Dream Destination: Hundreds of Brides Love the Wedding Bells of Mackinac Island

For sheer romance, there’s nothing like enchanted Mackinac Island for a fairytale wedding. The sweeping vistas, the flower gardens, the oldest churches in Michigan, the quaint inns and après wedding party scene... it’s all here just a short ferry ride across the Mackinac Straits.
“I think it’s the romance that brings people here, with the horsedrawn carriages and the feeling of stepping back in time,” says wedding coordinator Carole Erbel. “To me, it’s the most romantic place in the world.”
She notes that between 800-1,000 couples choose Mackinac Island as the place to say “I do” each year. “But that’s everyone, from two people showing up and having a clergy person marry them to huge weddings.”
Carole owns For the Love of Mackinac!, a full-service wedding firm which has been in business for seven years now. Although there are several wedding coordinators working on the island, she is the only one who is a resident for most of the year. “I moved to Mackinac Island in 1979 for one summer season and got hooked,” she says, adding that she heads for the mainland in the winter when things are a wee bit too chilly midway through the Straits.
Speaking of which, can’t it get rather cold and damp on the island, even in the summertime?
“That’s something that can happen anywhere,” Erbel responds. “I’ve been in Florida in January when it’s 40 degrees, and it can get cold in places like Detroit, San Francisco and Chicago too.
“Knowing the logistics and timing is a huge thing in planning a wedding here,” she adds. “You may be dealing with horses and a carriage, for instance, which takes longer.”
Erbel coordinates about 40 weddings per year and has had clients from all over the world, including Prague, South America and Australia. Her biggest wedding thus far has been a party of 250; this summer, she’s providing for a wedding with 350 guests.

For information on For the Love of Mackinac!, call Carole Erbel at 888-847-3691, or see her website at www.weddingsonmackinac.com. For wedding photography from True North, call 888-595-6944.



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