Real Wedding | A Summer Michigan Wedding

I just love this sweet northern Michigan wedding sent in from Bryan and Mae! All the bright summer details are so fun and personal! I especially love all the vintage china the bride collected, it makes such a difference to a table and adds so much character.

The beautiful bride Amanda shares:

Since Colin and I met we spent our summers camping in Michigan! And as a child Colin spent his summer’s on Old Mission Peninsula. So naturally when we got engaged we spent months searching all over Michigan for the perfect place to celebrate with our family and friends. We wanted the venue to be a place that expressed Colin and I as a couple and a place we could share with our family and friends! After months of searching and not quite finding the perfect place, we remembered the obvious; Old Mission. Bower’s Harbor Inn Estate was one of the options on Old Mission. When we toured the venue we knew it was exactly what we were looking for! From the picturesque and intimate setting to the inventive menu! One of the coolest parts of all was Colin grew up eating dinner at Bower’s in the summer and his grandparents house was just minutes from the location! Keeping a family tradition alive and introducing the tradition to my family! It was the perfect way to blend our family together!

We were truly lucky that Colin’s mom has a background in graphic design. She helped us create all the paper for the wedding with a designer that works at her company. Because she helped us design the paper we were able to contribute so much more in the design process and have them customize the paper for us! We took the pictures from our engagement photo shoot, done by Bryan and Mae, and used them as our table numbers. Colin’s mom made them match our Save the Dates, to have continuity with all the paper throughout the wedding. Another fun thing Colin’s mom created was our guest book. We wanted something fun and different for the guestbook, so Colin found some mad libs he wanted to have friends and family fill out at dinner. Colin’s mom then took them and made them match the style of our invitations. The day after the wedding Colin and I enjoyed reading through what everyone wrote! After the wedding we made a scrapbook out of the table numbers and the mad libs, it is a great way to remind us of our special day.

The most personal part of our whole day was the ceremony which my stepfather officiated. Because of our close relationship he was able to make the ceremony so special and share with our family and friends what makes Colin and I such a great fit! Although it was completely nerve-racking it was important to Colin and I to write our own vows. Reading our vows to each other was so touching, and our wedding day wouldn’t have been the same without them! One of my biggest pieces of advice for other brides would be to not forget about the ceremony, as that’s the whole reason you have the wedding in the first place.

We strived to have everything incorporated into our wedding to be personal and have some memory or reason for being there. When we first got engaged I told my mom I wanted hydrangeas everywhere, a collection of antique china on all the tables, and three cut glass vases on each table! Therefore I spent months searching antique stores with my mother and sister for many different China patterns and cut glass vases. On our wedding day, when I saw all the china and vases put together in the room on our wedding day reminded me of all the memories shopping with my mother and sister.

Colin and I live in Chicago and love exploring fun local restaurants with our friends! So food was especially important to us! Aside from the gorgeous landscape, we were drawn to Bower’s Harbor because of the food. We wanted our guests to leave full and impressed by the food. All of the food served during the cocktail hour and dinner was brought in from local farms in Michigan; and was fresh and delicious. In addition all the spirits were made at Bowers and were infused with herbs, vegetables and fruits; and the wine was made at their very own winery! Colin and I are a fun couple at heart, and one of the ways this was represented through the funfetti cake made by Cake Connection TC. We also brought Colin’s favorite doughnuts from Kansas City, Fluffy Fresh, to make a doughnut cake! My mother and sister created a candy bar filled with our favorite candies to keep the kids happy and it also provided extra decoration for the reception!