unrefined - nowhere near the finest in sydney. arrived just after 5:30 pm for a wedding and had been told in advance that the wharf would be open from this time for guest parking. i was also in charge of delivering the cake (3 tier, requires 2 people to carry). i was stopped at the wharf to say that the wharf was 'still working' today and it would not be open to guests at all. was told to drive back up and find parking somewhere else and figure things out for myself. not a great start. found out later that they had miraculously 'stopped working' the dock as cars were being let in to park no less than 15 minutes after i had driven back up to the council car park ($4.50 p/hour).
got inside and waiters seemed antsy when guests (most with small children) were using the side doors to access the restrooms. did not understand why doors could not stay open (this was open later on in the evening) as it is kind of hard to walk past many tables of guests with a fussy child and through the dance floor to access restrooms from the other end of the hall.
my partner asked for a drink only to be told by the waitress that she was only serving the two or three tables to our right and that we had a designated waiter who was probably in the kitchen. no one came for about 15 minutes. said waitress then came back and offered to fetch us a drink. do not understand this protocol??? also, mytableof 10 ended up with 4 snapper mains (quite a dry dish) and 6 beefs (not so bad for bulk catering. it was tender and cooked medium-well done). think some waiters have issues with meaning of 'alternate'? we asked about this only to be ignored. we had two sides: broccolini (there were 5 pieces to share fortableof 10) and a mixed leaf with pumpkin and beetroot - it looked like a side salad for 1-2 (again for 10 people).
cakeage was $5 per person (200 guests, that's an additional $600) to serve wedding cake - could have been cut more evenly and arranged on a platter more neatly and not slanted. looked rushed. not everyone on mytablewas offered 'tea or coffee'. some were not asked. some were only offered coffee. our water glasses were probably refilled once during the whole evening. did not have self-serve jugs on tables like other places.
if deckhouse want to charge the prices that they do (beware, lots of "additional" charges many other places consider inclusive in package), then they need to lift their game. also had a few sound/audio issues but that may be user error. there's not much of a view in darkness so couples may want to reconsider this if view is what they are after. you'd be better off in by the water somewhere closer to the city. it is somewhat lacking of the refined service and decor provided by other sydney establishments and i would recommend thorough research before deciding on this location for the price they charge.
edit 19/05/2015: dedesgroup questions if this post is genuine which is a huge insult. i can assure you that this is genuine (why would i bother wasting my time otherwise?) and the bride and groom will be in touch. in addition, i would like to add that i caught up with the bride and groom (yeah, we're pretty close - i think it's called being family) and discussed additional points that guests (who i guess aren't as important in terms of being a customer as their feedback isn't "genuine") did not pick up:
1. thetablesettings were incorrect. most importantly, the groom's familytablewas put in the wrong spot next to the bar instead of next to the bridal table. the bride's familytablewas placed on the other side next to the bridaltable(i.e. positioned correctly). this gives the image on inequality and is a huge disrespect in my culture. other tables were numbered wrongly also.
2. working crew (e.g., band members, photographers, etc) meals were not served on time or at the time agreed upon which then threw the schedule of entertainment out.
3. wharf parking was supposed to be for the whole wharf area. when the wharf was opened, cars were only permitted to park on a fraction of the area agreed upon. see photo attached - we were allowed to park only in the space to the right of the star not the whole wharf area (about 15-20 cars double/triple parked).
4. bride asked for black coloured cushions on the tiffany chairs. we had white coloured cushions on the night. these were also an additional cost per chair, as are chair covers, sashes, etc. again, about $5 each.
5. wedding/event coordinator who bridal couple had liaised with to organise event was there at the beginning of the night. no sign of her after an hour or so. was not told where she went or who was in charge after that.