Suddenly a guy in bowling shoes, black jeans and a camp shirt with half the tail of the camp shirt hanging outside his pants, steps into the center aisle from the pews, blocking the brides progress. All eyes turn to this shabbily dressed man as he lifts a camera, snaps 2 pictures and disappears back into the pews.

This is a true story, that I personally witnessed at my cousin’s wedding 4 years ago. Sadly I would have to look up pictures I have of the wedding to tell you what my cousin looked like in her dress, but the poorly dressed appearance of her wedding photographer is burned into my mind, especially at that moment. My cousin had sent out invites that said formal dress required and all of the guests were properly dressed. It was disgusting, he stuck out like sore thumb and my aunt asked him to leave early into the reception.

— Jennifer Berman

Jennifer is a friend of mine from Chicago. I called and asked her to write her story down after reading this post from Preston Bailey. Frankly the poor dress of some vendors has become a real problem in the wedding market, especially among photographers, videographers, photo booth hosts and disc jockeys.

Here at Michiana Weddings we have seen photographers in similar dress to what Jennifer describes and even muscleman tshirts. We recently saw a photo of some videographers running around a wedding with “staff” printed on the back of their polo shirts covering three quarters of the fabric. One local photo booth company shows up to weddings in sweatshirts and blue jeans or tshirts in the summer. DJs can be the worst offenders, blue jeans and Def Leppard t-shirt was one of the all time worst we have seen.

Some brides may shrug their shoulders and say, we don’t care, it’s no big deal but the truth of the matter is that it is. Yes we have somewhat become a casual society and guests will show up n bluejeans themselves. However the problem with vendors dressing down is that it is like waving a flag saying “here I am, I’m dressed poorly”. A vendor is different from a guest because as Jennifer describes, here was a photographer that stepped in front of a bride on her way down the aisle to be married. All eyes were on her and when that photographer stepped out into the aisle in front of her, all eyes were now on him and he was a distraction! A poorly dressed guess can disappear into a corner, or into a group of people, a vendor is front and center, in front of everyone and when a person who is poorly dressed steps into the spotlight next to someone who is dressed to the nines in their wedding gown or tux, the contrast between the two is like a flare being lite. Where as if the person is properly attired so that they look like 80% of your guests, the contrast drops.

In our opinion at Michiana Weddings, you are paying a vendor to behave like a professional and respect you and your guests. An improperly dressed vendor is not only unprofessional, they are an insult to your wedding, or party, or event, which you have planned so diligently for so long! Demand that the person you are paying respect you, ask them how they will dress and don’t be afraid to demand that the dress code want them to follow, is written into their contract!

- Amy
What do you think? Leave your commentary below!

Feel like adding some funk to your Michiana wedding day?  Consider adding feathers to your wedding floral and wedding decor!!  Feathers can have such a striking impact when used in clusters, or just a single feather alone. They give an extra bit of flair to any floral arrangement, bouquet, boutonniere, and more!

Feathers come in a variety of choices and styles that can work for any wedding and reception. When used in centerpieces, they can be added in with the floral, giving your piece an extra textural detail as well as creating a more dimensional centerpiece. Or, you can use only feathers as your centerpieces to really mesmerize your guests!

Feathers can also be used in wedding bouquets or boutonnieres. They come in a variety of colors and patterns to correspond with your choice of flowers for your wedding. They also come in an assortment of textures, from full and plush, to compact and skinny. The different options give you ample opportunity to play with a wide range of designs and looks.

When planning your wedding flower arrangements, give some consideration to feathers, it can really spice up the floral for the wedding and the reception!

 Michaelangelos “The Event Company” has been creating exception wedding floral and event atmospheres since 1988. Based in South Bend, IN there are here to serve your needs with floral, lighting, fabric treatments, decor enhancements, furniture and much more!

But as we said, the bride and groom set the energy level of the wedding reception! If you want people walking out the door exhausted from having fun, and you have a DJ or Band then both of you need to get out on the dance floor! Good DJs and bands will get people on the dance floor, but as we said many guests take their cue from the bride and groom and if the two of you are out on the floor shaking your bon bon for long stretches at a time then your guests will be out there with you. And yes we mean both of you, sorry grooms who don’t like to dance. A good band or DJ will always have people dancing and the one half of the bride and groom getting on the dance floor is good, but it is the energy of both of you partying out on the floor will get the more reticent guests to join in on the celebration!

A bride and groom participating can also overcome a bad DJ and take an empty dance floor and bring out at least a few people to dance.

The same applies to other activities like a photo booth. Your guests really do take the cue from you, as the bride and groom, and if they see you having fun in the photo booth, they are more likely to enjoy it themselves. We have seen people who absolutely refused to step into a booth and have their picture taken, change their minds once they see the happy couple enjoying it themselves.

You have spent thousands to enjoy your wedding day in and if you join in the activities your Michiana wedding will be one to remember for years to come by all of your guests!

Brian Peterson
Brian is the owner of Fun Zone Photo Booths, serving the Michiana region. Prior to Fun Zone he owned River City Music for 20 years, a successful wedding entertainment company.

We did not hear back from the owner about a possible reopening, nor did we receive new information about the status of the business after requesting it from the City Plaza shopping center owner.

If Kathy Strukel won’t even communicate with the South Bend Tribune, then this store is out of business. If  you have been holding out hope, thinking that this wedding gown shop would reopen or the owner would do what was right and put out a public notice about what was going to happen, we strongly suggest it’s time to move on. We feel bad for the customers who have been caught up in this mess. We have been recommending taking steps to move forward and find alternatives since nearly the start of this on January 31 and this should be the proof that that is the only option.

Can you get your money back? Many credit card companies allow you to protest a charge from 6 months to a year after purchase. Even if you are beyond that time you should be still be able to protest if you have not taken possession of your merchandise!

Did you pay by cash or check? If yes, your situation is far more difficult. But most likely you won’t get an answer back so your alternative is small claims court. But depending on the amount of money involved it may cost more to pursue in court than just writing it off to lesson learned. And even being rewarded an amount of money in court does not mean the defendant will pay it to you.

Was your gown in and you were storing it at BAM until needed? If you haven’t heard from Kathy Strukel and your attempts to contact her have resulted in nothing, there is the option of contacting the police. Several years ago a Michiana photographer vanished on his clients and after several complaints to the police by customers, the police opened his office and carted off all the negatives and prints they could find to distribute to the rightful customers.

When restarting the search for the perfect wedding gown for your Michiana Wedding we recommend checking out the following wedding gown shops: Our favorite is Bernardo’s for the Bride, loacated across from Farmers Market, in South Bend. There is also Greta’s on Lincolnway near the corner of Miami. In Plymouth there is Treats and in Elkhart there is Stephensons. All of them have long stable histories in the Michiana Wedding market.

We truly feel sorry for all the brides/friends/family who are suffering from this store closing. But in our opinion, if you had merchandise on order at Brides A La Mode and have been waiting to see if the gown shop did reopen today before taking other steps, it is time to start searching for alternatives. If you made your purchase by credit card, many card companies allow you to protest a charge as much as a year from the original purchase date. If you paid by cash or check there is legal recourse.

On the Facebook fan page for Brides A La Mode, there are two interesting posts from brides who did manage to get a refund on Saturday, here is the text:

Kelsey Jones Janine…go to gretas!!! she has been wonderful and truly 1 of the only people who have brought peace to this mess…she is willing to go out of her way to help the brides of BAM. and with today being the 15th…when I went to BAM to cancel my bridal gown order and obtain a refund I was told by Kathy herself in front of my maid of honor that the new owner took over yesterday…I would make it a point to get yourself as far away from this place as you can…the story has changed so many times that I’ve lost track…now that I’m out of there it feels like a huge weight has been lifted. oh and you pretty much needed to stalk the door to the store to know they so were open on saturday.

Dana Pageler Cohen I was at the store last Saturday and received a refund for an order on a wedding dress that was suppose to have been ordered in December, but when I contacted the designer, there was no record of any order made by BMA. The order had NEVER been made! Kathy was at the store, and graciously refunded the deposit, no questions asked. She said that there would be a new manager in place this week, however I drove by the store today, the reopening day, and the CLOSED sign was on the door. Still wondering what is exactly going on.

So Kathy Strukel was telling brides who were demanding refunds and their gowns on Saturday, when the store opened for 2 hours, (something that from postings on Facebook not all customers were informed of) that there were new owners. What do we think of this? Well in our opinion, we don’t know what to think, except we wouldn’t trust this any more than we trust the story that the shop closed for “remodeling” or “inventory”. And since the “new owners” did not change the sign saying the gown shop was suppose to reopen today, then did not reopen… If the gown shop has been sold to a new owner and they took possession last Friday then we would think they would be taking steps to minimize the damage the previous owner has done over the past two weeks! We do not understand if there are new owners and for some reason they couldn’t open the doors today, why they didn’t at least change the sign and offer up new information on the facebook page or website!

We would also like to point out that if there are new owners that does not mean they assumed the liabilities that the previous owner is under! They could have bought the unsold inventory or/and taken over the lease but that does not mean they agreed to be legally responsible for any existing orders paid to the previous owner.

Dana wonders what the real story is behind the closing, who knows, but it is safe to assume the store was not making enough money to stay open. But there are still plenty of Michiana Wedding vendors who can fill your wedding gown needs. If you want to shop at a store with a track record, there is Bernardo’s for the Bride and Greta’s. And to all the brides/moms/friends/grooms caught in the mess created by Kathy Strukel and Bride’s A La Mode we wish you good luck and just remember, weddings are about friends and family and love, a gown is important but it is only a part of the whole day, don’t let this mess ruin the enjoyment of your wedding day!

So if you have blocked out rooms or reserved the reception venue for your wedding, in my opinion from the information out there, the property will still be there, just not under the name Marriott after the end of the year. There is no reason to panic. However when these things happen you are usually guaranteed a changeover in staff, so don’t be surprised if suddenly the people you have been planning with are suddenly gone.

So Michiana brides, what the heck, let’s revisit for some real inspiration the wedding of Christine & Brian. The ceremony was at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame with the reception following at the Hilton Garden Inn Gillespie Center, in South Bend.
Wedding planning and atmosphere design by Cynthia Basker of Celebrated Events.
Atmosphere decorations and Floral by Michaelangelos The Event Company.

No I’m not going to point out who is the poor imitator, if you run across the picture you will know. If you are looking for something like this gorgeous decorating of the Gillespie Center, then I recommend contacting the original creators of this spectacular setting. Accept no imitations!

A: Susan, this is a tough decision. We love bands and orchestras! Nothing can beat the energy, excitement or fun that a good band brings to a wedding reception. No disc jockey can beat a good to excellent band in crowd response or energy level, there is something about live music that will always be best. However a bad band will have your guests headed to the doors faster than a bad DJ will.
What you have will depend on your budget. A good disc jockey in the South Bend region will cost between $1000 to $1500+. To find a good band you are going to have to go outside the area to Chicago or Indy and that is going to cost you starting around $8000+. An orchestra has enough members that they don’t need to stop the music and take breaks every 30 minutes will cost you $10,000+. We really recommend finding an orchestra over a band. An orchestra will have enough members that they will be able to rotate out singers and players to take breaks but keep the music playing and the guests energized. When a band takes a break, many guests look at this as an opportunity to leave, so the more the music is going the better.
So it all depends on your budget. Do you have enough room to spend the thousands a good orchestra requires?