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Ballara Wedding Venue - About Ballara

About Ballara Receptions

Ballara is a family owned and operated business established in 1987. Our experience and professionalism has earned us one of the best reputations in the industry. 

We are aware of how exciting planning your wedding can be, but also how it can become an overwhelming and stressful experience at times. This is where our years of experience and professionalism will come into play, and our fully inclusive packages be invaluable. From ceremony to reception, we work closely with you to bring your inspirations to life in our beautiful wedding venue and help you coordinate an exquisite tailor made wedding.

The team at Ballara look forward to helping you plan a beautiful and unforgettable day of celebrations for you and all your guests, seating 60 to 160 guests.

Our mission is “To give our clients an experience of a lifetime, by always exceeding their expectations by providing exceptional service and high quality food.”

Our Functions Team

Ballara has been a family run business for over 35 years. We are a close knit team so that you can feel comfortable and supported throughout your wedding planning process as well as on the big day itself. We have a team of staff who work full time – Amanda, Jan, Loretta & Popy – and then part-timer Isabella. So whenever you email, call or come in for appointments you will be in touch with one of us!

Amanda Webb

Amanda Webb

Owner & Managing Director

Having been involved since its inception she helped plan, build and start the business from scratch.

Her many years’ experience in the industry means she knows all the ins and outs of wedding planning. Being involved with the day to day running of the business ensures Ballara is constantly updated, in tune with the latest trends and kept to the highest of standards.

Loretta Snipe

Loretta Snipe

Function Manager

Loretta has been an integral part of our team for many years, starting as a waitress and working her way up to become a fantastic, detail-oriented function manager.

Her exceptional organisational skills and keen eye for all the finer details ensure that your special day exceeds all expectations.

Popy DEMBALAS

Popy DEMBALAS

Function Manager

Popy is highly motivated and exceptionally well-organised. Her dedication is evident in ensuring you feel comfortable and at ease throughout the planning process. With a genuine passion for making your event as memorable as possible, her commitment shines from the moment you book through to the big day

Our Staff

While your function manager ensures everything runs to plan on the day, let your concierge take care of you and your wedding party. From getting you drinks, to helping with your wedding dress or packing up some cake for in your departure car. Just like a personal assistant for the day!

We have our amazing floor and bar staff who look after your guests during the reception. We always ensure there is a good staff-to-guest ratio so that your guests aren’t left waiting or wanting. They are well trained and always ready to help with a smile on their faces.

We have our kitchen on-site and our kitchen team lead by chefs Xinhui & Dom who take great pride in creating their menus and can tailor each dish to suit your individual requirements.

To maintain our beautiful grounds we have a garden caretaker who is always pottering away to make sure everything is looking lush and in place for your wedding.

Awards & Distinctions

5 Star Award

5 Star Award Venue – Easy Weddings

284 Google Reviews

4.6 star rating

392 Facebook Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars

5 Star Award

5 Star Award as seen on Wedding Diaries

Associations & Memberships

Wedding-Services-Melbourne-Group---LOGO---black-1000x1000

Member of Restauarant and Catering since 2000

Reviews

After 4 postponements over 2 years of Covid, we finally were able to get married at Ballara and I can not fault the venue or team at all. Throughout the whole process they were understanding and accommodating and really made the whole experience stress-free. The venue itself is designed for weddings – whether you want an indoor chapel service or outdoor garden ceremony, there are ample gorgeous spots inside and out for amazing photography around the lake with a giant swing, giant L-O-V-E lettering and just an overall gorgeous garden. The team designed the whole day around the time of the sunset so we had the best light for our photos – they definitely know what they’re doing and take into account every minor detail so that you get the most out of your day. The food, oh the glorious food! I still think about that melt-in-your-mouth short rib mains. Even to this day (2 months later) we still have people messaging us what a great night and food it was. Thanks to Amanda, Popy, Loreta and the team for everything! Highly recommend Ballara Receptions and I’m hoping I’m invited to someones event hosted here soon…!

Michelle Raffaele

I HIGHLY recommend Ballara Receptions. The staff, the food, the surroundings, the support they give you ,for your special day to be perfect it’s AMAZING. My family and friends that were at my daughter party loved everything about Ballara Receptions. I even have a friend who is wanting to have her wedding there. Most of the guess said ” this place makes you feel, like you are in a fairy tale story ” and added that the surroundings and the tranquility was unique.
Thankyou Amanda and your beutiful team, for making my baby girl dream Quinciañera a very special one, 💖 and for taking care of every detail to make this Quinciañera celebration AMAZING.
If you are looking for a place to celebrate your special day and make your dreams come true, Ballara Receptions is the place , you won’t be disappointed.

Wendy

We celebrated the special wedding day of our dear friend whom married and celebrated at the Ballara Receptions. It was all extremely spectacular. The church, garden and reception were beautiful. The staff were delightful, highly professional, warm and engaging. The service was exemplary and Poppy the Function Manager showed the utmost professionalism and was highly responsive whereby she ensured the needs of guests were met to the highest standard. She catered to the needs of those with special dietary requirements and would promptly follow up with the chefs and check-in with the guests. Poppy was respectful and helpful and I would not hesitate to highly recommend Ballara Receptions due to Poppy and her staff, such as Tearna and Ebony. It was truly memorable.

Shirley

We could not have been happier with our choice to have our all in one wedding at Ballara Receptions.
The grounds and venue are stunning and Amanda and the entire team are such incredible people! The team were so friendly, supportive and helpful throughout our entire wedding planning process as well as our wedding day and post wedding. The staff really made our wedding a memorable one and we highly recommend Ballara to everyone! Our guests loved the food and the venue just as much as we did! Thank you so much Ballara for being part of our special day and providing us with fond memories for the future!

Diana

“We just wanted to say a massive thank you to yourself and the incredible team at Ballara!!

We had an amazing day and night and everybody raved about the venue and the delicious food (props to the chef!).

The whole day ran so smoothly and you were fantastic with how you went about everything and made our day so so special. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, it was just beautiful :)” 

Erin & Teri

“Absolutely amazing venue. The garden setting is picturesque and great overall location for both ceremony and reception. We were looked after very well from start to the end.

The team at Ballara responded efficiently to our emails and made sure the day was how we wanted. Jan was exceptional, dealing with us most of the time during the planning stage and on the day we had Isabella who was great to deal with and made sure the day went smoothly. She reassured us and helped our MC with his preparations on the day.

The food was also delicious and all the guests enjoyed it very much. I cannot thank you all enough for all your professionalism and would definitely recommend you to other newly engaged couples who are looking for a beautiful venue with beautiful staff.”

Jenny & Kevin 

 

“The staff at Ballara receptions were absolutely amazing. They were easy to work with and supportive from the very beginning to the day of the wedding. I would recommend Ballara to anyone looking to organise an elegant and seamless wedding; the ceremony, photos and reception all in one place.”

Vik & Shrivana

“An absolutely beautiful venue, with extremely responsive and helpful staff. Beautiful options for both indoors and outdoors ceremony and a gorgeous reception room. The staff were fantastic and emails were always responded to very quickly, the day went incredibly smoothly. The food was lovely, with a large variety of options on the menu. Would highly recommend this venue.”

Hannah & Tom

 

“Absolutely faultless – completely professional, extremely well organised, amazing venue that has everything on site – stunning gardens, beautiful chapel, gorgeous reception room. The food is plentiful and delicious. The staff couldn’t be more accommodating.”

Julie & Lia

“There are insufficient words of praise for Ballara and all the staff. Fiona our function manager was professional and friendly, accommodating all of our requests with a smile. We had our ceremony and reception there and the preparations were faultless. Guests are still commenting on the wonderful quality of food and beautiful venue.”

Antonia & Tony

 

“The service, the attention to detail and the food we had at Ballara for our reception could not be faulted. They made our entire wedding process so simple and enjoyable right from the planning stage through to our incredible wedding night. Being from the Western suburbs many of our family had not heard of Ballara before but everyone said it was more than worth the drive.
The night was amazing and the venue we had definitely made it. I am so happy that we celebrated our marriage at such a beautiful venue, which also offered brilliant food and service. They also catered well for the multitude of dietary requirements we had.”

Rene’e & Chris

“I just wanted to say a huge thankyou for making our wedding day so magical! The Ceremony and reception both looked amazing! It was just what we wanted! The food tasted amazing! We could have asked for anything better! Thankyou again! “

Tarsha & Jatin

 

“The service, the attention to detail and the food we had at Ballara for our reception could not be faulted. They made “I just want to say thank you again for making sure Dane and I had such a wonderful day. Our guest loved ever second of our day and that was because of your team at Ballara.”

Melanie & Dane

“Thanks a million for throwing us our dream wedding! We would especially like to thank Jan for running the night so smoothly even though she was injured 🙁 we really appreciate you seeing us through til the end! We had great feedback about the food and the venue as a whole.”

Natalie & Fernando

 

“Silly me didn’t bother to state my allergy to preservative 220 on the rsvp card, thinking that there definitely would be something on the menu without wine that I could just swap with someone else. Instead all meals on the chosen menu contained wine. I mentioned this to the waitress not really expecting anything much on such short notice. How wrong was I , I got a lovely entree and main and dessert was to die for. Staff were helpful professional and friendly and grounds were immaculate. Compliments to the chef. I’d highly recommend Ballara Receptions.”

Rita

“We got married at ballara receptions on the 25/11/18. and let me tell you our day was perfect.
Fiona was our function coordinator and she went above and beyond by calming my nerves before I walked down the aisle to switching up the seating chart with last minute cancellations.
everything was perfect, from the moment I drove up till we drove away after the reception. we have had so many great comments about the food and the decor and everything in between.
5 stars hands down, would recommend Ballara Receptions to anybody. Thank you for making the start of a new chapter in our life so memorable”

Pip & Jack

 

Ballara Receptions is the most incredible venue and team as a whole. The team and there service is impeccable and unable to be faulted down to the food, wine and happy staff. This Thursday I will be coming up on the 2 week anniversary of my wedding day and all I can say is I’m so incredibly happy with my choice of venue. Fiona was our function manager and all I can say is that she is amazing and went above an beyond to ensure that all my questions were answered and any of my concerns were calmed as well as meeting any of my requests even when they were a little extra 🙂 Thank you all. I do not have enough words to recommend you highly enough!!! Simply incredible”

Elley & Rick

“Congratulations Ballara Receptions on delivering a wonderful experience for my daughter’s wedding. It went perfectly. Grounds and Chapel Gorgeous. Food was 5* drinks plentiful and atmosphere warm inviting and natural. No detail overlooked. All rave reviews from our guests saying best wedding they have attended and i would have to agree. ”

Thankyou from the Kenney/Barnes/Zinellu family.

 

“I would just like to thank the team at Ballara after having my wedding there on the weekend. A day that I can only describe as perfection. Jan was our function manager and did a fantastic job to make sure the night ran as planned. We had many compliments from our guest about the lovely venue, immaculate gardens and delicious food. I was a picky bride with a long list of requirements and Ballara were nothing but accommodating and happy to help out during the whole process. Highly recommended Ballara as a wedding venue and thanks again.”

Amy & Kayne

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1435 Main Rd, Eltham
Victoria 3095

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