Thursday, June 4, 2009

Wedding Info!

Wedding weekend July 24-26, 2009 schedule:

The wedding is at 3pm on Sunday the 26th, in Guelph at the Goldie Mill, 75 Cardigan Street. Reception will be next door at the Guelph Youth Music Centre...

We are going to have a big, co-ed bachelor/bachelorette dance party Friday night, the 24th, at our friend, Sandy Gordon's loft in downtown Toronto on Queen Street. All are welcome. We will post exact address and directions soon.

Saturday the 25th, Jade and Ian will be driving to Guelph for last minute preparations. Guests can choose to stay in Toronto for city sightseeing on Saturday or drive to the Guelph-area to see some of the Canadian countryside.

So, a great way to do the weekend would be to arrive in Toronto by Friday the 24th, come to the party at Sandy's and stay the night in Toronto. Saturday is a "free day" ideal for sightseeing around Toronto, Guelph or other parts of Southwestern Ontario (see below). One could stay the night in Toronto or Guelph on Saturday; they are 50 minutes apart, so it is possible to spend the day in Toronto and the night in Guelph and be well sorted for the wedding! You will want to stay in Guelph on Sunday night; the reception will run pretty late and there will probably be some of you who might want to go out afterward. Guelph is a fun college town with lots of bars.

There is a very popular outdoor music festival, Hillside Festival, with tons of bands (folk-oriented) happening at Guelph Lake all weekend; Buffy Sainte-Marie is headlining Saturday night. It is close to sold out, but if you act now you may be able to get tickets (try Craig's list, too). There are artisans selling stuff, a good organic-type food expo and Canadian adventure hippies in droves for your amusement.

If you're not getting a rental car and need to figure out how / when to get to Guelph, we are working on coordinating travel for the guests between Toronto and Guelph using carpooling or perhaps a rental passenger van. More on that later, but let us know if this is an issue for you and we'll be sure to help work something out.


Airport

We recommend Toronto Pearson YYZ

Hotels


Guelph:

Holiday Inn Guelph 80s Atrium style w/ pool, hot tub, sauna & gym; short, convenient cab ride to the wedding venue & downtown. Literally across the street from the giant, government-run liquor store and the mall- where you can score some food-court poutine!

They are giving us a special group rate of $104.99 Canadian per room (two double beds or one Queen with pull out); it doesn't matter if there's 1 or 4 of you in a room, the rate stays the same; so this can be done on the cheap if you Koozie and Skeleton Boy-types shack up together! We will have a direct link with the rate and everything set-up very soon, but if you want to book early you can call (519) 836-0231 and tell them you are with the Marshall-Gordon wedding w/ a special rate of $104 (as per Melody Lau). That's a bit less than 100 in US dollars; for you thrifty ones, split four ways it will probably run you 25 bucks a piece. Book sooner than later, especially if you're planning on staying Saturday the 25th night in Guelph. It's unlikely that Sun the 26th will sell out, but book in advance to be sure and get the cheap rate.

Delta A Brand new hotel close to our wedding venue.

Ramada Inn Guelph We heard they may be having a room sale if you book soon. Recently renovated and probably the closest of the three.

All of these are a cheap cab ride from the wedding venue / downtown Guelph (ie $10 or less).

Here are a couple of other links to hotels in the area:

Canadian Hotel Guide
Guelph B&Bs


Toronto:

Hilton
Literally stumbling distance from our pre-wedding party Friday night and in the middle of a fun/hip shopping area. This Hilton is on Peter Street; the other Hiltons are far away and not ideal.

Drake Hotel

A busy, very trendy hotel with a good restaurant. Kind of like The Standard (LA) or The Gramercy (NY) of Toronto. A short cab ride from Sandy & Jenny's pad.

Gladstone Hotel
Recently remodeled, very pretty place in fun area. Karaoke Saturday night! Right next to The Drake.

Royal York
If you want to go fancy and historic; think The Park Plaza... also a quick cab ride from Sandy's.

Some of you poor Angelenos / New Yorkers may want to consider staying the Toronto night(s) at Sandy & Jenny's place, they have room to sleep about 8 and have kindly offered to accommodate some of you... so let us know and we'll pencil you in.

Here are some links to some pretty towns nearby that are worth visiting if you are sick of the urban grind (and if you're renting a car):

Elora
Closest to Guelph, a very pretty town and home to the famous Elora Gorge and waterfalls. Spend the day tubing down the river. Fun and Relaxing! Bring your swimsuit!
http://www.elora.info/

Niagara Falls/Niagara-On-The-Lake (where they filmed The Dead Zone!)
A little out of the way, but an international tourist destination which takes about 90 minutes to get to from Toronto or Guelph (it's like a triangular trip, dude!)
See the falls and/or take a death-defying, wet ride on a jetboat! Eek! Fun!
http://www.infoniagara.com/
http://www.whirlpooljet.com/

St. Jacobs
Nice Mennonite town! Yummy baked goods, antiques, etc. 30ish minutes from Guelph.
http://www.stjacobs.com/

Stratford

Picturesque theatre town with lots of little artsy shops and restaurants! About an hour past Guelph (heading from Toronto).
http://www.welcometostratford.com/

It's a bit of a hike, but the most beautiful place to visit would be the Muskoka region and the lovely lakes up north (near Georgian Bay) if you want to make the extra effort.

More info to come!!!! Keep checking back for further details...

xoxoo J & I

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This is bullshit!