Spring will see the arrival of wedding season, and Orange is rapidly becoming a more popular destination as people try to escape the price rise of weddings in Sydney.
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The latest figures put the average price of a wedding at just over $30,000, exceeding the average planned budget by $10,000.
However, this total cost has dropped nearly six thousand dollars, which can be attributed to moving weddings out of major capitals, and moving off traditional Saturday slots.
Duntryleague Club president John Cook said Duntryleague, while still hosting many local weddings, was trying to push into the Sydney market to attract clients.
“A lot of people will travel down for a weekend and book the guesthouse out for a wedding and that’s what we’re trying to target,” he said.
“Often the expenses you rack up by coming out to the country, with hosting guests and travel, are still outweighed by the savings of not having it in Sydney.”
“It’s great for the local economy to have these people in town – not just for venues like us, but for the community.”
This sentiment is reflected at Borrodell Wineries, one of the most popular venues for weddings around Orange.
One of the owners of Borrodell, Gaye Stuart-Nairne, said the “true beauty” of Orange was finally being recognised by the rest of Australia, and indeed the world.
“I just had one girl call up and finalise her wedding from London, we've had a chef from Rome and you think 'what?! You're coming out from Rome!',” she said.
She said Borrodell was expecting a big season, and like last year booked out.
"We've got large numbers, but the same number as last year as there's only so much space we can fill. We try to only do one wedding a weekend, otherwise your quality begins to slide," she said.
"I'd say – at a guess – that 60% of our weddings are from Sydney, 20% are from out west and 20% are our lovely locals.”
Megan Foster, who runs the Megan Claire photography and floral businesses said her diary was “absolutely chockers” and she was expecting a very busy spring.
“With the photography is one a week, flowers can range from one wedding to four weddings a week so we get very busy, but that’s the aim of the game, to make hay while the sun shines,” she said.
“It’s definitely gearing up to be a big season,” she said.
She hadn’t noticed too many trends for the season ahead, but said the dry weather meant she was expecting a few more outdoor weddings.