A Cocktail Style Backyard Tented Wedding in Toronto, Ontario — Events by Sarah Megan

I will always remember first meeting Mandy and Cam. Mandy had reached out looking for help with her backyard tented wedding and was recommended to me by another couple of mine. As it was a second wedding for each of them, they wanted a reasonably low-key backyard wedding with good food and great music. So that's where I came in to help ensure the planning went smoothly!

How A Toronto Wedding Planner Helped Plan This Tented Backyard Wedding

Before reaching out to me for help with their full wedding planning, Mandy and Cam had already selected their venue and wedding date. Since they were planning a backyard tented wedding in the middle of June, the next step was to confirm a tent and rentals. For this, we met with John from Gervais Rentals. John was fantastic in helping to select the right size tent, tables, chairs and other rentals. We also found the right linens that helped bring Mandy's wedding vision to life!

Next up, we met with the talented Sheeba from Simply Stationery. I love working with Sheeba as she is a great listener and very understanding during her consultations. She created the perfect invitations for our couple; it was definitely one of my favourite details. The invitations were designed so that the RSVP portion was a tear-off that the guests had to fill out and put back in the mail.

One thing I love about being a planner is that each of my couple's weddings is unique to them. For Mandy and Cam, the decor was not a big priority; however, flowers were important. They wanted to ensure that the florals were beautiful and stood out amongst the tent and backyard. This was when Ethan from ECG Weddings Events came on board. Ethan works with sustainable floral suppliers, which is amazing. He did a beautiful job with the bouquets and floral centrepieces for the guest tables.

For their wedding reception, Mandy and Cam wanted to include friends in their wedding day plans. So, they had personal friends step in as both their photographer and DJ. Both friends were so happy to be a part of their wedding day.

Backyard Tented Wedding in Toronto

Backyard Wedding Ceremony

The wedding day started with a beautiful backyard wedding ceremony. The intimate ceremony was perfect for this couple and what they wanted.

After the ceremony, everyone made their way to the front of the house for a cocktail-style reception. During the reception, guests were treated to passed hors d'oeuvres and refreshing beverages from the Travelling Tow Bar.

Tented Wedding Reception

Keeping with the cocktail-style reception theme, we decided to keep the decor and seating at a minimum in the tent. Doing so encouraged guests to be up and moving to mix, mingle and dance.

To start the evening, Mandy and Cam made their grand entrance with a choreographed dance. It was so fun and great to see everyone enjoy the dance. Following their amazing dance, the dance floor opened, and guests were served delicious finger food by Three -Six Kitchen and Lounge. Later in the night, family and friends toasted the newlyweds with beautiful and personalized speeches. The couple wanted to plan a surprise for the guests. So, just as Mandy and Cam said their thank yous, we planned for an ice cream truck to pull up. Guests were blown away by the surprise ice cream truck, and many cold treats were enjoyed on this warm June evening.

Even though the day turned out beautifully, the wind did not want to cooperate. So, my team closed the side tent walls to prevent the florals and decor from blowing over. Thankfully the wind died down shortly after the food was out, and we could reopen the tent panels to let all the natural light in. I was so thankful that we chose to have the walls for this tent, and I always encourage my couples to do so.

If you are planning a wedding in the Greater Toronto area and are looking for a Toronto-based wedding planner, I would love to meet you! I love working with couples to bring their backyard tented wedding reception to life through a beautiful design and stress-free logistics. So, be sure to reach out and book a consultation call!