Since my last blog post, I received a lot of questions about how to orchestrate a beautiful destination wedding in an area like Saugatuck.

The fact of the matter was that we live in Chicago and the majority of our guests would be coming in from all over the country (and actually a few from other countries!)– so having our wedding a few hours from Chicago turned out not to be a big deal.   It was also central enough for our Midwest immediate family members. And, most of our guests chose to turn our wedding into a mini vacation prior to the new school year, too.

As most couples do, we started out our wedding planning with a wedding budget. After evaluating locations and what we could get for our dollar, we found that we could stretch our budget to host our guests over four days vs. the traditional one-day event.  Of course, it helped that our friends contributed the venues for both the wedding day and the Sunday Bloody Mary brunch.  But, even if you don’t have generous and location-friendly friends like ours, you can still accomplish a lot for a wedding in the Saugatuck area.    Beautiful venues such as the Belvedere have  created gorgeous, turn-key events at a fraction of the cost you would pay in a big city like Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, or Detroit.

For us, we enjoyed our own creativity we were able to infuse into the planning process– getting inspired by friends who had done it before, social media outlets like weddings on Pinterest, and wonderful local businesses such as The Rental Company in Holland, MI.

One of our favorite parts of our weekend was having a place to call home. A place we could relax and enjoy ourselves– but also host visitors for a welcome BBQ.  We created Randolph and Water Place with wedding couples in mind: a cozy, yet well-appointed place that is central to all the action.  It is also relaxing enough to escape the wedding festivity craziness.  Think about it: a fully furnished and equipped home to call your wedding HQ that costs about the same as an impersonal hotel room, and is much more intimate than even the most lovely B and B.

If you’re thinking about a regional, destination wedding, I urge you to consider the Saugatuck area. If you want more inspiration, check out the Weekend Guide we provided our guests in their welcome bags.  And, as always, I welcome your feedback and/or questions!

Ready to book your stay?  Here is a link  with all the details.