I was honoured to be the florist for a beautiful June 2023 wedding at the Cambridge Mill. The couple was having a 160 person wedding with an on-site ceremony in the Pavillion, and cocktail hour and reception in the Solarium and Falls Room. The reception area had beautiful stone walls, lots of natural light, and a beautiful "rustic meets modern" aesthetic.
Overall, I felt the venue was stunning, but there were definitely a few downsides for the couple booking at this venue:
- The Cambridge Mill hosts up to 3 weddings per day. There are multiple reception spaces, but only one ceremony location (the Pavilion). I was stunned to learn that the venue hosts back-to-back ceremonies in the same afternoon. It definitely felt impersonal towards the couple and family. As soon as their ceremony was finished and there were even still guests lingering, we had to dismantle our decor, and the cleaning crew and florist for the next ceremony were already walking through the door. Never in my many years in the wedding industry have I seen such an "assembly line" approach to weddings!
- As the florist, I show up early in the morning to begin setting up decor. While I was setting up from 10am to noon in the reception space and ceremony space, over seven tours walked through the space! I understand that the couple won't be in that space until later in the afternoon, but the venue offered absolutely no privacy to the family members and vendors setting up for the wedding. It felt like they were trying to book ten weddings while forgetting about the current wedding going on. Having said that, I have seen this pattern at other in-demand venues too.
- The couple mentioned to me that the venue also had three weddings the Friday evening before, so they had to schedule their rehearsal on the Thursday night. Again, it just felt like this venue was pushing an assembly line approach to weddings.
- It's not cheap!!
The Cambridge Mill is absolutely gorgeous though. It sits on the Grand River overlooking a cute waterfall in the heart of Cambridge, Ontario. The ceremony space is flooding with natural light, and there are so many unique photo locations. The couple also said their guests had the option to choose from a menu that night, instead of choosing ahead of time. The Cambridge Mill runs a full-time restaurant as well, so the food is obviously top-of-the line!
If this venue is on your bucket list and you have a large wedding budget, I would totally recommend you book a tour. However, if assembly-line weddings feel too impersonal for you, I urge you to search for a less in-demand venue.
