Wedding Reception Venues in Sutherland Shire

Garden, beach or local club: the Shire's reception venues fall into three camps, and the choice shapes everything from the guest list to the menu.

At Gymea, Hazel Kitchen and Bar borrows the gardens of the Hazelhurst Arts Centre, once the Broadhurst family home, for welcome drinks and portraits among the magnolias. Along the Cronulla coast, Sealevel, Summer Salt and The Founders Room each look out to the Pacific from a different beach.

Which Shire reception suits which couple:

• Garden photos, then dinner: Hazel Kitchen and Bar, all walnut tones with a marble bar over the dance floor and a deck to the gardens, for 120 seated
• A seafood dinner by the sea: Sealevel's circular room at 2 Kingsway, booked whole for 110 at the table, from $20,000 minimum spend
• A big family crowd on a club budget: the private Sylvania Room at Sylvania Bowling Club, which has a private bar and a dance floor, with canapés from $18 per person
• Relaxed pub hospitality: the Gymea Hotel opposite Gymea Station, from $1,000 minimum spend, whose Lounge has a bar of its own and bi-fold doors
• A beachfront buyout with live music: Summer Salt over Elouera Beach, with cocktail events from $75 per person

Couples planning something smaller can look at Lively Catch on President Avenue, Caringbah, for 50 to 100 from $80 per person, or Jack Gray at Grays Point, which seats 85 with the whole venue booked. The Founders Room, on top of Wanda Surf Club, sits at the other end of the scale.