Download the full version of this feature including all the photos, plus complete venue information!It was a full house at the Little River Casino Resort in Manistee for Susie and Juan’s Northern Michigan wedding. Many of the 250 wedding guests who came from all over the state and the country took rooms at the resort, punctuating their beach time on the Lake Michigan shore with fun at the gaming tables and even taking in the casino’s impressive array of live entertainment including a concert by Rosanne Cash.
But when it was time for the outdoor ceremony in the lush Little River Courtyard, all eyes were on Susie and Juan—a crowd that included another hundred or so of the hotel guests standing on their balconies to watch the couple exchange their vows. “It was just so incredible,” Susie recalls of the moment she turned around and saw her large, enthralled audience.
After the ceremony, the wedding party headed for pictures at the Lake Michigan beach, while the guests mingled over cocktails at the resort, with music provided by the Mike Davis Trio of Traverse City. The buffet dinner that followed was nothing short of spectacular Susie recalls, reciting the menu that included Beef Wellington and Chicken Florentine. Susie also counts the tasting for that dinner—months before the wedding—as just one more example of the exceptional service by the staff at Little River. “My mom had to work so she had to miss the tasting,” Susie says. “So the staff boxed up food for her so she could feel like she was a part of it.”
As the dishes were cleared away and the first bars of “At Last” floated into the air, Susie and Juan stepped onto the dance floor for the bride and groom’s dance—and awed the 250 guests at their wedding reception. The couple had taken dance lessons in preparation for the beautiful moment (Juan’s idea, Susie says).