Plan an Event

Galas & Award Nights · how to plan in Toronto & the GTA

Everything on EventPlans.ca for Galas & Award Nights: planning guides, ideas, lessons from the free Academy and the vendors who work these events in Toronto and the GTA.

Where to start

Set the budget with the budget calculator (it shows HST and contingency).
Build the dates backwards with the timeline generator.
Shortlist rooms in the venue directory and acts with the entertainment finder.
Run the day from a run of show.

Blank desk planner with colour-coded tabs on a windowsill desk

Venues

Calgary TELUS Convention Centre

300+ guests

A downtown convention centre with 122,000 sq ft of meeting space in 36 rooms and a multi-purpose hall, connected to three downtown…

Patterned light beams sweeping a crowded wedding dance floor

Venues

Craigdarroch Castle

Outdoor space

A Victorian-era mansion museum that rents its rooms and South Lawn after hours.

White-gloved hand reaching into an upturned top hat under a spotlight

Venues

Victoria Conference Centre

300+ guests

A downtown conference centre run by Destination Greater Victoria, with about 77,000 sq ft over two levels plus the Crystal Garden, a…

Empty stage with crossing beams of amber and blue light through haze

Venues

Fairmont Empress

300+ guests

In-house catering · Outdoor space

A historic railway hotel on Victoria's Inner Harbour with about 18,000 sq ft of meeting space.

Venues

Vancouver Maritime Museum

Outdoor space

A maritime history museum in Vanier Park with an events gallery, a lobby and an outdoor terrace over English Bay.

Planner’s hands sorting coloured paper chips into piles beside a calculator

Venues

Vancouver Convention Centre

300+ guests

A two-building convention centre on Vancouver's downtown waterfront with 466,500 sq ft of meeting, exhibition, ballroom and plenary space.

Servers lined up with plates below a wall clock in a service corridor

Directory Independent

Elevation Audiovisual (Elevation AV)

AV, Lighting, Production, Sound, Staging · Typical events $1,000 to $10,000 (company's published range)

Event production company from Trenton, Ontario: audio, video, lighting and staging equipment with crew, for events from Toronto to Kingston.

Venues

Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts

Richmond Hill · 300+ guests

The centre was built by the City of Richmond Hill at Yonge Street and Wright Street, on the former site of the…

Venues

Deer Creek Golf Club

Ajax · 300+ guests

In-house catering · Outdoor space

Deer Creek is a public golf facility in Ajax with 54 holes of golf.

Venues

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery

Oshawa · up to 250 guests

Licensed bar

The gallery building, about 36,000 sq ft, was designed by architect Arthur Erickson and sits in Oshawa's Civic Centre.

Venues Destination · overnight from Toronto

Deerhurst Resort

Muskoka

In-house catering

Deerhurst is a resort on about 760 acres near Huntsville in Muskoka.

Venues

Chateau Le Jardin

Vaughan · 300+ guests

In-house catering · Free parking

The venue has operated in Woodbridge since 1985.