Summer Comes to a Close

Hi Folks,

I know it's been a minute since I've posted so let me catch everyone up:
It has a been a BUSY Summer here at the Seattle Aquarium. With an incredible special on every Saturday this summer, we've had our hands full! But my oh my what beautiful events we've had. Seattle weather cooperated with us very well and we've got the sunset ceremony photos to prove it!

We also hosted an incredible Bar Mitzvah for an incredible family that featured WWE Wrestler decor and one of the best dance troupes I've seen.

To cap it all off we hosted 1000 people for Seattle's 18th annual Virgo Party. It was an outrageously decadent black tie party featuring booming hip hop music and reveling dancers. The Aquarium was tranformed for a night!

To end the summer we had our final outdoor ceremony overlooking Elliot Bay and the weather just BARELY held on for us!

We began the Autumn season with our fourth annual Latino City Employees Heritage Celebration. It's a wonderful mix of spicy Latino food and even spicier salsa dancing until the wee hours. This has been a great event for us and we hope to continue the wonderful partnership we have with the Latino City Employees.

That's all for now. We're prepping for a Fall wedding on Saturday featuring Australian themed food and wine and a wonderful trans-continental couple.
Before I go, let me post this photo, generously shared by one of our amazing couples and Laurel McConnell Photography this summer. This has got to be one of the coolest shots of the Aquarium I've seen. Take a look:








Happy Fall and see you all soon!

Dog Days of Summer

Hi Folks, it's time for another quick entry in the ol' weblog.
We're gearing up for a big one tonight here at the Aquarium. I've got 800 younger gaming folks coming in to loosen up after a long day of networking. We'll have casino tables throughout the entire facility and and drinks on the back deck while the sun sets!
We're also moving rapidly into wedding season and It's going to be non stop Saturday weddings by early August! This place has quickly become a favorite destination of brides.

On a personal note, I'll be leaving for a weeklong holiday tomorrow. :)
I'm rafting the Deschutes in Oregon then heading down to San Francisco to tour Sonoma Valley.
10 Wineries in two days with Reservations at Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc. Not too shabby.
I don't think I'll have any fun at all. :)

Have a great week everyone!

Wine, anyone?

54 Wineries and about 100 different bottles being poured? All within their first three years of release? Is this a recipe for disaster or for a wonderful, fun, unprententious wine tasting? After our Debuts and Discoveries tasting on June 25th, we can say definitively it was a wonderful event! We had about 550 guests in the door and more wine on hand than a French wedding. Amibience, a local jazz band played in Life on the Edge and Half Pack Live!, a Dean Martin/Ole Blue eyes cover band, played in our Puget Sound Great Hall. The Aquarium was filled with people mingling, exploring Puget Sound exhibits, bravely trying brand new wines and reveling on the waterfront. I know I continue to talk up the events we hold here, but this was spectacular! We've always known how well wine works in the Aquarium and now we've brought it to a whole new level. I'm sure this will be the first of many big tasting events here. Stay tuned at www.seattleaquarium.org

Cool Summer!

Wow...just coming off a stretch of several Summer events. We had five proms in May and June and simultaneously booked five for next summer-including a back to back prom for one of our local high schools!

We're also just on the heels of our annual fundraising auction, Splash! It was a beautiful event, but my favorite piece was the signature cocktail, 'Thyme Splash.' We infused our vodka with fresh thyme for four days and then mixed a combination of fresh grapefruit juice and St. Germaine, and french elderflower liqueur. The drink is garnished with fresh thyme and tastes of lychee, grapefruit, lilac, and just a hint of thyme. It's a beautiful martini for the summer.

The event itself was a smashing success and we piloted a new element: we hosted the after-party here in the Aquarium after sending guests across the street for dinner. So guests began their night here at the Aquarium with drinks and incredible hors 'doeuvres and a silent auction; then they moved to the hotel across the way for a three course dinner and the live auction, then two and half hours later they returned to the Aquarium. In that time we erected a stage set, an extensive lighting package, sound, and a brand new decor/furniture package. Our beautiful space looked like a re-imagined MTV unplugged stage set under the sea. The local rock band, Doxology played while about a 100 people came back to dance and revel after the auction. The whole evening was a smash! Or, should I say Splash!?

Just finished a spurt of 3 events!

First, we had about 550 folks from F5 in. Massive Beach Party. Endless Summer was playing behind the bar, beach towels, beach balls, flip flops, and hawaiian shirts were ubiquitous. We even had lifeguard chairs built and brought in. Very fun band. Surf City USA.

And secondly...Proms...Lots of them this month. I love them. The schools are wonderful clients to work with, the students are incredibly happy and it's fun/funny to watch and remember your own prom.

And finally we just hosted an incredible reception for the INTA conference. Trademark attorneys from all over the world. We had about 550 folks from Spain, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Belgium, Britain, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Korea, Japan, and several other countries.
We were determined to make the Aquarium reception the most memorable and talked about of the entire conference. All reports indicate that we completely set the curve. Sweet!

Cocktail Infusions!

Just tasted a Thyme infused vodka we're working on for an ultra special event we're hosting in June. The vodka picked up a lot of color and flavor in only four days! Going to try once more tomorrow and I think the flavor will be absolutely perfect.
I can't yet reveal all the details of this drink, but let me say that it's going to be pretty cool.
Also using a rare eau de vie derived from elderflowers in France to make this a perfect, summery fresh martini. Very excited and I'll keep everyone updated!

Welcome Message

Welcome to the Special Events blog for the Seattle Aquarium!

Check back periodically for updates on the Aquarium, new special event trends, awesome events we deem worthy of showing off and whatever else we think YOU should know about that day. In the meantime, take a look at photos from past events (to the right). You definitely don't want to miss out on hosting an event here. Give us a call for more information.