MerryMakers

Kris, of Merrymakers, was a godsend! She assisted us thru the many decisions that have to be made. She listened to what we wanted, offered creative suggestions that we hadn’t thought of, and kept us within budget. She made our day spectacular!

We had 4 months to plan a wedding in an area I had never seen nor planning to see prior to the wedding and it was 1000+ miles away! Kris and her Merry Makers team were the absolute best. Kris is extremely helpful, organized, thoughtful, and is very easy to work with. We were not familiar with the area vendors and had a short engagement with which to work. Kris was able to provide recommendations and contacts for the band, floral designer, tablescape design, tent/table rentals, and beverage supplier. She can do it all!!! And so smoothly and calmly. We had regular zoom meetings to review where we were and what we needed to do next. Merry Makers uses "aisle planner" software that kept us on track - with a task list, guest replies, seating arrangement, and intake list. I could not have asked for a better wedding planner. The day of wedding went so well with Kris' teammates, Gary and Ashley, that I was truly a guest at my daughter's wedding. I didn't have to worry about a thing! Hiring Merry Makers enabled my family to totally enjoy the week/weekend with other family and friends.

Kris and Taylor were personable, efficient, and were great to work with overall. They knew many vendors in the area which made things much smoother and they truly brought our vision to life. Couldn't have asked for a better experience!

The Merry Makers team was fantastic! Super easy to work with, great advice and so helpful. They did so much for our wedding weekend we couldn’t even imagine having done it without them. Our weekend was epic and relaxed and that was a huge part due to how much they took on. We would highly recommend Kris, Taylor and all their magic makers.

Sometimes you do not how desperately you need someone's expertise and services until you're in the moment. Luckily, I had heard enough advice to know I need a wedding coordinator. On the way home from our dream wedding in Northern Michigan, both my husband and I repeatedly touched on how we could not have had the day we wanted in any way shape or form without Kris and her team. I didn't worry about anything on my wedding day except getting ready and tending to my 9-month old daughter. When I walked into our reception tent for the first time, I was blown away by how beautiful it all looked-much of it because of Kris and team. She herded the cats, kept us on schedule without making me feel anxious about time-it was amazing. And all of her help leading up to the wedding-the access to Aisle Planner (which is a dream wedding planning tool) and offering of advice to someone who is terrible at making choices when it comes to decor and the like-as I said, we could not have done it without her! Worth every penny and more-can't recommend Merry Makers enough.

We started planning our wedding on our own and quickly realized we needed help. Kris and Taylor and the team were more than happy to step in and coordinate for us! They kept us on time and reminded us of things we hadn’t even thought of! During the wedding weekend, Taylor was perfect at keeping us calm and on track. When we had an issue with our venue, she stepped in and handled it for us without a second thought. Flexible, relaxed, thorough, passionate, and excited. Please consider this team for your Michigan wedding!!

We hired Kris as our wedding planner for our Walloon Lake Country Club wedding and couldn't be happier that we did! She provided the perfect amount of guidance, expertise, and flexibility that we were looking for. We had a two year engagement and wanted to work with someone who could help us throughout our extended planning period and work with our timeline. It was important to us to hire a planner from Northern Michigan as we live in metro Detroit and wanted someone local to help us. Kris has been in the industry in Northern Michigan for most of her life and personally knows just about every vendor we worked with. She had many suggestions and always had answers to our questions, but also was careful to let us make our own decisions about which vendors we wanted to hire. She worked with us to create our perfect day, exactly how we had envisioned it. Her experience in the industry and familiarity with our venue and vendors was unbelievably helpful for figuring out all of the day of logistics. Leading up to the wedding day she created a minute-by-minute timeline and communicated with all of our vendors for us. The MerryMakers team set everything up, tore everything down, and allowed us to fully enjoy our day without worrying about a thing. Kris was an absolute joy to work with and we are so glad we found MerryMakers!

I hired Kris and Merry Makers to do the planning for our daughter's wedding last August and it was a wonderful experience. Kris is incredibly responsive, knowledgable, professional and works well with all your vendors. She took care of things I thought I'd have to take care of myself. The wedding day ran flawlessly and on time. I had worked with a younger planner for my first daughter's wedding and there was no comparison between the two. Kris's team was flawless in execution so that my daughter and I only had to worry about enjoying her wedding day. I would highly recommend.

Kris and her team have helped us with two family weddings. Both were wonderful! Kris knows the vendors, the area, and is excellent at quickly resolving any issues that arise. She’s friendly, hard-working, and fairly priced. I would highly recommend Merrymakers!

Kris from MerryMakers is an absolute DREAM! You will have a ton of planning options for your Northern Michigan wedding but I guarantee you will not find one with: 1) as much experience (2) a better network of vendors (3) a cooler head/better attitude and (4) at a better price. The one example I can share to prove this is we had an outdoor wedding at Double K Estate and it rained nonstop for 6 days straight prior & during our wedding. Kris (and her team of 4 people AND her husband!) showed up early and executed a perfect plan B plan that ended up being even more intimate, amazing and at a really good value when compared to some of the other vendors in the area. In addition to the above example, Kris knows more service providers than hairs on your head (shout out to Brooke N The Nice Things band from Chicago! Who knew they'd travel to Petoskey and rock the house!) ... Kris did! In addition to her vendor recommendations, she also cultivates incredible working relationships with all of them so when things like 6 days of rain happen … nothing gets compromised! I would highly suggest getting a quote from Kris before making a decision.

Professional, great communication, easy to talk to, full of great advice and able to deliver what we spent so much time planning to meet our expectations. Kris and her team seamlessly and without notice orchestrated the most magical event our family has ever experienced. Thanks to her easy personality and valuable experience working with her was a joy! I can’t recommend MerryMakers enough!

Hiring Kris and her Merry Maker team was the best decision I made when planning my daughter’s June 2019 wedding in Northern Michigan. Before I hired her, Kris took the time to speak at length with me on the phone long distance and met with my daughter locally to discuss our thoughts for the day. Once hired, she guided us with short lists of vendors to consider that she has worked with for many, many years. It’s like they are a family- they all know each other so well and love to work together. We picked a great group of vendors who came together and made the day spectacular. All the detail, large and small , that Merry Makers handled made the day one I could truly enjoy. Kris was always available to text, email or make an appointment to talk on the phone. I can’t thank her and her team ( especially Ashely) for making the wedding day go so smoothly.

MerryMakers is exactly what you are looking for in a wedding planning team!! Working with Kris was an absolute pleasure and I felt like I was in the very best hands from start to finish. Kris has so much experience and can put the perfect words to your wedding vision. She was always responsive and professional- but made me feel heard, understood and taken care of all the while. Kris was able to answer every one of my questions along the way and had so many thoughtful, creative ideas as we put our wedding together - she was organized, so much fun to work with, and incredibly kind and thoughtful. Kris and Heather made our wedding magical vision a reality, despite very unexpected circumstances. I am forever grateful Kris and Heather (for everything) - I can't recommend MerryMakers strongly enough!

Merry Makers did so much more than we ever anticipated. Kris was able to offer us great recommendations for vendors based on our needs and budget. She also helped us review contracts when we weren't sure about industry standards. On our wedding day, the team did an amazing job of executing our plan and making sure we were relaxed and enjoying our family and friends. Kris and her team are exceptional professionals and we truly enjoyed working with them.

We had MerryMakers for day-of planning and as needed consultation prior to our wedding. They were super flexible creating a package that fit our needs, budget and time. Also, very knowledgeable about the area, vendors, and any random inquiries we threw their way. In particular, we were so thankful for them the day of - they worked to coordinate with and follow up with all of the vendors leading up to the wedding, so not only the day of but several days before, we could focus on family and friends as they got to town. And, when the wedding was over, they had everything spotless, packed up and in our car, so by the time we said goodbye to the last guest, we could hop in the car and drive off. Thank you!

I hired Merry Makers 5 months before our daughter's wedding anticipating that I would have final questions along the way as well as need and want someone 'hands on' for our weekend. We had our venue and vendors selected, but Kris and her team helped with several questions and contacts down the final stretch. Their services from rehearsal on Friday through our service and reception on Saturday gave us total peace of mind for our busy weekend, and we enjoyed our time with family and friends. Kris will do as much or as little as you want for your celebration and was very easy to work with. I highly recommend them and hope to use them again!

Cannot say enough good things about Kris and her team! Before the wedding, Kris made the planning process stress-free and organized. Her communication was great and she was willing to help in any way that was needed. The MerryMakers team was able to pull everything together the day of our wedding, created our vision, and took care of everything so we wouldn't have to. Thanks for everything MerryMakers!

Kris just did our wedding on 9-2-17 at Bay Harbor. We could have never enjoyed such a stress free day without all her help. Merry Makers did a great job running the day, turning our tent into the beautiful pink room I wanted, and making everything run seamlessly. We were so thankful to have had her and her team on our special day!

We contracted with MerryMakers for coordination services for our daughter's wedding at Bay Harbor Village Hotel (6-10-17). I cannot say enough about the exceptional services Kris, owner, provided throughout the planning process. We were rather late in contracting with MerryMakers, realizing just 9 weeks prior to the wedding that we needed someone to pull together all the details that were becoming overwhelming and just too much for us to orchestrate on our own. Kris stepped in, read through all our contracts and planning logs, and was able to immediately address the remaining needs. She set our minds at ease, assuring us that the day would unfold just as we had hoped. Kris' professional relationships with local vendors, in-depth knowledge of options to consider for turning a tent into a beautiful "outdoor ballroom", insight as to how to meet the needs of guests throughout the day, and capacity to design a wedding weekend itinerary (time schedule) with such amazing detail that everyone knew where they were to be and when, all combined to make for a day that seemed to flow effortlessly. On the day of the wedding Kris was accompanied by three other "MerryMakers", each dressed appropriately for a wedding, blending in with our guests but were "stealth workers" who just managed every transition, set-up/breakdown, and time-management detail without being noticed. Phenomenal. Finally, let me just comment on Kris' "people skills" and communication style. I know our daughter's wedding was not the only event on MerryMakers' agenda but Kris certainly made us feel as though it was by listening carefully to our vision, being proactive and eager to assist, offering words of encouragement and solutions whenever we hit a glitch, learning people's names and being personable with them in her dialogues, and being quick and responsive to all communications. I highly recommend Kris and her team! Thank you MerryMakers for a job exceptionally well done! With your services, this Mother-of-the-Bride kept her sanity and thoroughly enjoyed the day just like all of our family and friends. Who knew that was possible?! MerryMakers, 5 Stars!!

We hired Kris to provide recommendations for our wedding and provide day-of support. She was nothing short of awesome. Her recommendations were all great and made our day wonderful. She tied up many loose ends for us and kept the day relatively stress-free for everyone. There was no way we could have enjoyed the day as much as we did if we did not have her and we can't thank her enough. Would highly recommend for anyone planning a wedding in the area.

I am so happy that we decided to enlist Merry Makers services for our wedding in Charlevoix. Kris was incredible to work with from the very beginning. She was on top of everything and allowed me to leverage her help as much or as little as needed. She gave great advice on vendors, design, logistics and more. When the weekend came, I truly felt like I didn't need to worry that everything would happen as planned. She made sure our vision came to life and all of the guests commented on how easy we made it all look!