Your thoughts on Teatro Vivaldi/Grazing (for a wedding reception).

Hi everyone,

Thank-you all so much for your help and comments. Just thought I’d let you know that we actually aren’t going with either Teatro Vivaldi or Grazing.

Grazing was extremely helpful via e-mail, but unfortunately they already had a wedding booked for the same day.

Teatro Vivaldi was available but we had a really dissapointing experience with them… They were good over e-mail and answered all my questions, but when they arranged a time to meet us we showed up to find they were hosting a wedding reception that had already started! Not wanting to intrude on someone else’s party (I would hate it if someone did that to me), we waited outside for 20 minutes. They never came out and we never recieved any e-mails or calls from them wanting to reschedule. We just got the overwhelming feeling that they didn’t want our business which was incredibly frustrating as we had come down from Sydney specifically to see them.

We are now thinking of going with Rydges Lakeside (Skylines) for our wedding, we were really impressed by the friendly service we recieved when they showed us around the venue. Has anyone attended a wedding there? Thoughts…?

By the way, here’s the link to my celebrant blog:
http://celebrantcanberra.blogspot.com/

Hi wishuponastar

Congratulations on a wish granted!

It just so happens that my latest post in my blog ‘Michele the Celebrant’ is called ‘Best ‘foodie’ Weddings in Canberra (and Nearby)’. Grazing certainly gets a mention. Our daughter and her partner had their engagement lunch there in the main building and the food was superb.

It was good to read the comment from Cannex about the community church down the road as I didn’t know where you’d have a ceremony if you had your reception at Grazing. There’s always a demand for civil ceremonies in a church setting and the one at Gundaroo sounds wonderful. Must go see.

I can’t comment on Teatro Vivaldi as I haven’t been there.

All the best with your search and your special day

I got married at Grazings and highly recommend it. We had a lot of international guests so it had that special Australiana vibe! Here’s some pro’s and con’s:

Pros
The food. We did canapes, starter and a main. We have lots of foodie friends (regulars at Michelin star restaurants) so I was a bit nervous about meeting everyones expectations. Had really positive feedback from everyone.

Wine selection. Great selection of local wines and if they don’t have what you want they will try to get it in. We actually finished up with a load of half drunk wine bottles and they sealed them up and we collected them the next day.

We found it incredibly good value. They don’t mark up the food as you eat from their standard menu. We provided our own cake and they only charge $2.50 per person for coulee and cream and to plate it up. I can’t remember the total cost but I remember my Dad saying ‘is that all?’!!

The stable. It’s a gorgeous building. We got married in the stable out the back. We only had a small wedding of 50 or so and we fitted in the stable just fine. There is a marquee they can attach at the back but I thought this was a bit ugly and didn’t want to use so that was all closed off.

There is a community church down the road. We got married here and they let you do a civil ceremony. We had it a night time and it was candle lit. Just beautiful. If you want to message me I can share some photos.

Cons
Wedding planner. When we were there we had a coordinator and we were her last wedding before she left to go to another job. She wasn’t as committed to the event as we would like. This will probably be different with a new person on board.

The stable was cold! We got married on Anzac Day weekend at night time and it was pretty cold. OK if you keep the doors shut but when the waiters came in the guests seated near the door were freezing. Not sure if this would stop me getting married there though.

Decorations. Not sure if this is standard but we had to hire in the decorations. They had the basic tables and chairs but no decorations. But there is a hire place in Gundaroo who we got our decorations from who worked closely with Grazing to do what we wanted. We actually hired in circle tables from Kennards as Grazing only had rectangle. We also used the white ornate chairs that feature in some of the website pics but you have to ask specifically for those.

Distance from Canberra. Not great but the cost was so reasonable that we had more than enough money to afford a coach to drive everyone in and back to the city afterwards.

Tastings. We did about 3 visits our there to discuss the wedding and at each one we had a meal. We never got any freebies! I thought it was standard to do the tasting for free but this might not be the case.

Overall we had a fantastic time and so did our guests. We didn’t want an overly formal wedding. Our aim was good food, good wine and good friends and it definitely met our expectations!

Teatro Vivaldi is the go. Mark and staff are absolutely fantastic and will go out of their way to make your day perfect. Married there in May and can not fault the atmosphere, food, service and very reasonably priced. Have all the facilities you would need for entertainment, heaps of parking, and great locations for photography. Check out these videos they may give a better insight:

http://www.channelvision.com.au/shows/entertainment-canberra/?video=276
http://www.channelvision.com.au/shows/entertainment-canberra/?video=382

Congrats and good luck with your searching.

Went to a function at Grazing and it was fantastic, so much so that we are now getting married there. The food is world class and the service was great. If you want to have a function there you need to call up and speak to Jenny. The best part is we can have the ceremony and reception there.

Been to Vivaldi a few times for functions and receptions. We would have considered it but found the food to be not so great and the prices exorbitant. It is definately not worth the money for the food the produce. In saying that, the wine list almost redeemed it.

Grazing is great for a lunch but I haven’t attended a function there.
Had lunch at Hudsons at the BG the other day and was impressed although my expectations were not high but still a good meal and I’d go back.

vivaldi +1 = Mark and the crew at Vivaldi won’t ley you down – very attentive to help make the special occasion one to remember

The food at Vivaldi’s is mediocre at very best and appallingly expensive for what it is.

Check out the Botanic Gardens (Hudson’s does the food, and were pretty good for the past couple of weddings I’ve been to) – it’s a great venue.

I joined a tour of function facilities in Canberra a couple of years ago & Teatro Vivaldi was one of the venues visited. In fact, we had lunch there. I must say I was impressed by the casual atmosphere & would be happy to recommend the venue.