Empress of Canada

There is a moment on a wedding cruise when Toronto begins to pull away from you.

The skyline is still there.

The city is still moving.

But suddenly the two of you, and everyone who came to celebrate you, are out on the water together.

The Empress of Canada has been cruising Toronto Harbour since 1989 and continues to welcome weddings, receptions and private celebrations aboard a vessel that can host groups of up to approximately 489 guests. Cruises move through Toronto Harbour and the Island Lagoons, giving the city skyline an entirely different role in the wedding day.

Instead of choosing one view for the reception, the view keeps changing.

At one point there is the skyline.

Later there is open water.

Then the islands slip past while guests are eating, talking and slowly forgetting that the floor beneath them is moving at all.

There is something particularly lovely about taking everyone away from the city without actually leaving Toronto.

Once the boat departs, the wedding becomes its own little world.

Nobody is wondering which venue to drive to next. Nobody disappears between the ceremony and reception. Everyone who boarded together stays part of the same celebration as the harbour moves around them.

Dinner can unfold while the city glows beyond the windows. Music can take over later in the evening, while the Empress team can help couples build the celebration around food, entertainment and the flow of the cruise.

And then there is that moment after sunset.

Toronto looks entirely different from the water at night.

The skyline lights begin reflecting across the harbour, the music is somewhere behind you and for a few minutes the newlyweds can step away from everyone else and look back at the city together.

For most of the day, they have been surrounded by people.

Out there, the city suddenly feels far enough away to give them a moment of their own.

Then the boat turns again.

The reception is still waiting.

For couples who want their Toronto wedding to feel unmistakably connected to the city while still doing something completely different, the Empress of Canada offers a celebration where even the backdrop refuses to stay still.