How to Choose the Perfect Wedding Venue: 5 Tips You Don’t Want to Miss!
Now that you’re starting the wedding planning process, you’re going to find out that there are a lot of decisions to be made.
Some of them are going to be bigger than others. Some of them are going to set the stage for your entire wedding.
And one of those is your wedding venue.
It’s the backdrop of the entire occasion. It’s what you’ll imagine or picture in the months and years afterward, whether it’s the rolling hills of a vineyard or the luxe, modern feel of a grand estate.
I’m sure that feels like a lot of pressure when it comes to selecting a place. But don’t worry! I’ve put together a list of my top 5 tips on how to choose the perfect wedding venue. And I’m sharing some incredible wedding venues in the Greater Toronto Area, Niagara, and beyond!
5 Tips on How to Choose the Perfect Wedding Venue:
1. Choose Your Wedding Planner First
If you’re considering a wedding planner to help you piece together every last detail of your wedding (and then design it on the day of), then here’s your sign to book your wedding planner first.
A wedding planner’s whole job is to help you make every single decision in the planning process. So why add any more stress or overwhelm onto your plate if you don’t have to!
Your planner can help you choose the right venue from the moment you sign on the dotted line!
How Does a Wedding Planner Help You When It Comes to Finding the Perfect Wedding Venue?
When it comes to how to choose the perfect wedding venue, your wedding planner will have connections and experience within the wedding industry to help you find the best one.
They’ll get more information from you on determining factors, such as:
Your budget
Your guest list size
Your date range
Your wedding day aesthetic
Your restrictions and priorities
Then, they’ll narrow down the search to present venues that only fit within those parameters.
That means you won’t have to waste your time visiting and touring venues that won’t work for what you need! You won’t have to struggle with analysis paralysis in deciding on a venue.
Instead, you’ll have anywhere from 3-5 that fit exactly what you’re looking for in a venue. It’ll immediately take a huge weight off your shoulders, trust me!
Plus, since your wedding planner has a ton of experience with, well, planning weddings, they’ll know exactly what questions to ask your venue before the wedding to make sure every single detail is thought of.
Then they’ll go through venue contracts line by line to ensure that you’re well protected and that you receive everything the venue coordinator mentioned in your tour!
2. Start Your Search Early for Your Wedding Venue in Toronto, Greater Toronto Area, Niagara, and Beyond
The key to finding the perfect venue for the wedding is to start early. Venues are one of the first vendors to book up. And the way the wedding industry is heading, venues are booking up 1 and sometimes even 2 years in advance.
I always suggest starting your search and booking your venue at least 12 months ahead of time (if not more!).
It’s possible to have a wedding within the 12-month range, but you may just need to be more flexible on your venue options, as most will book up further out.
Have Your Date Range In Mind When You Start Reaching Out to Venues
And speaking of starting your search early, be sure to have a date range in mind when you start reaching out to venues.
They’ll need to know what time frame you’re looking at to ensure they have an available spot. Knowing a rough time frame beforehand will save you time and heartache in the future! Having a timeframe in mind saves you from the paralysis of indecision when you’re faced with too many options.
3. Think About the Size of Your Desired Guest List
Knowing a rough estimate of how many guests you’re expecting will help you do two things:
When it comes to how to choose the perfect wedding venue, it will help you find places that are the right size. Some venues are absolutely stunning, but they’re just too small for a wedding of over 125 guests. Others are gorgeous, but they’re charging for large-sized weddings, which may not be what you need.
It will help you figure out the price point of the venue for your specific wedding. (More on that next!)
4. Consider Your Budget
One of the other biggest factors you need to consider when searching for a wedding venue is your budget.
You don’t need to have everything planned out budget-wise (after all, that’s what a wedding planner will help you do!).
But having an idea of what your “big picture” budget is will help you narrow down your search to include venues that fit within that price range.
Venue pricing is a little bit tricky to pinpoint because several factors determine the bottom line number. Some venues may have a minimum headcount, which means you need to have a minimum number of guests in attendance. Others have a minimum spend, which means that you may need to incorporate certain elements, such as additional courses, late night stations, or passed champagne,to meet a minimum dollar amount.
On your venue tours, be sure to ask the venue coordinator what their overall price point is for a wedding of your size, as well as the overall cost with both tax and gratuity included. If you forget to factor in tax and gratuity you may end up being surprised when your invoice is tens of thousands more than you budgeted for.
5. Have an Idea of the Dream Aesthetic or Vision You Have for Your Wedding
Your wedding venue is the setting of the entire wedding day story. It’s what you and everyone else will picture when you think of your wedding for years to come.
And it’s one of the biggest factors that sets the mood for the occasion. Everyone can tell a lot about what a wedding will be like or feel like, just by knowing the venue.
So, when it comes to how to choose the perfect wedding venue, make sure you think about the aesthetic you’re going for before you start touring places! For example, if you want a modern, luxurious, glamorous wedding, then a downtown Toronto wedding venue may be a better fit than a rustic barn wedding.
Or if you want a whimsical, romantic, elegant wedding, then a garden estate or a wedding in a vineyard may be a better choice than a modern, industrial venue.
6 Incredible Wedding Venues in the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario to Consider:
Now that you know more about how to choose the perfect wedding venue for your occasion, how about we check out some of the best wedding venues in Niagara, the GTA, and beyond?
Here are 6 fabulous venues to consider:
The Pearle Hotel Wedding Venue:
Right on the water sits The Pearle Hotel & Spa, one of Burlington’s newest (and best) wedding venues. Elegance and modernity meet in this gorgeous hotel space. And considering it’s newly built, the architecture and interior design feel fresh. There won’t be any need for masking any unsightly interior elements! That means you can focus all of your attention on bringing in wedding design and decor pieces that suit your aesthetic.
Weddings at The Pearle Hotel have their choice between two reception areas. One room, The Edgewater, is made for larger celebrations, fitting 350 guests. It’s a gorgeous space of creamy white walls and neutral decor, including modern tables and chairs, thinly paned windows, and recessed lighting to create a luxurious, glamorous feel.
The Northshore is the other reception space option, and it’s perfect for smaller, more intimate weddings of up to 170 people. You’ll still get the same modern luxe aesthetics in the design, as you would in The Edgewater.
What to Know About The Pearle Hotel Wedding Venue:
Venue Location: Burlington
Maximum Capacity: 350 guests
Quick Description: Hotel wedding venue
Aesthetic: Modern, luxurious, elegant, glamorous
Notable Features: Newly built with modern design, overlooks Lake Ontario
2. Spencer’s at the Waterfront Wedding Venue:
Nestled right at the water’s edge of Lakeshore Burlington sits Spencer’s at the Waterfront. Owned by the same hospitality group as The Pearle Hotel, Spencer’s is known for its nautically-inspired aesthetics, larger-than-life, ground-to-ceiling glass windows, and breathtaking views of the water.
One of the most sought-after ceremony locations at Spencer’s is The Observatory. Imagine magnificent 30-foot glass windows that offer grand views of the lake as the backdrop of your vows!
It’s the perfect venue if you’re looking for a smaller, modern wedding venue with an industrial flare and delicious food.
What to Know About Spencer’s at the Waterfront Wedding Venue:
Venue Location: Burlington
Maximum Capacity: 120 guests
Quick Description: Waterfront wedding venue
Aesthetic: Modern, industrial, nautical, glamorous
Notable Features: Breathtaking views of Burlington Lakeshore, restaurant venue, plenty of natural light from 30-foot glass windows
3. Ancaster Mill Wedding Venue:
Tucked in next to the foothills of the mountains, Ancaster Mill is a dreamy, romantic wedding venue just outside of the Greater Toronto Area. You couldn’t pick a better location if you’re looking for a whimsical, intimate wedding experience with plenty of character.
The historic wedding venue provides an old-world charm that’ll make for the best type of setting for your day!
What to Know About Ancaster Mill Wedding Venue:
Venue Location: Ancaster
Maximum Capacity: 200-250 guests
Quick Description: Historic wedding venue, mountain-side wedding venue
Aesthetic: Romantic, ethereal, whimsical
Notable Features: Charming historic wedding venue, garden property, waterfall views
4. Vineland Estates Winery Wedding Venue:
For a venue that’s romantic with a touch of rustic elegance, you can’t go wrong with Vineland Estates Winery.
It’s a gorgeous, fully operational winery located in Vineland, complete with rows of vines, breathtaking views of the vineyard, and a stone carriage house that’s perfect for an indoor ceremony option, or you can choose to get married overlooking the vineyard on the terrace directly beside the carriage house.
The Vineland Estates Winery wedding venue is also perfect for intimate weddings, like my past couple Anne & Silas. They chose Vineland Estates Winery for their occasion because they knew they wanted a small gathering of 45 of their closest friends and family.
They opted for an outdoor ceremony with an indoor reception. And because Vineland Estates Winery has some convenient accommodations on site, they were able to get ready in separate areas of the venue, too! Not to mention, this Niagara wedding venue had plenty of delicious food and great staff to .take care of their clients throughout the day.
What to Know About Vineland Estates Winery Wedding Venue:
Venue Location: Vineland
Maximum Capacity: 56 guests for seated reception, 75 for standing reception
Quick Description: Winery wedding venue
Aesthetic: Romantic, rustic elegance
Notable Features: Stone carriage house, vineyard, large glass windows inside for views of the vineyard
5. Arlington Estate Wedding Venue:
If you’re looking for a wedding venue in the Greater Toronto Area that has it all, then the Arlington Estate wedding venue probably needs to make your shortlist.
It’s a stunning expanse of a venue that includes an indoor ballroom option, sophisticated architecture, an outdoor terrace that overlooks a private pond, a garden ceremony location option, and so much more.
The Arlington Estate wedding venue is exceptional if you’re chasing a luxurious, modern, and sophisticated affair.
What to Know About Arlington Estate Wedding Venue:
Venue Location: Vaughan
Maximum Capacity: 175 in the East Wing, 475 in the West Wing
Quick Description: A luxurious, sophisticated wedding venue with indoor ballroom reception options and outdoor garden ceremony options
Aesthetic: Luxurious, modern, elegant, sophisticated
Notable Features: Indoor ballroom, outdoor garden, private pond, modern design and architecture
6. Roseville Estate Wedding Venue:
If you feel like your wedding aesthetic is less modern luxury and more old-world charm, then the Roseville Estate is a perfect venue for a wedding and one of the best options in the area.
Imagine driving down the private estate’s drive, which is lined with well-manicured lawns and established trees. Picture arriving at the estate, which features classic English-style architecture, including beautiful stonework buildings, where you’ll get ready for the day ahead. And imagine saying “I do,” underneath a beautiful arch in the outdoor garden before celebrating your new marriage with your favorite people inside the main estate. Plus, this all inclusive venue also provides you with access to the pool on the morning of your wedding if your groom and his friends want to take a quick dip!
What to Know About Roseville Estate Wedding Venue:
Venue Location: Cambridge
Maximum Capacity: 200 guests
Quick Description: Estate wedding venue featuring old-world, classic English charm
Aesthetic: Classic, rustic elegance, intimate, charming, timeless
Notable Features: Classic English-style buildings, outdoor gardens, rustic details
When it comes to how to choose the perfect wedding venue, I know that it can be a stressful situation. After all, there are so many different options out there!
Trust me when I say these tips are the first ones that I give my clients when we begin the process of searching for theirs.
And go ahead and get inspired by other wedding venues in the GTA and Niagara! Check out the blog to see which other venues I love.
