During the past decade the centre has become an increasingly popular venue for weddings and the time has come to hand over the reins.

“The centre was built initially to interpret the homestead site and be used for casual and group visitation. It was also designed to be available for use for functions such as weddings,” Tocal director Cameron Archer said.

“However, the success of the weddings means that it has now become a dedicated function centre and the other operations have been moved to other sites at the homestead.

“To date, the centre has catered for one or sometimes two weddings a weekend. Under the current model it is hard to have a rapid change over between weddings.”

Dr Archer said the new business model, with a sole venue manager, would make the ongoing wedding trade much easier to handle.

“Tocal Homestead is one of Australia’s most intact colonial farm sites and it is important that it be conserved for future generations,” he said.

“The only way that this can be achieved is through it becoming financially self-sufficient. 

“Weddings have proven to be the best way of having a regular income.”