The ceremony and reception were held at The Vineyard Inn on Suttons Bay. (Click on "Location" above for details.) We were married along the shore under a beautiful tree then walked across the lawn for an alfresco reception. We dined together at twilight and danced into the night.

Just after we were engaged, we sat down and looked at two things: dates and places. The date, for us, fell into place pretty easily. We wanted July and the 14^th has a special place in our hearts, stemming from a Valentine's Day many moons ago. So, July 14 - check. Place, though, was harder. We wanted something Michigan, something Great Lakes, something classy, and without ever discussing it, we realized we wanted a destination wedding. We quickly narrowed to our preferred lake, then Googled "reception lake michigan" and got to two choices for venues. So far we had invested 19 minutes.

Choosing the Inn required a marathon trip north by Jenelle and an equal trip south by Bill and Sharon. Together, they scouted the Inn and - on a day just like in the pictures - we agreed that this was definitely the place.

Then there were the vendors. Holy moly. In August we took three days and did a vendor tour; we met about cakes and caterers and flowers and disc jockeys, with different levels of success. Few were truly professional and a couple were really just funny. We heard a DJ tell us about extension cords and had a baker tell us they no longer delivered their cakes, all in the name of shopping around.

In the end we found a florist with taste that matches our own contemporary ideas. We met a caterer who fit our style and budget and shares our love of local fare. There is a DJ who shares our vision of a reception without a limbo bar. And, at long last, we met a baker who is on board with Corey's 3d-modeled cake designs and passes Jenelle's taste test.