The Lake House is one of our favorite wedding venues in the city. We work with the Lake House several times a year and as an added bonus we are residents of Lake Bonavista and have Lake Access.
With lake access we can have a full photo session right there, on the docks or in a canoe if we get the hankering. We can bring you, your bridal party and even your family into the private lake for photos with us.
This means sunset shots on the lake! Yay!
The Lake House, Calgary Wedding Venue, has some of the best food, and best service in town. We are always impressed with every single selection. Not to mention their cocktails are amazing. Not that I drink at weddings, because I don’t, except that one time I had a strawberry Mojito with dinner because I couldn’t resist.
We have photographed many ceremonies, cocktail and sit down wedding receptions and both are well done. They have a ton of seating for the cocktail weddings. Everyone is comfortable and well fed. We have selected some images of ceremonies and receptions so you can see the options the Lake House provides.
The Lake House Ceremonies
This a a lovely location for an indoor Calgary ceremony space. You can face the fire place or face a large bank of windows facing Lake Bonavista. My personal preference is to face the fireplace. The lighting is better for photos when you don’t have the couple back lit. * Back lit means that the light is shining behind the subject.
The light for photos is perfect when facing the fireplace. You have the option of having the fireplace on or off, I would only suggest that you don’t stand too close to the fireplace when it is on, it can get terribly hot, but it looks really pretty.
Candle Lit Ceremony at the Lake House
One option at the Lake House is having a candle lit ceremony. You have to provide your own candles as far as I know, but you could check our Kijiji or dollar stores to find these props. You could always sell them later, or make the most spectacular candle lit bedroom ever.
You can see the full space with the candles, and the fireplace is on. It creates a really intimate scene and was worth all those house hunting for candles. * I can say this as a person who did not spend hours hunting for candles; although I know for a fact Bridget & Travis were over the moon with the final result and would say YES it was worth it.
Simple Ceremony Set Up at the Lake House
The Lake House looks great without candles too. Here is a wedding ceremony we did a few weeks later. I love the look of the brick and chandlers and dark ceilings. It is very simple and you don’t have to worry about chair covers — another bonus!
Jewish wedding at the Lake House
Another surprising set up was a circular one. Although they are facing the windows, they are far enough away from them that the light is perfect. This set up had the wedding guests surrounding the bride and groom (Micheal and Sara). Although anyone could use this set up without the Chuppa if you are having a non-Jewish wedding. I love circular ceremonies like this.
Lake House Wedding Receptions
For your reception at the Lake House you have a couple options. You can have a traditional sit down meal, or a cocktail reception. At the cocktail reception they provide ample seating for guests and it is a very comfortable setting. We have some images below that show you some past reception images for both option.
The Lake House Venue Tips
We have a few tips for this amazing wedding venue, hopefully they will help you while planning your Lake House Wedding.
- The lighting is tough in this venue and getting a photographer who is good with off camera flash would be a big asset. This is mostly because one side of the room is brightly lit with a large amount of windows and the other side of the room is dark. That combined with a dark black ceiling, you need a ninja with some mad lighting chops. * cough cough, hint, hint, that could be us.
- The cocktail reception here is really great. Many venues do a terrible job with these type of weddings, but The Lake House has a great cocktail reception. The only thing we would suggest is to put your money into some filling side food like the quinoa salad, the veggie cups, etc — it’s a better spend then the cheese and meat platters. Keeping the meal close to a traditional meal really worked here – a protein, salad, veggie and dessert. And if you can double the protein because the carving station gets lined up big time.
- We already mentioned having the ceremony facing the fireplace, and if you missed it read more above.
- When the Dance, DJ and photo booth are all together in the small side room it can be too cramped. I would not put all three there together.Hopefully this helps! Yay!