The Royal Ambassador is one of the most prestigious venues in the GTA. Also, one of the most popular venues among couples getting married in the Indian wedding community. Whether you are planning for a Sikh wedding at the Terrace Gazebo or a Hindu wedding at Lakeside Gazebo, this blog can give you some tips for planning your wedding. Situated among rolling hills, perfectly manicured gardens, and a 20-acre natural lake, the Royal Ambassador allows for a destination wedding feeling without having to leave the Greater Toronto Area.
Finding a perfect outdoor Indian wedding venue overlooking a beautiful lake is hard to find. This venue in Caledon has the capacity to hold large gatherings indoors and outdoors.
When you are planning your royal outdoor Sikh or Hindu wedding, this venue gives you three options mainly. In this blog, we explore those locations and share our experience of photographing weddings at all of these outdoor spots at the Royal Ambassador. We will share our experience alongside challenges and best practices for each of these spaces.
1. Sikh or Hindu Weddings at the Terrace Gazebo at the Royal Ambassador, Caledon
Terrace Gazebo Indian weddings – Terrace gazebo is mainly used for Sikh weddings. At this location, guests can sit outside the gazebo on the floor surrounded by lush green trees.
This gazebo is bigger than the Lakeside gazebo, therefore can easily fit the couple, priest, and their families for the Indian wedding ceremony. Guests who have issues sitting on the floor for the Sikh wedding can sit on chairs in the grassy area,
In summer, sometimes the venue does cover the space where guests will be sitting with tents. So, in case of light rain, everyone is covered. The seating capacity for the Terrace Gazebo is going to be 200 but if you are planning a Sikh wedding maybe around 250 can sit on the ground.
Fun Fact – We consider ourselves lucky for the couples; we have photographed 60+ ceremonies in the last 6 years here and it has never rained to the point where the ceremony had to move inside.
Tent on the Terrace gazebo, Royal Ambassador, Caledon or not?
Tent on the terrace gazebo or not is a big question. Here is something to think of.
Props and Cons for having a tent for guests in a terrace gazebo setting for the wedding at Royal Ambassador –
Cons If you are doing a tent it will definitely not going to look good in pictures. Unless you get a proper draping around the tent. The poles of the tent will be visible which does not look the best. However, that is going to only restrict us to take wide camera angles like the image shown below.
Props – Your guests will enjoy being in the shade if your wedding is on a hot summer date or a rainy day. Indian wedding ceremonies are long and it can get really uncomfortable sitting in the direct sun through an Indian Sikh or Hindu ceremony.
PRO TIP – If you are not getting to the tent for the terrace gazebo ceremony, Consider getting the paper umbrellas from Ali baba – Here is the link.
This is going to be the most aesthetically pretty option and a way cheaper option as compared to tents for guests. Please note that the average delivery time from Ali baba is about 30-45 days. You can color-coordinate the umbrellas with the groom’s side and bride’s side outfits.
2 Hindu Weddings at the Lakeside Gazebo at the Royal Ambassador
Lakeside Gazebo – This venue location comes with a beautiful view of Ines Lake while you are getting married. About 15-20 small steps lead the way to the gazebo. The guests are seated on both sides of the gazebo on different levels.
The venue creates that amphitheater look with guests seated in an outdoor theater kind of setting. For the same reason, Lakeside gazebo is never used for the Sikh wedding setting.
In Sikh ceremonies, the Guru Granth Sahib Ji is always to be at the highest podium so most priests will not allow you to host the ceremony at the Lakeside Gazebo.
The Lakeside Gazebo is a bit smaller than the Terrace Gazebo. If you are planning a Hindu wedding, we recommend only having parents and priests be inside the gazebo. As having siblings or other family members sitting inside the gazebo makes it very crowded and that will make for tight images and videography.
Guests can actually sit in the shade at the greenhouse gazebo patio area and still enjoy the ceremony views. Rest of the guests sitting in the assigned seating area for the Lakeside gazebo wedding will be sitting in direct sun. We highly recommend getting paper umbrellas for each guest for summer Indian Hindu weddings. The seating capacity for this venue is 200 and if you have some more guests seated at the patio in the greenhouse, maybe 250-275.
This gazebo is steps away from the greenhouse which makes it easy for Indian wedding setting for sure. Greenhouse can easily fit about 300-350 guests for your big Indian wedding.
3 Sikh or Hindu Wedding on the Grounds at the Royal Ambassador, Caledon
On the Grounds – This third option while planning a Lavish Indian wedding at the Royal Ambassador is on the open grounds facing the beautiful Innes Lake. This option gives an open air magnificence for your luxury Indian Wedding. Whether you are planning a Sikh or Hindu wedding, this venue location at the Royal Ambassador can be dressed in any possible way. This option can seat more people than the Terrace and Lakeside gazebo.
You can do a tent version of this setting or you can do an open air setting. You can even book a tent and see a day before what the weather forecast is to decide if you want to install the tent or not.
In order to do a Sikh wedding here, you will need to get the floating stage because sitting on the ground can be difficult for the hour-long Sikh Wedding. We have a blog on the Outdoor Tent weddings where we talk about costs so check that blog to budget things around.
We recommend the no tent as it gives that clear sky access in the images. If you are planning to put up a mandap, we recommend it to be at least 12 ft by 12 ft and covered with sheer white fabric so there is no direct sun on you. If you are planning a Sikh wedding on the grounds of the Royal Ambassador, the sun will be behind you at the time of your ceremony so adding a sheer white fabric over your head is not going to help much till noon.
Hope this blog helps you to plan your Sikh or Hindu Lavish outdoor wedding at the Royal Ambassador, Caledon. Here is a blog that explores why outdoor wedding is an option to consider for your next Indian Wedding Ceremony – https://www.alfaazphotography.com/landing_pages/outdoor-wedding-ceremonies/