Mid-Michigan Dining

• 25 Christmas Lane
• Frankenmuth, MI 48734
• (989) 652-9931
• Website

Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth

Christmas has always been a pretty big deal in my house.  It’s the one holiday where I do whatever is humanly possible to get home for.  We’re not a super religious family, but Christmas has kind of been that one holiday where we actually have tradition and everyone is a little reluctant to change it. 

Last fall, my parents came to visit over the Labor Day weekend.   On their way here, they saw signs for Bronner’s on I-94 and asked how far it was.  Since it’s only a little over an hour or so, J and I decided to take them.  They loved it.  They could have spent hours looking at everything.  Last Christmas was my parent’s first as grandparents, so they bought a lot of “Baby’s First Christmas” and “Grandparents First Christmas” ornaments.  J and I were a little bored.  The store was neat, but we didn’t need to spend as much time there as we did. 

Since we’re getting married this year, J wanted to get some ornaments that not only commemorated our first Christmas as a married couple but also something to remind us of Michigan should we ever decide to leave.  We decided to make a day of it and so some shopping in Birch Run and check out a few restaurants after our trip to Frankenmuth.

Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland is right on the edge of Frankenmuth on Christmas Lane.  I bet they named the road after the store went up.  The property is huge.  There are two entrances and large parking lots outside of what looks like a warehouse.  We parked in the nearest lot to the main road and made our way to the South Entrance. 

A couple elves welcoming you to Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland.

Everything about Bronner’s reminds you of Christmas.  There are light displays outside and the color scheme is green and red.    Even from the inside, you feel like your in a warehouse just because of the sheer size of the place.  You actually need a map to find your way around the store.

Since this was actually our second trip, we skipped the first area which is more commercial stuff than Bronner’s originals.  The one place we did stop was a small stand with Michigan themed shot glasses.  We’ve started collecting them from the places we visit and were hoping to find a Bronner’s one.  They had a lot of Frankenmuth glasses, but only one Bronner’s.  There was also a “You Know You’re From Michigan” glass ball ornament that we liked.  We grabbed that and put it on our basket then moved on.

The next place we stopped was the personalization corner.  This is the part of the store that really makes Bronner’s worth the drive.  They have a whole section of ornaments that you can get personalized while you wait.  We grabbed a couple that were already personalized with our names then went looking for that “First Christmas” ornament we came for. 

We found quite a few, but finally found the ornament that will adorn our tree this winter.  It’s got a top hat, wedding veil, and two rings on a white background with ribbon on the front that we could get our names on. J went up to the desk with the ladies who do all the writing to get our names on it.  Like the ornaments we bought last year, they looked amazing.  The people that do the writing do an amazing job. 

We kept walking just to see what else was there.  There wasn’t much else we wanted, but we decided to look anyway.  We ended up grabbing a few more items including one that, if you know us, makes sense.  It was an occupation ornament, but it’s so damn cute. 

The south entrance at Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth

We ended up with eight ornaments total which cost us a little over eighty bucks.  It’s not bad when you think about it.  These aren’t your average big box store ornaments which makes it worth the trip.

For people that love Christmas, Bronner’s is the ultimate shopping trip.  When I was in high school, I had a friend whose parents had enough Christmas trees that everyone who hung out there got to decorate their own in the basement….and there were about twenty guys who hung out there regularly.  They would love a place like this….except there’s probably not a day after Christmas sale. 

Bronner’s is one of Michigan’s treasures.  There’s no place else like it in the world.  It’s another one of those places that I’m really glad we made an effort to get to and I’m sure it’s not going to be our last trip.