The Westin Book Cadillac Wedding of Victoria & Anthony: November 11, 2023
“Mike Staff Productions was fantastic. They were so easy to work with, every person that we talked to was more than willing to answer any of our questions even if they were pretty wild questions. They were able to offer us suggestions when we needed advice or opinions. We would definitely recommend them again!” – Happy bride, Victoria
Our Love Story
We met in 2013 and started dating. We were both in college at the time. In 2020 I graduated nursing school and Anthony graduated from Wayne State. We bought our house shortly after graduating and moved in together. In August of 2022, I had went out and spent the day with one of my best friends. On the drive home, I was talking to Anthony and I had made a joke after he asked me what I wanted to do that night and said “I want to get engaged”. Little did I know, when I walked in the door to our house, I would get exactly what I wanted. He was standing in our living room with candles lit and a bouquet of roses. He got down on one knee and immediately asked me “have I made you wait long enough?” We both laughed and then he asked me to marry him. It was everything I could’ve hoped for.
Our Wedding Vision
Our biggest thing when we were planning our wedding was that we just wanted everyone that we love to be around us. We wanted to make sure that every single one of our guests were taken care of and that they had the best time. Everyone kept telling us “your wedding is supposed to be about you”, but all we could think about was giving back to everyone who helped us be who we are today. Our wedding, to us, was just as much about everyone surrounding us as it was about us.
Wedding DJ Experience
Our wedding DJ really made sure that everything he played got people on the dance floor. He was able to gauge very well what people were feeling and I thought that was great. It takes a lot of talent to be able to do that. He also took mine and Anthony’s requests seriously which I appreciated it. You don’t want too many requested songs but it was nice of him to put ours at the top of the list.
I shared a first dance with my dad and my stepdad. I danced with my dad to Someday by Rob Thomas because my stepmom passed away in December 2021 and Rob Thomas was her favorite artist. I know my dad and I both wished so much that she could’ve been there with us to celebrate so it was very special to us. I danced with my stepdad to a song called My Boy by Elvie Shane but it was the My Girl version. I chose that song because Jerry has been a huge part of my life since I was 9 years old. He practically raised me even though I’m not his biological kid. He never made me feel like I was anything less than his own kid. To this day he’ll still call me on the phone or talk to me in person and call me “kid”.
Wedding Photographer Experience
Jenny, our wedding photographer, was amazing! I truly cannot say enough about her. From our engagement pictures to our wedding pictures, she was the best. She knew all of the best spots and all of the perfect ways to pose us. When Anthony and I got back our engagement and wedding pictures, there were very few that we didn’t like and we know it’s because Jenny is so good at what she does.
Wedding Videography Experience
Getting a wedding video was important to us because we knew that the day was going to go by so quickly and it was going to be so busy that we wouldn’t really be able to stop and relish in as many of the moments as we would like. But having a wedding video is a great way to keep those memories and maybe even remind us of things that we forgot in all of the busy times.
Our Favorite Wedding Memory
Our favorite moment was walking in to the reception in our Detroit Lions jerseys to the Fox NFL theme song. We have both been huge football fans and we especially love the Lions. One of our first dates was to a Lions game so it was really special to us.
Our Wedding Advice
I’m not sure that we would say we’re pros. However, we feel like it is important to just keep each other in the loop. I was actually highly surprised that Anthony wanted to be so involved in our wedding planning and I feel like it made it so much easier on me. I was never making decisions by myself and it made things less stressful. We planned our wedding with both of us working full time and me in grad school full time but having his help just really was the best thing. Just have fun with it. This is supposed to be one of the best times of your lives and you should enjoy it together.
Victoria & Anthony’s Wedding Vendors
- Ceremony: St. Aloysius
- Reception: The Westin Book Cadillac
- Florist: MK Carroll Designs
- Wedding Cake: Sweet Kathy’s
- Wedding Dress: The White Dress
- Menswear: Manno Clothing
- Bridesmaid dresses: Birdy Grey
- Transportation: Millenium Limousines
- Hair: Sterling Hair Co.
- Makeup: Kendra Leigh
- Mike Staff Productions: Wedding DJ, photography, videography and uplighting