The address is 10370 Gun Lake Rd, Middleville, MI 49333. When you use Maps/GPS to navigate to LLOC's address, it takes you to the intersection of Graves Hill Trail (a dirt road) & Gun Lake Road. From there, follow the signs to Long Lake Outdoor Center, continuing on the dirt road behind the big sign. We will also have signage pointing you in the right direction along the way. The precise coordinates of the parking area are: 42.6156613233192, -85.49356846783861 For those of you coming from the Milwaukee area, it is about a 5 hour drive and the time changes (becoming 1 hour later). If coming in on Saturday for our ceremony, please be sure to arrive by 2pm EST. We highly suggest taking I-294 around Chicago, rather than going straight through via I-94. Maps might try to trick you into standstill Chicago traffic on I-94 or I-80, but this route is never faster! Also, note that there are tolls along the way, which often require online payment within 14 days of travel. Have a pen & notebook handy along the tollway to write down your Plaza numbers & time of travel. You can sign up for Pay-by-Plate ahead of travel here: https://www.illinoistollway.com/paybyplate If you're not keen on the idea of driving around the lake, MKE has flights to Ford International Airport (GRR) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. GRR is about 23 miles North of our venue & does have rental cars. The other option for travel is via Lake Express car ferry. The ferry from Milwaukee goes to Muskegon, MI in about 2.5 hours. Muskegon is then about 1.5 hours from our venue via car. Overall, it's about the same duration of travel once you include the pre-boarding time & is more expensive than the trip's gasoline in a car. But, it is an experience and an option! Rates & information is here: https://www.lake-express.com/schedule/
On Saturday, dress is dressy casual. Think sundresses, dress slacks & a collared shirt. Feel free to go extra if you want to. We're not all the same, and we absolutely encourage diversity in your expressions of dressed-up. One thing to most definitely consider is that the ceremony and dancing area are outdoors, in grass, dirt, and sand. You will have a very hard time walking around if you're wearing heels or a floor length dress. We strongly suggest wearing flats. Please follow common etiquette when choosing your outfit, and please don't wear white. With the exception of Saturday afternoon/evening, please dress super comfy and casual. Wear your most faded jeans, your croppiest of crops, your favorite sweats, whatever you'd like!
BEST ADVISE: Treat this weekend like an actual camping trip. ESSENTIALS: Bug spray, sunscreen, medications, first aid kit, toiletries, shower shoes, a mirror, weather-appropriate clothing, sleepwear, a jacket, comfortable hiking shoes or other footwear you don't mind getting dirty, a swimsuit if you'll be heading to the nearby beach, flashlight & extra batteries, phone chargers, camp chairs, rain-gear/umbrellas, water bottle, travel coffee mug, and anything else you'd bring on a out-of-town weekend. FOOD & DRINK: We will be hosting a potluck picnic on Friday evening, dinner, desert, & snacks on Saturday evening, and a small continental-style breakfast on Sunday morning. All other meals during your stay are not provided. There are grocery stores and a good selection of restaurants nearby, as well as a huge communal on-site kitchen with a walk-in cooler to store perishables, four ovens, and all the pots, pans, plates, & utensils you'd need to make meals. Each cabin also has a fire ring to cook over, and you're welcome to bring charcoal for the on-site grills. There is good drinking water on tap, but for convenience you may want to bring yourself a gallon to keep in your cabin (and refill as needed). Though not necessary, you may also want to bring a cooler & ice to keep in your cabin. LINENS: The cabins do not have linens on the beds, so bring pillows, sheets, blankets and/or sleeping bags for each bed/person in your group. The beds are all size twin XL. If you'd like, you can bring any size air mattress & a pump and set it up in your cabin instead. Please also bring bath towels and washcloths. If you may be swimming, bring beach towels and anything else you may need. FUN STUFF: Feel free to bring games, beach toys, kayaks, bikes, etc. OTHER: The windows in all the cabins open and are screened, but there is no air conditioning in any of the buildings. If the heat may bother you, we suggest bringing a fan that you can either plug in or run on batteries.
We will not be serving any alcohol during the weekend, but absolutely feel free to BYOB. Due to liability & insurance issues, there can be no sharing of alcohol. This simply means that whatever alcohol you do bring must be for your own personal use; you may not give a beer to a buddy or allow someone to make a drink from your stash. There are stores nearby to stock up. Please drink responsibly <3 .
We are planning a potluck picnic for Friday at 7:30pm. Please indicate on your RSVP form if you would like to participate, and we'll be in touch with details. Once we have the final number of people taking part, we'll have a sign-up sheet that includes what-to-bring options and specifics on how much to bring for the crowd. We anticipate that each person will spend $20 or less on their dish-to-pass. If the logistics of making a dish and traveling with it seems challenging, there is a grocery store with pre-made deli items nearby camp. Of course, there will be plenty of non-perishable items to sign up for, as well.
- No tent or RV camping - No smoking in the cabins - No cooking or flames in the cabins - Absolutely no pets - No guns or fireworks allowed on the property - All vehicles must be parked in the parking lot - Use common sense
Your presence is gift enough, but if you are feeling particularly generous, we would really appreciate contributions towards our vacation-home fund! Instead of a honeymoon, we're putting our resources toward a small build on our property in the U.P. We bought an acre of wooded land near Ottawa National Forest in Ontonagon County, Michigan in 2022 & have been working hard tending the land whenever time & budget allows for us to take the trip up north. We're creating a trail system and have our blueprints ready to go! Tiny Cabin Treehouse, here we come! Funds for lumber and other building materials are the most helpful, as are gift cards we can use towards materials & supplies (Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, etc). We do have an Amazon registry with a handful of things, here: https://www.amazon.com/wedding/share/neilanderin and a Target Registry here: https://www.target.com/gift-registry/gift/neil-and-erin If you'd like to contribute and prefer digital payment and/or can't make it, please email, text, or call us for our information. <3
For this weekend, we will be letting our guard down and just enjoying family and friends and full-on celebrating our union. We fully understand if you are less inclined to risk, and we can make any accommodations you'd like to ensure you're comfortable for the weekend. Here are the precautions that will be in place: - Even if you've RSVP'd, please do not come if you are sick. - There will be hand sanitizer available in all of the common areas. - We will be disinfecting high-touch surfaces regularly throughout the weekend. - We will not question nor give a side-eye to anyone who chooses to wear a mask for the weekend. We expect that none of our guests would, either. - If you would like to enjoy your reception meal outdoors at a picnic table, rather than inside the lodge, we support that. - If you'd like to reserve a cabin for just your household or yourself, please just let us know.