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After about 6 weeks of searching, we have finally chosen our wedding reception venue. Our wedding will be taking place at Lauriston House in early April 2008.The staff are friendly and the food is great however there are some things to watch out for when choosing Lauriston House as with any venue.

Originally when we were looking for reception venues we overlooked Lauriston House as it is my belief that any venue we choose will have a website at this day in age present with powerful impacting high quality photoshoped photos. Also we overlooked any website which did not include the PRICE on the site along with the inclusions and exclusions. This to me make me think that a venue is trying to hide something. We were looking at Curzon Hall which with their winter packages including extras not in the summer packages and would be $124 per head. At Lauriston House we were quoted $110 per head and thinking we were getting a good deal compared to others we ended up choosing Lauriston. To our dismay we ended up paying $121 per head as the quote was GST exclusive.

When I go to the shops and buy say a shirt I am given a price inclusive of GST, This is because I am a consumer and not a company buying goods from a supplier. I do not get a GST credit and cannot offset or claim the GST portion back from the tax office. I have found Lauriston House to be deceiving in talking up the $110 per head and then in the fine print adding price is ex GST.

Prior to booking we were asked to come in to sample some of the food and to see what they have to offer. Other places would charge for this however this was all free at Lauriston which was great. When we arrived there were others already there browsing (as there would be) we were given some sample desert which was to die for, the tastes just melted our mouth and i was impressed.

When we got there we were told that they owned all the houses up until the small church about 4 doors up. We were also told that they have an application with the council to demolish one of these houses to make way for a garden with a sandstone line isle for the bride to walk down. It was told to us that this house would most probably be demolished within weeks and the garden had a 95% chance of being ready before our wedding in 5 months time. We decided to have our ceremony in this garden at Lauriston as this would save on some of the costs (transportation, church donation…). I drive past everyday and still see the house is being occupied by a tenant or a car parked in the driveway and have little doubt the garden will be ready before the wedding. We have now started looking for a church to have the ceremony in as from speaking to others, this new garden has been promised and failed to eventuate.

The decor at Lauriston is a little dated, with old carpet and the walls have some stains on them especially beneath the air conditioner where it is most noticeable. Overall the general venue is quite presentable and simple to work with. I was a little disappointed to find out that there is no back yard and the only outdoor area would be the front yard which is quite small. The venue is kid friendly providing DVD movies for the kids to watch and pausing the movies for the important moments of the night.

One annoyance was when we asked if we could spread rose petals on the table which was quickly refuse. The reason being OH&S, This really annoys me. As if anyone would slip on a rose petal which has fallen from the table and hurt themselves.

I didn’t notice a bar for where spirits can be purchased and i will need to check with the owners if spirits can be purchased. They have allowed for us to bring some Rakia spirits for the toasts as it is our tradition that the groom has to have shots with the guests at the tables.

I have been told from speaking to various videographers hat videoing the bridal waltz is difficult as the DJ turns off the lights and disallows the videographer to used the lights. This results in a poor recording to the waltz.

Some of the things we were impressed with;

• Lauriston provide a choice of cars to be used as a getaway car included in the price.
• Seat covers were included in the price and a variety of colours were offered
• Long and low flowers for the main table was said to be provided however there is nothing in the contract which specifies this (have to verify)
• 5 1/2 hours of service but a minimum of 100 guests
• The venue is not shared with others.

Address: 146 Marsden Road (Cnr Stewart Street)
DUNDAS VALLEY NSW 2117
Telephone: (02) 9858 3335
Fax: (02) 9874 9371

I would recommend this venue to anyone however always remember to read the fine print to know exactly what you are getting into and make sure any promises are written down in the contract. If you are not sure then do not sign the contract

If you would like to comment or share some experiences regarding this venue please post a comment

Tags: ceremony, function centres, function centres sydney, garden ceremony, garden weddings, garden weddings sydney, reception garden ceremony, sydney, weddings, weddings reception centre, weddings reception centre sydney, weddings sydney

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.