HOW TO DESIGN A WEDDING AT W TORONTO
Inside the First Wedding Designed at the Reimagined Yorkville Hotel — Marly & Daniel
Marly & Daniel beneath a custom tangerine portal — a bold, architectural reinterpretation of the chuppah, framing the Yorkville greenery. Photo: Kayla Rocca Photography.
Ethereal Creators was the first design studio to execute a wedding at W Toronto following the hotel's renovation. Here's what we learned about designing in this bold new Yorkville space — and how we brought Marly & Daniel's tangerine-and-green celebration to life.
Every so often, a venue comes along that rewrites the rules — and a designer gets the rare privilege of being first through the door. When W Toronto reopened its reimagined event space in the heart of Yorkville, Ethereal Creators was the first studio to design and execute a wedding in it. That's not a line we take lightly: being first means there's no playbook, no past floor plans to borrow, no "this is how it's done here." You read the room, solve its quirks in real time, and design something the space has never seen.
The couple was Marly & Daniel, and their vision was anything but safe: a fashion-forward celebration in vivid tangerine and lush green, as bold and modern as the W itself. Working alongside planner Nicole Blair Events and captured by Kayla Rocca Photography, we built a wedding that felt like it was made for this room — because, quite literally, it was. Below: how to design a wedding at W Toronto, what we learned as the first to do it, and a look inside Marly & Daniel's day.
Quick Answer: Designing a Wedding at W Toronto
W Toronto is a bold, modern hotel in Yorkville (90 Bloor Street East) whose renovated event space suits design-forward weddings of up to ~200 guests. The room is light-filled and contemporary with floor-to-ceiling windows and a statement central bar — so design with the architecture, embrace asymmetry around the bar, and lean into colour, because the space carries it beautifully. Key logistics to plan for: a small service elevator (tall structures must be built in sections), but an easy loading dock for a smooth move-in. Ethereal Creators was the first studio to design a wedding here post-renovation.
The Venue at a Glance
W Toronto
Address: 90 Bloor Street East, Toronto, ON M4W 1A7 (Yorkville)
Style: Bold, modern, design-led luxury hotel — W Hotels' signature energy
Event space: Reimagined post-renovation; light-filled with floor-to-ceiling windows & a statement central bar
Capacity: Intimate but seats up to ~200 guests
Signature features: Central round bar, city & greenery views, contemporary interiors, in-house catering
Logistics: Small service elevator (build tall pieces in sections); easy loading dock for move-in
Best for: Couples who want a modern, fashion-forward wedding that breaks from the traditional ballroom
Designer note: W Toronto is for the couple who doesn't want a predictable ballroom. It rewards bold colour and modern design — exactly the brief Marly & Daniel gave us.
Marly & Daniel: A Tangerine-and-Green Celebration
Marly & Daniel wanted colour, confidence, and nothing expected. We built their palette around vivid tangerine and persimmon, grounded by lush architectural greens — birds of paradise, green cymbidium orchids, bells of Ireland — with sparks of coral and red. It's a palette most couples would never be brave enough to commit to, and it's exactly why the day looked like nothing else.
The ceremony: a monolithic tangerine portal on a raised orange platform, flanked by abundant green-and-white florals, framing the floor-to-ceiling windows. A modern take on the chuppah. Photo: Kayla Rocca Photography.
For the ceremony, we reimagined the chuppah as a bold architectural statement: a clean tangerine portal on a raised orange platform, framing the floor-to-ceiling windows and the greenery beyond, softened by lavish arrangements of green hydrangea, delphinium and white blooms. Modern, graphic, and deeply intentional — a sacred moment rendered in the couple's own language.
The reception, designed around W Toronto's statement central bar — rust-toned pooling linens, mirrored chairs, towering birds of paradise and candlelight. Photo: Kayla Rocca Photography.
The reception leaned all the way in. Long banquet tables in rust-and-tangerine pooling satin, mirrored chairs that bounced the candlelight, and dramatic glass cylinders of birds of paradise reaching skyward — punctuated by clusters of orange gerbera, green hydrangea and bells of Ireland. The W's round, gold-lit central bar anchored the room, and rather than hide it, we made it part of the choreography.
Tablescape detail — birds of paradise, green hydrangea and coral gerbera against an orange-striped backdrop and monogram. Photo: Kayla Rocca Photography.
The details: Marly & Daniel's custom tangerine stationery suite, Jimmy Choo shoes and ring boxes on velvet. Photo: Kayla Rocca Photography.
What We Learned as the First to Design Here
Being first means discovering the room's character — and its quirks — for everyone who comes after. Here's the insider knowledge we'd give any couple or planner considering W Toronto.
1. Design around the central bar — and embrace asymmetry
A statement round bar sits in the middle of the room. It's a gift, not an obstacle — but it does mean the space won't lay out symmetrically. Rather than fight for a mirror-image floor plan, we designed with the bar as a central anchor and let the room flow asymmetrically around it.
Designer note: Don't chase symmetry here. A confident asymmetric layout that treats the bar as a feature looks intentional; forcing symmetry looks like a compromise.
2. The service elevator is small — build tall structures in sections
This is the single most important logistical note: the elevator will not fit a 10-foot structure. Anything tall — like our ceremony portal — has to be engineered to break down and assemble on site. Because we build custom and in-house, we designed Marly & Daniel's structures in transportable sections and assembled them in the room.
Designer note: Ask your designer how they'll get large pieces upstairs. A studio that builds custom and modular (like us) can deliver scale here; one relying on pre-built rentals may be stuck at the elevator.
3. Move-in is easy — the loading dock is excellent
The flip side of the elevator: getting everything to the room is genuinely smooth. The loading dock and transport route to the main space made move-in efficient, which matters enormously on a tight install timeline.
Designer note: Good loading access means more of your install window goes to design, not logistics — a real advantage for ambitious decor.
4. It's intimate, but it seats 200
The footprint is more compact than a traditional hotel ballroom, yet it comfortably holds up to 200 guests with a smart plan. The intimacy is part of the charm — guests feel close to the action and the design reads as immersive rather than sparse.
Designer note: Lean into the intimacy. Concentrated, full tablescapes and a strong central moment make a compact room feel lavish.
5. The space is modern and light-filled — give it bold colour
Floor-to-ceiling windows, clean contemporary lines, and city-and-greenery views make this a canvas that takes saturated colour beautifully. A safe, neutral palette would be wasted here; Marly & Daniel's tangerine-and-green proved how much the room can carry.
Designer note: If you've ever wanted to be brave with colour, this is the room for it. The architecture holds bold design without tipping into too much.
6. Design with the windows and the views
The wall of glass is one of W Toronto's best features — by day it floods the room with light; by evening it frames the city. We positioned the ceremony portal to frame the greenery and kept reception sightlines open to the glass.
Designer note: Keep tall, dense decor away from the windows. Frame the view; don't block it.
The Dream Team
Design & Florals: Ethereal Creators
Planning: Nicole Blair Events
Photography: Kayla Rocca Photography
Venue: W Toronto — 90 Bloor Street East, Yorkville
A wedding this seamless is a team effort — we're grateful to have designed alongside such talented partners.
Frequently Asked Questions: W Toronto Weddings
Can you have a wedding at W Toronto?
Yes. W Toronto's reimagined event space in Yorkville hosts weddings of up to about 200 guests. Ethereal Creators was the first design studio to execute a wedding in the renovated space.
How many guests fit at a W Toronto wedding?
The space is intimate but comfortably seats up to 200 guests, thanks to a well-planned floor plan.
Where is W Toronto located?
At 90 Bloor Street East in Yorkville — one of Toronto's most stylish neighbourhoods, steps from designer shopping and dining.
What style of wedding suits does W Toronto?
Modern, design-forward and colourful. The contemporary, light-filled space with its statement central bar rewards bold palettes and architectural decor rather than a traditional ballroom look.
What should couples know about designing decor at W Toronto?
Plan for a small service elevator — tall structures must be built in sections — but expect easy access to the loading dock for move-in. Design around the central bar and embrace an asymmetric layout. A studio that builds custom and in-house, like Ethereal Creators, is best suited to the space.
As the first studio to design a wedding in this space, we know exactly how to make it sing. If you're drawn to W Toronto's bold, modern energy and want a celebration as fearless as Marly & Daniel's, let's design yours.
