Ontario’s Coolest Wedding Journey: From Queen West to Prince Edward County with The Drake

Welcome to the Heart of the Wedding.

Not the ceremony. Not the dance floor. Not the “I do’s,” the veils, the vows, the seating charts. This is about everything else.

We’re talking the sparkling Saturday brunch where your favourite cousin meets your college best friend and they totally vibe. The Thursday-night welcome party, where the playlist turns strangers into dance floor besties. The late-night scotch at the bar, when your wedding dress is crumpled on the bed and you’re dancing in your partner’s blazer. These aren’t side notes—they’re the secret heart of the celebration. They’re the things remembered for all time.

This is the space for couples planning an intimate wedding to stretch out and soak it all in. At The Drake, these in-between moments are the real spotlight. And when you expand the wedding experience across both The Drake Hotel in Toronto and The Drake Devonshire in Prince Edward County—that magic gets multiplied.

The City. The County. The Chemistry.

Toronto pulses, but Queen West hums. Inside The Drake Hotel, there’s no such thing as a throwaway moment. The iconic heritage-meets-modern building crackles with energy: art on the walls, music flowing from the Underground, guests low-talking together in the lounge, leaning into a tableau of your love story. This is the place to set the tone for your momentous day, to create a huge bang before the wedding even begins.

Picture: a welcome party at the Sky Yard under string lights, the mood framed with mind-blowing seasonally rotating installations by boundary-breaking local artists. Cocktail hour with DJ Waves spinning nostalgic vinyl. Live custom poetry banged out on a vintage typewriter, while your guests sip champagne. A Drake wedding leverages Toronto at its coolest and isn’t just stylish—it’s fully immersive.

Then, a shift. We’re two hours east at The Drake Devonshire in Prince Edward County and it brings a new kind of electricity. The County isn’t sleepy or cottage-y. It’s stylish, artful, and wildly photogenic. This isn’t a retreat from the party—it’s the party’s next chapter.

Think: a destination wedding in Ontario, but with more edge and less beige. Lakeside morning-after brunches, with steam curling off of coffee mugs. Endless oceanic lake views and sunset saunas. Designer barnboard, curated wine lists, lawn games and waterfront cocktails. It’s still The Drake, but with the beach underfoot and constellations overhead.

Magic, Multiplied.

The best part of a Drake wedding journey? You don’t have to choose. Couples have made magic by hosting their ceremony and reception at one Drake location, and anchoring the rest of their experience at the other. The party feels endless. The city lights + the lakefront glow; the gritty glamour + the windswept romance. An ideal choice for couples seeking unique wedding experiences that blend urban and natural beauty. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure that doesn’t sacrifice style for soul—you can have both.

You want to gather your core people for a welcome dinner in Toronto and host your full wedding in The County? Easy. How about a ceremony at the Devonshire and a momentous after-after party at Queen West once everyone’s back from the honeymoon? Also yes. The Drake team thrives on bespoke. Their on-the-ground makers, vendors, artists, and culinary dreamers help you build seamless experiences the same way your best memories are made—by feel. Drake weddings are modern, artful, and wildly customizable.

The Story Around the Story.

So what should we design? Let’s dream a few things together—

• Thursday: Typewriter poets and fireside hors d’oeuvres in the lounge at The Drake Hotel.

• Friday: Friends road-tripping through golden farmland, candid pics of everyone traipsing through the grape-laden vineyards.

• Saturday: Vows on the lawn at Devonshire, followed by a fairy-lit dinner under the stars.

• Sunday: A morning-after oyster bar and Caesars on the back deck, sunlight dancing on lake waves, stories from last night being told for the third (or fifth) time.

An evolving experience from city cool to country luxe—without missing a beat. Or reverse it. Or reimagine it. Because what makes a Drake wedding extraordinary isn’t the itinerary. It’s the intention behind every moment. It’s the space to make room for joy, weirdness and love that’s outside of the script.

The Spark That Starts Everything.

You know what really actually makes the moments between the moments magical? Permission. And an open heart.

At The Drake, you’re not following a checklist, you’re creating your own celebratory world. An immersive space where your guests feel like collaborators, where art and music show up unexpectedly, where something spontaneous always seems to spark. The kind of creative wedding ideas that turn into stories that are worth retelling.

Here, the wedding isn’t just a day, but a collective, creative, no-one-will-ever-forget-this experience that spills across time and place.

That’s what makes The Drake the perfect canvas for a wedding that doesn’t just hit the right notes—it riffs, it rocks. It moves deep into everyone’s hearts and imprints these unforgettable moments there, forever.

By: Lonelle Selbo | LIFE AU LAIT