Northern Michigan Destination Wedding

Rosie Haney
June 27, 2014
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog

Exotic locales are always fun, but a change of scenery can also be closer than you think. Take this Chicago couple who decided to hold their nuptials at The Bay Harbor Yacht Club in northern Michigan. The result was a stunning and laid-back getaway for them and their guests. Weber Photography was there to captured some lovely moments, and make sure to catch the video from Epic Motion at the end.

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Religious Institution Yacht Club

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From The Bride…Jay proposed the day he and I moved in together. There were moving boxes everywhere and one of the boxes held the ring. I had no idea until I saw him get down on one knee in the kitchen. Our engagement was a little over a year before our big day.

The vision of our wedding came from 3 places: attending countless friends and families’ weddings, hundreds of visits to StyleMePretty.com and the help of our talented, professional vendors. Jay and I attended 9 beautiful weddings the year prior to ours and found that our true excitement and passion would be memorable food, a band that could keep the dance floor full all night and a talented team that could capture our special day.

Jay had spent his childhood vacationing in Northern Michigan and we both really found that area special. Although we live in a great city, we wanted a wedding location away from home that was fun, laid-back with a sophisticated vibe, surrounded by nature, water and sunset views. Picking Northern Michigan came naturally after we visited the Bay Harbor Yacht Club and the charming town of Charlevoix. The Bay Harbor Yacht Club view provided ambiance, class and an amazing outside terrace to enjoy cocktail hour and a Northern Michigan sunset. As an extra bonus it was away from a big city, traffic and crowds, which gave it a ‘destination-like’ feel without getting out your passport and still feeling homey.

We made the drive from Chicago on Thursday along with almost all of our guests to take full advantage of the luxury of time and a full weekend with our friends and family. On Friday, the men had a golf tournament while the ladies went to brunch, spa and relaxed at the hotel pool with live music. The wedding party reconnected at the rehearsal dinner that night to prepare for the wedding on Saturday. We were married by our priest who made the 7 hour drive from Chicago. It was very special to have a piece of home with us. Saint Mary’s was very inviting and helpful to allow us to bring our own priest.

The ballroom was a charming, open, bright space. We created a warm, romantic, inviting atmosphere by using whites, grays, metallic, and metals with a slightly rustic and eclectic look. I love mixing mercury glass and metallic with different candelabras heights, bowls and candles.

Our flowers were blush pink and ivory garden roses, with eucalyptus, white anemone, dusty peonies, hydrangeas, white freesia with a touch of accents of greenery. StyleMePretty provided our inspiration to layer gray linens with lace. Our wedding planner and florist helped us find an amazing, fun, chic sequence linen to use for the highboy tables around the dance floor.

For a special touch we got 8 huge balloons for fun props in our wedding party pictures. The balloons were also a hit with the kids! At the reception we had an interactive candy station and late night food which was a lot of fun. Everyone got to create their own candy goodie bag for their drive home the next day. The wine and food was handpicked and created with local vendors. The catering team and head chief used all local food and produce which we loved supporting local vendors.

We had an amazing wedding weekend and loved every minute of it. Our vendors were truly talented professionals that I would recommend over and over. They made planning from a long distance a piece of (wedding) cake!