Broome Historical Society & Museum

Overview & Vibe

The Broome Historical Society & Museum hires out its heritage buildings at Town Beach, and the one couples want is the Sailmaker's Shed — a heritage-listed timber shed still carrying its C. Bagge Sail Maker signboard across the gable. Inside it is raw and beautiful: a wide timber floor, exposed rafters under a corrugated roof, open sides letting the light and the breeze straight through. The Society was founded in 1975, opened the museum in 1981, and has since collected a WA Heritage Award and a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Commendation. It is a not-for-profit run by volunteers, and hiring it is a transaction with a community organisation rather than a wedding business.

Setting & Style

Two spaces are offered: the Sailmaker's Shed, rated at about 100 people, and the museum grounds for outdoor events. The Society publishes a dimensioned floorplan of the shed alongside photographs from all four corners — and those photographs are worth studying, because they show the shed with its sail exhibition installed. That is what you get at the standard rate. Clearing it out is a separate, published option.

Ideal For

Couples who want a genuinely Broome venue with real history in the fabric, are willing to run a dry-hire wedding, and can work inside a firm midnight finish. It suits a self-catered or caterer-brought reception up to about 100 in a raw heritage space, and it is unusually affordable for the Kimberley. It is a poor fit for anyone wanting a turnkey package: there is no catering, no bar, no coordinator and no accommodation.

The Need-to-Knows

This is a dry hire, and the terms are unusually specific. The wedding rate is $300 per day plus GST, against $200 for other private hire and $100 for not-for-profits — but removing the exhibition to get the shed empty is a further $300 plus GST, and use of the museum's ablutions is $60 plus GST. A 50% deposit falls due within 14 days and the balance 14 days before the event; cancelling inside 30 days forfeits the deposit. The hirer must obtain their own Occasional Liquor Licence from the Department of Racing, Gaming & Liquor, and the Society may require a security guard at the hirer's expense. Because the site is residential, noise must stay under 45 decibels until 10pm and 35 decibels after that, and the premises must be vacated by midnight — a hard stop, not a guideline. There is strictly no smoking, fire or open-flame candles anywhere in the precinct, and no smoke machines, helium balloons or pyrotechnics; the shed has fire sprinklers and the hirer wears the cost if they are set off. Decorations may be fixed only with magic tape or blu-tack — no nails, tacks, sticky or double-sided tape, glue, screws or gaffer tape. Setup and pack-down must fit inside the hire period, the hirer must stay on site throughout, and event insurance is the hirer's responsibility. Wi-Fi is available in the shed. Parking is off-site, at the Seaview Shops opposite or the Town Beach car park.

Standout Feature

The building itself, and the price of it. A heritage-listed sailmaker's shed on Town Beach, with a published floorplan and a wedding day rate of $300 plus GST, is close to the cheapest characterful venue in this campaign — the trade being that everything else on the day is yours to arrange.