Jonathan and Karen

Karen and Jonathan were married on a stunning Sunday in April at the Alfred Nicholas memorial gardens, on one of the little islands in the middle of the  lake. If you haven’t been to these gardens yourself it is definitely worth the drive up to the dandenongs to go and check out this beautiful part of Melbourne.
I have known Jonathan for about 3 years and remember fondly when he told me that he was going to propose to Karen. I remember him showing me the ring and telling me that two of the diamonds in the ring had belonged to his grandmother and that he has designed it himself.

I remember waiting for them to return from their trip to New Zealand and wanting to hear the story of how he proposed, so it was lovely for me to be able to conduct their wedding ceremony.

On the day, Karen arrived at the gardens with her attendants and was walked to the ceremony by both of her parents. Her dress was simply stunning! As part of their ceremony, together Jonathan and Karen planted a tree to represent growth and nurturing. Through this they wanted to express that like a plant a marriage needs to be nurtured and it grows and changes and that it will not be the same as it was yesterday.

They were both so forthcoming with answers to questions that I asked to help them personalise their ceremony so it made my writing an absolute pleasure. They exchanged some lovely personal vows that they had written too.

After the ceremony Karen, Jonathan and their attendants went to have their photos taken by Keith from Blueberry Studio and then everyone met up with them at  Yarra Ranges Estate for the reception. This  in itself was an amazing location, with beautiful views. They had some great ideas for the reception, they got to  show off their love of all things sci-fi with the tables having sci-fi themed names. They had a great idea to hold a quiz where each table had to answer questions about Karen and Jonathan, it was a great way for people on the tables to get to know each other and really got lots of conversations going. It was such a beautiful day, and represented the caring and wonderful people that they are and I felt very honoured to be a part of their day.

Thanks to Keith Anderson from Blueberry Studio for the use of the stunning images.

Check out the stunning Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens on Parks Victoria‘s website.

Wedding Numbers

This is a tough one, how many people will you have at your wedding?

How many people will the venue hold?

How much is this going to cost?

These are all important questions and ones that will make a huge difference to who you can have and wont have on your guest lists. I hear so many stories when I meet with couples about how many people they are having at their wedding and how many issues they are having with who their parents want them to invite. There are so many questions that need to be considered –  do you invite partners of friends if they haven’t been with them long? Or do you have to invite your work colleges significant other? Is it rude to have 1st and 2nd round offer invitations?

These are all valid questions and only you can decide what you want at your wedding. There are however a few points of view to consider when you are contemplating all of these questions.  Firstly, who do you want there and who do you have to have there? If you have already booked a venue will all your proposed guests fit into it ? When I had my wedding the venue only held 50 people and I wasn’t too upset with that. Some of my relatives that didn’t get an invite suggested that I could have had it somewhere else where everyone could have come. For this to happen, firstly I wouldn’t get the venue that I wanted and secondly I would have had to opt for something like a finger food event. Don’t get me wrong a finger food wedding is perfect if that is what you want. It wasn’t what I had my heart set on, so I opted for less people, for a  sit down meal. It was what my husband and I wanted.  So we needed to be prepared for some people to feel left out.

Who is paying for the wedding? This makes quite a difference. If you are paying for your own wedding, I personally think it is reasonable to have just who you want there, but if your parents are chipping in money, they are probably going to want to invite some of the people that they want there. This can cause problems, especially if you don’t particularly like your Mum’s second best friend that she has to have there. So some compromise might be in order from both sides. Maybe try to trade for one of the friends that you do really like and try to see it from their point of view too, they will be really proud of you and want some of the people close to them there to share this moment with them too. I know that the wedding is YOUR day, but it is a special moment for them too.

 

Budget plays a huge part in your day and who you can and can’t invite. At the end of the day, a wedding can be really expensive and lists can get out of control.  Be prepared that some people might be offended if you don’t invite their partner. I can understand if you have single friends, that you leave off the plus one, but some people get quite offended when you don’t invite their long time partner or spouse. I have asked around a number of my friends and the responses are varied and sometimes surprised me who would be offended and who wouldn’t mind. This can also be an issue when deciding if you are going to invite children to the wedding or not. This can only be something that you decide and depending on the venue. Some venues are just not child friendly, you just have to be prepared that some people may not like it if their children are not invited.  Some children obviously should come to the wedding even if it is a no children event. If one of your friends has a 6 week old baby, make sure that you assure them that their baby is welcome, especially if you have made it obvious that it is a no children wedding. Then they wont feel awkward having to ask you.

Second round offer invites are something that I have heard about, some people send out some invites with one date and then if they have a large number of people that cannot come they do another round of invites. I can’t really see anything wrong with this, unless some people get their nose out of joint for not being on the first round invites. There will always be people who want to be invited that aren’t. It is something that will happen to everyone.  But then the next challenge is the seating arrangements but that is for another blog!

Do you have any stories or tips for controlling wedding numbers?

Thanks to Daniel for the lovely wedding photos, he also takes beautiful portraits, check out his work here, or send him an email at info@danielklaas.com

Iona and Ben

Iona and Ben were married on a lovely Sunday in April. They had their reception at Comme, in Melbourne’s CBD.  It is off Collins street and as you walk in the door it has an amazing stunning staircase with a divine chandelier. There were tea light candles all up the staircase. The ceremony was held at the top of the stairs, which was a great spot as all the guests could see Ben and Iona enter together.
I always get excited to see the bride and Iona looked absolutely stunning. Her dress was an amazing colour, almost champagne toned and had lovely detailing on the bodice. She and her attendant had lovely little corsages that they wore on their wrists and suited the style of the dress perfectly.  After exchanging vows at the top of the staircase in front of about 70 of their closest family and friends they moved into the Grand room.  It was the perfect setting for all of the guests to mingle while drinking and being served lovely canapés.

I had met Iona and Ben about 3 months before and when I met them they almost had everything planned except for who was going to conduct their ceremony.
Comme was the perfect location for them, Ben being a chef and Iona a sommelier, I’m sure that the guests were treated to fantastic food and wine.  It was a joy for me to conduct their wedding and to meet some of the friends and family that we had spoken about on the instances that we met up. For me the whole wedding process is so much fun, I  meet fantastic people, get to know them and help them plan one of the most exciting days of their lives. What a fantastic way to spend a sunday, making these new friends that I have made married.

Thanks to Sorell for the use of her fantastic photos, check out her website here.

You can also click here to view  the website for Comme.

 

Transport at your Wedding

One thing that I wish I had paid more attention to at my wedding was transport!  More and more couples have been  choosing to make arrangements for their guests so that they don’t have problems getting from the ceremony venue to the reception and sometimes even back from the reception if they are all staying in one area. It is a great way to be assured that all your guests will get home safely and avoid calling taxis. At one wedding that I attended, the grooms uncle was the designated driver for the day and none of us had to worry about knowing where we were going, or how much champagne anyone had at the reception.  At a wedding that I have coming up in a few months, the couple have organised with a motel close by to have reduced rates for their friends and a mini bus to transport people back there after the reception.

Another thing that the bride and groom need to think about is how are they going to get to the ceremony, reception and wherever they are staying on there wedding night.  If you are having attendants, how will they get from the ceremony to where the photos are being taken and then to the reception. If if you are hiring vehicles it is important to consider whether it is cheaper for them to leave at certain times or better to hire them for the whole day.  If the brides parents travelled with her to the ceremony is there a way for them to get to the next part of the wedding. Some couples may feel that it is not really their problem to worry about how other people will get where they need to go. But I think that you will find that your family and friends will be incredibly grateful if you think of them when planning your day. Thanks again to Corey Brown for the use of his fantastic images. Check out his blog here.

Did you have any interesting or helpful travel tips that helped you on your day, or hints to help others avoid a situation that you had?