FRINGE took its first steps back in 2006 when Mindy started shooting weddings. Ben joined her full-time in 2008 to form STUDIO 6.23, a husband/wife wedding photography team that ultimately shot over 400 weddings together all over the US. So many pictures. All the editing. But more importantly, this is when we learned how to develop a strong brand in the industry, and when we cut our teeth on what does and definitely does not work day of.
In 2011, Ben and Mindy started Fancy Fray, a vintage rental company that would eventually furnish over 300 weddings per year with rentals all over the state of Michigan. We loved design. We learned however that to be successful, we needed to love logistics. Earlier mornings. Later nights. Communication with clients, planners and venues who all have their own way of doing things. And staffing, staffing, staffing.
We partnered with Chad in 2014 when we acquired and reimagined our first venue, The Cheney Place. Mindy and Ben brought wedding industry mojo, but we needed Chad’s next level support with real estate, banking and property management to make it happen. By the end of our second year in the venue world, we were hosting nearly 120 weddings per year. We were still shooting some weddings and managing rentals, but it didn’t take long to know that running venues was our thing.
PUNCH, our bar catering service, came online in 2017 because we felt that bars at weddings honestly needed to be better. Especially in Grand Rapids, Michigan which pretty much owns the “Beer City” title now. Our unique approach to beer options as well as our craft cocktails were received well and after a few years, we ultimately decided to limit our service to strategic venue partners. PUNCH currently provides bar service in nine venues throughout West Michigan.
FRINGE has its roots back to 2006, but officially took shape in 2019 as we restructured to add more venues to the docket and expand our wedding services. We are now managing nearly 300 events per year in three venues and have our fourth coming online in the Spring of 2025. We have 9 full-time managers and approximately 65 part-time employees during the main season. Our broad industry experience has helped us engage events from many different angles. This combined with our focus on building great teams, launching venues with unique value propositions, and creating sustainable standard operating procedures, is the core of what we bring to the market.
It means the world to us that we have this chance to share our story with you. Please reach out if you are looking for help with your existing venue … or the one you have up your sleeve.