So my sister is getting married in a month, and her single request to me as she handed me my maid-of-honor cap was to organize some sort of pre-wedding, soul-sister-bonding, moon-howling, drum-circling, vegan-cookie-recipe-swapping weekend with her closest friends and relatives. It needed to be relatively close to Toronto, cheap enough for indy business owners' salaries, and big enough to accommodate 17 people, nine meals worth of food, and a heckova lotta love. No sweat, right? Thanks to this place, and Cindo, its chaplain, it really wasn't. Five Oaks is a large, sprawling retreat space comprised of smaller cabins, our own Chalet (in which our crew only occupied about 70% of the bunk beds), a pool, nature trails, wide open fields in which to play noodle hockey, and apparently God, although we didn't have much use for that element, and thankfully no one took notice. Our Chalet, while perhaps a little more industrial dorm than rustic cabin, boasted a sizable kitchen with new appliances and cooking utensils (pots and pans, etc), comfy bunk beds with clean linens, a gas grill, and a large fire pit onsite, only a quiet walk under warm, windy trees away. The staff was amazing: Cindo checked up on us like a warm aunt who is just so glad her investment of a summer cabin is paying off, and several others dropped by just to see how things were going and replenish toilet paper. The Chalet was a flat fee of $800 from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon, which, split between 17 people came to decidedly less than a few rounds of tequila and renting a male stripper. Plus, parking is a breeze and Paris (or Brant, apparently?) is only an hour drive from Toronto along the 403. But take our collective advice: if you happen to decide to do the drive during the dinner hour, don't pull off in Hamilton and eat here: http://www.yelp.ca/biz/lazy-flamingo-hamilton#hrid:p9QIe8av3kylFN0KU4Rh8Q/src:self. You're better served eating the sesame oil and dish soap we left in the kitchen for the next lucky group. read more

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