A Great Lakes island, miles of dirt-bike trails and a kicked back event all spelled wedding bliss for Kat and Mike at Drummond Island Resort & Conference Center.
A Rustic Drummond Island Wedding …
Kat Pothoof & Mike Thompson // August 16, 2019
Kat and Mike were on a dirt biking mini-vacay on Drummond Island, the stunning Lake Huron island that sits just off the Upper Peninsula coast, when they looked at each other and said: “Why don’t we get married here?” So they did.
As far as the couple was concerned, the choice for an Up North destination wedding was a no-brainer. The island, with its 150 miles of shoreline is rustic romance incarnate. Well, and then there’s those miles of ATV and ORV trails that made Mike’s heart flutter …
They chose as their wedding venue the Drummond Island Resort and Conference Center. The four-season gem on this island is made up of a northwoods log lodge outfitted with 40 hotel-style rooms, 15 stand-alone cabins and 2,000 acres of forest and shoreline. That all added up to plenty of accommodations for a destination wedding of 85 guests—all of whom were thrilled to head to tiny DeTour, Michigan, and take the short-but-sweet car ferry ride to the island to combine their celebration of the couple with a true Up North adventure.
Kat can’t say enough about the resort’s sales and catering staff who helped the couple plan every step of their wedding weekend. Since the wedding was on a Friday (Kat says that she and Mike figured it would be best to get the wedding out of the way so everyone could let their hair down and play for the rest of the weekend!), festivities began Thursday evening with a cookout at a cabin Mike’s parents had rented—anyone who’d made it to the island by then was invited.
The ceremony the next evening was held on the Martini Deck, an outdoor venue located on the beach that seats 200+ and faces west (sunsets!). The Brooder House, also owned by the resort, just steps away housed the reception that was as relaxed and one-of-a-kind as this couple. While Kat and Mike posed for pictures, guests played cornhole, washers and other yard games. For dinner they all dined on a strolling buffet that included pulled pork sliders—and no one could resist the mashed potato bar that, as Kat describes, “had every condiment you could ever think of.”
2Bays DJs from Traverse City got the reception hopping right from the couple’s jazzy-rock first dance, “Fool in the Rain,” by Led Zeppelin. Dance timeouts were around the bonfire behind the house (and under the Milky Way) where a s’more bar was waiting. As the evening wound down, the resort staff set up a mini taco bar. Tired but ecstatic, the newlyweds retired to their own cabin—while their wedding party partied it up (safely, no driving!) at another cabin.
Saturday? Kat golfed with some of the couple’s friends and family at the resort’s 18-hole championship golf course, The Rock, while Mike and his buddies took to those dirt bike trails. The rest of the weekend was happily-ever-after for the couple and their guests!
Northern Michigan Wedding Resources
Venue and Catering // Drummond Island Resort & Conference Center
Photographer // Rockhill Studio
Wedding Planner // A Lovely Day Events
Flowers // Sweetwater Floral
Music // 2Bays DJs