Events

Packages for Events and Gatherings
Staying at Carramar will give you a slow immersion in nature, and an utterly elegant experience in a landmark historic home.
Instead of a rushed and crowded commercial event, you can have a peaceful few days, and fabulous intimate event with those you love.

Because Carramar is protected as a heritage listed home, we can only accomodate 12 to stay overnight.
We also welcome you to use the house and grounds for preparation, family gatherings. photos, and an intimate ceremony with gorgeous mountain views on your own private estate
For receptions over 30 people, or more celebratory activities like larger groups and music, we have partnered with the Conservation Hut a few doors stroll away.  Conservation Hut only charge for food and drinks (no venue fee), so this is about the most magical  combination to be found in the Blue Moutains.
https://www.conservationhutcafe.au/weddings/

This allows you to have a few blissful days to truly absorb this special time, a private ceremony and photos, an intimate meal or rehearsal dinner at Carramar, and move any louder or larger celebrations to the Conservation Hut

We know it is difficult to always face venue costs when you have so many other things to pay for as you start your life together, and we wish we could host for less,  but Carramar is a fragile old house, and as custodians we have to manage gatherings well and have and happy neighbors. 

Our event packages are

• Sunday Garden Gathering  $8 000 (up to 30 people, use of garden and Coach House only, main house balconies for photos)

• Weekend Gatherings  $16 000

•  Long lunches - on request only.  Best for Christmas in July, special birthdays, or an intimate gathering of family and friends (not available if you are having a wedding or elopement or any wedding related activities, even if wedding ceremony and reception and photos are offsite)
  
  These rates also apply if you are having any wedding-related events that weekend, even if your reception is at another venue.
  For example, if you choose to exchange  vows at a lookout instead of Carramar, or have your meal at the Conservation Hut or restaurant instead of Carramar, or any other combination.....Any guests at all the home at all outside of the overnight guests is an event

Contact Us
liesl@carramarestate.com
Tel 0405 332 460
Please try text before calling, so we can make a time to call :-)

House Rules

Why so many rules? 

• The home is also protected as a Historic Home, and is on the Heritage House Register.

• The garden is also protected as a Notable Streetscape, contributing to the overall beauty of Wentworth Falls visual appeal as a village. We believe it is a Sorensen garden

• We are in a residential neighbourhood,  not a farm or industrial area

• Although Carramar is on 2 acres and overlooks the National Park, we are in a natural amphitheatre and noise goes all the way to the resort in Leura

• Airbnb and NSW government is strict
  We have to take this seriously because we can be closed  down instantly on the rental platforms if guests impact neighbors,  which means  will loose our ability to operate at all and cover the costs of the home.
  Airbnb has a global party ban, and  has strict rules which we need to pass on.

• The hosting platforms like airbnb and booking.com are facing shutdowns all around the word because neighbors are fed-up with short term rentals. The platforms act swiftly and harshly towards hosts who allow noise or events to get  the slightest bit disruptive, even if it is the fault of the guests. Typically they close the host down without warning, and evict the guests with no refund. We may loose our ability to be listed and do short term rentals forever. They can also suspend guests and ban them from the platform
  We also have to register for an obtain a license from the  NSW government, and this can be taken from us if our guests violate regulations. If guest do the wrong thing, hosts are punished. listing are removed overnight, and we could be placed on an exclusion registed which forbids any future  from booking any rental accomodation with us on any platform
  https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/about-fair-trading/legislation-and-publications/changes-to-legislation/laws-for-short-term-rental-accommodation
  This is why we have partnered with the Conservation Hut if you have any celebrations at all beyond a quiet sit down meal
  
  

• What we take most seriously

Guests over the guest count allowed

Noise levels, excessive drinking

Damage to the house (no high heels, no moving furniture, no excess drinking) Most of Carramar fittings are irreplaceable - 140 years old marble imported on a tall ship, 100 year old floorboards we cannot sand etc

More than 3 cars onsite at any time, plus one car at Coach House

Anger directed at our staff

• Number of Guests
  The number of guests staying overnight or onsite must be approved and must not exceed 12 at any time, except for the event portion of your stay.
  The number of guest for the event must not exceed the amount approved (28 or 30 Max depending on your package)
  Guest numbers include the couple. For example if you have a package for 30, that means the couple + 28 guests.
  Children are also guests. Infants (Babes- in-arm , non-walking) are not in the  guest count. Toddlersor babies who walk are guests - they unfortunately leave more footprint than most adults
  Guest who are also service providers are still guests. For example, if your friend does make up and stays for the ceremony, they are a guest not a service provider. If a make up artist stays for the ceremony, they are a guest, If a caterer is there for the ceremony, they are a guest, If the celebrant stays for the meal or photos, they are a guest
  
  Service provider (celebrant, florist, hair & make-up, photographers caterers) need to be managed so that no more than  2 providers + photographer are onsite at the same time. If for example you have 3 caterers, celebrant, 2 hair+make-up, singer, photographer, florist onsite at the same time, that would be 8 people, and we can really only have 2 at one time. Providers  need to do their work and leave -  if for example a relative is doing your flowers or makeup and they stay for the event, they are included the guest count, Photographer can stay for the whole event, but not celebrant, florist, etc. Caterers can nbe onsite for the meal portion only.
  
  

• Meal Preparation and Eating
  Meal preparation must be done at the Coach House, not the main house. Meals can be heated and served at main house, but prepared at Coach House.
  The main house has an antique marble kitchen which is fragile.
  For your guest meal we only allow one per booking.
   

• We are not able to allow unlimited consumption of alcohol onsite. This is when the most damage and disturbance to  neighbors has occurred.
  If guests start getting loud or breaking things, our manager will stop consumption and has the right to end celebrations. If you need to drink a lot or have amplified music, we suggest you book the Conservation Hut for your event, and use your Carramar meal for a reherasal dinner of family gathering
  
  

• We do not permit hens nights or bachelors parties, Those must be offsite. We have noise monitors
  
  

• One of our team will be onsite for the  gathering, to help with arrival and support, and for the end of the event. This is not negotiable  and is included in the package
  
  

• Ceremony and Reception times
  You can either have 
  - Morning ceremony followed by a lunch, or
  - Afternoon ceremony and photos, followed by dinner 

• Total time onsite 6 hours for the event (any portion of ceremony, photos and meal  (ANYONE outside of the 12 who stay overnight)

• 2 hours ceremony, 1 hours photos. 3 hours meal

• 10am - 6pm
  Hours start when events begin and end. Additional time at $500/hour, regardless of portion or hour use
  For more guests than (28/30) allowed the reception should not be at Carramar, but at Conservation Hut or other venue
  Receptions at Carramar are capped at these numbers, and noise levels must be managed
  
  

• Conservation Hut partnership
  Conservation hut will open on request for private events, with groups staring at 25
  Carramar  cannot accomodate more than 25 for a ceremony or meal
  If you have more guests than 25, you can have the ceremony and meal at conservation hut
  they are separate to us, this is a partnership only, and we can provide contact details to discuss packages with then
  They are working resturant during the day, and  start events at 4.30-5 (check with them). They have a resturant and alcohol license
  
  

• Typical Carramar + conservation hut  combos:
  
  Under 30  guests altogether
  Carramar for accomodation ceremony, reception, photos
  
  Over 30 guests altogether
  Carramar for accomodation, photos, NOT ceremony and reception
  
  If you want amplified music, dancing, lots of drinkingand generally louder celebrations over 70 decibels -  please use Conservation Hut
  Penalties apply for noise levels being exceeded
  
  

• Noise
  Short term rental platforms have also started cracking down on noise. Airbnb have given our free decibel monitors and integrate them with listings. We used to hate the idea of this as being intrusive, until we hosted a 'handful of friend with guitars" weekend
  We have installed noise monitors, and anything over 70 decibels is too loud.
  
  

• Cars
  We only allow 3 cars at the main house ant any given time, 1 at the coach house.
  Cars at Carramar house must not go beyond front door driveway to historic carriage loop. Coach House 1 car in carport only, not laneway or carriage loop.
  Fletcher street can take about 6 cars . Beyond that, you will need to hire a valet service, or pick guests up from aother street
  Cars of caterers, photgraphers, make up arrtists, florists etc are included in this count
  
  

• Breakages
  Please let us know of breakages. We are relaxed about minor things like glasses and mugs, but need to know about staisn and breakages so we can stay  supplied and allow extra time to reset

• Antique marble surfaces
  Many of the surfaces in Carramar are irreplaceable. We believe the marble counter in the kitchen,  and the  fireplaces; were imported in a tall ship before the Federation of Australia, and are genuine Italian marble which is in very finite supply. We cannot replace them. Please do not allow guests to sit on them. please do not put anything on them that may eat into the marble or stain it (eg red wine). Please us the  boards provided to protect surfaces

• Heels and floors
  The hardwood floors are over 100 years old and are Karui pine, which is also hard to get . This is because it is high quality wood and over the last century was pulled up to make fine furniture. Please no heels indoors, shoes must be off indoors
  We are also trying to restore the floor by building up the original patina with many thin layers of beeswax (instead of modern  sanding varnishing  marbling) and this is a slow process of about a year. Shoes damage it 

• For the ladies
  if you are using instant tan up to 5 days before the wedding, please let us know.
  Our sheets are top-of-the-range Sheridan or Cultiver and cost around $800 +per set, so if you are using tan we would appreciate the opportunity to use nice-but-maybe-coloured-sheets

• Fires
  We have two gas firepits, and that is the only fire permitted outside. We are right next to the national park and fire risk is heightened for special events.
  We have fireplaces in the 3 main living areas (2 in main house, 1 in coach house), and those are the only permitted fires. The fireplaces in the bedrooms are coal, and have not been restored yet
  Please us only hardwood in the internal fireplaces - wood garhered from the garden produces resins and ash which damage the antique chimneys
  We provide enough for 2 nights. More firewood can be purchased at the petrol station at the end of Valley Road
  
  

• Heating and water
  When people  leave central heating on and go out, or open windows and use heating, of gas comes in at $4500 for the month
  The house is old and  difficult to insulate like regular homes, so please keep doors and windows closed if you are using heating, OR turn heating off if you are going in and out
  
  
  
  

• Normal cleaning
  ...is included, anything above that is not
  What is normal?
  Make, clean floors clean bathrooms and kitchen, wash all laundery
  what is not normal?
  Dirty dishes out (adds  many hours to cleaning costs because of time to run dishwashers), wet towels on floors or furniture, scuffs on walls, dirt or food on walls, cups and glasses left lying around, broken glass in the garden or spa, spa soupy, overflowing bins needing paid removal, burn marks on floors, moving furniture back in place, repairing  antique furniture or floors if furniture is moved
  
  
  
  

• Monitoring
  We have cameras at entrances and driveways, but not on private areas like the spa or indoors
  We have noise monitors at gathering places
  We do NOT look at the monitors all the time (not how we want to spend our time :-) but they do have AI systems which  look for aberrations, and we get notified of these (eg a pet,  excess guests, extra cars or excess noise)
  We will have a Carramar staff member onsite for the ceremony and start/end of the larger meal.
  
  
  
  

• Whats happens if my guest do not comply with rules or guidelines?
  As mentioned, we can get shut down forever over one compliant
  If the first disruption is severe, we will not hesitate to cancel the event and evict right way, no matter what is happening for you.
  
  What we take most seriously is undisclosed guests, noise levels, broken glass, or damage to the heritage listed home. We will cancel the reservation with no refund if these rules are not respected.
  If you cover, remove or disable monitors in any way, we will deduct a $500 warning fee, send someone over to reinstate systems, and  also deduct their labor costs. If it happens again, we will cancel the reservation and ask you to leave
  
  It is up to you to manage your guests. it is not our team's role to stop excess cars, damages, excess drinking or to handle excessive rule enforcement
  
  Penalties
  These will be removed from damaged deposit, and charged if the penalties exceed damages deposit
  Unfortunately for noise, cars, excess guests or anything disruptive at all we will deduct $500 from the deposit for the first warning, $1000 for the second
  For any other rules infringements we will deduct $200 per incident or warning
  For guests over the guest count we deduct $500 per guest
  if you or any guest use a raised voice, or direct any form of anger  our staff,  we will deduct $1 000 per incident. We also have the right to cancel the event right away and evict the group with no refund (we did not have this rule before, but have had to add it over an experience)
  
  
  

• Communications
  Carramar is a private home, not a commercial operation or 'event venue'
  The family have opened the home  for special occassions because they want to share a signifiant historic landmark with the community, (and  find a way to afford the repair  of the Welsh Slate roof  - you don't want to know how long that will take to save for!)
  We run at a loss given the upkeep costs , and the owner and manager are both working moms. Therefore we respectfully request that you note

• We are mostly a short term rental accomodation, not a reception venue. Thats why we partner with Conservation hut

• Meals and catering are all up to you - we provide the kitchen, whatever cooking equipment we have, seating. cutlery and crockery only

• Please use text or email  as our preferred communication. If you need to call, text and ask for a call and we can schedule a time

• We provide one half hour site visit to decide, and a one hour visit ahead of the wedding to plan
  
  
  

General rules

• we have addionatl general house rules for the short term rental, eg no glassware in spa, close doors when central heating on, no pets without agreement etc. These can be viewed on our website or airbnb listing

• Minimum booking whole estate, 2 days

• Maximum guests to visit property must be approved

• Maximum cars to visit property must be approved

• 50% deposit on booking Balance 45 days before, no exceptions

• Erection of tents, marquees or other structures/items or any modifications to the home (own tables, portaloos, dance floors, decorative structures,amplified sound systems, nails in walls etc) without approval may result in eviction

• No PA systems or live music

• Furniture may not be moved (unless previously agreed to and carried out by Carramar staff)

• Wedding ceremony must take place in approved areas

• Carramar Estate is NOT a reception venue, the provision is for a sit-down meal for  the maximum allowed people

• All vehicles must be parked within the Estate or on Fletcher Road and gates closed

• Additional guests will incur a $300 fee per guest. this will be deducted from you damages deposit

• CCTV is active on the premises and may be used to monitor guest numbers

• A list of approved suppliers will be given to you, and we do not allow suppliers outside of these (e.g. florist, caterers) Other suppliers list must be provided to Carramar Estate 14 days before event

• A running schedule must be provided to Carramar Estate 30 days before event

• All guests not staying at Carramar Estate must leave the premises by 8.30pm

• No noise after 8pm

• No pets for special events. We have a few wildlife families living on the grounds, and need pets to be continually monitored

• No confetti, balloons, Natural petals or herbs only

• Catering ONLY in coach house or butlers kitchen (why? Heritage listed marble)