Story by Lauren Merritt
Photography by Andrejka Photography & Planning.
Why Mackinac Island? My full name is Lauren DeBoer (maiden) and my husband’s name is Charles Merritt. I am from Grand Rapids and he is from North Carolina. My parents have a lake house in Cheboygan so we have been coming to Mackinac for years! We currently live in Charlotte, NC but look forward to our annual trips to northern Michigan. Looking back on my wedding, I feel so much gratitude and appreciation for everyone who came and for each and every one of the amazing people on Mackinac that made it happen.
The Proposal Charles proposed in Paris in August 2024 and we officially planned our wedding in seven months (crazy, I know). We booked The Inn at Stonecliffe in January 2025 for July 26, 2025.
Our Guest List We had invited roughly 140 guests and 102 came. I grew up in Michigan, so half of our guests were from Michigan and my husband is from Charlotte, North Carolina so many of our guests were from there. Our guest that traveled the farthest came from Los Angeles California, and one of my closest cousins drove in all the way from Colorado. Our guests really emphasized that the entire weekend was just an incredible experience and unlike any wedding they’ve ever been to - as many guests from the south had never heard of Mackinac Island.
The Welcome Party the Night Before We were having a tough time picking between The Inn at Stonecliffe and The Grand Hotel. However, we ultimately chose The Inn at Stonecliffe for our wedding reception and Grand Hotel for our welcome party! We loved everything about Stonecliffe, but we still wanted our guests to experience the timeless ambiance of The Grand and we were so happy to be able to incorporate it into our weekend.
The Big Day We prepared for the wedding in a bridal suite at Grand Hotel. The wedding carriage provided a ride to the church for me and all of my bridesmaids from Grand Hotel. Father John Essel of Ste Anne’s Church performed our 2 pm wedding ceremony. Ste Anne’s is a beautiful church and the wedding was lovely.
Feeling like a movie star - Our Carriage Ride. It was so special when we left the church in our beautiful horse drawn carriage from Mackinac Island Carriage Tours through town to Windermere Point for photos. Traveling down Main Street, everyone on the island cheered us, yelling congratulations - it felt like we were in a movie! The 45 minute ride back to Stonecliffe for cocktail hour with just my husband and I was one of our favorite parts of the entire day. It allowed us some private time…just the two of us, to slow down jand relax - not to mention our ride by the West Bluffs was so beautiful. And Andrejka’s photos of this experience captured it all and are fabulous!
Our baby, RIver! We had a dog sitter in Mackinaw City. She graciously transported River over to the island for our cocktail hour! He really enjoyed it, as he loves being around people. However, I think he was very confused as this was his first time to the island, Lol. Our dog watcher walked him around cocktail hour and our guests told us he constantly looked for Charles and I. River is very special to us, he’s truly our best friend so it was so important to us to include him in our day. We were grateful Stonecliffe allowed us to have him there.
Our Cocktail Hour We decided to have our cocktail hour on the lawn at Stonecliffe because you just can’t beat the views overlooking tof the Mackinac Bridge and the water. We actually struggled deciding where to do our cocktail hour because Stonecliffe also offers their front lawn which is incredible with all the tall trees and their grotto is so intimate and secluded - we really couldn’t go wrong with any of these locations.
Our Floral Designs We were so happy with our florals! I worked closely with Aubrey at St. Ignace in Bloom and she was absolutely wonderful to work with. She was honest, helpful and I felt they really cared about making my vision happen on my wedding day.
Our Recpetion We fortunately did not have to do much to decor wise inside Sunset Pavillion. Stonecliffe provided a few package options in terms of the tableware options and chairs, etc which was very helpful - not have to worry about bringing those items over to the island. I chose a package and when I arrived the day of for our cocktail hour, I was blown away how well the entire space was put together. It was perfect. The entire team at Stonecliffe was incredible to work with!
Our Photographer, Andrejka of Andreka Photography and Planning was an absolutely pleasure to work with. I especially appreciated her expertise of the island and having so much experience she was great at keeping things running and keeping our schedule on time. She knew where the good picture spots were and guided us where to take photos and how to pose, making that less planning on our end. She made everything very seamless and easy. You spend a lot of time with your photographer and luckily ours was very kind and a pleasure to work with.
Cakes & Fudge! Bella E Dolce created our cake and it was fabulous! I appreciated their expertise with transporting cakes to the island. We went with traditional almond wedding cake and a hazelnut buttercream and lemon cake with a blueberry buttercream. It was absolutely delicious! We look forward to thawing some leftovers on our first anniversary.
We did use Murdick’s Fudge favors, and the most popular flavor among our guests was the chocolate peanut butter. Our guests loved these and we appreciated the convenience of having them on the island -less logistics for us to think about. St. Ignace in Bloom actually coordinated these favors and set them out at each place setting for our guests.
Muisic and Entertainment A-List Events provided the entertainment we wanted for the day, and everyone had so much fun. The ambiance created with the music and our dancing and celebration was so much fun!
All in all, I can’t say enough good things about our entire experience having our wedding on Mackinac Island. I wish I could relive it over and over. The biggest shoutout to our people! Thank you so much! I have never felt more loved, seen or celebrated. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to those who showed up for us, supported us and shared our joy. Our guests exhausted every means of transportation to be there, from planes, ferry rides, and bikes, to horses and carriages. And to those who helped make this the celebration of the start of our forever – we appreciate you more than we can put into words. ❤️
Welcome Party: Grand Hotel
Wedding Ceremony: Ste Anne’s Church
Wedding Reception: Inn at Stonecliffe
Photographer: Andrejka Photography & Planning
Videograpy: 97 Films
Florals: St Ignace in Bloom
Cake: Bella E Dolce
Fudge Favors: Murdick’s Original Fudge
Entertainment: A List Event Group
Wedding Carriage: Mackinac Island Carriage Tours