Wedding Venue Near Grand Rapids, Michigan

Forty five minutes west of Grand Rapids, out where the Kalamazoo River runs through evergreen woods and fruit orchards, you'll find a white chapel that's stood since 1889. Close enough that your city guests can drive out for the afternoon. Far enough that the whole day feels like yours.

For plenty of our couples, that drive is the best part. You leave the city behind, the orchards open up, and by the time you reach us the day already feels like a proper occasion. We host one wedding a day. Yours. Up to 110 guests, with the ceremony, the reception, the getting ready and somewhere soft to sleep, all in the same place.

Forty five minutes from Grand Rapids, and the whole day is yours

Grand Rapids has beautiful places to marry, and you'll enjoy touring them. Exposed brick, rooftop views, marble ballrooms, and a walkable city with forty-odd breweries in it.

What we offer is a different kind of day. You get a whole private property rather than a floor of a building. You get 45 to 50 parking spaces right outside the door. You get your ceremony, your dinner and your dancing in one place, and a bed at the end of it. Couples who marry here usually land somewhere between $12,000 and $25,000 all in, which leaves more of your budget for the parts your guests will remember.

And you get quiet. Harder to put a price on, far easier to remember afterwards.

A wedding venue built for 110 guests

The city gives you room for two hundred guests and more, and if that's your wedding, wonderful. Ours is built for 110, and we love that size.

It's the size where you'll actually speak to everyone who travelled to see you. Where dinner doesn't need a seating chart the size of a spreadsheet. Where the room feels full rather than echoing. Plan for roughly 15% of your list not making it, since that tends to be the pattern.

We restored the building rather than replacing it. The stained glass is original to 1889, and so are the wood floors and the hymn board. The bell still hangs in the tower, and you're welcome to ring it once you're married.

What your rental includes

One rental gives you the whole property, not a room inside it.

     •  The chapel, with its ceremony chamber, entry hall and kitchen

     •  Your ready room, with sofas, lit mirrors, an efficiency kitchen and a full bathroom

     •  The grounds, wheelchair accessible throughout

     •  The reception tent, which holds up in weather

     •  The fire pit, in season

     •  Tables, chairs and linens, round and rectangular both

     •  A full kitchen: fridge, stove, sink, dishwasher

     •  45 to 50 parking spaces

Bring your own licensed caterer and bar service, or work from the vendor list we've built up over the years. You won't hit a food and beverage minimum, and you won't hit a guest count minimum either. You'll never share the day with a second wedding, because we only ever book one.

And if the thought of your family stacking chairs at midnight tires you out already, add our walk-away fee for $300 and simply leave when the night ends.

Bringing your Grand Rapids guests out, and where they'll stay

Your drive out runs about forty five minutes on good roads, and it's a pretty one once you're past Hudsonville. Set your ceremony for mid-afternoon and none of your guests has to leave the city before lunch.

We keep two apartments on the property that sleep up to seven between them, included with our inclusive package and available as an add-on for the overnight micro package. You'll find short-term rentals within a few miles, and Saugatuck, Douglas, and Holland all have hotel rooms within about twenty-five minutes.

If your family is flying in, Gerald R. Ford International sits on the far side of Grand Rapids, so build the drive into their day. Book an overnight package and you'll have the property from the day before, which takes the rush out of decorating and rehearsal entirely.

One friendly tip from hosting these for years: sort out how everyone gets home before the night arrives. Book a shuttle, or point your guests at the rooms nearby, and you'll enjoy the last hour far more for having thought about it early.

Making a weekend of it

Guests coming out from Grand Rapids often turn the wedding into a couple of days on the lakeshore:

     •  Oval Beach at Saugatuck, twenty minutes from us and regularly named among the country's best

     •  Saugatuck Dune Rides, forty minutes and genuinely good fun

     •  Fenn Valley Winery, with a tasting room and award-winning wines

     •  Kayaking the Kalamazoo, with Water Trail Ventures about 500 feet from the chapel

     •  Salt of the Earth and Root, both in downtown Fennville, minutes from us

Elopements and smaller celebrations

Want the chapel without the whole wedding? Our elopement package runs two hours for up to 50 guests, and it gives you the chapel, your private bridal suite and a professional officiant. Add hours if you need them. We run elopements Monday through Thursday from April to October, and any day of the week from November through March.

We host vow renewals, commitment ceremonies, family gatherings and dinner parties as well. It doesn't have to be a wedding at all.

What it costs

Couples who marry here usually work with a total wedding budget somewhere between $12,000 and $25,000, depending on your guest count and who you hire. We'd rather share that up front so you can plan around it.

We ask for a third of the rental to hold your date. Booking within four months of the day? Then we ask for two thirds. The rest falls due two months out, along with proof of one-day liability insurance. Cash, check or credit card, whichever suits you.

Come and see it

Make the drive out once and you'll know within ten minutes. We publish every open date on our website and we keep it current. Book a tour whenever suits you, or RSVP to an open house and walk the grounds with nobody selling you anything.

Love big, celebrate small. We'd be glad to host you.

Frequently asked questions