Vintage Reception at Rowena's Inn on the River

Vintage Reception at Rowena’s Inn on the River

Connor + Marika radiated love. Literally, from the moment we met with them. They were so dang sweet together and were so excited to get started on planning their big day. See how this beautiful summer afternoon wedding on the lake came together, and how we will always go back to Rowena’s Inn when invited!

Fun fact: We met Connor & Marika at a Starbucks months before to start the planning process. We discovered they had booked the venue but never seen it! We assured them they made the right decision, and we could offer our expertise when it came to planning their wedding and confirming all the details.

GETTING READY AT THE INN

The ceremony and reception venue was at the lovely heritage Rowena’s Inn in Harrison, BC at the Sandpiper Resort. It’s one of those venue’s that’s far enough away to feel like a destination, but still close by to be in Canadian dollars. Did you know, Rowena’s also have cabins onsite for you and your guests? They offer the Classic Rustic Cabins all equipped with fireplaces and patios. New this year, they built seven luxury cabins with high ceilings, and some offering 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms. Perfect for a large family gathering! The heritage home on site is beautiful, and often where the ladies get ready. The Inn also has rooms inside, and offers a beautiful space to get ready. Jasmine Hoffman of Blue Jasmine Beauty Group provided the hair and makeup for Marika and her girls. Photographer Angela Ruscheinski was on hand to capture all the moments before the ceremony.

CEREMONY

Who doesn’t love a venue that provides you with OPTIONS! At Rowena’s, you can either have your ceremony under the large canopy tree, in the middle of the forest, on the lake or celebrate poolside. Connor + Marika chose pool side and set up at the end of the small yard in front of the Inn, with guests facing out towards the beautiful view of Harrison River. We set the space with an arch and soft blush draping fabric keeping with the romantic palette. A large florals installation was provided by the talented Carli of Wild Rabbit Flowers. Brian of Pacific Officiants officiated the ceremony. Since they decided not to do a first look, this was the first time Connor saw Marika. Start the tears, now!

The couple chose to sign the papers in the privacy of the house. This offered a nice private moment for the couple just as husband and wife.

PHOTOS

Family photos took place on the lawn during cocktail hour. Guests were invited inside the Inn in the large dining room and gathering space. Is the Inn looking more familiar? I caught it once on TV in a hallmark movie! The perfect setting for a romantic story.

Following the ceremony, the bridal party continued onto photos. This specific year, the couple were fortunate enough to stumble upon a field of wild flowers. Rowena’s Inn is currently in the process of building a spa, but had an empty field for all of 2019. So they thought, why not fill it with wild flowers for the short time.

RECEPTION

Following family photos and bridal photos on the grounds, guests and the bridal party made their way over to the large event where the reception was held. The tent is up all year around.The two little girls, also the couples nieces, introduced the first part of the wedding party, because it was their parents!

We loved that Marika wanted to incorporate copper as an element to go along with the romantic and vintage decor. The guest tables included two different types of centrepieces. The first piece, floral arrangements provided by Wild Rabbit Flowers. The second centrepieces was vintage-inspired arrangements with old books, a classic birdcage filled with moss and pearls spilling out provided by us at Say Events Co. The head table has blue vintage goblets as an added decor feature. It’s a nice way to spruce up the head table, but you won’t break the bank. The soft draping and lights inside the tent are an added feature to the overall decor.

Marika included some of her own personal decor, such as the guest seating chart suspended over the welcome table and Polaroid cameras to fill in the artisan-made guest book from Liu My.

Pro tip: If you would like to have a Polaroid as part of your guest book, assign someone to manage the photos and make sure you can take a pic of everyone! If it’s managed, it’s not missed. We always suggest a young adult. Someone who is old enough to be responsible, but to young to have a cocktail.

PARTY TIME

Following the delicious meal, catered onsite by Rowena’s team, the cake from Kick Ass Cakes was cut. They also provided cupcakes for the rest of the guests to enjoy.

The first dance took place on the patio behind the tent, with all the guests looking on. Once all the formalities were done, Dj Felixtook over and had the guests up all night!

The couple arranged for a shuttle bus to take guests back to their hotel. If they didn’t stay on the property, they were just down the road at the Sasquatch Inn. We highly recommend arranging transportation as the cabs out there are quite scarce.

Insider tip: The Inn offers a limo golf cart that you can rent and we HIGHLY suggest it. The property is beautiful and has so many options, but with that, the grounds are large so there is a lot of walking. By getting the limo golf cart, we could pick up the groomsmen from one side of the property, bring them to the ceremony and no one broke a sweat. We then used it to move items from ceremony to the reception tent, helped older guests if needed and even took a little 3 year old boy for a ride, AND MADE HIS DAY.