Wedding season doesn’t end in the fall.
In fact, the clear, crisp days of autumn are ideal for weddings. Receptions are often held on downtown city roofs, under huge tents on family lawns and frequently in rustic barns across rural Michigan.
Barns? Yes, you may recall that rustic chic barn wedding trend that exploded in popularity between 2008 and 2013 – complete with details like burlap ribbons and reclaimed wooden barrels serving as cocktail tables.
That trend has passed but barns remain popular as wedding and reception venues throughout the summer and fall wedding season.
Why? They’re romantic, unique, and quaint. In a recent report about wedding trends, farms, barns and ranches were tied for the first time with banquet halls as the most popular reception choices, according to the wedding-planning website, The Knot. Traditional religious institutions continue to decline in popularity as the venue choice for the ceremony (down 7 percent over the past five years), while farms/barns/ranches were selected most often (17 percent of all choices).
Michigan may not have the exotic appeal of Italy or France, two of the most popular wedding destinations this year, but the Great Lakes States boasts lots of picturesque barns, remnants of its agricultural past.
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Frutig FarmsA wedding dinner set up at The Valley at Frutig Farms.This shift is good news as agritourism continues to grow in Michigan, with weddings and events, farm-to-table experiences, u-pick orchards, wineries, cideries, breweries, and festivals being a significant driver for tourism in the Great Lakes State.
Rachel Burke, owner of Sincerely, Ginger, a wedding planning company dedicated to crafting events across Northern Michigan, says the growth in barn weddings and receptions continues because people are drawn to the state’s beauty and the pastoral settings of farms.
“Michigan feels like a world away for couples from larger metropolitan areas -- and we love being able to showcase Michigan, the vendors, and how beautiful it is to those who don’t live here,” Burke says. “It brings so much business to the area and it’s the perfect example of blending existing local businesses with new ideas, like renovating existing structures on working farms, to increase local commerce. It really helps boost agritourism and continues to keep barn wedding venues relevant.”
Ninety percent of her customers come from out-of-state -- Chicago, California, and most recently, a couple from New York City.
Barn weddings have remained relevant not because of the barn itself, but because of the land it sits on -- and the memories that
farms evoke for couples.
“It’s less about being in a barn and more about the nostalgic quality couples remember about Michigan — maybe the bride or groom grew up coming here when they were little or visited during one of their first vacations together and fell in love with the beautiful landscape Michigan has to offer,” she says. “The emphasis has leaned more towards how biodiverse the property that the barn sits on is -- can we host all of the wedding weekend events there? Is the barn property part of a winery? Is there room for a tent?”
There’s no better way to showcase how beautiful Michigan is than by being outside, by the beach, or on a wonderful piece of property for a wedding. The most successful wedding barn properties are ones that continue restoring barn structures by adding amenities (restrooms, air conditioning if possible), or even moving the barn to a more diverse existing property, like a winery or brewery.
The shores of Lake Michigan and the state’s rural country roads attract couples from all over.
Set back in the middle of corn and wheat fields on a dead-end road in rural Three Oaks, you’ll find Blissful Barn -- a structure that dates back more than 125 years and has been opened to the public since 2016.
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Blissful BarnSharon Steinkraus, owner of Blissful Barn, sees couples wanting to connect with Michigan’s beautiful landscape. They are often urban couples seeking a quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.
“Eighty-five percent of our couples are from Chicago,” Steinkraus says. “They love the quiet beauty of southwest Michigan -- and it’s only 90 minutes away from the city. It’s the perfect location that is nice and intimate -- and the barn is breathtaking. You truly feel like you’re a world away.”
And it’s not too late to renovate -- or sometimes build-- a barn structure for the use of weddings and events.
Danielle Howarth owns Barn 1888 in Hopkins, a village of 615 people that lies amid farmland between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.
“We saw what other people were doing and thought if we found the perfect farm that it would attract couples from all over,” Howarth said. “We bought our property in 2019 and started weddings a year after our renovations were complete.”
Barn 1888 sees a high percentage of couples from Michigan’s east side, from communities such as Detroit, Flint, and Rochester, and a smaller percentage from out of state. Howarth says couples tell her they don’t have many options similar to Barn 1888 in more urban areas and if they do exist, they’re far more expensive -- which helps this barn venue stay popular.
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Mista Marie Photography“Many people like our quiet farming community -- it’s peaceful. They also like the age and history of the barn … we often see guests staring up at the old beams and the beauty of the barn and that’s something couples and their loved ones will drive two or three hours for,” she says.
While some renovated their barns with a wedding venue in mind -- others fell into the business.
Kelly Frutig is the owner and developer of Misty Valley (better known as The Valley), a renovated barn that was built in 1875 and stands in the countryside outside of Ann Arbor. She began her business quite by accident.
“In 2009, my oldest daughter got married at our farm. After her photos went up on the internet, we began to get inquiries … Long story short, I started a business in order to satisfy the requests, but mostly with the intent of having the funds to restore my barns,” Frutig says.
With every wedding Frutig hosted, something was replaced, repainted, or renewed. Within three years, she was able to buy the farm down the road and renovate that one as well. She operated the two venues simultaneously for 10 years but recently sold one, which now operates as a family farm again.
Weddings and success, however, continue at The Valley.
For every wedding she has booked, Frutig has turned two away. “There is much more competition now -- the field is much more saturated, but we stay quite busy,” she said.
The Valley has moved into producing higher-end barn weddings than you might find elsewhere and has continually upscaled their process and barn improvements, helping the venue remain successful and ahead of the curve.
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Frutig FarmsThe Valley at Frutig Farms“About 50 percent of our brides are from out of state -- we have a lot of University of Michigan grads that come back to a place where they met -- but many people want to have an experience in nature,” she says. “The openness of the valley property is like none other … I think many young people want that connection with a historical setting and the beautiful outdoors and a beautiful barn structure on a great piece of land can give them that.”
Natalie Platt works in commercial real estate marketing and pursues her journalism passion by writing about lifestyle and travel surrounding her love for Michigan. A native of Indiana, she currently lives in Chicago and enjoys boating, golfing, and long weekend trips to the beach.