A garden wedding in New South Wales can mean a harbourside lawn ten minutes from the city or a private estate two hours away. These are seven outdoor venues we've designed flowers for or know well, with a note on what kind of flowers suit each one. Visit any venue you're serious about before booking: lawns, light and wind all look different in person.
McKell Park, Darling Point
McKell Park sits at the tip of Darling Point: terraced lawns, heritage sandstone steps and the harbour straight ahead. It's a council park rather than a venue, so you book the lawn through Woollahra Council and bring in everything else, which keeps it relaxed and gives you a free hand with the flowers. It suits ceremonies of any size, with the reception somewhere nearby afterwards.
Flowers that work here: the harbour is the backdrop, so keep the flowers low or to the side. Garden-style ground arrangements with reflexed roses, delphiniums and orchids, a pair of floral pillars, or a deconstructed arch placed off-centre so the water stays in view. Everything has to be freestanding and weighted, because the point can be windy.
A real wedding we designed the flowers for at McKell Park, planned and styled by Fenn Studio and photographed by James Bennett. More photos are on Polka Dot Wedding.
Milton Park, Bowral
Milton Park Country House in the Southern Highlands has clipped hedges, woodland walks, a fountain lawn and a tree-lined drive, with accommodation on site. It's the most formal garden on this list and the one to choose if you want the grounds to feel like part of the design. Spring is the obvious season, but autumn colour in the Highlands is just as good.
Flowers that work here: match the formality. Urns on plinths, a full arch or a dressed pergola for the ceremony, peonies and reflexed roses in soft or vintage tones, and arrangements that repeat along the aisle rather than one big piece.
Photos by Hilary Cam, a photographer we've worked with many times.
Centennial Parklands, Sydney
Centennial Park has several bookable ceremony sites, from the Pine Grove to the Paperbark Grove and the lakeside lawns, all a few minutes from the eastern suburbs and the city. The trees do most of the work, so you can go lush or minimal. The reception is usually at Centennial Homestead inside the park, where we're a preferred florist, and the ceremony flowers move straight there. Our Centennial Homestead guide covers the reception side.
Flowers that work here: scale. The groves are big, so large ground arrangements in bold seasonal colour or sculptural natives read better than anything delicate. Design the ceremony pieces so they can be lifted onto the Homestead tables or bar afterwards.
Photos by We Are Origami (now Pepper June).
Rhyanna Park, Chatsbury
Rhyanna Park is a private garden estate near Goulburn, about two hours from Sydney: paddocks, a rotunda, clipped hedges and a formal garden with a fountain at the front of the house. It's secluded, so the whole weekend can happen on the property. We designed the flowers for a wedding here and the gardens are the kind florists stop and stare at.
Flowers that work here: soft and romantic. Garden roses, cosmos, lisianthus and trailing greenery suit the setting. Urns at the ceremony, or a floral wrap on the rotunda, and loose arrangements on the tables.
Photos by The Storytellers Wedding Collective.
Bendooley Estate, Berrima
Bendooley Estate in the Southern Highlands has lawns running down to a lake, a vineyard and the Book Barn for the reception. Ceremonies happen by the pavilion, under the trees or at the lake edge. We've done many weddings here and know the spaces well; our Bendooley Estate wedding flowers guide goes through each one.
Flowers that work here: structured arrangements with full-petalled flowers such as reflexed roses, dahlias and ranunculus. In the Book Barn, hanging pieces from the beams or long runners down the tables.
Photos by Jack Chauvel.
Redleaf Wollombi, Hunter Valley
Redleaf is a private estate in Wollombi with cypress trees, stone paths and a hedged garden for the ceremony, with getting ready, the ceremony, portraits, the reception and the couple's accommodation all in one place. Those are our favourite kind of venue: nothing moves between locations and the day runs easily.
Flowers that work here: loose, textural arrangements in muted tones with draping foliage and movement. It photographs best at golden hour, so the ceremony and portrait flowers matter most.
Photos by Cavanagh Photography.
Swifts, Darling Point
Swifts is a heritage-listed 19th-century mansion in Darling Point with formal gardens, described by the Australian Heritage Council as perhaps the grandest house remaining in Sydney. Ceremonies are in the garden with the house behind, and the interiors are as ornate as the outside.
Flowers that work here: classic whites or soft blush in formal shapes: urns, tall stands, and a floral install on the staircase if the reception is inside.
Photos by Lara Hotz.
Sydney garden venues we've written full guides for
Closer to home, these are the garden and lawn venues we work at most often. Each guide shows real ceremony and reception setups, which spaces suit which flowers, and what happens if it rains.
- Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: Harbour View Lawn, Rockery Lawn, Palm House and the other ceremony spots
- Athol Hall, Mosman: a sloping lawn to the harbour and a timber hall
- Gunners Barracks, Mosman: sandstone terraces and lawns at Georges Heights
- Burnt Orange, Middle Head: a lawn ceremony in front of the sandstone building
- Sergeants Mess, Chowder Bay: a waterfront lawn and glass-walled room
- Dunbar House, Watsons Bay: ceremonies under the fig at Robertson Park
- Centennial Homestead: receptions inside Centennial Park
- The Grounds of Alexandria: the garden and potting shed in the inner west
- Dunes, Palm Beach: a beachside lawn on the northern beaches
Planning the flowers for a garden wedding?
Outdoor venues need flowers that stand up to wind and sun and can move to the reception afterwards, so we design ceremony pieces to be freestanding and lifted. More in our guide to reusing your wedding flowers. Tell us your venue, date and guest numbers and we'll send a tailored range estimate. See our work as a Sydney wedding florist, read about small wedding and elopement flowers, or start your enquiry.
