Dream wedding becomes family business

Creating a dream wedding for their daughter Amanda led Jill and Kirk Clemmer to a new business. The Brule couple has opened their property, complete with ponds, flowerbeds, a honeymoon cabin and a renovated 1939 barn, for others in search of the perfect site to say “I do.”

“What a unique place for a bride who likes the county or the outdoors,” said Lorraine Peterson, who helped plan the wedding.

Those who attended Amanda’s wedding in July called the site fabulous, immaculate and like something out of HGTV.

“It was the most beautiful wedding I’d been to,” said Philip McGrath of Lake Nebagamon, who went to school with Amanda.

For years, Jill Clemmer put her gardening talents to work landscaping the property for that day.

“It seems like Amanda has always talked about having her someday wedding on our property,” she said. When she became engaged in December of 2011, preparations in Brule stepped up. The Clemmers looked into renting a tent for the ceremony. The cost was so high, they decided instead to plow the money into renovating the Finnish dairy barn, which was still in its original state.

“The barn itself is really a masterpiece and a credit to the builders from that era,” Clemmer said. “Even after 70+ years it was strong and sturdy.”

Her husband Kirk, owner and operator of Brule River Builders, had the expertise to turn the barn into a reception hall. Family members — including Amanda’s brothers — helped.

On July 21, the couple said their vows in the shade of a huge willow tree. About 200 guests looked on from cloth-covered haybale seating. They danced to the music of McGrath’s band, “The Formal Age,” in the barn’s hayloft under a chandelier crafted out of a wagon wheel and mason jars.

“It was an amazing wedding,” Clemmer said. The event was rustic and rural with a sense of class, McGrath said.

Guests encouraged the family to offer the site to others for weddings, reunions, showers and other events. The Brule River Barn Wedding and Event Center was born.

“It gives me a great deal of joy to think that we could be part of making some couple’s day even more special by providing them with a unique venue,” Clemmer said. “If you choose to have your event with us, you are getting more than a property to rent. You are getting a family that will be committed to making sure you have the best day imaginable.”

And it’s located in the town of Brule, which has a host of amenities, from canoe rentals to hotel rooms.

The new business will be among the 144 exhibitors at the Duluth Bridal Show Saturday in the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

“Anything and everything a bridal couple need to plan their wedding and start their new lives together is featured at this show,” said Tracy Lundeen of Lundeen Productions, the show producer. “Many attendees are planning for 2014 but still plenty of room to plan for next summer.”

For more information, go to www.bruleriverbarn.com or contact the Clemmers at 715-372-4898 or bruleriverbarn@gmail.com.

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