Glen Arbor & Sleeping Bear Dunes Area Help!

patriciamfox

Okay..... I grew up going to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and it holds a place in my heart.  I have been trying to find information about having wedding ceremonies and receptions in the area but the only thing I found so far is the Homestead which wouldn't work for me.  I would be having somewhere around 100 people about... give or take. 

Can anyone give me any suggestions for weddings in Sleeping Bear Dunes area?

I would love to get married by the lake if I could figure that out... but it would also mean having a back up plan for bad weather! Also - it would mean figureing something out so I could even have a wedding on the lake.

JMzzr

Went through the same thing trying to find a place for our wedding this summer...we actually ended up at the Frog Pond Village which is very nice, but not waterfront. The National Park will let you do a wedding on the lakeshore, but they have a lot of restrictions (very limited seating, no speakers, area stays open to the public)... We thought of renting a vacation rental on the water and setting up on their land...this is very tricky and more expensive than you'd think (plus very few property owners are OK with this)...If you have a decent size budget, check out Orchestrated Grace (http://hitchingpostphoto.com). There is a helpful wedding coordinator named Chandra who has relationships with lakefront property owners...ultimately it was out of our price range, but it may work for you!

kate u

We coordinated and planned a wedding at "The Manor" the grounds were beautiful, the food was great, and my company brought in the decor to make everything work.  They have waterfront property across the street on the Lake.  Send me an email at kate@ele3events.com if you want more information.

l_powers63

We did a ton of looking up there and have decided on the Snow Moon Ranch in Maple City.  The owner has been wonderful so far!  It isn't directly on the lake though, it's up in the hills and overlooks the Glen Lakes and the dune climb.  It's a llama and alpaca ranch so it's a little different than the typical (but super beautiful!).

We also looked at Sunrise Landing which is on Lake Michigan in Northport.  We started talking w/ them before they paired up with Orchestrated Grace (mentioned in another post I believe) but when they became exclusive w/ Orchestrated Grace we didn't want to do it.  However, if you were planning on using a planner the property was nice and I think 100 people would fit.  It's a small motel on Lake MI with a big lawn that opens up to the lake.

Another spot we looked at was the Alberta Lighthouse (sorry, I don't know if I have that spelling right) it's a lighthouse transformed into a reception site (I think you can also have ceremonies there if you wanted to do it all in the same spot) but that is right on Lake Michigan.

I think the Cottonwood Inn (in Empire maybe?) does some weddings there but I'm not sure; we have a bit larger of a group (250+) and I think I remember thinking they wouldn't be able to fit everyone but for 100 it might work.  I never went and looked at that one though.

I didn't know the Manor had weddings there (we ate dinner there once to test them out for our rehersal dinner and it was fine), it's across the street from one of the Glens.

If I think of anymore I'll be sure to post.  Enjoy the planning!