Ottawa Wedding Venues Compared: What the Room Includes and What You Bring
The Short Answer
Short answer: Almost every wedding venue around Ottawa gives you the furniture: tables, chairs, linens, dishes and glassware. Very few give you the look. The backdrop behind the head table, a ceremony arch, designed centrepieces and anything that makes the room feel like yours are still yours to bring at eight of the nine venues below. Aquatopia is the exception, and it runs the other way: its own team does all the florals and decor, and outside florals are not allowed.
What really changes a decor plan from one venue to the next is the rules. Evermore allows no open flame anywhere on the property, while Orchard View allows real candles in holders. Five of the nine publish a ban on confetti, and five publish a rule against fixing anything to their walls. Every fact on this page was read on the venue's own website or published package on September 14, 2026.
Written by Heba Alfarra, Owner & Lead Designer at Sparkle Events · Last updated
What the Room Gives You
Nine venues, and what each one includes
Five sit inside the City of Ottawa, from Kanata and Carp to Greely and North Gower, and four are a longer drive out to Beckwith, Almonte, Merrickville and Wakefield. They were chosen because each one publishes enough about its inclusions or its rules to compare. Guest numbers are the venue’s own.
| Venue | Guests | Furniture and linens | Decor pieces included | Your own decorator or florist? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard ViewGreely, Ottawa | Terrace Room 100, Lakeview 180, Grandview 400, for dinner | Tables, chairs, table linens and napkins in the per-person packages | Basic pieces to borrow: bud vases, hurricane vases, tea light holders, lanterns | Yes. Decor and florals are not in the package. Hire a decorator or do it yourself, and you set up and take down |
| StrathmereNorth Gower, Ottawa | Farmhouse 65, Lodge 180, Garden House 160 | Wooden cross-back chairs, floor-length ivory or white linen, a choice of napkin colour, gift and cake tables | Lanterns, table numbers, gift box, cake knife | Yes for decor. Strathmere itself handles all linen, furniture and upgraded dishware rentals |
| Brookstreet HotelKanata | Wedding packages from 75 guests | Tables with white linens and white napkins, banquet chairs, china, flatware and glassware | Tealights and table numbers, head-table risers, a dance floor, an easel for the seating chart, and cake, entrance and gift tables. A ceremony setup adds a white carpet aisle runner | Recommends Mastermind Events for linens, chair covers, backdrops and aisle runners |
| Infinity Convention CentreGibford Drive, near the airport | About 900 for a dinner and dance | Tables, chairs, linens, cutlery, glassware, dance floor and head table | None listed. Extra decor comes through an outside supplier at a charge | Yes, with paperwork. See the rules table |
| AquatopiaMarch Road, Carp, Ottawa | 25 to 150 | White chiavari chairs with cushions, square 5 ft dining tables with floor-length linens and napkins | Wood table numbers, card box, easels and a podium. Its in-house team designs all florals and decor, priced after a consultation | No. Its florists are the exclusive suppliers of all floral and decor |
| Stonefields EstateBeckwith | Up to 220 adults | Round or banquet tables, dining chairs, lounge seating, white linens with napkins | Easels, table numbers, card cages, candles, antique tables, a podium, Edison lights | Yes. No in-house decorator. Staff help if time allows, and pieces must arrive pre-assembled |
| EvermoreAlmonte | Up to 200 | Rectangular tables, ceremony and dining chairs, lounge furniture, classic white linens | Flameless pillar candles, table numbers, card box, antique and harvest tables | Yes. Decorate any way that does no damage |
| Le BelvédèreWakefield, Quebec | Up to 200 on the terrace | White chiavari chairs, floor-length white linen, a choice of napkin colour | Card box and table numbers, plus multicolour LED lighting for the dance floor | Yes. Staff help set up and take down decor you provide, up to four boxes |
| The KnoxMerrickville | 80, going by its chair count | Resin folding tables, 88 acacia wood folding chairs, a few cocktail tables and a bar. Linens are rented. No cutlery, glassware or tableware | Easels and shelf displays. For everything else it points couples to outside rental and decor companies | Yes. Any vendor you choose |
The Rules Decor Lives With
Candles, confetti, walls and the clock
“Not published” means the venue does not put that rule on its website or in its public package. The venue may still have one, so ask.
| Venue | Candles | Confetti and petals | Fixing things up | Decor goes in | Decor comes out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard View | Real flame allowed in holders, with shields for pillar candles. You pay for wax damage | None anywhere, including rice paper and seed paper. Real white petals only, and only at the ceremony | Nothing attached. Hanging or draping has to be free-standing, such as pipe and drape | From 9:00am | Same night, after the bar closes at 1:00am |
| Strathmere | Not published | Not published | Not published | 12:00pm on the day, for dinner receptions | Not published |
| Brookstreet Hotel | Not published. Its package includes tealights | No rice, table sparkles, confetti or petals. Cleaning charges of $50 to $500 if used | Not published | Its FAQ gives two answers: no guarantee before 11am, and no guarantee before the event starts | Not published |
| Infinity Convention Centre | No open flame. Enclosed votives or candles with full hurricane covers | No confetti thrown near the venue or placed on tables | No nails, staples or adhesives. Fire-resistant materials only, and decor is approved in advance | The time on your contract. Earlier access may carry a charge | By the contract end time |
| Aquatopia | Not published | Limits on glitter, rice and pyrotechnics, set out in the event agreement | Not published | The venue's own team sets up. The wedding party can arrive two hours before the ceremony | The venue's own team |
| Stonefields Estate | Not published. Candles are among the decor it lends | Not published | No tape of any kind. Upper-beam draping only by an insured professional, with no scissor lifts | Vendors from 9am, friends and family from 1pm. Decor arrives on the day, with one exception for the weekend's first wedding | Work areas clean by one hour before the ceremony. Leftover decor collected by 10am the next day |
| Evermore | No open flame anywhere on the property, including sparklers and cold sparks | No confetti, rice, dried flowers or artificial petals | No nails, tape or glue | From 10am | Not published |
| Le Belvédère | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| The Knox | In a holder, inside hurricane glass at least one inch taller than the flame | No confetti, glitter or rice, and no wish lanterns | No nails, screws or staples. Tape damage comes off the deposit, and it suggests Command hooks | Within your package's rental period | Within the same rental period |
Venue by Venue
What the rules mean for the design
Orchard View
Orchard View publishes the most complete decor rules of the nine, and they are worth reading even if you book somewhere else. Two lines decide the design. Anything hung or draped has to stand on its own frame, so a fabric backdrop behind the head table needs pipe and drape or a free-standing structure rather than hooks in a wall. And petals are out everywhere except the ceremony, where only real white ones are allowed. A coloured petal aisle is a no here, and so is the seed-paper confetti that often gets sold as the eco-friendly alternative.
The property can run two events at once, which is why everything has to come out the same night unless there is no event the day before or after. Plan for a teardown crew at 1am.
Aquatopia
The only venue here where an outside decorator has no role at all, us included. The greenhouse is a working ecosystem with a plant collection, and the venue runs a biological protocol on every plant that comes through the door, so its own florists supply all floral and decor. If you already love a particular florist or decorator, this is the venue where you choose between them and the room.
Strathmere
Decor access starts at noon for a dinner reception, with the ceremony at 4:00pm in the Lodge and Garden House and 4:30pm in the Farmhouse. That is four hours for everything. The line to notice is that Strathmere manages all linen and furniture rentals itself, so ask the venue before booking a statement chair or a lounge set from any rental company, ours included. Its decor rules on flame, confetti and fixings are not on the pages it publishes, so ask for them in writing.
Brookstreet Hotel
Its wedding FAQ page carries two versions of several answers, and they disagree. One says smoke, fog and cold sparklers are allowed through an insured company with 30 days' notice. The other says they are not permitted. One says access is not guaranteed before 11am, the other before the event starts. Both agree on rice, confetti and petals: not allowed, with a cleaning charge of $50 to $500. When a venue's own page disagrees with itself, the contract decides, so get the decor rules and the access time written into it.
Infinity Convention Centre
Infinity furnishes the room fully and controls closely what goes into it. Tables in the main salon are 72-inch rounds seating eight to ten, which sets the scale for centrepieces: one sized for a smaller table can look lost on them. The centre approves decor in advance and may remove anything it has not approved.
Its FAQ also sets paperwork for every contractor working on site, decorators, florists and DJs alike: a certificate of $2,000,000 liability insurance naming the centre, a credit card number a week before the event, a reference from a comparable facility and a WSIB statement. It is one more reason the centre's event coordinator should see the decor plan early.
Stonefields Estate
Stonefields publishes a vendor FAQ written for florists and decorators, which almost no venue does. Professional vendors are in from 9am, decor arrives on the wedding day because there is no storage (the first wedding of a weekend can drop it off at the Wednesday rehearsal), and everything has to come pre-assembled. Decorators must finish cleaning their work areas an hour before the ceremony. Tape is banned on every surface, and draping on the upper beams of the Loft has to go up first thing in the morning by an insured professional with an extendable pole, because scissor lifts are not allowed.
Its own list of vendors a couple needs to hire says some couples also hire a decor company. The room comes furnished, so what a decorator adds here is design rather than chairs.
Evermore
No open flame anywhere, and the ban reaches further than most: sparklers, cold sparks, dry ice and smoke bombs are all out. The venue supplies flameless pillar candles instead. Artificial petals and dried flowers are banned along with confetti, so a faux petal aisle does not get around it. Decorating starts at 10am for a 4pm ceremony, which is a comfortable six hours.
Le Belvédère
Generous on furniture, with chiavari chairs and floor-length linen, and helpful on setup: staff will put out and take down decor you bring, up to four boxes. Four boxes is the number to design around if you want the venue's staff doing it. Anything beyond that is yours, or your decorator's, to set up. Its rules on flame, confetti and access time are not in its published package, so ask the venue for them.
The Knox
A small venue in Merrickville, and the closest to bring-everything of the nine: folding tables and chairs, a bar, easels and shelf displays, and no glassware or tableware at all. It is also the clearest on candles, with a hurricane-glass rule precise enough to shop against. From 2026 it requires a wedding coordinator on the day, and its own venue coordinator is not responsible for setting up your wedding, so decor needs an owner before the date.
What You Still Bring
The four things no venue on this list includes
Across both tables, the venues supply seating, linens and a few table pieces. The pieces guests remember and photograph are left to the couple.
Something behind the head table
Every photograph of the two of you at dinner has that wall in it. Not one of the nine includes a backdrop, and five of them restrict what can be fixed to their walls, so it usually has to stand on its own frame.
A ceremony structure
Several venues give you a beautiful outdoor spot. None of the nine lists an arch or a ceremony backdrop among its inclusions.
Centrepieces that are designed
The inclusions stop at vases, lanterns, table numbers and candles. That is the base a centrepiece sits on, not the centrepiece.
A moment at the entrance
A welcome sign, a seating chart display, a place guests stop for a photo. Brookstreet, Aquatopia, Stonefields and The Knox include easels. What goes on them is still yours.
That is the work we take on. Our wedding decorations in Ottawa are designed around the room you booked, and our backdrops and flower walls are built free-standing, so nothing is fixed to a venue wall. Everything is installed before guests arrive and collected at the venue’s teardown time, which matters most at a venue like Orchard View where the room has to be empty the same night.
If you are weighing a delivered setup against picking pieces up yourself, our guide to which wedding decor rentals include setup and teardown covers the difference, and what wedding decor costs in Ottawa explains how a venue’s access window changes a quote.
Before You Sign
Eight questions for the venue tour
Take these on the tour. Six of the nine venues above leave at least one of them unanswered on their website, and every one of them can change a design.
- Can I bring my own decorator and florist, or does the venue supply them?
- Are real candles allowed, and in what kind of holder? Or is it flameless only?
- Confetti, petals, rice paper, sparklers: which are allowed, and is the rule different outside?
- What can be hung, and from what? Are beams or ceilings off limits, and does draping have to be free-standing?
- What time can a decorator get in on the day, and is that different for family helping out?
- Does everything come out the same night, or can it be collected the next morning?
- Does the venue approve decor in advance, and does it set paperwork for vendors working on site?
- Can those answers go into the contract?
Put the answers in writing. The Knox tells couples to consult the contract for the fine details, and Brookstreet’s page shows why: a rule that appears two different ways on a website is settled by whichever version is signed.
Questions
Ottawa wedding venues, answered
What do Ottawa wedding venues usually include?
Furniture and service, not decor. Of nine Ottawa-area venues checked on September 14, 2026, most include tables, chairs and linens, and several add small pieces such as table numbers, a card box, lanterns or candles. None of them lists a head-table backdrop, a ceremony arch or designed centrepieces among its inclusions. The Knox in Merrickville includes folding furniture and a few display pieces but no glassware or tableware, and Aquatopia is the reverse case, where the venue's own team does all florals and decor.
Can I bring my own decorator to an Ottawa wedding venue?
At most venues, yes. Orchard View, Stonefields, Evermore, Le Belvédère and The Knox all say so directly, and Infinity Convention Centre allows it with insurance and paperwork from the decorator. Aquatopia does not allow outside florals or decor. Strathmere allows outside decor but manages all linen and furniture rentals itself.
Are candles allowed at Ottawa wedding venues?
It depends on the venue, and it is worth settling before anyone designs a centrepiece. Evermore allows no open flame on the property. Infinity Convention Centre requires enclosed votives or full hurricane covers. The Knox requires hurricane glass at least one inch taller than the flame. Orchard View allows real flame in holders and shields. Several venues do not publish a candle rule at all, so ask.
Can we throw confetti or petals at an Ottawa wedding venue?
Usually not. Orchard View, Evermore, Brookstreet, Infinity Convention Centre and The Knox all publish a ban on confetti, and Brookstreet charges $50 to $500 in cleaning if it is used. Orchard View makes one exception: real white petals at the ceremony location. Evermore bans artificial petals and dried flowers as well.
How early can a decorator get into a wedding venue?
From 9am at Orchard View and for professional vendors at Stonefields, 10am at Evermore, and noon at Strathmere for a dinner reception. Brookstreet's FAQ gives two different answers, and Infinity Convention Centre sets it in the contract. Get the time in writing, because it decides how much can realistically be built before guests arrive.
Where This Came From
Every fact, from the venue itself
Each detail above was read on September 14, 2026 from the venue’s own website or its own published package, not from a directory or a review site. Venues update their rules and packages, so treat this as a starting list for your questions and check the current version with the venue.
- Orchard View: FAQs
- Strathmere: What's Included
- Strathmere: Wedding Packages 2025/2026 (PDF)
- Brookstreet Hotel: Wedding FAQs
- Brookstreet Hotel: 2026 Wedding Menu, inclusions page (PDF)
- Infinity Convention Centre: FAQ
- Aquatopia: Weddings FAQ
- Aquatopia: 2026 Traditional Weddings Brochure (PDF)
- Stonefields Estate: Pricing and inclusions
- Stonefields Estate: FAQs
- Stonefields Estate: Vendor FAQs (PDF)
- Evermore: Wedding packages and FAQ
- Le Belvédère: Forfaits (package page)
- The Knox: FAQs and policies
- The Knox: Furniture and equipment inclusions
Send us the venue and its rules
Tell us the venue, the date and whatever it has told you about candles, confetti and access times. We design inside those rules from the first sketch and quote it itemized.