From staff reports
The national wedding magazine, The Knot, has named The Homestead resort north of Glen Arbor as the 2011 Best of Weddings pick among wedding venues nationwide.
The Homestead, as well as other northwest-lower Michigan wedding destinations including the Inn at Bay Harbor in Petoskey, Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville and Mission Point Resort and the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island were featured in a story today in the Grand Rapids Press. Here are excerpts from the story:
Northern Michigan is fast becoming a top site for destination weddings that bring wedding parties and guests together for weekend or weeklong festivities in one beautiful locale.
And the happy couples are adding their own unique elements to these special occasions. In one, the bride and groom took turns sawing a huge log by hand, symbolizing their first bit of teamwork as a married couple. At another wedding, an artist painted the beachside ceremony while it was taking place, a gift from the groom to his new wife. One couple lit a bonfire on the shore and hosted a s’mores party.
The Homestead offers several sites for picturesque wedding ceremonies and receptions for up to about 200 guests. The Leelanau County resort has seen huge growth in weddings along its private Lake Michigan beachfront since adding the mountaintop Bay Mountain — with views of Pyramid Point, Sleeping Bear Bay and the Manitou Islands — to its list of venues, as well as building Mountain Flowers Lodge and Camp Firefly, two event facilities. More than 60 weddings already are booked for May through October, said Barb Ellis, one of two wedding planners at the Homestead. Couples and guests come from all over the country, she said. More than 120 weddings are slated this summer at Mission Point, which can accommodate receptions for as few as two people to as many as 1,000 guests, said ZoAnn Andress, wedding sales manager.
“Our outdoor views of Lake Michigan are incredible,” said Homestead owner Robert Kuras, “but when someone’s big day arrives and the forecast isn’t cooperating, I’ve seen (our wedding planners and staff) move everything inside totally seamlessly and then move it back outside again when the sun starts to shine.”
The Glen Arbor Sun also published this story on July 17, 2008, about the three different settings The Homestead offers for destination weddings: Bay Mountain/Mountain Flowers Lodge, Camp Firefly and Café Manitou
In one, the bride and groom took turns sawing a huge log by hand, symbolizing their first bit of teamwork as a married couple.
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