Wedding Venue suggestions?

[Hi-Psi]

Hey guys,

Finally popped the question to my GF a couple weeks back and now trying to find a wedding venue for next year (May/June/July 2016).

We've been searching around for days on various sites and still haven't found what we're looking for. I also searched a few forums including this one but info is from 2010-2013 and thus venues have changed/closed/etc.

We're looking to do an outdoor ceremony and indoor reception for roughly 100-175 people, preferably with a nice view(mountains, water, nature, etc) and preferably one that allows us to supply our own booze and possibly book our own catering.

We would consider an inside ceremony as well if the venue was nice enough. We're not huge on the rustic look but do like some of the more modern looking ranch's. Ideally the reception would be a modern type venue(her words lol)

Budget of up to $20k but would prefer less obviously haha

Anyone have suggestions from recent years?

Thanks!!

Jason

[AC]

I'm getting married at The Wedding Pavillion in October. Just past COP across from Valley Ridge.

We're just doing the ceremony there, so I don't know much about their reception services.

The main attractions to their ceremony location is the large staircase that leads into the main hall, as well as the grand piano. See this picture.

A nice outdoor set up as well. Another photo of the outdoor scenery.

[dsavillian]

Originally Posted by AC

I'm getting married at The Wedding Pavillion in October. Just past COP across from Valley Ridge.

We're just doing the ceremony there, so I don't know much about their reception services.

The main attractions to their ceremony location is the large staircase that leads into the main hall, as well as the grand piano. See this picture.

A nice outdoor set up as well. Another photo of the outdoor scenery.

My wife and I got married there a few years back.

Everyone loved it and it was incredibly easy to organize. Came in under our budget too


Only thing I didn't like about the place was the photographer they originally supplied... he made a joke about my weight at our first meeting (I'm tall and thin) and gave off an overall creep vibe - so we fired him and they found a fantastic replacement.

[DownhillGoat]

Cochrane ranch house is worth looking into. Been to one there it was nice. No idea on price though.

[Imported_Aussie]

Originally Posted by AC

I'm getting married at The Wedding Pavillion in October. Just past COP across from Valley Ridge.

We're just doing the ceremony there, so I don't know much about their reception services.

The main attractions to their ceremony location is the large staircase that leads into the main hall, as well as the grand piano. See this picture.

A nice outdoor set up as well. Another photo of the outdoor scenery.

Me and my better half are getting married at the Wedding Pavilion too! September 2016.
Venue looks amazing and they help with the planning

[Reaper]

My wife and I were married at Devonian Gardens before the renovation. We were planning on the Cochrane Ranche House but chose not to because they have a very small list of approved caterers. We decided we didn't want bbq beef on a bun or $40 chicken so we went a different way.

[chid]

I had my wedding at the Cochrane Ranche House, and they allow you to supply your own liquor, the view is fantastic, and the interior is rustic but not too old-fashioned - think large wooden beams, big open windows - lots of photos if you search it up.

[lazypucker]

Jason, if you invite me to your wedding, I will rent a house to stay using AirBnB during those days....and all guests are welcome!!

[calgarywinning]

How many people will be attending. I think the Lakehouse in Bonavista is a great venue.

[White Out 403]

Nenshis front lawn

[darklord700]

Shriner's centre near Baker park NW would be my suggestion.

[OutOfTheCube]

Avoid Nakoda Lodge at all costs. My sister had her reception there and it was very nearly a disaster.

[DoubleF]

I'm getting married at the Wedding Pavilion in a few weeks. I think the venue maxes out at 130 people so if you go over, you'll have to keep looking. Godspeed good sir if you want to keep the entire ordeal around 20k.

If you want the ceremony to be outdoors, it's a crapshoot for May, but June/July should be ok. Wedding Pavilion will have a large tent outside in the back starting late May early June.

Base price is about $6k (Ceremony + wedding planner + venue for 8 hours or whatever it was). Food is about $52 a head, appetizer stuff is a different pricing. I don't think you're allowed to choose your own catering. They have it in house. Add gratuity of about 17-21% on top of food and drinks IIRC. Booze is ferking expensive. I have nothing but bad things) to say about the booze pricing. Alcoholic punch or Sangria at least is an out if you scoff at the prices though. Just a ceremony is around 2.5k? (AC might be able to confirm)

There's a Sunday brunch option which is cheaper than the regular dinner option.

My fiance complains that Wedding Pav trick you. That's not true, but it's freaking easy to suddenly add a "few grand" of upgrades there if you're being stupid or just agreeing to whatever. A few bucks a person once or twice is a grand. Also, consider the idea that though the employees there are very good at what they do, they are still to an extent sales people. But overall Wedding Pavilion will essentially do like 80-90% of everything for you. You will need to do photography/videography, flowers, cake, clothing yourself IIRC. Booze is a weird one for "supply on your own". You technically can't, but there's an option for you to "suggest" a vendor, have them purchase it (in cases) and then add a small % profit margin on top. But don't get me started on the ungodly corking and serving fee.

I would say Wedding Pavilion is a great option, but be careful to not let the "upgrades" get out of hand.

Wedding Pavilion also no longer provides a photographer. I thought the preferred vendors were awful. Expect to add another 3k for this for "reasonable" photos. Lots of photographers with poor lighting, hair in face and other faux pas, poor artistic value, not following the rule of 3 etc.

Wedding Pavilion is running about...

Base venue 15k? ish (including gratuity)
Booze 1-5k? (depends on the group)
Photography 2-4k? (depends what you want and need)
Cake $300-700?
Flowers $300-700?

and that's not including the price of clothing, honeymoon, wedding favors, rings, activities (ie: photo booth), ceremony (sand, rose etc.), rings, invitation cards, Limo, DJ etc.

I set a budget of Mid 20ks and I'm ending my budget and praying I don't exceed 40k for everything (but I literally counted every cost associated with weddings including clothing, rings and honeymoon which is probably about 10-15k).

If Wedding Pavilion isn't quite right for you, Silvertip in Canmore or Azuridge in Priddis might be worth looking into (My finalists). Heard good stuff about Cochrane Ranch House, but didn't really research it because we had already chosen Wedding Pavilion . But keeping it around $20k... I couldn't do it.


My biggest suggestion if you want to keep it below 20k... Destination wedding. Or scrap all the plans and just elope.

[Tron_fdc]

I got married up at Sunshine Village. All in for just around 100 people it was 15k (not including hotel).

I'd HIGHLY recommend it. It was sort of like a destination wedding, scenery was amazing, food was great, and everyone had a great time at the reception. It's very well equipped to handle the amount of people you mention.

If it was up to me I would just go to vegas and spend 8K on craps, but good luck getting that past your wife.

[Nyah]

My friends got married in Golden up at Kicking Horse. You have to take a cable car up to the top. The view from up there was incredible and it was probably the most memorable wedding I've ever been to. Google Kicking Horse Resort wedding photos and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. Oh, and they have a bar at the top too, very important! After the ceremony, we all went back to a resort/hotel all the guests were staying in and that's where the reception was. Awesome time was had by all.

[Hevishot]

Spruce Meadows british house or congress hall

[Maccalus]

I got married at the Zoo. It was a great venue for the guests as they have full access to the zoo for the entire day while it is opened. Built in entertainment for the gap between the ceremony and the pictures. We did the ceremony outdoors in there gardens and their indoor venues are newly renovated after the flood.

Pricing wise the zoo was competitive, if not cheaper, than most of the major golf courses, the wedding pavilion, etc. You do not have to pay GST at the zoo with it being a non-profit, but you have to go through them for all the catering and alcohol. They were quite easy to work with and quite accommodating. The food was very, very good.

[habernac]

I got married at Heritage Park, outside at the Didsbury Bandstand. Reception was in the Wainwright Hotel, loved that venue.

Went to one where the ceremony was outside at Quarry Lake in Canmore, that was spectacular.

[Arsenal14]

I'm getting married next July at the Zoo in the Enmax Conservatory. It meets some of your criteria - outdoor garden for the ceremony, indoor reception space (and bad weather backup for the ceremony), room for 150 seated for the reception, $2000 rental + $6250 food & beverage minimum (easy enough to reach with 100+ guests). They don't allow outside food or beverages other than the cake though so if that's important to you you'll need to look elsewhere. I don't think any of the venues we looked at offered that - community halls would probably be the best bet.

If you want more info just let me know, now that we've signed the contract I'm happy to share! Also note that it's already booked for most dates in July and August 2016.

[InglewoodFan]

We got married last summer in the garden at Rouge restaurant in Inglewood. Very nice outdoor space and brilliant food. A bit spendy though.

We also looked at Lougheed House (nice garden) and a buddy got married at Rafter Six last summer.

River Cafe would be cool.

My wife suggests Meadow Mews pavilion down in Fish Creek, it's new.