I was there for a Chinese wedding last summer. Pretty decent venue, it's an open space so I imagine you can decorate it as you please. Food was very good, my only complaint was that because they dished out each course on little plates for each guest, the dinner was really really long (around 3 hours I think). Obviously service is a bit slower because of the volume, but it was stretched out so long that I was stuffed by the third or fourth course and didn't enjoy the later courses as much.

I wouldn't count on it. A group of four of us had a 10:15pm reservation for a Friday night in January, arrived early at 9:30pm hoping there was a chance to get seated, and actually got seated closer to 10:40pm.

Have a recipe for Cinnabon-like cinnamon buns - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/clone-of...

They took quite a bit of work to make but turned out really well. I just used some generic cinnamon from the grocery store and I think they can be even better with higher quality cinnamon. Anyone know where I can find it...maybe a hidden gem local grocery store? Thanks!

We've been to Canoe for dinner and it was a really nice dinner out. Food was yummy and service was great. It was really busy so at times they were a bit slow, but the staff had a great attitude and for the most part we were well looked after the whole night.

With Canoe, we have no doubts that the food would be top notch for a wedding (not debating its food quality as a restaurant - that's for another thread!) and we are skeptical that the same quality can be achieve at an open venue by most caterers.

Also, because Canoe is an actual restaurant, you can pre-select two or three entrees and your guests can choose from the list the day-of. We really like that a lot and would prefer not to have guests pick their entree when they RSVP several months ahead of time.

That said, you have a lot more flexibility with your food choices with a caterer, whereas Canoe has a certain style that they adhere closely to. So if you're looking for food that's really unique or has a cultural element to it, a caterer could probably accommodate better.

Also glad that we're not alone in the process!!

The feedback so far has been great - thanks everyone, I knew I came to the right forum! So far I've had a fantastic response from the representatives at 10tation and Couture, while D&D didn't even respond to my inquiry.

What we're trying to figure out is getting the best value for our $$$, as these are not bargain options (which we're ok with).... This came as a surprise to me, but once you add in all the costs associated with venue rental, staff, and food related rentals with a caterer, it ends up being more expensive than Canoe! We get that it may be difficult for a caterer to achieve really high food standards at an outside venue, but what we DON'T want is to pay more money for food that is going to be significantly inferior.

The view from Canoe is impressive, and would be a great experience for our out of town guests.

klf, as I mentioned, Gardiner is a bit too tight for us, but I've heard wonderful reviews for it.

Thanks JennaBean for the suggestion. However, it appears George can't be bought out for a Saturday night event.

I *would* consider Mark McEwan/Spendido, but most of the downtown venues have a list of "exclusive caterers" you need to choose from...these preferred caterers include the usual suspects I mentioned in my OP.

Thanks justxpete! With respect to Canoe, I meant pretty high quality for wedding reception food, especially since they have the kitchen in place and can provide restaurant quality food for 100+ people, as opposed to catered food from a mobile kitchen in many cases.

MM and Spendido are great options, but the max capacity for MM at the Gardiner Museum and Spendido are 100 so that's a bit too small for us, unfortunately.

Wanted to get thoughts on wedding reception food for downtown Toronto. my fiance and I are planning a wedding reception for ~125 people and are down to selecting either Canoe or getting it catered at an open venue downtown (i.e. Andrew Richards Design building, etc). Can anyone comment on the quality of the food at Canoe vs. the higher end caterers like Couture Cuisine, Presidential Gourmet, Daniel et Daniel, 10tation, etc? I know Canoe is tops for food and wondering if the above caterers come close to food quality. After you add in labour and rentals to the open venues (on top of catering!), the price point is pretty much the same, but we don't want to compromise on food quality for our guests... Thanks in advance!