You’ve probably seen The Holiday Inn Kitchener-Waterloo Hotel & Conference Centre numerous times as it’s been a fixture in Kitchener since the 1960s, and perhaps you’ve even set foot inside or spent the night. But what you may not be aware of are the magnificent (and newly renovated) ballrooms within and the option for an on-site ceremony. They can even host your engagement party, stag and doe, bridal and baby showers. Priding themselves on their cuisine, detailed banquet rooms, flexibility, and willingness to meet your every need, the staff at Holiday Inn K-W say they're here to make everything easy. From a fully decorated hall to catering services, and overnight accommodations for your guests – the Inn does it all in one location, customized to your needs.

Daphne Fayle, Special Events Manager, along with Executive Chef, Dave Goodwin and Banquet Manager, Yoga Santhaneswaran, are part of the professional team who say their main focus is providing fantastic and unparalleled customer service, amazing cuisine and a beautiful end product for each wedding – a feat that several local brides seem to agree they pull off well. But brides aren’t the only ones recommending the Holiday Inn K-W as the Inn was also the Reader's Select Winner for favourite K-W hotel for six years in a row and favourite K-W Chef for three years in a row. Let us tell you more...

Personally speaking...

Clearly, the Holiday Inn K-W has been doing something right, proven by their wins as Reader's Select Winner for favourite K-W hotel and favourite K-W Chef. The Holiday Inn K-W averages about thirty-five weddings per year. "We take care of everything so you can enjoy your engagement and be guaranteed a stress free wedding day," says Daphne.

Daphne might be the newest member of the Holiday Inn team, but she comes with twenty-one years of food & beverage management and event planning experience. She has worked with resorts and hotels in Europe, Western Canada, and has been a fixture in the local region for the past ten years. "I know exactly what's required to execute a simple meeting to an elaborate celebrity studded affair," she told us. "The same amount of work and detail goes into all of our events. Attention to detail, solid communication, a harmonious team and a keen eye for the unexpected are what set us apart from other facilities." On top of that, Daphne and the rest of the Holiday Inn staff approach each wedding with the goal of making sure that each wedding is unique and flawless.

The team of experts...

Currently, Daphne is the one who assists the bride and groom with their wedding at Holiday Inn K-W and guides them through all of the steps and stages for planning their special day.

But, it takes a team to put together a wedding day at Holiday Inn K-W, and for a bride and groom that means they also get to deal with Dave Goodwin, the Executive Chef, and Yoga Santhaneswaran, the Banquet Manager, who are both present on the wedding day. "Dave will ensure a top-notch dinner is served to the guests," explained Daphne. "He is also instrumental in speaking to the guests during their taste test to ensure they are 100% satisfied with every aspect of the meal, and to see if they have any personal preferences he can incorporate into the meal."

Yoga meets with the bride and groom the day before the wedding along with Daphne to go over last minute questions and details. Yoga is the main point of contact for the wedding day. His team manages and directs the serving staff during the execution of the reception and dinner.

The outstanding level of customer service from the staff is one reason why Christina McDougall chose to have her wedding reception at the Holiday Inn K-W. "The Holiday Inn staff and management team were outstanding. From our initial site tour to our menu taste test to the wedding day itself, they were always willing to go above and beyond to ensure that our day went off exactly how we had imagined," Christina told The Ring. "Whenever we had any questions or requests, we always received a prompt answer and they were able to fulfil all requests that we had."

Wayne and Tena told us that the Holiday Inn K-W team were amazing to work with as they "are very focused on customer service and it showed." Tena added that the staff was helpful throughout the wedding planning process and helped her and Wayne cover items that they may not have thought of on their own. "We connect the Holiday Inn K-W with memories of an absolutely perfect wedding day," Tena says. "Everything was taken care of for us. Everything went smoothly."

Flexibility to suit your style...

The Holiday Inn K-W sees young couples who are just starting out and book their smaller ballroom, to more established couples who have been planning this day for years and have the funds available to go all out. But, whether they’re hosting a second wedding, a same-sex reception, or a mixed cultural wedding, Daphne says that you "will find exactly what you need here and all budgets are welcome and given the same amount of detail. This is one of your most important days so we ensure every wedding is exceptional."

Lori had her ceremony and reception at the Holiday Inn on Valentine’s Day and told us that their choices and options were completely flexible to her and her husband’s tastes. Not to mention, the team's "complete service and flexibility to allow changes on short notice" was one thing that she couldn’t find anywhere else.

Spaces to choose from

The Waterloo Ballroom is the most popular room at Holiday Inn K-W, especially now that it's been recently renovated and offers a spacious, versatile and exceptionally detailed venue for your wedding. Plus, the neutral colour suits the ranging décor styles of brides and grooms. This ballroom is 4800 square feet, and fits 300 to 350 people for a sit down dinner. Daphne told us that this large room can be divided into three sections or used all together, if you wanted your reception to be smaller and more intimate, it can be. With 200 guests or more, the Waterloo Ballroom costs $500 to rent, and with less than 200 guests it’s $900.

"You immediately feel like you are in an elegant ballroom..." Christina tells us of the ballroom's style. In fact, she says one of her favourite memories from her wedding was walking into the fully decorated Waterloo Ballroom for the first time, "seeing how beautiful the room looked and seeing how my vision and all the months of planning and hard work had been executed into an elegant reception site."

The Ontario Ballroom is 3560 square feet and holds 150 to 200 people. The room rental is complimentary if you have 150 guests or more for dinner service. The Michigan Room is perfect for more intimate receptions as it holds 60 guests and only costs $195 to rent.

Wayne and Tena say they found the room to be bright, spacious, clean and modern in décor. And Lori agrees that the rooms were lovely, especially when she added white chair covers, table cloths and an arch with tulle – "it was very pretty and classy... our guests commented on how classy, elegant and wonderful the entire event was," Lori told us.

A little taste of the menu

Amazing cuisine is another feature that attracts people to the Holiday Inn K-W. It certainly was a factor that Christina and her husband loved best about the Holiday Inn, as they were looking for a venue that had "an elegant ballroom and provided us with exceptional quality (food and alcohol) at a fair price, and the Holiday Inn was able to provide us with all three."

Some of the mouth-watering entrées you can choose from are: tender roast Ontario turkey with homemade apple stuffing ($26.95 per person); grilled Atlantic fillet of salmon with creamy dill sauce ($29.95 per person); roast supreme breast of chicken ($29.95 per person); and the ever popular grilled beef tenderloin with Bernaise sauce and roast supreme breast of chicken paired together ($34.95 per person). All are served with your choice of starch and scrumptious vegetable medley.

We think it would be difficult to narrow down which desserts to serve since all of the options sound delectable – like, Belgian chocolate mousse cup topped with seasonal berries; Bailey's or Turtle cheesecake; tartufo; and local specialty apple strudel.

Traditional four course wedding buffets start at $31.95 per person. One of the most popular packages at Holiday Inn K-W is their all inclusive premium or gala package starting at at $89 per person (including tax and gratuities). Daphne calls it "the ultimate crowd pleaser".

"Their food was excellent - hot and delicious," Wayne and Tena told The Ring. Lori also told us that the value she received at Holiday Inn K-W for the money she paid was great. "Since the food was so incredible, we feel we got fantastic value for our money," she said. "Not your standard hotel fare at all!"

Packages & prices

All wedding packages booked at the Holiday Inn K-W include complimentary consultation with the wedding experts, a sample tasting of your selected reception dinner for two prior to the wedding and professional banquet staff to help execute every detail. Plus, you get a one hour complimentary fruit punch prior to dinner; white table linens and napkins; candle centrepieces; decorated head table; cake table and backdrop; placement of favours, centrepieces and gift table; slicing and serving your wedding cake; complimentary late night coffee service; complimentary parking; guest reservation reply cards for invitations; and special guest room rate for guests. Now that’s what we call all-inclusive! And as if that weren't enough, the bride and groom also receive a complimentary guest room for the wedding night with chilled wine, chocolate treats and breakfast for two in the morning.

Daphne says that the best option for you and your guests are the all inclusive packages. The Premium Package Is $89 per person, including taxes and gratuities and includes (all of the above, plus) a four course plated or buffet dinner, house wine poured throughout dinner, host bar following dinner and complimentary slicing and serving of the wedding cake. The Gala Package is $115 per person and adds onto the Premium Package pre-dinner hors d’oeuvres, host bar before and after dinner and the chocolate fountain package for the late night buffet.

"The Holiday Inn K-W provided us with everything we needed, all in one location at a very reasonable cost... They were able to offer us many rooms for our use. This was important to us because we wanted to have our ceremony and reception at the same site without any time in between," Wayne and Tena told us. Tena adds that in addition to hosting their ceremony and reception there, the Holiday Inn K-W also gave her and Wayne two rooms - one for the bride and bridesmaids to get ready in and another for the groom and groomsmen.

Walking you through it...

On your first visit to the Holiday Inn K-W, the bride and groom meet with Daphne to get a site tour of the ballrooms. You’re welcome to bring in family members or the bridal party for a second opinion if you'd like. You'll also review the menus to discuss all of the various catering options. When you decide to book, a $1000 deposit is required to secure your day and hall. The next deposit (90% of all of the estimated food and beverage charges) is due three weeks before the wedding. Final numbers are required seven business days before the event.

Details, details, details

• Daphne strongly recommends booking Holiday Inn K-W about 8 to 12 months before your wedding. • Book your wedding on a Friday or Sunday and receive special discounts.
• Flexibility to do weddings anywhere from 15 to 300 people.
• Discounted accommodations for all of your out of town guests.
• Ample complimentary parking.
• Holiday Inn Kitchener-Waterloo is conveniently located right off Highway 8 (at 30 Fairway Road South in Kitchener) for easy access to area highways, allowing you to navigate the local area with ease. Within walking distance to local malls and restaurants.
• Complete flexibility with customizing menus to fit within all budgets.
• A $1000 is required to book with 90% of the remaining balance due 3 weeks before the wedding. The remaining 10% is required within 30 days after the event date.
• Wedding packages ranging from $26.95 per person to $115 per person.

In other words...

"We wanted to extend our thanks to The Holiday Inn Kitchener and staff for making our wedding a wonderful night to remember. [They] did an absolutely amazing job in the planning and we were impressed by the professionalism of the entire staff on hand that evening. The banquet hall was beautiful, and the food was absolutely delicious. We sincerely thank you and your terrific staff for putting your hearts and energy into making our wedding day so perfect and special. We cannot imagine a more perfect way for two people to start their lives together and your help was critical in making that happen for us." - Munure and Korhan Abdullah, September 25, 2010

"Our wedding day was nothing short of spectacular and everything we had hoped for! The Holiday Inn on Fairway Road provided us with a great setting to hold our reception, making our special day all the more memorable. The cuisine was top notch and the staff was exceptionally courteous and accommodating to us and all of our guests. Highly recommended for couples deciding on a reception venue!" - Donovan and Dina, September 25, 2010

“Can’t thank the Holiday Inn staff enough for all their efforts to make our day effortless. If it weren’t for the friendly, helpful staff I’m not sure the day would have run so smoothly.” - Marty and Dave, June 5, 2010

"We have no complaints whatsoever! You did such a great job for our special day, your venue will be highly recommended by us to others when thinking of a wedding reception location. We truly thank all who had a hand in the evening from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for all the work and effort you and the staff did to make our day so special. Well done to all involved and a great big THANK YOU to The Holiday Inn." - Kim and Jay, September 18, 2010