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Sunday

Down in the Distillery - hidden in plain view

We're in the park - with the lake behind us.  A lovely late summer wedding, with just family and friends. You wouldn't know there are a zillion tourists only a few blocks away.  Super lovely couple, and nice to meet all the family as well.
Distillery Area wedding

Tuesday

AGO: grey day in Grange park, and a Great wedding!

Here we are in front of the Henry Moore statue group behind the AGO in Grange Park.  There were kids and babies and skateboarders all around, but they gave us a space for a short, lovely wedding.  And the rain held off till the end!
Couple and witnesses, AGO, Grange Park
Grange Park wedding couple and Mary
Signing Register in front of Grange, AGO
nb:  The bride above is an astronomer.  Below is ANOTHER University of Toronto astronomer, and we managed to hold the wedding inside the planetarium! (the new one, in the basement of the physics building).  So, fuzzy pix, but wonderful!  But you can only do this if you are -- an astronomer!
U of T Astronomy wedding

Monday

Small brunch wedding, Arts and Letters Club

I love the Arts and Letters club on Elm Street.  We often have large weddings in the Great Hall, which (like Hart House Great Hall) is very atmospheric in a 'Harry Potter' vein.  This was a small, intimate wedding in the study, or "Lamps" room, which has Group of Seven portraits.  It was very suitable for an 'academical' couple!  Another option is the Library in the Grange at the AGO - perfect for a small wedding - with a little tea reception! 

Arts and Letters Club
Arts and Letter Club

Tuesday

Condo Party room legal wedding - simple and lovely

This delightful couple also had a destination wedding in the South.  So this was their legal wedding, held with just their family witnesses, in the Party Room of their condo.  It was a weekday event, so we had the lovely big room to ourselves - with the fire on in the background, and lots of space to take photos.  Here, we've held the brief legal ceremony, and we're just finished signing all the papers!

Party Room Condo wedding

Monday

Small family wedding at Home in Little Italy - Sunday brunch!

Home wedding
We were originally planning on Trinity Bellwoods, but the weather did not cooperate, so we had a small home wedding instead at their home near Little Italy.  Lovely and light, just the family, and then everyone went out to brunch to celebrate - and I moseyed on to ANOTHER wedding up on Bathurst, where they hosted a family brunch in the house, with uncles and aunts and cousins and all.  Lovely busy sunny family wedding day!

Saturday

Lovely family wedding at the Jam Factory

a great jazz duo, fabulous food, fun wedding party, and a quote from Tolkien's Silmarillion for the wedding.  As always, great pix by Neil Ta.   More pix to come...

Jam Factory, Family wedding
Jam Factory

Monday

Locations, big and small

Eloping in High Park
We've had lots of weddings of various sizes this season.  Elopements in Riverdale Park with that stunning view of the CN tower.  Some relaxed events at Trinity Bellwoods and deep in the woods in High Park.
We had family-size weddings in small restaurants, including, DeSotos, Peter Pan. Also event spaces like The Jam Factory, and  quirky spots like The Gerrard Art Space, as well as some favourite places, like Le Select, and Hart House and The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse.
Some students and faculty (with connections) managed to arrange weddings at faculty rooms at Ryerson and even (hush!) in the planetarium at UofT, on a quiet morning before school started.  (Well, the bride was an astrophysicist, so she had some pull!).
And we've had lots of home weddings - reviving an Edwardian tradition - often in the parent's home (bigger!) or the couple's apartment (smaller!), or sometimes on the roofdeck of a condo.
Condo roofdeck with CN tower view
Gerrard Art Space
Most of these were small family weddings, or small private elopements, but even the larger events were mostly family and friends.  Easy to plan, casual and fun, often catered by willing aunties.  Lots of time to talk (and hug) everyone. 

Wednesday

Simple legal weddings, in a home, condo, or AirBnB!

AirBnB penthouse
It's cold this month!  So we found a number of solutions to simple legal weddings.  Here are we are in an Air BnB penthouse and below in an apartment of a friend. In both these weddings, parents attended by Skype!  We have lately also used the games room of a condo, some hotel rooms (find deals on Groupon!), and a couple of condo party rooms.
Friend's apartment

Tuesday

Riverdale park wedding and a serenade

Here's a magic wedding - just the family, under a tree in Riverdale (no baseball game in session), and another stump to sign all the papers.  But then the parents surprised the couple with a song - and all the small gifts mentioned in the lyrics.  I was wondering what the guitar was for - and then we all got a wonderful surprise.

After the wedding, everyone happy
Family serenade for the new couple (singing the verses and presenting a tiny gift)

Monday

Lovely wedding at La Maquette Patio

La Maquette 
Here are a couple of teachers - funny and committed, to teaching, and to each other.  Their wedding was wonderful, and the ceremony was held in the outdoor patio at La Maquette.  Here they are exchanging their personal vows - and smiling all the way.  Great pictures by Agnes Wyrot, at Northern Wildflower

Wednesday

Snowy outside, tropical inside: Allan Gardens wedding

Allan gardens
This happened at noon on a Monday in February - squirrels and turtles and carp inside (and it was toasty and lovely in the cactus garden) and the groom in a kilt and the bride in lovely short sleeves were nice and warm.  Allan Gardens can be very crowded on the weekends, and it closes at 5, and you really can't have more than about 15-20 people, but if that suits your needs, it's a great option. You must BOOK it through the city Parks Department, and bring the printed booking receipt with you for the guards. Contact me for details.

NO POP-UP WEDDINGS PERMITTED.

Allan Gardens February

Monday

Living room elopement - three decades later

apartment elopement
This amazing couple have been together over 30 years.  We had a wonderful wedding in my living room, and a few tears popped up - but mostly we were very cheerful indeed! 

A "Rush" tribute wedding at Queen's Park

Queens Park Souvenir!
This lovely couple were RUSH fans, and so they wanted to be married on 12/21 in front of Queen's Park.  If you know RUSH, you know what this means.
Of course Queen's Park won't LET YOU DO THIS.
But we found the little parkette by the Physics building down on College,  and we held the wedding where we could SEE Queen's Park behind us!  Clever!  And then we sneakily went up to Queen's Park Circle and took some photos anyway.  The guard was a bit huffy, but we distracted him enough to get a photo!

RUSH wedding Dec 21