I did have a question from one of my friends who recently announced she and her boyfriend of 5 years are getting married. As I'm a pro at this wedding planning business (HA! Little does she know!), she wanted to know where to start. Should she choose her venue first, or the theme of her wedding?
My darling M, here are my answers.
GO. WITH. THE. FLOW. I don't think there are any right or wrong answers to this one. G and I knew we wanted either a beach wedding (since we both love the beach so much) or a garden wedding (since many of our day trips have been in the mountains in beautiful gardens). From here, we made a list of possible geographic locations.
If you don't know what TYPE of wedding you want, think about the things that make you guys happy. Do you both like going for walks outside? Do you like national parks, or beaches? Do you like English style gardens? Do you both have a passion for wine/beer? Do you like interesting looking buildings, or gothic style architecture? Are you fond of antiques or vintage style clothing/wares? G and I love beaches and English style gardens, as well as quirky vintage style wares. Not to mention that we both ADORE wine and beer. This helped us to figure out we wanted a wedding outside of the city.
Think about the FEEL of the wedding you want to have. Will it be casual and fancy free? Will it be more glamorous? Do you like the thought of a weekend away? Do you want a piss-up with everyone going home in cabs, or retiring to rooms? Do you want a city, country, or beach style wedding? Do you like the thought of the ceremony and reception being in the same location? G and I loved the idea of people having a weekend away at the beach, and getting exceptionally intoxicated over the 3 days. Hence, we decided we wanted the ceremony and reception at the same place, and that place would probably have to be a resort or a hotel so people could just walk to their rooms.
Once you have a basic idea of these, it REALLY helps you to narrow down the possibilities of venues. Think outside the square, though. Many beautiful weddings have happened in places I wouldn't have even thought of for a wedding. Think of art galleries, national parks, camping grounds, bars, restaurants, theatres etc that are special to YOU.
After deciding on the geographic possibilities, we researched the venues in the areas. We talked to friends to see if they had any recommendations. This was a big help, as we wouldn't have heard of several of our possible venues without recommendations. We then Googled the venues, and looked for reviews. This helped us weed out some that possibly wouldn't be our cup of tea. However, it also found us more possible venues. The Vogue forum was also an amazingly helpful tool, as we could get feedback from people about possibilities. Easy Weddings and Ideal Bride also helped to give us some suggestions (although a lot of the options weren't really what we were looking for, we actually found our venue from these!)
We also took drives to the possible locations to see if there were any possible venues we had missed. This also helped us to weed out other venues on our short list after seeing them. There were many that looked NOTHING like the website.
After doing the drive-by and researching the other venues we'd found, we narrowed our short list down to 3 locations on the Gold Coast, and 5 locations on the Sunshine Coast. We emailed questions to the function co-ordinators to see possible packages and whether they were flexible on certain aspects. Two venues on the Sunshine Coast didn't even respond back, even after calling them to follow up. Obviously, they were off the list. The Gold Coast locations also went off the list after we decided that we did want a packed beach for our ceremony.
From here, we had 3 venues to make appointments with on the Sunshine Coast. After seeing all three, we had unanimously decided on our venue, pretty much as we walked through the doors. It was very "us". However, don't be uninspired by the venue if the function room/area is bare and you can't visualise it at all. Take photos of the area, and think about what you could do to it to make it "you". Also, ask for photos of other weddings held at the venue. It will give you an idea of what you could do with the space (and give you even more ideas of table centrepieces!)
For all you Brissy brides, I thought I'd share our Gold Coast shortlist:
- Currumbin Surf Club. Absolutely gorgeous location - right next to Elephant Rock with the function room on the top level looking over the beach. They have cocktail packages from $99 per head including alcohol, or sit down packages from $145 per head including table centrepieces, alcohol, and co-ordinator. The cocktail functions can accommodate between 40 and 100, but the sit down functions can only seat between 20 and 40. For more details, go to their website here.
Currumbin Surf Club function room. Source: Currumbin Surf Club.
View over the beach. Source: Currumbin Surf Club.
- Oskar's on Burleigh. Another stunning restaurant with views over Burleigh beach. This was looking to be a front runner as the surroundings were so gorgeous, but Burleigh beach gets busy EVERY. WEEKEND. That was an issue for us, as neither of us like being centre of attention. Oskar's always serves delicious food, and can accommodate sit down functions for up to 140 (with a minimum of 100 for Friday night, and Saturday weddings; and 90 for Monday to Thursday and Sunday). Their menu is approximately $100 per person, and alcohol is charged on a bar tab (minimum of $3800). For more information, head to their website here.
The view towards Surfers Paradise from Oskar's balcony. Source: Oskar's.
- Mermaids at Burleigh. This was also a front runner. Funny, as it's below Oskar's. Mermaids is right on the water, being only slightly over the waves. They also have a stunning menu, accommodating up to 130 guests for a sit down function, or up to 300 guests for a cocktail function. Both sit down and cocktail packages range from $80 to $110, with alcohol being charged on a bar tab with a minimum of $35 per person. There is a minimum spend, however, so check out the details on their website here.
Function on the balcony of Mermaids. Source: Mermaids.
The Sunshine Coast shortlist will come in another post.
Hope you all are keeping well and avoiding the cold.
xxx
3 lovely thoughts:
Good advice! It can seem so overwhelming at the beginning as there are just so many options!
We based most of our decisions on location. We knew we wanted the wedding in Melbourne (even though we're in the ACT), the ceremony in a church and people not to have to drive or taxi long distances. From there we found a cute church in Fitzroy, googled nearby reception centres. We came up with a shortlist and sent my sister to check them out. The one she liked most and said was the most 'us' was also the one we had liked best from the internet so we booked. Everything else has stemmed from there.
Hope you feel better soon!
Wow, Christie, that must have been hard for you! I couldn't imagine not looking at a place...but then I'm a very visual person. Very convenient you had your sister to suss it out :) How are your wedding plans coming?
Wedding plans are going well, we've got about 4 months to go. I'm starting to organise invitations this weekend! Very exciting!
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