What is involved in “Self Catering?”

Basically you are taking responsibility for our venue and using it as your own to hold your event.  We meet you at a designated time to open the door for you, clarify our expectations and conditions and show you how to close up.  Our basic principle is that the venue must be left in the same condition it was found.

It is essential that we meet you prior to a self catering booking.   You can make an appointment to be shown the venue from Monday Friday, 8am - 4pm.  Once both parties are comfortable with going ahead, we explain fully how Self Catering works and what we expect.

If you are self catering, we strongly recommend that you hire our kitchenhand for $100 for a 4 hour shift.  He can operate the dishwasher, knows where everything goes and is happy to help by collecting glasses and plates during the night to keep the clean up progressing.  It is a much more enjoyable night for everyone with someone cleaning as you go.  As one of our staff members will be on site until the end of your party we will not charge the $1,000 bond if you choose this option.

What can be used?

• Glassware and crockery (for up to 40 people), platters, serving tools, cutlery, knives and kitchen tools. These must be washed and put away, breakages must be reimbursed
• Commercial dishwasher (we will turn this on for you, it needs to heat up for 3 hours), pots and pans, electric frypan, microwave oven, toaster oven and stove / oven (with 2 tray maximum capacity)
• We have a BBQ in our outdoor area.  We need to know if you are planning to use the BBQ as we need to ensure there is sufficient gas.
• Home theatre system with an i-pod.  Please note if you are planning a dancing party the speakers on this system distort at loud volumes and won’t be suitable for the whole night so we recommend a DJ, hiring a sound system or jukebox.  (See Entertainment)
• Fridge space includes one 2 door underbar fridge for your exclusive use. For large gatherings it would be best to bring ice and some ice buckets as well.  You can also place some food on spare shelves in our 2 food fridges however please guests must not use the food fridges.  You cannot use our drinks, food or stores without permission.
• Furniture can be moved into other positions, we will attempt to have the venue set up to suit your needs ahead of arrival, though on occasions we will need to do this upon arrival. We do not supply tablecloths.
• You can put up some decorations, but they must be removed.  We generally recommend using balloons as these are the easiest to dispose off and make a big impact.
• We have a lot of lamps that create a pleasant evening mood, you can add your own fairy lights and candles.
• Empty bottles can be placed into our recycling bin and food and scraps into our main bin.  The bins are both 240 litres and will be empty.  If the bins become full you will need to take the remainder of the rubbish when leaving.

What are your expectations about how the place is left?

Whilst we do engage cleaners for the floors and bathrooms we do expect the venue to be left tidy; specifically:

• all party rubbish must be cleared
• stove cleaned and all surfaces wiped
• glasses and crockery washed and put away
• decorations removed, breakages swept up
• all rubbish bagged and binned or removed if bins are full

Using External Caterers

If you are getting your own caterers in for your function, the same rules apply. Your caterers are welcome to get in touch ahead of time to ensure our kitchen and stove meet their requirements, sometimes they may need to hire an additional oven as ours is narrow with only 2 shelves.

Hiring Conditions

For 18th and 21st birthday parties additional conditions apply, please read here

For parties on Friday or Saturday evening a refundable bond of $1,000 is required to sure we are compensated in the event of breakages, theft or damage.  This will be refunded in full the Monday after the event providing all conditions are met to our satisfaction

Clients are liable for any damage caused to all fixtures, furniture, crockery, glassware etc.  We reserve the right to retain funds from the client's bond for all breakages, damage or theft at the rate of $5 per glass or plate, $20 per platter, jug, vase etc.

Council timing and noise restrictions apply and must be adhered to.  Music must be turned off before midnight on Friday or Saturday night, guests must have left the premises by 12.30pm.

Our lease requires only “light drinking” on the premises, anyone appearing intoxicated will be refused entry or ejected.

Only invited guests can be admitted to Sydney Venue.  Any party expecting over 50 persons must provide station a door person in reception throughout the party. This only needs to be someone assertive (you can even rotate this role), but it is important for your own protection against uninvited people as we are located on a main street.

For evening events, entry to the premises is from 5pm on Saturday night or 6.30pm on Friday night.