Wedding venue on the market
Allan and Dawn Metcalfe have decided to leave a decade of hosting weddings at the altar.
The couple own The Metcalfes Wedding and Event Venue, 10km west of Huntly. But, after 10 years in the business Allan and Dawn have decided to move on.
Most of all, Dawn will miss watching the brides walk down the aisle.
‘‘That moment for me stands out,’’ Dawn said. ‘‘I stand around the corner and cry every time.’’
There’s never been a bad wedding, she said.
‘‘All have been beautiful, it’s a beautiful thing to do.
‘‘We had the most magical wedding once, where the photographer saw this moment happening and quickly got the couple outside where this rainbow formed completely over them … the potential for those gorgeous moments, there’s a lot here.’’
Allan had the idea to start the business.
He was running a dry stock farm and organising activities for other conference centres part-time.
‘‘I said to Dawn we could do that here,’’ Allan said.
‘‘We decided we could give it a try and if it didn’t work out we could turn it into a big party room.’’
Originally, the venue wasn’t going to be used for weddings, Allan said.
Now, the couple’s summers are full of weddings and can host up to 160 guests.
Through the winter the couple host a lot of corporate events, birthdays and anniversaries.
The venue offers activities for guests, including air rifle shooting, claybird shooting, archery, paintball and orienteering.
‘‘The brides love it because it’s a very different bridal photograph,’’ Dawn said.
It’s one of the only places in the area, which can host over 50 people.
‘‘We are hoping it will sell as an events venue, but it may be that some people just want to live here and that’s fine too.
‘‘It would be a shame if Huntly lost it.’’ Family is the main reason Allan and Dawn are selling.
‘‘We’re grandparents now and we are so busy through the summer, we feel they are going to grow up and we are going to miss out.’’
The couple were also committed to leaving on a high.
‘‘We want to go out on a high energy level, like we are at the moment.
‘‘When we are working it is full on and we have got the energy at the moment, but it takes a lot from the both of us and we want to make sure we deliver really well like we do now continuously.’’
Allan and Dawn have bought a property in the Bay of Plenty to retire at.
When the couple sell they will also be leaving their home of 40 years.
‘‘When we came here, it was just a flat paddock,’’ Dawn said.
‘‘Everything that’s here, we have done ourselves.
‘‘It is all of us and the things that we