Tag: castle wedding

Wedding Champagne Toast Castle Farms The Weber Photographers

Champagne Toasts!

Written by Karrie Mueller on December 17, 2018. Posted in Blog, Real Castle Wedding, Wedding Tips & Trends, Weddings. No Comments on Champagne Toasts!

Champagne toasts are a great way to include all of your friends and family at your wedding, with your favorite bubbly in everyone’s hand!

1918 Cellars offers two stunning options to suit your needs:

Visionary – A semi-dry sparkling wine made of 100% Michigan Chardonnay grapes. Its balanced flavor of acidity and sweetness makes it a great choice to please everyone’s taste buds.

Wedding Drinks Northern MI Wedding Venue Castle Farms Classic Photographers

1918 Cellars Chardonnay Wine Wedding Toast The Weber Photographers

1918 Chardonnay Bottle Close Up Castle Farms Jason Switzer Photography

Reflection – A brut sparkling wine, that is dry yet fruit forward with its pallet of cherry and orange peel on the finish. Its rosé tone adds a pop of color to your champagne toast, and can compliment your wedding colors.

Champange Close Up Castle Farms MI Wedding Lux Light Photography

Champagne Glass Seating Chart Castle Farms Lux Light Photography

1918 Cellars Charlevoix MI Castle Farms The Weber Photographers

To mix things up a little more for your toasts (or even feature as your signature drink at the bar), try using our sparkling wines in the following cocktails:

French 75 with our Visionary sparkling wine – these are elegant, refreshing and easy to make! Combine ½ oz lemon juice, 1 oz gin, and 2 dashes of simple syrup in a mixer with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a champagne glass. Top with two ounces of Visionary Sparkling wine, and garnish with a twist of lemon peel.

Christmosa with our Reflection brut rosé – perfect for a little more festive winter cocktail! In a glass pitcher, combine 1 cup diced grannysmith apples, 1 cup halved green grapes, 1 cup fresh whole cranberries, and 1 cup pomegranate seeds. Add 1 cup sparkling grape juice, and a bottle of Reflection brut rosé. Serve in a couple cocktail glasses and voila! This colorful concoction is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Christmosa with 1918 Cellars Reflection brut rosé The Weber Photographers

1918 Cellars Castle Farms Wedding Bar The Weber Photographers

Wedding Signature Drink Castle Farms The Weber Photographers

Keep in mind all alcohol should only be poured by a licensed bartender, but having the champagne glasses presented in a grand display can add something extra to the space! You could have the glasses displayed on a two-level table, or if you’re daring, in a champagne tower. Another classy option is to have your champagne or signature drink served by your bartenders and wait staff either during dinner or just before toasts are to begin. Whichever presentation you decide on, the most important thing is giving a “cheers” and celebrating alongside the people that are important to you on your big day!

Bride and Groom Castle Farms Wedding Northern Art Photography

1918 Cellars Champagne Wedding Tales Castle Farms

Wedding Toast Castle Farms MI Northern Art Photography

To order one of these select 1918 Cellars sparkling wines for your wedding, please contact Angela Sauve at 231-237-0884 ex.225 at Castle Farms, or email angela@castlefarms.com

Beth Joy Photography Castle Farms Michigan Fall Wedding

Wedding Decor DIY Ideas

Written by Karrie Mueller on November 15, 2018. Posted in Blog, Wedding Decor, Wedding Tips & Trends, Weddings. No Comments on Wedding Decor DIY Ideas

Do you enjoy finding new uses for old pieces? Or getting creative with DIY projects? Do you like saving money? Here at Castle Farms, we love seeing what our couples can be creative with! A great way to incorporate this concept at your wedding is to use items that you would normally recycle as your wedding décor! Here are some insightful suggestions:

Find some old picture frames, and paint them to be all one color. Smaller frames work great as table number holders, larger frames work great for reception signage or photo booth props!

Mason jars or other jars are also great for a wedding décor idea. Use them as vases for flowers, tip jars for your bartenders, put fairy lights inside them for an alternative to candles, or even to hold candy for your candy bar.

Have an old basket or container laying around? Find some ribbon and tie a cute sign to it, and now you have a container for favors, desserts, etc. This works great for coozies or flip flops!

All these simple ideas will save you money and help give old things a new purpose! Plus, you’ll have some quality time while you’re DIYing together, and can focus on celebrating when it comes to the big day!

Ceremony Music-What to Know

Written by Karrie Mueller on September 11, 2018. Posted in Ask the Coordinators, Blog, Wedding Tips & Trends. No Comments on Ceremony Music-What to Know

Although we set the mood pretty well as the backdrop for your ceremony, music is also a very impactful way to help a memory last and live on. With the flexibility that we offer, choosing your musicians or narrowing down your playlist also brings questions about how this all comes together in the first place. Although the options for song choices, bands and DJ’s are seemingly endless, we have only two basic options to talk about today that will help you better decide if live or recorded music is best for you.

The first option-which tends to be the more popular option-would be to create a playlist on your phone and have us run the music for your ceremony. Your reservation includes an Assistant Venue Coordinator that will be an extra set of hands for your Venue Coordinator. This is who we have run our sound system for your ceremony. Our sound system covers the use of our lapel microphone (your officiant will probably wear this), the handheld microphone (for any readings/speeches), and our personal favorite, a smart phone (one you would provide) with a playlist downloaded to your phone via Spotify or iTunes. While we cannot mix songs or repeat certain sections, we can smoothly fade the music in and out as each group of attendants process down the aisle. Choosing pre-recorded music is great for couples who have dependable songs that would be difficult for live musicians to reproduce and for those looking to keep costs at a minimum.

If live musicians are more your style, your musicians will be required to bring in all of their own equipment (instruments, cords, speakers, microphones, etc.). We will provide them with the electrical outlets and a game-plan for their set-up location based on your ceremony sketch which is part of your Set-Up Packet. This is a stunning option to elevate the overall vibe for your ceremony and to keep the entertainment factor at a maximum for your guests. Be sure to check in on the Entertainment section of our Preferred Service Providers list for some incredible live musician options!

Draping at your Wedding

Written by Karrie Mueller on August 6, 2018. Posted in Ask the Coordinators, Blog, Decor Ideas, Real Castle Wedding, Wedding Decor, Wedding Tips & Trends, Weddings. No Comments on Draping at your Wedding

While our reception rooms are stunning on their own, we have seen draping being added in several different ways.

Some couples choose to highlight certain areas in the reception with backdrops, such as behind the head table or around the cake display while other couples have had ceiling draping throughout their entire reception room.

A professional draping company is always a good idea when looking into elaborate draping. They will have the proper equipment and fabric to create the right look. No nailing, drilling, or adhesive can be used on the Castle walls or ceilings, so professional companies come in with items such as clamps, wires and poles to put up the fabric. These companies can often do several different types of draping, whether it is full-scale ceiling draping or smaller backdrops.

If a professional draping company is not hired, there are a few options available to couples. For any draping that requires a ladder under 10’ tall, the couple could hang it on their own. The Castle Coordinators have measurements for each room to be able to estimate the amount of fabric that will be needed, and we can discuss what is possible based on the different reception rooms.

If a ladder over 10’ tall is required, the couple does need to hire their Castle Coordinator to do the decorating, which is $50 per man hour. Again, no nailing, drilling or adhesive is allowed on the Castle walls or ceilings, so any hooks or hanging equipment will need to be provided by the couple, along with the fabric, whether the couple is handling the draping or hiring their Coordinator. The Castle Coordinators are not professionals in draping nor handling fabric, but we can discuss what we have done or seen and what is possible based on each couple’s vision.

Having a Band at Your Wedding?

Written by Karrie Mueller on July 11, 2018. Posted in Ask the Coordinators, Blog, Wedding Tips & Trends, Wedding Vendors, Weddings. No Comments on Having a Band at Your Wedding?

Here’s some things to know if you’re having a band come to the Castle for your wedding!

We love the DJs on our Preferred Service Provider list but if you are looking to switch things up, there is nothing like a great live band to get your crowd of guests excited and join the dance floor. A good band will know how to get a “feel” of the room and select music accordingly, plus they may interact with the guests on the dance floor to give everyone an awesome experience.

Many times the band will ask you a lot of questions pertaining to the layout of the stage and the outlets they would be using. Our coordinators are always a good person for your band to reach out to but we thought it would also be helpful to share that information with you here!

The dimensions of the stages in our rooms are 16’x8′. We have two 20amp outlets on separate circuits right next to stage and there are also several other outlets throughout the room if they feel they need more power. We find that most often the outlets by the stage are plenty to hold the power that they need.

We highly suggest having your band reach out to a coordinator to go over the details so you aren’t bogged down. We are happy to talk or meet with any of your vendors that require a bit more explanation.

New Rental Items!

Written by Karrie Mueller on June 6, 2018. Posted in Blog, Real Castle Wedding, Wedding Decor, Wedding Tips & Trends, Weddings. No Comments on New Rental Items!

We have some exciting stuff happening this year!

As you may know, it is our Centennial so what better time to roll out some brand new rental items! To start things off we have some great chalkboard easels. These are great for menus, welcome messages, timelines, or seating charts.

We also have a gold frame that is great for seating charts or welcome signs as well. Since rose gold is all the rage, we have some rose gold tealights for you to rent that include the candle! We also have gold table number holders.

Last but definitely not least we have our golf cart rental. For $50 you can have a golf cart for 2 hours! This is great option for maximizing the amount of pictures you can take during cocktail hour!

For the full list of rentals, click here!