We’ve all heard the saying, “Some of the most amazing things are right in your own backyard” and often we don’t even know it. Well, the fact is true when it comes to knowing Minnesota. Each week Bruce Vassar one of The Wedding Guys will take you along to get the inside scoop on his Great Northern Minnesota Resort and Venue Tour. It’s a look at the In-State Destinations available for your wedding.
Discover the interesting facts you have never heard about. Follow along for a unique inside look at Minnesota resorts starting in Brainerd with Grand View Lodge Spa and Golf Resort, driving northeast to Greysolon Ballroom in Duluth and there heading up the North Shore to Grand Marais and Gunflint Lodge along with many stops in-between.
“I can’t believe I haven’t been up here until now!” If the owners of the Northern Minnesota Resort and Special Event Venues have heard this once, they have heard it a million times. As a former Yooper from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan I thought I had already seen and lived in God’s Country. I guess I was wrong!
In my first ever Northern Minnesota Resort & Venue Tour my eyes were truly opened. I will just say it now, if you haven’t been to the resorts in Northern Minnesota and along the North Shore, you owe it to yourself to go. If you have ever seen old post cards from the early 1900’s of lodges and resorts, it will all become real when you visit these amazing finds. Over the years we have seen many couples plan their destination weddings in other states or countries, now we are seeing many couples planning their In-State Destination Weddings or Honeymoons in Northern Minnesota and along the Northshore.
In three days I had the opportunity to meet with six resorts and two historic venues from Brainerd, Minnesota to Duluth, Minnesota and all the way up to Grand Marais. I had no idea what this was going to be like and my only point of reference I had was a resort in northern Minnesota I stayed at in 1988 for a corporate retreat. Above all I didn’t want this article to be the typical write up you see appear once a year in a magazine. I wanted to see the flipside of what has already been written, the secrets, the nitty gritty and not-always-seen. I wanted to get the untold stories you never read about, and what are some of the secret discoveries only the staff may know.
So I gathered my suit case, hopped in my car and said ready or not here I come “Up North” so tag along with me and see just what you may have been missing.