Bay Harbor Yacht Club weddings: venue guide and wedding DJ

Bay Harbor Yacht Club sits on Vista Drive in Bay Harbor, on the western shore of Bay Harbor Lake, just west of Petoskey. Its clubhouse has a stone façade, a waterfall, pillared arches and a marina full of yachts, with views out over Little Traverse Bay. It's a private club, and it hosts weddings in a ballroom, on a terrace and on its dock.

Menzo Weddings provides wedding DJ and MC services in Bay Harbor and across Northern Michigan, with live ceremony and cocktail-hour music to add. Dave Menzo, who founded Menzo Weddings, played Kara and Matt's reception here in August 2016. The photograph at the top of this page is their first dance, under paper lanterns and chandeliers. This page covers the club, their wedding, and how we approach music for a waterfront wedding up north.

What is Bay Harbor Yacht Club like for a wedding?

The club describes itself as a private, member-owned social club with more than 700 members and a 63,000-square-foot clubhouse. The original clubhouse was built in 1996, the Lange Center was added in 2009, and the ballroom was renovated in spring 2023.

The club's venues page lists:

• The Promenade Dock: for ceremonies and cocktails, with a waterfall and gardens behind and yachts in the marina. The club says it has electrical access for musicians and officiants.
• The Lange Center Ballroom: chandeliers and a panoramic view of the lake, seating 400 for dinner, and divisible for smaller weddings.
• The Lange Center Terrace, Foyer and Rotunda: raised views over Little Traverse Bay, with the Rotunda facing the sunset. Up to 120 for dinner or 350 for a cocktail reception.
• The Marina Lounge and the Founder's Room: smaller rooms for 40 and 30.

The club's site doesn't say whether you need to be a member or have a member sponsor to book a wedding, so ask the event department. See Bay Harbor Yacht Club's website.

Kara and Matt's wedding at Bay Harbor Yacht Club

Dave played Kara and Matt's reception at the end of August 2016 with The Groove Party, a Michigan wedding band he performed with at the time. The one photograph we have from the night is their first dance: a dance floor under clusters of white and gold paper lanterns hung among the chandeliers, with the head table behind them.

Two months earlier, Dave had played a June wedding just along the shore at Hotel Perry in Petoskey.

Ceremony music on the Promenade Dock

A ceremony on a marina dock, with boats on one side and a waterfall on the other, is one of the more unusual settings in Michigan. It's also one of the more demanding for sound. Open water carries sound away, wind off the lake can take quiet vows with it, and a waterfall adds steady background noise. Our approach is to amplify the officiant, the couple and the music enough to rise above all of that, without it feeling loud at the front.

Live guitar and vocals, or piano, fit the setting, and can be added to your DJ and MC booking. We plan the processional to the length of the walk so the music lands as you reach the front. See live ceremony music.

Cocktail hour on the terrace

With the Rotunda facing the sunset and the terrace looking out over Little Traverse Bay, cocktail hour here is about the view. Up north in summer the sun doesn't set until after 9 pm, so cocktails happen in full light. A live acoustic set suits it: present enough that guests notice, quiet enough that it never competes with the conversation. See cocktail hour music.

Wedding DJ and MC in the Lange Center Ballroom

A ballroom with chandeliers and a panoramic view of the lake makes for a formal, beautiful room. Our approach in a room like this is to let dinner be elegant, with music in the background, then change the mood for the first dance and the open floor. The wedding DJ and MC booking covers the whole reception, and the MC keeps entrances, toasts and the cake on time in a room this size.

Kara and Matt had a live band, and a ballroom this size suits one. A live wedding band package can have a DJ playing between sets and closing out the night. If you'd rather have a DJ with live music on top, add DJ plus live music, with live drums, guitar, sax or violin on top of the DJ set.

What to ask the club before you plan the music

• Whether you need a member sponsor to book a wedding.
• Where the ceremony moves if the weather turns on the dock.
• When vendors can arrive, and what time music needs to end.

More Northern Michigan wedding venues

Dave has also played Hotel Perry, Petoskey's 1899 hotel, with a garden ceremony over Little Traverse Bay. For more of the area, see Northern Michigan weddings, or browse all the venues we've played.