out of town and the three times that I attempted to make appointments they couldn't fit me in. They appologized and said they assumed I didn't want to get my hair done there! i was so mad that I stormed out and drove to my best friends (MOH) and LOST it! SHe really stepped up and began making phone calls. We thought we were going to have to split up, but The Gallery said that they would take us because they felt so bad for us. Everyone's hair turned out great, mine was nothing like I wanted it and was falling out by the end of the ceremony but I just didn't care anymore. A friend fixed my hair at the reception quickly to get it back up and I danced the night away! Anew- Grade: F- The Gallery- Grade: A+ for saving the day