Everything for 40th Birthday Parties
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Forty is often the birthday where friends travel in from elsewhere, and that changes the planning. If most guests are coming from out of town, the party becomes a weekend, and the venue question becomes where everyone sleeps.
Greystone Estate on Hermitage Road is set up for exactly that: the whole 10-acre property is yours, the in-house chef cooks, and 15 king suites sleep 32. Mount View Estate can arrange a full-estate takeover with accommodation, and Chateau Elan pairs a function room with golf and a spa for the morning after, and Hunter Valley Resort + Farm in Pokolbin has 35 rooms beside its cooking school. To give the weekend a group outing, Majors Lane Cooking School in Lovedale runs private barbecue, Thai or Greek classes for 6 to 18 that finish with lunch, and Tulloch Wines seats each booking in its own tasting area for wine with handmade chocolates or cheese and charcuterie.
If it's a single day, a long lunch with wine and speeches is the Hunter's natural format:
For a 40th that keeps going after dark, stay in town. The Dining Room @ The Pourhouse on Maitland's High Street seats about 40, with bands in the front bar on Friday and Saturday nights. The George Tavern in East Maitland gives you a courtyard bar of your own, Hunter River Hotel nearby has an upstairs room with a private bar and balcony for 50 to 150, and Huntlee Tavern at North Rothbury can book a DJ. Add a photo booth from Creative Booth, which covers the full event, or from Photobooths Newcastle, which prints two copies of every photo. Love Glows can add neon and fairy light canopies. For an easygoing afternoon instead, Hunter Valley Sports & Social (East Cessnock Bowling Club) in Cessnock pairs barefoot bowls with an auditorium for the celebration.
Greystone Estate is hired exclusively with 15 king suites sleeping 32, so a core group can stay the whole weekend. Mount View Estate can arrange on-site accommodation with a full-estate takeover. To move everyone between the house and the cellar doors, Big Daddy Party Bus's six-hour hire starts from $1,200 with driver and fuel included, and Krusin Kombis' vintage VW hire, from $1,400, runs regularly to Pokolbin, Lovedale, Broke and Cessnock.
Ben Ean's private event packages start from $80 per person including venue hire, and Iron Gate Estate's Iberian share menus are $95 per person. Amanda's on the Edge sets a menu from $135 per person with a bottle of wine for every two guests.
Huntlee Tavern can arrange live music, a DJ and presentation gear. For a big dance floor, Mount View Estate has two halls that each hold 400 standing.
Twine Restaurant's private dining room takes 20 seated or 35 casual, and Iron Gate Estate's Fénix Room seats 22 at one table. Ben Ean's Laraghy Room is larger, seating up to 110 with a private balcony. Harrigan's Hunter Valley on Broke Road has a 30-seat private room, with set menus and finger food packages from $42 per person.
The Royal Muswellbrook is a restored 1893 hotel with six function areas for up to 100. Set menus start from $60 per person, and guests can stay in the rooms upstairs.
Creative Booth brings party, open and 360 video booths to Cessnock and Pokolbin from $499, covering the full event up to five hours. Love Glows hires neon signs and light-up letters from $429 and travels as far as Singleton and Broke.
Several family wineries run group tastings. Pepper Tree Wines hosts 9 to 16 guests through at least six estate wines, De Iuliis Wines takes groups behind the scenes from press to bottle, Tulloch Wines matches wine with local handmade chocolates, and Wine House Hunter Valley pours two flights from independent Hunter makers. Hunter Valley Resort + Farm adds chef-led cooking, candy or pizza classes and grape stomping, and a short way south in Sweetmans Creek, Hollybrook Hunter Valley runs Art N Sip painting from $88 per person, with each guest taking their canvas home.
