Birthday Party Venues for Hire in Melbourne
Spaces with a dance floor and room to decorate
Spaces with a dance floor and room to decorate
Every venue here has a dance floor and lets you decorate the room, and most let you bring your own DJ. There are heaps of spaces across the city, from South Yarra and Prahran to Fitzroy, St Kilda and the CBD, plus plenty further out in Preston, Essendon, Clayton and the outer east. Around half charge nothing for the room and set a minimum spend instead. Prices are shown upfront, and most venues add a bonus $100 bar tab when your enquiry comes through Partystar.
The ones at the top of this page are the ones getting the most enquiries from other Melbourne bookers this month and last. Every space listed here either has a dance floor or lets you decorate the room, and most let you bring your own DJ. Around half charge nothing for the room and set a minimum spend instead. Both figures are shown on each listing, or see every Melbourne function venue for the full list.
A Saturday function in Melbourne typically has a minimum spend of $2,000, which is the midpoint across the 19 spaces here that set one. The average works out at $1,937. About 37% of them also carry a hire charge, and where there is one it usually brings the minimum spend down rather than adding to it.
| Saturday | Lowest | Midpoint | Highest | Spaces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum spend | $325 | $2,000 | $5,000 | 19 |
| Hire charge | $290 | $400 | $1,600 | 13 |
| Capacity | Charge | Lowest | Midpoint | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium rooms 71 to 140 guests, 9 spaces | Minimum spend | $500 | $2,500 | $3,000 |
| Hire charge | $300 | $300 | $400 | |
| Large rooms 141 guests or more, 16 spaces | Minimum spend | $325 | $1,500 | $5,000 |
| Hire charge | $290 | $400 | $1,600 |
On this page large rooms work out about 39% below medium rooms on minimum spend.
| Day | Typical hours | Usual start | Usual finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | 5 | 7pm | 12am |
| Saturday | 5 | 7pm | 12am |
Ranges from 1 hours at the short end to 13 at the long end. Going past the guaranteed finish usually costs extra.
Security guard charges apply at some venues here and are shown on each listing. 14 of the 26 will let you meet the minimum spend with a beverage package. Every one of them accepts a bar tab. Costs outside the venue quote usually include DJ hire, entertainment, specialised catering and decorations.
Almost every function space in Melbourne will take a birthday booking. That is not the same as being built for one. A room set up for board meetings and long lunches will host your party, but it will not feel like a party.
Two things separate a birthday venue from a function room. The first is somewhere to dance. The second is permission to decorate, which sounds minor until you turn up with a banner, a balloon arch and a photo wall and get told none of it can go on the walls.
Every space on this page has both.
More than nine in ten of these venues will let you bring your own DJ, which matters more for a birthday than for most other events. Bringing your own is usually cheaper than booking through the venue, and you get to choose someone who knows the vibe you want.
Most venues have their own sound system you can plug into. Check the noise restrictions and the finish time before you book anything, because an inner city venue with residential neighbours may have a hard cut off that a suburban pub does not.
The typical venue on this page comes to around $2,200 on a Saturday, counting hire charge and minimum spend together. Across all Melbourne function spaces the typical figure is closer to $2,000.
Roughly half charge nothing for the room and set a minimum spend instead. About one in six charge a flat hire charge with no minimum spend at all, which suits a group that is not going to drink its way to a target. The rest ask for both, and in that case the hire charge usually brings the spend figure down rather than adding to it.
Around one in six require paid security on a Saturday night. Partystar shows that separately so it is not a surprise.
To narrow it down by budget:
Half the venues here set a minimum of 20 guests. The next most common figures are 50, 40 and 30, and a small number will take a booking from 10.
Size runs the other way too. Half these spaces hold 141 guests or more, a third hold between 71 and 140, and only a small handful cap out at 70. That is the trade off with a dance floor: the rooms that have one are rarely small.
If your guest list is under 30, a large room with a dance floor will feel thin. You are usually better off in a small party venue in Melbourne, where every space holds 70 or fewer.
Milestone birthdays come with their own rules, and not every venue on this page can host every one of them.
Every venue on this page lets you bring your own birthday cake, which is worth stating plainly because people assume otherwise. Some charge a small cakeage fee and most do not.
Over nine in ten can put on finger food, and around seven in ten can do a sit down meal. For a birthday, finger food is usually the better call. It keeps people moving between conversations rather than locking them to a seating plan, and it counts towards the minimum spend just the same.
The heaviest supply is in the inner south east and the CBD. South Yarra has the most of any single suburb, with Prahran, Windsor and Chapel Street generally close behind. The CBD and Southbank carry a good number, though usually at the higher end on price.
The inner north delivers Fitzroy, Collingwood, Abbotsford and Brunswick, which is where you will find the warehouse spaces and the venues most relaxed about decorating. St Kilda and the bayside suburbs are strong for summer parties.
Further out, Preston, Essendon, Clayton, Chadstone, Doncaster and the outer east through Ferntree Gully and Belgrave all list birthday spaces. Moving out of the centre generally buys you a lower minimum spend, easier parking and a later finish time.
A typical Melbourne birthday venue comes to around $2,200 on a Saturday once you add the hire charge and the minimum spend together. About half have no hire charge at all and set a minimum spend instead. Around one in six charge a flat hire charge with no minimum spend, and one in six also require paid security on a Saturday night. Partystar shows each figure separately on every listing so you can compare the real total before you enquire.
Around two thirds of the venues on this page do, compared with about four in ten across all Melbourne function spaces. Every space listed here either has a dance floor or allows decorations, which is how we filter the page. If dancing is central to the night, check the listing rather than assuming, because a large room is not the same thing as a room with a dance floor.
At about six in ten of the venues here, yes. Citywide the figure is closer to three and a half in ten, so it is worth checking early. Venues that allow decorating still vary on what you can attach to walls and ceilings, so confirm the detail before you buy a balloon arch. Every venue on this page lets you bring your own birthday cake.
Half the venues on this page set a minimum of 20 guests. Others sit at 30, 40 or 50, and a small number will take a booking from 10. Bear in mind that half these spaces hold 141 guests or more, so a group of 25 in a room built for 150 will feel sparse regardless of whether the venue accepts the booking. For smaller groups, look at small party venues instead.
More than nine in ten of these venues allow it, which is higher than the Melbourne average. Most have a house sound system you can plug into. Check the venue's noise restrictions and music finish time at the same time, since inner city venues with residential neighbours often have a firmer cut off than suburban ones.
Some but not all. Fewer than half the venues on this page accept an 18th, because hosting a party where part of the guest list cannot legally drink brings licensing and supervision requirements that many venues will not take on. Almost all of them accept a 21st. If you are planning an 18th, use our dedicated 18th birthday venues page, which is filtered to venues that have confirmed they will host one.
24 of the 26 spaces in Melbourne include a bonus bar tab when you enquire through Partystar. That's 10 at $200, 12 at $100 and 2 at $50. The venue adds it to your bar on the night once you meet its stated requirement, which is either the hire charge, the minimum spend or the minimum guest numbers. See how the bonus bar tab works for the full detail.
Mostly not. 12 of the 19 spaces that set a minimum spend have no hire charge at all. The 7 that do charge run from $290 to $1,600 for a Saturday.
Food, drinks or both, depending on the venue. At a lot of venues drinks alone will cover it, and the venue's own listing says which applies. See how minimum spend works.
Compare Melbourne function venues by hire charge, minimum spend, guest numbers or affordability.
Last updated , based on 26 Melbourne function spaces.
