Recently, Semiahmoo Resort & Spa in Blaine, Washington held a Bridal Soiree showcasing the Resort itself as well as select decorators, florists and wedding industry creatives from the surrounding area.
The Resort has several ceremony and reception venue options. Pictured above is the terrace area that is popular for outdoor ceremonies and offers a picturesque view of Semiahmoo Bay with White Rock in the distance.
Just off the main lobby and adjacent to the ceremony terrace is The Seaview Lobby. In this room, string trio Sunrise Strings serenaded guests while florist Kate Fadden of In Bloom Designs and stationery designer Kerri Efendi showcased their work. Fadden presented a seaside and garden theme, incorporating sand and starfish with blooms in fresh white and green.
Efendi’s stationery was inventive and detailed. She designed the media invitations to the event (shown here) and we were especially impressed with her design that housed invitations inside hollowed-out old books about love. It seems her background in landscape architecture influences her three dimensional designs and allows her to push the boundaries of traditional wedding invitations.
The larger Victoria Room was decorated with pretty lavender tablescapes, a collaboration between Blaine florist Stacie Sutcliff of Blush Custom Floral and wedding stylist Hollie Anthonysz of Soiree Memorable Events.
Sutcliff has a distinct style which is unstructured, natural, romantic and garden-like. Three different arrangements graced the tables resulting in a look that was cohesive but not uniform. This variety in centrepieces is a great way to create visual interest and rhythm to your overall wedding decor. The centrepieces sat amidst lavender and silver textiles, glass charger plates and gold coloured chiavari chairs for an overall look of graceful simplicity.
The Pierside Room showcased florals by Allison Miller of Flowers by Design. This water view room lends itself more to an intimate restaurant feel with its mix of long rectangular and smaller square tables. One of Miller’s floral themes used peonies and feathers (shown above).
Another featured a jewel-toned palette of garden flora casually arranged in embellished mason jars.
For an open-air reception, the Resort’s tented outdoor reception space is a lovely venue for a casual to semi-formal summer wedding and offers scenic views of the Bay. The adjoining boardwalk area could be set up for a cocktail hour before moving the guests under the tent for dinner. For the Soiree, the tented space was beautifully decorated by designer Steven Moore. Moore has been featured in magazines such as Martha Stewart Weddings and Seattle Bride.
His pretty, pink and peach victorian-inspired design incorporated romantic elements such as classical sheet music, vintage glass vases and bottles and tall floral centrepieces. There was also a candy bar with large glass vases full of colour coordinated candies set atop an old leather trunk. The reception area also had a dance floor and during the event, Chris Graves of Your Song Entertainment provided music.
The Semiahmoo Resort also offers a separate location just a few minutes away. The tudor-style Loomis Trail Mansion sits on the Loomis Trail Golf Course and is a sumptuous locale for a grand celebration. The lobby showcases a grand staircase that leads into the dining area. Guests could mingle over cocktails in the lobby before heading upstairs for dinner.
The Loomis Mansion’s expansive reception area features dark wood and ironwork details and can be configured in various ways to suit the size and style of wedding.
Trish Manley of A New Leaf Flower Shoppe provided luscious and exotic florals that complemented the stately elegance of the venue.
Various outdoor locations around the building offer different ceremony settings that overlook the golf course. The Mansion also offers 15 guest rooms for yourself or your out-of-town guests.
After the Soiree, the tented reception area at the Resort became the setting for an intimate industry dinner. The Soiree’s vendors, as well as wedding industry creatives and media from Blaine, Seattle and Vancouver, were treated to a formal dinner complete with wine pairings from local vineyards. It was a wonderful way to end the day, catching up with wedding industry friends and meeting new ones from our little corner of the Pacific Westcoast.
Couples interested in booking the Semiahmoo Resort & Spa or the Loomis Mansion for a wedding can contact Wendy Fisher, Senior Wedding Manager at 1 360-318-2018 or email her at wfisher@semiahmoo.com.
{For travel and honeymoon information about Semiahmoo Resort and Spa, check out our Travel & Honeymoon Editor’s story from Real Weddings Spring/Summer 2007!}
The Grand Opening showcased plenty of fun, unique and novel offerings. One of our favourite things was this martini bar ice sculpture. At the event, guests had the choice between a sour apple martini or a peach martini, made-to-order of course! Once ready, the bartender would pour the martini into the top of the ice sculpure and through it into a guest’s waiting glass at the bottom of the sculpture. The wine and beer bar was itself an ice sculpture {below}.
Another of our favourite things was the made-to-order ice cream. When asked, the chef poured cream into a bowl then added liquid nitrogen while whipping it by hand. Voila, instant real vanilla ice cream. A definite crowd pleaser.
I can’t mention ice cream without mentioning the desserts. At the dessert station, chocolate bonbons by chocolatier Nadubes perched enticingly on a glowing plexiglass display. The hand-painted marble effect on these diminutive delights resembled the cosmos and they tasted out-of-this world. One of our other favourite desserts was the white chocolate bombs, fresh passion fruit compote inside a white chocolate shell. There were also aerated chunks of mocha chocolate on reusable bamboo spoons and single-glass servings of cheesecake and chocolate mousse.
In addition to the main Airport Ballroom, the hotel has four smaller ballrooms to accommodate more intimate receptions. Wedding decorators Art of the Party created two tablescapes in the Gulf of Georgia Room, a space which can seat up to 50 people for a sit-down reception.
Culinary Capers Catering was presented with two Star Awards at the 2010 Canadian Event Industry Awards on March 26th in Toronto. A Latin menu using fresh regional and sustainable ingredients earned the award for Best Food Presentation. And a Tuscan al fresco celebration featuring a seated and interactive food station dining experience won for Best Catered Event. The Star Awards
Tricia wanted their wedding to be, of course, pretty, but mostly both she and Chris just wanted the day to be relaxed and fun. “We aren’t much for the spotlight, so keeping things pretty natural and informal felt right,” Tricia says of their celebration at 
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