Venue

Last week, we wrote a quick post about the Grand Opening of The Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport. Here’s Part II and a few more photos. The main reception was in their largest ballroom, the Airport Ballroom. For a sit-down dinner wedding reception with a dance floor, this ballroom can easily accomodate 250 guests. For a party-like atmosphere, the hotel can set up fun coloured lights, spotlights, uplighting and elegant decor. {Top and below photo courtesy Kent Kallberg for The Westin Wall Centre, Vancouvef Aiport.}

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}.

The catering at The Westin Wall Centre, Airport Richmond was inventive and covered a variety of tastes. Buffet stations of dimsum, sushi, and lamb donair kebabs showcased the ethnic flavours of Vancouver while canapes such as koshu oysters with a yuzu cloud and wasabi pop rocks and dungeness crab with popcorn rice and trout cavier were unique, elegant and palate-pleasing.

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.

We would sincerely like to thank The Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Aiport staff for a such a welcoming and lavish Grand Opening Celebration. It’s not too late to check them out for your wedding reception this summer. Contact Larissa Nocon, Catering Manager at 604-238-2104 or email her at lnocon@wallcentre.com.