Claremont Luxury Lodge is an 1866 historic homestead set in beautiful grounds beside the Waipara river. The lodge is located just 45 minutes from Christchurch International Airport and less than one hour from the city centre. We are within easy distance of State Highway 1 and just 10 minutes from Amberley or Mud House Winery.

Following are general options and a detailed outline of our facilities. For bookings and procedures, terms and conditions and the Claremont wedding tariff summary, please open the PDF documents detailed in the left column of this page.

General Options for Garden Weddings

We specialise in tailor making the occasion to suit your tastes and desires. Weddings at Claremont can take the form of an intimate ceremony for just two persons and a marriage celebrant to occasions with a large number of guests.

Claremont is best suited to the smaller more intimate occasion with a ceremony followed by a reception and sit down celebration meal for around 40 guests and with the “exclusive use” of the lodge for your special occasion. The luxury lodge features two dining rooms, wide verandas and walled courtyards which can comfortably accommodate seated dining for parties of up to 40 people.

“Exclusive use” provides flexibility with timing and provides gracious accommodation of up to 10 people in five double rooms and there is a three bedroom cottage that is also available. The five lodge guest rooms typically accommodate the Bride & Groom, the Best Man and Partner, the Chief bridesmaid (or maid of honour) and partner and perhaps parents of both the Bride and the Groom. The cottage can accommodate other family members or guests.

For those planning a wedding with a reception for numbers in excess of 40 guests, we can offer a ceremony at Claremont followed by drinks and canapés served in our delightful garden setting whilst photographs are taken in the grounds or elsewhere on the Estate with its spectacular backdrops. This can be followed by a formal wedding reception and meal at the nearby Mud House winery or elsewhere in the area. This option is available as a day event without accommodation or with “exclusive use” and accommodation as outlined above.

Wedding Venue Only - No Reception
available 11.30am to 2.30pm only

• Your wedding ceremony and photography only.
  You may simply wish to hold your ceremony & have your photographs or video taken at Claremont Country Estate. For the ceremony itself there are numerous lovely settings in the garden, including a Gazebo overlooking the Waipara River.
• Intimate Wedding with a night's accommodation for bride and groom.
  For those couples seeking an intimate wedding ceremony without a reception but looking for superb wedding night accommodation with an intimate dinner “a deux”

Wedding Venue With Reception and Lodge Exclusive Use
available from 12 noon to 11.00.pm

The two principal exclusive use options are:

• Up to 40 Guests.
  Lodge accommodation for 10 guests, wedding ceremony, photography, drinks and canapés, with an intimate on site reception and celebratory meal
• Larger events.
  Lodge accommodation for 10 guests, wedding ceremony, photography plus drinks and canapés with a larger reception held elsewhere

Reception fare and menus
At Claremont we take pride in the quality and presentation of our food. Our menus include home-grown and regional produce. We offer a range of styles and prices, for example, a sumptuous 3-course buffet-style seated celebration meal or simply canapés and finger food.

We can work to your budget and offer appropriate choices or we can design a selection of menus at different costs for you to choose from. Alternatively, let us know your tastes and preferences and we can develop a menu to suit your personal tastes and individual requirements.

Rosie and our Chef can help you decide what will suit you best and we will be glad to quote accordingly. A budget of around $100pp including wine is not unrealistic for a lovely wedding celebration dinner

Drinks
We offer a range of drinks options, for example:

• Set-price drinks package – Pay for a set number of drinks or bottles
• “on-consumption” – pay for what has been consumed
• BYO (subject to a $20 per bottle corkage charge)

Our stock champagne and wines are priced from $28 per bottle upwards and we are glad to provide a wine list of fine Waipara wines. Should you prefer a particular champagne or wine not listed then we shall be glad to procure this for you and quote accordingly. Experience indicates that an average consumption is about 1/3 bottle of bubbly and ½ bottle of wine per person. We provide chilled water free of charge as part of our service. Our wine prices or corkage include the cost of providing wine waiter service.

Please note that liquor licensing law requires that we must have available non-alcoholic drinks and that food must be available so if you wish to have any drinks served after a wedding ceremony it is mandatory to offer canapés or breads and dips to your guests.

Times
Wedding ceremonies that include “exclusive use” obviously have the greatest flexibility.
Such occasions may be morning or evening according to your preference, although our garden setting is probably best suited to a mid-day wedding followed by a late lunch time reception and celebration meal.

Due to in-house guest needs, we prefer to time wedding ceremonies without accommodation between 11.30 and 2.30pm. Those requiring ceremonies and not having “exclusive use” through also booking lodge accommodation will need to arrange proceedings to ensure that the premises is vacated by the prior to our usual guest check-in time of 3.00pm.

Depending on the nature of your occasion, we can help you with an order of proceedings and a suitable time table.

Additional Considerations

• Celebrant
• Menu requirements
• Beverage requirements
• Decoration requirements
• Entertainment requirements

Entertainment
The house is equipped with a sophisticated hi-fi system with external speakers on the veranda and courtyards. You can select from our CD library or bring your own. Live music can also be arranged.

Table Settings, Flowers and candles
Flowers are a feature of the lodge and the public rooms always have lovely floral displays. The basic flower package is included in our venue charge. For table settings, we provide minimal floral arrangements or candles as part of our service at no extra cost.

Should you require special floral arrangements or other decoration, for example to match your colour theme then, at extra cost, we can also organize these to suit your needs and budget

Table settings generally use table mats, linen napkins, white crockery and 3 glasses (2 wine + water). Please note that there is a table setting charge. See tariff

Confetti
So that others can enjoy our settings, we do not allow paper or rice confetti and we suggest rose petals as a great option.

Toilets
In house facilities are adequate for groups of up to 40 guests. For larger groups we will provide male and female porta toilets at extra cost.