Reception Venues

Written by Gemma-Marie Corti | Adelaide FB Media

As a South Australian teenager, I attended high school in the CBD and would catch the bus to and from school.  I never quite mastered understanding the metro system timetable – this is a fact not exclusive to teenage me –  so I would often spend over an hour sitting in front of the Former Royal Adelaide Hospital bus stop site waiting for my transport to finally come, whilst staring at the elusive Ayers House. 

At that stage in my life I had only ever really been to events in large function halls and my high school gymnasium.  I would look at the stunning mansion and envision notions of being born in a more romantic era, of having Gatsby style parties and if I would ever be, “grown up” enough to maybe be invited to something at the beautiful Ayers House.  When end of year rolled around and the marquee would go up on the Ayers House, I would try to sneak a peek through the illustrious gates and catch a glimpse of the stylings of the inside wonders of the marquee. 

Now, twelve years later, I have realised fifteen year old me’s wildest dreams and have set the date to get married in the Ayers House Marquee.  Having previously worked in a corporate setting I attended a few events in the Conservatory and finally got an invitation to attend a Dancing on the Lawns Christmas event, held in the Marquee.  My love affair with the location had now cemented.  After a few years I made my transition into working in the event and media space which led me to meet Richard McLeod, the owner of Ayers House. 

When I first met Richard to discuss media exposure of Ayers House and Henry’s Table, he asked me if I had ever considered getting married at Ayers.  I tried to hide my, “fan girl” mannerisms and told him that it had always been a high school fantasy but I did not think it would ever be a possibility.  ‘Why?’ He asked me.  ‘Well…’, I tried to explain.  ‘For starters I have a very big European family that do not fit in most places, and also expect the equivalent to four main meals at a wedding’.  Richard laughed at me, and immediately made me realise  that I had a preconceived notion that the stunning prestige of Ayers meant that I might be met with the stereotypical highbrow approach to holding an event there (i.e. a leaf and a dob of goats cheese as a main meal, no traditional music, and being frowned upon for having large numbers of guests or a loud crowd).  Richard explained to me how he loved the European culture and what it can bring to events, how the space places so much value on food that it has re-established its restaurant quality chefs in Henry’s to exclusively cater events and that the Ayers team designates a wedding planner to be with you every step of the way. 

The Ayers House Marquee goes up every December and hosts Dancing on the Lawns Christmas Parties for a four week period and is the perfect setting for a potential 300+ wedding such as ours.  With the diversity of marquee styles that are trending at the moment my fiancé, George, and I are excited to have an blank canvas to create our dream rustic glam, outdoor wedding in the heart of the Adelaide CBD.  We even got a really fun trending hashtag out of it – #GandGAtTheMarquee.

Ayers House is located at 288 North Terrace, Adelaide.  Ayers House holds wedding menu tastings monthly and have an extensive and delicious range of food options to suit everyone.  There are over six different event spaces at Ayers House and the marquee can be used not only for weddings and events but for ceremonies at Ayers House.  We cannot wait to dance under the stars and continue to share our Wedding Journey at Ayers.

For more information about Ayers House please visit their website at www.ayershouse.com.au.