Very happy fall 2023 bride here 😊 My husband and I had a wonderful experience with Baker Events and would recommend them whole heartedly! Baker has two unique venues located in one building. Costs vary for use of just one or use of both rooms. My fiancé and I chose to hold both of our ceremony and reception in “The Loft” as aesthetically, the warm colors of the Loft were more our vibe.

Overview: When we initially started our search for a venue, we were looking for a space that was not too large and would feel intimate for around 150 guests. We found the size of the Loft fit that feeling perfectly. My family can tend to be… high stress, so we were also looking for a venue that could provide tables, chairs, and linens. It was an enormous bonus that Gilmore Catering is onsite and DELICIOUS. It was an additional bonus that Quinn Vise Salon was also onsite and directly connected to Baker’s beautiful bridal suites (perfect for pictures). My husband and I were not interested in breaking the bank for our wedding and were delighted that the Loft was so beautiful on its own, it did not require much floral or décor for a stunning ceremony/reception setting. This helped us cut down exponentially on costs. Additionally, because we used Quinn Vise Salon and the Loft Bridal Suite to get ready, my family and bridesmaids were able to set up the space (Baker set up tables, chairs, and place settings) on their own while we got ready and this too helped cut down on costs. We did hire a day-of-coordinator to assist with set-up and the flow of the day as well. Baker is the perfect combination of and inclusive yet DIY venue.

Food & Drink: As mentioned above, Gilmore Catering was DELICIOUS. We were blown away at our tasting, and received numerous compliments from all of our guests. Many guests claimed it was the best food they had had at a wedding. We opted for buffet style as we had numerous guests with health conditions and decided it was best if they could create their own plate. We choose “option 2” which consisted of one salad, two sides, and two entrees. We paid to add one additional side item as it really was not that big of an expense to do when we worked out the numbers. I believe this still came out to under $40 a plate, which in today’s wedding market was quite a reasonable price. I can vouch very highly for all of our choices- chopped Caesar salad, balsamella chicken, pot roast, rainbow carrots, mashed potatoes, and broccolini. We did have a few guests who were vegetarians and Baker allowed us to order these guests individual plates which they brought out to them. This was very important to us and we were pleased we were able to do so. In regard to the bar, we were at first very intimidated to purchase by the bottle as it was very difficult to discern exactly how much the bar would cost. Baker does not charge you for any unopened bottles at the end of the night and allows you to take any opened alcohol with you at the end of the night. We feared paying by the bottle would be expensive as we had a pretty heavy drinking crowd. We were VERY pleasantly surprised with our bar tab at the end of the night.

Location: As above, we were thrilled to have a salon and beautiful bridal suite on site. The bridal suites are large and I feel even large enough to get ready in with your bridal party if you decided to use your own hair and makeup artists. The suites were stunning and beautiful for pictures. I do recommend using the salon as they were wonderful and easy to work with, they will schedule as many hair and makeup professionals as needed to get your girls ready in the time frame you provide. Baker has many beautiful areas for pictures onsite. We were originally planning on going offsite for pictures, but opted to stay onsite for convenience and I am happy we did. There is a park located across the street from the venue with tall trees, this looks beautiful in the fall. We were very happy with both our indoor and outdoor photos. We arrived onsite in the morning, and literally did not leave until the end of the night and this really just helped create a stress-free day. Parking was onsite and easy and convenient for guests. We also chartered a shuttle from our hotel and the shuttle was able to drop guests off conveniently without issue.

Communication: Both Kim(catering director) and Natalie are very responsive to e-mails so questions are answered immediately. Baker offers a tasting, and then Kim requires two details meetings prior to the event which were quick and helpful.

Overall, the vibe and aesthetic of Baker was just beautiful. We were looking for a laid-back classy vibe and Baker achieved this. We LOVE Michigan fall and wanted to incorporate this into our venue, the Loft was perfect. Cozy but chic.

Baker Events/Gilmore Catering through Baker was absolutely FANTASTIC. My husband actually found them on a list of “affordable venues in Michigan”. We are from Chicago, so everything out there was absolutely insane cost wise. We looked over this pricing, and thought hmm okay it may be worth the trip to check it out. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by Natalie who is just a literal ray of sunshine. She answered all of my 5492 questions with ease. The venue is absolutely stunning and so well maintained. I was so scared it was one of those places that looks good and bright in pictures but not in person. WRONG. This place is so beautiful, it doesn’t need much in the way of décor at all. Aside from the absolutely stunning aesthetic of it all, the experience was incredible. We were able to come in a few times over the course of getting engaged Christmas of 2020 to the wedding, September 30, 2022. Natalie was wonderful to work with. The amount of times we contacted her over the course of almost 2 years, she answered every question, eased every concern, and never made me feel like I was bothering her. The other women I met with over the course of the meetings were also wonderful. Stephanie listened to me when I told her I needed the space to be an ICE BOX because I run very warm. They replaced my husbands chair at the head table for something more comfortable because he actually had an emergency appendectomy 4 days before the wedding and needed a chair with some cushion. 1000000/10 would recommend and would have my wedding there again over and over!
Now onto Gilmore catering. Again, when I saw the pricing I thought “there is no way this is going to be good food at this price”. W R O N G! I may be biased because it was my own wedding, but based on our guests reactions as well, I feel like I can honestly say this is some of the best wedding food I’ve ever had. We had Caesar salad, pot roast, boursin chicken, roasted carrots, and garlic chive mashed potatoes. All the meat was SO fork tender, the carrots had this amazing taste to them, think that taste you get on the outside of a burned marshmallow, that very specific taste. The carrots had a hint of that with sweet and savory, I truly can’t describe it any other way. The mashed potatoes weren’t like most wedding potatoes, stiff and gross. They were fluffy and warm and truly amazing. Like, I would go back to have a meal by Gilmore Catering. Kim was amazing to work with helping me set up the bar, providing me options for my vegan friends, helping me select appetizers for a good variety (GET. THE. VEGGIE. SPRING ROLLS. Holy crap they were SO GOOD!!!!)

I just had my wedding at Baker Lofts this year and it was absolutely perfect! I am a wedding planner myself and so I knew going into the planning process that I wanted to go with a venue that includes everything for me. I was not up for the whole DIY thing (more power to you if you have the stamina for that). You are required to work with Gilmore Catering and they have a very seamless process. You can tell they've been in the industry for a long time and know what they are doing. Kim was great to work with as she was very straightforward, organized and had simple answers to all of my questions. My favorite part about Baker is how easy everything was. The hair salon is in the building (if you choose), there is plenty of space to get ready with the bridal party (though there is not a room for the groomsmen, this could be a helpful add on), you can have your ceremony and reception all in the same place and there is a required catering and bar service. So many logistics and details taken care of all in one place! It was so easy on the wedding day. I never had to leave the building! I got married on a Friday in March so the price was extremely reasonable for everything that was included. As far as the look of the venue goes, I love that there are multiple greenery walls up at the venue. It is perfect for hanging signage, a nice backdrop for photos, etc. The Loft area was my favorite part...specifically the bar! It is so modern and beautiful! And when it gets dark outside the lighting in the room is so warm and gorgeous! My pictures turned out so good and I loved having the option of using brick walls OR white walls in the background. I wasn't initially going for the "industrial" vibe for my wedding but I feel like I was really able to make the space what I wanted it to be. It can be dressed up or down and I think that is great. Sort of a blank slate. Oh and the wooden tables upstairs are so pretty too! So glad I got to use those :) These were some of my favorite things about the venue! If you are looking for a full service venue who is going to get the details straight then you are in the right place.