Kurtz Orchards Weddings Niagara on the Lake — Attraction in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Kurtz was truly the most magical venue to host out 150 person wedding this past June.

Kurtz took the fuss out of the logistics of having an outdoor, tent wedding. They have two gorgeous tents on their property that have stunning wooden floors, gorgeous draping, and electricity. Kurtz truly elevates the whole “tent wedding” from your typical to a luxury experience. They are willing to go above and beyond to bring your vision to life; truly a one stop shop for all your needs, and have the best vendor recommendations to do what they don’t offer. The vendors and Kurtz team worked seamlessly together, which is a testament to the rapport they have with one another and how skilled they are at what they do.

We rented the Gracewood house for my husband and his groomsmen to stay over on the property the night before. It was the perfect setting, with a pool, plenty of bedrooms, and breakfast delivery the next morning! We would recommend this to all couples as it takes so much stress out of the morning. Although we did not do our rehearsal dinner there, they have plenty of options for locations and food, which I am certain would not disappoint!

The Wedding Day was nothing short of magical. Guests entered over the gorgeous Koi Pond, through the tree’s, into the beautiful Orchard/Garden setting while the string quartet played. Prior to walking down the aisle, one of the day of coordinators came up to me to make sure my veil and dress looked perfect, and checked if I needed anything. This is just a small instance that shows the care and attention to detail the staff at this venue have. As guests moved to cocktail hour, they were blown away by Charcuterie spread which was so beautifully presented on the live edge wood tables, and the passed apps were a massive hit. Guests could not get enough of the Pistachio Lamb, and the Brie and Plum Tarts. The cocktail “cart” was such a fun touch, in addition to the gorgeous newly renovated bar space in front of the pond. The Bar provisions are fantastic, which give the guests a lot of options, and the guests appreciated the attentive and friendly the Bar Staff. While guests were at dinner, we were brought a charcuterie board and cocktails by the staff for us to enjoy before our portraits (by the way, the endless locations for photos is a photographers dream, and the sunset.. wow!).

Dinner service was next level. The beef short ribs were to die for, and the portions were just incredible. Our food arrived hot, and very much appreciated after countless wedding meals at other venues that arrived cold. The flavour, quality, and portions should be an example for other venues on how guests should be fed at a wedding (just wait until you attend your tasting event). Servers were very inconspicuous during the speeches as staff were incredible respectful not to make much noise. After Dinner, the DJ kicked things into high gear and the dance floor was going all night long! The fire pits scattered around, and the fairy lights added such a romantic ambiance. Late night dining options were plentiful, but we went for the poutine and live fry fritters which were a huge hit! Although our wedding music stopped at 11:00pm due to Niagara noise bylaws, there is an option to bring the party into the building space to keep it going for a fee.

We received many complements, but the most common was it being the most beautiful tent wedding they had ever attended, and that to food was the best they had ever had at a wedding. The incredible staff, stunning grounds, and overall experience left ourselves and our guests relishing in the day. Thank you Anne, Aleigh, Steven (the DJ), and the rest of the team at Kurtz for all you did to make our...

Held our ceremony at Gracewood in July 2022 (no reception). Beautiful, idyllic orchard venue. Stars lost for customer service only and not the venue itself.

Customer service was attentive and great until the rental fee was paid, and then it was super hard to get in touch with the events team. When they did respond, emails would be comprised of one or two sentences, often not answering the questions we asked - my feeling was perhaps that because we were a ceremony only, we were not considered as important as the other full service weddings they were planning. I scheduled a call with them a couple of weeks before the wedding as it was difficult to get any answers over email. On the call they were abrupt and a bit rude with their answers, and at one point blamed me for not having our event blueprint submitted by the deadline even though they had only sent it through recently, and only because we began to inquire about certain items.

On the day of the wedding, my husband and I arrived in the morning to check the chair set-up and set reserved signs and no one was there - we had written our arrival time on the blueprint as it asked many times for the arrival times of the first people onsite and advised we would be greeted. I called them and they seemed surprised we were there and told us we could just go ahead and do it ourselves.

A DJ was included with the venue rental. He was still setting up as guests arrived, checking mics / making noise, and did not have the pre-ceremony music playing. He was also wearing gym shorts. This maybe seems like a petty comment, but for a formal event I would expect at least a nicer pair of shorts if the heat precludes you from wearing pants. He stood out like a sore thumb.

We paid additionally to have a sparkling toast after the ceremony in a separate part of the venue. To our surprise, there was no PA set-up at the cocktail area and the DJ had to wait until the recessional song was done, then carried the speaker alongside our guests down the pathway to the cocktails. Not ideal in terms of guest experience, but also this meant that we did not have music playing for the first 5-10 minutes of the cocktail reception.

Additionally, prior to the ceremony I asked one of the event planners where I could use the bathroom and she directed me to the estate house. As soon as I was about to walk in she came out of the house and told me I had to use the porta-potty trailers in the parking lot. We did not pay the additional cost to rent out the estate house for the day, but the fact that they refused me the use of the bathroom in the house is ridiculous. I was forced me to use the trailer bathroom in a gown, climbing up rickety stairs and having to leave the tiny stall door open to accommodate my dress.

All of these things individually are not crazy, but considering the amount we paid for a couple of hours use of the venue (plus additional for the sparkling toast), it was not the level of service I expected.

I also wrote to the venue after the wedding to share these concerns and never...

Kurtz Orchards is the dream wedding venue. I literally do not have the words to express how amazing it was to get married here! My partner and I knew we wanted to get married in Niagara on the Lake, and quickly it became very obvious that Kurtz was the dream. We were so excited to book with them and they were the most amazing team to work with throughout the 2 years we took to plan our wedding weekend.

They were extremely professional, reliable and generous throughout our time working with them. When we asked for a snack in the bridal suite, they brought an overflowing charcuterie board. When they saw us hot outside taking bridesmaid shots, they ran over with water bottles so we'd be more comfortable. They anticipated our needs before we even knew we had them and they went above and beyond making sure that we felt so special and so taken care of throughout our entire experience.

Kurtz also has some of the best food and the best service we've ever experienced. Everyone's food came out at the same time, all hot, and all beautifully plated. Our guests couldn't stop gushing about how amazing the food was and we whole heartedly agree! It was a true farm to table experience and they were so wonderful at accommodating all of our guests' dietary restrictions perfectly.

Kurtz is also absolutely stunning. Every corner of the venue is beautiful. They think of everything. Inside the market building they made sure any outlet was covered by beautiful greenery; outside they made sure that there were gorgeous flowers and lush plants in every inch of the property. Our ceremony was more beautiful than we ever could have imagined thanks to Kurtz, and once the sun set, the venue transformed into a beautiful fairy land full of twinkle lights and candles.

The staff at Kurtz truly went above and beyond for us. We loved working with a venue that completely understood our aesthetic vision, let us add in all these personal touches and were so flexible and accommodating with us throughout the entire experience. You all should be running to get married at Kurtz. It is truly the best venue and we can't wait to host some anniversary...