Northern Michigan Wedding Help Needed Loading Looking for help in planning a "cheap" Northern Michigan wedding. Let me tell you what I'm looking for and then people can respond. My fiance and I have been married before. I had the "traditional wedding" where he just went to the court house. He wants something more than what he had the first time and I want something less. We completely agree in the middle range which is wonderful. It is really important, to him, that his dad is there. If it wasnt' for that then we would definately just elope. (BTW...I absolutely love his dad!! He is a gem!) Having said that, we both want an outdoor wedding on the beach preferably. If not the beach, then in a gazebo with a beautiful natural backdrop. I can't think of any place better than in Northern Michigan, the UP or Mackinac Island; of which, I have never been to any of those location but would like to. I'm going to wear a nice dress, not a gown, and he is going to wear dress pants and an appropriate shirt, not a suit or tux. There will be a total of 6-8 people including us. Obviously, I don't want to spend a lot of money on this part of the day. I figured a $100-$300 for officiant and location. I have yet to find anything that is willing to accomodate such a small group. The next dilema is the food. Of course I would like to provide a lunch or a dinner for our guests. With as small as it is, you would think we should just go to a restaurant but I would like something a little more private than that. Everything that I have seen states there is a 25 person minimum for service. Which, even if 25 people aren't there, you have to agree to pay for that amount. I understand people need to make money, and their needs to be a profit in it for them, but I am not able to pay for the additional costs of "empty guests" just to secure food for the day. Does anyone know of a location that is willing to work with a small group? I have tried to research some "elopement packages" with no success. I don't need to rent a hall. We aren't having a DJ. Just someplace a little more intimate and private for my small group. Another option that I have looked at is going to a B&B for everything. Ceremony, lunch or dinner, and then John (finace) and I stayin the weekend. If could find something that was all inclusive, that would be wonderful. So far, I have found one location but the bottom line rate was $2100 off season and $2700 peak season. And the survey say........bzzzzzz.....wrong answer. Yes, that is well over budget for anything we can afford. As for other amenities, I'm not going to hire a photographer. I'm depending on the attendants to take lots of pictures. I do want to have a wedding cake, but for only 6-8 people, it will be small. As for when we were planning we are flexible to our dates. Our ideal date would be 05.28.11 because 5 is Johns number and 28 is mine. Works perfectly. If there is something else that would work out better, we are willing to adjust accordingly. We have been trying to get married for the last two years. Two years ago, we were planning our wedding at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. OMG we were so excited. I was just about to cut a check and was informed, three months before our wedding, that they could no longer accomodate small groups. (at that time we had planned on 25 people.) Instead, we had to secure and pay for at least 50 people. My heart sunk as we didn't have the funding for the additional 25 people. With an appology, and some free tickets to attend the festival, our wedding plans were ruined. I couldn't secure anything in such a short time. After many tears, and exhausted hours of looking for another venue, we both talked and decided to wait till the following year. We knew what we wanted and we wanted it to be perfect. So we started planning for the following year; again at the MRF. The following year, in January of 2010, I was layed off. I didn't think it would take that long to find employment but it did; nine months to be exact. Needless to say, with the uncertainty of employment, we postponed our wedding once again. Ugh!! So here we are. The third year of planning and wanting to get married. They say "third times charm" and I hope they are right. So please, if anyone has any knowledge of locations or places that will be willing to accomodate in the northern/UP/Mackinac areas, please respond. We reside in southern Michigan and like I said, I've never been to anyplace further than Lewiston, MI. Our budget is small given the circumstances. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Oh my, are blogs allowed to be the size of a novel? I just realized how long this was. Oops. I look forward to the responses. Thank you in advance!!