The Officers Mess, Fort Takapuna — Attraction in Devonport-Takapuna

I've been in two minds whether to write this review or not.. and decided that I would have liked to have known this information before booking the officers mess for my wedding.

We had a great experience, to start off with. However we had a huge curveball in the shape of an incredibly serious health issue which led to a long stint in hospital for myself (the bride) with docs unsure I'd leave alive. This happened a week prior to our food tasting evening at the venue. My fiance, even though he had much much more important things on his mind at the time, called the venue to make them aware that we would not be able to attend the tasting in a weeks time and explained the unfolding situation. The response was understanding and he was told not to worry and to let them know when I was doing better. This is where the issues started.

Once I was out of the woods (so to speak), we were back in contact with the venue to rearrange the food tasting. This was extremely important to us, and we specifically picked a venue which did this prior to locking in options for the wedding. However we were told that, no, we had missed our booking and they would not be willing to add us onto another tasting night. We understand that there are set nights, but they were even completely against setting another two places on another tasting evening. This added much more stress and anxiety onto our already horrendous situation we were dealing with, which the venue was aware of. It made us feel very insignificant and unwelcome in the eyes of the Officers Mess - much like, we've got your money so tough. We were so uncomfortable with the way it was dealt with that we actually checked our contract and looked for other venues. Unfortunately we were locked in and would have lost our deposit if we'd moved venues. That was issue #1.

Then we organised a rehearsal at the venue, and were told that someone would meet us there. We turned up, and the place was locked and in darkness - no one bothered to show up. We had planned to get married on the hill so we did what we could in terms of rehearsal, but as there was rain forecast, we really wanted to get inside to see what our wet weather plan was. Again this added unneeded stress and anxiety to the day. It was at this point that I made contact again and noted that no one was there to meet us for the rehearsal and pretty much was told that that was untrue (IE I was lying) as they KNEW that someone was there to meet me. There was 8 of us, plus the celebrant who can 1000% vouch for the fact that there was no one there.

As you can imagine, it was at this point that I was wondering how our day was even going to go, considering the treatment that we'd had leading up to it. SOOO much stress was added to an already stressful time.

Luckily the day went well, thanks to my MC running the day like clockwork. A few things to note: Bar and wait staff on the day were incredible and super friendly and on the ball Venue was supposed to bring out the rest of the cheese rounds 'cake' in the evening as well as the afternoon cocktail hour, which didn't happen and we were left with ridiculous amounts of cheese after buying extra to ensure we had enough for our day and night guests Do allocate a friend of family member to switch on any fairy lights or candles on tables as the venue don't do it for you Views are insane - if it's not raining. We were lucky enough to get some shots on the hill, but had to get married on the deck under a marquee (we hadn't been able to get inside to see about another wet weather option) so scrambled for a marquee at the very last minute

Bottom line is, so long as you don't have any curveballs pre wedding then go ahead and book. But if you want peace of mind that you'll be cared about and that the venue will not add to any wedding stress maybe look...

We held our wedding at The Officers Mess on February 16, 2025, and it was truly an unforgettable experience. Our dream was to have the ceremony at the outdoor cliffside location, but the weather had other plans. Thankfully, the staff were incredibly accommodating with the last-minute decision to move everything indoors. The result was nothing short of amazing—it was cozy, warm, and intimate, and our guests felt comfortable and welcomed. All of this was thanks to the wonderful venue and its incredible team!

From our very first meeting, Sam and Fiona were prompt and thorough in answering all our questions, which eased our minds and helped reduce a lot of the stress leading up to the big day. On the day of the wedding, Sam and his team executed everything perfectly and ensured everything ran seamlessly. The food was another highlight—there was more than enough for everyone, and it tasted absolutely fantastic! We received so many compliments from our guests about how delicious and plentiful the food was, spacious parking and wonderful scenic venue!

A huge thank you to Sam, Fiona, and the entire team at The Officers Mess for making our special day so remarkable and memorable!

With...

I recently got married at the Officers mess and absolutely loved it. This was the only venue my partner and I went to and decided to go with it. Fiona and Sam has been very helpful towards all our requests making our day the best it could ever be. The venue itself is beautiful, its simple, cosy and it's got everything you need. The view is amazing especially on a sunny day. All the photos from the venue and the Narrow neck beach were beautiful. The food was delicious and way above our expectations. We had shared plates for every table and everyone absolutely loved it. The food provided got so many compliments from our guests after the wedding. They wanted to take the food home. The only obstacle we had was trying to set a date for our external rehearsal on the hill. We had to change the date many times due to bookings being made on the dates we booked in to do the rehearsal. We were very apologetic towards our bridal team as some had taken leave to attend this rehearsal. I guess we were quite unlucky. We didn't end up doing a rehearsal outside however the ceremony went well thanks to our brilliant celebrant. Totally recommend this...