We were lucky to catch up with Belsolda Farm recently and have shared our conversation below.
Belsolda Farm, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
Our business was named after our 3 children, Bella, Solen, and Ida-Belsolda. There is nothing in this world more special and important to us than our kids. But our business is also special to us, so the decision to tie the 2 together was obvious. We chose names for our children with meanings and qualities we hoped they would embody and we hope these same qualities shine through in our business.
Bella means” beautiful” in Italian. Our Bella is caring, hardworking, smart, courageous, responsible, loving, and adventurous. These qualities help to make her beautiful on the inside and out. We strive to create that sort of environment for our guests. On the outside, our barn venue is nestled among apple orchards, berry patches, rolling hills, trees, and wildflowers – true natural beauty! At times we see northern lights, rainbows, sunshine, stars, and of course rain and snow. It may be quite the adventure to get married in the orchard at our farm. Will the apple trees be in blossom? Will it rain? Will the leaves be changing color? Will it be hot and sunny? No matter what, you will be surrounded by beauty. Inside our old dairy barn is where the reception takes place. The barn offers a rustic feel where nature meets elegance. It is minimally decorated with fairy lights twinkling in birch saplings and white drapery adorning the ceiling and backdrop. Like our daughter Bella, you will find beauty inside and out at Belsolda Farm.
Solen is a Swedish boy’s name and the meaning of this name is “The Light”. Solen is determined, hardworking, strong, beautiful, kindhearted, responsible, and bright. He is a true “light” that shines in all his endeavors. We incorporate this “light” into all of our endeavors at the farm. We are determined to have a venue that helps to create a magical space filled with love, laughter, joy, light, and celebration. Our responsibility is to make sure your needs are being met and your guests are comfortable. We continue to update our venue each season based on requests from guests and trends in the industry. We care for you, your family, and your community and send you blessings filled with “light” and“sunshine” on your special day.
Ida is our youngest and her name means, “work, labor, industrious one” in German. This name suits Ida so well as her path in life is a little different from ours and requires her to work extra hard as she has Down Syndrome. She is an inspiration to us all! She never complains and can find joy in almost everything she does. While Ida works hard in her day-to-day life, we work hard at the farm to try and provide you with a memorable experience and a minimal-stress environment. We keep the grounds maintained, the buildings safe, the bathrooms cleaned, the garbage emptied, the orchard picked up, and the environment, in general, clean and tidy. Like Ida, we try to always find joy in our work and feel excited to share it with you.
Bel (Bella) Sol (Solen) Da (Ida) – Belsolda – a beautiful farm surrounded by light and nurtured with hard work. Belsolda is a meaningful and special name for a lovely farm that we feel blessed to take care of and enjoy sharing with our guests, family, friends, and community.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My husband and I, and our 3 children, have enjoyed being self-employed for the last 23 years of our lives. We started out owning and running an organic farm with our dear friends. Eventually, we sold our half to them and bought a different farm down the road. As we were trying to decide what to do next in our lives and after hosting in the new barn various concerts, fiddle workshops, African drumming sessions, and barn dances, we were approached by a neighbor asking how much we charge to host weddings. This is how it all began! The business found us. Fast forward 10 years, and here we are, hosting about 20-24 weddings a season. Our season runs from the end of May to mid-October. It is a rather short season due to the weather. We have not wanted to alter the barn too much to accommodate guests in colder weather as we respect and appreciate its original, rustic yet elegant, form. We primarily host weddings, but we have also hosted concerts, fundraisers, memorials, baby showers, birthdays, photographers, end-of-year parties, proms, and more.
We have tried to make it easy for our guests by providing almost everything at our venue. We have a beautiful spot in our apple orchard with benches for the ceremony, seating for 150 in our barn plus tables with white linens and chairs for 50 more under our tents, a bridal cabin, a bar area, a prep area/kitchen, bathrooms with running water, parking lot, and a magical space to dine and dance in the upper part of the barn. We have heaters, fans, a generator, minimal decorations, lights, drapery, coolers, garbage cans, and we do all the clean-up!
I think what sets us apart from some of the other outdoor venues is how much we have to offer onsite. Our guests don’t need to rent porta potties, tables, linens, chairs, tents…..we have all that. We are trying to make it easy and stress-free for our guests.
We are also a real farm, not just a pole barn built to host weddings. We have a few farm animals, fields, fruit trees, berries, and greenhouses. The barn is an old dairy barn that we have mostly left in its original state. Another quality about our farm that sets us apart is that the property is quite picturesque and there is a beautiful history that goes with it. The previous owners were homesteaders and built this farm from scratch. Locals know and appreciate the history of our farm and love to share stories about the past. We feel so honored and blessed to have been able to buy this farm and feel delighted to share it with our community and beyond. It is a lovely place to celebrate family, friends, love, and marriage. I also think our devotion to our guests sets us apart. We constantly go above and beyond to make sure everyone’s needs are met. We are flexible and easy to get along with and enjoy what we do. We love sharing our property with people and are genuinely happy to have them celebrate at our farm.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Jeff and I have always tried to give the best customer service we can, and actually go beyond giving the typical customer service. We truly understand the importance of the special day and want the bride, groom, family, and friends to absolutely love their wedding day and feel that it is magical! We have worked with so many vendors in the community and know how to work together with them to make sure the environment at our farm is beautiful, amazing, loving, joyful, and as stress free as possible. We are able to trouble shoot any problem and we pour our hears and souls into every event. We are flexible and easy to get along with. I think this is what has helped build our reputation within our market.
Have you ever had to pivot?
The time we had to pivot the most was the summer of Covid restrictions. We were all set to host around 24 weddings that summer. After the initial lockdown, by the end of May, or early June, some of the restrictions were lifting and fluctuating every week. This made hosting weddings incredibly tricky because we didn’t know if we could be open or not, how many could sit in the barn, how many could sit outside, if we had to enforce social distancing and mask-wearing, etc. It was so complicated as some brides and grooms wanted to cancel and others wanted to try and still get married at our venue, but the restrictions were always changing. We did not want to be responsible for hosting a “super spreader” event. We ended up investing in outdoor tables and another big wedding tent so that if we had to, we could host everyone outside. We also invested in masks, hand sanitizer stations, and signage for social distancing. We had to learn to trust the process and go with the flow. Each week was different so each wedding was different. We only ended up hosting about 4 weddings that summer. We made the best of it though and tried to accommodate everyone while following the CDC, State of Michigan, and Health Department guidelines.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.belsoldafarm.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belsoldafarm/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/belsoldafarm/