Wedding Party Scrambles for New Venue After Wattle Park Chalet Fire

A devastating fire has ravaged the historic Wattle Park Chalet in Surrey Hills, Melbourne's east, forcing a couple to scramble for a new venue for their wedding reception.

Firefighters were called to the scene at approximately 6:32am on Saturday morning to find the building well alight, with flames engulfing the roof.

Fire Damage

The blaze was brought under control shortly before 8am, but not before fire, smoke, and water damage had devastated much of the main hall.

"The area that's been damaged has been approximately 30 per cent of the building," Fire Rescue Victoria incident controller Callum Donoghue said.

Wedding Plans in Disarray

The Wattle Park Chalet, which has been hosting events for almost a century, was scheduled to host a wedding reception on Saturday night.

Owner Matthew Forsythe, who has only owned the business for five months, said he was working with the groom to find a replacement venue for the couple.

"We actually haven't told the bride, but I'm dealing with the groom and we're trying to find an alternative venue at the moment that will give them their special day," he said.

"They'll certainly have a story that they'll have to talk about."

Mr Forsythe said two days of work had gone into preparing for the wedding, with flowers already on the tables and food ready to go.

Investigation Underway

FRV investigators are yet to determine the cause of the blaze, which impacted the kitchen and service areas of the chalet.

Mr Forsythe said the venue had operated since 1928 and had hosted thousands of weddings.

"This is a tragedy, not just for myself and the bookings I've got, but [for] such a historic building like this to be impacted like this is just horrible to see," Mr Forsythe said.

"I hope at some point in the future we look back and this is just a little speed bump in that history."