They are not welcome at the reception/big party on Saturday, but they are welcome at any and all other events over the weekend. So if you want to bring them and find a sitter or something for them on Saturday, that works.
That is totally fine. We of course would like as many of y'all there for the whole long weekend, but do what you can do. It'll be great to see you regardless.
A wedding is often a fairly traditional ceremony followed by a few hours of eating decent food, drinking well, and dancing. There will be some of that for sure. But this is not a wedding. This is a Love Celebration. A celebration of not just the love that we share together as a couple but all of the love that we have in our lives, from you, for you. And a celebration of the love we have for Southwest Michigan, the love we have for Lake Michigan. This is a coming together of the most incredible crew of people maybe ever assembled. Old friends, family, and so many amazing new people to meet. Are you feeling hyped yet?! Goodness, so are we. To say out loud the love that we have for each other. And to hear from you why you love us. And tell you why we love you. So as you simmer in this excitement, we encourage you to think about why you are so excited to come celebrate our love. And consider over the course of the weekend, pulling Lily or Glenn or both of us aside, and telling us why you love us. Just casually over a beer at the brewery, sitting on the beach, or even in a written card. And we will reciprocate, express why we love you, in a special way. This is just one more way to celebrate the love in our lives. Here is the booklet we mailed all the guests for some important context, instructions, and details about each day - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m-h_eeYJFCH2BQFkfzTVQaWjBfgNMlqKR_lx-n7soZ4/edit?usp=sharing
Nice beach casual attire. Short sleeved button ups, khaki/linen pants, sandals, and summer dresses are very much welcome. Very important note: Immediately after we say “I do,” we are encouraging everyone that is comfortable and able, to stand up from their chairs and run into the lake with us. So yes, bathing suits are welcome at the ceremony or run in with whatever you are wearing up to wherever you are comfortable. Ankles, knees, or you can do the straight sprint into the water until it wipes you out and you go under. And if you simply aren’t comfortable getting into the water, no worries at all. Lily and Glenn will be running in with their full wedding attire one. For those that do get in the water, when you arrive to the ceremony, there will be a place for you to hang your nice clothes that you want to wear during dinner and dancing as well as a place to change before heading in to cocktail hour after the swim.
We are getting married on one of the most gorgeous and meaningful beaches in our lives. Glenn’s family has been coming here, camping and swimming, since he was a kid. The two of us have had endless great times on this beach over our 16+ years together. You CANNOT DRIVE directly to the ceremony/reception area. It's a public beach, and it will be popping on a summer Saturday. So there will be shuttle buses from the Bridgman City Hall parking lot leaving at 230pm Michigan time (5 min bus ride to the venue). There will be a bus for those staying at Lake Side Cabin Resort leaving at 2pm Michigan time. The ceremony starts at 3pm Michigan time. It will be 30 minutes long. The ceremony will be on the sand at the water’s edge.
It will be in the small venue on the beach, right behind where the ceremony is happening. Our guiding light for this party has been, yes, Love Celebration. But it also has been “A little DIY, a little bootleg.” Dinner will be a taco buffet. There will be excellent beer and plenty of drinks. For the toast, we’ll swap out champagne for Busch beer. Nice beach casual attire. Short sleeved button ups, khaki/linen pants, sandals, and summer dresses are very much welcome. We have 100 folks attending the wedding. Be ready to sit with mostly folks you don’t know during dinner. A chance to meet the outrageously cool people we have in our lives before getting out there to tear up the dance floor. The reception will be in a small building right on the beach, directly behind where we are having the ceremony. The shuttle buses will be available through the evening to bring people back to their cars when they are ready to leave. When the reception ends around 10pm, there will be a bus to bring folks back to the parking lot at City Hall as well as the cabins. There will be an optional afterparty back at Lake Time Brewery, which is right next to the parking lot in town. We have a bus that will hang out to bring any after party folks back to the cabins after an hour or two of afterpartying.
Heck yes! If you are comfortable and able, please do. Water, particularly Lake Michigan water, is very important and symbolic to us. For y’all Chicagolanders, that lake makes up more than 60% of our physical beings. We are doing the ceremony on the beach not necessarily because we love hot sand, but because we love the cool waters of Lake Michigan especially in the middle of August. And what could be more fun than the first thing for us to do as a married couple than to jump in the lake with a bunch of our loved ones? Sure the lake is a good backdrop but it's much more fun to indrop yourself. We love this lake, and want to celebrate it, and that too, is part of the Love Celebration.
A big reason we love Southwest Michigan is the lake, the nature, the beer. It is about as good as it gets. And this weekend is about bringing you all into our world, immersing you in one of our favorite places on Earth, and all of the glories of this place. Optional Nature Activities ~1030am - Galien River County Park in New Buffalo for a short, fairly easy hike to a marshy area. ~1pm - Weko Beach to swim and chill. Note - they are strict about no drinking on the beach so if you want to go for it, be very careful. After the hike and/or beach, take some free time to yourself to roam, chill, freshen up, even get some dinner or a beer in the area. We highly recommend the beer at Transient Brewery in Bridgman. Most food places up there you can’t go wrong. Lake Street Eats is a restaurant/bar next to Lake Time Brewery and has some decent food. Brewery Party ~7pm - Lake Time Brewery party in Bridgman from 7-10pm Michigan time. We’ll have some appetizer snacks and will buy everyone’s first drink. We have the back party room which opens up into a back alley. Remember, this party starts at 7pm Michigan time. So that is 6pm on Chicago time.
We of course wanted to stay the weekend somewhere that was a little more like camping, had a bit more of an outdoorsy feel. Plus, a bonfire hang was a must for this weekend. Bonfire Hang ~8pm - Lakeside Cabin Resort. We’ll gather round the fire from 8-1130pm Michigan time. There are about 30 or so folks staying in cabins here. For those that are not staying in cabins, but coming out on Thursday night for the bonfire, we'll give you access info for the gate and will have some parking spots available for you near the pool. The bonfire will be behind the Pinewood Lodge and next to the pool, right in front of cabin P26. We’ll have some snacks and plenty of hotdogs and vegan dogs with all the fixins along with s’mores. Wine, a nice cocktail, and cheap beer will be provided. Feel free to bring some beverages to share. And enjoy some good old fashioned time around the fire. Telling stories. Having laughs. Bring your own chair for around the fire if you can.
*All times are in Michigan time* Thursday, August 14 8pm - Bonfire at Lake Side Cabin Resorts Friday, August 15 1030am - Hike at Galien River County Park 1pm - Beach time at Weko Beach 7pm - 10pm - Party at Lake Time Brewery Saturday, August 16 230pm - Shuttles leave to reception from Bridgman City Hall (for folks staying at Lakeside Cabins - shuttle leaves from the cabins at 215pm) 3pm - Ceremony 330-10pm - Reception 1030-late - Afterparty at Lake Time Brewery Very important things to remember - All times are in Michigan time which is one hour later than Chicago time (7pm Michigan is 6pm Chicago) - There is no parking at the venue for guests. We have a shuttle that will drive you from a parking lot in town to the venue. You should be at that lot around 230pm on Saturday. For those staying in the cabins, we will have a shuttle bringing us from the cabins and back after the reception. - Wearing swim trunks or something you are cool with getting wet is encouraged at the ceremony. There will be space to hang your nice clothes during the ceremony. - Consider sharing with us why you love us at some point over the weekend.