Wintry wedding in a Toronto Condo

 The wind was blowing, so we didn't step outside, but had a lovely wedding in the couple's 'breakfast room', far away from the King Street construction madness..

Signing the Register

Sun setting in the dining room behind

A few little Covid weddings....

Revisiting a few small 'Covid weddings' ... couples and witnesses and small legal ceremonies in and around Toronto.
Current information on Covid-19 and regulations for weddings 

Winter Wedding at UofT

Rosedale Parkette

High Park

Back Porch, Roncesvalles

Oriole Park

Late September elopement wedding in High Park

Fun Fall wedding in the woods in High Park

We're ALL having fun in this pix!  The couple and their 6 guests found a grove of trees in High Park and we held a wonderful short wedding in the woods at the end of September.  The weather COOPERATED (yay), and a good time was had by all.  It's important to find a little space away from people getting outdoor exercise, and dog walkers - but it's a big park! 

Signing the registry book on a bench in High Park

Phil the photographer - available for weddings big and small.

Backyard country legal wedding and a caravan!

This was a nice summer (Covid) wedding, when I was at the cottage. Just 5 people (the couple and I and 2 witnesses).  We're all vaccinated, and we're outside. A nice neighbour in Stratford loaned us her backyard, complete with a traveler's caravan  (and she made tea for the couple and gave them a bouquet!)

Covid winter weddings - small, outdoors, special

 We had a few very small, very cold, and very lovely weddings in December.

Here's a couple on their back porch, (pretty cold! the ink in our pens wasn't running very easily!)

Covid Back porch wedding, December

And this brave couple is having a 'first dance' in the park, to a cell phone tune, while their family holds sparklers.  AND it snowed JUST for the wedding.  Very cold, very pretty, very special.

Covid park wedding, December

And a bit of snow at UofT

A few quiet COVID weddings in the fall

Guidelines (which may change):  Everyone download COVID tracing app. Wedding is Outdoors, social distancing, all wear masks when signing, guests limited to witnesses & very close family. Still lovely!  (weather permitting).

Condo garden 

Here we are, midmorning, in a laneway near a downtown bar.  Lots of air circulation!  Just 2 witnesses and the super nice couple.  They're off to celebrate.

Downtown Toronto

High Park 

Legal ceremonies for destination weddings

It's that time of year!  Couples are planning 'getaway' weddings in warm places, and we provide the legal ceremonies in Canada before their 'ceremonial' weddings at the holiday destination. 
For a small legal wedding, you need a Marriage License from City Hall (good for 90 days), and 2 legal witnesses over age 18 (friends, family, neighbours, etc.), and about 15 minutes for a legal ceremony.  Then time to sign lots of papers and take a simple documentary photo (cell phone is OK).
You can save your ring exchange, vows, readings, music, family toasts and ceremonies for the destination wedding, and we will perform a very simplified legal wedding, which fulfils the government requirements.  Here's a sample text.

More information HERE

We can hold your legal wedding in your apartment, balcony, garden, or in a hotel, office, or even in *my* little apartment downtown.  Then the officiant completes all the paperwork for you and we send the documents off to the Registrar General in Thunder Bay for them to process the marriage - while you pack for your 'getaway' wedding.

informal legal wedding in a townhouse

Here are some world travelers who got married this winter, and are off to their family wedding in a few weeks.  We had a nice glass of champagne to celebrate.

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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. 

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

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)

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

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