Emerald City Designs, The Special Event Group

ers to fit my vision. I knew in that moment we were in great hands. The original quote encompassed anything and everything I could have wanted and it came in pretty high for that reason. So we met with Nicole again and she really helped us to pick and choose what would work and bring the cost back down to earth. She had amazing suggestions on how to bring cost down while keeping the look we wanted. Our next meeting was the table preview and it was perfect. All we had to do was add one piece of greenery. I never expected the flower preview to go as perfectly as it did. On the day of I was blown away. My bouquet was so beautiful. The bridesmaids bouquets were a perfect compliment. And the special bouquet made for my flower girl made her feel so special. And I don't know how accurately describe the room because it was breathtaking. Everything was executed exactly as I was told it would be which was good because I was not a bride who was okay with surprises. All in all, I was thrilled!

truly truly sad though that they completely dropped the ball on my head table. I spent time designing a head table with them to stand out above the other reception tables with gold brush candles, bustled table cloth etc. It was totally missed and set up exactly the same as the reception guest tables. It wasn't even bustled at all. That table was the most important to us and when I see it in pictures it really, really bums me out. I look at that as a huge blunder for the expense and time I paid and put in. The room looked amazing the way they set everything up but I still cant get past the head table :( Total fail. I would still recommend them because I appreciated the great work otherwise, but I just cant give the 5 star review I really wanted to.

with our design and planning team – who were all so incredibly professional, fun to work with, and provided superior service from start to finish. Ann McQueen was the most talented, caring, and passionate wedding coordinator you could hope to work with. She was remarkably attentive to and thoughtful about every single detail leading up to, during, and following our wedding. Every recommendation she made was perfection – in a way that made us feel like she had known us for years - and with her by our side, we had not a single worry about how our special day would unfold. David McKnight & Nicole Beaudoin’s adaptation of the vision we had for our wedding was absolutely stunning and surpassed what we imagined and hoped for. They worked within our budget to design décor that was our dream come true and beyond. I cannot say enough how impressed and amazed not only we were with how our entire wedding turned out, but our guests as well. Our family and friends are still talking about how beautiful, intimate, and memorable our wedding day was - that it was one of the most elegant and enjoyable events they had ever attended, which was exactly what we had wanted. David’s brilliance, warmth, and generous spirit can be felt from the first moment you speak with him, and certainly translates to the exceptional special event group he has created. For every event we ever have to plan in the future, no matter the location, ECD is who we will work with, and we cannot thank them enough for planning and creating the most perfect day of our lives!

enough how amazing the staff is to work with!! Everything from the invitations, to the escort cards, to the reception table decor, the hanging florals, the stunning bouquets & the Thank You cards was ALL done perfectly with tons of thought, love & care. Emerald City Designs is by far the BEST event planning company & will be sure to deliver any and all visions & details for any special event. Thank you again to the phenomenal staff- true professionals with true passion!!

t only with their decor and flowers but with their delicate treatment and care for us. Flowers and place settings are such a large part of a wedding and can be very stressful, but with their wisdom and creativity, Emerald City made it so easy and no stress was involved at all. I have received numerous compliments from guests on how beautiful the flowers and table settings were, even from people i would have never expected to say anything. My mother describes our wedding as ethereal. It truly was full of perfection, elegance, and beauty because of Emerald City Designs.

urned out without them. David and his amazing design team were spot-on with the vision I had for color scheme, floral arrangements, table linens, and making it all come together with the right amount of "bling"! Ann McQueen did our day-of coordination and was priceless. Everything went so smoothly from the bouquets getting in the right hands, keeping events like pictures running on time, to making sure I had my comfy shoes at the end of the night. She was the glue of our big day! Communication with ECD was fabulous as well. I never had to worry about whether or not things were going to come through. They were also great sports about taking on any task I threw at them at the last minute :) From walking down the aisle, to walking into our reception ballroom, Emerald City Designs was SPECTACULAR!! I'm looking for excuses to use them in the future!

lar on every level and, no I am not kidding, within the budget that we discussed at our first meeting. I cannot say enough about the wonderful staff and the brilliant creative team. We have three daughters--we will absolutely use ECD again!!!!

nd myself until I saw it on my wedding day. I wanted the ceremony to feel intimate and personal, and what ECD created is beyond anything we could ever imagine. The day was truly priceless. Our friends and family are still raving about how much fun they had and how absolutely stunning everything was. We feel beyond blessed with our experience with ECD because they created our perfect day. It was unforgettable and full of priceless moments and memories that my husband and I hold dearly in our hearts and we really can’t thank Emerald City Designs enough for a once in a lifetime experience!

m, of course, is the canvas that a bride (and if she’s lucky, an amazing team of designers) can decorate and build upon to create a space that is truly whatever she wants. For me, this space was the Fox Theatre in Detroit, and what I envisioned was brought to life by David McKnight and Emerald City Designs better than I ever could have dreamed. My mother and I first went to ECD studios about ten months before our wedding, where we were, on the spot, captivated by their attention to detail, pre-planning, and, as we like to say, ability to just “get it.” My mother and I are both uber-planners, and though we love each other dearly, we both had very different visions for the wedding. We were certain that we couldn’t tackle the scope of our wedding alone, but we truly had no idea that what we had walked into was the answer to our prayers, and the creation of our fantasy. Over the next ten months, my mother and I spent countless hours with our spirited, sharp, and steadfast wedding planner, Ann McQueen, who was determined to not only make our day as perfect as it could be, but to make us feel like this wedding was truly the only thing she cared about. My mother and I had the pleasure of visiting ECD studios several times, and each time we were greeted with a prepared planner, a team of experts ready to answer all of our questions, and, literally every time, an exciting surprise. Although it’s hard to recall each and every detail of the wedding planning process, it’s easy to recount a few things that stand out most for me. The first, is that throughout everything, I don’t believe that I ever felt the stress that brides typically talk about when planning a wedding. I never felt overwhelmed, frustrated, like my vision was not going to be recognized (and trust me, I had a pretty specific vision). Through it all I felt calm, confident, and that I could focus on myself and my marriage to my wonderful husband, and that is all because of Emerald City Designs. The second is that, after each interaction we had with ECD, be it a walkthrough at the Fox, our Table Preview with David, or just a coffee meeting to go over a few details with Ann, my mom and I hugged and said “We absolutely made the right choice with Emerald City Designs."

endly food for the dinner, and even turning our reception into a haunted house complete with mummies and ghouls. We had an indoor wedding, but it felt like we were married in a haunted forest. The little details they prepared with their talented crew like the dead roses or swamp debris melted into the candles on our reception tables set the perfect mood for our halloween wedding. My beautiful wife is a perfectionist who needs to focus on details to the point that I'm worried her brain will aneurysm. Emerald City took care of everything so that the wedding was flawless and she was worry free. On the actual wedding day, I enjoyed watching our wedding planner expertly handle questions from 5 different people at once (Talk about grace under fire!) while my wife focused on having fun instead of random party minutia. We even came in significantly under budget. They have deals worked out with vendors around the city that allows for super cheap food/spirits and a very stream-lined experience. The fact that they laid out every expense and expectations of when we needed to pay helped a ton and let us make changes on the fly. Very easy and fun to work with, and they got us exactly what we wanted at a bargain! We received countless compliments from guests like "best wedding food we've ever had", "most fun wedding I've ever been too", "the decorations were AMAZING", "When are you getting married again? I want to come!". Couldn't ask for a better wedding and I had a great time. Emerald City Designs is worth every penny and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for an amazing and fun wedding!

m into amazing designs. They were very good at making just the right changes, no matter how small, to make every inch of the space and every moment of the day absolutely perfect. Their coordinating services were fanatastic! My family and I were able to enjoy the day without a worry because we knew that the ECD team would take care of everything. They were so sweet and helpful with every need I had prior to the event and on the day of my wedding. The variety of items and linens available to rent were incredible, which allows you to make your event stand out! Everytime I look back at the photos of the wedding I am constantly in awe of the incredible work they did and reminded of the beautiful memories they made come to life that day. My sister is getting married this summer and they were the first vendor we booked for the big day! We can't wait to see what they create this time!

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well, and we have all been extremely satisfied with the result. Although it's only one day, going back & watching the video from day always reminds us of the outstanding job they did. Highly recommend!!

hearsal dinner with almost all of the same flowers and spent $100 on 10 arrangements. It killed me that 12 orange roses at Kroger were $7.99 and I had to pay Emerald City $45 for EACH bouquet of only 8 orange roses for my 5 bridesmaids. I had to use them so there was nothing I could do about it. They executed well, and that was all I could ask for. Emily (my contact) was amazing. She was very knowledgeable about the flowers. I had no clue what to chose at the time and she was a tremendous help.

make the biggest impact with the budget we had. With a few money saving tips like nixing the boutonnieres and reusing bridal party bouquets as center pieces we were able to save enough to have sizable centerpieces on all our tables. They also decorated our ceremony space with runner, petals, draping, and two large arrangements at the alter. All the florals were stunning and made a huge impact on our space. We planned this event from out of state and were worried about getting exactly what we wanted since we were not able to be present for much of the planning. Nicole at emerald city did an amazing job utilizing pinterets and other online resources to help me express my vision from afar. On the day of she absolutely nailed it. The bridal party flowers were also beautiful and durable. That may be a weird descriptor but I was amazed they held up to our 3 hrs of pictures in the heat, being dropped and drug around Detroit before the ceremony, and still looked beautiful on the tables hours later. We loved ECD and would definitely recommend them!

ed and it came to well over $500.

nsive than some, but you get what you pay for and it was worth it to me to experience as little stress as possible. With ECD, you don't have to worry about anything and know everything will get done on time and beautifully. The flowers were absolutely gorgeous and the day-of coordinating was flawless which meant no stress on my wedding day. Ann was prompt to help and respond to all correspondence and ECD really makes you feel like royalty on your special day. Cannot wait to use them again for any flower/event needs!!!

reception. Nicole answered all our questions and knew exactly how to arrange the tables/flowers to give the best overall affect in our budget. The owner even came in on a Saturday morning because I was living in Grand Rapids and was only able to make it to appointments on the weekends. The end result was a beautiful wedding - they even fulfilled my request for a bouquet of peonies even though they were out of season! The only issue was my mom sent them a piece of lace from her veil to wrap around my bouquet about a week before the wedding, which they forgot to do. But after giving them a call, someone was able to come by and add the lace before the ceremony so it all worked out.

ey got lost and could barely be seen and for the insane amount of money I spent I expected more. I had also wanted branches and hanging elements in the gazebo. They apparently got lazy and put up hanging lanterns and candles in there (that was not on the contract for that specific element) and that really made me mad. Not to mention they miscounted and didn't have enough chavari chairs for the cocktail tables (there were UNCOVERED office chairs in there)!!! I almost flipped out. But it was my wedding. The only reason I was so mad was bc how much they charge. They are wayyyy over priced for what they provide. Too many errors for $10,000 plus dollars. The quality of the decor items is nice. But save on crafts is the same. And the service team is efficient. But for the money, I'd say go someplace else. My tables were gorgeous but my florist and wedding planner put the final touches on them. Not even EC. I wish I hadn't spent the money. But at least I had fun!!!

own and it was worth the extra money to me not to have to worry about what I was going to get, and the coordination factor.

he same language. The bouquets we BEAUTIFUL (I had a hard time trusting what they would be without seeing them first)and the ballroom decor was spectacular. I peeked into the ceremony set up while I was passing by for photos and I asked it make a change to the density of the petals lining the aisle. They immediately made the change! It was perfect after that.

laint is with two rather large wedding blunders. First, the satin hand ties on my bridesmaids' bouquets began unraveling before pictures and the ceremony began to the point where some completely unraveled and my Mom had to fix them. Second, I requested and paid for a toss bouquet so that I wouldn't have to toss my beautiful $200+ bouquet that was encrusted with rhinestones. However, a toss bouquet was not included on my wedding day and I had to gingerly "drop" my bouquet. It was hardly the bouquet toss I had envisioned.

fic experience. They cost a little more than other places, but totally worth it in the end result. They not only planned everything, delivered our flowers off site, and set everything up, they also came back and tore it all down at the end of the night. I had nothing to worry about that day in terms of decor. The price is definitely worth the piece of mind I had. (and they were willing to work with your dream and find a way to accommodate your price range too)

r-in-law's) were both extremely large, and the flower kept falling off because it was too heavy. In addition, my bridesmaids' bouquets wilted almost immediately.

together another person's vision into real life and ability to design and produce is not something everyone can do effectively. In the end Emerald City gave us an experience that was worth every penny. They also were kind enough to give us some price breaks here and there, they work within your budget and try to suggesting areas of cost savings such as picking different flowers, things that will hold up better over the course of the day. We worked with the talented Nicole Beaudoin and Ann McQueen's Teams. My fiance and I had a crazy vision that started off completely different but basically led to us designing all of our centerpieces for each table to be varied, but together they formulated a cohesive experience, a French Vintage Eclectic sort of feel with bright pinks and purples. Nicole came up with designs for each table and we purchased the one of a kind items to make them happen on Etsy. We gave around 100 trinkets and vintage things to Emerald City to use for the Wedding decorations. They were very organized, provided us with a written detailed inventory of all of the items we owned and what they owned, and documented the return of them all at the end of the night / following week of the wedding we got all our stuff, making cleanup a snap. They made our dreams into a reality, and in the end we got a personalized experience that even went together with our Invitations. Nicole and Ann met with us regularly multiple times to make sure that everything was to our expectations at all times. They really wowed us, it was a pleasure working together and in the end they produced exactly what we had in mind, and then some. It went off without a hitch thanks to Ann McQueen our day of Coordinator, she is the most patient thorough and professional individual, a total lifesaver the day of when I (THE BRIDE) accidentally locked myself out of my apartment because my crazy pet bird decided to fly out the front door into the corridor and hit every window on the way down, by that time the door had shut locked behind me with my entire belongings inside no cell phone - luckily I had trusted Ann earlier with my spare key to take gifts home for us to my apartment after the Wedding, (FULL SERVICE!!) - well yeah thank God for nice neighbors let me use their computer to call their emergency line and thank God for Nicole who dispatched Ann, she lives close by to Emerald too and so did I at the time in Novi - well they truly saved our wedding day by Ann bringing me the spare keys!! Literally would have been waiting for a locksmith and 1.5 years worth of planning would have been screwed. She and her Team had everything covered the day of even when the scheduled was set behind by this incident, there were still time for photos and video and everything that needed to get done. These guys are the best professionals. They also worked very well with Welson Sarkis Photography who did our Wedding too, what a great Team of people it has been a pleasure working with all of you. Thank you to Emerald City for making our Wedding Day so special.

he ceremony and the reception, and stayed inbetween to help change the room over (my ceremony and reception were in the same ballroom). They had GREAT ideas and created the pictures that I had in my head in real life. Worth EVERY penny. I didn't have to worry about a thing with them in charge!

act person, Nicole, asking to change a few of the table arrangements to accommodate cancelled guests. I did not even receive the courtesy of a response. Also, my wedding coordinator had made several attempts to reach Emerald City Designs to arrange floral delivery and set-up times, but again, received no response. The day of my wedding, my mother’s corsage died before pictures even began. My now husbands boutonniere was brown before photos began. Also, my bridesmaids bouquets, which were hydrangeas, didn’t even last to make it to cocktail hour. I was also informed later, embarrassingly, by a few of my guests that my center pieces had wilted flowers and the hydrangea did not appear to as “fresh” as they should have. I felt as though once my balance was paid in full, I was no longer important and I received any flowers they had lying around and not the beautiful full arrangements I had viewed at my table preview. Finally, I did not even receive a follow up from ECD letting me know I was paid in full and there had been no damage to any of their rented items. I sent Nicole and email asking for such and reviewed a one-sentence response stating it was paid in full and would this be sufficient. I would have informed ECD of my concerns, but no one has bothered to ask for feedback.

to go and helped sort out everything. I loved that she gave us choices and then let us explore what we wanted from there. She was super flexible and available when I had questions, concerns, change of heart or just needed some reassurance. Our invitations were so original and nothing anyone in my family had seen before, our centerpieces had variety and were over the top without breaking the budget. Our wedding day far exceeded any childhood dream I every had and every expectation I had. I am grateful and thankful that I had the opportunity to work with Emerald City and Nicole S.

d pulled various things such as colors, shapes and ideas to show our Event Manager, Nicole, what we wanted. She was so incredibly helpful in piecing everything together. She was not afraid to make suggestions to delete or enhance various aspects. I truly appreciated her opinion because the moment that I walked into the reception hall was such an amazing feeling! Emerald City Designs staff gave us the perfect wedding we would have ever wanted!

the flowers and rest of the decor was beautiful. I especially appreciated how the worked with my reception venue so I didn't have to be the middle man. Worth every penny.

y recommend them!

always rushed me and acted very annoyed when I didn't want to go outside of package. I actually was so disgusted by the way I was treated at my intial consultation that I decided to do flowers that were not in package through a different vendor. Their work is pretty, but for the price I am sure you could find someone else that did just as good of a job with a smaller price tag. I was told by someone if you don't have a floral budget of 10,000+ they don't want to talk to you, and thats exactly how I was treated! You are paying for the name! Not worth it!

wedding. It was such a relief to know that I had competent people taking care of this aspect of the wedding.

le setting and linens. Good selection.

ection than the other florist's design and cannot imagine our wedding any other way! We also used their referrals on our band and videographer and were very pleased. I cannot give Emerald City designs enough praise!!! Their day of coordinators were spot on as well- always at beck and call to help us with anything and were amazing at directing our day so that we could enjoy it!

. They really know what they're doing. My bouquet fell apart halfway through the day, which was upsetting but that's the only complaint on my part.

mony space and create an beautiful lounge area. I could have asked for nothing more! Oh, and the staitonary was impeccable!!! Thank you a million times!!

(including myself) of how beatuiful the room was. Thank you ECD! You made my wedding dreams come true!

ss. Nicole is the best. I spoke with her and expressed my specific vision for my wedding florals and rentals and she was very encouraging and full of her own ideas. Bottom line is that the decor at my wedding was exactly what I wanted. The decor over the dancefloor was very unique, a combination of branches, crystals with open roses hanging from them, and glowing votive candles hanging in whimsical glass containers. I can't even describe it I just wish I could post a pic! Thanks you ECD Lindsay and Brett

excellent to work with and was invaluable as a day of wedding coordinator. The only downside is ECD is on the pricey side, but you really can't put a price on the work they do and the feeling of confidence you have with ECD coordinating your event!

ng. Cannot wait to use them again for an event in the future!

REDIBLE they took my breath away. They were absolutely perfect and how I had pictured them. They made the ceremony and reception room gorgeous. They also made our programs and they turned out wonderful too (of course)! If you can afford them I highly recommend them they will make your dreams come true and ensure a truly unforgettable day or you and all who attend.

hey showed me ahead of time at their showroom that were supposed to be exactly what my centerpieces would look like, were more extravagant than what I ended up getting. I felt like for the price I should've had the centerpieces they showed me and not a scaled down version. Also the corsages for the moms/grandmas were very small for the price. That aside, everything was very beautiful and arrived on time and I coudn't have asked for a better bridal bouquet. I would recommend them but caution that you might get something a little different than you were expecting.

rs, and chairs. Its a one stop shop. Made me very at ease to know that one vendor was taking care of everything! They were very mindful of my budget as well. I would reccomend Emerald City Designs to family members and friends who are soon to Wed!

anted, and I didn't get either in the end result. When I went in a few days before the wedding to see what they had for my centerpieces, they weren't even close to what I expected, but they said they weren't able to get the flowers I wanted, so I just said it was fine and left disappointed. I never really cared that much about the flowers for the big day anyway. My priorities were the groom, the food, the dress, and the photographer...and all of that did not disappoint! Flowers were all just filler for the pictures. Although I had some 'nice' feedback at the reception, I was not pleased with the overall look. I could have done what they did. It wasn't worth the money. They make the showrooms look so beautiful, but when it comes to returning calls, ordering the flowers they discuss with you, designing something you request, and being polite to the customers that have already paid their money, they are less than thrilling. I would never recommend them to anyone.

ad a very vague idea of what I wanted for our overall design and David captured it perfectly and ran with it. What I loved most is that this company is very popular in the Detroit area so they are obviously very busy. We never felt like were a second or third (let alone last) priority for anyone on the team. They were incredibly attentive to detail and also very patient with us during the decision process--especially at the very end when little things like font size on the programs start to seem way too important. They walked us right through it and we never felt overwhelmed or rushed. We also loved that they were flexible on budget. David and Kelli put together an "ideal" package for us and then helped us taper it down to a reasonable price range without sacrificing style or quality and without taking offense to it. We never felt pressured to go beyond our budget once. The other nice thing is that the more services you book through Emerald City, the better the price because the roll it into one package. The final product was exquisite and we received nothing but compliments on everything from the invitations to the reception. "The best," "the most beautiful," "the classiest," etc. I could go on and on. Our wedding and reception was in Lansing and Emerald City brought everything out from Farmington Hills ahead of schedule. We had a morning service and luncheon so there was not time to delay. We never once worried about anything. It was all taken care of. Make sure to at least visit Emerald City before you make any decisions in the planning process. You'll be so glad that you did!

l of 20 minutes. Don't waste your time unless you would like an impersonal and overpriced wedding.

o manage the catering contacts such that on the evening prior to the wedding, our caterers backed out and my husband and I had to find a family member with restaurant who could provide enough food for all our guests at the very last minute. Neither my husband or I got any sleep the evening before our wedding and we were not certain that we were actually going to have dinner until about 4 hour before our guests started arriving. It was a nightmare!

ut rude and obnxious! At the rehearsal I was very concerned! Once I arrived at the church the day of the wedding I didn't even see her. My planner from Emerald City made sure that she didn't come around. Everything was flawless!

ey put together an event schedule for us and mostly were just a joy to work with.;Make sure you schedule well in advance if you want someone specific for your day of event coordinator. The girl we worked with for most of our time was not available for our actual wedding date which was a bit frustrating. The women who did do it was lovely though.

ress. Disaster avoided!