Hunt for a Wedding Venue
Seeing Danny and I are and will be spending quite a bit of time and effort planning our wedding, I decided to document our adventures in planning quoting from Emily 'the biggest party of our lives'.
First logical on the agenda is venue. I have this 'obsession' of getting married next to the sea. I guess living close to a beach, I just love how the water colour is ever-changing. As we are not religious by any means, it makes sense for us to have the ceremony and reception at the same location. So with that in mind, our absolute criteria for the venue are:
The floating pavilion
One of the more unique venues we've visited, it's the only floating venue that we are aware of. The venue is currently 'floating' next to the viaduct carpark, the view is very much a mixture of metropolitan, industrial harbour feel. I was told by 2012 part of the ship container's yard will be the new 'party central'. The venue itself can comfortably sit up to 120 guests, catering, standard chairs,tables, table linen and cutlery are provided. We decided not to go with this because it doesn't have the 'vast' seaview we are after, and it lacks a ceremony location.
Romfords
Part of the Tamaki boat club. It has two rooms, the Romfords room (seat up to 80) which is on the seaside, and the bigger Commodore room (seat up to 120). The Romfords room has absolutely amazing 270 degrees of seaview that look over the Rangitoto Island! catering, standard chairs,tables, table linen and cutlery are provided. Unfortunately this doesn't have a good ceremony place, and the Romfords room which we like can only fit in a maximum of 80, which can be a problem if our guest list increase in the next year or two.
The Wharf
Situated at North Cote ferry terminal. Amazing view again, one side you have the serene beaches of the North shore, and on the other side, a total metropolitan view of the harbour bridge and the city. Again two different room option, The Grands is the one with most of the seaview so I will only review this one. The Grand which is a circular room with clever two circular level design around the windows, the middle of the room can fit in more tables, or a lounge area for smaller wedding, and on the inner wall the bridal party table. Very cleverly designed in a way so all the guests can see the view, and the bridal party and vice versa. The interior were very well designed by architectures, definitely the most 'luxurious' place we've checked out. There is a place for ceremony overlooking the harbour bridge, but it is rather small, i.e. for 80 guests most will have to stand. The pricing is also quite expensive, so we decided it wasn't worth the extra money for a less than perfect ceremony location.
McHughs
Two locations, both situated at Devonport. We were most impressed with the Cheltenham so will only review this option. Again STUNNING location, right by the waterfront overlooking Rangitoto. Apparently it's a popular buffet lunch restaurant, my parents have eaten there and quite liked it (so you know it'l have a good food). Quite a comfortably large room, reasonably well decorated interior. Again no place for ceremony, and plus because it opens for lunch everyday, we cannot access to the venue until after 4pm (which both Danny and I feel would be a rush to have the place set up.
The Dunes
Situated at the lovely beach of Onetangi beach at Waiheke. Excellent service I must add, they paid for our ferry ticket plus picked us up from the Ferry terminal. Very generous! The venue is right across the road from the beach, but it was very cleverly designed in a way where looking at the sea from in door, the road was completely blocked out by the fence, and the colour deco all complimented the view very well. It has a back garden with a waterfall in the middle where ceremonies can be held. Very rustic, cosy feeling venue. Catering, table linen, cutlery included but decorations is up to the bride and groom. It doesn't' have a very good rain option, and Danny and I felt for the hassle of organizing ferry and transport for our guests, it wasn't worth having it in a less than perfect place. But this was definitely one of our top choices.
So what did we end up going with? well.. undecided.... wait for the next entry for our top 2 choices :D
First logical on the agenda is venue. I have this 'obsession' of getting married next to the sea. I guess living close to a beach, I just love how the water colour is ever-changing. As we are not religious by any means, it makes sense for us to have the ceremony and reception at the same location. So with that in mind, our absolute criteria for the venue are:
- to be next to the sea or have a seaview
- need to have place for both ceremony and reception
- need to have a rain (back up) option for the ceremony
- a good room size to fit approx 80
The floating pavilion
One of the more unique venues we've visited, it's the only floating venue that we are aware of. The venue is currently 'floating' next to the viaduct carpark, the view is very much a mixture of metropolitan, industrial harbour feel. I was told by 2012 part of the ship container's yard will be the new 'party central'. The venue itself can comfortably sit up to 120 guests, catering, standard chairs,tables, table linen and cutlery are provided. We decided not to go with this because it doesn't have the 'vast' seaview we are after, and it lacks a ceremony location.
Romfords
Part of the Tamaki boat club. It has two rooms, the Romfords room (seat up to 80) which is on the seaside, and the bigger Commodore room (seat up to 120). The Romfords room has absolutely amazing 270 degrees of seaview that look over the Rangitoto Island! catering, standard chairs,tables, table linen and cutlery are provided. Unfortunately this doesn't have a good ceremony place, and the Romfords room which we like can only fit in a maximum of 80, which can be a problem if our guest list increase in the next year or two.
The Wharf
Situated at North Cote ferry terminal. Amazing view again, one side you have the serene beaches of the North shore, and on the other side, a total metropolitan view of the harbour bridge and the city. Again two different room option, The Grands is the one with most of the seaview so I will only review this one. The Grand which is a circular room with clever two circular level design around the windows, the middle of the room can fit in more tables, or a lounge area for smaller wedding, and on the inner wall the bridal party table. Very cleverly designed in a way so all the guests can see the view, and the bridal party and vice versa. The interior were very well designed by architectures, definitely the most 'luxurious' place we've checked out. There is a place for ceremony overlooking the harbour bridge, but it is rather small, i.e. for 80 guests most will have to stand. The pricing is also quite expensive, so we decided it wasn't worth the extra money for a less than perfect ceremony location.
McHughs
Two locations, both situated at Devonport. We were most impressed with the Cheltenham so will only review this option. Again STUNNING location, right by the waterfront overlooking Rangitoto. Apparently it's a popular buffet lunch restaurant, my parents have eaten there and quite liked it (so you know it'l have a good food). Quite a comfortably large room, reasonably well decorated interior. Again no place for ceremony, and plus because it opens for lunch everyday, we cannot access to the venue until after 4pm (which both Danny and I feel would be a rush to have the place set up.
The Dunes
Situated at the lovely beach of Onetangi beach at Waiheke. Excellent service I must add, they paid for our ferry ticket plus picked us up from the Ferry terminal. Very generous! The venue is right across the road from the beach, but it was very cleverly designed in a way where looking at the sea from in door, the road was completely blocked out by the fence, and the colour deco all complimented the view very well. It has a back garden with a waterfall in the middle where ceremonies can be held. Very rustic, cosy feeling venue. Catering, table linen, cutlery included but decorations is up to the bride and groom. It doesn't' have a very good rain option, and Danny and I felt for the hassle of organizing ferry and transport for our guests, it wasn't worth having it in a less than perfect place. But this was definitely one of our top choices.
So what did we end up going with? well.. undecided.... wait for the next entry for our top 2 choices :D
Labels: wedding planning adventure
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