Planning your ceremony
The Cliffs, set up.
Everything that is already waiting for you at the ceremony site, and where it sits.
Less, done well
The view is the styling.
Most ceremony spaces need dressing to become something. The Cliffs is the opposite problem: there is a 300-metre drop, a river, and an entire gorge behind you, and anything you add is competing with it.
So the set-up we arrive at, year after year, is a simple one. Timber benches in an open V. A natural runner down the aisle. A signing table off to one side. That is genuinely most of it, and it is enough.
None of this is fixed. Couples move benches, add florals at the aisle ends, bring a cellist, set a trestle for champagne. What follows is the starting point, so you can decide what to change knowing exactly what you are changing.
The ceremony plan
How the site is laid out
A plan view of the ceremony site, looking straight down. Tap any marker for what sits there, what comes as standard, and what couples most often change. Illustrated and not to scale — the whole set-up spans roughly 30 metres.
Comes as standard
What is already waiting for you
Every piece below is part of the venue inventory and is set up for you before your guests arrive. Nothing here is an upgrade or an add-on.
Timber ceremony benches
12 benches, 2.7m each, around 5 guests apiece — set in an open V.
Jute aisle runner
15 metres of natural jute drawing the aisle out toward the gorge.
Signing table & chairs
A timber table and two chairs for the certificate moment.
Roped fencing & bollards
The safety line along the escarpment. Mandatory, and deliberately discreet.
Silver drinks tubs
Galvanised tubs for iced water, or something better, on arrival.
Individual chairs
Available on request for elderly guests, or anyone who would rather a back.
If you want more
The additions worth making
In order of how much difference they actually make on the day, rather than how much they cost.
01
Live music
A guitarist or cellist at the top of the aisle changes the ceremony more than any amount of styling. Bring a battery PA, or ask us about a generator.
02
Florals at the aisle
Low arrangements at the aisle ends, or a cluster at the top. Keep them low — anything tall competes with the horizon and loses.
03
Champagne on arrival
A trestle behind the seating, silver tubs, something cold as guests step off the bus. Small effort, disproportionate effect.
04
An arbour
Possible, and beautiful when it is the right one. Stand on the site at your second visit before you commit — plenty of couples change their mind there.
Before you decide
The practical picture
- Getting styling out there
- The ceremony site is around 3km from the Pavilion along a bush track. Everything your stylist or florist builds has to survive that trip, and our team accompanies them to the site on the day.
- No power on site
- There is no mains power and no house PA at The Cliffs. Battery equipment is the norm; a discreet generator and cord run can be arranged with us in advance.
- Underfoot
- Natural ground, uneven in places and loose underfoot. Flat or block heels for anyone who would rather stay upright — and there is a toilet at the site, though it is not wheelchair-accessible.
- If the weather turns
- Your ceremony moves inside the glass Pavilion, and the view comes with you. The call is made together, in good time, not in the last ten minutes.
- Set up for you
- Benches, runner, signing table and rope line are all in place before your guests arrive. You do not need to allow time or people for any of it.
- Confirming your changes
- Anything you want moved, added or left out is settled at your final planning meeting, not on the morning. Two site visits are included to help you picture it.
Come and stand on it
Every couple who has agonised over the styling has stopped agonising the moment they stood at the top of that aisle. It is a hard place to photograph and an easy place to understand in person.
Back to The Cliffs, or see how the whole day comes together on Your Day.
Site visits
Come and stand on the cliffs.
Site visits run by appointment and take about an hour. Bring your questions.