Grosse Pointe Yacht Club

Great food, great building, outstanding staff. Well worth the initiation and membership.

I’ve attended several events here as a guest, dined with members, and photographed weddings here. My review is geared towards its suitability as a wedding venue. Overall, it’s a pretty nice place. The ballroom is a bit on the plain side, and the décor is a bit outdated in places, but it generally photographs well. The staff is professional and pleasant. It’s not as stuffy as you’d expect, though I don’t have much interest in becoming a member myself.
Perhaps I’m a bit jaded because I grew up living on the water, but I just don’t find the place as impressive as some people do. Speaking as a wedding vendor, I just don’t feel like it has the character of other wedding venues. The best feature is really the outside architecture. The water is nice, but water by itself is kind of boring for photography. The marina and boats really have no significance to a bride & groom unless they are boaters, and half the time the water stinks. So the waterfront location doesn’t give you as many options as you’d think for photography. The sun also doesn’t set over the water, which takes away another good photo op.
The times I’ve worked there for weddings I’ve been «bandwiched», which is what us vendors call the soggy rolled sandwiches that have been frozen and thawed until the bread, meat and cheese all congeals into one solid mass. It’s not edible food. It’s quite a depressing meal when you’ve been on your feet for 8 hours without a break or lunch and you still have 2 – 3 hours of work left to do. That kind of thing is usually the difference between me staying for an extra half hour for free to cover a bouquet toss and cutting out at precisely the time my contract ends. If you are a bride & groom considering this venue, upgrade the meals for your vendors that are spending the entire day with you, it’s the decent thing to do. Or at least warn them so they can bring enough granola bars to get through the day. :) No vendor expects filet mignon, but give us something edible at least so we don’t pass out.
My favorite thing about working here is that it’s a mile from my house, so at the end of a long day, I’m home in five minutes. Also, the circular room that leads to the staircase and the ballroom has interesting acoustics… you can hear someone speaking across the room like they are whispering in your ear. Good place to overhear some juicy gossip. :P

after a tough day of yacht racing, theres nothing like a mai tai by the pool and a little cougar hunting…

The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club is one of the best kept secretes of the Metro Detroit area. Located on Lake St. Clair in beautiful Grosse Pointe Shores the Yacht Club is clearly visible when driving up Lakeshore Dr. from the other Grosse Pointe Communities. The Belle Tower is hard to miss from a distance and is a easy reference point for boaters on the lake to navigate back into shore. Amenities of the club, besides the marina itself, include a bowling alley open from September until May, several clay tennis courts, two lighted paddle tennis courts and a sailing center with a large fleet of club owned sail boats. The club has 3 restaurants: The Spinnaker, The Binnacle Room and the Main Dining Room. The main ballroom can serve food as well. The Main Dining room is clearly a wonderful to take someone special for a night that they will remember. The windows provide adequate sunlight and a wonderful view of the lake to offer you and your significant other a night to remember. The Binnacle is overlooks the Yacht Club’s pool at Lake St. Clair and is perfect for Breakfast and Lunch. Catch a glimpse of the boaters out on the lake and the beautiful Sun making its way up. Spinnaker is a good place to come if it’s Fall or Winter since there is a beautiful stone Fireplace which offers a beautiful setting during dinner to strike up a good conversation. The club also features out door tennis courts as well as two heated tennis courts with what they call a ‘warming up’ room to come in from the brisk air. I have not been to the bowling alley but have herd that it is a lot of fun and they do offer leagues. Membership is a bit pricey and I am not sure on all of the rules, I get in as a guest with a friends family. There is a dress code for the club as well as the restaurants so visit the website for all information.

One of my best friends was married at the GPYC, and there’s a few things I thought about it.
First, yes, you really couldn’t ask for a more elegant setting for a wedding… except for the surrounding dock. Of course this would seem obvious (since it is a Yacht Club… right?), but not until we were behind the building was it visually apparent that this gem was multi-​tasking as both a marina AND a catering facility!
But still, there’s a great arch on the dock where my friend and his wife had pictures taken; in the photos, it looked like they were out at sea, a really beautiful backdrop if you can get a skilled photographer who can work around the yachts.
I can’t say much about the food, because the bride and groom opted to have Andiamo come in instead of using GPYC facilities, so anything I’d have to say should be directed elsewhere.
But the bartenders were staffed by GPYC. I can say they made the tastiest martini I’ve ever had at a wedding (and in the Pointes that’s no surprise), and were more friendly (albeit, professional) than I expected them to be.
The room we were in was absolutely gorgeous. The tables were set elegantly, the cloth chair covers matched the table coverings… I really can’t describe it. You know what silverware and plates look like when you go into a diner? Think of the exact opposite of that… and that’s GPYC.

Did you ever see the ‘Curb’ where Larry has to join a new country club? That’s how it is when I am at the Yacht Club, dropping ‘Ronald Reagan’ in every sentence, but standing out like Methuselah. I’ve been to two weddings here, and was impressed both times by the picturesque views and the great service. The food was good, and the drinks were copious. Hoping to be back soon!

Gorgeous place. You have to be a member or be able to sneak in on a family member’s name (as we do).
Weddings and special events here are beautiful. The Sunday brunch is a smorgasboard of deliciousness ranging from eggs to salmon to waffles to shrimp and crab to a whole room devoted to desserts. Dress codes are strictly enforced (no jeans, jackets required in the main ballroom). Prices are steep and all charges are added to the member’s monthly bill.
In the summer the pool is an oasis, though a crowded one. The dress code for the outside bar and grill is obviously much more relaxed, and they serve killer hummers.