The Burlington Downtown Business Association is celebrating 40 years of memories!

We’re inviting all residents and business owners to join us for a walk down memory lane.  Maybe you got engaged under the cherry blossoms at Spencer Smith Park,  celebrated a special milestone at one of our restaurants, saw your favourite band at Sound of Music, started your first job at one of our retailers, or cut the ribbon to open the doors of your first business? Share your favourite memory of Burlington Downtown for a chance to make even more memories with one of 3 grand-prize overnight visits to our beautiful downtown core. View full contest here.

Story Submission by Silvia Robinson

I have a million wonderful memories of Downtown Burlington! Like all the early sunrise walks I’ve taken on the pier, or the yearly rib fest festivities, or the time I participated in the Elf Run with my new puppy and the Santa Run I did the year after that with a more mature, better-behaved puppy…but I will share my favourite memory of all.

I married the love of my life on November 9, 2019 and we chose Burlington as our wedding theme! While my husband and I are both non-natives to Burlington, we made this decision because Burlington is the best community to live in Canada (https://www.macleans.ca/economy/canadas-best-communities-to-live-2019/) and it is the city we had already put down our roots and called home for 5 years together. We are also firm believers in supporting local business and so we did just that to celebrate such a huge life event.

We chose to get married at Spencer’s at the Waterfront for a sunset wedding. It had always been my dream to dine at this restaurant because I kept hearing amazing reviews from all our friends and colleagues about their food and the views but never had the opportunity. We wanted an intimate celebration location that was close to our home, and could host our official ceremony, cocktail hour, and celebratory dinner. Without ever visiting the restaurant, we booked their elegant private room to seat our 16 guests which included our closest family and friends for a beautiful evening. The staff were absolutely incredible from start to finish. The food and drinks options were simply outstanding. They handled every request with such care, it seemed as though we were the only people in the restaurant that entire evening – albeit, it was a busy Saturday night.

Our wedding was officiated by a neighbouring local Rev. Deborah Coleman, who was an absolute angel in taming our jitters. Our raspberry white chocolate wedding cake was provided by Cakes Sweets & Treats – they treat their customers with individualized attention every time. We got to take home some complimentary samples and were please that they could provide a small, but very special, wedding cake. We recently had the pleasure to re-visit them to pick up our one year anniversary treats. I had my nails done at Vixen Spa in Burlington. We even hired a local arts student, resident of Burlington, to do some wedding photography and a local magician to entertain our guests on-site. All of these individuals provided excellent services every step of the way and catered to any and all of our specific questions and needs. We made sure to spread their services through word of mouth and social media as best as we could – well deserved!

We chose to stay at the Waterfront Hotel in Downtown Burlington for an official honeymoon night. The best part was that we got to take a romantic, but chilly, stroll from Spencer’s to our hotel room through Spencer Smith Park feeling overjoyed and full of happiness and hope for our future together as the new Mr. and Mrs. We got a gorgeous room overlooking Lake Ontario. In the morning, we opted for late check-out in order to try the Pierside B&B and ordered delicious room service.

Every time we drive by Downtown Burlington, we are amazed and proud of the beauty around us – and count our blessings that we get to call Burlington our home. We now have profoundly positive memories of this area that will live in our hearts forever. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to re-visit a moment in time where social gatherings were a joyful and loving privilege full of hugs and physical togetherness. Please enjoy some pictures of this wonderful evening and thank you for joining me down my memory lane.