Download the full version of this feature including all the photos, plus complete venue information!Ashley Boon grew up skiing at Boyne Highlands near Petoskey. She knows when the snow falls on the small towns that dot Lake Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay the landscape becomes a winter wonderland. Little surprise she planned a winter wedding in beautiful Northern Michigan. The ceremony was at the historic Holy Childhood Church in Harbor Springs, with its spire that soars above narrow streets and old-fashioned storefronts dressed in garland and white lights for the holidays. The reception was at Stafford’s Perry Hotel, a Victorian icon that has graced the Petoskey downtown since 1899. The 175 guests traveled from as far away as California for this destination wedding that filled nearly every room in the hotel. The Perry’s popular Noggin Room lounge buzzed days before the wedding with guests coming together to celebrate the event.
After a moving ceremony capped with an inspirational solo of “When Love is Found,” by singer Amy Younkman, the guests headed for the Perry hotel in Petoskey, while the bridal party piled into a luxe shuttle bus that toured them around the Petoskey Harbor area for photos that included a run through the snow—wedding slippers and all—to the Lake Michigan shore. “I couldn’t feel my feet, but I didn’t care, it was perfect,” Ashley says. The holiday décor and crackling fires in the fireplaces at the Perry added to the merriment of the occasion that included an elegant dinner featuring filet mignon and salmon. In honor of Drew’s Italian heritage, dessert included cannolis made at a bakery in nearby Boyne City. Between dancing to the all-80’s band The Square Pegs, guests mingled on the Perry’s veranda to take in the clear Northern night—and enjoy the personalized cigars that Ashley and Drew handed out in celebration of their magic evening.