Yay! Booked my venue!

synergy55

So the hardest part is over (apparently - the venue is booked - Harbour Banquet in Oakville for Oct. 1. Really looking forward to the harbour views and awesome photo opportunities there!

Also I'm going to the Canadian Bridal Show this weekend with my mum - going to get ideas on dresses and look at vendors. Hopefully won't be too overwhelming!

Littlin

Yay that's so exciting!  Finding a venue is challenging because you have so many thoughts and ideas running around in your head that now at least you have a starting point to ground all the visions.  

Have fun with the bridal show - it may be overwhelming - don't feel bullied by vendors, but go to get more information and maybe find some great deals!  Let us know how it goes!

naomikb

Congrats!  That's exciting.  That place has wonderful views and I love the little patio.  They didn't have October 1st available when I was looking a few months ago, I wonder if someone cancelled.

Which room did you book?

synergy55

I booked the Bronte Room - it fits up to 110 and we are estimating 75-110 people so it is the perfect size. The Harbour room definitely has a better view, but we just didn't have the numbers to book (I think you need min. 150 to book that) and with the Bronte room we still get a partial harbour view and private balcony (and I think it's 10-15% cheaper). So it fit our needs and I'm happy. Because my mum is helping out we were also able to upgrade to the Royal Gala package which has a few nice extras included (better menu, cake, limo, hotel room and a super cool martini bar!) I think it should work out nicely.

We just have to book the church/officient and one of my mother's friends is who lives in Oakville is helping us with that. Both FI and I live in Toronto, so we definitely need Oakville recommendations for vendors (like DJ, flowers, etc). We just found that prices and selection were a bit better in the GTA than trying to book in Toronto - competition for dates can be really fierce!

naomikb

That's great... and the Royal Gala is a nice package!!  We looked at both of those rooms and liked them both but we wanted something earlier in the year so chose a different venue.  It also has great potential for outdoor photographs, and tons of (free) parking!

I am still looking for a DJ but for flowers I think I'm going to go with (still have to give her a deposit, but...) Rita at Marianna's Flower Island in Burlington. www.mariannasflowers.net.

We are meeting with a cake person in the next few weeks so let me know if you need cake info too.

Definitely - getting out of the downtown core makes prices drop dramatically!  And you get things like free parking!

synergy55

I agree - free parking is a plus. When I was considering the Delta earlier, they did mention we could negotiate a rate for wedding guests, but I heard that their regular rate was $27! Even with a discount, that still would be steep!

Thank you for the flower info - our cake is included in the Royal Gala package (and they are even able to make it a dairy-free cake - I'm lactose-intolerant and it would suck if I couldn't even eat my own wedding cake!) but I will definitely check out the flowers.

If you don't mind me asking - what venue did you decide on?

mixtapehearts

Hey, that's my venue too! Isn't it beautiful? The views are so nice We booked the Harbour rooms (I think that's what they're called... The one with 3 dividers) because we're having nearly 200 guests (sigh)...

The royal gala package is awesome, and so convenient! We went with the European package in the end, but the Royal Gala is definitely a great package! Congratulations on booking!!

synergy55

Yeah, the Harbour room has the best view I think, but I didn't have the minimum guest count to make it happen - you will definitely have a great reception with a really nice ambiance! Looking out onto the harbour definitely makes it magical

naomikb

synergy - sorry for the late reply... We ended up picking Heron Point Golf Links, it's out near Ancaster.  A bit further from the city but because of that it was a good price.