Ancaster Mill Venue (?)

Amber+Johnny2015

Hi everyone, 

I need some advice! I have fallen in love with the Ancaster Mill as a venue. The problem is that they have 'set' times for the ceremony, reception etc., depending on the room you choose.  The room we have chosen is the Millview room. Unfortunatly the timings go as follows: Ceremony 7-730pm, cocktail reception 730-830 (pictures), Reception and dinner 845-1045 and then dancing and light night until 1am.  IS THIS TOO LATE??????? I have not been to too many weddings and am getting anxious about this timing. We are from out of town (Ajax all the way to Ottawa) and I am concerned that everyone will leave after dinner. 

Any thoughts or experience with Ancaster?

Thank you

MegzillaWedding

Hello!! I have booked with the Ancaster Mill and I am totally in love with the venue. There are so many amazing things that set this venue apart from the others. I think that the timing is hard to comment on, its a personal preference. I have been to several weddings and the biggest concern with timing is that there is a large wait time between ceremony and reception. At least you can have all of your wedding in one place. Also, I know that you can block rooms to accommodate your guests and can help with those that would want to leave early. Good luck!!

yellowdaisies84

Dinnertime technically falls between 5 p.m and 9 p.m --so really, you're in the clear. Maybe you could also forego the cocktail hour and launch right into supper if you want the reception dinner to start around 8. 

teejax

I just had my wedding last month with a 3:30 start. Although we were on time some important guests were late. We didn't start until 4pm. We were delayed in starting professional photos after the ceremony because guests were eager to greet etc and as a result we were late coming back from our own photo session. The reception started about 6:30-6:45 I (believe) and everything went by quickly. Even though we had over 2 hours of dancing it seem to go by too fast. Moral of the story is to err on the side of caution with the timing. If you don't mind if the dancing portion gets cut down then that timing might work for you. I would suggest cutting the cocktail hour and doing photos before the ceremony if you are really worried.

mcap1972

Awesome venue. You should be fine

justagirlfirst

If you are after the rustic barn look, and want an outdoor feeling to your wedding you may also like The Springer house. The best part is they only service one wedding per day.

japlanet

Ancaster Old Mill is a nice venue, I have attended a number of weddings/events there. However, it is definitely not an exclusive venue - the reason there are set ceremony times is that there are 3-4 weddings/day there on summer weekends. One ceremony per hour!

I have been to weddings there where all the guests are standing in the parking lot because the wedding before was running late - so there is a ceremony going on in the riverside chapel/garden area, and everyone for the next wedding is congregating/talking loudly/poking their heads in to see what is going on - into some stranger's wedding ceremony!! So awkward.

Also I was at a cocktail hour there (they ask you which wedding you are with and direct you to the correct bar area) and the family members of a different bride 'crashed' our cocktail hour, started ordering from the bar etc - I guess because the wedding they were actually invited to had a cash bar - and had to be escorted from the area. Super awkward.

Anyway, those are just my experiences with the venue and why I did not choose it for myself!