Welcome to our wedding web page. The present page contains detailed directions to the ceremony and reception as well as information about hotels and the airport. Thanks to the folks at the Snappingturtle.net collective for letting us use some of their web space, and to Bruce Patterson for the above photo of us at Cecilia and Tom's wedding banquet last May!
We also have another web site at The Knot, but it doesn't have any gratuitous cat photos.
The ceremony is at Trinity College Chapel, 6 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1H8. The chapel is part of Trinity College. Walk in the front door past the Porter's Lodge and turn left. The Chapel doors are at the end of the hall. You may also see the Chapel's outside doors but these are not generally in use.
The college is on the campus on the University of Toronto in downtown Toronto, immediately south of Bloor St.
TTC: the closest stops are Museum (Yonge/University line) and St. George (Bloor line).
Driving: These driving directions are probably more detailed than you will need; signage on Toronto-area highways is quite good. See our maps of the immediate areas.
From the 401/404 via Don Valley Parkway (DVP): Take DVP south to Bloor/Bayview exit. Once on the ramp, merge left for Bloor St. exit.* When you reach Bloor, turn right and go west on Bloor. You will cross several major streets, including Parliament, Sherbourne, Church, Yonge, and Bay. After Bay St. there is a major street which is called Queen's Park Circle south of Bloor, or Avenue Rd. north of Bloor. Turn left (south) onto Queen's Park Circle (you will see the ROM ahead and to your left as you turn). Once on Queen's Park circle, keep right in order to turn onto Hoskin Avenue after the first lights. The college is on the north side of Hoskin Ave. There is parking behind the college off Devonshire Place (drive past the College, turn right on Devonshire, right again for parking).
*If you end up on Bayview Ave. by mistake at the Bloor/Bayview exit; you can take Bayview south to Rosedale Valley, right on Rosedale Valley to Park Rd. (first four-way stop), left onto Park Rd, up the hill and through the lights to a "T" intersection with Bloor St. Turn right onto Bloor St, which you will be meeting just east of Yonge St.
From the Gardiner Expressway/QEW: Take the York/Bay/Yonge exit from the Gardiner. The street you want is York St. If you're coming from the west this means first keeping right on the Gardiner and the ramp for York/Bay rather than Yonge, then once you get off the ramp merge left for York instead of Bay. (I have never done this from the east; you are on your own! If you are coming from the 401 via the DVP, use the previous instructions instead.) You will cross under Union Station/railway tracks; keep left because you want to veer left onto University Avenue instead of continuing onto York. (Most traffic will be veering onto University Avenue with you.) Drive north on University Avenue, using the middle lanes. You will eventually cross College St. at which point University Ave. imperceptibly becomes Queen's Park Circle. Follow the traffic around Queen's Park, and get into the left lane in order to follow the sign to Hoskin Ave. This will take you around the north end of Queen's Park and you will find yourself briefly going south on Queen's Park Circle. Follow the traffic in making a bee line for the right lane of Queen's Park Circle (you will have to cross several lanes but the traffic that would otherwise occupy these lanes has a red light immediately before this point); keeping right, exit onto Hoskin Ave. Trinity is on the north side of Hoskin Ave; parking is off Devonshire Place as per instructions above.
| If coming from the 401/DVP, you will be coming from Bloor St. and turning left onto Queen's Park; if coming from the Gardiner, you will be coming up University Ave. (unmarked double avenue that turns into Queens Park) and going around the top of Queens Park to get to Hoskin Ave. The short unmarked street between Hoskin and Bloor is Devonshire Place. Note that Hoskin Ave. becomes Harbord St. west of St. George St. (the north-south street that the map labels as Beverley St.) |
The reception is located at the Hilton Suites and Conference Center, 8500 Warden Ave. (at Highway 7), Markham ON L6G 1A5; about 18 miles (30 km) north of downtown. Their phone number is (905) 470-8500.
From downtown Toronto: Take Don Valley Parkway (DVP) northbound. You can get to the DVP by going east on Bloor St. to the Don Valley bridge (Prince Edward Viaduct). Once on or near the bridge get into right lane, take DVP north exit. On DVP choose center or left lane (to avoid 401 exits); take DVP north past 401 at which point the DVP imperceptibly becomes Highway 404. Take 404 north to Hwy 7, which is the first exit after Hwy 407. Note: Do not take Hwy 407 which is a toll road and will give you expensive headaches if you don't have a transponder. Drive east on Hwy 7, pass Woodbine Ave; the hotel entrance is approx. 1 mile east of Woodbine immediately before Warden Ave. on the south side (right turn). The driving is relatively straightforward but note that the DVP is prone to congestion. Allow 45 minutes from downtown.
If you somehow end up on the 407 (again, not recommended), you can exit at Warden then drive north a short distance; hotel entrance on your left immediately before Hwy 7.
If you are coming in from the East on the 401, it may still be faster to take the 404 north to Hwy 7 and backtrack, rather than driving north on Warden. Hwy 7 is some fair distance north.
| Map shows the 404 (major north-south highway) in red. The hotel is at Hwy 7 and Warden Ave., as marked on the map. The alternative hotels are on Woodbine Ave. Take the Hwy 7 exit, not the exit for the Hwy 407. The 407 (four-lane hwy marked in green) is a toll road and the tolls are exorbitant if you do not have a transponder. |
The group rate for our wedding is $140/night. Mention that you are with the Tan/Bell wedding. We encourage you also to look for a rate on the Hilton web site (see hotel details above), which may just possibly be better than our rate. As of early March the two rates are the same. According to the web site, there are several different room/suite arrangements that can be had at this rate. March 10: I am told that someone has been successful in booking at a CAA rate of $126.
These are two hotels near the Reception venue whose rates are slightly cheaper than the Hilton. Rates quoted are the best Internet rates I could find for May 1 as of early March. These are both short driving distance from the reception hotel; the Comfort Inn is about 1.5 miles, the Holiday Inn about 3.5 miles. Hwy 7 is not recommended as a walking experience.
Comfort Inn--Toronto Northeast
8330 Woodbine Ave., Markham; (905) 477-6077; best Internet rates approx. $90-100.
Directions from Reception hotel: Drive west on Hwy 7 to Woodbine, turn left (south), hotel is on your right as you drive south, close to Hwy 7.
Holiday Inn Toronto--Markham
7095 Woodbine Ave., Markham; (905) 474-0444; best Internet rate $90 for 21-day advance purchase; otherwise approx. $110. Parking is $4/night.
Directions from Reception hotel: Drive west on Hwy 7 to Woodbine, turn left (south), hotel is on your left as you drive south, about a mile south. The hotel is actually much closer to Steeles Ave., so take the Steeles exit from Hwy 404 if you are driving from the 401 or from downtown; then left onto Woodbine.
Both are reputable brands of course but we have no personal experience of these individual properties.
For those wanting to spend some time downtown during their stay, here are some hotels located near the ceremony. Needless to say, there are many hotels downtown; these are simply a sampling to indicate price ranges.
Quality Hotel Midtown
280 Bloor St. W. Toronto; 416 968 0010; best Internet rate approx. $120 + $14 for parking.
On Bloor St. within short walking distance of Trinity College. We stayed here once and it's a very reasonable hotel for the money and location.
Park Hyatt Toronto
4 Avenue Rd., Toronto; 416 925 1234; best rate approx. $270 + parking.
Luxurious, at the other end of downtown hotel rate scale. Also within short walking distance of Trinity.
Courtyard Marriott Downtown
475 Yonge St., Toronto; 416 924 0611; best Internet rate approx. $160 + $20 (valet) or $15 (nearby offsite) parking.
Walking distance if you're ambitious; otherwise a short TTC ride. This is at Yonge and Wellesley, an interesting but sometimes slightly problematic part of downtown.
Downtown hotels are expensive; if you see a really good deal you might want to ask us about the location before you commit. Some areas east of Yonge are somewhat problematic. Taxes are 18% on top of quoted rates in Markham, 15% downtown.
Toronto's main airport is Lester B. Pearson International Airport (YYZ), located in the northwest corner of the city. (Unfortunately, the Buttonville airport you see on the map of the hotel area isn't of much help to us.) It's a reasonable assumption that if you're flying to Toronto, you're going to arrive here.
