That sweet spot for pretty, affordable Toronto wedding venues
August 26, 2015 11:24 AM Subscribe
My boyfriend and I just got engaged after being together for four years. Hooray! We're thinking about getting married in June 2017, and we want to do it in or near Toronto, Ontario, with about 95 friends and family members. I've scoured the Internet for venues, asked friends for recommendations, and we've found some decent options but since this is going to cost us a lot of money (though both sets of parents will help out), I want to consider all possible options. We want to find a place where we can do both ceremony and reception (with dinner and dancing), and where the cost of the venue, including food and alcohol (open bar), comes to $13,000 or less.
We've scouted a few places: The Doctor's House 35 minutes north of Toronto is absolutely beautiful, but a little too expensive, and too far away (we would have to arrange/pay for shuttle buses to get people there). Fantasy Farm is fairly pretty and the location is great, but the outdoor ceremony location is right next to a road with cars whizzing by, and the Bridal Suite for the smaller room is more like a broom closet with a mirror in it.
Last week we visited a place a friend recommended, Hotel Ocho, which is a boutique hotel with an amazing location downtown. I do like the look: exposed brick walls, high ceilings, huge windows for lots of natural light. It has positive reviews on Yelp from people who have had their weddings there before. It's on the higher end of what we want to spend, so we're still looking around.
Where in Toronto should we get married? There must be some places I haven't heard about yet. (Sorry for the long-windedness, but I am excited and want to make the right decision.)
We've scouted a few places: The Doctor's House 35 minutes north of Toronto is absolutely beautiful, but a little too expensive, and too far away (we would have to arrange/pay for shuttle buses to get people there). Fantasy Farm is fairly pretty and the location is great, but the outdoor ceremony location is right next to a road with cars whizzing by, and the Bridal Suite for the smaller room is more like a broom closet with a mirror in it.
Last week we visited a place a friend recommended, Hotel Ocho, which is a boutique hotel with an amazing location downtown. I do like the look: exposed brick walls, high ceilings, huge windows for lots of natural light. It has positive reviews on Yelp from people who have had their weddings there before. It's on the higher end of what we want to spend, so we're still looking around.
Where in Toronto should we get married? There must be some places I haven't heard about yet. (Sorry for the long-windedness, but I am excited and want to make the right decision.)
I went to a reception at Steam Whistle Brewery a few years back, and it was quite nice. It has the same sort of aesthetic as your description of Hotel Ocho — exposed brick, high ceilings, large windows. In that case, the ceremony was at a church beforehand, but the materials available on the Steam Whistle website imply that ceremonies can be done on site as well.
posted by Johnny Assay at 11:33 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by Johnny Assay at 11:33 AM on August 26, 2015
Last summer I attended a friend's wedding at The 519, right downtown. My sister recently got married and after looking at (and being priced out of) several places in Toronto, they ended up at the Oakville Club, which was really nice.
posted by kyla at 11:49 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by kyla at 11:49 AM on August 26, 2015
I have friends who got married at Victoria College. They had the ceremony in the chapel on the second floor and the dinner/reception in the big room on the ground floor of the Victoria College building. The main entrance big open area when you come into the building used for dancing. It was very nice. I imagine that if you want you could do the ceremony in the dinner room or foyer instead of the chapel.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:04 PM on August 26, 2015
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:04 PM on August 26, 2015
The Distillery District is definitely a weddings factory, but it's a great setting and very well configured for that sort of thing. We did a 96-person open-bar wedding luncheon at Archeo for around $11k - and we went pretty big on the menu. The dinner bar would be a bit pricier though, so you might be right up against your budget.
If you're considering all the alternatives, you might want to think about a BYOB/F venue. You get much more bang for your buck, but it's more work: you have to get a special occasion permit, buy all the alcohol yourself, and manage the catering separately. We have friends who did this at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse and it worked out quite well. I don't know the exact cost, but apparently they have reasonable venue rates and no corkage fee.
Other NFP historical sites may operate on a similar basis - I know Wychwood Barns does something similar.
(On preview: as two Vic grads, Victoria College was definitely on our shortlist, but we dropped it due to price and catering restrictions.)
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:09 PM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you're considering all the alternatives, you might want to think about a BYOB/F venue. You get much more bang for your buck, but it's more work: you have to get a special occasion permit, buy all the alcohol yourself, and manage the catering separately. We have friends who did this at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse and it worked out quite well. I don't know the exact cost, but apparently they have reasonable venue rates and no corkage fee.
Other NFP historical sites may operate on a similar basis - I know Wychwood Barns does something similar.
(On preview: as two Vic grads, Victoria College was definitely on our shortlist, but we dropped it due to price and catering restrictions.)
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:09 PM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't know how much it costs now, but I got married at Miller Lash House http://www.millerlashhouse.ca/ and we loved it. We brought in our own alcohol and used one of their caterers and the lovely, simple decor cut down on the need to pay for decoration.
posted by booky at 12:22 PM on August 26, 2015
posted by booky at 12:22 PM on August 26, 2015
Our wedding will be at 5 Brock. I attended a great wedding at Airship37 in the Distillery District. Enoch Turner was our second choice.
One problem with arranging your own catering is that venues here will often charge a percentage of the catering bill if you use someone besides their preferred caterer. Providing your own booze can be a big money saver though, if it's allowed.
You can sometimes save much by having the event sometime other than Saturday night.
To save you some time, I'll list some of the financial considerations that ruled out various venues for us. Wychwood Barns had a long list of extra fees for things that are included elsewhere and this put them out of our price range. Steam Whistle wanted $2000 for an AV hookup, and the only beer you can have is Steam Whistle. Berkeley Fieldhouse had a $20,000 minimum spend on a Saturday. ARD Events and 99 Sudbury didn't allow BYOB.
posted by grouse at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2015
One problem with arranging your own catering is that venues here will often charge a percentage of the catering bill if you use someone besides their preferred caterer. Providing your own booze can be a big money saver though, if it's allowed.
You can sometimes save much by having the event sometime other than Saturday night.
To save you some time, I'll list some of the financial considerations that ruled out various venues for us. Wychwood Barns had a long list of extra fees for things that are included elsewhere and this put them out of our price range. Steam Whistle wanted $2000 for an AV hookup, and the only beer you can have is Steam Whistle. Berkeley Fieldhouse had a $20,000 minimum spend on a Saturday. ARD Events and 99 Sudbury didn't allow BYOB.
posted by grouse at 12:23 PM on August 26, 2015
The future Mrs. Grouse emailed me some suggestions which I will put here. She suggests considering smaller event spaces like 345 Gallery. You might also be able to do a reception at a restaurant.
St. Lawrence Hall is nice but might be at the upper end of your price range. Toronto Reference Library Appel Salon does weddings for something like that price range. Granite Brewery, Atlantis Pavilions, Twist Gallery (might not be entirely accessible?), and harbor cruises (for example, Kajama) are also good to check out.
posted by grouse at 1:21 PM on August 26, 2015
St. Lawrence Hall is nice but might be at the upper end of your price range. Toronto Reference Library Appel Salon does weddings for something like that price range. Granite Brewery, Atlantis Pavilions, Twist Gallery (might not be entirely accessible?), and harbor cruises (for example, Kajama) are also good to check out.
posted by grouse at 1:21 PM on August 26, 2015
The Gladstone pricing is surprisingly good (mind you, it was December, during the day, and passed hors d'oeuvres only--yes, we are both misanthropic and cheap), but you might want to consider it.
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 1:22 PM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 1:22 PM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Check out the Capitol Theatre. Friends were married there and it was great!
posted by saradarlin at 2:23 PM on August 26, 2015
posted by saradarlin at 2:23 PM on August 26, 2015
Second Steam Whistle. Friends had a great reception there and we had some awesome wedding party photos as well.
posted by MandaSayGrr at 3:43 PM on August 26, 2015
posted by MandaSayGrr at 3:43 PM on August 26, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions; I haven't heard of a lot of them but will check them out. I was interested in Steam Whistle Brewery as a venue, though it costs $4,500-$5,000 to rent the place, and I got the impression that their caterers might be expensive. I've emailed them now to find out. If you or someone you know has gotten married there in the past year (MandaSayGrr?), feel free to send me a MeMail so I can ask you some questions about the prices.
5 Brock also looks like it has potential, so I've contacted them to inquire. (Thanks, grouse.)
So many good options here, so thanks everyone! If anyone has more details about complete pricing (after food and alcohol), or reviews of places you've been to weddings at, either comment here or send me MeMail.
posted by ThousandYellowDaisies at 5:34 PM on August 26, 2015
5 Brock also looks like it has potential, so I've contacted them to inquire. (Thanks, grouse.)
So many good options here, so thanks everyone! If anyone has more details about complete pricing (after food and alcohol), or reviews of places you've been to weddings at, either comment here or send me MeMail.
posted by ThousandYellowDaisies at 5:34 PM on August 26, 2015
We looked into using 10tations and Marigolds and Onions for a dinner for 120 at Enoch Turner. They are both caterers at Steam Whistle too. Not including liquor or venue or "landmark fees", Marigolds and Onions estimated about $12,500 and 10tations estimated about $13,000.
posted by grouse at 6:57 PM on August 26, 2015
posted by grouse at 6:57 PM on August 26, 2015
I got married at the Estates of Sunnybrook last fall. Beautiful venue, great service. We had 100 guests and did a lunch buffet for about $11,500. If you're willing to do a buffet meal, you might be able to keep close to your budget.
posted by Rora at 5:38 PM on August 27, 2015
posted by Rora at 5:38 PM on August 27, 2015
I got married three years ago at St. Lawrence Hall. Total cost for the venue, including SOCAN and HST, was about $1400 for eight hours. It's owned by the City of Toronto so you can bring in whatever caterer you want. And it definitely has the high ceilings and big windows you're looking for. The location is great, especially for out-of-towners who might want to see a bit of the big city.
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 7:47 AM on August 28, 2015
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 7:47 AM on August 28, 2015
Have a look at The Arts & Letters Club, or the Ontario Heritage Centre.
posted by Kabanos at 10:04 AM on September 1, 2015
posted by Kabanos at 10:04 AM on September 1, 2015
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posted by rmless at 11:33 AM on August 26, 2015