Weddingbee Blog

As I mentioned in my last post, we’re having our wedding at IslandWood. I’m so excited about this for the simple reason that for everyone who can come, they will be invited to celebrate with us all weekend—from Friday night through the welcome brunch on Sunday. And even better—there are so many things to do around IslandWood that we don’t even have to entertain them the whole time! They can entertain each other! We will have some things that people can choose to do on Saturday before the wedding, or they can just take off and explore on their own (or visit the rest of the island if they so choose).

IslandWood was originally built to be an educational center for grade-school children to learn about environmental issues, but it has become so much more than that, including a home for classes for the Bainbridge Graduate Institute. There are four lodges where people can stay that are all located on the property. Additionally, all meals for the weekend will be eaten in the dining hall (including our wedding dinner cooked with local and sustainable ingredients by the chefs!).

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This is the main hall where guests will first arrive when they come (either on Friday evening or Saturday). This is also where the cocktail hour will be prior to dinner. (The doors to the ceremony site are to the left of this picture.) I’d love to have the cocktail hour outside, but let’s face it: We’re getting married in February. It will be raining. Therefore beautiful indoor spaces are a must!

The Welcome Center is beautiful, and one of the most interesting features (to me anyway) is the huge beam running across the top of the space. IslandWood is built on the site of what used to be one of the largest sawmills in the U.S. Evidently creating these square-shaped (HUGE) logs was one of this mill’s trademarks. (No idea if my terminology is correct, but I’ll go with it.) This beam was found in a mine in Montana (I think) and was returned to the site some 100 years after it was first milled.

After the cocktail hour we will move to the dining hall for dinner, and then we’ll move back to the Great Hall (which will have been transformed while we eat dinner) for dancing and cake and the rest of the reception. Don’t worry—more pictures are coming soon!