Developing New Ceremony and Welcome Dinner Site???

Roche Harbor has always been fortunate to have naturally beautiful ceremony and reception sites on-property for brides and grooms to use as venues for their wedding celebrations. The Pavilion and Courtyard, the Sunken Garden, Our Lady of Good Voyage and the Seaside Lawn offer spaces that require little to dress-it-up and make it suitable.

We're thinking of developing a new site to add to our portfolio of amazing locations for your wedding needs, tentatively titled "Shipwreck Beach." The harbor waters lap up against it, there's views of the sunset over the water, it's completely private to the rest of the resort yet close enough to walk to in a few minutes from the hotel center, and we expect it to have a covered area to squelch any fears of being rained on during a ceremony or welcome dinner. The site could be perfect for groups up to 150 people!

If you've already booked a wedding, let us know if you're interested in using it for the 2010 wedding season. Or if you're thinking about booking a wedding at Roche Harbor, let us know what you think would be essential elements for the site to make it enticing for you to use during your wedding celebration.

We're going to get started on development next week...stay posted for updates on our progress!

San Juan Island Weather

From what we see in the "biggest fear" poll, weather is a big concern for most people. I talk a lot with people looking at booking weddings during July and August, because it's the best chance for good weather. Certainly these two months are the best weather we receive, but did you know:

The weather in September is EXACTLY the same as June: highs, lows, rainfall. I always assumed September was nicer than June. Surprise!

October is rainier and colder than May and April, and not far off of March.

Take a look for yourself at the weather norms for San Juan Island.

http://www.idcide.com/weather/wa/friday-harbor.htm

Wonderful 2007 Wedding

Found this oldie and goody searching out Roche Harbor weddings on the internet tonight. Paul and Alli planned and perfected a beautiful wedding in August 2007. Here's a link on junebug.com that gives you a few great pictures of the big day.

http://junebugweddings.com/real-weddings/PaulAlli.aspx

What an Amazing Wedding Slideshow

I admit it. I cried. It's amazing. Erica and Matt were so wonderful, and the pictures are so great...what lovely images of a couple in love.

Thank you to 6 of Four, and Erika and Matt Skelton.

http://www.6offourcreations.com/SkeltonWedding/

Something I've Never Seen at a Wedding...Amazing

This is about the greatest thing I've ever seen as a procession. It will make you laugh at first...then you'll get teary. My wife and I watched this tonight and we both agreed that it really represents what weddings are about: a celebration of love and fun and people having a good time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Roche Harbor Weddings in the News...Again

The lastest issue of Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom features another wedding we hosted and catered last fall. Laura and Bob Tindall married on a spectacular fall afternoon in our Sunken Garden, then moved over to the Seaside Lawn for the reception. The sun was warm and bright, the water washing into the nearby shore, the music elegant and timeless.

The wedding was a wonderful collaboration of Laura and Bob, Roche Harbor, and our favorite event planners on the planet: Travis and Jesse from True Colors Events. These two were absolutely amazing to work with, took care of every detail and no matter what happened you couldn't take the smile off of their faces. Quintessential professionals.

We're looking forward to working with them on a wedding next week, another grand affair on the Seaside Lawn. Who knows? Maybe you'll see us all again in Seattle Metropolitan Bride and Groom.

Check out the spread online, or pick up the summer issue yourself.

http://www.seattlemetbrideandgroom.com/2009/07/20/tindall-crocco-wedding/

We have a new "real wedding album" with some AMAZING photographs of Erika and Matt Skelton. What a wonderful, down-to-earth couple who had a great wedding despite the intermittent rain on the wedding day.

As you can see from these photos, weddings still turn out well even if the weather doesn't cooperate.

New Member to Events Team

We'd like to welcome the newest member of our events team at Roche Harbor!

Laura Westmiller is a long-time island resident with years of event planning experience.  She has been involved with numerous island events, and has helped plan her son's wedding at Roche Harbor.  

And, like me and Bill Shaw, or Food and Beverage Director (and wedding catering mastermind), she was married at Roche Harbor!

We're very happy she's part of our team and look forward to getting her involved with upcoming weddings as the weeks go by!

Wedding Fears

Okay.  We all have them.  They keep us up at night worrying about the them.

I wanna talk a bit about them, just get'em out there on the table.

Wedding day fears.

No wedding would be complete without a list of fears about the wedding:  Forgetting your vows.  Tripping over the wedding dress.  Saying the wrong person's name during the vows (yes, I've seen it!).  Hair and make-up not working out.  Rain.  Band not making the ferry.  The food tasting horrible.  Whatever.

My wedding fear was that our families from different cultures--Argentina and the US--wouldn't be able to interact because of language barriers.  Of course, everyone had a great time, and we still talk about how amazing it was to sit and talk with family and friends that we hadn't seen in years..even decades.  Bringing together the four sides of our family (both of our parents are divorced and remarried) was so much fun, and everyone got along regardless of cultures or divorces.  

I'm curious to hear what others fear(ed) about their wedding.  I've even put a poll up on the sidebar for everyone to weigh in.

Don't be shy...weddings rank as one of the most stressful events we'll undergo in our lives, right up there with birth of a child, death of a loved one and buying a house.