Events
Weddings
About forty a year, most of them between November and March. One coordinator from the first visit to the last taxi, and the whole party can sleep in the building.
Where the day happens
Ceremonies go on the north terrace, which holds 90 seated with the city behind you, or inside The Kauri Room when the nor’wester says otherwise. The decision is made at ten in the morning on the day, by you and the coordinator together, and both rooms are set either way so it costs nothing to change your mind.
Photographs happen on the drive under the old macrocarpas, in the pines above the car park, or up at Victoria Park two minutes away. Most couples do all three and are back inside inside forty minutes.
Dinner is in The Kauri Room: 120 seated at rounds, 100 with a dance floor and a band. Dancing runs to midnight, or to one o’clock with the doors shut, because we have neighbours on a quiet road.
What it costs
Two packages and a bare room. Every figure below is per person unless it says otherwise, GST included, and none of it changes after the agreement is signed.
| Room hire only | NZ$2,400 for The Kauri Room for the day and the evening, including the ceremony set-up, the tables, the linen and the staff to run it. Catering and drinks charged on top. |
|---|---|
| The seated package | NZ$164 a head. Canapés on arrival, three courses, tea and coffee, the cake cut and plated, and the room. From 60 people. |
| The long table package | NZ$139 a head. Shared plates down the middle, bread, two mains, sides, one dessert. From 40 people, and the one most couples choose. |
| Drinks | On consumption at bar prices, or a package at NZ$52 a head for four hours. We will tell you honestly which one is cheaper for your guest list. |
| Accommodation | Ten rooms held at 12% off the season rate until eight weeks out, and the Heartwood Suite for the couple at no charge on the night. |
| Deposit | NZ$2,000 to hold the date, then a third at six months and the balance ten days before. Full refund of the deposit for any cancellation more than nine months out. |
Practical answers to the usual questions
Wet weather. There is no wet-weather surcharge and no separate wet-weather plan to buy. The room is set for both from the start.
Suppliers. Use whoever you like. We have a list of the florists, celebrants, bands and photographers who have worked here and know the building, but it is a list, not a rule.
Noise. Amplified music finishes at midnight, or one o’clock inside with the doors and windows shut. This is a residential road and the condition is on the resource consent, not a preference of ours.
Children. Welcome. There is a room off the hall with a door, a television and a supply of cushions, which by nine o’clock has usually filled up.
The gaming room. The Rimu Room stays open on its own terms and is not part of any wedding package. Guests aged 20 and over may use it as anyone else would; nobody under 20 goes in, wedding or not.
The first visit
Come and walk it. Saturday mornings are usually free because the Saturday wedding is not in yet, and the coordinator will give you an hour and a coffee with no obligation attached to either.
Bring: a rough date, a rough number, and whether the ceremony is here or somewhere else. That is enough to price the day properly. Everything else — the colour of the linen, whether there is a first dance, who sits where — can wait months.