The Perfect Location
The most important detail to us from our wedding day was the location. We got married on the lawn of my Aunt and Uncle’s home on the most beautiful lake up in Northern Michigan. I had spent a few weeks of each summer up at Walloon Lake since I was in high school. I had always imagined having my wedding there.
Just a few years ago, Tyler joined me up in Michigan for a summer and fell in love with it also. When my family offered up the idea of having our wedding there after the engagement, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity of getting married in one of our favorite places. Also, we couldn’t wait to share Northern Michigan and all of it’s beauty with all our family and friends.
We had a total of 95 guests, most of which flew all the way from California to join us in celebrating such a special day. It was the perfect location and the perfect size for an intimate lakefront backyard wedding!
Wedding Help
Because we were planning this wedding from California, we received a lot of help from family who lived a bit closer.
My cousin built the beautiful bar, corn hole boards, and giant Jenga out of pallet wood. My uncle made the Birchwood arch and easel. My best friend and I worked together to watercolor and create the wedding stationery. My mom and dad cut and stained all the wood before I painted the signage and table numbers. Another one of my cousins was in charge of the firework show before sending us off. The awesome band we had was a friend of my Aunt’s family. All in all, the details of the wedding we will remember most are the ones that we had help with from family members and friends.
The Flowers
The wedding flowers and greenery were very important to me. I wanted mostly greenery with an organic feel to all bouquets and floral arrangements. The first time I spoke with the florist from Pontius Flowers, I told her what I envisioned and Jamie made it all come to life!
Wedding Pies
Tyler and I love pie so that’s what we had! We picked out a number of flavors from a local bakery and a sweet neighbor on the lake made some of her famous raspberry pies, too! For our traditional guests who wanted us to have a cake to cut, we had a small semi-naked white wedding cake filled with raspberry filling.
It was not the easiest task planning a wedding 2500 miles away from where we were living at the time. The three-hour time difference proved to be pretty challenging, as well. I found myself having to wake up super early in the mornings to call vendors before heading to work. Although it was more work planning a destination wedding at a non-venue location, we loved how everything turned out!
The entire weekend was a fun celebration for all our family and friends who made the trip. The weather was perfect the entire weekend so we spent our days leading up to the wedding outside, enjoying boating and swimming in the lake. As soon as all of our friends and family arrived, they immediately understood why we chose such a fun location!
Get a closer look at this Boho Chic lakeside wedding by watching the wedding video from Gabby Hulst Storytelling below.
Budget Breakdown
Apparel (Wedding Dress, Veil, Shoes) 2,140.71
Rentals 2,284.30
Catering 6,575.00
Dessert Table 408.92
Music 2,537.54
Decorations 1,220.38
Flowers 1,898.00
Photography 2,525.00
Videography 2,500.00
Printing/Stationery 751.02
Other Expenses 5,880.56
Total Expenses 28,721.43
Planned Budget: $25K
Actual Budget: $29K
Number of Guests: 95
