Melbourne’s Premier Wedding Venue
Leonda By The Yarra
Where your dream day will come true
Create the most memorable day of your life within the surrounds of the willows on the banks of the Yarra River, where the culmination of riverside surrounding, restaurant-style cuisine and exceptional service will ensure all aspects of your special day are perfectly realised in one of Melbourne’s leading elegant wedding reception venues – Leonda By The Yarra.
A truly great wedding venue caters to every guests needs, including the special needs of the bride and groom. When you choose Leonda By The Yarra as your wedding venue you can rest and refresh in our bridal suite before your wedding reception commences, capture your special memories in a stunning garden setting and to farewell your guests descend an elegant staircase to the waterfront to depart by boat from our private jetty. You can also greet your guests as they enjoy canapés and pre-dinner drinks on the balcony overlooking the Yarra River.
Ballroom
Garden Room
Our reputation as one of the leading elegant wedding venues in Melbourne has been earned by our commitment to your total satisfaction – this means that we will not only provide you with one of Melbourne’s best wedding venues, but will also work to create your perfect night and meet your personal needs.
Contact us now and we would be happy to help you organise your special occasion.
- Wedding Ceremonies
- Wedding Receptions
- Commitment Ceremonies
- Engagement Parties
- Private Events
- Wedding Anniversaries
- Birthday Parties
- Corporate Events
The Leonda Wedding Photography Video
Weddings and Ceremonies
When you meet your partner at the end of the aisle to get married you want to be in a beautiful setting. A space that will signify the beginning of your joining and a new journey unfolding. Leonda By The Yarra offers 3 picturesque spaces to suit anyone’s needs. Two indoor ceremony options and one outdoor option with the gorgeous Yarra River as a backdrop.
If you wish to conduct your wedding ceremony at a church or park, Leonda recommends a list of various churches and famous parks such as the Burnley Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens, Alexandra Gardens or Fitzroy Gardens to hold your ceremony.
Let’s discuss your wedding day
Ballroom
- 150-400 seated capacity
- All inclusive lunch + dinner package options available
- Situated only 4 km away from Melbourne’s CBD
- Arrive or depart via boat from our private jetty
- Pillar-less event space
- Floor to ceiling windows offering picturesque Yarra River views
- Dedicated wedding coordinator to guide your planning journey
- BYO spirits available
- Alternating menu for all courses
- Customised menu availability to suit your needs
- Waterfront location
Imagine your guests arriving into our stylish Marble Bar for pre-dinner drinks and canapes, before a curtain is drawn back to expose its vast, pillar-less and elegant interior. A large dance floor sits centrally in the space, with floor to ceiling windows framing picturesque views of Melbourne’s iconic Yarra River.
Enjoy a lunch or evening wedding reception with Leonda’s experienced team of chefs serving up dishes of outstanding quality which can be tailored according to your preferences.
Allow us to create an exceptional atmosphere by managing everything from intricate details such as room decorations to a customised menu with flare. Our committed and experienced staff will work towards creating your perfect day and will ensure the smooth flow of your event while meeting your personal needs and budget.
With Leonda, you can relax knowing that your wedding experience will be nothing less than exceptional.
Garden Room
- 70-130 seated capacity
- All inclusive lunch + dinner package options available
- Situated only 4 km away from Melbourne’s CBD
- Arrive or depart via boat from our private jetty
- Pillar-less event space
- Floor to ceiling windows offering picturesque lush views
- Dedicated wedding coordinator to guide your planning journey
- BYO spirits available
- Alternating menu for all courses
- Customised menu availability to suit your needs
- Waterfront location
Take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere and picturesque surrounds by beginning your event in our courtyard. Enjoy pre-dinner drinks on the banks of Melbourne’s Yarra River surrounded by Willow trees and native Australian fauna.
Allow us to create ‘exceptional’ by ensuring every detail is beyond your expectations. Your Event Coordinator will work with you to ensure the smooth flow of your event, and our team of highly qualified international chefs will be sure to delight and impress the taste-buds.
With tables dressed in crisp white linen and the pillar-less room offering 180 degree exquisite views of lush surrounds, Leonda By The Yarra’s Garden Room is an elegant and unique wedding venue that you deserve on the biggest day in your life.
What’s included in our Wedding Packages
At Leonda we have thought of EVERYTHING (and we mean EVERYTHING) to ensure that your special day is everything you dreamed of and more. From the moment you first visit us, all the way through to the Big Day, nothing is too big or small for our team to handle to ensure that your wedding journey is seamless.
All The Love
- Personal event executive to assist with booking date and timings
- Bridal folder upon booking containing everything you need to know about holding your special day at Leonda
- Dedicated wedding coordinator to guide your planning journey
- Inspiration and tips from our blog and social media sites
- Customised menu availability to suit your needs
- Access to our exclusive preferred supplier list
- VIP parking for parents and bridal car
- Umbrellas for parking attendants to escort your guests to cover
- Guest liaison to welcome guests and direct them to your wedding
- Door man to greet your guests and add a touch of elegance
- Cloak room
- Sugar fix in bridal suite
- Canapés and drinks served in bridal suite
- Safety deposit box available in bridal suite for monetary gifts and valuables
- Plentiful bridal suite with drawers of amenities including bobby pins, hairspray, Hollywood tape and anything you may need throughout your event
- BYO spirits available
- Unlimited canapé service on arrival
- Choice of menu for parents & bridal party
- Alternating menu for all courses
- Personalised bridal attendant
- Lectern and microphone
- Raised stage for bridal table (Ballroom only)
- Raised stage for band (Ballroom only)
- Bouquet vases add that extra floral touch on the bridal table
- Tea-light candles to decorate the venue
- Outdoor lanterns with candles on our private jetty
- Cake bags, so your guests can take a piece home
- Classic white venue flowers
Download your dream wedding package
Catering
With our team of highly qualified international chefs at Leonda By The Yarra, your wedding is sure to delight and impress the taste-buds.
Leonda’s kitchen caters for a diverse range of weddings and offers an array of cuisines to suit your needs. Our menus provide a selection of cocktail and banquet dining options. At Leonda you can expect:
- Quality dishes prepared in Leonda’s in-house kitchen
- Head chef who has extensive experience working in renowned Australian and Melbourne dining institutions (including the award-winning Atlantic Group and Stokehouse)
- Focus on quality seasonal and regional produce
- Versatile dining options including themed food stations
- Experienced kitchen team of Australian and international chefs, each skilled in the cuisine of their heritage
- Flexibility in accommodating your tastes, budgets and dietary requests
- Fully organic menus available
- Extensive wine list and fully serviced bars
Transport & Parking
As the name would suggest, Leonda By The Yarra is located right on the banks of the Yarra River! However, if you’re not quite up to a dramatic water ski arrival, then we’ve collected the best ways to arrive in style.
Request a Booking
Get in touch today to discuss your wedding
With prices in 2022 ranging between $145 – $260 per person, the team will work with you to find a day and season that fits within your budget.
MEET OUR EVENT EXECUTIVES
Melanie is a weddings veteran, and we’re proud to have had her with us for almost a decade. Melanie loves working with couples to make sure that their Big Day is everything they dreamed of, and of course, she’s excellent at making that happen!
In her time away from work, Melanie is a proud mum to three beautiful children, and loves to indulge in a bit of ‘me-time’ at the shops!
There wasn’t a higher score, so had to settle for 10/10. Friendly, bright. I could tell Mel was really excited and genuinely cared. You can tell she loves her job. Always responded quickly and enthusiastically regardless of time she was contacted or how many times. Amazing person to have represent your company.
els warm and genuine personality and her level of professionalism put Leonda at the top of our list of venues we were considering for our wedding. Her can do attitude made us feel confident that Leonda and its team were the right choice for us. We are so excited to have our big day in such an amazing space. Mel is an absolute asset to your team and phenomenal at what she does
She was amazing from the very first phone call. Always polite understanding and never pressured us into anything we didnt want to do
Very Professional
Melanie has done an amazing job in providing us with so much information about the venue and what can we can expect from the team. She is so passionate about her job and the Maple Event group – she is an amazing asset to the team.
She’s lovely. Friendly. Helpful.
Mel took the time to sit with us and asked us all our dreams for the wedding. She was so lovely and her personality was part of the reason we chose Leonda.
Very thorough, attentive and organised
Melanie was kind, friendly and passionate in the delivery of her service right from the get go. Part of the reason we booked to have our wedding at Leonda was because of how lovely and enthusiastic she was.
What is there not to like about Melanie?She was super friendly, welcomed us with warm smile, walked us around the venues (both fenix and leonda), very attentive to our needs, and was also very understanding to what we wanted.At the end of the day, while we went with another venue, it is not a reflection of the top notch service Melanie gave us. It was purely due to convenience of the other venue.Melanie, thank you for your warm welcome and keep doing what you’re doing 🙂
Melanie has great customer service, she really goes above and beyond to help.
Found her very contactable and quick to respond to any query we had. She made our selection process was quite easy with her knowledge, accessibility, suggestions/considerations and general personality. With Mel, its been a great introduction to Leonda which gives me confidence that the rest of our Leonda planning and execution of our wedding will follow a similar trend. Would happily recommend any of my friends to enquire with Mel regarding their own event.
Listened to what we wanted and was great with the kids.
Melanie was friendly and extremely helpful. She tried to find solutions for all our queries and has had so much patience with us. We have still been unable to confirm with her our plans but she has been so lovely and understanding.
Melanie, was amazig from the start happy to answer all question and was amazing to deal with
Mel was very friendly and very supportive Even though we found a different venue that suited us. She was still very friendly. I would definitely recommend her to any of my friends or whoever I know will be getting married 🙂
Melanie is just lovely so helpful. She was so great in explaining everything to me. My partner and I are most definitely booking our wedding thru Melanie. We are just delayed because our house isn’t finishing being built yet. I loved speaking to Melanie she is 10/10 So helpful and such a lovely person We will definitely be speaking to her in the best future thank you 😀
Answered Emails PromptlyAnswered all my questions Very good customer service
Mel goes above and beyond!! The fact that she would let me contact her outside of hours made it so helpful with juggling work and planning a wedding. Mel is thorough and explains all detail in depth, you can tell she loves what she does. Most of all, she cares about her clients and made speaking to her so easy!! I would very highly recommend her to my friends. I was so disappointed that we couldn’t book with her due to date avaiablity at Leonda. Mel is a superstar!
Awesome service, very attentive & high attention to detail.
She was very professional and sold her product with attention to detail.
Mel is literally my new best friend. Very easy to talk to, understanding and great for a little vent when it comes to frustrating other members of the wedding party. I would 110% recommend Mel to anyone planning a wedding or event she is amazing
She was very helpful, accommodating, a pleasant and warm and joyful manner.
She was fantastic and so helpful during the very stressful process. Extremely responsive and answered all of numerious questions. We can not wait to have our wedding at Fenix next year.
Mel was extremely professional and personable from the beginning of our enquiry. We were made to feel like we weren’t just a number and never ever felt like we were rushed on appointments.Mel exceeded our expectations above and beyond which also ensured us that we had made the right choice with our venue!
Melanie was very lovely and helpful.
Incredibly caring, positive, attentive and listens. She makes the process incredibly smooth and stress-free!
Melanie had an amazing energy and such a warm personality that I was instantly looking forward to meeting with her. It was so nice to engage with someone who seemed genuinely excited for you and happy to help!
She was very helpful answered all our questions and made us feel as though our wedding would run smoothly at Fenix
Since the day I contacted Leonda, Melanie has been nothing less than amazing in every aspect, including text, call and face to face communication. She gave such a thorough explanation of everything that my fiancé and I were left with no questions and so happy with all the services that Leonda provides.
very professional, knowledgeable and hospital
Melanie is amazing!! She answered every call and email I sent and responded with everything I needed to know. Was great to meet face to face to speak about the venue with her and she sold us on the perfect wedding location.
Melanie was very thorough and took us through the whole process and event space. We felt very well looked after and enjoyed the experience.
She gave us a good amount of time to look over the packages before she contacted via email to follow up in a very respectful and unobtrusive manner.
Very quick to respond to emails and very helpful 🙂
Melanie is beautiful and has gone above and beyond to make the start of our journey amazing.
She was extremely responsive and always answered my questions! I hope I get the opportunity to meet her in person and she has made me more excited for my big day after some previous venue troubles!!
She is very polite and patient.
Very polite and great to deal with
Very easy and informative to work with. Answered all of our questions and replied to emails promptly. Very helpful
Very responsive and polite.
Mel is so friendly and bubbly! So welcoming and made us feel like she cared about our needs and feelings about our wedding.
Very professional. Enthusiastic. Easy to work with. Accommodating with the appt time for venue viewing. Seemed genuinely excited for us.
Very professional and gave a viewing which felt personal. We will be considering leonda very seriously for our wedding
Mel was amazing so helpful! Best person I’ve dealt with! Love her
She is amazing!!!
Very warm and welcoming, extremely accommodating with all my needs and wants for my wedding.
Taylor loves creating a WOW experience for her couples on the journey to their big day.
Apart from her vivacious personality she’s a wonderful listener who really understands just what her couples are after in their event.
Outside of work Taylor is passionate about her travel blog where she loves to write about wine. She also loves to dance and has even appeared in a Bollywood Movie and Australia’s Got Talent!
Taylor was amazing, she was so informative and covered all basis. She was extremely welcoming and would always respond very quickly with any queries we had
Super friendly and happy to answer all my silly questions! Felt comfortable with her from the start and would have loved to work with her for our wedding!
She was highly knowledgeable, friendly and approachable. A great experience.
She was very polite, responsive and was not too pushy.
Taylor is amazing . She was very professional, knew the answer to every question, couldn’t rate her more! She is great.
Very competent and friendly. Answered all our questions and was very helpful.
With an absolute passion for hospitality, nothing makes Fiona happier than helping couples’ realise their dream ‘Big Day’, especially when it’s full of great food, good wine, and joyful moments (her guilty pleasure is watching wedding videos – the more emotional, the better!).
Her extensive hospitality industry experience has honed a great skill for understanding what makes a successful and WOW worthy event, and finding solutions to help make magical moments happen.
When she’s not at work, you’ll find Fiona in Melbourne’s hottest restaurants – she’s always up to date with the newest restaurant openings, and can tell you where the best coffee can be found, anywhere in Melbourne!
Fiona is amazing!!! A huge reason why we chose Fenix was the way she delivered everything! She wasn’t pushy at all and she gave us all the information, sat us down and explained everything in the booklets (some of the other venues we looked at didn’t do this) She literally went above and beyond and she was so fun to talk to! She made you so excited for your wedding and was able to picture your wedding there! Both my fiancé and I loved her and kept referring everything back to Fenix and how Fiona would deliver it. She is such a lovely person!! Definitely will keep in touch with her!
She was helpful and answered all our questions
About Leonda By The Yarra
About Leonda By The Yarra
History
Leonda’s successful history began in 1970 during the year that John Gorton was Prime Minister and seatbelts became compulsory in cars throughout Victoria. Previously known as the Hawthorn Tea Gardens, the property that Leonda now occupies was a popular destination for boats to dock and ladies to socialise whilst sipping on teas and nibbling on scones, gazing over the beautiful surroundings. When the Hawthorn Tea Gardens fatefully burnt down, partners Leon Jolson & David Walker bought the land and built Melbourne’s leading reception centre. The name bestowed upon the stunning reception centre was Leonda, a fusion of the names Leon and David.
Leonda was originally built as a large 500 guest function room with an adjoining room called the ‘River Club Restaurant’ which catered to 132 guests.
- Qintex (Christopher & Pixie Skase)
- Vi & Bernard Greenhalf (Vi was a flamboyant socialite who was both a radio and TV personality)
- Horst & Anne Niece
- Spotless Services
Whilst there have been countless memorable occasions held at Leonda, there are a few that stand out above the rest, some of which include:
- A public riot took place as the Governor General arrived at Leonda after sacking Gough Whitlam in 1975
- The Dalai Lama was a keynote speaker at a conference held at Leonda in the 1980’s
- Brownlows and Logies have both been held at Leonda
- In the mid 1980’s a Romanian heavy weight lifter was competing in the World Heavy Weight Lifting Championships in Melbourne and came to a function at Leonda. During the night he disappeared. There was a huge police search as it was believed he was seeking refuge here in Australia. This was publicised heavily in the media.
- A grand lunch was held for one of the Popes Cardinals in the mid 1990’s in Leonda’s grand ballroom. He was being groomed to be the next pope but did not get the top job.
- On separate occasions both Prince Phillip and Prince Charles have dined at Leonda.
As we celebrate our incredible history as a true landmark of Melbourne city, we urge you to celebrate with us by browsing through our archive of images to see how Leonda has transformed, while at the same time remained loyal to its roots.To truly formulate our timeline, Leonda is searching for couples that were married at the venue around 1970, during its early years of operations.
We are also curious to hear of any interesting or amusing stories that have taken place at Leonda over the years. We love our history and ask you to celebrate with us with your personal stories and memories.