Tui Hills Wedding Venue Review | Auckland Wedding Photographer
As Auckland wedding photographers and videographers, we’ve photographed plenty of weddings around Auckland, and Tui Hills is one of those venues that feels completely different from the city while still being surprisingly close to Auckland.
Located on Scenic Drive in the Waitākere Ranges, Tui Hills Wedding Venue is surrounded by native ferns, palms and bush, giving couples a distinctly New Zealand setting for their wedding day.
It’s also a venue we know really well which makes a huge difference when it comes to knowing where to go for photos, how the light changes throughout the day and how to make the most of the venue without having couples away from their guests for too long.
Beautiful Native Bush Ceremony Setting
One of the standout features of Tui Hills is the Kowhai Glade, surrounded by native greenery and large tree ferns.
The ceremony area feels secluded and intimate, with the rotunda creating a beautiful focal point at the end of the aisle. From a photography perspective, we love how much greenery surrounds the ceremony. Rather than needing lots of additional decorations, the native bush already creates an amazing natural backdrop.
Tui Hills Wedding Photo Locations
There are plenty of photo opportunities without having to leave the venue.
Some of our favourite locations around Tui Hills include:
- The Kowhai Glade and ceremony gardens
- The bridal path
- The secret fountain
- Areas surrounding the Nikau Pavilion
- Scenic Drive and nearby Waitākere locations for additional portraits
The greenery is particularly good for creating that natural, romantic look without needing to travel somewhere else between the ceremony and reception.
If you're still comparing venues, have a look through our top Auckland wedding venues for more ideas.
The Nikau Pavilion
The Nikau Pavilion is probably one of the most recognisable parts of Tui Hills. It’s a large, modern reception space with a roof reaching approximately seven metres high and glass walls surrounding the pavilion. The glass can also be opened up, creating great indoor-outdoor flow while still keeping guests under cover.
We really like photographing receptions here because there’s a lot of natural light earlier in the day, and once the sun goes down the space transforms into a completely different atmosphere.
The Nectar Room - Reception Space
The Nectar Room is the original historic part of Tui Hills and offers a completely different feel from the modern Nikau Pavilion.
It has been redecorated and includes a hanging garden, continuing the greenery and natural style found throughout the venue. Having different spaces like this also helps the wedding day flow nicely, particularly while different parts of the venue are being prepared.
Why We Recommend Tui Hills
If you're looking for an Auckland wedding venue with plenty of greenery and a relaxed atmosphere, Tui Hills is definitely worth visiting.
We photograph a lot of multicultural weddings ourselves, including Indian weddings and Pasifika weddings, so having a venue that can accommodate different traditions, and cultural celebrations is a big advantage.
It's particularly suited to couples wanting:
- A native New Zealand setting
- Beautiful ceremony gardens
- Plenty of wedding photo locations
- Ceremony and reception in one location
- Strong wet-weather options
- A modern reception space
As Auckland wedding photographers and videographers, we love photographing weddings at Tui Hills because there’s so much variety within a relatively compact area.
You can go from a ceremony surrounded by native ferns, to intimate garden portraits, to a completely different look inside the Nikau Pavilion — all without having to leave your guests for hours.
Planning your wedding? Check out our Wedding Guides for more Auckland wedding venue inspiration, planning tips and advice to help you get the most out of your day.
If you're considering photo and video together, you can also view some of our wedding highlight videos to see how we capture the full story of the day.
Tui Hills Wedding Galleries
