What a hidden jewel the Caribou Bay Retreat is!
My only daughter was engaged to be married and her and her fiancée wanted an outdoor venue with woods and water. We had looked at several places and none of them were exactly what my daughter had dreamed of. When we first met Mona, one of the owners of Caribou Bay, at a wedding event show in Stevens Point, we could not believe what she was telling us. The venue sounded too good to be true and then she added, "We don't do one day weddings. Our couples have the entire retreat for a full 4 days". She had already told us the cost, which I immediately thought was the cost per day, and then she said that was the cost for the full 4 days. This would not only be a place for the wedding ceremony, but it was also a retreat for the entire wedding party to enjoy as they prepared for the upcoming wedding, relaxed, and got to know each other. We made plans to visit Caribou Bay right away.
And Caribou Bay did not disappoint us. In fact, it absolutely exceeded our expectations! The grounds were so much more beautiful than we pictured, the lake, the chapel on the hill and the truly impressive retreat house. As we toured the grounds, we found so many "extras" like a log cabin for the bride to wait in while the wedding guests arrived, lots of garden areas, a swing hanging in the woods, and so much more. And the event hall truly has to be seen in order to realize just how gorgeous it is. The decorating was perfect and there had to be several thousand twinkle lights blanketing the ceiling of the hall. There is no way we could have ever decorated a wedding hall anywhere to look like this because anything we could have wanted was already there and set up for us. My daughter looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "This is it, mom. It's perfect."
Over the next several months, we worked closely with Mona getting all the other details set up. Mona made it all so easy for us because she had lists of all the caterers in the area, the florists, bakers, DJs, beauticians, etc. She had truly covered everything. And yet booking our own DJ, using an outside baker, and adding a special ice cream vendor to the event were no problem. We were also able to purchase all of our own alcohol for the bar which saved a lot of money. Several times before the wedding we had to call or text Mona for help and she always responded right away, was very pleasant, and she was a joy to work with. Several times she told us, I don't want you to have to worry about anything.
When the wedding weekend finally arrived, the bridal party could not believe the retreat house and grounds they had for the next 4 days. Friendships were quickly made over cookouts, cocktails around the pool table, and hot tub get togethers. The time we had together like this before the wedding brought the entire bridal party close and allowed them to get to know each other which is not usually something you are able to do before a wedding. This time was priceless.
The wedding day finally came and chapel on the hill was ready to go. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and as the skies began to cloud up, a speedy decision had to be made and the wedding had to be moved inside. Mona and Jack jumped right in to move the wedding into the event hall where they had set up a chapel area to be used in the event of inclement weather. They even brought out umbrellas for the entire wedding party so that they were able to take some pictures outside. Of course my daughter was initially disappointed about the sudden venue change but once she saw all the lights in the hall lit up and her soon-to-be husband waiting at the alter, it was magical. She had her dream wedding and more.
Although my daughter had planned on wedding photos at the hillside chapel, the pictures that Gerry De L Teja took in the wedding hall accented by the twinkling lights overhead turned out more beautiful than they ever could have hoped for. De La Teja studio took a rainy wedding day and created some of the most spectacular photos using the umbrellas in the rain, on the deck over looking the lake and for the group photos walking in the rain.
Whenever you are planning an outdoor wedding, you always have to have a back up plan because you can't control Wisconsin's weather. Caribou Bay not only has the most beautiful outdoor venue you could want, it has a beautiful back plan as well.
We could not recommend Mona and Jack's Caribou Bay Retreat in Coloma, Wisconsin more strongly. You truly have to see this venue to believe it. I tell everyone about it.

Caribou bay is amazing! They answer questions and helped us in every way they could. We stayed in the most beautiful cabin you will ever see and it was so comfortable. Ceremony and reception areas are just breath taking.

This venue was perfect for convenience as it allows you to have the place Thursday-Sunday and Mona allows an extra fee option for her to decorate; this allowed for optimal timelines on setting up and taking down. The house on the lot is fun for having the wedding party and the venue ambiance is very nice. Mona is also willing to help with a lot of coordination! Cons: There are a lot of added fees and limitations on what you can use/rules of the venue so read the fine print to understand what you are signing up for. It is a little pricey for the area, but you are paying for the convenience of having everything centrally located. Also, beware of Dan Miller on her vendor list -- he is a DJ that we put a down payment for, he forgot our date/didn't write down that we paid [even though we had confirmation from our bank of the check being cashed], and when he said he would return the money never did and we lost $325. Also, the hotel closest [boarders] we had a lot of issues with our guests at.