Hey everyone!
I just got engaged on Friday night and while initially my fiance and I were going to wait until 2012 to get hitched, we simply don't want to wait that long and are hoping to get married August 6th, 2011.
This means we need to pin down our venues, like, yesterday. We've got our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices for our reception venue figured out, and hopefully when I call tomorrow I'll get our #1, The Gazebo in Warren.
We would love to get married on water, and the closest to us is Lake St. Clair. Does anyone know of good ceremony venues for Lake St. Clair, that have back-ups for rain? We've looked into the gazebo at Metro Beach, but it seems risky because there's no back up in case of rain, and we'd have to bring our own chairs, amps, and a generator.
What about Gino's Surf? Does anyone know if they do just ceremonies?
We're also thinking about the Victoria Wedding Chapel, but it can only seat 50 people, and our wedding party is probably around 100-150.
Any other ideas? How many people usually come to the ceremony anyways? Do a lot of people skip it?
If there's anything we're missing, like parks, or ANYTHING, please chime in! Right now we live in Texas and are planning from afar (Michigan is our home), so I'm relying on the internet, my mom, and pictures to help us out. Thanks!
Re: Ceremony ideas on Lake St. Clair?
There really aren't any back-up locations in case of rain.
We wanted to get married on the water as well until we spoke with someone who did. Remember that a) there aren't any locations with back ups, and b) the wind is about 10x what it is on the inland that day.
Personally we're going with George George Memorial Park in Clinton Township. It's a 34 acre park that includes a creek, pavilion, child playscape (good for fun pictures), fountain and bridal gardens location.
It's really lovely and while you could take pics outside if the weather's nice, you have an indoor option already. Here's the website:
http://www.whitehouseweddingchapel.com/
There's also Stoney Creek Metro Park, but again, they won't have an indoor option unless you get a tent.
As sinnedambition states, the winds near Lake St Clair can be quite strong regardless of the time of year.
There's the Beach Grill, not sure if you can use their patio for just the ceremony, website here. They do have a catering menu in case you change your mind about the Gazebo:
http://www.beachgrillrestaurantandresort.com/banquet.aspx
For $1500 you can rent the grounds on the Edsel & Eleanor Ford house
http://www.fordhouse.org/Site+Usage/Grounds+Usage-17.html
There is Veterans Memorial Park in SCS: http://scsparksrec.net/parksrec/parks/veterans.htm
I don't know about Gino's Surf, but you can ask.
There's also Mac & Ray's: http://www.macray.com/MacRay/banquet/
Good luck.