Broken Head is one of the best location to hold a wedding ceremony at Terrigal Haven because of the privacy it offers with it’s natural amphitheatre shape… not to mention the amazing backdrop of uninterrupted ocean views.
Although the name “Broken Head” is difficult to find on maps of the local area, that’s the name you will need when booking this location for your wedding ceremony with Gosford Council.
If you’re planning to use this location, the best place to position your bridal party is in the rock platform/ledge at the bottom. Although it appears to be a cliff right behind this area, the rocks do step down before dropping away and it’s not as scary a place to stand as you might first expect.
There’s plenty of room in this area to fit a large bridal party and the beauty is your guests will have you clearly in there sights along with panoramic ocean views as a backdrop. Your photos will look amazing from here too!
Broken Head is directly above the “off leash” dog area but it’s natural shape and mostly responsible dog owners their pets away from disrupting any weddings. One of the benefits of booking and paying the council to use this area for your wedding is the grass will be mown, rubbish removed and any dog poo picked up… but you will still need to be aware.
The natural shape of this area does provide some protection from the wind but it will depend a little on the direction and strength of the wind. For a summer wedding, the breeze is usually welcomed.
Being outdoors, your celebrant will need a good battery operated PA system and this is definitely something you should check before booking your celebrant. There is nothing worse than an outdoor wedding ceremony where the guests can’t hear whats going on and begin to talk amongst themselves and spoil the ceremonial feel to this part of the day.
Having family photos after the ceremony can be a challenge in this location as most couples prefer to have the ocean as a backdrop to their photos – and why wouldn’t you! The sun however, can be a problem as it will be shining directly into everyone’s eyes on a clear afternoon. There other options but you may have to be a little flexible with backgrounds or be prepared to move a little for these photos.
The direct sun isn’t usually a problem and actually ads to the vibrancy of colour during the ceremony when you and your partner will be looking at each other for most of the proceedings while your guests will have their backs to the sun.
One thing you will have to prepare for if choosing a location like Terrigal Haven for your wedding ceremony is a back up plan in case of wet weather. You’ll find a number of ideas and options on the blog under the “Wedding Advice”.
Remember, you will need to reserve your wedding ceremony location with Gosford Council prior to your wedding day to ensure it is available for you and they can be arched on (02) 4325 8222 for bookings and more information. You can also download the Gosford Council’s wedding locations PDF file here.
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Outdoor Wedding Ceremony at Broken Head Terrigal Haven
Hey it’s Andrew Hellmich here from Impact Images again.
We’re just down the pathway from Viewing Platform 2 still at Terrigal Haven here.
This little area is called Broken Head. It’s pretty hard to find that name but if you ring in the council to book in this area, that’s what you need to ask for – Broken Head.
The beauty of this little spot here for a wedding is a natural little amphitheater. It’s a bit more private than the viewing platforms. It’s a little bit harder for people just walking by to come in.
It’s a little bit more restrictive for the dogs because right behind me is the dog training area, the off-leash area.
This tends to really fill up with guests and the most popular spot to have the ceremony is down the rock platform right behind me that’s just in the shade now. Normally the bridal party will stand right on those rock ledge. The guests will look straight down with the ocean view right behind you and it’s a fantastic spot.
There’s a couple of other good reasons to have your wedding here as opposed to somewhere else in the Haven and that is it’s a little bit more protected. Although the wind does get in here, it’s not as open to Viewing Platform No. 2. It’s nice and protected.
All the couples worry about having chairs and things here. You can still have your chairs set up down here. There’s a little bit of a slope but it’s not too steep to have chairs. For your older family members, you can certainly set up some chairs.
You can set up a little bit of an aisle. A lot of couples will use just flowers to make a make-shift aisle. Sometimes they’ll have little wrought iron and ribbon running down to create an aisle, then with chairs on either side. What you can do is totally up to you. There’s a whole lot of different options available.
This is probably one of the favorites spots or the most popular spot to have a wedding in the Haven and you can see why. I mean the view is fantastic. It’s very very private and it’s a great spot to mingle and have drinks after your wedding day.
There’s lots and lots of spots around here to go for photos after your ceremony and like I’ve said earlier, you’re very very close to all the different reception venues close by. Whether its over at Terrigal itself, Crowne Plaza or Terrigal Surf Club, it could be the Trojans Hall, the Reef Restaurant, or even the Cafe, they’re all within a few minutes from here. Most of them you can walk to but at most a 2-minute drive.
A great location, Broken Head, Terrigal Haven. Well worth checking out if you are looking at having an outdoor wedding ceremony.
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