r/WeddingsCanada

Hi everyone! I recently got engaged this past June (yay!) and my fiancé and I are trying to plan an engagement party, but we're stuck on where to host it and I'd love some outside opinions.

We're hoping to keep the total budget around $3–4K for about 60 people, so renting a restaurant or event venue is pretty much out of the question.

Here are our options:

Option 1: Host it at my fiancé's parents' house. They have a decent-sized backyard and have generously offered to host. The only issue is they live about an hour away from where my parents and most of my friends and family are. An Uber would be around $100 each way, and we'd really like everyone to be able to drink, relax, and not worry about driving. I also feel a little guilty putting such a big hosting burden on his parents, even though they've offered.

Option 2: Rent the party room in my parents' condo. It's a nice space, my parents are happy to help, and the only restriction is that we have to be out by midnight. The downside is that now his family and friends have the longer drive home.

Option 3: Use the party room in our own condo. Honestly, it's the perfect space. It's halfway between both of our families, so it's the fairest location, and it's exactly the vibe we're looking for. The only catch is our condo has a strict rule that the party must be completely over by 11:00 p.m. We've already asked management if they would make an exception until midnight, and they said no.

This is where I'm torn. We're both 28, and our friends and family definitely love to party. An 11 p.m. end time just feels...early? I worry it seems kind of lame or "off brand" for us, especially since we'd love for people to really let loose and celebrate.

At the same time, I don't know if I'm overthinking it. Is an 11 p.m. end time actually that big of a deal for an engagement party? Would you rather attend a party in a great, central location that ends at 11, or travel farther for a party that can go later?

What would you do in our situation?

My fiancée and I are getting married in September (2026), so we're about two and half months out from the wedding. In March of last year, we hired a vendor couple that provide joint officiant and DJ services. We signed the contract and put down a deposit.

In January of this year, I emailed checking in since it had been a while since we booked, and asked what the next steps would look like and when we would need to start ironing out more of the details of the ceremony and music etc. The vendor let me know that they would reach out at the 3-4 month mark to send us the ceremony and music planner and that we could also book our in-person meeting for one month before the wedding.

On June 6 I sent an email letting them know we were ready to receive the planners and would love to book our in-person meeting since our summer was starting to fill up.

It's now been almost a month and they have not replied. I sent a follow up a week later, and have been sending regular follow-up emails in the weeks since. My fiancée and I even messaged them on their business Instagram and Facebook with no response. I tried calling the number I found on the contract but it was out of service. There website has also been taken down, but they are still active on their socials.

My fiancée and I are obviously pretty stressed out about this. We have a backup plan that we're starting to get in place in case we get completely ghosted, but I really hope that's not the case. There's still time before the wedding obviously, so I'm holding out hope.

I'm kind of at a loss for what to do next. Is it too early to start getting stressed out about this? Am I being unreasonably paranoid?

Hi everyone!

My fiancée and I are currently looking for a wedding DJ in the GTA, and we’re willing to spend a bit more if it means getting someone who’s genuinely great. We’ve realized pretty quickly that there are a lot of DJs out there, but it’s hard to tell who’s actually good versus who just has a nice Instagram page (we’ve unfortunately seen a lot of terrible DJs).

One thing that’s important to us is that my family is divorced, so there are a few awkward dynamics we have to navigate. We’d love a DJ who’s experienced enough to create a fun atmosphere that gets everyone both sides of the family out on the dance floor together.

We really just want a great DJ that everyone can dance to all night and talk about it the next day how it was so much fun.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

My boyfriend and I are looking to budget for a wedding before getting engaged with the idea of avoiding a longer than 2 year engagement.

Wondering realistically how much we should budget? We don’t intend for anything fancy, can be up to 2.5-3hours away from Hamilton Ontario in any direction and most likely outdoor ceremony with indoor component. My best guess for guest list would be 100 people maximum…
Be honest, what are we looking at cost wise?

Just looking for ideas on a nice guest book. I hate shopping online as I want to be able to see what I am buying. If you know any names of stores that would be a great help. I am based in Toronto currently. Thank you

Specific ask but… wondering if anyone knows of any Ontario venues that would accommodate a ceremony on a dock. I’m envisioning my partner and I + the officiant on a dock with the guests seated off of it but a larger dock with guests and us would do as well.
UPDATE: Neither of us are into the city feel but I personally don’t love the barn/wood aesthetic many of the outdoor ones offer
TIA

Hi everyone :) Recently engaged and we have started looking at venues for 2027. We are planning to get married just outside of GTA. Approx 100 people.

How did you guys create your initial budget? I am getting quotes from venues (15k range) but not sure how much extra to budget for florals, decoration, band, etc. We have a limit so I’m not sure how much of the budget venue is supposed to take up! Definitely a bit of a shock for us both.

Any budget guidance appreciated :)

Thank you! 💍🫶🏻

Hi there. We are looking for recommendations for a photo booth company to use. We preferably want to have the vintage-style photo booths, where you sit in them, then get a photo strip printed, but we noticed a lot of companies have pop-up tents for this rather than a real booth. We are looking for a company that has an actual booth rather than this type of tent. Any recommendations from companies you have used in the GTA would be appreciated!

hey guys!

I am needing some opinions / recommendations on a wedding dress. I have always loved the idea on having colour within my wedding dress as I don’t love the typical “plain white wedding” tradition. Only problem is many places don’t sell the dress I am envisioning or they are located in the US.

I’m unable to add photos but in your guys opinion, should I get a typical dress and add a colour veil or buy a white dress and find someone who can add embroidery within the waist? (Pinterest has my vision with “colourful flower veil” and “floral wedding dress embroidery“)

If it helps, I’m hoping to stay under a CAN$3000 budget and the wedding is set for May 2027

Hi guys! Ik im late but I need to find a nice venue for June 2027, I texted a few places but im inviting 180-200 people, i’m not looking for anything overly expensive but I am aiming to go for a castle/manor kind of venue, any suggestions? + we are down to do it on a weekday ( Toronto, GTA, Kingston, Ottawa, any place in between all )
Thanks

Looking for a good option for a signature cocktail for our wedding. The venue includes an Aperol Spritz as their default cocktail included in their package, but we are able to add our own! We are having a November wedding. The vibes are very wintery, Victorian, romantic, leaning into darker colours. I am open to any sort of spirits (mezcal is my favourite but I am so down to try anything)!

Hi everyone,

My fiancé and I are getting married in September 2027 in Ontario. The ceremony will be in my hometown near the GTA about five hours away from where we currently live. We’ve found a caterer we love online and they have fantastic reviews. However, they said they mainly do the tastings in April\May. We don’t have a ton of vacation time available for 2027 so we’re trying to avoid as much back and forth as possible.

For context, we are expecting 90-100 guests and we want a simple but classy buffet meal. We have a lot of family who are steak and potato people but the other half is adventurous so finding balance is key.
Our venue has a commercial kitchen onsite.

My questions:

Is this normal for wedding catering to do tastings 5-6 months out?
If we don’t like the food, is this enough time to find a new caterer? We’re getting married in a small town near/in the GTA so not short for options but not tons.
Should we try to book other tastings for the same time? If we do, is it smart or strategic to tell the vendors we’re doing other tastings or will this insult/annoy them?

Thanks in advance for any help :)

Hi! I’m looking for a good reputable brand to custom make an engagement ring. I’ve reached out to a couple places and got some good quotes. I’m just very nervous to use a company that isn’t good… I’ve looked at their social media’s and reviews but I’m still nervous about sending deposits in and 50% of the ring when it’s all online or over email.

I’m located in Ontario, so hopefully looking for someone in between Toronto area to Ottawa area and surroundings! Thanks for helping in advance!

Does anyone have any good recommendations for custom jewellers?

Hi everyone! We’re working with Food Dudes for our wedding next year and waiting on our quote/invoice. In the meantime, I’m trying to figure out what payment methods they typically accept so we can plan ahead, as we’re hoping to maximize points for our honeymoon.

Specifically, I’m wondering if anyone has experience paying Food Dudes and can share:

1. Do they accept Amex? (& was there a surcharge?)
2. Does anyone know how they typically code on credit cards (ie “restaurant,” “catering” etc)?
3. Has anyone used Amex Cobalt for a large catering bill - did it still earn the 5x multiplied or was it excluded/capped?

Trying to decided whether it makes sense to go the Amex route specifically for this spend, or if we should look at using another card. Any insight would be much appreciated!

Good morning,

My fiancé and I are looking into different venue, catering and cake options in Terrace. I’ve looking online for different options but a lot of the information seems quite out of date.

So if you have any advice or recommendations it would be greatly appreciated. I know it’s short notice but we are planning for the second week of December.

Thank you in advance

My Wedding experience at the Princeton was a disaster.

1. When I arrived the morning of the wedding, there were batched drinks on the bar top left out warm and without a lid, this was the first red flag.
2. When I walked into the bridal suite, the whole suite was in disarray, the furniture broken and moved into the middle, construction dust all over the floor.
3. They painted the walls and baseboards the day before the wedding and all of my hanging black bridesmaids dresses had white paint stains on them. My sister-in-law was in the building the night before the wedding retrieving her jacket watching them paint. Venue management completely denies this.
4. None of the AV worked even though we were assured it would. No one could hear our vows or speeches, it was loud screaming and cracking from the speakers throughout the event.
5. A BA was washing dishes and clinking glasses in the ballroom bar where our ceremony was located during the actual ceremony.
6. The washrooms were disgusting. They were not cleaned or replenished throughout the night, garbage was overflowing and toilets were broken and clogged. There was no regard for health, safety or comfort.
7. AND THIS ONE IS THE KICKER: We bought the open bar package and they diluted and adulterated our drinks. We requested an itemized inventory of all the alcohol before the wedding and could not get one. We were assured that anything that ran out would be replenished by the liquor store down the street.

We ran out of red wine and soda during the first course of dinner. These were never replenished, but more than that, Venue management directed the bartenders and servers to pour white wine from bottles that were diluted with water.

We confronted him on this and he denied it even though we showed him the diluted wine and have written evidence from the coordinators, bartenders and servers that venue management had two different groups of wine bottles, the diluted and non-diluted and they must have "gotten mixed up" when I asked for a taster.

Funnily enough, we never ran out of white wine at all throughout the event even though equal portions of both were purchased.

They watered down shots or poured "half shots" or "water shots" instead of alcohol into the drinks without telling the guests.

This was not due to inebriation but even if it was, the way it was executed is in complete violation of AGLC policy. It was a cost-cutting mechanism that was unacceptable and quite frankly humiliating for my husband and I as all guests were clearly aware of what he was doing.

A complaint was filed with AGLC and all the texts and emails exchanged with his staff were provided where they admitted and described the adulteration of all the alcohol.

Despite our documentation and multiple complaints, venue management has denied responsibility.

While other events may have gone well, my experience was chaotic, unsafe, and deeply upsetting. I would strongly recommend that couples consider other venues before booking.

EDIT: my Google review is gone again (identical to this post), I can see it but no one else can. And my wedding wire review (identical to this post) has also been removed. I only left it a few hours ago.

EDIT: the honest reviews were removed last night, the place still has a 4.2 rating and more couples are going to go through what me and other brides on this thread went through.

I'm looking for a very simple slip dress for my wedding, similar to what Park & Fifth has (in terms of price range and look). Does anyone else have any other recommendations for places to look for this? Somewhere in Toronto or GTA would be great.

Hello! Are you a documentary style wedding photographer who is interested and available October 3rd for a beautiful barn wedding in the Niagara region? If so, we would love to hear from you! Thanks!