For Milestones & Moments That Deserve Space
Sometimes what you want is a long lunch with the people you adore, a birthday that feels special without the stress, a team celebration that actually feels meaningful, an anniversary marked in beauty and ease.
Perfect for people with full lives, families, careers, projects, commitments, who want to gather without the strain of hosting.
A celebration that’s considered, calm, and quietly special.
Old Forest School offers a private, beautiful daytime setting that feels both relaxed and considered. It’s not a wedding package. It’s something lighter, gentler, and utterly charming.
A celebration that feels special without the weight of performance. A gathering that lets people actually connect.
Celebration Hire is designed for relaxed events where you simply want to arrive, celebrate, and depart, held within a set window of time, with a beautifully streamlined service.
Please note: Celebration Hire is not available for weddings, elopements, vow renewals or ceremonies. Weddings require additional staffing, timing structures, ceremony support, and planning resources that are not part of this offering.
The Experience
A Celebration Day Runs Late Morning to Late Afternoon
You bring your people. We create the backdrop: gardens, forest edges, heritage buildings, tables, and a gentle sense of occasion.
It’s perfect for milestone moments that deserve a little ceremony of their own, without the formality or stress of a full event.
Personal Celebrations
Your mother’s 70th and she’s never been one for fuss, but she deserves beauty. Your 25th anniversary and you want to gather the people who’ve walked beside you. A long lunch with friends you haven’t properly seen in years.
Team Gatherings
An end-of-year celebration that doesn’t feel like another conference room booking. A team offsite where people actually talk to each other instead of staring at screens. A milestone achievement worth marking somewhere that feels genuine, not corporate.
Whatever it is, it gets the space and dignity it deserves.
With groups of 20-100, you gather the right people in a place that holds them beautifully. Large enough to feel festive, small enough to actually connect.
The Spaces
Choose Where You Gather
Gardens and lawns. The schoolhouse with its vintage charm and good light. Shady trees. Outdoors with the sound of birds arriving for their evening bath in the pond.
Light changes beautifully through the day. Morning has a different quality than afternoon. Both are lovely. You decide what feels right for your gathering.
For team events: The Schoolhouse works beautifully for welcome addresses or presentations. The Noshery for long-table lunches. The gardens for breakout conversations. The lawn games for the kind of team bonding that doesn’t feel forced.
Photography options are everywhere, forest edges, walled garden, weathered buildings, meadow light. Your celebration will be documented beautifully without anyone working hard for it.
CELEBRATION HIRE OPTIONS
LUNCHTIME CELEBRATION — 11am–4pm
Perfect for milestone birthdays, long lunches under the trees, corporate celebrations and festive gatherings.
A relaxed five-hour daytime event with early finish.
FIVE-HOUR CELEBRATION
(Choose your timing, e.g. 12–5pm, 3–8pm, 4–9pm)
A shorter celebration that still feels spacious and elegant.
EIGHT-HOUR CELEBRATION
(Example: 2–10pm)
A longer event with room for a leisurely flow of drinks, food, speeches and music — without the structure of a wedding day.
All hire windows include arrival, celebration, pack-down and departure within the chosen timeframe.
WHAT’S INCLUDED — SIMPLE, ELEGANT, OLD FOREST
Venue & Access
- Exclusive use of Old Forest School for your hire window
- Tables, chairs & Celebration Layout (kept simple)
- Ambient venue lighting
- Bathrooms & parking
- Garden and forest spaces for guests to enjoy
Bar Service (Celebration Level)
- BYO beer, wine, sparkling/champagne & cider
Maximum 2 varieties per category - Old Forest School provides all non-alcoholic options, including:
– Still water
– Sparkling water - A seasonal NA drink (e.g., orchard cordial, citrus herb spritz)
- Ice supplied for chilling drinks & dispensers
- Curated glassware included (wine, beer, sparkling & tumblers)
- Bar staff matched to guest numbers
- Drinks must arrive & leave within your hire window
- No spirits, RTDs, cocktails, or champagne towers (weddings only)
Catering
- Choose from our Celebration Caterer List only
- Tea & coffee service included (self-serve station)
Audio & Atmosphere
- Bluetooth speaker
- One microphone (for speeches only)
- Playlist-only music
- WiFi access for music & basic connectivity
Seasonal Florals
- Simple bud-vase florals created from the Old Forest gardens
- A soft, natural touch that elevates the tables while remaining intentionally pared back.
Support & Staffing
- OFS bar staff
- Celebration host on site
- Basic email support (simple factual queries; no planning guidance)
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED
(Clear boundaries so celebrations remain distinct from weddings)
- Ceremonies of any kind
- Access to the Planning Library
- Booked-Couple Open Days
- Wedding-level staffing, timelines or coordination
- Décor deliveries before or after the hire window
- DIY styling, candles, installations or external decorators
- External caterers (must use Celebration Caterer List)
- Complex AV, DJs, or live musicians
- RTDs, spirits, cocktails or mixology
- Cake handling unless managed by your caterer
- Getting-ready areas
- Rehearsals
- Extensions or early arrivals
Celebration Hire is intentionally simple, this simplicity is what allows it to be offered at a lower cost than our full wedding experience.
Who This Is Perfect For
Personal Milestones
- People celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, retirement
- Families wanting beauty and ease
- Groups who want a long lunch in a private rural setting
Team Gatherings
- Companies wanting to celebrate achievements somewhere memorable
- Teams needing an offsite that feels genuinely different
- Organisations marking milestones (anniversaries, launches, farewells)
- Groups of 20-100 seeking a space with character, not corporate polish
Anyone who understands that important moments, personal or professional, don’t need to be complicated.
Pricing & Availability
Celebration & Gathering pricing is structured for daytime use (lower than wedding rates due to service level and timeframe).
Perfect for spring, summer, and early autumn days when the gardens are at their best.
Season: October–April
Capacity: 20-100 guests
Enquire About Celebrations & Gatherings via email at info@oldforestschool.co.nz