The Homestead 2018

$$27renee & chris==29

e homestead==12 STORY BY NICOLE WHITE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMY CARROLL PHOTOGRAPHY, AMYCARROLL.PHOTOGRAPHY

$$27renee & chris==29 RENEE BARONE & CHRIS BROOKS AUGUST 5, 2017

Renee and Chris were set up the old-fashioned way—by a mutual friend. The connection was before dating-app trends, and Chris wasn’t much for social media, so Renee’s Facebook stalking did little good prior to their first, basically blind, date. Hurrying along Chicago’s Milwaukee Avenue in 5-inch heels and a silk blouse, Renee called Chris to see how she would recognize him. He said, look for the White Sox jersey. She wasn’t impressed. And then she saw him: a bald, middle-aged, overweight guy wolfing down a hotdog. Just then, Chris stepped around the corner, laughing (and very nicely dressed). Renee says from that first date, she knew this was her guy.

Chris and Renee, who now call Chicago home, had both previously lived in NYC during the same timeframe, even running in the same circles, but had never met. With a shared love for comedy, they frequented the same NYC improv club—Upright Citizens Brigade (founded by Amy Poehler), where Chris performed and Renee went for a good laugh. Though the fates missed their cue in NYC, fortune smiled on them in Chicago, and after that first date stunt, Chris and Renee proved inseparable.

They knew they wanted a Northern Michigan wedding, where Renee’s connection runs deep. Back to the 1850s, in fact, when her family immigrated to Beaver Island. For the last 160 years, her relatives have continued to live on the remote Lake Michigan island, making it the perfect getaway for family vacations throughout her childhood.

Chris spent his college days in Northern California, and Renee went to school in the South, so friends and family were coming from all over the country. The destination wedding had to give everyone an unforgettable Northern Michigan experience, and water was a prerequisite.

Enter The Homestead. Renee, who had never before been on the grounds, chose the venue outright, recognizing there was nothing else like it: the expansive vistas nearby that take in the Glen Lakes and Lake Michigan, the incredible accommodations, and the myriad of resort amenities. The idea of wedding guests taking the ski lift up the mountain to the ceremony site to be greeted with a glass of champagne at the top was icing on the cake. And for the 140 guests—75 percent of whom had never been to Northern Michigan—the setting, including the Caribbean-blue of the water and the sheer size of Sleeping Bear Dunes, was nothing short of astounding.

The couple was married on the resort’s Bay Mountain—a stunning outdoor ceremony site that looks out over Lake Michigan. The couple’s eclectic love of music was reflected in the ceremony that featured The Moxie Strings as guests were seated, followed by covers of John Williams’s songs for the wedding party processional and Radiohead’s "True Love Waits" as the bride walked down the aisle. The Beach Boys, Velvet Underground and Kanye West rounded out the couple’s carefully crafted program before guests were treated to an après-ceremony cocktail hour atop Bay Mountain. As these were no conventional newlyweds, this was no ordinary cocktail hour. Taking advantage of the fact that The Homestead’s Mountain Flowers golf course runs along Bay Mountain, the couple took each other to the golf-hole game Closest to the Pin while their guests sipped and cheered.

And then it was all aboard The Homestead’s chairlifts to descend the hill to Mountain Flowers Lodge, located in the resort’s charming winter village. The Homestead’s chefs served a delicious plated dinner that kept everyone’s energy up for the nonstop full dance floor courtesy of DJ AB from Grand Rapids, who brought down the house (and got the fun-loving bride to crowd surf ).

10

mynorth.com/wedding

The maid of honor, Elizabeth Poindexter, assists the bride with her wedding dress—an Amsale-designed gown from Nordstrom that epitomized the bride’s effortless glamour. A solitaire-cut stone with channel diamonds set in a yellow gold band shows off a classic elegance. The bride and her mother sip sparkling rosé and enjoy the peaceful solitude outside their room at The Homestead before the ceremony. The couple exchanges vows they wrote themselves. BLOOM Floral Design uses an array of flora, including succulents, dahlias and roses among smoke bush foliage and plum ranunculus to create the vision for natural, organic décor.

wedding 2018

11

$$10classic==10

12

mynorth.com/wedding

$$27renee & chris==29

The bride and groom enter into some friendly competition with the Closest to the Pin game. Hundreds of candles, alongside the rustic wood centerpieces secured from Eastern Market in Detroit, allow the centerpieces to shine. The Homestead’s Mountain Flowers Lodge provides the perfect backdrop for the reception’s understated elegance. Renee and Chris dance to Beach Boys’ "God Only Knows."

resources

Ceremony Site | Top of Bay Mountain Reception Site | Mountain Flowers Lodge Photography | Amy Carroll Photography Flowers | BLOOM Floral Design Cake | Assorted Pastries provided by The Homestead Music | DJ Adrian Butler or DJ AB Hair & Makeup | Lilly Jade, a Salon

See more photos at MyNorth.com/HomesteadWedding

wedding 2018

13

Wedding Notebook The Homestead

Accommodations You’ll feel at home in one of our thoughtfully appointed guest rooms or enjoy the spaciousness of a privately owned condominium and exclusive setting of a vacation home. Stay in an historic Inn, a rustic retreat inside a modern, hilltop lodge or a romantic getaway nestled in the woods or on top of a lake-facing hillside. Choose a level of luxury that suits your mood and your means. We offer a seasonal range of rates, attractively priced packages and no minimum stays.

A ceremony at Bay Mountain

We invite you to visit a special place where generations of lovers have shared whispered promises, their faces caressed by Lake Michigan breezes, hearts touched by the vision of shimmering islands, souls stirred by watercolor sunsets over Sleeping Bear Bay and the world’s largest moving sand dunes. Here, at The Homestead, you’ll feel waves of emotion wash over you, as you discover the most wonderfully romantic and luxuri-

A suite at Little Belle

ous setting for your destination wedding. We’ve borrowed nature’s gifts to create three wedding venues with unmatched natural beauty. Each promises a succession of memorable moments you’ll treasure forever.

To learn more, we invite you to call us. We will send you information filled with wonderful photos and warm reviews from recent brides. And, we will invite you to come for a visit. When you do, you’ll see that your perfect wedding, like your love, can begin with a look and a touch.

Catering

We’ve carefully paired our menus with our wedding settings, creating cuisine that complements your style. To award-winning local wines, fresh food from local farms and pastries made from “scratch” in our kitchens, we add sparkling table settings and expert service from unassuming staff. These are The Homestead’s ingredients for fabulous dining on the most important day of your lives.

Event Facilities

Destination Services

Mountain Flowers Lodge

Almost touching the sky, and fresh as the flowers that scent its terraces, Bay Mountain offers panoramic views of majestic Lake Michigan, Glen Lake and the Manitou Passage.

Guests of up to 180 can be seated here for a ceremony followed by a cocktail reception on another beautiful terrace.

When it’s time to dine and dance, we’ll whisk you and your groom from the peak to the valley below where you’ll find Mountain Flowers Lodge surrounded by country gardens and a sparkling waterfall. This timbered great hall seats up to 180 guests.

A bouquet’s throw from the beach, Café Manitou inspires Thoreau-like vows in an intimate, shoreside setting with endless blue views of lake and sky. Outdoor brick terraces welcome up to 50 guests, and an adjoining bistro accommodates the same.

Camp Firefly captures the charm of the north woods, inside and out. Celebrate your day with up to 90 guests on a landscaped patio overlooking a pond, surrounded by a lush lawn, friendly forest and wildflowers, then dine in the rustic Great Hall of an Adirondack-style lodge set beside a waterfall and pond.

Café Manitou Ceremony

Café Manitou

You and your guests will spend each carefree moment enjoying the resort’s many amenities while surrounded by the beauty of nature. Beach. Pools. Tennis. Golf. Kayaks.

Fitness facilities. Ski runs and trails. “Men enjoy “swinging” bachelor parties at Manitou Passage Golf Club or Mountain Flowers golf course.” Ladies find bliss at Spa Amira, overlooking Lake Michigan, offering therapeutic massage, and lighthearted fun for bridesmaids around a spa pool. Then, bathed in natural light beside Lillyjade Salon's reflecting pool, their locks will be coiffed and colored, their nails and toenails luxuriously buffed for the Big Day. You can welcome your guests with a beachfront bonfire–S’mores and sunsets are included! Your rehearsal dinner, family get-togethers and wedding party luncheons can include sophisticated restaurant soirees or picnics to go. And, you can send your guests home with a bon voyage brunch.

Wood Ridge Road Glen Arbor, MI 49636 231-334-5000 231-334-5300 Events Phone thehomesteadresort.com

Camp Firefly

Camp Firefly

Event Coordinators Barb Ellis and Lynzie Gotshall

Event Rooms 3

Reception Capacity Up to 180

Guest Rooms 225

Choose One. You won’t be wrong.

Shhh…

We’ve quietly created unique new sites for weddings and sites receptions that are spectacular in any season of the year.

We’ve quietly created stylish new for weddings and receptions.

They meld the majesty of Lake Michigan with the beauty of Leelanau.

They blossom in the spring, shine in the summer, color in the fall, and sparkle in the winter. And, Choose one…flavors will swirl, wines will sparkle and your day, they meld the majesty of Lake Michigan with the beauty of Leelanau. your perfect day, will be made.

eptions. eelanau. r day, weddings Choose weddingsand andreceptions. receptions. th the beauty ith the beautyof ofLeelanau.

Leelanau. ll sparkle will sparkleand andyour yourday, day, emade. made.

rst sight. first sight.

your season ... wines will flow, flavors will swirl, and your day, your perfect day, will be made.

Come see. It’ll be love at first sight.

Shhh…

We’ve quietly created stylish new sites for weddings and receptions.

They meld the majesty of Lake Michigan with the beauty of Leelanau.

Choose one…flavors will swirl, wines will sparkle and your day, your perfect day, will be made.

Come see. It’ll be love at first sight.

34.5000

esort.com 231.334.5000 sort.com || 231.334.5000

Glen Arbor, MI 49636 | thehomesteadresort.com | 231.334.5000 Glen49636 Arbor, MI|49636 | thehomesteadresort.com | 231.334.5000 Glen Arbor, MI thehomesteadresort.com | 231.334.5000

8 PICK 201