Boatwerks Banquet & Catering – Karl and Sarah’s Wedding

Ceremony Location: Boatwerks

From the bride and groom:

About the Venue

We were married at Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant and Event Center. We both grew up in Western Michigan and wanted somewhere with a water view. With their big open windows right on the water, Boatwerks was the perfect choice. Read more about Boatwerks on our venue page

About the Dress

I’ve never been good at describing dresses and don’t even remember what the fit was called. Gradual trumpet? It had lace and sparkles and a u-shaped open back that I could wear a backdrop necklace with. I think that was my favorite feature

About our traditions/fun activities

I am a active duty Navy officer and so we incorporated a traditional military officer sword arch. This fun tradition is a way of welcoming a spouse into the military family and is a pledge of fidelity between the military and the new couple

About working with Brenda Hoffman Photography

Brenda was amazing. She was extremely organized and kept in touch throughout the planning process. She kept us on time and worked with all our vendors to synch up schedules. She gave us a few pre-wedding gifts and a surprise gift of a few mini photos of our wedding day right on the day itself! It was so fun to see those pictures. When we did see our photos they were fantastic. They arrived exactly when Brenda said they would and she had a very personal and professional way of presenting them to us. We designed our album ourselves and while Brenda had it 95% perfect when we walked in, it was really great to be able to tweak that extra bit ourselves to make it perfect. We’d highly recommend.

Most memorable moments

Our vows were really special. We wrote them ourselves and didn’t share before the ceremony. Otherwise it was just amazing to have all our friends and family there and to see everyone dancing and having a good time was so much fun!

Advice for other couples

Just have fun with it! No detail is so incredibly important that it’s worth feeling stressed about. At the end of the day you’ll notice the person you married surrounded by your favorite people in the world and as much as it’s cliche, that truly is all that matters.