Before selecting GLCC for our reception, my fiance and I looked at St. John's Inn (Plymouth), Waterview Loft (Detroit Metro), and Cafe Cortina (Farmington Hills). We were pretty frustrated by the time we got to GLCC because all the options we h...ad seen were so inflexible. The menus were very standard and the decor was nothing special and, I don't know how to say this....there wasn't any room for creativity? When we walked into GLCC I was stunned by the decor. The outside of the building is very unprepossessing. When you walk in you enter a funky, urban oasis. The floors are finished cement, there are reclaimed wood walls, and hanging Edison light fixtures. The overall vibe is both industrial and very warm and welcoming. Then you meet Erika, their event planner. She is amazing, organized, flexible, helpful...everything you want in a planner. And, it may sound selfish, everything I wanted to do received a resounding "yes". Now, my requests weren't too crazy - I didn't bring in a live koi pond or anything - but I was able to hang things on the wall, move furniture around, bring in games, hang a disco ball...it was great!
I haven't even gotten to the best part: the food. Oh my word the food. THE FOOD. No iceburg lettuce and dry chicken here, although I'm pretty sure the the Executive Chef, Reva Constantine , could turn even that crap into something amazing. We started with a huge array of appetizers which, unfortunately, I only got a nibble of. We had some classics: bruschetta, mini chicken tostadas, and some fun twists: savory pop tarts, bang bang shrimp on jasmine rice. For the salad course we had a cabernet poached Bosc pear with field greens, Bleu cheese, dried cherries and bacon vinaigrette. For dinner we had filet mignon with mushroom risotto, lump crab cakes with lemon beurre blanc, and pork tenderloin with whipped sweet potatoes. I tried everything and it was wonderful and completely memorable. For dessert, we had an array of homemade doughnuts and pies and my husband and I had an apple bourbon cheesecake for our cutting. Oh my word, it was so good. I took the whole pie stand with the cheesecake and my hubby and our forks and we just hunkered down with it.
If you want a beautiful, fun venue, great staff, and epic food you have to go to Great Lakes Culinary Center.
PS - even the bathrooms are awesome.