Wedding Reviews

Summer is a busy time for weddings here at Castle in the Country, and we love hosting each and every wedding. Here's what some of our recent newly weds have had to say about their wedding experience.

May 22nd: "Thank you to everyone here who made our special day so perfect. It has been a wonderfully romantic, relaxing and fun weekend! We hate to leave, but we know we will be back soon."

May 27th: "Thank you so much for making our wedding and stay here relaxing and an experience to remember. We couldn't have asked for a better place to hold our wedding, you and the staff were wonderful!"

June 1: "This could not have turned out more perfect, to have my very intimate wedding here! From the very start pulling into the drive was just a wonderful view. The rooms are spectacular with their decor, breakfasts are amazing!

June 16th: "Our wedding was beautiful and stress free. Thank you for making it an enjoyable experience!"

We try to make every wedding dream come true for each bride and groom including their honeymoon. Here's a review from recent newly weds who decided to have their honeymoon here at our Castle Kingdom.

June 21-24 "Wow, what a beautiful week! When we realized we were unable to have our "dream" honeymoon in Hawaii, I have to admit I was feel pretty down, little did we know our "dream" honeymoon would lead us to a beautiful Bed and breakfast nestled off the shores of Lake Michigan. This has honestly been everything we hoped for on this relaxing week away. The room is just perfect, and we looked forward to beautiful/tasty breakfasts every morning. We loved exploring the grounds! Our favorite memories will be kayaking on the lake, and lunch in the gazebo. The staff here is amazing and every recommendation was spot on. We look forward to visiting the Castle often in the future. Thank you for making our honeymoon a real dream come true!"

Whether our guests are here for the full wedding experience, or are visiting us to relax and enjoy a honeymoon we try to make each and every experience unique and stress free!

Cherry Cobbler

I lucked out at the Holland Farmers Market Wednesday and found some pie cherries. While sweet cherries are plentiful and available many places, consider yourself fortunate when you see these, at least in West Michigan. The season for pie cherries, also called "sour" or "tart" cherries, is short-just a few weeks. Most of the crop goes to processors and so we don't see them very often in the markets.

These are usually lighter in color. Sweet cherries are often called "black" cherries because their color is darker. Pie cherries are tart, which applies best to baking in pies, tarts, cobblers, etc.

We had friends over that evening, so these did not last long as a cherry cobbler:



Filling:
2 Pints sour cherries, pitted
3/4 C sugar
3T cornstarch
2T Amaretto (optional)
pinch salt

Topping (any biscuit recipe should work, sweetened with a little sugar):
2C AP flour
1-2 T sugar
1t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 stick (8T) unsalted butter
1 C milk

Filling: Combine dry ingredients, add cherries and Amaretto. Turn into buttered baking dish.
Topping: Combine dry ingredients, add butter in small chunks and mix until the largest butter chunks are the size of small peas. Add milk, turn onto floured work surface and roll out to about 1/3 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes and arrange on top of filling. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with more sugar, and bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes, until biscuit is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Serve warm.

Weddings from Destination weekends to Elopement Events at Castle in the Country in Allegan Michigan

From imagining to implementing, we're in the thick of our wedding season here at Castle in the Country.  Every day we're emersed in all the checklist details of flower selection, ceremony location choices, decoration planning and menu planning.  Then there's the scheduling with our wonderful officiants and making sure everyone knows where they are to be and when they are to be there.  And, on the magical night before the event, our "Cake Fairy", Shirley delivers her beautiful creation and all is ready. 

Just like a fairy tale come true, we pin the boutonniere on the handsome groom, place the hand-tied bouquet in the hands of the princess-like bride and we're off to "the most beautiful ceremony ever" on the gazebo deck or under the stained glass arch or wherever this bride and groom want to say their "I Do's".  The rings, the kisses, the vows and the tears of joy all mingle together with the birdsong and the frog chorus who cheer them on and it's another wedding at Castle in the Country. 

As the photographer for our Wedding Packages, I get an awesome opportunity to interact with just the bride and groom as we quickly crisscross the property to chase down shady spots for just the right lighting or as I pose them in some of my "signature" spots where they are King and Queen for today at their Castle.  Inspiring Happily ever afters is what we're all about here, but every time we host a wedding, I get inspired. 

Thanks to all our June Brides and Grooms for being altogether lovely and letting us be a part of your incredible love story- your very own Fairytale come true.

Enjoy a Picnic Lunch at Castle in the Country

Today is a perfect day for our guests to stay on site, enjoy the nice weather sitting in our lakeside screenhouse, and munch on all the goodies we pack in our picnic lunch, including our own sourdough bread.

Outdoor Spaces at Castle in the Country

New Photographs by Christian Gianelli

Recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

We take our cues from the local seasonality for this excellent dessert. Here in our corner of West Michigan we are in that special time when the rhubarb is winding down and the strawberries are just beginning. The combination of rhubarb's tart, almost astringent, flavor with the natural sweetness of strawberries is magical. Especially when they come off the same local farm during the few weeks when both are available. So the first step of this recipe is to get yourself to a local farmers market as we did this past Wednesday. This is the Holland, Michigan farmers market, one of the largest in the area:
The inspiration for this recipe is from Ann Burrell who gave me the idea of adding balsamic vinegar for some added depth. We do not add the orange zest in order to keep things local (oranges in Michigan? I think not) but you can try it to add a little brightness.

Ingredients:
Filling
1 Qt Strawberries, sliced thickly
1 lb rhubarb, diced
1/2 C sugar
2T Balsamic Vinegar
2T Cornstarch
dash of salt

Topping
1C four
1/2 C Oatmeal
1 C Brown sugar
1 stick (8T) butter cut into small pieces
1 - 2 T cold water

Procedure:
Combine all the filling ingredients into a wide and shallow baking dish. Combine flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, and butter in a food processor or stand mixer and pulse/mix until the butter has broken up and mixture looks crumbly. Then add water, a little at a time, until the mixture just starts to come together. Spread over filling and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until topping is slightly browned and filling is bubbly.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

New Deneen Pottery Hand-thrown Mugs at Castle in the Country

We are excited about our first shipment of handthrown mugs from Deneen Pottery. (on the right.) These are hand made in St. Paul Minnesota and feature our logo cut into the clay and filled with glaze. They are very, very durable.

Many guests collect mugs of Inns they have visited, both as a reminder of their time at the Inn and as a display of the craftmanship of the potter.

We think these mugs are a vast improvement and well worth the price of $15. We have this mug pictured next to our older style mug: machine made in China, decal overlay logo, rather fragile, but only $5. Which one would you rather have available here at Castle in the Country? If you like the new style, they will be available here to our guests in both the "Fieldstone" glaze and a flat black. If you like the older style, they are still available while supplies last.