Detroit Yacht Club Reviews

Getting married at the DYC was one of our very best wedding decisions. We knew we wanted to get married in the city of Detroit and saw several venues, but the Yacht Club stood out for several reasons. The pricing was fair and everything was up front with service fees/gratuities etc. which is hugely helpful when budgeting. We worked with Samantha who was awesome- easy to communicate with and very responsive to emails. And every staff member we encountered during the wedding was awesome. The space is also incredibly beautiful, we loved being able to have the ceremony and reception in the same room. It was a perfect size for our 175 person wedding. The veranda for cocktail hour and cigars was perfect too- it ended up raining during our reception but everything is covered so we could still enjoy the outdoors, which is super helpful when trying to plan around Michigan’s sometimes unpredictable weather. I cannot recommend the DYC enough!

My husband and I loved everything about get married at DYC. The staff was so attentive, especially Samantha, whose customer service skills are really unparalleled. All aspects of our wedding there were executed flawlessly by staff, down to the smallest details. The food was AMAZING. Pricing is very fair and they do not nickel and dime you, which was our biggest complaint during venue shopping. The space is so grand and beautiful and timeless. Samantha, Sarah and Chef Nicolai went outside the box to accommodate our special requests and make sure we were happy. If Samantha was annoyed with how type A we were during the planning process, she never showed it. We will cherish our memories there forever. Thank you so much DYC!

Our wedding at the DYC was fantastic. Sam (Catering Sales) and Sarah (Banquet Director) were very helpful in the lead up to and on the day of our event. The staff was helpful and attentive as well. The food was delicious. I was so impressed filets and chicken were cooked perfectly for our group of 100 people. The Fountain Room is a beautiful space and was set perfect for our day. Sara even had staff help adjust tables after seeing the room to make sure people did not feel crowded. We were checked on through the event to make sure things were going well. Fantastic experience for our wedding.

Sam at the Detroit Yacht Club us absolutely the best…very organized pays attention to detail and delivers a perfect day! The food and drinks were amazing and the venue accommodated special requests and knocked it out of the park! The building is beautiful and they are so easy to work with! Sam is your girl if you’re looking for the perfect day!

We cannot say enough amazing things about the Detroit Yacht Club! They made all our wedding dreams come true! Samantha was fantastic to work with from start to finish. She was very attentive and accommodating throughout the planning process. The venue itself is absolutely beautiful with the historic ballroom and the covered veranda overlooking the river and the perfectly manicured grounds. Our guests raved about the food! Many said it was the best food they have ever had at a wedding! We were so pleased with everything the DYC had to offer and would recommend it to anyone looking for the perfect wedding venue!

Working with the DYC for our wedding was an excellent experience - Samantha was incredibly professional, responsive, flexible, and did everything she could to make our wedding visions come to life! The serving staff was also very professional and did a great job during the event as well. The venue is incredibly unique and gorgeous, the veranda makes the whole evening even more unforgettable, and the setting on the river is just beautiful. 10/10 would recommend having your wedding here!

I can’t complain about anything really. The only thing I didn’t care for was that they only took cash. So I couldn’t charge anything (venue, food, alcohol). The price was great but cash was difficult. I sent payments through my “bill pay” on my bank app. I was extremely happy with everything.

Jake is an outstanding employee, Jake was more then understanding when I had to cancel last min. I will be scheduling my next appointment with him soon. Jake also is working with a budget

While the DYC was near the top of our price range, it was nothing short of a perfect place for our wedding! I didn't want to work with too many vendors, and having the catering, bar, tables/chairs, linen, and more done through them helped.
Everyone I have spoken with who attended our wedding RAVED about how kind and attentive the staff was.
The beautiful, well cared for, antique building with an amazing staff was a perfect setting for our wedding.

I too had some experience with going through several coordinators, but the last month is worked solely with Collette and Maria. Collette was prompt and answered all my emails. Maria made sure my day ran smoothly. I can’t thank them enough for the superb job they did. The venue alone is beautiful and our food was delicious. Our guests complimented that the food was cooked perfectly. They even made special considerations for dietary issues, gluten free, nut allergies, and people on blood thinners. Our guests were so appreciative of this and felt very safe eating there. The venue it’s self was beautiful. Our guests enjoyed walking on the docks, taking in the view of the city. The venue was accommodating with us using a lot of our own decorations and let us store our decorations in a unused room after the event, for us to collect the next day. I highly recommended the DYC for a dream wedding venue.

My husband and I held our reception at the Detroit Yacht Club on December 14, 2018 and could not recommend hosting your reception there more! The ballroom was stunning decked out in twinkle lights and garland (see photos attached taken by Erin Hannum, our photographer), and the the filets were cooked to perfection! Collette was wonderful to work with and made sure every detail was taken care of. We were so happy we chose the DYC as our reception venue!

My husband and I were married at the DYC last December and the venue couldn't have been more perfect! We wanted a venue that hit three important priorities... price range, historic significance, and winter wedding appropriate. The DYC hit all three of those things! Though it was not the first place we thought of in terms of affordability, once we committed to a 200 person wedding and started looking around at venues, the DYC was by far the best value in town (our price for 200 people included food, tables, linens, chairs, bar services, valet parking, entrance to Belle Isle, etc.). Even through a transition in the events staff, everyone was amazing to work with and didn't skip a beat! Our guests complimented us on the venue, the food, and the staff all night long. As for a winter wedding, we couldn't have asked for anything more beautiful than being on Belle Isle surrounded by winter flurries while the gorgeous fireplace in the ballroom kept us warm and cozy. Also, the winter decorations are beautiful and made our decorating work even simpler. If you are like us and want (or need) to keep everything at the base price, you will still be incredibly impressed and pleased with this venue. Of course, if you want to upgrade your event, you have endless options at the DYC. Many of our other vendors had worked at the DYC several times as well which we found helpful. I really can't say more about how perfect everything was thanks to the fabulous team at the DYC. Hot tip: we chose to use the DYC banquet chairs without chair covers and they were perfect. No reason whatsoever to rip your hair out stressing about the chairs when everyone really just wants to enjoy the evening with a happy bride and groom.

I cannot rave about the DYC enough! If you have never been, it is definitely worth a visit if you are looking for a wedding venue...it is beautiful! The staff is also very helpful. We worked with Emily and she was AMAZING! She was so patient, helpful, and willing to do anything to make our day perfect! She worked with us from the time we booked to the time we left the venue on the night of our wedding. The food is great too (many guests told us it was the best wedding food they have had!). We are so glad that we chose the Detroit Yacht Club for our special day! Our guests had an amazing time and all of our photos taken here were breathtaking!

The Detroit Yacht Club is definitely a venue to wow your guests. Both banquet halls are gorgeous, and offer a beautiful backdrop for the reception with ample space for guests to spread out both during cocktail hour and after dinner. The food was delicious, and definitely impressed our guests. Everything went smoothly and the Detroit Yacht Club was very responsive to the constant questions I had during the planning process. You can't go wrong with the Detroit Yacht Club as a wedding venue.

We had our ceremony and reception here! Our ceremony was outside in the "star light circle" and our reception was inside in the fountain room. Nikki and the staff were so amazing to work with and made our day amazing. Nikki helped us work through every bump in the road and even solved a last minute crisis the day before wedding. All of our guests LOVED the food and views this venue had to offer!

We had our ceremony and reception at DYC and there is absolutely no way possible that it could have been anymore beautiful. Emily was AMAZING from the very beginning right up till the very end. She certainly doesn't do her job just for a paycheck, She's a natural. We love you Emily!! We also miss you!! The DYC staff is so well trained and all so genuine. Everything was perfect from the food to the room to the workers. This is the ABSOLUTE best place in Detroit to have your wedding. They made my husband and I feel like family. Belle Isle is amazing this time of year. Our guests are still talking about how perfect everything was and how comfortable they all felt there. Thank You! Thank You!! Thank You!! We will be back to stay for our anniversary for many more years to come!
Dale & Jamie Webster 06/13/2015

My groom and I used the Detroit Yacht Club for our reception. Everything was beautiful and the managers there were very helpful. One thing to look out for is that the waiters were a little quick to clear the tables. Other than that, we had a ball and you can't beat that beautiful view! Also, the prices are very reasonable. We are talking about having my parents' 50th wedding anniversary there in two years.

The DYC is a beautiful place for a wedding. Emily B. is one of the wedding coordinators there, and she is amazing! Everyone was helpful, patient, and professional. Do not let the look of some parts of Belle Isle scare you. The DYC is a gem. Getting married in front of the grand fireplace made for great pictures.

Helpful tip-bring signs for your guests that direct them to the DYC. There are two ways to get there, and it can kind of be confusing to guests who have never been on the island.

The DYC was amazing - it had everything that my husband and I were looking for when we were shopping around for a reception venue - this included a balcony and Oberon on tap :) We were in the grand ballroom and it is just beautiful. Our guests were in awe and loved the atmosphere during our reception. Alix was amazing. She answered numerous questions, promptly responded to emails (even on her day off), and overall was a pleasure to work with.

Carly and her staff at the DYC is phenomenal!!! I couldn't imagine my wedding anywhere else! Everything was fantastic, the food, the service, everything! Thank you for making our special day so unforgettable!

Amazing location! From the minute I walked into the venue I knew I wanted to have my wedding there! The staff working my wedding was terrific as well :) All our family and friends even came up to my husband and I talking about how happy they were with the staff! The food can speak for itself, DELICIOUS! I would highly recommend this location!

Such a beautiful venue. The Detroit Yacht Club was something I dreamed of as a little girl, absolutely wonderful, unique and a terrific value. Carly was overly accomodating about everything! Anything we asked for, she made it happen. Our wedding has been the only wedding we've been to at the DYT, but I would LOVE to go back again soon.

We were very pleased with the Detroit Yacht Club. We held the ceremony & reception on July 31, 2011 at this venue. The staff was extremely professional and the food was wonderful. It was worth every penny we spent and the DYC is beautiful inside and out with may photo opportunities. If we had to do it all over again we would not hesitate to choose the DYC. Plus our guests are still talking about it!

P.S. It was very helpful to use vendors from their preferred vendor list

The DYC is an absolutely gorgeous venue and really created the perfect atmosphere for the day. There are two rooms, the Fountain Room and the Ballroom. We had ours in the ballroom, which is a large, open room with wood floors, white plaster walls, and dark wood frames. It was gorgeous. There are two women who I dealt with during the process, Julia and Jennifer (mostly Julia). They both answer emails quickly and are very helpful. Julia was there the day of as well as a head of ceremony guy.

Of course, the DYC does have some major drawbacks. The first one is that the there is no A/C in the Ballroom. Our wedding was in May on a day in the 70s and wasn't a problem. You are right on the water, have the large doors that catch a breeze outside, but I wouldn't chance it in July.

Then the setup of the Ballroom is a little different. You have the eating area and then the part past those archways is the dancing area. Outside is a veranda with tables and chairs. It was such a perfect evening that a lot of our guests spent a large part of the night outside, smoking cigars, watching the sunset, and enjoying the night instead of dancing. We had a good number on the dance floor, but the dance foor is so big, it can feel lonely. People kept coming up to me to tell me how the venue was gorgeous and how the night was perfect outside, so I didn't care. But if you want people dancing and not outside, be warned.

Also, we got married during Memorial Day Weekend. Right outside there was a pool party with jazz/blues music. We could actually hear it during the ceremony. I actually liked that; I got to hear music without paying for it. It calmed me down because I thought it was funny. However, I'm sure that would piss off a lot of people.

Finally, the food was excellent. We got a duel plate, with salmon, braised short rib, red skins potatoes, and veggies, and it was so much frickin' food. Huge. And delish. Again, I had a number of people coming up and saying how tender the meat was or how they never liked salmon before. Even weeks after, people are still saying it was the best food ever and how pretty the venue was.

All in all, I wouldn't change a thing. Love them, love the place.

The Detroit Yacht Club is one of those magical places that always says yes. "Can we have the wedding and the reception here?" "YES!" "Can we mix & match the duet entrees?" "YES!" We were simply amazed by the quality of service and attention to detail. Jennifer, one of the DYC's full time event coordinators, led us through the planning as the weeks went by. Also, she was there for the rehearsal and reception to make sure things went smoothly. It was basically like having our own wedding planner for no extra cost!

The food was also amazing--a wide variety of choices (both served and buffet), and of the best quality. As mentioned above, we were able to mix and match what we offered our guests, and tailor everything to our exact wishes.

Finally, the venue is simply amazing for photography. The building is gorgeous, and you can also have photos taken out front or by the boats on the back pier. If you're looking for an elegant, easy wedding, this is the place!