HONEY AND SILK: Four Seasons Toronto | Our First Wedding Anniversary

In a quick, stealing glance, I trace his profile from his brow to his chin and I catch the soulful glimmer in his iris and I melt at the thought of our kids getting his nose. In an instance, I remember longingly daydreaming for my prince charming, in and out of past relationships and all the stages of growing from my teens to my 20s, and then I snap to my surreal presence of living out my fairytale with Kyle. It’s a beautiful fairytale, where the imperfections of reality meet fantastical bliss, where our marriage ebbs and flows to the tide of our maturing adulthood, but it’s perfect in the intangible, ungraspable love and commitment that brings an ease to happiness and fortitude to growing pains. Our first year of marriage was gone too quick through bouts of adventure, happiness, quandaries, and tons of chatter of babies or puppies or both. But there’s a whole lifetime to look forward to with my perfect partner.

Decidedly, Kyle and I wanted to choose a winter-y destination on the east coast to spend a long weekend away for our first wedding anniversary on November 5th. Toronto was the winner! Neither of us have been, and we both love Drake, so, that was that. We arranged a wonderful stay with the luxurious Four Seasons Toronto in Yorkville and once the Four Seasons staff learned it was our first anniversary, they went above and beyond to make our occasion significantly remarkable. This particular property is the Four Seasons flagship, so after all has been said and done, we shouldn’t have expected any less.

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We stayed on the top floor of the hotel in the spacious and relaxing premier room, with views that gave us dreamy autumn hues during the day and vivid city lights once the sun set. A lovely arrangement of sweets like Canadian maple greeted us when we arrived to our room and there was also a complete music setup with a giant speaker, record player, and sound board, because Kyle had asked for a record player for our favorite vinyl sessions. Megan from Guest Relations made that happen with no question and shared her Abbey Road vinyl from her personal collection with us. The best part of staying at the Four Seasons Toronto is that seemingly nothing is out of the question when it comes to the Four Seasons’ extraordinary hospitality. We were greeted by name like VIP at every point of the hotel, from the bar to the concierge to the valet and they always gave a sweet “happy anniverary” to us. Danny, the restaurant manager at Cafe Boulud (the hotel’s on-site restaurant by Chef Daniel Boulud) surprised us with a special round of champagne when we sat down for dinner at Bar Isabel on our last night in Toronto. Just before leaving for Bar Isabel, we sat for a cocktail at Cafe Boulud and chatted with him our plans for the evening; during the twenty minutes it took for us to close out, get an uber, and get to the restaurant, Danny made a call to the restaurant to give us this thoughtful, personalized surprise.

It’s the thought in the details and the unexpected personal effort, big or small, that make such a huge difference in the experience of a new city, a vacation, and a special occasion. The Four Seasons Toronto absolutely spoiled us and we can’t expect a greater, personal experience from anywhere else. Our long weekend went by almost too perfectly - it was spontaneous, new, and carefree. We truly felt like it was just us two in the city, without a single thought of work or distraction. Though, having a genuinely hospitable hotel and team working to make sure that the stay and experience was all about us had a bit to do with that.

Scroll down for my recommendations on things to do and restaurants in Toronto!

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