Our wedding reception experience at the Marriott East Lansing was incredible. We were on a budget, and really did not expect anything above and beyond standard service and decent f...ood. Diane, our event coordinator, was easy to contact and extremely helpful through the entire wedding planning process. We stayed at the hotel the night before the wedding to get some final items ready, and the entire staff knew who we were and I was shocked by how willing they were to help us out. On the day of the wedding, I was expecting to get several last minute questions or issues to come up from the staff, but none ever came - we walked into the reception (which started with a cocktail hour) and everything was in place and far exceeding our expectations. The only time that I was approached by the event staff was when they wanted to take care of something that we were not expecting them to take care of, again far exceeding our expectations. There were more servers that needed, so somebody was always around to help move something or run a quick errand. The servers that were attending tables never let a water glass get empty. The food was great, and the bar staff was quick and friendly. Three weeks after the wedding and I am still getting compliments on how successful the reception was, and all we did was provide the DJ and the table centerpieces.
In summary: For the budget that we had for 200 guests and the small amount of time we spent worrying about the reception, the event was outstanding - largely due to the service and staff. Thanks Diane!