Venue Guide · Ottawa, Ontario

Mill Street Brewery — 177 years old,
on the Ottawa River, and one of our favourites

A heritage building on Wellington Street with great food, local beer on tap, river views, and photography spots we keep coming back to. This one has personality.

Mill Street Brewery is one of those venues that earns its reputation before the first guest sits down. The building has been standing since 1847, it sits right on the Ottawa River, and it brings the kind of unpretentious warmth that’s genuinely hard to manufacture. Parking on-site, food that people actually talk about, and local beer on tap — the basics are well covered. But it’s the surroundings that really set it apart.

Wellington Street and the Ottawa River give you a mix of heritage architecture, waterfront views, and open space that most city venues just don’t have access to. And if your wedding falls in spring, there’s a cherry blossom moment just outside the venue that we’ve seen completely take couples by surprise. We photographed Kailyn and Aaron here on a perfect sunny spring day — the blossoms showed up, the vibes were high all day, and the whole thing felt effortless in the best possible way.

For couples who want a relaxed, character-filled wedding that still photographs beautifully, Mill Street is a hard venue to talk people out of. Good energy, great beer, and a building that’s been part of Ottawa longer than most things in this city.