Shuttle information

Parking is very limited at the venue, and most guests arriving by shuttle is preferred by them. We know it may add an extra layer of complication, but appreciate your understanding!

Park in the overflow lot at Tom’s West Bay (13940 S W Bay Shore Dr, Traverse City) and catch a shuttle to the event. If that lot is full, park in the back of the main lot along S W Bay Shore Dr. Click to view map.

Please arrive on time, the shuttles won’t wait!

• To venue:

  • Family so they can arrive for photos in time — 2:30pm (arrive by 2:15)

  • Friends — 3:30pm (arrive by 3:15).

• From venue:

  • Rotating pickup starting at 8:30pm, last pickup at 11pm.

ACCOMODATIONS

Booking flights and lodging ASAP is strongly encouraged—July is a very popular time to visit the area.

Getting to Traverse City
We recommend using Google Flights to find the most affordable airfare to or near Traverse City by typing in “Michigan” as the destination. For Southwest, you’ll have to look directly on their site for booking. They service Grand Rapids, which is the closest major airport and a much shorter drive than Detroit.

Staying in Traverse City
Traverse City lodging options include bed-and-breakfasts, Airbnbs, VRBOs, and (for the adventurous) campsites. Plenty of these are within a 15-20 minute drive to downtown where the shuttle pickup will be.

GIFTS

We chose to have a destination wedding and know it isn’t cheap to come celebrate with us. So, needless to say, your attendance is all we’re hoping for in the gift department. But for those who insist, we’ve come up with two options:

• For home goods, we’ve put together a registry at Snowe (link to view).

• For supporting future life stuff (honeymoon, house, third cat) we’ll accept cash through Venmo. Regular cash works too. We’ll have a card box!

WHY NOW?

After 6 years of dating, were you starting to give up on us? As one family member described it, “You’re like Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.” We had to Google that reference but once we did, it seemed apropos.

At the end of the summer, both of us knew we wanted to take things to the next level and honor the hard work we’ve put into our relationship. We’re best friends, we’re in love, we’re working to improve ourselves, and we can already see our future together. We’re ready to commit to that future.

Up until now, marriage didn’t resonate with us. From modern-day wedding traditions, to the dubious origins of a woman being wed to a man, to the cost, to the fear of divorce. But we decided it’s the best way to honor each other and the life we want to continue to build as John & Brandi.

So we’re stripping this wedding/marriage thing down to only the stuff that’s important to us, makes us excited, and feels natural. FYI, celebrating with our friends and family is at the top of the list.

Does this count as a meet-cute?

We’ve been dating long enough that we assume if you’re reading this, you already know it. But maybe not. Plus, we don’t mind re-telling it.

In 2011, Brandi was running a musical theater group at Ohio State, Off the Lake. John saw the fall cabaret, scoping out guests for his Get Out of Your Dorm podcast through the school paper, The Lantern. He emailed Brandi asking if she’d mind coming in to talk about the show with a few other members but no one else could join her. He did the interview anyway. The second they sat down in the recording booth they hit it off. 30 minutes in, they hadn’t even started talking about the show and Brandi had to leave for work soon. They got back on track, she left, and John looked her up on Facebook, finding out she was in a relationship.

They ran into each other here and there over the next few months and then in March Brandi was newly single, newly 21, and came back from Spring Break to her Magazine Writing class, attended by none other than “John from The Lantern and Fishbowl Improv”. He gave her a cool nod when she spotted him. 6 months of “casual” dating later (a girl’s gotta be single for a second, ok?), John asked Brandi if he could finally call her his girlfriend. And here we are.

Two proposals

In July 2018, we were together in a car for about 12 hours round-trip. John had been talking in therapy about taking things to the next level, and Brandi had been working through the same feelings. In that rented sedan, we found out that we were feeling the same way. It was a thrill and a relief since marriage was something we thought might not be for us up until that point.

But, we both still liked the idea of having a ~romantic~ proposal. John volunteered to do the honors and luckily a planned trip to Italy was only a few weeks away. On the day he had privately decided to ask, Brandi got down on one knee as a joke. An hour later, on a beautiful hill in Tuscany, John got down on his knee for the actual, final, “official” proposal. When Brandi was sure it was the real thing she said “yes please”.

The ring

In the spirit of through-and-through partnership, we shared the cost of the engagement ring. Right after the “car proposal”, we took ourselves to Mineralogy and started customizing a ring with Theresa, the owner. The centerpiece is an heirloom diamond donated by John’s grandmother, Marge, and is now a constant reminder of her love.