Toronto Wedding
 

My daughter just informed me she wants to get married in Toronto. I live in San Diego and have never been to Toronto. Sure makes it hard for a mother to help with planning. Please help if you know the perfect place for a small wedding. This will be a gay wedding.

Congratulations to your daughter and her partner.

This link might help a bit - it's the wedding planning section from Toronto.com

http://www.toronto.com/section/weddings/

Congratulations!

Were I to get married, I'd consider The Carlu. It's a recently refurbished Art Moderne event space and they have several large and small rooms to choose from. It's truly a beautiful venue.

Here's the link

www.thecarlu.com

Oops - I hit post too soon.

Could you give a bit more information....are you looking for a church for the ceremony and then a site for the reception ... or one location for both? How many people? In downtown Toronto? Time of Year?

Here's a link to the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto - the MCC is a "gay positive church"

http://www.mcctoronto.com/

Gosh, what quick response/help. Thank you soooo much. This gets me started. May wedding I think....20-30 people max. She wants a romantic place/venue. I just looked at Harbour House at Niagara on the Lake.....beautiful place but don't know how far that is from Toronto.

Niagara on the Lake is about an hour and a half from downtown Toronto, by car. Or two hours, depending on traffic.

It is a wonderful place, generally romantic, easy to get to by rental car, etc.

There are a million places for a small wedding. I've never been to Carlu, but want to go because it is supposed to be a wonderful place, and I'm curious.

Lots of restaurants would rent you space; lots of hotels have nice downtown, centrally located, banquet rooms that could be fixed up for a reception, and even the ceremony. Top of the Sutton Place or Top of the Four Seasons are places with great views and good catering departments, both nice and central.

Does she want anything weirdly romantic, like in the middle of a park under a canopy of international flags, seranaded by a Mariachi Band? We can even do that, but it takes more planning and imagination. They'd have to take a ferry to Toronto Islands, which could be fun.

Or charter a boat, and get married on Lake Ontario. Mariposa Cruise is the key words for a Google search.

Many of the wineries in Niagra on the lake have reecption rooms, good parking, and good catering, so your choice is wider than hotels.

Try www.vintageinns.com to get an idea of top-of-the-line Niagara on the Lake.

Niagara Falls, the honeymoon capital of Canda, is only half an hour away, and you could set up a kitchy meets romantitc visit there, too, plus out of towners would get to see Niagara Falls, which is well worth a visit.

And, chances of the gayness of the wedding raising eyebrows is pretty slim, so you can comfortably plan in pretty much any nice location in Toronto or Niagara on the Lake with no worries.

For reasons that completely escape me, happy couples frequenty have their wedding photos taken in front of the Canda Life insurance company headquarters in downtown Toronto.

A better idea, if they want posed wedding pictures, is the conservatory at Allen Gardens, where you need a permit and my friend Doug works.

And, having typed "conservatory" in the above line, I draw your attention to Casa Loma, which has a room called The Conservatory. Casa Loma is a genuine giant castle, and it holds many private functions. A google search will get you lots of Casa Loma info.

And if you need a photographer, tell me. I'm returning to the wedding photo business, under certain circumstances. (like no more big weddings -- they drive me nuts)

BAK

Bak, I'm sure she will need a photographer and you have super ideas. How can we contact you...email? Thanks, Rebecca

[email protected] gets to me quite efficiently.

BAK

Weddings are often held at Sunnybrook Estates in Toronto. If your daughter or her partner have connections with U of T, some of the colleges make beautiful settings.

BAK - are you sure that people get their photos taken in front of the Canada Life Building? It's across the street from Osgoode Hall (the courthouse, with gardens) - and that's often used as a setting for wedding photos.

Funky hotel option - not sure what's available yet in terms of function rooms - the St Germain.

Yes, I'm sure about photos in front of Canada Life.

I have stood there amazed, and watched the pictures being taken.

Others choose Osgoode Hall, though, and this makes more sense to me, because of the tres and flowers and the ability to put something in the background other than parts of an insurance company, however nice the architecture is.

I did a lecture this fall with lots of photos from Osgood Hall's gardens, but noe of Canda Life. I did have photos of flowers on the median of University Avenue, between the two places, though.

BAK

The Toronto Downtown Bed and Breakfast hosts weddings (www.tdbab.com) hosts weddings.

Maybe check out their site. I am staying there in January so if you like, I could let you know what it is REALLY like.

It seems lovely. I know the owners are gay friendly so that may help.

Good luck with your plans and I do hope it is a lovely wedding.

Yes, please let us know if we can help! We have hosted several weddings (including our own), small receptions (up to 50), same sex and otherwise. We would be pleased to provide you with links to the photoalbums of each that we have created, and the email addresses of the participants if you would like to get some first hand info and (we trust) endorsements!

Also, we suggest you might want to contact All Seasons Weddings in Toronto for specialty services in the venue of your choice (vs City Hall, which, by the way, is also very nice)
-- Rog & Jim, Toronto Downtown Bed and Breakfast

Congratulations to your daughter. When I was planning my wedding this year, I fell in love with Sunnybrook Estates (which Kate suggested). The grounds are beautiful--definitely romantic, and a feel-good benefit is that revenues generated from the Estates of Sunnybrook contribute to Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre.

My family didn't want a Toronto wedding so we did something closer to my hometown in Jordan, Ontario (about 90 minutes from Toronto) at On the Twenty. It's also a very beautiful, romantic spot and I highly recommend it.

A quick Google search will get you Web sites for both spots.

Good luck!

p.s. Anton Marcu, based in Toronto, was our wedding photographer (look him up on Google too) and we were thrilled with his work.

Just remembered how much I used this site. This link lists all sorts of Toronto wedding suppliers. Hope it helps!

http://www.weddings.ca/index.cfm?Reg...p;categoryid=0