Plan the Michigan Wedding of Your Dreams With These Professionals: Meet The Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council

"What would we have done without the Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council? My fiance and I got engaged around Christmas 2019 with hopes of having a summer 2020 wedding. Working with a huge (nearly 300 person) guest list and a tight timeline, we knew we had to make some lodging decisions quickly. We contacted the Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council, and they responded to us almost immediately, informed us of the entire bid process, and checked in on us as we were making decisions. Within just a few days, we got room block bids back from eight hotels in the area and were able to make an informed decision about who we would trust to take care of our family and friends!"

-Aliza, 2020 bride

Everyone needs a little extra help with planning their wedding. The professionals at the Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council are here to help your day go off without a hitch! Offering special deals and providing connections to local businesses, this tourist council is here to make your big day go as smoothly as possible. Read on to hear from Membership & Group Services member Brandi Tucker to see how the SWMI Tourist Council can service you!

Please tell us a little more about the Southwestern Michigan tourist Council.

"The Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council is funded by over 25 hotels in the Benton Harbor, St. Joseph and Stevensville area and is a membership-based organization with over 250 members located in Berrien, Cass and Van Buren Counties. Our main goal is to fill the hotels and promote local businesses/events in our area all year round. Southwest Michigan has become the ultimate wedding destination with various venues at vineyards, breweries, distilleries, rustic barns, overlooking our beaches and so many more picture-perfect places!"

What sets you apart from others? Why should a bride choose you?

"Mainly brides contact us to set up hotel room blocks for their out-of-town guests. The process is as easy as one, two, three. We have them go to our website here and fill out two very short pages of information. Once the 'submit' button is pushed, the information is automatically sent to all our partnered hotels to get reviewed. We give the hotels at least 5 business days to submit a bid if they have availability. We will then collate all the bids we receive to one document and email the results. It is then up to the contact person to contact the hotels within seven days as the hotel rooms aren't being reserved until a contract is signed. We also refer the brides to venues, florists, caterers, rehearsal dinners...etc. For every hotel room reserved within our district, we will provide an envelope, Shoreline Visitors Guide, area map, a welcome letter and a downtown St. Joseph map. Just let us know how many you may need within the week of your special day and we will have them ready for you!"

Do you have anything exciting that you would like to share?

"As far as weddings go we try to promote off-season weddings by asking our hotels and members to offer incentives from November 1st- April 30th. Whether it be a percentage off of something or getting something for free! You are able to save hundreds of dollars if you choose a chillier date. The list of off-season wedding incentives can be located by going here. You will also find the list of venues, details (florists, caterers, rehearsal dinners...etc), incentives that are going on this year and future incentives so for next year you can plan accordingly."

What do you love most about working with couples?

"What I love most about working with couples is that they bring nothing but love and happiness...and maybe a little stress for obvious reasons. I get the privilege of working with them to help find the right deals at the perfect hotels and assist in finding places to make every wedding wish come true. I also get to talk about all that Southwest Michigan has to offer. What is there not to love?"

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