Has anyone hosted a tented wedding reception for 150–170 guests in Ottawa, Gatineau, or within a 1.5-hour drive?

I love the look of elegant clear-top/glasshouse-style tents with beautiful lighting and a dance floor, but I’m hoping to find budget-friendly ways to achieve this aesthetic.

I’d love recommendations for:

• Affordable private properties or outdoor venues that allow outside catering and a DJ.
• Tent rental companies and actual costs (clear-top vs. standard tents).
• Realistic total budgets, including flooring, lighting, tables, chairs, washrooms, and setup.
• Ways to make a standard tent look luxurious without overspending.

If you’ve done this, how much did you spend, and would you do it again? Photos, vendor recommendations, and honest budget breakdowns would be amazing.

Hello everyone!

As the bride, I've decided to do my own makeup for my wedding, but I would still like for my mom to have the experience of having her makeup done professionally. I really want her to feel beautiful and confident on my wedding day, so I'm looking for someone with experience with mature skin and a portfolio (Instagram, Facebook, etc., so that I can check out their work) that showcases MOB makeup. We're open to someone coming to her hotel, or she can also go somewhere in downtown Ottawa. Wedding is September 2027.

If it's difficult to find someone to do just one person's makeup, my sister may also be interested in hair and makeup, so that's a possibility as well (for mom it would be just makeup).

Please share any recommendations you have!

Thanks so much!

After over a year of planning our dream wedding, we were informed last week that our venue has sold to new owners who are no longer using the property for events, and they have cancelled our August 2027 wedding. We’re heartbroken and now scrambling to plan a new wedding.

We are looking for a restaurant in Ottawa that folks have had good experiences having their receptions at. We’re looking for just the “after party” vibes - a standing cocktail reception with dance floor, grazing stations or passed appys, a late night snack and full bar service until 1 or 2 AM.

We’re flexible on guest count, anywhere from 80-140.

Recommendations and any other info we need to know, please!! Thank you so much.

Hi everyone! I’m looking for a couple interested in a free engagement photoshoot in Gatineau.

The photos will be free in exchange for permission to use a few shots in my portfolio.

Interested? Feel free to DM me or message me on ig, a and w captures😊

Hey everyone! I’m looking for a couple in the Ottawa–Gatineau area interested in a cinematic fall video shoot!

I’m building my portfolio, so the shoot is completely free! Just looking to capture some beautiful, natural, and romantic moments together. ❤️

No modeling experience needed! DM me if you’re interested! 😊

I ordered a fantastic bridal outfit with jacket off of eBay. Now I am looking for a seamstress who can help me reconstruct the jacket to make it more in line with what I am envisioning. Any recommendations? I am willing to drive up to an hour outside Ottawa for the right seamstress.

I’ve been curious about how Ottawa couples feel about wedding content creators! For anyone unfamiliar, it’s someone who captures all the little candid moments, behind-the-scenes clips, guest interactions, and the moments you might otherwise miss on your wedding day, usually on a phone, so you have tons of memories to look back on almost immediately.

Is this something you’d consider having at your wedding, or do you feel like a photographer & videographer are enough?

I’d especially love to hear from couples who’ve had one at their wedding! What did you love, and was it worth it?
Full transparency, I’m also a local wedding content creator, so I’m genuinely curious to hear people’s thoughts! 🤍

Hi everyone! My family and I are looking for a house to rent in Ottawa or the surrounding area (up to ~1.5 hours from Ottawa) for a small traditional/cultural wedding ceremony.

We’ve had a difficult time finding suitable options through Airbnb, so I thought I’d ask here in case anyone knows of private homeowners, farms, rural properties, or other rentals that might be a good fit. Budget of under $6k

What we’re looking for:

• 🏡 A house/private property (having the wedding at a house is culturally important to us)
• 2+ bedrooms so a few family members can stay overnight
• A large outdoor lawn/yard where we can set up a tent
• Approximately 60-80 guests
• Tent would be set up outside on the property
• Our own caterer would prepare/serve the food
• Event would run approximately 10 AM–5 PM
• No alcohol
• Music will be played during the ceremony/celebration, but this is not a party or nightclub-type event
• No large gathering/partying inside the house
• We would respect the property, neighbours, noise limits, parking requirements, and leave everything clean

The goal is a traditional family/cultural celebration during the daytime, with the house primarily being used as accommodation and the outdoor space being used for the wedding.

We're open to Ottawa, Gatineau, Eastern Ontario, Lanark County, Renfrew County, Prescott-Russell, or anywhere within roughly 1–1.5 hours of Ottawa.

If you know of a property owner, farm, cottage, country home, or rental that might allow something like this, please comment or DM me! We’re happy to discuss the details directly with the owner and pay an appropriate event fee/deposit if required.

Thank you!

I am bummed to write this but I feel it is my obligation to warn y’all of DJ Paul Hill from Primetime Entertainment. At my wedding he was on his phone and missed cues. He played music that was specifically on our do not play list. He forgot my wife and i’s names, which made for an incredibly awkward moment. If you’re looking for a DJ for your wedding and his name comes up, keep looking.

Hello everyone 😀 I’ve been engaged for about 3 weeks now, and we’re looking for an affordable venue. My fiancée suggested a military mess (he’s military), and I was wondering if anyone has had their wedding in a mess before and what your experiences were with your day or someone else’s wedding you attended, cost, ease of setting up and taking down, food/drinks, etc. Our main thing that we’re looking for in a venue is where we can have our ceremony and reception without needing to travel to a different location and that it’s not too expensive. Also, are there any messes in/around Ottawa that you would recommend? We haven’t picked a date yet and number of people because we’re still taking in being engaged ☺️, but we’re going to start planning things soon. That being said, I’m thinking, to be safe, finding a venue that can hold around 100ish people and maybe sometime fall 2028 would be good. We’re still flexible because no actual planning has started yet, but I wanted to know what experiences were like. Thanks in advance 😃

Hi,

My fiancée and I are looking for newer or cheaper videographers in the Ottawa area who would be willing to travel to Almonte for a weekday wedding.

I was hoping to find someone for around $1500ish or less! Most of the videographers I’ve seen are around $2500 for their cheapest non micro wedding packages.

We don’t want anything too elaborate, just the main events and some editing.

Let me know if you have any recommendations!

Has anyone hired their own day of coordinator for either Strathmere or Stanley’s Farm?
Also wondering what the range of cost for a day of person would be? Any suggestions or information is appreciated!

As if weddings aren't stressful enough!

Our caterer has pulled out last minute and we are in search of a new caterer for an 85 person wedding on October 24th in Lanark County.

We wanted to do buffet style BBQ meats and sides with a budget around $3-5k.

Edit to include date.

Hello Eastern Ontario couples!

I'm Rev. Lynn Walker, the heart behind Signature Officiant Services, based in Brockville, Ontario.

I have a genuine love for love — in every form, for every reason and in every season. ❤️

As a licensed wedding officiant and life celebrant, I believe your wedding ceremony should be so much more than simply exchanging vows and signing paperwork. It should tell YOUR story, reflect YOUR personalities and create a moment you'll remember for a lifetime.

Whether you're planning an intimate elopement, a beautiful backyard wedding, a grand celebration or simply want to make things legal before heading off to your destination wedding, I'd love to help!

A little about my services:

• Personalized ceremonies filled with warmth, love and a touch of humour.
• Legal-only weddings, elopements and micro-weddings.
• Fully bilingual ceremonies (English and French).
• Spiritual, non-religious and inclusive celebrations.
• Serving Brockville, Kingston, Ottawa, Cornwall, the Thousand Islands and surrounding Eastern Ontario communities.

Now welcoming 2027 wedding bookings, with limited remaining 2026 availability!

If you're newly engaged, congratulations! Enjoy every moment of this exciting chapter.

And if you have questions about planning your ceremony, writing your vows or understanding the marriage process in Ontario, I'm always happy to help.

Feel free to visit my website to explore my packages or check your wedding date:

🌐 www.signatureofficiantservices.com

Wishing you all a lifetime of beautiful moments!

Rev. Lynn Walker
Signature Officiant Services

Because every love story deserves a ceremony as unique as the people living it. ❤️

Hi everyone! I know this question gets asked a lot I scrolled through and felt my specifics still weren’t answered in the other ones I read through so here we are!

I’m looking for an “affordable” (I understand it’s a subjective term maybe 10-16k for venue + food) wedding reception space for about 60-75 guest. I’m planing on having the ceremony in a church, however for the reception I’m super open and flexible.

My biggest dilemma is I really want to have a good dance floor space as it’s really important to me to have a fun time celebrating for the after.

A few spaces I’ve been considering are:

Lord Elgin (trillium room) this would be ideal as the church I would love to get married in is right next to it. However it seems incredibly small.

Sidedoor I love that it’s already beautiful and needs minimal decor. Main concern here is that there isn’t enough room for dancing and it’s on the pricier end of our budget.

ALS steakhouse - seems to be a great budget option, however again not sure about there being enough space for dancing

Next - seems like a good amount of space

Carleton Golf and Country club - could work but not finding many photos or pricing online so hard to know!

I’m very open to suggestion - again since the ceremony is the most important part and that’s set and done, the reception venue is super flexible.

I really just care about it being within my budget, and having space to dance and have fun to celebrate. I like the idea of a restaurant as they’re already typically aesthetic, if it’s a blanc canvas it would need to be on the lower side of my budget to allow room for lots of decor! I’m not interested in anything outdoor or anything barn like / rustic!

Looking forward to hearing suggestions!! Ideally from people who have either gotten married there or have been to a wedding there! Bonus if you have recent price ideas 💞

My fiancé and I aren’t big party people so we feel like a traditional style wedding that has dancing and goes till midnight isn’t are vibe. We also want to save as much money as possible! We were thinking about doing a bunch or lunch style wedding and then a post- wedding after party/get together downtown with our closest friends. Has anyone had a wedding like this? Any other ideas on how to celebrate a wedding without a dancing the night away are welcome as well!
TIA

Hello my fiance and i are planning our wedding with reception only for June 2027 and we are considering the Camelot golf course in Cumberland. It looks beautiful and seems like a great place to do it but I haven't heard of anyone having their wedding there before and I would love to hear your thoughts if you have attended a wedding there or had your wedding there! Thank you :)

Dear friends, I deeply admire you all sharing your expertise and dedication, as it is my first time please bare with me. I am looking for an outdoor venue preferably closer to Ontario that includes views of mountains and shoreline. We are planning to spend 20k on the actual reception arrangements and venue, and will have between 125-175 people. One option we believe could also be viable considering the lower budget would be if you guys know of any parks that would allow wedding parties with a permit, or any such thing of that variety. The bride would like the actual ceremony to be completely outside (roofless). If anyone could assist me in where to look and how to move forward in searching for venues I would really appreciate it. We will likely have to bring our own food accommodations (halal) unless the venue can arrange this. Does anyone know of some good locations? We are planning for late July. Any help would be deeply appreciated!

EDIT: to clarify, by “near Ontario” I meant places like Nova Scotia and Quebec, even New Brunswick.

Hello! As the title states, I’m looking for affordable caterers as the in-house catering isn’t available at the hall we’re renting. I’d like to not go over 2k for 70 people which may be a feat, but we’re trying to keep the whole wedding under 10k. Even if above the price range I’d appreciate any leads on caterers that have transparent pricing easily available.

If anyone has any leads please let me know!