Old wool mill in Brunswick East has been turned into a chic wedding venue

Fortunately, an old wool mill in the capable hands of experienced venue renovators and operators becomes a highly marketable destination of choice for weddings and events.

“We looked at over 300 warehouses online and inspected six,” says Paul Carr, founder of Nudo. Together with friend and co-founder Will Campbell, the duo envisioned a wedding destination that would do the hard work of styling, organising a celebrant, flowers, food all in one package.

Nudo hosts all-inclusive weddings at its renovated Brunswick East warehouse. Photo: Supplied

The sixth, and final warehouse they inspected in Brunswick East fit the bill.

“Melbourne has a lot of empty warehouses, however, most of them are giant empty spaces with little aesthetic charm. When we first inspected The Wool Mill we fell in love with all the different rooms and levels the space had to offer. Every room acts as a perfect transition point for the different stages of a wedding,” says Carr.

The duo spent $75,000 on alterations to ensure the space complied with building codes. “In terms of the aesthetics, there were really only minor cosmetic changes needed like a good paint job, great lighting and some nice furniture,” Carr adds.

Carr admits the strictness of regulations to ensure buildings are compliant was behind the challenge in finding exactly the right renovation job. “Regulations are stricter than ever to change the use of a building from a warehouse to a function space. It can always be done, but at a cost. So finding the right space that ticks all the boxes is very difficult. When these spaces come up there’s a lot of competition.”

Nudo spent $75,000 on alterations to ensure the space complied with building codes. Photo: Supplied

Rather than fighting the bones and structure of the building, Carr wanted to enhance the industrial aesthetic that befitted the building’s natural origins.

“One of our builders was confused when he heard we were turning the space into a reception centre,” Carr recalls. “He was picturing the typical carpeted function room with chandeliers and a parquetry dancefloor, which would have been an enormously expensive conversion. Rather, we wanted to embrace the industrial rawness of the building and merely give it a facelift.”

Carr’s previous experience had been in locating unique event spaces and matching them to client needs through his businesses, Zenue and Confeti. Campbell, also a partner in Zenue, brought expertise in wedding photography, event management and planning, creative and art direction, branding and technical skills in web design.

The renovation retains many of the warehouse’s industrial elements. Photo: Supplied

Both saw a future for scalable wedding packages for busy couples who wanted their experience curated reliably and expertly without the enormous time and expense of researching and collecting professionals to collaborate harmoniously in the lead up to their big day.

“The cost of a modern day wedding is not only extremely over inflated but it’s also incredibly confusing to navigate for a newly engaged couple,” says Carr. “With a talented team on board with a decade of experience in weddings, events and cutting-edge technology, we’re curating ‘on trend’ wedding packages at a fraction of the cost of the traditional method.”

Invigorated by the success of the venue, which has already proven a dream wedding destination for couples who have taken up the inclusive packages offered by Nudo, Carr and Campbell have plans for 100 venues worldwide.