Fairy-tale Weddings, Magical Settings at The Homestead

By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor
It’s been 17 years since I lived on Lake Street in Glen Arbor and cross-country skied to work at The Homestead. Since then, my career path has meandered almost as much as the Crystal River. And, though I moved just 25 driving minutes southeast of the resort, seven years have passed since I’ve visited The Homestead’s property to listen to musician friends perform at the former Whiskers pub (now Beppi’s).
So, you could say I was unprepared for what greeted me when I recently returned to tour the resort grounds. More than 70 upgrades have enhanced the property and doubled the staff size since I skated across a Village pond on my lunch hour in the early ‘90s.
Photo by Courtney Gonzalez/Priceless Photography

Among the newest features are The Homestead’s three wedding settings that, even with the last bricks yet to be laid, are already creating waves across the Great Lake states and sending ripples beyond.
Bay Mountain/Mountain Flowers Lodge … and Neptune Quartet
Arguably the most scenic of the three is atop Bay Mountain. Terraced seating for up to 200 amid lush lawn and attractive brick anchors the sweeping Lake Michigan lookout. Tall pines frame a ceremony site backlit by vast skies and overlooking blue waves and golden sand dunes. A nearby cocktail terrace offers panoramas of Glen Lake’s sparkling waters and green forests.
Perennial bachelors and the already-married can also experience these outstanding hilltop features on Sunday, July 20, when the Manitou Music Festival invites the Neptune Quartet to perform at Bay Mountain at the top of the ski hill, beginning at 7 p.m. Take the chairlift or ride in a passenger cart to the top of the mountain to enjoy magnificent scenery and original jazz compositions, plus favorites by Django Reinhardt, Frank Zappa and Hank Williams. Since 2001, the collaborative genius of cellist Crispin Campbell, mandolinist Don Julin, guitarist Angelo Meli and bassist Glen Wolff has delighted audiences. Tickets are $13 in advance and $16 at the door for Glen Arbor Art Association members and $15 and $18 for all others. To order tickets, visit www.glenarborart.org or call (231) 334-6112.
In case of rain, the concert will be held inside Mountain Flowers Lodge at the base of Bay Mountain in The Village. The banquet/meeting hall is the largest of the three reception sites with banquet seating for 180. Outdoor patios beckon guests waiting for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. A masterpiece of rustic elegance, the spacious interior glows with a rich pallet of color, massive pine beams, vaulted ceilings, candle flame-like lighting and prominent indoor and outdoor fireplaces embellished with hand-forged black iron. Window walls surround guests with forest, garden and waterfall views. A bride’s changing room is a standout among the many lodge amenities for weddings.
Camp Firefly
Located next to the resort’s Dave Pelz Scoring Game School for golfers, Camp Firefly provides an enchanting outdoor ceremony setting in spring, fall and winter. Sunny golf greens encircled by shady woods offer privacy. Garden pathways lead to the Adirondack-style Great Hall with banquet seating for 50. The interior radiates turn-of-the-century charm with wood walls and cathedral ceilings, exposed trusses, casement windows with views of lawn, trees and sky; stone fireplaces, leather furniture and antiques. An outdoor patio overlooks a delightful pond. The cozy camp offers cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and dinner service, inside and out.
Café Manitou
With its New England-style gray siding, white trim and candy-striped, lighthouse-like tower, Café Manitou at the Beach Club is The Homestead’s nautical landmark. Lovers who love surf, sand and sky can revel in the intimate, postcard-perfect wedding site between the tennis courts and the beach. Separate brick terraces accommodate the ceremony and celebratory cocktails following. A shore-side patio and deck accommodate 50 diners, and the café holds 50 for indoor receptions overlooking the lake.
Spa Amira
Wedding guests are apparently flocking to the former Hawk’s Nest pool and bathhouse, reincarnated as Spa Amira. They’re enjoying a sublime place to relax and primp that offers massage, manicures and pedicures for men, women and couples. Earth-friendly building materials, calm colors, dramatic lighting, local artwork and soothing music greet guests who step over the threshold. Outdoor features include a couple’s meditative garden with waterfall, labyrinth and two-sided fireplace; a grassy exercise area; hydro-pool and pool overlooking Lake Michigan and ringed by chaise lounge chairs for sunbathing; and elegant outdoor showers with luxurious towels.
Bachelor Parties for the New Millennium
The resort’s new “Lifetime Skills” programs offer fly-fishing lessons by Orvis (casting, fly-tying and selecting flies, learning catch-and-release techniques, using gear, learning stream entomology, etc.) and golf clinics using the Pelz method (two-day putting and wedge lessons or one-day sessions to learn the basics). “We’re finding that many are going away from the traditional drunken evening of strippers to a getaway weekend of golf or fly fishing,” said Jamie Jewell, Senior Manager of The Homestead. “With the Pelz and Orvis schools, that makes us a perfect option.”
Intrepid Guests Try Area’s Best
Though the resort offers an all-inclusive experience for guests, area attractions such as quaint villages, giant sand dunes, picturesque Glen Lakes, wonderful wineries and colorful taverns draw visitors off property to explore the county’s nooks and crannies. The Homestead’s Group Sales department refers guests to local places and vendors, not only for wedding planning, (florists, limo rentals, tux shops, musicians, photographers, candy makers, wineries, jewelers, etc.), but for family outings and corporate event planning, too.
“In addition to numerous wedding parties and large family reunions — some with nearly three hundred guests coming from all over the country — the Michigan State Bar Association … the National Trucking Equipment Association and other large, high-profile groups have already reserved space to host their annual events,” Jewell wrote in the resort’s winter newsletter.
This means that neighboring villages should expect a wave of new business this summer. An out-of-state customer in a local jewelry store recently said that she and her husband returned to the area for their summer vacation after attending a relative’s wedding at The Homestead in 2007. If her story is typical, the ripple effect has begun.