Thomson House Wedding Details

We offer full catering and bar services.

The house rental fee is $1950.00+tax when our catering is used. This includes the use of the main floor
and ballroom, staffing for services we provide, tables, chairs, cutlery, plates, glassware, cleaning, etc.
Please note that the booking fee will be increased when booking on certain dates due to increased costs.
These dates include, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and any other bank holidays.

Please note that we do not allow outside caterers, with the exception of the Wedding Cake, Cupcakes
or the like.

It is possible to host the ceremony at Thomson House for an additional fee of up to $250.00+tax, depending on
the location in the House and set-up required.

Please consult us before sending out RSVPs with meal selections, or before finalizing your menu.

The ballroom accommodates 99 people maximum for a formal sit down dinner with 11 tables seating at
most 9 people each. For a more casual stand- up reception, we can accommodate up to 140 with a
limited number of café and cocktail tables with chairs and bar stools.

Beverages/Wine

Wine Service: We can order any wine you like from the SAQ, however we need at least three (3)
weeks’ notice to verify availability. There is a $12.50 corkage fee per 750ml btl on top of the SAQ
price. You will estimate the amount needed with our input, the total for which will be added to your
bill. If the wine ordered for your reception runs out, we can always use our House Wines as back up so
there is no need to worry!

You can also choose our house wines, which will be billed based on consumption.

Our House Wines are $24.50 per bottle, and we keep one type of each, red & white, in stock on a
regular basis. Ask us to find out what we are currently using.

For a cash bar, where guests purchase their own drinks, there is no extra cost. For an open bar or
limited open bar you are charged for what is consumed. If you are interested in something different for
the cocktail, ask us about our punch menu.

Menu

When figuring out the cocktail and dinner menus, there are a few things to keep in mind

With regards to the cocktail menu you want to order enough to keep people from feeling hungry, as at
this point it has likely been a few hours since they ate, but not so much that they feel full or can eat so
much they have no room left for dinner.
Whether you go with a stationary tray buffet or passed hors d’oeuvres you do not want an overly
extensive selection. The idea when ordering food for a cocktail is that you order enough so everyone
can try everything at least once. Your best bet is to order no more than four or five types of trays or
with passed hors d’oeuvres, five or six types. If you want to offer a combination of passed hors
d’oeuvres and trays, we would suggest no more than three types of each. Remember, if there is a type
of tray you would like to serve, there is always the possibility of ordering it as part of a ‘midnight
snack’ buffet.

For the main dinner menu there are quite strict guidelines to follow. When looking at the appetizer,
soup or salad menus (and dessert if your wedding cake is not meant to be served) you want to
remember that for these courses you will be ordering the same item for everyone. With the main course
we can do up to two choices, generally a meat options and a vegetarian option, though this can vary.
For the meat/chicken/fish dishes the same type of starch (potato or rice) and vegetable needs to be the
same for everyone. Depending on the vegetarian choice selected the vegetables may also be added to
this option.

To help the dinner service go smoothly it is ideal that on each persons’ place card there is an identifier
of some sort (generally a coloured dot sticker or something) indicating which main course meal option
that person has chosen.

**Preparing a served banquet/meal (lunch or dinner) requires a lot of planning, coordination and labour.
When you request a meal to be served at a given time, everything is prepped and cooked so it is at its best
to be served at the requested time. Delaying the start of your dinner service means the meal will not be at
its best, as well as causing an increase in all related labour costs. In light of this, there will be a $50 charge
added to your booking fee for every 15 minute delay in service.**

Linen

We can supply off-white/ivory linens for $9.25/ea, napkins are $0.95/ea.

Other colours are possible, the cost of which will need to be determined based on the colours you want
and where we are able to obtain them.

Music

During the cocktail and dinner, we can supply background music using a streaming app on a House-
owned device, or by plugging in a device you provide with pre-curated playlists, so long as the device
connects via an audio jack. Connecting via Bluetooth may also be possible, depending on which area is
being used at the time.

For dancing after dinner we have some equipment your DJ may be able to use, at a cost, or they can
bring in their own equipment. It is also possible to use our equipment with an MP3 player, phone or
laptop, as with the cocktail/background music, if you do not plan to hire a DJ for dancing.

Wedding Cake

We have a very good, reasonably priced wedding cake specialist to recommend, Daphne Fernandes,
who can be reached at 514.631.8416.
We will cut and plate the cake after the ceremonial cutting of the cake at the end of dinner, while toasts
are taking place, at no additional cost. Any other type of cake service, i.e. cutting and serving to guests
buffet style, would need to be discussed and will incur additional fees.

Parking

McGill has a page on their website to help you with arranging parking for your guests when using the
Birks Chapel or Thomson House for your ceremony and/or reception.
(https://www.mcgill.ca/transport/parking/downtown/wedding-parking)

In addition to this, there is more general parking information at

Once you have made your reservation

Please note that it is important for you to ask your guests to indicate their meal preference. It is easiest
to do this on their RSVP. Either give them an option of meat, fish, and vegetarian or just ask if they are
vegetarian or have other food issues.

We also need to know the number of children attending. Many kids are happier with a simple plate of
pasta than with what the adults may be having. Consider this when planning the menu.

There is a TV with HDMI cables available if needed to entertain the children. It can be quite disruptive
to have young children in the ballroom during dinner. This would require a sitter.

We have limited parking available for four cars. There is a ramp and elevator for the elderly or
physically challenged. This is accessible from our driveway and the side door.

Have all deliveries, flowers, cake etc. sent to the side door, off the driveway. There is a door bell to
ring for someone to open the door. Please supply us with the phone numbers of any one delivering
things. We will contact them if they are late or lost. This is less for you to worry about.

Do not forget about the tradition of clinking glasses during dinner to get the Bride and Groom to kiss.
This can become quite annoying while you are trying to enjoy your dinner and we have found it can be
a good idea to come up with games or challenges for each table to work on as a group. We have seen
singing, poetry, trivia, etc. They are all fun but some of the ideas require advanced planning, such as
trivia.

We can supply tea lights for the tables if needed. There are a also a few different types of vases, for
larger arrangements, available for your use.

Try to keep the waiting time between the ceremony and the cocktail/ dinner reception to a minimum.
We often find that people are ready to go up to the dining room after about an hour of cocktails.
Keep in mind that photographers are mainly concerned with getting as many photos as possible. They
are normally not concerned about the timing of the meal and your need to socialize with your guests.
They should be kept on track.

Consider a time to do a greeting line. It is a good opportunity to say hello and thank your guests for
coming. This is also a good time for your parents to meet your guests. We try to keep the line to six (6),
Bride, Groom, and each set of parents. This helps to keep the line moving and not take too long.

If possible it is a good idea to do this upon leaving the church, or on everyone’s arrival to the house at
the front door. That is only possible if you are able to arrive first. If you have photos planned
immediately after the ceremony then it is recommended to do the line just before dinner. This can be
done at the entrance to the ballroom.

It is a good idea to have something for your guests to place cards and envelopes in. You can use a
basket or box with a slot in it. We have staff at the door that can bring gifts up to the ballroom but
envelopes are better deposited by your guests themselves. The box is placed in the lobby in a
conspicuous place during the cocktail reception and then brought up to the ballroom.

If you are planning to invite guests after dinner for the party you should consider the timing. As much
as we try there are many factors that can delay things so please consult with us before you choose a
time for others to arrive. You should also consider offering them something to eat, for this you may
want to order from our tray menus.

Important Times

Once you are sure you would like to use Thomson House as the venue for your reception, we require a
non-refundable deposit of half of the room rental to guarantee that this day is reserved for you. The
deposit may be transferred to another date if at least three (3) months’ notice is given.

Once the menu has been decided and a firm estimate established, we require a second deposit two
weeks prior to the reception, equivalent to approximately 50% of the estimated cost which is non-
refundable.

The menu needs to be decided on a minimum of two and a half (2.5) weeks in advance of the reception,
with the final numbers for choices (i.e. meat vs. vegetarian) needing to be given a minimum of ten (10)
days in advance.

Bar decisions can be made at the last minute unless you have a special wine order which needs to be in
at least three (3) weeks in advance, preferably with first (1st) and second (2nd) choices.

*Please note that all prices are before tax. In the case of food and beverage services a gratuity of 15%
will be added based on pre-tax amounts.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Bliss Ward at 514.398.3756 x09560 or
by e-mail at [email protected].

Thank you for considering us for your special occasion and we wish you the very best!