Real Wedding 2009 | Jan & Dan

Couple Jan & Dan, 6-12-09
Pearls Events service Event Planning
Photographer Amy Carroll Photography & Shutter Sam Photography
Florist Elements of Elegance
Ceremony Little Point Sable Stone Church
Officiant Captain Harry, friend
Ceremony Music Harpist Sylvia Norris
Reception Private Residence on Lake Michigan
Rentals Baker Tent Rental
Catering Ryke's
Beverage Service Seaway Party Store
Deejay Style Matters
Pastry Chef Morat's

We've been working with Jan & Dan for a year on their UpNorth Lake Michigan wedding. It all came together splendidly and was absolutely fabulous - one of my favorite events to date. Tara & I arrived at the adorable Little Point Sable Stone Church for rehearsal on Thursday afternoon. Afterward, we headed to Jan's parent's cottage to begin set up of the reception site.

The team from Baker Tent Rental had set up their pristine white tent, laid the entire floor plus dance floor, them Tara & I, plus many of the couple's friends, helped set the tables & chairs. While the wedding party & family enjoyed a beach side barbecue, Tara & I had Girl's Night at my family's cottage - we ordered a pizza and watched a couple of chick flicks. Talk about fun times at Silver Lake!

We arrived back on site Friday morning, set the linens & centerpieces, while their lighting team strung over a thousand cafe lights - which were exactly what we envisioned months ago. It turned out lovely and every time someone walked into the tent, they were amazed with the progress, as were we. Elements of Elegance arrived with the personal flowers around 12:30 - Dee totally outdid herself with the amazing peony bouquets and orchid corsages & boutonnieres.

The ceremony started right on time, and the harp music was provided by Harpist Sylvia Norris and it was beautiful - I love the harp and would highly recommend Sylvia if you're in the UpNorth region of Michigan. The ceremony was officiated by a friend, Harry Corbett, and it was short & sweet. Ooh, and funny - I love fun stories tied into the ceremony.

Guests made their way to the reception immediately following the ceremony and were greeted with cocktails from the Seaway bartenders and vegan hors d'œuvres from Ryke's. The wedding party joined cocktail hour shortly and everyone greeted the newlyweds into the reception for dinner around 6:30p. Jan & Dan thanked everyone for traveling to their wedding celebration by toasting to their guests. Ryke's served a almost-vegan dinner of Jan & Dan's favorite foods and the vegan cake, my first, was cut & served to guests. It was deliciously dense and scrumptious!

Spencer from Style Matters was on hand to provide the dance music all evening long and he did a fabulous job of mixing the tunes. It was hard to NOT get on the dance floor myself! Tara couldn't stop me from singing along while we cleared tables of empty glasses, napkins and cake plates before we hit the road home.

The day was incredible - not a cloud in the sky, perfect temperature and right on the shores of Lake Michigan. Look forward to a photo post from Amy Carroll in the coming days.