It Happens Here: The Venetian in Weymouth goes all out with thousands of holiday decorations
WEYMOUTH - A Weymouth restaurant is doing its best to make sure everyone gets into the holiday spirit with dazzling decorations and cheer.
"We had this vision but we didn't really think it was going to come this big and this explosive," said Eric Papachristos of the Venetian. "It was really special for us to do an impressive holiday party here at the Venetian. It's a community restaurant down here on the South Shore and it's just so wonderful to see families dine throughout the whole year."
The Weymouth landmark that's all about family is debuting the first of its kind holiday pop-up. Papachristos said it was an unbelievable team effort.
"So the installation took approximately 50 hours to put up, 15 people per hour," Papachristos said. "So it was three full days of 15 people just putting up Christmas decor nonstop."
There's more than 5,000 ornaments, more than 3,500 lights and miles and miles of garland. And no holiday room is complete without a mailbox to make sure kids can get their letters to Santa.
"We go through this probably a couple of times a week and it is really heartwarming, it really, really is," Papachristos said. "It actually makes your appreciate why we did all of this."
The Venetian even has a holiday-themed drink called Santa's Little Helper. From behind the bar, bartender John Jackman is the first to see the customers' reactions when they walk through the door.
"Amazement, amazement," Jackman said. "Usually people have their phones out because they want to get that first impression walking through the door. People are generally very excited."