Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is perfect for couples looking for an intimate wedding venue that transports you back to the early history of the city. In front of the venue is Litte Trinity Anglican Church. It’s a great option for the brides and grooms seeking a church ceremony. However, Morag and James were kind of school nerds. So they loved the idea of marrying each other in a classroom. The schoolroom, is the original schoolhouse building, and furnished just like how it would have back in its hay day. It was the perfect setting for this civil ceremony. Will, the officiant, will also be making an appearance next year when I photograph his wedding.
I first met these two as guests when I photographed at Natalia and Josh’s wedding. They’re such a casual relaxed couple. So I expected no different at their wedding. Their decor followed this school theme as well. Upon entering the classroom, you will find wedding programs designed to look like Ontario Standardized Testing booklets. Lit up chemistry beakers decorated their receiving table. The centerpieces were all stacked vintage books. However, my favorite was the bridal bouquets made from the pages of famous love stories.
This schoolhouse is also a great option for couples on a smaller budget. Because the school is a museum and not located in the expensive part of town, it is a more realistic option. The venue includes the West Hall, Schoolroom, and Salon. The West Hall is the large reception room where you see the fantastic gothic windows. This room fits up to 150 guests and was the perfect setting for their casual cocktail reception.
Portrait Session
As a photographer myself, I can say this location is perfect for couples who value their photography. You don’t have to worry about finding a rainy day back up. Even though the ceremony is indoors the large windows create a stunning light. Also, because the walls and ceiling of the West Hall are white it makes our job super easy when lighting your reception. There’s no way you can walk away from a wedding at this Toronto wedding venue without the most beautiful wedding photography.
Since the weather was actually quite nice today, I took the bridal party on a walking tour of the Distillery District. This area does traditionally require a photo permit however they allowed a few minutes for our photos. On the chance they didn’t, the entire area surrounding the Distillery is still stunning. In fact, we took the majority of the photos on the walk there and back.
History
Enoch Turner built the schoolhouse in 1848. However, back then the school had a different name. It was originally the Ward School. Enoch Turner was a wealthy philanthropist who decided to build the school to bring education to the poor neighborhood located around his brewery. This location was known as Corktown because of the large number of Irish immigrants and the name still stands to this day. Amazingly, Enoch Turner Schoolhouse was the first free school in Toronto and began the free school movement in the area.
