Little Wilderness Weddings
Frequently Asked Questions
Daytime Weddings
What are the benefits of having a daytime wedding?
You get more out of your day. Choosing an outdoor venue with beautiful settings like ours enables you to have photos taken during daylight hours and at sunset — a photographer’s dream!
It’s great for couples with young children or elderly guests as you they get plenty of time to celebrate with them, a lot more than you would with a traditional evening event.
A growing trend is more couples wanting to opt for a delicious long lunch instead of a sit-down dinner. Take advantage of the summer season and enjoy more flexibility in how the meal is served. It also means the catering costs are often heavily reduced.
A daytime wedding allows plenty of time to celebrate in style with your loved ones while saving some special evening time for yourselves, whether you keep dancing the night away elsewhere or retreat to you hotel room post-wedding!
What do we serve for lunch?
You can offer the traditional wedding fare but many like to make it a more relaxed occasion by bringing in food trucks or dessert carts. We’ve even had one wedding with Mr. Whippy — it went down a treat! The options are endless and we have many wonderful preferred suppliers we highly recommend.
What does the timeline typically look like?
To make the timeline work within our event hire hours of 8am - 6pm we suggest opting for a relaxed lunch rather than a formal seated meal.
Here’s an example timeline that can be adapted to suit your personal preferences for the day:
8am - Event Coordinator Arrival & Venue Setup
9am - Bridal Party Arrival & Florals Setup
10:30am - Guests Arrival
11am - Ceremony
11:30pm - Family and Group Photo / Toast
12pm - Bridal Photos and Cocktail + Canapés for Guests
12:30pm - Mains Served and Speeches
2pm - First Dance, Cake Cutting and Lawn Games
5:30pm - Guests Exit and Venue Pack-down
Can we still have dancing?
Absolutely! With the right music you can create a wonderful and fun atmosphere to cut some shapes. Best of all you don’t have to wait until end of the night to see your guests bust some moves.
What do our guests do after the wedding finishes?
The beauty of a daytime wedding is that it means guests are free to enjoy their evening how they wish. The more dedicated party goers can all converge at a bar in town to dance the night away while older guests and those with young families may choose to go home at a reasonable hour.
What do WE do after the wedding?
This is the best part, you get to spend the evening together as a married couple, however you like! Some continue the party by moving elsewhere while others like to have a quiet night at a hotel after the big day. Many are absolutely exhausted at the end of their wedding so they love the opportunity to relax and reflect on the day. You do you!
I’m interested in getting married at Little Wilderness. What’s the usual booking process?
It’s a simple stress-free process:
Explore our rates and inclusions.
Book a tour of our venue.
Accept and complete venue proposal + contract and pay the deposit to secure your wedding date.
Meet your event coordinator and start planning.
Choose your vendors including catering service and bar management. Please note: we require a Duty Manager for almost all non-wedding events where alcohol is consumed and your Event Coordinator will have their own requirements for service.
Other Questions:
What’s your style of venue hire?
We provide venue, furniture, limited bar facilities and post event venue clean, BYO drinks + catering with no hidden costs. There’s also 15 acres of curated wilderness including an orchard, stream, long grass meadows, modern glasshouse and regenerating bush providing lots of areas for stunning photos throughout the day and at sunset. So, not your average! We have plenty of birdlife including hawks, pheasants, ducks and more.
How many guests can we have?
Up to 80 but we also offer very intimate celebrations for events with 30 guests or less.
What are the noise restrictions?
To keep our venue events low-impact to the local community, we have to adhere to reasonable limits for music. Live performance is fine (in fact we love the atmosphere it brings!) as long as it’s acoustic instruments, and no drums or amplifiers please.
Do you have wifi?
Limited wifi is available and is the client’s responsibility to check signal before using.
Can I bring in whatever outside vendors I want?
Yes; all vendors and subcontractors must have required certification and relevant business insurance in order to be on site.
Are the kitchen facilities available for those vendors?
We don’t have a commercial kitchen however we have a dedicated catering space with sink, drinks chillers and food service trestles.
Is there tableware included?
No, however most caterers can provide this at minimal cost.
How many tables fit into the room?
Up to 10 tables sized 2.4m x 1m including the head tables.
What sound equipment is provided?
We have a portable PA and wireless mic for ceremony and a medium PA for reception music.
Can I bring my own PA gear?
We have you covered for a PA and try to ensure reasonable levels are kept throughout the event therefore we ask that you do not bring in any extra gear.
Is there room in the wedding venue for a band and/or dancing?
Yes, and again we do keep to reasonable noise levels and ask that only acoustic instruments are used.
Is it a licensed venue?
No but a special license can be organised if you require alcohol to be sold or supplied during for a function that isn’t a wedding or family event, such as a birthday.
Can we BYO?
BYO is encouraged and a bar manager must be provided and will be notified of last drinks 30 minutes before your event ends. Clients can bring in their own alcohol but guests may not bring in their own.
Is there enough lighting provided?
Photographers love the natural light in our venue and there’s ambient lighting for the evening + festoons.
Are you allowed to light candles?
Yes, provided that they are in hurricane jars.
Are there any limitations on decorations?
No, as long as no blu tack or sellotape is used and at least one week’s notice is given in case any fixings can be installed. Also, no fixings on our trestle tables please, including tape or 3M adhesive.
Are candles or other open flames allowed?
Open flames are allowed outside during open fire season as long as it has been organised with Little Wilderness prior to event.
Are there any hidden costs?
No, as long as you have requested all that you require prior to the event eg. if you need a portable generator on the day you are welcome to use it and we can take this out of the bond post-event.
What are the overtime charges?
Music and bar service needs to end 30 minutes prior to the end of your booking so all guests and vendors have 30 minutes to safely leave. Bond will be forfeited if there are still people on site after the agreed booking period.
How do you reduce the stress of the wedding day?
You get your ceremony, reception and photo area all in one spot while you guests enjoy their time rather than waiting around.
Do we have to use your in-house catering?
No, we are a BYO venue for catering and beverages. We encourage you to discover some of the amazing food options out there and we love meeting new vendors especially, food trucks and street cuisine. Choosing your own catering is a wonderful way to add a personal touch to your wedding day.
Do you provide crockery and catering?
No, however your caterer can provide this.
Do we have to clean the venue?
The cost for venue cleaning and rubbish management is included in most hire rates. Costs vary slightly between groups of up to 40 or up to 80. Just ensure you or your team puts the tables chairs back in the ready room at end of hire period so the cleaners can do their thing.
What if there’s a spill or breakage?
A cleaning kit can be found in the kitchen for any spills or breakages.
Why is your venue so rad?
Come and see for yourself!
What does the Little Wilderness venue manager do?
Our venue manager, George manages sales, tours and the maintenance of the venue to ensure the event coordination team have all they need to run events. The venue manager may be present for events during the week but weekend weddings are run solely by the event coordination team - they are your point of contact on the day.
What time do we need to have our belongings out by?
All items not belonging to LW need to be picked up next day by 10am but we are happy to help liaise with vendors if you organise in advance.
Can we use your large woodburner?
Yes. If your event is in winter we are happy to provide firewood at a cost should you want to get the large wood burner going in the shed.
Can we have a band?
Yes, we love live music but acoustic instruments only please. We reserve the right to request music to be turned down if it exceeds reasonable levels.
Can I bring my dog?
Yes, we are a dog friendly venue as long as all animals remain tied up for the protection of native birdlife and any droppings are picked up and put in the bin.
What can we do to help the venue environmentally?
We are on tank water so please scrape plates into food bin and rinse using tubs rather than running the taps in the sink continuously.
What else can we do to help?
We are on Bio-cycle wastewater so anything but human waste and tissue will harm the system and forfeit bond + incur fees for repair.
