Venue Feature: Hart House Restaurant

Uniquely West Coast, Hart House Restaurant has some of that old-world heritage charm with a touch of idealistic romance. Gorgeous as an indoor dining room and exquisite for its outdoor space. Hart House weddings are unique and special in its own way. It’s tented, sits by a beautiful lake, and is surrounded by hundreds of tall lush trees and bushes. In the spring and summer, you’ll see so much green and flowers in bloom along with birds and squirrels trotting on their little feet (sort of like a scene in Bambi).

Hart House opened its doors as a restaurant in September of 1988. At first glance you’ll see a beautiful heritage building with gorgeous wooden architectural details. Restaurant diners enter through the front door and are escorted into the dining room for dinner. For weddings, there is a gravel path to the left of the house that guides you to the tented venue. On the way down you’ll see a small cottage where the washrooms are located and an open field to the right. Just outside of the tent there is a large grass area in which I like to suggest setting up an intimate lounge area with string lights. Great for a waiting area for early arrivals and fantastic as a lounging area for cocktail hour and after dinner.

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The tent comes equipped with…chandeliers! Yes, no need to spend the extra hundreds of dollars on the delivery and installation of chandeliers for your event! They also provide white folding chairs and a limited number of the dark mahogany chiavari chairs for the head table only. One thing I would recommend is to rent some pipe and draping for the entire left side of the tent which will help brighten up the entire room. Trust me, it makes a difference.

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The outdoor lawn is almost always used for ceremonies. Guests sit facing the lake and the wedding party comes out from the house. It does get extremely hot in the summer so I always suggest the client to alert their guests in advance to dress in light colours/materials, hats, and use sunscreen and bug spray (which I always carry in my handy dandy wedding kit). I think the hardest part of the ceremony is actually gathering everyone in this large expansive space– the guests to their seats and the wedding party to their spots. Some people wander off to seethe lake, some are taking photos by the trees, some in the washroom, some in the house, some at the front of the house…It’s madness sometimes! But that’s when myself or your wedding coordinator has to start rounding people up early, like 30 minutes before the ceremony so that everything starts on time. The MC also comes in handy as they can help announce and call guests in, but keep in mind this doesn’t reach out to those further away from the field.  

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There is a bridal room upstairs for the bride and her entourage to get ready in. It is a simple yet elegant room and is beautiful for getting ready photos. There is also a set of stairs leading up to this room which is also a good photo opportunity.I love going up here to see the bride because it’s away from all of the loudness on the field and this is the time for her to relax with her bridesmaids and mum.

Lastly, I wanted to point out the amazing staff and food at Hart House. The events/sales manager Sonja and her team are very friendly, professional, and kind. The food is fresh and tasty and comes out in a timely manner – that, is what guests want at a wedding! Once things die down, I like to stick around a little longer to ensure things are good before I leave. Sometimes I take a quick walk down to the lake and look back at the glowing tent to see the party and sometimes I stay and chat with the staff to talk about how well or how bad the day went :P. Thanks for reading everyone! 

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