The Calyx — Attraction in Sydney

We had our daughters wedding for 140 at The Rose Garden followed by the reception at The Calyx on Saturday night 6 October 2018 . We could not have been more thrilled or happier with our choice of venues. The Calyx is open to the public until 4 pm and so, assuming your reception commences at 6 pm , there is a brief 2 hour window for the space to be set up and it has to be cleared at the end of the event so it is ready to be open to the public the next day.

The people from the The Calyx's event company Tippas White Group , especially Allyson and Lorraine , were terrific to deal with and worked very closely with our wedding planner " Days Like These " .

You need to remember that you are only hiring the space and the food and beverage at The Calyx and you need to bring everything else in and thus your wedding planner is vital to the success.You can use their wedding planner although through prior excellent experiences we went with " Days Like These."

The entire day went off perfectly even though there were a few last minute hitches caused by the weather. The Calyx were very understanding of our needs even to the point where we asked for the flags on the island to be removed for the wedding as they would spoil the photographs.

Due to the weather we had to move the cermony from The Rose Garden , indoor to The Pavilion in The Rose Garden . It was very fortunate that the Pavilion was there as it gives you a wet weather option which is comforting as you then have a "plan B " and it certainly made the ceremony a lot more intimate. In the end , the weather cleared and whilst we could have changed back to outside in the Rose Garden , we stuck with the wedding in The Pavilion as it looked so beautiful.

The Calyx arranged for a drinks package in the Rose Garden to cover the period between the wedding ceremony and the reception which was a great way to start the festivities.

Everything we asked The Calyx to do , they did. Nothing was too much trouble and Allyson and Lorraine worked tirelessly to make sure we had a night to remember.Gaining access to be able to drive to the Calyx the day before to drop things off was easy as was the pick up the next day. For elderly guests , even though it is only a couple of hundred meters from the Rose Garden to the Calyx , they arranged a golf buggy to transport those unable to negotiate the stairs.

The food was great but what was even better was the attitude of the staff. I have had so many people contact me yesterday saying how wonderful , courteous , friendly and helpful the staff were . Being in the wedding party , I thought they may have been singling me out , but when numerous guests say the same thing you know that they have the right staff. A big thank you for that.

Whilst we were initially going to have the reception commence with drinks and canapes outside we also made the call when it was raining heavily on the day to move these inside to the are of the flower wall. That worked really well as all the doors to where the reception was being held were closed giving the maximum "wow" effect to the vertical garden and once again showed that The Calyx gives you a wet weather option as well.

I regard myself as a pretty hard task master and am not backward in giving a negative review where appropriate.I could not fault one thing about the entire event . The night went off perfectly without one single thing going wrong. You hear all these terrible stories and I suppose I was waiting for something to go wrong fortunately that was not the case. That reflects good planning and great work between The Calyx and Days Like These.

I could not recommend this venue...

We held our Wedding reception/dinner at the Calyx in the Royal Botanic Gardens mid April and couldn’t be happier. Jacinta (Sales Event Manager) was the first person we met with and she was fantastic!! She explained the entire booking process, provided an overview of the venue, explained all options & packages we had, and walked us through the contact process. We also worked closely with Katrina - our wedding coordinator - who made sure our day went flawlessly. She further explained packages & options, helped us make decisions on layout of the event space and was there the whole way through to answer any questions we had or help us make changes as needed. There is so much I can say about these two ladies - but we honestly believe our wedding wouldn’t have been the success it was without Jacinta & Katrina. The Calyx itself is an amazing venue. It was spacious enough for all our guests, the outside veranda was perfect for cocktails & canapés, the exhibition area made for a unique backdrop for our dinner & dancing, and the location in the gardens couldn’t be better! Jacinta had said we would be surprised by the transformation of the venue for our evening wedding - and she was right! The entire space was warm and inviting and was exactly what we imagined. So many of our guests hadn’t been to the Calyx - and nearly all commented on what a fantastic space it was! The event team on the evening were awesome as well - ensuing food was served timely and that guests always had a drink. Again - this is a fantastic venue with an amazing ‘wow’ factor. The staff were super friendly and again - Jacinta and Katrina are a fab duo of wedding planning!!! We couldn’t have had a better day - and would highly recommend anyone to check out the Calyx for an event location....

I’ve visited the café at The Calyx in Sydney’s Botanic Garden a few times, but during my most recent visit, I decided to stay a bit longer after walking around the garden. My partner and I were scouting wedding venues in the area, but unfortunately, didn’t find anything that really caught our eye. After exploring, we stopped by the café to rest and ordered a hot chocolate, a hot matcha, and a cookie.

The drinks and the cookie were decent, and the environment is usually quite pleasant with a nice view of the garden. However, this visit was marred by an uncomfortable experience with the staff. We sat for about 30 minutes, browsing on our phones and searching for other potential wedding venues. The café wasn’t particularly busy, and I didn’t notice anyone waiting for a table.

Despite this, two members of the staff kept walking past us, glancing at us in a way that felt like we were being rushed to leave. Initially, I didn’t think much of it, but after the fourth time they passed by, it became apparent that they were making sarcastic comments to each other, like “Shouldn’t we leave already?” and “Oh, it’s time for us to go.”

This made us feel quite unwelcome, even though we had made a purchase and were quietly minding our own business. It’s disappointing when a place that’s supposed to be a peaceful spot to relax in the beautiful surroundings of the Botanic Garden leaves you feeling pressured to leave. I hope this feedback encourages the staff to be more considerate of their customers...