The Raceway has been the venue of many events since its inauguration in 1919, from a WW2 military camp to high school balls - however it’s mostly known as the home of Standardbred horse racing in the Waikato.
And while horse racing is still a core activity at the raceway, CEO Dave Branch is promoting diversification of the venue.
“We hold around 22 race meetings each year and we also want to promote the potential our venue has 365 days a year,” said Branch.
“To capitalise on this, we’ve created our own events like our summer pop-up Cambridge Croquet Club and we’re also promoting our wide variety of spaces, furniture and props for hire.
“Cambridge Raceway has long been a great event venue and it has so much potential as a wedding venue,” said Shannon Bint-Popplewell who has six years experience in the wedding industry and a passion for event styling.
Bint-Popplewell has previously managed Riverview in Cook St, Hamilton and spent four-years at the Red Barn in Matamata in both event management and styling/design roles.
“It’s a one stop shop and everything can be held here, there’s beautiful lawns for the ceremony, function suites for the reception, great spots for photography including access to horses for props and romantic old stable, there’s lots of parking and we can take care of the theming and design for you or you can do it yourself.
“We like to take a custom approach to events and work with the client to achieve their dream result, there are no set guidelines to choose from and having so many different options means we can be very flexible.”
There’s options to suit weddings of all sizes with six function rooms of varying sizes with space for 200 seated guests or 200+ guests in a less formal cocktail setting.
The Cambridge Raceway management team have been proactive about modernising their offering and are constantly investing in quality furniture and props that meet market trends.
“We were getting lots of comments from guests who loved our new pieces and we quickly realised there was a demand to hire them,” Bint-Poppplewell said.
One item that has been in high demand is the CR Horse Float Bar – purpose built for the Cambridge Raceway’s summer pop-up Croquet Club. The bar features two fridges, sinks and a magnetic menu board – it’s perfect for outdoor events almost anywhere.
Also for hire are: Vintage Beer tables and benches, Bar Leaners, metal stools, foldable chairs, Festoon Lights, Artificial Topiary Trees, Outdoor Bean Bags, Croquet Sets, wood topped drum tables and more to come.
