Maleny Wedding Festival
The Maleny Wedding Festival is the perfect opportunity for future Brides and Grooms to visit some of Queensland’s most popular wedding venues.
Offered twice each year, the Maleny Wedding Festival Trail is a self-guided tour of leading Wedding Venues across the region.
The Trail is organised by Hinterland Tourism Sunshine Coast, and depending on which venues are available, there are usually around 9 locations on offer.
maleny Wedding Festival removes Pressure
It’s a rare chance to see most of these venues on a weekend, when they are normally booked out for Weddings.
If you feel uncomfortable inspecting these venues on your own, you can now blend into the crowd.
This way you can enjoy these beautiful venues without feeling any expectation.
Whilst you are there you will meet all manner of Wedding Service providers who will be invaluable when it comes time to organise your perfect Wedding.
Discuss package deals with the operators and meet the professionals that make the packages work.
As you move from place to place, you will also see numerous other venues with Open Day signs displayed.
Whilst not listed on the Tour, they too are well worth a look.
Wedding Venues In Wedding Mode
Most venues are set up to give you a real sense of what to expect if you were to get married there.
Along with wedding Celebrants, they assemble photographers, planners, stylists, florists, stationers, limousines, horse drawn carriages, jewelers etc.
All available to generate ideas and give you points of contact as you are planning your day.
Depending on whether you are driving in from the North or South, organisers provide a one day itinerary.
This suggests a sequence in which to visit the locations. Even so, getting around all of the venues is a big ask in one day.
We were in the region the night before, followed the itinerary and visited 8 of the 9 locations in the six hours available.
Six hours is probably not enough time
Our intention was to just get a feel for the tour and the Venues.
We were not engaging in meaningful conversation with any of the service providers, just collecting some images and printed materials.
Even so, we only just got around these 8 in the time available.
All of the venues participating in the Maleny Wedding Festival tour are open from 9am till 3pm Saturday and Sunday.
A better way to do the Maleny Wedding Festival
For people looking to genuinely assess these venues for an upcoming Wedding, the suggested one day tour is simply not enough time in our opinion. We would simply suggest an alternative approach to get maximum value from the Tour.
We would recommend booking accommodation ahead of time from the hundreds of quality providers in the area and make a weekend of it. Enjoy breakfast at one of popular Maleny Cafes, then pick up the tour where you left off.
This way you will get to visit all of the wedding venues without time pressures.
Use Saturday afternoon, and evening along with Sunday morning to get a feel for the area. After all, your guests will be visiting, and staying here for your Wedding.
To maximize the tour, plan to be at your first venue when it opens at 9am on Saturday
For those traveling from Brisbane its about a 90-minute drive to your first location.
Grabbing a Bite on the Maleny wedding festival trail
Most of the venues offered light refreshments, so grabbing a bite on the way is not difficult. You will also be within easy reach of Maleny or Montville townships around lunchtime anyway.
We visited the following venues:
- Goodwater Ridge
- The Old Dairy
- Tiffany’s Maleny
- Tranquil Park Maleny
- Maleny Country Estate
- Secrets on the Lake
- Montvale at Montville
- Flaxton gardens
Stonebridge Gardens in Palmwoods was also on the tour but there was no way we were going to cover that location in the time available to us.
A little about the Wedding Venues we saw
It is certainly not our intention to review or compare these venues in this article, but here are a few things we noticed.
Goodwater Ridge
is a brand new facility still under construction, set in a beautiful location, on a 100 acre property. It will host its first wedding in May 2023
The design features a Mediterranean style Chapel, and is themed on a small European Village.
The function room seats 90, and a Commercial Kitchen and Bar allows you a full range of catering options.
There are also 3 stone cabins and 4 large hotel style rooms. available for accommodation.
The Old Dairy
The Old Dairy, is magnificent property on hundreds of acres of rolling green pasture. This property is painstakingly maintained, with beautiful pathways guiding you through the lush pastures.
It enjoys panoramic views, and its south west facing aspect allows you to take advantage of delightful sunsets.
You choose from numerous locations for your ceremony and have total freedom to create your own unique event.
Photographic options are everywhere and the 2 night packages give the Bride and Groom exclusive use of the whole property.
Tiffany’s Maleny
Tiffany’s Maleny is ideally positioned on Mountainview Road.
It enjoys uninterrupted Glasshouse Mountain views.
The views are an ever present feature from the beautiful Chapel, the elegant reception rooms, the romantic rotunda and throughout the gardens.
A complete wedding venue for quality boutique weddings.
The natural beauty surrounding Tiffany’s Maleny makes it easy to capture magical images that you will cherish for a lifetime.
If you are looking for a smaller event, check out their “Elopement” package. Rather than booking the venue for the entire day you can enjoy Tiffany’s for a couple of elegant hours.
Have a beautiful ceremony, get some stunning photos, and join your guests for drinks and canapés.
Tranquil Park Maleny
Another venue blessed with uninterrupted Glasshouse Mountain views, and designed to take full advantage.
Your Ceremony takes place on the deck, on the edge of the escarpment overlooking this timeless view.
Tranquil Maleny has seating capacity for up to 130 guests.
The Glasshouse Function room has floor to ceiling glass walls to take in the view. This room seats from 60 through to 130 guests, is air conditioned, heated and includes your dance floor and private bar facilities.
Smaller weddings of up to 80 guests use the function room on the deck. The Mountain room as its known is next to, but separate from Tranquil Park’s restaurant.
It still enjoys the views over the glass house and has its own separate, private entrance.
Maleny Country Estate
We arrived at this 185 acre property to find that it is currently in redevelopment mode.
After entering through a scenic wooded driveway tou will find an estate with plenty of potential.
It’s permanent Chapel features elegant stained glass windows and delightful timber paneling throughout.
Beside the Chapel is an expansive, flat lawn area. This space is ideal for a large Marquis style wedding.
Whilst the outlook here is pleasant it does not enjoy the spectacular views of some other venues, but it does offer you and your guests one benefit that the others cannot.
Maleny Country Estate can provide accommodation for up to 75 guests, in their collection of Chalets, Cabins and apartments.
No need for nominated drivers of shuttle buses here.
Secrets on the Lake
We found Secrets nestled in natural bush land right on Lake Baroon, just outside of Montville.
Ceremonies take place at the lakeside end of the property.
You can chose from lawn, waterfront or bushland locations for an outside Ceremony, or use the Lakehouse as your Chapel.
Secrets on The Lake is a triumph of timber craftmanship. With its magical Treehouses, elevated walkways, hand crafted bridges and decks to enjoy.
These hand crafted features combine with rock pools, waterfalls, and rolling green lawns. Surrounded by natural sub-tropical bush it is a perfect place to entertain and mingle with your guests.
After the ceremony your hand picked, perfect Treehouse awaits.
Accessed by elevated, subtly lit, and carved walkways your Treehouse accommodation is also hand crafted from natural timbers harvested on the site.
Montvale at Montville
This is another beautiful property for a smaller wedding.
Tucked away off Montville Road, the owners have turned this pretty family property into a secluded wedding venue for groups of 20-80.
Ceremonies are conducted on a lakeside platform with a beautiful pergola. Seating surrounds the platform in a natural amphi-theatre with the lake, fountain and water lillies behind.
The Glasshouse reception centre seats 48 guests plus the wedding party.
Bride and Groom stay in the privacy of the on-site Maple Grove cottage overnight, and have the only key to the entire venue when your function ends.
There is ample accommodation available for guests closeby in Montville
Flaxton gardens
Continuing along Montville road we arrived at our final destination for the day.
Flaxton Gardens is a lovely, formal hilltop property looking east to the ocean.
There is ample parking here, leading to secluded lawns ideal for Marquis weddings.
Flaxton Gardens can seat up to 280 guests, (or 400 cocktail style) On-site accommodation is available in the restored “pottery house”.
The maleny Wedding Festival Trail
If you, or someone close to you is planning a Sunshine Coast wedding in the next year or two, the Maleny Wedding Festival tour is one event you should not miss.
The tour is FREE and you will leave with a real feel for what is possible, the costs involved and a much clear picture of how your special day could look.
Don’t forget to grab a copy of the Hinterland Wedding guide while you are there.
It has contacts for everything. Venues, Celebrants, Caterers,Bar Services, Gifts, Jewellery, Hair, Planers & Stylists, Stationers, Photographers Entertainers, Bridal Transport and more.
There are also a Wedding Budget planner, and 12 month countdown, and the 100 point wedding planning checklist.
The Hinterland Wedding Guide is also free from participating Venues on the tour
