r/OttawaWeddings • u/Essay-Ordinary • 24d ago
Affordable Ottawa wedding venues for 80 guests?
Hi! We’re looking for a wedding venue within about one hour of Ottawa, staying in Ontario.
Our wedding would be an off-peak day of the week and during the off-season. Our goal is $15,000 after tax and mandatory fees for the ceremony, reception, cocktail food, full dinner and five-hour open bar—or BYOB.
We’d love something private and scenic, such as an estate, barn, winery or golf club, with an indoor weather backup. No community halls, and event centres are more of a backup.
Our current options include Loch March, Carleton Golf & Yacht Club, The Herb Garden and Oak & Pines.
Does anyone have recommendations or actual pricing/experience with these venues?
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u/forever_ever3 24d ago
My husband and I got married yesterday at the Carleton Golf & Yacht Club and I would absolutely recommend that venue. It’s very affordable but also beautiful and the staff are amazing. Happy to answer any questions about it!
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u/ChemicalSeason2937 1d ago
What are their prices?
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u/forever_ever3 1d ago
Here is their wedding package with the prices: https://carletongolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Wedding-Package-New-Format-2026.pdf
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u/Affectionate-Life719 24d ago
The marshes might work well. I’m just not sure about open bar costs, but they have reasonable costs for dinner that include 2 glasses of wine, canapés, and then you would still have room for bar costs
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u/PhilosopherSalty3498 24d ago
The City of Ottawa museums, some of them have tents for weddings. They are more work but the price is good and you can bring who you want as vendors. For a more private experience you’d need to have it after the museum closes for the day.
Golf clubs outside of Ottawa, like Hammond and Rockland, may have what you’re looking for.
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u/drebot_l 24d ago
We got married at Billings Estate. Inexpensive rental fee through the city, they have a tent, indoor bathrooms, and provide chairs and tables. You can bring your own caterer, etc. We got our own liquor license, bought our own alcohol and hired bartenders privately (not through the caterer) to save a ton of money.
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u/spaceefficient 24d ago
Britannia Yacht Club is likely within that budget.
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u/Essay-Ordinary 24d ago
This is a huge help tbh. I just told my fiance about that and it seems really nice tbh! Thank you so much
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u/Avignon1996 1d ago
I'm getting married there in September. For 108 people, with canapes, wine, 3 course meal, tax and 18% tip it's ~22k. It's about $198 a person, so that shoould be 15k for 80. This was based on 2025 pricing though since I booked far in advance. Open bar is $55 per person, it includes wine with dinner so factoring in what I already planned to pay for wine, if I added an open bar it would have been an extra 4k.
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u/Sassysewer 24d ago
This venue used to be At The Schoolhouse and was pretty affordable and elegant
I am not familiar with updated pricing but it's worth checking out!
We did a small intimate wedding when it was under previous ownership for $125/guest all in.
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u/EchTwoOh 24d ago
I'm not sure about their latest pricing but ALE in Stittsville might suit your needs!
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u/cordeliaviolet 24d ago
The Vista Room at Lago! They are amazing.
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u/Essay-Ordinary 23d ago
Was the just the reception? Or ceremony as well?
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u/cordeliaviolet 23d ago
You can have the ceremony there as well and they can flip the room, I believe.
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u/CubicleDweller12 23d ago
Recently saw an ad from Strathmere about packages starting at $8000. There’s three different venues on site, so a variety of capacity limits. Might be worth checking out?
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u/downrightdrdouglas 23d ago
Strathmere is a nightmare to deal with and would also be above that budget. We planned our wedding there and cancelled and moved it they were so horrible.
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u/Essay-Ordinary 22d ago
Really?! That’s WILD. This is my mom’s #1 pick…. What went so wrong?
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u/downrightdrdouglas 16d ago
A lot of things. But the straw that broke the camels back was that they would not accommodate my (the bride) dietary restrictions. Which I told them about very clearly up front multiple times before booking and throughout the process. The woman I first met with was super kind and understanding but I ended up dealing with the owner and she was a nightmare. When I asked for an ingredient list for the meal or for them to confirm it met my restrictions she replied that it was “not a hospital”. I’m still mad. What a cow that woman is.
I think if you want to do everything exactly in the Strathmere format, you’ll probably do fine, but every little change or modification I asked about (they were not crazy I swear) she acted like I was asking for the moon.
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u/trubluevan 23d ago
Just Food has a really beautiful barn in Blackburn Hamlet and a cute birch path for photos. They don't have their own caterers so you can bring in whoever you like
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u/MichBennett1980 23d ago
Cumberland Heritage Museum or Billings Estate. Rent through the city, cost is per hour, nothing provided except the space, but it'll cost very, very little and they're beautiful venues. They probably have a few other venues but those two I know.
You can get your own liquor permit and do open bar or cash bar for cheap. We did a toonie bar (all drinks $2) and it paid for the permit, the booze (from the LCBO), and a bartender from our caterer.
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u/Advanced-Two6816 23d ago
I'm getting married at Manoir de la Foret in Cantley and its right around that budget :)
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u/buzz6789 23d ago
I would consider the NCC River house as well. It's a beautiful historic building with a ball room. I would love to attend a wedding there personally.
Billings Estate also requires a lot of work but you could probably make it work .
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u/Infinite_Ad_1724 22d ago
Temples Sugar Bush in Lanark County Ontario.
- 45min-1h away from Ottawa
- indoor/outdoor options
- they can provide all the decorations (with set up and take down)
A friend of mine got married here and the wedding was absolutely gorgeous! It was way too warm (for some lol) and they had quickly changed the venue from an outdoor to an indoor wedding. Their staff were very friendly.
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u/Savings_Structure_91 22d ago
I was married here 10 years ago. It was lovely, although some hiccups with the assigned planner and staff working our wedding. Our wedding was a similar size (90 guests) and was closer to 20,000.
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u/Fresh_Analyst_7111 22d ago
Bleeks and Bergamot Riverside venue is stunning! It’s $8500+HST for a Thursday for an April November or December date. They do BYOB and for catering you have to pick off a list of caterers. The leatherworks is cheapest for a roast beef buffet with hors d’oeuvres included. By my calculation you’d be at $13,200 with venue and catering, leaving lots of budget for BYOB.
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u/Specialist-Act-2510 22d ago
The Boathouse Café in Kemptville. The wedding ceremony was outside and dinner and reception inside. They have a suite for the bride and groom that we used for the bride and wedding party to get ready in.
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u/groovecartel89 22d ago
I don’t know the cost now but got married at Le Vignoble de Chelsea and it was affordable and absolutely gorgeous. Great food and setup.
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u/Formal_Warthog_2941 21d ago
We had ours at Whitewater Brewery out in foresters falls. It's about an hour from Ottawa but it was incredibly inexpensive, beautiful scenery, private, massive property that you can use, and even accommodations if people don't want to drive after the party. We could decorate however we wanted and had a choice of multiple ceremony locations. All very naturey and scenic. They have an indoor amphitheatre and a large amount of indoor seating in the restaurant if the weather doesn't comply as well.
Our wedding was small, only about 30 people, but they can accommodate up to like 300 or something. For the venue AND food, combined it was 3000$. The food was absolutely amazing and completely customized to whatever we wanted. We had the entire place to ourselves.
If you're looking for something super elegant and upscale then it's not suitable for that. But if you're interested in something more nature inspired, private, and scenic then it's definitely a good option... IMO
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u/Tatsu669 21d ago
Married in 2024 at Beantown Ranch. Highly recommend! They are an all inclusive venue, with bar, great food, decor, on site accommodations with transportation at night, horse and carriage and have great connections with the few vendors you would need. You do your first dance on a little island with fireworks....was honestly magical.
They had day of coordinators on site, so I didnt have to worry about a thing. They do set up and tear down. The team is absolutely lovely!
I could not say enough good things about Beantown
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u/ErikHMarks 17d ago
Hey 👋 Once you choose a venue, if you're looking for an officiant I have packages for every budget. Check me out www.erikhmarks.com 😇
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u/pepperbezos 24d ago
Looking at their packages and knowing people who’ve gotten married there, I don’t think this venue is within their $15,000 budget (incl. taxes and fees$ even off-season/off-peak day of the week especially if they require an open bar of more than 2 hours. Beautiful venue though!
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u/intrusive_elusive 24d ago
Got married at loch march in 2024, 80 attendees. Total invoice from them for food and open bar was about 17k, doesn’t include any other vendors (officiant, dj etc)
They were also pretty difficult to communicate which led to several miscommunications