Their extensive list of local contacts, from officiants to hair stylists, allows the Craigs to provide one-stop shopping after determining the bridal couple’s vision for their special day. “We can even provide the musicians,” chuckles Linda, noting that Gordon teaches music at Queen’s University in nearby Kingston and Linda is personnel manager of the Kingston Symphony.
Such local contacts are important to those wedding couples not from the area. That’s most of them, it turns out.
Perth is within a comfortable two to four hour drive from Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto, making it a central destination for guests from those areas. In fact, the town is marketing itself as eastern Ontario’s wedding capital, Gordon notes.
Meals – from the rehearsal dinner to day-after brunch – are in his hands. Of course, most central is the wedding dinner. While sample menus help with decisions, the focus is on the couple’s own wishes. Popular entrees include beef filet with port and wild blueberry cassis reduction, and basil cream chicken with shitake mushrooms. Linda’s specialty is dessert, with Jamaican rum cake and Grand Marnier chocolate mousse among frequently requested choices. A local bakery usually provides the wedding cake.
Thanks to a permanent liquor license, which eliminates the hassle around arranging special-occasion liquor permits, meals can be washed down with a full array of beverages, served from a warm, cozy bar located in a bright conservatory overlooking the garden.
The bridal suite, one of six guest rooms, is named for Robert Lyon, the last Canadian to die in a duel. Aptly, the story is a romantic one: the combatants fought for the hand of a local schoolteacher. The suite tells its own romantic story with a cherry wood canopy bed, leaded bay windows, original white oak flooring, and separate sun-lit sitting room (“a perfect place for the bridesmaids’ hair and makeup,” Linda says).
Guests with children will appreciate the two-bedroom suite named after Queen Victoria.
Perth Manor Boutique Hotel
Gordon and Linda Craig, Owners/Managers
23 Drummond St. W.
Perth, ON
613-264-0050