Sydney Wedding Venues
Finding unique Sydney wedding venues can be a bit of a challenge. With the average price for a wedding in Sydney topping close to $50,000 there’s plenty of companies like Navarra venues which have bought up a bunch of prized Sydney function centres and turned them into giant wedding factories.
I’m guessing you’ve clicked on this article because you’re looking to have your wedding somewhere that feels a little more personal than a giant function centre.
Looking for the perfect wedding venue is a massive task. There’s so much stuff to look at and a whole lot of it looks exactly the same. Huge ballrooms with funny coloured lights and weird candle sticks with white drapes hanging from everything like halloween cobwebs.
If you’re anything like me, that might not be the vibe you’re going for. Where do find a unique venue? something industrial, rustic, quirky downright different.
If that’s what you’re looking for then look no further.
I’ve been curating a bit of a list of my favourite unique spots to tie the knot in Sydney. None of these venue’s are paying to be here they’re just my favourite finds in a pretty overcrowded market of function centres across this city.
Sydney’s top wedding venues
- The Carriageworks – Redfern
- The Grounds – Alexandaria
- Three Blue Ducks
- Cockatoo Island Industrial Precinct
- Sydney College of the Arts
- Camperdown Commons (Bonus Venue!)
THE CARRIAGEWORKS:
The Carriageworks is probably by far my favourite Sydney wedding venue. It’s incredible as a space and they run some incredible events there through out the year. It’s a venue dripping with character and old world charm. I love the industrial vibe.
Carriageworks was built between 1880 and 1889 as part of the Eveleigh Railway Workshops. In 2007 the Carriageworks was transitioned into a cultural precinct.
Some of my favourite ever Sydney weddings have been held here and you can check out Glenn & Allysa’s Industrial Carriageworks Wedding here. But I will include some frames here to give you a feel for the space. The ceremony space is upstairs and has a beautiful light airy room that easily accommodates most crowds.
This room has a beautiful calm & welcome feel almost like an industrial hug. The windows are almost TOO rustic and just make you feel like you’re about to enter the most hipster episode of Play School ever filmed. This room is the perfect blank canvas for your ceremony and is just insanely nice to photograph.
No worrying about wet weather here. You’re safe indoors and you could happily take indoor photos all day at Carriageworks if it’s pouring outside.
Outside though gorgeous industrial photo locations abound without needing to get in a car and drive anywhere. You simply walk down the tracks a few hundred metre’s and you’re confronted with all this goodness inside and out.
Then you move inside for the reception and you get to my favourite bit. This room is such an insane place to host your party. I absolutely love the double story ceilings. Heaps of good angles for me. Amazing lighting and huge rustic wooden pillars to hide behind if things get a little too real on the dance floor.
2. The Grounds of Alexandria
The Grounds is a pretty versatile space, If you haven’t heard of it I’m shocked. It’s sort of like a craft beer had a baby with Disneyland.. It opened up quite a while ago now and became an instant sensation as a cafe, bakery, go take new instagram pics type place. And the attention to detail is actually quite stunning. And it’s got more plants than all of NSW Bunnings warehouse’s combined.
Everywhere you look there’s a perfectly placed vintage nick-nack making the place look super fun and transporting you back to a magical country fair where the donuts and burgers flow freely.
It’s easy to forget you’re in the middle of one of Sydneys biggest industrial areas when you step inside the gates. At night they play host to some of the most magical weddings I’ve ever photographed.
Now with 6 seperate wedding spaces you can use. Beautiful vine covered outdoor areas that feel quite indoor at night and is perfect for summer weddings. To the Atrium, for smaller more intimate wedding celebrations in a gorgeous room with high ceilings with more hanging plants than an inner-west balcony.
They’ve recently added the Linseed House which is their biggest space with a beautiful open indoor old warehouse style brick room with huge open windows on one side boasting a max seated capacity of 370 and 550 standing room. This venue really has an option for everyone.
The other thing the grounds really has going for it is that it’s ALWAYS changing. There’s a few areas on site that are continually shifting with how they’re styled and decorated so your wedding photos won’t look just like everyone else who’s got married there.
There’s snow machine’s, Christmas decorations.. often some sort of Disney display going on if you’re not already feeling enough like a Princess on your wedding day you can take your photo next to a Disney Princess almost year round. (Not sure if that’s a point in favour or a point against the Grounds but you can work that out amongst yourselves.)
3. Three Blue Ducks
Yes this one did have to come in at number 3! Not only does it coincidentally happen to be my third favourite Sydney wedding venue. But it’s also one of the coolest and most unique spots to have your wedding in Sydney.
If you’re a foodie you’re probably already aware of the existence of three blue ducks in Rosebery. The Three blue ducks brand is rapidly expanding, starting with a very famous, The Farm, in Byron Bay, Three Blue Ducks now have incredible and quite unique locations in Bronte, Brisbane, Byron, Rosebery & Melbourne.
These guys do such an incredible job of creating beautiful rustic dining experiences and just a very authentic feeling attention to detail in each of their spaces.
Some venues you go to… You know it’s cool and they’ve thought about it. But it feels kind of staged.. It feels like a new space pretending to be old.. or it feels somehow inauthentic.
There’s a weird combination of rustic & modern or fancy & bespoke. (All very fun wedding words by the way) But Three blue ducks stands head and shoulders above most Sydney wedding venues for it’s super consistent feel.
Perhaps my favourite thing about the Rosebery location of the Three Blue Ducks is this huge floor to ceiling window that you only really get in converted warehouse spaces like this one. You get such great light throughout the afternoon and really beautiful photos around dusk like this!
If you’re after a really unique rustic Sydney wedding venue. That feels industrial and rustic throughout, from the feel of the space to the food on your plates. I seriously recommend this place so highly. I absolutely love it and it’s a photographers dream. Definitely one of the best Sydney wedding venues that’s ever existed.
4. Cockatoo Island – Industrial Precinct
Another absolute favourite among the huge pile of Sydney wedding venues. This gorgeous industrial wedding venue is incredible for weddings or just to go to for photos.
It’s not a huge island but it’s absolutely packed with huge old sheds and workshops. An easy 15 minute ferry ride from Balmain Wharf This island has some of the most unique and super cool industrial vibes to make you feel like you’re in an Oliver Twist film back in old London Town.
Cockatoo Island play’s host to a lot of cool events through the year and is actually where they film Ninja Warrior.
I feel like this space is the equivalent of The rocks, but the industrial version. It’s got a super old rusty but yet somehow majestic vibe to it all and it really packs a punch visually. Some of these huge sheds make incredible Sydney wedding venues if you’re after something a little more of an industrial wedding venue.
No cliche red carpet and white candelabras here. This is 100% vintage steel and dusty nostalgic goodness.
As far as Sydney wedding venues go I think this one takes the cake for best industrial wedding venue. It’s wins that claim for having the tallest ceilings, most massive steel beams, most dust for sure.
It’s also definitely the least tampered with in terms of being as original to when it was a functioning industrial space to now.
It hasn’t had some wedding coordinator in high heels and thick rimmed glasses come in and change everything that’s good about it to try and make it feel more romantic. And I LOVE that.
Wedding photos with a vintage airstream in them, really tick a lot of boxes for me. Also all your wedding guests have the chance to get on a ferry in Sydney harbour along the way to your wedding which is a lot more fun than sitting in Sydney traffic. Of all my favourite Sydney Wedding venues this one’s a highlight for sure!
5. Camperdown Commons
A beautifully constructed event space that sits sweetly in the middle of a huge community garden project. Camperdown commons runs a cafe through the week and boast some pretty impressive gardens that make the farm-to-table restaurant feel extra special.
Knowing that the food was grown literally outside the window that you’re eating at is a pretty cool experience and definitely hits the spot for your average inner-west eco-warrior’s tender heart place.
But don’t be fooled by the greenery. This place doesn’t just focus it’s energy on saving the planet. (Which its doing a stellar job of doing by the way) It’s an absolute world class event space and easily makes my top 5 Sydney wedding venues. The space keeps things fairly simple with a beautiful rustic timber & white colour palette it’s definitely got an amazing feel.
When you walk through the gardens into this space and are immediately drawn away from the thick pollution of Parramatta Rd which is only 1 block away and into a rustic Sydney wedding venue that really packs a punch. The food is absolutely gorgeous. Rustic in presentation and a really hearty country feast feel.
I would happily eat here every Saturday night for the remainder of my career. If you’re focusing on a hearty feast with your for your wedding, this is one of the Sydney wedding venues you’ve definitely got to go have a taste of.
(Bonus Venue) Sydney College Of The Arts
This one will always be one of my all time most loved Sydney wedding venues. A fully functioning college of the arts that I first saw when some of my friends got married here and I saw their photos and was like, “Woah where’s that!?” You don’t see a lot of Sydney wedding venues that have such beautiful old stonework as this place does.
It’s a pretty interesting blend as you go around being a campus, it’s got a huge variety between the different buildings. The most common space is this beautiful outdoor courtyard. Which for this wedding was pouring rain but man, still such a fun vibe!
Even in the rain this venue still had so much to offer. Beautiful gardens, old stone buildings, rustic & industrial courtyards as far as the eye can see. The Sydney College of the arts is full of little hidden gems and definitely gives you a small scale estate feel with some cool industrial elements thrown in for good measure. This one easily makes my top 5 Sydney wedding venues.
Sydney wedding venues not your vibe?. I absolutely love shooting country weddings and spend much of my year shooting in the Southern Highlands and South coast as well as the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley. You can find my Southern Highlands wedding venue guide here and my South Coast wedding venue guide here.
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This is a little bit of a left field bonus recommendation but I’ve you’re looking for something a little more exciting than hotel room photos for the boys in the morning before the wedding. I highly recommend you take the lads down to Hawleywoods Barber shop in Newtown.
Industrial Wedding Venue
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