The Good, the Busy & the Unexpected
Okay, I have to admit it: I’ve been slacking on the blog.
It’s been way too long since I’ve sat down and written an update, but in my defense, this summer at Highland Lodge has been absolutely nonstop, in a good way!
We’ve hosted brides and grooms, family reunions, Marines, golfers, weekend travelers, wedding guests, and everyone in between. We’ve housed people, fed people, poured a lot of drinks, celebrated some pretty special moments, and met so many incredible people from all over the country!
It has been busy, fruitful, slightly chaotic, and honestly one of the most rewarding summers we’ve had yet.
Wearing All the Hats
I’ve realized this year that I probably need a little help in the marketing department.
Marketing has always been one of those things I push to the bottom of my list. Writing has never come easy to me, and running the lodge means my job description changes approximately every ten minutes.
One minute I’m answering emails and wedding inquiries. The next, I’m taking a phone call, cleaning a room, ordering beer, scheduling staff, giving a wedding tour, checking someone in, fixing something that's broken, or figuring out where somebody put something I swear was just there.
Then at the end of the day I'm supposed to sit down and make a social media post or ad.
Yeah... about that.
So, I’m currently looking into getting a little help with marketing so I can do a better job of sharing everything happening around here. Because there has been a lot worth sharing!
One of My Favorite Weekends: 70 Marines
Looking back on the summer, one weekend that really stands out was the Marine reunion.
We welcomed around 70 Marines from Golf 2/5 Company, who traveled from all over the country to reunite here in Wisconsin.
The group essentially took over Highland Lodge for a three-day weekend. We filled all of our guest rooms, had campers set up in the back lot, hosted a ceremony, served food and, of course, the beer was flowing.
And before you ask, “Geez, Elle, 70 Marines? You were probably in for one crazy weekend.” This was actually their second reunion with us, and quite a few of the guys had already stayed here before, so they weren’t exactly strangers walking through the door. I was lucky enough to have the Klessig Farm recommend Highland Lodge to the group for their first reunion, and they enjoyed it so much that when they came back this year, the group had nearly doubled in size.
And while they definitely knew how to have a good time, what stood out to me most was how respectful everyone was of our staff, the lodge, and the property. When you already know a good handful of the group and they’ve stayed with you before, hosting 70 Marines doesn’t feel quite as intimidating as it sounds!
My bestie came in to bartend alongside me, we held our own behind the bar, and it ended up being one of those weekends that reminds me why I love owning this place. Getting to see old friends reconnect, hear their stories, and watch people come together here is exactly what I hoped Highland Lodge would become when I started this whole adventure.
And Then Came Wedding Season
Over the last few weekends, we also hosted our weddings for the year. All late-season weddings.
Highland Lodge is still a relatively new micro wedding venue in Wisconsin, so watching this side of the business grow has been especially exciting.
Our first year, we hosted one wedding.
This year, we hosted three.
And next year, we already have five weddings booked, with more inquiries and tours coming in all the time!
Slowly but surely, we're growing.
And I have to admit something else:
Weddings are kinda stressful, guys.
I barely sleep leading up to them because I want everything to be perfect for the bride and groom and their families.
There are so many tiny details happening behind the scenes: flowers, arbors, table layout, food, specialty cocktails, ceremony setups, room inspections, decorations, timing, staffing, and about 100 other little things that nobody necessarily notices unless something goes wrong.
Our first wedding of the season taught us a few things. Definitely got us back in the saddle and warmed up. There were some minor hiccups, nothing major in the grand scheme of things, and we took what we learned and improved for the next one.
That's one thing about owning a small business: you're always learning.
By the next wedding, which was one of our largest yet at around 60 guests, everything came together so beautifully.
Blackberry Mojitos, Charcuterie Jars & Wedding Weekend Magic
For our biggest wedding yet, we had a DJ set up outside underneath the tent along with an outdoor bar!
We served blackberry mojitos and tequila old fashioneds with large ice cubes, and let me tell you, they were GOOD. The guests loved them.
One of my favorite food details, though, had to be our little mason jar charcuterie cups, "Jar-cuterie's".
Instead of a traditional charcuterie board, each guest could grab a little jar filled with local meats and cheeses on a small skewer. We also served Italian pinwheels, bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, and little fruit jars alongside them, which made for an easy and adorable appetizer setup.
The entire weekend really showed what I love about hosting weddings here.
Highland Lodge isn't meant to be a giant ballroom where you show up for six hours and go home. We're creating something a little different: an entire wedding weekend with your closest friends and family.
You can check in Friday, have your rehearsal and rehearsal dinner here, wake up Saturday and get ready without having to travel all over the place, have your ceremony and reception set up for you, head upstairs at the end of the night, and then come back together Sunday morning for brunch before everyone heads home.
To me, being able to spend an entire weekend with your closest friends and family and making it almost like a mini vacation with a wedding and a big party all wrapped into one- that's what makes Highland Lodge for weddings feel so special.
Couldn’t Do It Without My Crew
I also need to give some credit where it is VERY deserved.
None of these weddings, or really any of our larger events, would happen without the people who come running when I need them.
My mom/caterer, Tracy, my bestie bartender Alyssa, my husband Nate and his brother Moses, kitchen staff/floats, and lifelong friends Alex, Savannah, and everyone else who jumps in wherever they're needed make the busy weekends possible.
And when I say, "wherever they're needed," I mean it.
Cooking food. Pouring drinks. Clearing plates. Taking pictures. Hauling kegs. Running food. Cleaning up and even livening up the dance floor!
Whatever needs to happen, somebody jumps in and does it.
I'm incredibly grateful to have people around me who care about the Lodge and our guests enough to put in the long hours alongside me. There is absolutely no way I could pull these weekends off alone.
Looking Ahead to 2027
We currently have five weddings booked for next year, and I'm hoping that number continues to grow as we share more photos from this year's weddings!
We're getting wedding inquiries almost every day and hosting plenty of tours. Some couples walk through the lodge and know it's exactly what they're looking for. Others decide we're not quite the right fit, and that's okay too.
I'm constantly trying to learn from both.
What do couples love?
What could we improve?
What makes someone walk in and say, "Yep, this is it"?
How do we price things fairly when seemingly everything keeps getting more expensive?
One thing I don't want to lose as Highland Lodge grows is what makes weddings here different in the first place.
We're not trying to become some giant luxury wedding venue.
I want this to remain a place for couples who want a relaxed, intimate wedding weekend with the people they actually want around them. Great food. Great drinks. Cozy rooms. A beautiful Wisconsin setting. And enough flexibility that the weekend actually feels like them.
Weddings seem to be changing, too. More couples are realizing that if everyone they love is already traveling to celebrate with them, why cram the whole experience into one day?
Why not make a weekend out of it?
And Now... Winter Projects
As busy season starts winding down, I know exactly what's waiting for me.
Projects.
Every winter I tell myself I'm not going to tear into too many things around the lodge.
Every winter I apparently lie to myself.
And apparently, the lodge decided I needed to get started a little earlier than planned.
As of writing this, the toilet in Room 6 somehow cracked on its own. From what we can tell, the tank was mounted too close to the wall, and with the temperature fluctuations, the building moved just enough to crack the toilet tank and flood Room 6. The water made its way down into Room 2 and ruined a good portion of the drywall in the bedroom below.
Thankfully, it mostly stopped there and didn't make its way much farther into the hall or basement, so I know it could have been a whole lot worse.
That being said... there were definitely some tears.
Sometimes owning and running the lodge makes me feel like I get three steps ahead, only to slide five steps backward.... This one means tearing out and replacing two layers of drywall, trying to match the existing texture and wall finish, and putting everything back together like nothing ever happened.
I had a few personal projects I was hoping to finally start this week, but apparently I'm doing drywall instead.
I'd be lying if I said it wasn't disheartening, especially when I already had plenty of other projects on my list. But the drywall is already torn out, so there's really only one thing left to do: put it all back together.
I'm grateful that, while it's a pretty major repair, it's still something we can fix.
And before this little surprise, I was already looking at some of our upstairs bathrooms that could use updating, a few areas that need fresh paint, and other little improvements I've been mentally adding to my winter list.
And, unfortunately, we did acquire a few additional repairs courtesy of certain groups this year.
Cough, cough... finance bros from the big city... cough, cough.
So I suppose I'll be spending plenty of quality time with paintbrushes, drywall tools, and probably a few choice words this winter.
But that's part of the business, it seems. Every year we host thousands of footsteps through these halls, and every winter gives us a chance to fix, refresh, improve, and get ready to do it all over again.
For now, though, I'm just incredibly thankful.
Thankful for an amazing summer. Thankful for every guest who stayed with us. Thankful for the couples who trusted us with one of the biggest weekends of their lives. Thankful for the groups who filled this place with laughter and stories. And especially thankful for the people who work alongside me and somehow help turn all of my insanity into reality.
It's been one crazy summer at Highland Lodge.
And I promise I'll try not to wait this long before the next update.
No guarantees, though.
Okay Love U Bye
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