We just spent a lovely few days in the mountain village of Whistler meeting with venues for our Winter Wedding next year.  The rain fell hard while our car wound along the Sea to Sky Highway, the rivers and water falls along the way, heavy and fast moving.  We arrived at the Four Seasons which feels so familiar by now, like a second home that we visit each winter. The concierge, who had heard we’d been recently engaged upgraded us immediately to one of the Delux Executive Suites.

A bellboy took our bags up to our suite. At 850 sq ft, the “room” is more like an apartment. With a foyer and a full bathroom and coat closet upon entering followed by the spacious living room, comfortable seating and a fireplace.  The separate bedroom boasts a king bed, inviting with plush white feather duvets and pillows and the view of snow covered mountains out the windows.  The master bedroom has a large walk-in closet and I quickly made myself at home setting up my makeup on the granite counters envisioning my bath in the large soaker tub for later that evening.

4pm means complimentary wine tasting in the Sidecut Lounge, a warm space with large rock fireplaces and big leather seats to sink into and enjoy a drink and a bite to eat after a day of travel or snowboarding.  We changed from our travel attire and headed down to sip on a glass of sparkling and another of red.  We toasted to finding our wedding location. So much to celebrate!.

The Four Seasons is an experience. Just strolling through it is a pleasure. Artwork by BC artist Judy Chen hangs on the walls with snowy landscapes you want to climb into. Christmastime is my favourite time to visit: the Cedarwood scent when you walk into the reception and the great Christmas tree gives you that true alpine village feel. There are  lounges to cozy up next to the wood burning fireplaces and we were lucky that, being the off season it felt almost like we had the hotel to ourselves.  The staff is warm and accommodating helping with anything from reservations for the many restaurants Whistler has to offer and transportation in your own town car to the Scandinave Spa where we spent our second afternoon. That evening we dined at Araxi in the village and enjoyed oysters and my new favourite gin drink: the Aviation, a classic cocktail made with gin, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette, and lemon juice.

Our last morning we had breakfast in the Sidecut lounge. We then took a drive to Rainbow Lake after a quick stop at Starbucks for a seasonal Autumn drink. The road to Rainbow Lake is lined with tall Douglas Fir and Westcoast Cedar that swayed in the cold wind.  It had snowed the day before we arrived so there was snow on the side of the road and our walk was shortened by the 3 degree weather.  Fall and Winter arrive so much earlier in Whistler than Vancouver.

It rained just as hard on our way home as it had the way up and passing the signs to Brakendale I made a mental note to remember to return in early January to see the Bald Eagles that come by the thousands each year to rest and feed along the Squamish river on their flight north to Alaska. It was a really great weekend and we were happy to have crossed off the most important part of our wedding planning not only because it can be difficult to find the perfect location but because we actually got the location we really wanted. We’re so excited. Life is good.

I hope you’ll join me next time.  We’ve been invited to a wedding in Tuscany next year so perhaps there will be a blog from Italy in the future.  For now, Arrivederci!

Love,

Jennifer