u/Saugs

TLDR: Both were fabulous!

I got married recently at the KPL and wanted to share my experience, since I couldn’t find any reviews online when I first started looking into the process.

I reached out in January to discuss a summer wedding, and they had lots of availability for their “Ceremonies in the Stacks” wedding. Here are some general things:

• Ceremonies are only offered on Friday evenings when the library is closed. (Guest arrival 6pm, ceremony 6:30pm. The ceremony is half an hour, and you get another half hour for photos.)
• The guest list is technically limited to 60 but you can go up to 100 if you add $2/chair for every chair over 60.
• The best part: The “arch” where you get married is two bookcases, and you fill out a form letting the librarians know your favorite books/your hobbies, and they fill your shelves with relevant books for you and your partner. You can also bring your own personal books and items. We had a TON of compliments on this.
• We got to take super cute pictures in the library stacks.
• I worked with Melany, but a whole team had access to the emails I sent to her, meaning I almost always had a response within 24 hours or max 48 hours. 
• The cost is listed as $1300 plus HST. We ended up paying $1745 in total, including HST, SOCAN, and the piano tuning fee. You don’t need to tune the piano if you’re using recorded music but it’s mandatory if you hire musicians (which we did). 
• The cost includes two security guards and one library staff member onsite during the wedding. 
• We hired Strings and Ivory for the music, and they were awesome. The fee includes one custom song (i.e. they will learn a song for you instead of only using their song list). Cost was 1k for violinist and pianist to play before, during, and after the ceremony.
• We were assigned an officiant (we didn’t get to choose) but she was lovely. 
• We needed to buy insurance; this cost us $300, but I think you can get it cheaper.
• We had fabulous feedback on the library. It’s a beautiful space, easily accessible, lots of natural light.

 

And for the Lancaster Smokehouse:

• Our reception was in the Lancaster Loft, the private upstairs room. No elevator, unfortunately.
• Neil was fabulous and incredibly easy to work with, very fast response times. 
• We chose the most expensive meal package plus passed appetizers, and we had a tooooon of food sent home with us. 
• Vegetarian plated meals are available (since the buffet mains are obviously meat-focused).
• Food reviews were awesome. 
• Cost was just under 6k for food plus $800 for open bar.

We spent the night at Langdon Hall. Super expensive but a fun experience.

Other vendors were Trina Koster photography (highly recommended) and Four Seasons Flowers in Guelph (Joanne did a great job with the bouquet, centerpieces, and the flowers linking the two bookcases. She also delivered and set up the flowers in Kitchener, which was great.)

Our overall cost was just under 20k for 60 people. It was a shockingly stress-free experience. We could have cut costs (no musicians, less food, no Langdon Hall) but we were very happy with our choices.

Hi all, my friend is getting married in September and has invited me to be a part of her wedding pictures in the Arboretum (near the Wild Goose Woods trail). I have a medical condition that occasionally strikes and has me running for a bathroom, so I always like to be prepared. I checked the official map and it looks like the nearest bathrooms are a bit of a hike away (and I've also heard that they are not always open).

Are there any port-a-potties in the area? Or should I just count on the nearest bathrooms being on campus? Thanks!