FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Our wedding ceremony times aim to suit all our guest’s needs whilst complimenting wedding reception times, to create the perfect celebration. Times are subject to availability and will be confirmed upon contract.

The ‘Pier ceremony’ is our premier outdoor wedding venue, offering lovers a chance to exchange vows over harbor waters, with impressive views of North Sydney and the Harbour Bridge towering in the background. Lunch weddings can be held any time between 8:00am till 11:00am on Saturday or Sunday, and our evening weddings are available from 4:00pm to 5:00pm on Saturday or Sunday. Ceremonies are also available from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, Monday to Friday.

Our other ceremony venue, the ‘Bridge Marquee’, offers a marquee wedding like no other, with lunch weddings available from 8:00am to 12:00pm, and evening ceremonies from 12:00pm to 3:30pm.

Our wedding reception times are set to suit our guest’s needs and compliment wedding ceremony and photography timings. Times are subject to availability and must be confirmed when you proceed to contract.

Lunch receptions can be held every day from 11:00am till 3:00pm or 11:30pm to 3:30pm, whilst our evening receptions are available from 6:00pm to 11:00pm on Saturday and Sunday, and 7:00pm to 12:00pm, Monday to Friday. Earlier start times are subject to availability and approval from our wedding sales manager.

The definitive answer is midnight, and in compliance with local licensing laws, all receptions and service of alcohol must conclude before this time.

For receptions ending before midnight, extensions can be arranged if you desire a later celebration, the cost of which is $500 for a half-hour extension or $1,000 for a full-hour extension. Beverage package extension fees may also apply.

You will have access to the venue for two hours prior to the reception start time. Additional time for bump-in and styling is subject to availability, and can be requested with your wedding coordinator.

BYO spirits are permitted at all our ceremony and reception venues with a corkage fee of $20 per bottle, equal to or less than one litre. In compliance with local licensing, these beverages must be served at the bar by a certified RSA Pier One Associate.

All wedding reception venues at Pier One Sydney Harbour have a set minimum spend which varies between rooms, with no requirement for minimum number of guests; for the Water Room, minimum spend starts at $25,000, the Bridge Marquee starts at $14,000, and the Dawes Point Rooms start at $8,000 for partial room configuration. For further information please contact our wedding sales team.

At the commencement of your wedding planning, you will be allocated a wedding coordinator approximately nine months prior to your wedding date. Your coordinator will assist with all planning including venue selection, floorplans, menu selection, styling requests, and so on. Your coordinator will also connect you to our Pier One partners if you’re still looking for the perfect photographer, florals, cakes, car rentals, music, and more. Your Pier One wedding coordinator will be your personal contact in the lead up to your event, ensuring that your special day is everything you dreamed.

To secure your ideal date, a non-refundable deposit of $1,000 is required. Upon confirming your wedding with Pier One Sydney Harbour, we will issue an agreement to sign and return with a 25% deposit due within 7 days. A second deposit will be due 6 months prior to the event date and the remaining prepayment will be due 30 days prior to your wedding reception.

Events held on Public Holidays will incur a 20% Public Holiday Surcharge on the package price. All prices quoted are inclusive of GST.

For the safety of you and your guests, security is required for all functions exceeding 4 hours wherever alcohol is consumed. Pier One Sydney Harbour provides its own contracted licensed security services, and external security providers are not permitted on site. The cost of which will be $50 per hour, per security member, with a minimum of 5 hours. The number of security officers will depend on the volume of guests, based on 1 security officer per 100 guests.

Negotiating wedding venues can be hard, so to secure the best value for venue hire consider choosing a less common day or time. Most wedding receptions are on Saturday evenings, so by choosing a Friday or Sunday you may already achieve some added value or savings. Many guests like to make a weekend get-away trip for their wedding, with a brunch or post-wedding celebration the next day, so a Friday wedding could be a great way to enhance your wedding, and minimise costs! It’s also worth considering the peak wedding season is November to February, so getting married outside of these months is a great way to avoid high-demand pricing. A winter wedding in Sydney falls outside this season and offers several perks including drier weather, clear harbour waters, and the most spectacular sunsets, which fall perfectly beside the pier during winter, and coincide with the evening ceremony times offered at Pier One.

Allocating your wedding budget is a personal process based entirely on your priorities, and as such there’s no real blueprint, though generally, the venue is among the most important considerations, setting the tone and ambience of your wedding, while dictating the other components for your wedding.

Generally, it’s best to start your budgeting by deciding how many people you want to invite, this will play a key role in budgeting, especially for items that are priced per head. After this, consider what’s important to you; ambience, food, drinks, entertainment? What are the wow-factors that matter to you, and what perhaps is less critical? Once you have your priorities literally in order, consider allocating your budget respectively. Pier One offers three levels of food and beverage packages; the Harbour Package, the Rocks Package, and the Cocktail Package, with differing prices. Depending on your priorities and budget, this flexibility means you can save on food and drinks to facilitate your dream venue, or vice versa. Consider the opportunity-cost for each expenditure and simply choose what makes you happiest!

Location, location, location. Before choosing a venue, consider your ideal styling and decoration, and use this to help you choose the venue which can achieve your perfect décor. Your styling should encapsulate your couple-style, and support the experience you want for your guests, whether it be highly social, in-keeping with a cocktail setting, contemporary-casual with various seating options, or traditional with allocated seating for calculated mingling. Once you’ve decided on the experience you want for you and your guests, you can look at social media posts, reviews, and feedback, to get an idea for the possibilities of the venue you have chosen, including colour-palettes, floral arrangements, lighting, table-setting, dance-floors, and everything else. Finally, it’s worth partnering with experts who have established connections and can secure great rates for you. Check out our Pier One partners; industry professionals plucked from the masses of Sydney’s talented florists, bakers, entertainers, and more, with spectacular results and extensive experience with our venue spaces.

When to book a wedding venue is among the most important decisions in your planning process, and typically the venue is the first thing couples book. We recommend a minimum of 6 months’ notice to secure the date that works best for you. Weddings are able to be booked up to 24 months in advance.

One of the first choices a couple must make in planning a wedding is how to pick a wedding venue, that is, what criteria should be used to choose the venue. Of course, this varies from person to person, and choosing a wedding venue is first and foremost a question of what matters to you? How important are your surroundings on your special day, do you want impressive views or an intimate space, moreover do you prefer indoor or outdoor settings? What is the ideal backdrop for your ceremony? Do you want a wedding venue where guests can stay, especially if some are travelling far? These questions will give you the insight to choose a venue that works for you, alongside logistical considerations like number of guests, style of food and drinks, photography locations, seasonal weather, and much more.

If you’re not sure what to consider when booking a wedding venue, your wedding coordinator is your first stop for catering, decorating, and venue enquiries. Touring the venue is a great opportunity to not only familiarize yourself with the space and plan how to set it, but also a good time to address some key logistics, like venue capacity, sound levels, DJ’s, live music, end time, bump in, staffing and service, menu tastings, supplier recommendations, and what furniture can be included from the venue.

Be sure to check out Pier One Partners to see our recommendations for all wedding components including design and décor. Pier One also offers our own furnishings and décor including round, king, or cocktail tables, white or gold Tiffany chairs, a 5m x 5m wooden dance floor, cake table and knife, bridal toasting flutes, bridal table skirting, gift table, welcome sign, guest seating chart and easel, and personalized menus per guest. Customise your wedding décor to your liking by consulting with your wedding coordinator, and finding a decorator that suits your style.

SAY 'I DO' AT PIER ONE!

WEDDING PLANNING DETAILS

Check out our comprehensive planning kit below for venue choices, catering options, accommodation, and more.