The wedding for our daughter and son-in-law, was held at your Crystal Center ballroom on July 8, 2017 for approximately 150 attendees. Prior to that, we met several times with two people, initially with Carmen Kott, the person responsible for r...ental of the properties used, and then turned over to Stephanie Gray, the person who helped us with the wedding plans. Our wedding was held outside at "The Pond", and it was a perfect day for it. We contracted with Pastor Gene Houghton, who is also the full time Supervisor of setting up the banquet rooms, chairs, tables, etc., so his help was extraordinary, and it was very helpful to have him as the officiant as well as set up supervisor.
We were kept informed of all the important stuff initially by Carmen, and then worked even more closely with Stephanie Gray. We really appreciated how knowledgable Stephanie was, and she really jumped in to help coordinate signs for us and was always there before the event and even through the event, just making sure everything was to our expectations. She was a gem to work with!
Sharren Williamson was the lady in charge of the wait staff, and finishing of the dining area, and she was just the type of person we enjoy working with, as she was very detail oriented, and it went off perfectly. We had great subcontractors also, Cindy and her husband Ed from Sweet Seats did a terrific job decorating halls, chairs, sidewalls, ceiling of the event center, and quickly answering all our concerns throughout the planning stages. She gave us a great discount which we really appreciated, and was worth every penny. Jenna, from Victoria's Floral in Benzonia, also did a terrific job of arranging all the flowers and accents for the tables, and all the stands and ferns that just made the look perfect, including the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets. Everyone mentioned how wonderful they all looked and the assortment of flowers and colors was amazing. Again, the pricing for all her work was acceptable and worth every cent. The cake was made by Jennifer Dontz or Sugar Delights in Manistee, and she is a national award winning cake decorator who we have used for years. The cake was one of a kind and tasted wonderful, again priced very reasonably.
This is our second event here, with the first experience for us being 17 years ago for our older daughter. We were very happy to see that the quality of the service to us had not lessened, and in fact had been upgraded. There are so many areas for us to mention, such as the shuttle service provided from the pond to the parking and event centers all night, and the dedicated space your staff marked off in the parking area for our guests, also signs directing them to the parking area and that shuttle service was being provided to them. Also, the cleanup at the end went smoothly, with Sharren again taking charge of her staff and packing up the leftovers for us to take home. The food was also great, everyone complimented us on the hors d'ourves and the meal, including the sundae bar and pizza which were served later in the evening. Sharren's staff also boxed up left over wedding cake and we made it available in boxes to go at the end of the event. Owner of the resort, Jim McGinnis, also mentioned to me that this was one of the nicest weddings he had seen there, and was very impressed with how everything looked and felt. It couldn't have been any better for us.