Wedding Getaway! | Copper Harbor, Michigan

♫ (To the tune of the typical bride entrance song) “Dum dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum” Guess who just got married! Okay, this may be a long post.

On the second weekend of August, 2019, Charlie, myself, and a little over 50 of our closest family and friends trekked to the most northern settlement in Michigan - Copper Harbor. For us, that was a 13 hour drive (that’s equivalent to us driving out to see family and friends in Southern Vermont…). Most of us stayed from Thursday until Sunday, Evelyn and I stayed with my family until Monday, and some only came for Saturday; nonetheless, it was a weekend of celebration.

Copper Harbor has a special place in Charlie’s heart. His grandmother is from there and used to own some cottages, and everyone in town (really isn’t a whole lot) knows of them! Charlie used to spend his summers up there. So naturally, he wanted to share his special place with me on our first year anniversary. That year, on top of Brockway Mountain, he also gifted me a promise ring. He promised me his whole heart and that one day he would promise me his life. Back in January when he proposed to me, we both immediately thought of having our wedding in Copper Harbor and started devising to make it happen. We chose Hunter’s Point Park as our ceremony location because we actually witnessed a wedding there while we were adventuring on our anniversary. I’m pretty sure I told Charlie that day that if we got married, that’s where I wanted it to be. Our photographers were absolutely the best too! I started getting nervous and second-guessing plans, they would reassure me that everything will run smoothly, and even when it didn’t, they rolled with it! If you are looking for some amazing portrait/wedding photographers, I will link them below!

Okay, but what is there to do in this single traffic-light town of Copper Harbor? So much! Whether you are a mountain biker, a hiker, a walker, a site seer, a rock gatherer, a food enthusiast, a camper, then Copper Harbor has a little bit of everything for you. The town is renown for their mountain bike trails and trekkers come from all over to experience them. In addition to that, there are hiking trails all over town and surrounding forest. You can practically walk to anything in town as well (we did). Our favorite place to stop first is the Country Village Shop for their Thimbleberry jam! Thimbleberries are similar to raspberries, but smaller, and are native to northern temperate regions of North America and Europe. Every place has something they are known for, and Keweenaw is their thimbleberry jam! Most restaurants are only open until 3pm, so plan to bring snacks or a cooler with lunches. After checking out all of the stores in town, you can head down to see Fort Wilkins State Park and the Copper Harbor Lighthouse look out. If you are feeling adventurous, you can take the two-track down to see the lighthouse! Our first year we stayed at the Minnetonka Resort cabins, and this year our family stayed at the King Copper Motel. Both were quaint and clean! I loved relaxing and watching the water from the waterside King Copper rooms. In fact, I almost saw the northern lights while I was on the phone with Charlie!

Our Cabin: Keweenaw Luxery Cottage

Our Lead Wedding Photographer: Nick Najduck

Our Secondary Photographer: Autumn Thornsberry

*our post was not sponsored by any of these links, we just really like them!

Day 1: Our morning started at 2am (well, I didn’t sleep because I was packing while our driver slept), in the car by 3:30am, and picking up our friends in Davison by 4:30. Then we made another stop to pick up a few more friends in West Branch. But our first real stop was Mackinaw. We always make a stop in Mackinaw for gas, maybe a quite bite, and to see the bridge. It was way too windy this day though and it was making Evelyn mad. So we ate our breakfast, took our pictures, and headed north! We stopped at Mackinaw Bakery for some breakfast sandwiches and danishes, then the lighthouse.

Our next stop was on the side of the road in Sand River, across from the Seacoast Resort. We had some sandwiches our wonderful friends made, Evelyn ate, and the dogs were able to run around for a bit before we headed for the Keweenaw Peninsula. Our cabin was only a short distance past the Houghton bridge, and it was GORGEOUS. We spent our first night unpacking, grocery shopping for the next couple days, and enjoying that sunset!

Second stop!

Day 2: Our cabin started stumbling around between 8 am and 10 am. A few of us cooked breakfast, and the others cleaned up afterwards. Next - Destination: Copper Harbor. Our first stop that morning was to scout Hunter’s Point Park for our wedding. Then we went into town to pick up some family for our hike. While they were eating breakfast, we walked the town! As I mentioned before, our first stop was the Country Village Shops for some fudge, and if anyone wanted souvenirs. Then we stopped at Jamsen’s Fish Market & Bakery for their infamous Thimbleberry Donuts!

By the time we looped back to the cars, we picked up our family and headed for Manganese Falls! After a little fun exploring the river/falls, we followed the road until it ended at Manganese lake and took the red trail. It wasn’t until we reached a fork that we encountered a warning sign for a mom and her cubs! Opps… Thankfully we are all safe, and our group was probably too large and loud to begin with!

We said our good-byes to the family staying in town, picked up my brother and cousin from the motel, and headed back to the cabin for dinner!

Saturday, Day 3: Wedding day! I didn’t get too many photos worthy of sharing that day because I saved it all for the photographers.

Day 4: This was supposed to be the day we all went home, however I stayed behind with my family. I said good-bye to all of my friends and hopped into my parents car back up to Copper Harbor. We first stopped at the art festival in Eagle Harbor and then pulled over and looked at Jacobs Falls on the way to town. We stopped in Copper Harbor for a quick bite at Pines Resort, where I ate some really delicious fried shrimp. Then we visited Fort Wilkins and the Copper Harbor Lighthouse lookout. After relaxing from our day, my father and I walked around town during golden hour and then picked up our family and headed to Brockway Mountain to watch our last Copper Harbor sunset before heading home.

When we got back, I sat out on the deck and talked to Charlie. He made it home safely and said the dogs were acting their usual, mope-filled, way without me there. While we where on the phone, I looked out over Lake Superior watching the stars. There was this green, snake-like flash across the sky. I thought it was just a weird shooting star. But then it happened again right in front of my face! I came so close to seeing the northern lights for my first time.

Of course, I had to stop in and get some smoked fish and one last doughnut before we hit the road Monday morning.

Copper Harbor, I miss you already. I can’t stop thinking about this trip. Tell me, would you drive all the way to the northern most point in Michigan for a Thimbleberry doughnut? I would!

As always, I’d love to hear from you in the comments! Where should we travel next?

xoxo Searra (313 Studios Photography)