Everything for a Wedding Reception
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A Hunter Valley wedding tends to run across a whole weekend rather than a single evening, so the reception venue is only half the booking. The other half is where everyone sleeps. Most of the reception rooms here sit in Pokolbin and Mount View, among the vines, and most of the stays are within the same few roads, which keeps the walk or shuttle from dance floor to bed short.
Start with seated numbers. Bistro Molines in Mount View seats up to 90 at long tables for a French menu from $110 per person. Greystone Estate in Pokolbin takes 125 seated with the whole 10-acre property to yourselves, and its 15 king suites sleep 32. Ben Ean handles the bigger lists, with its heritage-listed Courtyard seating 300 and packages from $80 per person including venue hire. Mount View Estate goes further again, with a rooftop terrace for up to 1,000.
Ceremony and reception in one place is possible at a few properties. Willow Tree Estate has a ceremony garden and the Norfolk Room on seven acres, and sleeps 40 across 12 bedrooms. Nirvana Vista Estate in Rothbury can host a garden wedding for up to 70 on top of the accommodation.
How the reception options sort by style:
Once the venue is held, block out rooms for guests before the date fills. Lock in a celebrant too: Monty King Celebrant and Married By Max include travel. Then book the hire: Novo Party Hire, Lovers Lane Weddings & Events and Love Glows deliver marquees, service bars, champagne towers and light-up LOVE letters, and OMG Booths brings a photo booth with no travel charge across the valley. Browse all wedding reception venues or go straight to holiday houses and villas for the bridal party.
Ben Ean seats 300 in its Courtyard and 110 in the Laraghy Room, Greystone Estate seats 125, and Iron Gate Estate takes up to 100 on whole-estate hire. Twine Restaurant's Barrel Room holds up to 150 guests.
Willow Tree Estate has a ceremony garden and the Norfolk Room on seven acres, and sleeps 40. Nirvana Vista Estate in Rothbury hosts garden weddings for up to 70 for a fee on top of accommodation. Bluebush Estate in Lovedale also hosts weddings on its grounds. Enzo Weddings in Pokolbin seats 150 in an air-conditioned glass chapel with the reception room on the same site, The Woodhouse Wollombi has five ceremony spots on its estate, and Adams Peak Country Estate at Broke pairs a ceremony lawn with its barn. Celebrants who travel to the vineyards and also MC the reception include Married By Adam, Jaya Bargwanna Celebrant, Sarah Chippindale Celebrant and Love & Life with Louise. Heaps Married Ceremonies starts from $700, and Michelle & Dusty Wedding Ceremonies from $770 with optional arbours and draping for the ceremony site. Julie Muir Celebrant, Wed By Kez Celebrant and Lyndal Johnston The Travelling Celebrant also cover Pokolbin and Cessnock.
Bluebush Estate sleeps 44 across four houses and two cabins, Lovedale Country Estate books its large houses as one estate, and Hermitage Lodge offers exclusive use for up to 60. Woolshed Hill Estate sleeps 34 across three houses.
Greystone Estate's 15 king suites sleep 32, so a core group can stay the weekend. Mount View Estate can arrange a full-estate takeover with on-site accommodation, and Wine Country Retreat books whole for 40 with its own dining room.
Listed starting points include Krinklewood Estate from $50 per person, Chateau Elan from $79 per person, Ben Ean from $80 per person including venue hire, Greystone Estate from $85 per person and Bistro Molines from $110 per person.
Huntlee Tavern in North Rothbury has indoor and outdoor function areas with DJ or band set-ups, and The Family Hotel in Maitland runs a roaming canapé package from $42 per person for groups of 25 and up. Hunter River Hotel in East Maitland has an upstairs room with its own bar and balcony for 50 to 150, from $2,000 minimum spend, Harrigan's Hunter Valley has a 500-guest open-air terrace in Pokolbin, and Club Singleton's auditorium seats 260 with the Function Room joined on. Wherever the reception is, live music can travel to it: Colour Theory, a five-piece covers band, has played Peterson House and Adams Peak, The Verweys move from an acoustic duo at the ceremony to a four-piece band at dinner, and Duality's singer and keyboard packages start from $500.
Creative Events Hire & Weddings supplies arbours, chair covers and centrepieces, The Event Master brings wine barrel bars, vintage lounges and festoon lighting, and Love Glows installs fairy light canopies over vineyard dance floors. For photos, SteelCityBooths, Creative Booth and Hunter Valley Mirror Booth all travel to Pokolbin and Cessnock venues. For flowers, Lily and Mae designs florals as part of full room styling, Cottage & Co moves ceremony pieces to the reception where it suits, and Edwards & Day and Hunter Valley Bouquets cover ceremony and reception setups. Rope & Pulley, Memento Collective, Artisan Photographs and Bedroom Studio shoot photo and film as one team. For the wedding cars, Classic Limousines Newcastle has three matching ivory Vanden Plas Princess limousines seating six each, Krusin Kombis offers two chauffeured VW Kombis from $1,400, and H2 Hunter Hummers has a wedding package with red carpet, ribbons and a drinks and food platter.
