A Northern Michigan Wedding at Nub’s Nob in Harbor Springs

OutdoorsLakeside

Jan 20

Nub’s nob | Harbor springs, michigan

9.6.2025

A behind-the-scenes look at a Northern Michigan wedding at Nub’s Nob Ski Resort—where thoughtful planning, weather strategy, and refined design transformed a ski lodge into an elevated Michigan wedding.

Planning a Northern Michigan Wedding in a Ski Resort Setting

Planning a Michigan outdoor wedding at Nub’s Nob Ski Resort required far more than styling a beautiful space. This Northern Michigan venue, beloved for its ski culture and natural setting, presented a unique challenge: how to host an elegant, guest-focused wedding in a space never designed for formal events—while accounting for unpredictable Northern Michigan weather.

As a Northern Michigan wedding planner, our role was to translate the couple’s refined vision into a functional, cohesive experience that felt intentional from start to finish.

The Vision

The couple’s style leaned classic and editorial, with a restrained color palette of ivory, soft green, and warm neutrals. Sculptural white florals, clean-lined tablescapes, and subtle pattern played against the lodge’s wood architecture, creating contrast without fighting the space.

The goal wasn’t to disguise the venue, but to elevate it.

The Planning Approach

This wedding was planned through our service of Partial Planning in Michigan, allowing us to step in where experience mattered most:

Space planning and guest flow
Vendor coordination within a nontraditional venue
Layout strategy across multiple lodge areas
Weather-aware pivots

Partial planning works best when it’s proactive. Every decision was made with the full day—and multiple backup scenarios—in mind.

Using Nub’s Nob as a Wedding Venue

The biggest hurdle was determining how to use the ski lodge intentionally. We reimagined the interior with:

Long banquet-style tables to anchor the space
Vertical floral elements to balance the room’s scale
Layered linens, candlelight, and lighting to soften the architecture
Defined “zones” so guests intuitively understood the flow of the evening

What could have felt cavernous instead felt intimate and considered.

Weather Strategy for a Northern Michigan Wedding

Northern Michigan weather is always a variable—especially in mountain-adjacent locations. Rather than relying on hope, we planned for flexibility. Indoor layouts were fully designed in advance, vendor timelines accounted for shifts, and transitions were seamless regardless of conditions.

Guests never felt the contingency planning, but they benefited from it.