A Sneak Peak Into a “Typical” Springwood Cottage Weekend Wedding
As we celebrate Valentines Day, we thought it would be a great time to give you lovebirds a quick sneak peek into what our weddings often look like. Keep in mind each are quite unique, but this highlights the commonalities in the timetable that we have seen.
Thursday (and sometime even earlier in the week) – A typical Springwood Wedding, starts with the bride and groom (and maybe close family and friends or out of country guests) arriving on the Thursday, getting settled in and enjoying a bit of time together before the festivities get underway. The couple also do a walk through with us and discuss any necessary last-minute adjustments.
Friday – remaining guests start arriving in the afternoon, the bride and/or bridesmaids will often decorate the tables in the tent for the reception. Once all members of the wedding party have arrived, they will typically go through a brief ceremony rehearsal, then the couple hosts a casual welcome BBQ, Pot luck dinner or Build-Your-Own Pizza night for their guests and continue the merriment and catching up with a beach bonfire and s’mores.
Saturday – some couples have facilitated an early morning fitness class (yoga, tai chi etc.), others just let the guests do their own thing while enjoying the resort grounds – they go for a swim, kayak or canoe ride, enjoy the sauna or hot tubs, complete our Fairy Door scavenger hunt, play some indoor or outdoor games or go for a hike prior to getting ready. Friends and family help decorating the ceremony site and finish up any last-minute touches for the “cocktail hour” or other day of events.
The bridal party will usually get ready in either the Log Cabin or the Main House, with the Groomsmen getting ready in any of the other 17 cottages on site. The photographer will capture the “getting ready” shots and maybe first look & family pictures before the big event. Behind the scenes we are doing a variety of preparations and meeting any outside venders as they arrive to help them get settled.
The ceremony will typically start sometime between 3 and 4pm usually at the beach or on the Leisure Deck as a rainy-day back up. We’ll help bring some of the guests to the beach ceremony site and afterwards to the reception site by golf cart.
After the ceremony, while the wedding party and immediate family are taking pictures throughout the grounds, other guests enjoy a cocktail hour either at the Leisure deck or just outside of the tent, overlooking the marina. A popular activity during cocktail hour is the selection of outdoor lawn games that keeps guests entertained.
Once pictures and cocktail hour is done, guests will then typically enter the tent where the more “formal” reception festivities occur. Since we often get stunning sunsets, we encourage our couples to ensure that they plan for a brief escape during dinner to capitalize on a few extra sunset pictures on our docks. Dinner, speeches, dance and overall merriment continue throughout the night.
Since guests have been enjoying fresh air all day, we notice that guests start to pack it in between 10 and midnight, with only the more hardcore party-goers continuing much later into the night. As the numbers dwindle, typically the couple and their friends have an after party at the Main House which may include such activities as another campfire, karaoke or party games.
Sunday – Many couples host a send-off brunch for their guests, then clean & pack up. Some couples and some out of country guests stay an extra day or two to enjoy the resort and extend their visiting time.
Meals throughout the weekend are done in a variety of ways – some couples provide all of the meals throughout the weekend by utilizing caterers, others will take a more DIY – self catering route with friends and family pitching in. Some couples provide their guests with food baskets in their cottages, while others will simply advise their guests to bring their own food for meals that are not shared by all. The great thing about hosting your wedding weekend at Springwood is that you can decide on your approach to food (and other elements like décor, entertainment etc.) based upon your budget and the overall feel you want for the weekend.