Our Transport Guide for your Destination Wedding
Are you looking to host a destination wedding, but keen to ensure that the destination is convenient for guests to travel to? You’ve come to the right place! Baylys’ Farm is located in the Bay of Islands, with the main hub for the region, Paihia, a short 10-minute drive away. The region is filled with amazing activities and accommodation options, and will ensure your guests switch off from city life and enjoy a weekend away for your wedding celebrations.
Getting to the Bay of Islands
DRIVINGPaihia is located three hours north of Auckland, an easy drive all the way up SH1. The recent highway extension up to Warkworth has made the journey even smoother, and traveling by car gives you freedom to explore the region once you arrive.
If you have time we recommend using the trip to explore some of the great spots along the way, including famous Northland beaches, restaurants and activities. We’ve listed some of our favourite pit stops on the drive from Auckland to Paihia below:
Matakana: Farmers Market (Saturday Morning), Brick Bay Wines and Sculpture Trail
Waipu: McLeods Pizza Barn and Brewery, Waipu Glowworm Caves, Uretiti Beach
Whangarei: Hundertwasser Art Centre and Cafe, Tutukaka Coast, Whangarei Heads, Mount Manaia Walking Track
FLYING There is also the option to fly up to the Bay of Islands Airport from Auckland, which is a quick 30-minute flight with Air New Zealand. Bay of Islands Airport is located 20-minutes from Paihia, but you could book a local transfer to pick you up upon arrival. Alternatively, there are also a few rental car operators at the airport giving you and your guests the option to pick up a car upon arrival. This will give you plenty of flexibility for your time in the region, and most accommodation providers have free off-street parking available.
Brijana Cato Photography
Getting to Baylys’ Farm
On the big day there are a few ways to get you and your guests to and from the venue (some a bit more unconventional than others!).
BUSESBaylys’ Farm is an operating farm, which means we need to be mindful of the number of traffic movements across the property. Based on this we ask that the majority of your guests are transported to and from the venue using buses. There are so many benefits to having your guests come in via bus however, including:
Everyone arrives at the same time (and on time!).
Your guests can have a few drinks throughout the day and not worry about arranging a taxi or sober driver.
It’s a super fun way to start the day, with the bus trip being an experience in itself as the guests are driven across the property and get a farm tour along the way.
It allows for a short and convenient trip home at the end of the night for your guests.
You can nominate the times and locations where the buses pick up your guests at the start of the day, and then later at night the bus drivers will ask guests where they are staying and drop them as close as possible to those locations ensuring everyone gets home easily and safely. We recommend having an early bus collection (around 10pm), and then your end of night bus/es when the event finishes.
We are more then happy to give advice on bus numbers and timings, depending on your guest count and runsheet timings for the day.
CARSYou can have up to 10 vehicles travel out to the venue for the event (excluding vendor vehicles), which means you can arrange for you and some guests to drive out to the venue if needed. Generally most couples use this allocation for their wedding cars, elderly, guests with disabilities / children / pregnant etc. There are also some local taxi services which is a great option for the wedding party, or groups of guests who need to leave the venue earlier than the first bus departure.
HELICOPTERArguably one of the most epic wedding entrances possible for the bride or groom is by helicopter! Our local helicopter provider Salt Air is able to arrange transport for you and whoever else via their large or small helicopters from their base in central Paihia. We recommend booking the helicopter for the start of the day after guest arrival, meaning they will witness your epic entrance from where they are standing at the ceremony location. Even better - keep the flight a secret and give everyone a huge surprise to kick start your wedding festivities!
SEA SHUTTLEAnother very fun and unconventional way to arrive at Baylys' Farm is via sea shuttle. Our local provider, Island Getaway, has multiple boat options available which allows them to cater for most group sizes. They will collect you and/or your guests from your preferred local wharf (Paihia, Opua, Waitangi) and then drive around the stunning Bay of Islands coastline until reaching one of the private bays at Baylys’ Farm. From there the guests will be able to disembark onto the beach via a drawbridge and walk to the ceremony location. Check out our Reel to see this in action.
We hope this guide has given you some insight into transport options for getting to the Bay of Islands and Baylys’ Farm. With our close proximity to Auckland the venue and Bay of Islands region is the perfect place to host a relaxed destination wedding, and we hope to hear from you soon to chat through your wedding plans!
If you have questions about anything listed above please don’t hesitate to call or email us.