Zingerman's Cornman Farms weddings: venue guide and wedding DJ
8540 Island Lake Rd, Dexter, MI 48130
Dave has played here
Closing October 31, 2026 and no longer accepting new bookings.
Brian & Yu-ju’s wedding · The Bigger Picture Photography
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Zingerman's Cornman Farms at a glance
Zingerman’s Cornman Farms is a farm property on Island Lake Road outside Dexter that Zingerman’s, the Ann Arbor food community, has run as an all-inclusive event venue for a little over twelve years. Weddings used a white farmhouse for getting ready, a red barn with an upstairs loft, and lawns and groves for outdoor ceremonies, with family-style menus cooked on site. The farm is in its final season. It closes on October 31, 2026, and Zingerman’s has said the property will then go on the market.
- Setting. Farmhouse, red barn and grounds outside Dexter
- Guests. Final packages: up to 75 for intimate weddings
- Ceremony. On site: the grounds, the barn loft or the farmhouse
- Catering. All-inclusive, cooked on site by Zingerman’s
- Season. Final events through October 31, 2026
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How many guests can we have?
| Space | Used for | Guests |
|---|---|---|
| The Farmhouse | Getting ready and ceremony | Ask the venue |
| The Red Barn | Indoor reception; loft ceremony | Ask the venue |
| The grounds | Outdoor ceremony | Ask the venue |
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What are the music rules?
- Good to knowNo AV equipment on site; a DJ typically brings ceremony speakers and a mic
- Good to knowCouples could book their own DJ or ask the farm to book one
From Zingerman's Cornman Farms’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?
- The FarmhouseGetting ready and ceremony · Upper floor is not wheelchair accessible
- The Red BarnIndoor reception; loft ceremony · ADA accessible, with a lift between levels
- The groundsOutdoor ceremony
- All-inclusive Zingerman’s menus cooked on site
- Farmhouse reserved for getting ready
- One wedding per day
- More than 100 on-site parking spaces
- Grounds wheelchair accessible apart from the farmhouse upper floor
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Has Menzo Weddings played here?
Yes. Dave was the DJ for Brian and Yu-ju's winter wedding at Cornman Farms in 2018, and sang live at their cocktail hour.
Photographs: Brian & Yu-ju’s wedding · The Bigger Picture Photography
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Where do guests stay?
- Detroit Metro (DTW)about 50 min
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Questions couples ask us
Is Zingerman's Cornman Farms still hosting weddings?
Cornman Farms is closing on October 31, 2026 and is no longer taking new bookings. If you were hoping to marry there, Revel Run in Chelsea is a nearby venue with a similar countryside setting.
Did Cornman Farms provide a sound system for weddings?
No. The farm's own FAQ says it does not have AV equipment for weddings and that a DJ would typically provide speakers and a microphone for the ceremony. For elopements it offered a small speaker for ceremony and background music.
Where were ceremonies held at Cornman Farms?
The farm lists three ceremony sites: The Grove, outdoors with the farmhouse behind it; The Loft, upstairs in the Red Barn; and The Farmhouse, indoors by the fireplace.
What did Dave Menzo play at Cornman Farms?
At Brian and Yu-ju's 2018 wedding, Dave was the DJ for the reception and sang live during cocktail hour. The Bigger Picture Photography wrote about it on its blog, and their photographs are on their real-wedding page.
Does Menzo Weddings play other farm and barn weddings near Dexter?
Yes. We play weddings around Ann Arbor, Dexter and Chelsea, and Dave played Katie and Dennis's wedding at Revel Run in 2026. See Ann Arbor weddings for more.
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Our full guide to Zingerman's Cornman Farms
Zingerman's Cornman Farms sits on Island Lake Road in Dexter, a 27-acre farm with a white farmhouse, a red barn, maple trees and a long lawn. It has hosted weddings for more than twelve years as part of Zingerman's, the Ann Arbor community of food businesses that started with the Deli.
The farm has announced that it closes on October 31, 2026, and it is no longer taking new bookings. We're keeping this page because Dave Menzo, who founded Menzo Weddings, played a wedding here that we're proud of, and because couples still search for it. If you're looking for somewhere with the same feeling, see the last section of this page.
What was Cornman Farms like for a wedding?
The farmhouse is an 1834 Greek Revival house, redesigned in 2019, with a library of more than a thousand cookbooks. The Red Barn dates from 1837 and was restored and modernised for events. The farm opened formally in May 2014, founded by chef Kieron Hales, with Tabitha Mason as managing partner.
The farm's own pages describe:
- Ceremony sites: The Grove (outdoors, with the farmhouse as a backdrop), The Loft in the Red Barn, and The Farmhouse, by the fireplace.
- The Red Barn: The Loft for dinner and dancing, a Bar and Lounge with a wood-burning fireplace for cocktail hour, and a pergola.
- The Farmhouse: a dressing room, a hair and makeup room, an upstairs lounge, a kitchen, a library and dining and living rooms.
- The grounds: the Chef's Garden, a tree-lined drive and rolling fields.
The farm's FAQ is clear on sound: it doesn't provide AV equipment for weddings, and a DJ would typically bring speakers and a microphone for the ceremony. Read more on Cornman Farms' website.
Brian and Yu-ju's winter wedding at Cornman Farms
Brian and Yu-ju were married at Cornman Farms in 2018, on a day with snow on the ground. The white farmhouse was dressed with winter garlands, and the barn was hung with red paper lanterns for the ceremony. Dave was their DJ, and he sang at cocktail hour. The Bigger Picture Photography photographed the day and wrote it up on its blog, naming Dave as the DJ.
It was a wedding full of personal touches. In the photographer's write-up, the toasts had a live interpreter, the first course was dumplings from Taiwan, and the favours were ceramic bowls the groom made himself. KeriAnn Nicholson-Brent of With Love Events planned it.
Wedding storyBrian & Yu-ju
Zingerman's Cornman Farms, Dexter · 2018See the wedding
Can the DJ sing at cocktail hour too?
Yes, and Brian and Yu-ju's wedding is a good example of how it works. Their booking was the wedding DJ and MC, with a live cocktail-hour set added to it. A small venue with a barn bar, a fireplace and an open lawn suits live acoustic music at cocktail hour: guests can stand close, drink in hand, and the music feels like part of the place rather than something coming out of a speaker. Then, as dinner finishes, the music moves to the DJ booth for the dancing.
Booked together, cocktail hour and the reception run from one plan, from the first song to the last. See cocktail hour music, or DJ plus live music if you'd like live musicians on top of the DJ set during the reception as well.
Wedding DJ and MC in a barn loft
Barn lofts are some of the best rooms to dance in. Low beams and wooden walls make a room feel full, even with a smaller guest list, and the sound stays warm and close. Our approach in rooms like this is to keep the volume right for the size of the crowd rather than the size of the speakers: loud enough that the floor feels alive, never so loud that the people at the back tables can't talk. As MC, we keep the toasts, the first dance and the parent dances moving so the dancing gets its full share of the night.
Ceremony music for a farm wedding
For a ceremony in a barn or in front of a farmhouse, live guitar and vocals or piano feel right. Outdoors, sound carries away quickly, so our approach is to amplify the music and the officiant lightly, enough that the vows reach the back row. We plan the processional to the length of the aisle so the music lands as you reach the front. Ceremony music is an add-on to the DJ and MC booking. See live ceremony music.
Wedding venues like Cornman Farms near Ann Arbor
If you'd hoped to marry at Cornman Farms, the area still has countryside venues with that same mix of lawn, water and timber. Revel Run, a short drive west near Chelsea, has three ceremony sites by a pond and a timber reception hall. Dave played Katie and Dennis's wedding there in September 2026. Stonebridge Golf Club on the south side of Ann Arbor has a lawn, a permanent tent and a banquet room. For more of the area, see Ann Arbor weddings.