We just got married at ancestral acres and it was the best wedding experience. We had access to the grounds the whole weekend making set up and take down smooth. During our wedding, Nikki was so kind as to ask us if we need anything multiple times, helping during photos, capturing small photos and videos throughout the day to share with us, and bringing us drinks from the bar during our busy day so we could still find time to celebrate! The whole process leading up to the wedding was also wonderful with the help of William and Melvin! I highly would recommend this venue!

Ancestral Acres Lodge and Barn was the perfect venue for our wedding in October! Bill was accommodating and thorough to make sure we had all of the information we needed, and was so easy to work with! The barn is elegant and offers the most picturesque canvas for a wedding/reception. The grounds are beautiful, and the hardest part of the entire process was picking which backdrop we wanted for the ceremony! From being able to bring in a food truck for the rehearsal, to having on-site barbecue for the ceremony, to using the stunning 3rd floor to get ready on, Bill let us run with any and all ideas we had! I couldn't recommend them more!

Our wedding day could not have been more perfect, and Ancestral Acres played a huge role in making our day a dream come true! The owner, Bill, was wonderful to work with and always answered any questions we threw his way in such a timely manner. As stressful as wedding planning can be, Bill was one of the easiest vendors to work with, and we were so thankful for that. The house, the barn, the landscaping, and the scenery truly make Ancestral Acres a dream venue for a wedding. I would highly recommend this venue to anyone who is considering it!

Planning a wedding during 2020 was NOT a simple task! It was even more difficult as we are local to the Chicago suburbs, yet were planning a wedding in Michigan. Once we found Ancestral Acres Lodge, however, our wedding began falling into place. William was a pleasure to talk with and answered our many questions over the next several months. He was flexible with our schedule, provided local recommendations, and was on site to assist our friends and family with both set up and tear down. The lodge had ample room for our entire wedding party to stay with us the entire weekend plus provided a convenient location to get ready. It was such an honor for us to have our wedding at a venue with so much history!

My daughter had her wedding and reception at Ancestral Acres two weeks ago and the venue was absolutely perfect! The barn is clean, bright and beautiful inside requiring minimal decoration. The landscaping is gorgeous and they continue to landscape additional areas. It was so nice for the guests to be able to stroll around on the grounds and be just steps away from the music, food and drink inside. The owner, Bill, was great to work with. On the day of the wedding we were setting up the altar and decorating it with flowers. Bill could see that we were struggling and he immediately came and offered to help. He is so nice and it was so sweet of him to help us like he did! There is not one single thing I would change about this venue.

Sharing a very honest account of our less than pleasant experience with William B. 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.
In the months after the contract was signed, when we indicated we had no desire to book the lodge, we were harassed by William at all hours inquiring if we were going to book the lodge. We had several guests look into renting rooms, as he continued to have the lodge listed as an AirBnB – each phone call would immediately lead him to call us and ask if we were going to rent this space, again, each time we said no. We told him to rent the rooms to guests individually – but he wasn’t interested.
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. As many former brides know, by the month prior to your wedding you have centerpieces purchased, table layouts done and are likely working on your seating charts (If applicable), so swapping tables to make it easier for the venue you’ve paid over $3,000 for is not an option. He was going to have to rent a few more banquet tables to accommodate the layout we put together, which was all included in the originally contract we signed. 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. But who wants to deal with this three days before your wedding?! No one. 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? Whom you’ve met with a couple of times, but most importantly are in a white dress and vest/tie? Apparently, William either wasn’t aware of traditional attire or he didn’t care. Regardless, our entrance into our own reception was mortifying.
William requests parking attendants 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 and an example of poor customer service. We had no issues with any other vendor! He never once apologized for his actions towards us when we arrived, only when I responded to his deposit refund of $250 with all of the problems we had (this list of things), did he ‘apologize for causing a hurdle early in our marriage’ – truthfully, he doesn’t even deserve that much credit.
Brides/Grooms & business owners the like, I would run as far away, as fast as you can, because no amount of beauty is worth working with William. Until he hires someone to manage the place for him, this will not be a thriving business.