Garden Weddings
Two gazebo's and a pergola are
sited within the gardens and are suitable for wedding ceremonies of varying
sizes.
Up to twenty chairs are provided
adjacent to the wedding ceremony site so that ample seating is available for the
elderly or those who may require to be seated. Additional chairs can be
provided at a small charge if required. A clothed table, with two chairs,
is also provided for the signing of the registry.
During wedding ceremonies, the
bridal cars are permitted to drive on the lawn areas to designated drop off
points close to the venue being used in the gardens.
A popular arrival method
is by Horse and Carriage or Harley Trikes. These are often retained for
photographic sessions on completion of the wedding ceremony. We have also
had a number of arrivals by Helicopter.
The average garden wedding
ceremony will take about 20-25 minutes (the shortest we have had is 8 minutes
and the longest about 45 minutes). In our planning, we allow for 30
minutes. "Fashionably Late" is no more than five minutes!
If you are having your reception
at our venue, then, once your reception start time has been determined, work
back 2.5 hours for your ceremony start time.
If you are not having your
reception at our venue, then you will need to time your ceremony and photos so
that all is complete by 3:00 pm.
Wedding Photos
After your ceremony, you can use
the gardens as your backdrop for beautiful wedding photos.
We generally recommend to allow two
hours for your photographic session. Of-course, two hours is fine as long
as you are not planning to travel elsewhere for photos as well. If you
are, then please allow for travel time in your planning.
If your Photographer has not been
to Willow Pond before, please ask them to visit the venue a few weeks beforehand
so that come your day, they have a good idea of what to do and where to go.
Wedding Receptions
Three separate reception rooms are available to ensure your privacy. Two
of the reception rooms are capable of seating up to 150 guests, plus your Bridal Table and
the third, smaller reception room, up to 50 guests including the Bridal Table.
For evening receptions, we
generally work with a 6:00, 6:30 or 7:00 pm start time. We will not have
two receptions starting at the same time, so whomever gets in first, gets their
choice of start time. Evening sit-down receptions are a five hour event
and a Cocktail reception is a four hour event.
All lunch time receptions are 4
hour events and must conclude a minimum of two hours before any evening
function.
We do not charge for the use of a
clothed and skirted Cake Table and Present Table. We also do not charge to
"cut your Wedding Cake" (although you will need to supply us with the Cake
Bags). After the Wedding Cake has been "cut and bagged", we place the
portions into a cane basket and this is given to your Bridesmaids to distribute
to your guests.
Your DJ is the person who will
make-or-break your reception. They are the one who sets the overall
atmosphere of the event and if you have a bad one, then your guests may not have
such a good time.
Invitations
We recommend that you send out your
invitations to your guests about six weeks prior to your wedding reception
(local guests - longer for interstate or overseas guests) and have your RSVP
four weeks prior to your wedding reception.
We conduct our "final interview"
three weeks prior, so this gives you a week to 'chase up' all those who didn't
RSVP. Talking to most Bride and Grooms, an average of 25% of their guests
did not, or forgot to RSVP. The longer you give them to think about it,
the less that will RSVP as your invitation has been placed under the fridge
magnet and forgotten about.
Another good thing to ask guests to
RSVP with is any special catering requirements, for example; if they are
vegetarian, what will and what will they not eat; are the any allergies (8% of
the population is allergic to shell fish) etc. If we are aware to any of
these issues, then we can easily cater for them on the day.
Free Bridal Expo
We hold two Free Bridal Expo's per
year where the majority of things that you will need for your Wedding and
Reception will be on display.
Usually, they are held on the 3rd
Sunday of February and the 2nd Sunday of September but please check our
Events page for the actual date of our next show.
