My fiancee and I were looking for a place where we...

My fiancee and I were looking for a place where we could both get ready, and have our ceremony. We wanted to minimize running around and the Hilton Markham fit the bill.

We booked a room 8 months from our wedding day, and I was really looking forward to the Hilton Markham, as it was close by to our banquet hall, and for a hotel was quite nice. I had really wanted to like the Hilton Markham, and had high expectations - but due to a couple of snags I unfortunately can not give a full 5 star review.

Our coordinator from start to finish was awesome (Lorraine Shum - she deserves 5 out of 5 stars). Unfortunately there were a few things that came up that were beyond her control.

One week before our wedding, we were informed that the hotel would be undergoing "minor renovations" for the front lobby. The large open space was one of the main reasons we liked the hotel in the first place, and while we were dissapointed, I was still optimistic that it wouldnt be that bad.

Come day of when we arrived, the entire front lobby was sealed off with plastic and large construction walls - rendering the entire area utterly unusable for any sort of photos/video. Also due to the construction, our videographer had to get creative as when we were talking you would randomly hear a drill or a saw going on in the background.

I have NO clue whos bright idea it was to plan a 3 week construction project at the beginning of Sept when its still VERY busy for weddings. There were 3 other weddings happening that day there. I feel bad for the other couples that had their full reception there to deal with all that. There is an "off season" for maintenance such as this.

Our ceremony room for some reason seemed to NOT have any form of air circulation. I had asked one of the staff to turn up the AC but everyone in the room was still uncomfortably warm. After the ceremony everyone ran for the water station.

Lastly, during our photoshoot we had wanted to take some photos inside the hotel - basically the main reason why we booked the hotel in the first place. During our photoshoot there was an individual that was lingering around, maybe just a gawker. But then this individual came to my wedding party and told us that we had to LEAVE since we were not allowed to take photos.

My wedding party had to spend time explaining that we just got MARRIED UPSTAIRS and we were absolutely allowed to take photos.

We were not disrupting anyone or in anyones way whatsoever. After a brief discussion, this individual had to "talk to the front desk". After a bit of back and forth he informed us he would "give us another 5 minutes".

I was only informed of this after our photoshoot but this really annoyed me. From what I was told this individual worked for the Hilton with a name tag.

We had 4 rooms booked for more then 1 night, got married upstairs, and given the construction was forced to use one of the side hallways and to STILL be interrupted and "warned" that we were not allowed to take photos is why I have to dock a few stars. Its not one single event, none of the things I mentioned were "catastrophic" but overall this experience failed to meet my expectations.

I do not blame our coordinator as she was on the ball from start to finish and these were circumstances beyond her control.

The construction, the circulation in our ceremony room, and the individual that so rudely interrupted our photo session were all things beyond our coordinator's control - but given its the Hilton I really was dissapointed.

For anyone else looking to use this location for a ceremony location I would highly advise to ASK what other events may be happening on your big day to avoid issues. Events AND construction. And to also make sure to tell your coordinator to tell the front desk that you will be there taking photos on your big day to avoid any aggravation.

Despite these short comings I would still recommend the Hilton - as Lorraine is really THAT good and organized. The Hilton is very lucky to have her to compensate for their other short comings.