Confirm the Loading Dock
Shared docks, restricted vehicle access and timed windows are the norm in the Parramatta CBD. This gets agreed with venue operations before the design, not after.
Parramatta
Wedding Stylist Parramatta
Parramatta styles more like a city than like the rest of Western Sydney, and that catches people out. It has become a genuine second CBD, with hotel function rooms, corporate venues and riverside spaces, and with the loading and access constraints that come with them.
Styling in Parramatta
City constraints in a Western Sydney location.
- Access is harder than people expect
- A hotel function room in the Parramatta CBD has a shared loading dock, restricted vehicle access and a bump in window shaped by whatever else is on that day. It is closer to styling in the city than to styling at a parkland reception centre twenty minutes away, and the planning has to reflect that.
- Rooms are generally smaller and lower
- Hotel and conference style function rooms in a business district tend to have lower ceilings than a purpose built reception centre. That rules out some tall installations and it makes ceiling treatments and draping more valuable, because lowering the perceived height of a low room is a different problem to filling a tall one.
- The river and the public spaces
- Where a venue has an outlook to the Parramatta River or the surrounding parkland, that outlook is worth designing with rather than screening off. Where a ceremony is happening outdoors in a public space, permissions and a wet weather plan matter more than the styling itself.
- Corporate work is strong here
- Parramatta carries a substantial business district, which means launches, award nights and end of year functions in venues built for conferences. Those bring their own constraints: sight lines to a stage or screen, centrepiece heights that clear a presentation, and quotes that have to survive a procurement process. More on corporate work.
- Transport is an advantage
- Parramatta is unusually well connected, which affects guest attendance and late finishes more than it affects styling, but it is a genuine reason couples choose it.
What to Plan For
The four things that shape a Parramatta install.
Measure the Ceiling
Lower ceilings than a suburban reception centre rule out some tall work and make draping and ceiling treatment more valuable. Everything is specified to the actual room.
Use the Outlook
Where a venue looks over the river or parkland, that view is the most valuable thing in the room at dusk. Style with it rather than closing it off.
Plan Corporate Sight Lines
In a room with a stage or screen, centrepiece heights and table angles are decided against the program before anything aesthetic is settled.
Common Questions
Yes, regularly. Parramatta is well within the area Shabz covers and travel within Sydney is included rather than charged separately.
Access and ceiling height, mostly. Parramatta CBD venues have shared loading docks, tighter install windows and generally lower ceilings than the large purpose built reception centres further west, so what is realistic to build is different.
Yes. It is a substantial business district and corporate work here is common, particularly launches, award nights and end of year functions. Corporate styling starts from $1,200.
Where permissions allow. Public space ceremonies need approval from the relevant authority, and outdoor structures need specifying for wind and ground conditions plus a wet weather plan with an agreed decision time.
Let's Create Something Beautiful
Tell Shabz about your event and a considered response follows within 24 to 48 hours.
Prefer to talk it through?
02 9191 7381