Grosse Pointe War Memorial weddings: venue guide and wedding DJ
32 Lake Shore Dr, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236
Dave has played here
Weddings require a family member, living or deceased, who has served or is serving in the U.S. military; a service-member form secures the date.
Rob & Kristen, June 2018 · Photograph: Dave Menzo
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Grosse Pointe War Memorial at a glance
The War Memorial is a nonprofit veterans’ memorial and community center on the Grosse Pointe Farms shore of Lake St. Clair. Its centerpiece is the Alger House, known as The Moorings, an Italian Renaissance–style home from 1910 with historic gardens and a lawn that runs down to the water. The house has served as a memorial since 1949. The Fred M. Alger Center opened in 2022 with a lakefront ballroom behind floor-to-ceiling windows, so a wedding can move from lawn to house to ballroom on one property.
- Setting. Lakefront estate: 1910 house and a modern ballroom
- Guests. Up to 450: ballroom 250, plus Community Room 200
- Ceremony. Historic Lawn and Gardens, chairs for up to 400
- Season. Year-round
- Eligibility. Family member must have served in the U.S. military
- Catering. In-house food and full bar
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How many guests can we have?
| Space | Used for | Guests |
|---|---|---|
| Historic Lawn and Gardens | Outdoor ceremony and cocktails | Up to 400 seated |
| Alger House | Intimate weddings or cocktail hour | Up to 70 |
| Ballroom, Fred M. Alger Center | Indoor reception | Up to 250 |
| Community Room | Overflow, cocktails or late night | Up to 200 more guests |
| Open-air terraces | Outdoor cocktails | Ask the venue |
| Getting-ready rooms | Getting ready | Ask the venue |
The weddings page gives 450 guests, while the venue page says the Alger Center holds 600 for events; confirm with the venue.
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What are the music rules?
- PowerPower on the ceremony lawn
- PowerDedicated power for live entertainment in the ballroom
From Grosse Pointe War Memorial’s own pages. We confirm every detail with the venue before your day.
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What are the spaces, and what’s included?
- Historic Lawn and GardensOutdoor ceremony and cocktails · Power on the lawn
- Alger HouseIntimate weddings or cocktail hour · Reception Room, Dining Room and Library
- Ballroom, Fred M. Alger CenterIndoor reception · Private balcony; dedicated power for live entertainment
- Community RoomOverflow, cocktails or late night · Included with the ballroom
- Open-air terracesOutdoor cocktails
- Getting-ready roomsGetting ready
- In-house catering and full-service bar
- Event coordinator included
- Tables, chairs, linens and china included
- Getting-ready rooms on site
- Community Room for overflow or late-night use
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Has Menzo Weddings played here?
Yes. Dave was the DJ for Rob and Kristen's wedding at The War Memorial on June 23, 2018, with their ceremony on the lawn by the lake.
Photographs: Rob & Kristen, June 2018 · Photograph: Dave Menzo
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Where do guests stay?
- Detroit Foundation HotelDetroit · About 25 min
- Shinola HotelDetroit · About 25 min
- The Inn on Ferry StreetDetroit · About 25 min
- Detroit Metro (DTW)about 50 min
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Questions couples ask us
Can we get married on the lawn at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial?
Yes. The venue offers its Historic Lawn and Gardens for ceremonies and outdoor cocktail hours, and says it provides white folding chairs for up to 400 guests. Ask the coordinator about the rain plan for your date.
How long is a wedding reception at the War Memorial?
The venue's current wedding packages list a five-hour event time. Check the latest packages with the venue, then plan your music around that window so dancing gets its full share.
Can the Alger House be used for cocktail hour?
Yes. The venue says the Alger House can host intimate weddings of up to 70 guests or serve as an extension of cocktail hour, with French doors opening onto the lawn. Smaller rooms like these suit a live acoustic set.
How many guests does the War Memorial hold for a wedding?
The venue lists a maximum of 450 guests for a wedding: up to 250 in the Ballroom, with the Community Room adding space for up to 200 more.
Has Menzo Weddings played a wedding at the War Memorial?
Yes. Dave was the DJ for Rob and Kristen's wedding at The War Memorial on June 23, 2018, with their ceremony on the lawn by the lake. That was before the Fred M. Alger Center renovation opened in 2022.
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Our full guide to Grosse Pointe War Memorial
The War Memorial sits on Lake Shore Drive in Grosse Pointe Farms, with a broad lawn running down to Lake St. Clair. For a wedding, it gives you three very different settings on one property: a 1910 lakefront house, an open lawn for the ceremony, and a ballroom with floor-to-ceiling windows on the water.
Menzo Weddings provides wedding DJ and MC services in Grosse Pointe and across Metro Detroit, with live ceremony and cocktail-hour music to add. Dave Menzo, who founded Menzo Weddings, was the DJ for Rob and Kristen's wedding here in June 2018. This page covers the venue's history and spaces, that wedding, and how we approach music for a day that moves between the lawn and the ballroom.
What is the Grosse Pointe War Memorial like for a wedding?
The heart of the property is the Alger House, known as The Moorings. Architect Charles A. Platt designed it in 1910 for Russell A. Alger Jr. and his wife Marion, as an Italian Renaissance-style home on the shore of Lake St. Clair. In 1919 the landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman reworked the gardens with Marion Alger.
In 1949 the house became a war memorial to the 3,500 Grosse Pointers who served in World War II and the 126 who died. A ballroom and the Fries Auditorium were added in the early 1960s, and the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. In November 2022 the venue opened the Fred M. Alger Center, which included a full restoration of the ballroom.
The venue's weddings page lists four spaces, with a maximum of 450 guests for a wedding:
- The Historic Lawn and Gardens: for ceremonies or an outdoor cocktail hour, with chairs for up to 400.
- The Alger House: the Reception Room, Dining Room and Library, with French doors to the lawn. Used for weddings of up to 70 or as an extension of cocktail hour.
- The Ballroom: up to 250 guests, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the lake and a private balcony.
- The Community Room: up to 200 more guests, or a space for cocktail hour or late-night celebrations.
See the venue's weddings page for current packages.
Rob and Kristen's wedding at The War Memorial
Dave was the DJ for Rob and Kristen's wedding on a Saturday in late June 2018. Their ceremony was on the lawn, with Lake St. Clair behind them. Dave's photos from that evening show the vows in the garden and the guests on the lawn, with the lake and the marina behind them.
Ceremony music on the lawn above Lake St. Clair
Outdoors, sound doesn't bounce back off walls and ceilings the way it does inside, and a breeze off the lake carries it away from your guests. That's why our approach to a lawn ceremony is to amplify even acoustic music a little, enough for the back rows to hear the processional and your vows without it sounding loud at the front.
For the music itself, live guitar and vocals or piano both suit a lakeside ceremony, and either can be added to your DJ and MC booking. We plan the processional so the music fits the length of the aisle and the size of your wedding party. See live ceremony music.
Cocktail hour in the Alger House
Because the Alger House opens onto the lawn, cocktail hour can drift between the rooms inside and the grass outside. A live acoustic set works well here: quiet enough for conversation, present enough that guests notice it. See cocktail hour music.
Wedding DJ and MC in the War Memorial ballroom
A ballroom with a wall of windows and a view of the lake is a room people want to look at as well as dance in. Our approach is to keep dinner music in the background while the sun goes down, then build the dance floor from there. See wedding DJ and MC.
The venue's packages list a five-hour event time, which is tighter than some couples expect once dinner and toasts are in. A good wedding MC keeps the entrances, toasts, cake and first dance moving so the dance floor gets its full share of the night. If you'd like live music in the reception, add DJ plus live music, or book a live wedding band, with a DJ between sets if you like.
What to ask The War Memorial before you plan the music
- Where the ceremony moves if it rains, and how soon you need to decide.
- When vendors can arrive, and when the five-hour window starts.
- Whether the Community Room or Alger House will be in use for your cocktail hour.
More Detroit wedding venues
Dave has also played weddings at The Masonic Temple in Detroit and Laurel Manor in Livonia. For more of the area, see Detroit weddings, or browse all the venues we've played.