Muskoka wedding venue · Lake Rosseau
Windermere House: quintessential Muskoka on Lake Rosseau.
A grand old Muskoka resort, a ceremony overlooking the lake, and a wedding day that moves naturally from one moment into the next.
Windermere House · Lake Rosseau, Muskoka
My first impression
When I think grand Muskoka, I think Windermere.
When someone asks me about the grandest venue in Muskoka, Windermere House immediately comes to mind.
Situated on Lake Rosseau and welcoming guests since 1870, it is quintessential Muskoka.
The red roof. The white shiplap. The Canadian flags flying above the towers. The massive trees surrounding the property.
You can easily imagine yourself back in those early days of Muskoka.
The Lady of the Lake
It looks like Muskoka is supposed to look.
Windermere House has been part of Lake Rosseau for generations. The building and the landscape feel inseparable from one another.
A piece of Muskoka history
The sense of history is part of the experience.
Windermere House first began welcoming guests in 1870. The original hotel was lost to fire in 1996 and rebuilt in the image of the historic property, incorporating surviving stonework.
There is something about the architecture and the setting that makes it feel as though it belongs to another era.
It is no surprise that Windermere House was used as a filming location for the 1985 production of Anne of Green Gables.
It does not feel like a wedding venue that happens to be in Muskoka. It feels like a piece of Muskoka.
Walk through Windermere
The property makes sense when you move through it.
One of the great aspects of Windermere House is how naturally the wedding day moves through the property.
The ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner and dance each have their own moment, but guests never feel as though they have been abandoned between them.
I am particularly interested in how smoothly everyone transitions throughout a wedding day. At Windermere, the property itself helps make that happen.
Everyone always seems to know where the celebration is going next.
Looking toward the lake
You really do not need to do much.
I've seen the ceremony space dressed in completely different ways over the years, from elaborate floral arches to something much more restrained.
Either works because the important part of the setting is already there.
The trees, the lawn and Lake Rosseau are doing most of the work.
Ceremony to cocktail hour
And then everyone simply moves together.
This is one of the things I appreciate most about Windermere. Once the ceremony is finished, there is no awkward gap where everyone scatters and waits for something else to happen.
Guests move back toward the house and cocktail hour begins. From there, the day continues into dinner and eventually into the dance.
The momentum of the wedding never really has to stop.
Cocktail hour
I need to talk about the hors d'oeuvres.
I have been truly spoiled by some of the best hors d'oeuvres I have ever tasted while working at Windermere House.
Beyond noteworthy.
Before the dance
Then the room changes purpose.
By the time dinner and speeches are finished, everyone has already moved through several distinct parts of the day without ever really leaving the celebration.
Then the lights come down, the dance floor opens and the room becomes something else again.
Which brings me to one of my favourite Windermere wedding stories.
One of my favourite wedding stories
They wanted a beautiful wedding. They also wanted a proper underground party.
The bride and groom found themselves conflicted when it came to the flow of their wedding.
Like many couples, they wanted their day to feel like theirs, but they also wanted to make sure their more formal relatives felt completely included.
They had chosen me in part because of my background DJing at raves and underground parties. They wanted a proper underground vibe. But they also knew their grandparents, aunts and uncles were going to be there.
So together, we came up with a plan.
First
Have the wedding as usual.
Ceremony. Cocktail hour. Dinner. Reception.
The entire wedding proceeded normally, with family and friends celebrating together throughout the evening.
At 11 p.m., I announced the last dance.
The whole family surrounded the happy couple as they danced together for the final time that night.
It was absolutely lovely.
11:30 p.m.
And then the people who were in the know came back.
Everyone had gathered their things, said their goodnights and headed back to their rooms.
Half an hour later, a smaller group returned.
That was when the after-party started.
My instruction for the rest of the night:
“Play proper music.”
The best of both
Nobody had to choose between the two weddings they wanted.
It was the perfect way to balance the day.
Their family got to celebrate the wedding with them exactly as they had hoped. The formal last dance actually felt like the end of a wonderful wedding.
And then the couple and their friends got to come back and have the completely different party they wanted as well.
Everyone got to celebrate appropriately.
I love that story because it is a good example of what I think wedding planning should be: figure out what actually works for the people in the room rather than following rules simply because they are the rules.
From Olivia + Paul
Read the room. Keep the party going.
After their wedding at Windermere House, Olivia and Paul sent me a handwritten note that I still have.
“It was really important to us to have a DJ who can read the room + keep the party going + you did exactly that.”
That is still one of the best descriptions of what I am trying to accomplish at a wedding.
Lake Rosseau
You never really forget where you are.
Even when the celebration moves inside, the lake remains part of the experience.
That is part of what makes Windermere work so well. The ceremony can feel completely different from cocktail hour. Dinner can feel completely different from the dance. An after-party can feel completely different again.
But the whole day still feels like one wedding at one unmistakably Muskoka place.
Weddings I've DJed here
What my Windermere House couples have said.
I can tell you why I love working at Windermere House. These couples can tell you what it felt like to celebrate here.
Wedding DJ in Muskoka
The venue creates the setting. The music carries the day through it.
I provide ceremony audio, microphones, cocktail and dinner music, MC support and a dance floor built around the people in the room — all with one consistent plan from the first arrival to the last song.
Windermere House · Lake Rosseau
Planning your wedding at Windermere House?
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