Ancestral Acres Lodge and Barn — Attraction in Bronson Township

Sharing a very honest account of our less than pleasant experience with William Berkman and his wedding venue – Ancestral Acres Lodge & Barn in Bronson.

We booked in June of 2018 for our August 2019 wedding – the initial introduction was friendly, informational and welcoming, which is what drew us to reserve the barn for our reception. Before we signed a contract, we had several questions about the pricing and how that would work if we booked the highest tier (301-350) and ended up in the second tier (225-300). We were told that the amount (that had to be paid in full 3 months prior to the event) could be reconciled if we booked higher and ended up in the lower tier. This was false – and we didn’t get any refund for overbooking, given that our headcount was well under 300, more like 240.

William continuously confused us with other brides/grooms – in May, he called our coordinator demanding a headcount and table layout, because our wedding was in 3 weeks. Our wedding was always booked for August 3, 2019. In July when I emailed him our table layout, he asked if I would substitute banquets for rounds, since he had them on hand and it would be easier for him this way. THREE DAYS before the wedding, he called my (now) husband and I both, to confirm that we only had 175 guests based on the letter he was sent. We never sent him a letter, never discussed anything less than 250, and had no idea where he came up with this information. This letter was from another party, we learned later. His phone call was indicating that he was set for 175 – we became very concerned that 75 guests would be without seating. He assured us after I sent an email to he, the rental company and our coordinator, that he had adjusted the table number and all would be well. In an effort to make peace, he then offered the bar (which we had already had rented) and a hand washing station (we had rented a restroom trailer and had no need for those extra facilities).

The day of the wedding we went to pull in the main drive to make our grand entrance and he stopped us from coming up the main drive and told us to go park all the way at the end of the guest parking – furthest you can get from the reception barn. Appalled by his rudeness, we headed that way but noticed a space in the grass next to other cars, near the pedestrian path – so we parked there. He promptly marched over and proceeded to yell at us for where we parked, as the bride was getting out of the vintage ride, and claimed he had no idea who we were. Now, wouldn’t you think you’d know your bride and groom?

William requests parking attandants for the event – we provided two, but he yelled at them upon their entrance with items from our ceremony, and was already parking cars himself, so they left him alone. They stayed for the entire event. However, William was left parking cars for the duration of the evening, and we heard from several guests that he was rude and condescending. William also withheld part of our deposit for this reason.

When we inquired about getting our entire deposit back, we received a response that we would be getting half of our deposit back for three reasons; failure to have parking attendants, failure to keep glass out of the garbage, and the cleaning up of cigarette butts – as he states this is a non-smoking property, but has no signage around the property to indicate such things to the guests. He was walking around all night and never once said anything to anyone who was smoking. We also took all of the bags we could find that had glass, and took them off property so they wouldn’t be an issue because we knew he requested no glass or liquids be put in the trash.

Summary: Yes, the venue is beautiful but the headaches and stress caused by William Berkman in the months and days leading up to our wedding was unnecessary, an example of poor customer service and a mismanaged venue! Not worth it.

We had no issues with any...

I am a wedding coordinator who worked here for a client’s wedding. I’ve worked at many different venues throughout Michigan, and from a professional standpoint, I was not impressed with Ancestral Barn.

My client was having issues with the venue owner, William throughout the planning process, which made me nervous going into the day of the event. I received a call Thursday night (two nights before the event) from my client, who had just received a call from William that the WiFi was out, and was going to be out for the entire weekend. I emailed all the vendors to let them know to have information, documents, etc. printed out, and have songs/music downloaded. Upon arrival Friday (the day before the event) to help set up, the mother of the groom took it upon herself to call Frontier to try to get someone out to fix the wifi because William was not trying to do anything to fix the issue. While we were setting up, an employee who did landscaping/upkeep informed us that the WiFi had been out since Monday. William knew all week and proceeded to do nothing about fixing the issue. And called my client to let her know only two night before. He said there was nothing he could do about it, or give my client any reimbursement because it was a “weather issue”. As a venue owner, if you have an event booked, you should do everything in your power to deliver what was promised upon signing the contract. If not, money back should be given. A venue without wifi is not what they paid for.

The day of the event, you’re completely on your own. There was an “event coordinator” (if you could even call her that) who showed up right before the ceremony. All she did was take pictures and videos like paparazzi. She stayed till dinner, ate her meal, and I never saw her again. At the end of the night I had a lot of questions regarding cleanup, venue items, etc. I was trying to get a hold of the venue coordinator, but none of my texts were going through because there was no wifi/service.

My client also had to provide their own trash bags. That’s crazy considering how much they paid for the venue. That is an item that should most definitely be provided by the venue. That’s just being cheap and lazy if you ask me. My assistant and I were the ones responsible for taking out the trash. I personally feel like that should be the responsibility of the venue. As a coordinator, I am used to taking on the bulk of responsibility, but we literally did everything. If my client had not hired me, I cannot imagine family and friends do all the cleanup at the end of the night that we did. My assistant and I were there till 1:30 in the morning. Not sure why you hire a “venue coordinator” and pay them to do nothing? Unless you count taking pictures and getting a free meal as work?

Just wanted to share my experience for future clients looking to use this venue. Do yourself a favor and please hire a wedding planner or coordinator to help you with the work/tasks expected of you. This is basically like having a backyard tented wedding, you do everything on your own; the venue...

My friends and I recently stayed at Ancestral Acres for a getaway vacation. What a beautiful and special place! The owner has completely restored this gorgeous Victorian Mansion and Barn. The kitchen is amazing with multiple ovens and dishwashers so we could prepare our meals and clean-up in minutes. Then we retired to one of the many sitting rooms which were furnished with beautiful antique pieces. But our favorites were the bedrooms where each is decorated with a specific color and special antique touches such as beautiful quilts and an antique sitting tub. We so enjoyed walking the beautiful grounds and enjoying the many ponds. I can’t say enough about the care and love the owner has poured into this property. And he is so pleasant to work with as he proudly shows you around and answers all your questions. It would be incredible to have a Barn wedding here and have the wedding party stay at the house. We will definitely be returning to this treasure in southwestern Michigan and highly recommend it to others. We have not seen anything else like it in our area and we travel...