Nine points to consider when choosing Melbourne’s wedding venue. In two parts (part I)

Usually the first step in your wedding journey, one of the important choices you will make will be the location of your wedding. Below are nine factors that are most important to consider when deciding on the venue for your vows, in my experienced opinion. I underlie “my opinion” but let me explain that the insight I have gained in viewing and shooting hundreds of weddings, gives me the ability to put these steps together from a well-versed eye. As a wedding photographer, I’m in a unique position to see the possibilities for your wedding- I have seen many couples marry in varied and amazingly different locations and during different seasons. Being the integral part of the events gives me deep insight into what elements make couples happy and what sometimes make them struggle - based on their wedding reception choice. My opinion is based on my 20 years wedding photography experience. Another big advantage: I wrote this article as a Melbourne based wedding photographer so you will find this advice is created with the beauty of Melbourne in mind; the Bride-To-Be is lucky enough to have her wedding day in the best place to live in whole world!

Your due diligence is important in your preparations, as there are no overall rules/law that exist within Melbourne receptions, so please plan this step carefully. If you are the groom, I apologise in advance for referring to you as ‘bride’ in the rest of the article but, from my experience, the selection of the wedding venue is generally made by brides to be. Having said that, it is great to sit together and make your first important decisions on the same page as each other. As a side note, lifetime long marriage advice for the groom to be – You can be right, or you can be happy 😉

Let’s start!

1

Visualize your dream – Check what resonate positively with your inner voice, what wedding style you want to achieve. During this most important day of your life, forget about compromises. We are lucky to have in Melbourne (or close proximity) almost every style of wedding reception available! Not all wedding venues will match your vision or taste, so if you think about a romantic peaceful wedding don’t go with a city venue location. For lovers of our Aussie beach lifestyle, don’t go with a venue located in the Dandenong Ranges or Yarra Valley. Go with receptions around the bay or even ocean side like Phillip Island or the Great Ocean Road (just remember that more remote destinations from the city can be challenging for some guests to participate). For those that love to combine both worlds choose Royal Botanical gardens in the City, you will have a garden wedding in the heart of the city with a touch of nature. Do you like edgy designed landscape – check Botanical Gardens in Cranbourne – you will be amazed. Maybe you are a big fan of animals in every size – think about wedding at the ZOO, yes is it possible and very different from other wedding setups 😊 If country is in your heart and soul – choose one of the receptions at the farms or vineyards, possibilities are endless here.  The venue will play a huge role in shaping the ambiance for your wedding! 

2

Plan your date. Our lovely Melbourne have very varied seasons and very often all of them in one day! We Melbournians love this, at least most of the time 😊 So here is my advice – be an early bird, some of the popular wedding reception venues need booking in two even three years in advance so if you have a top list of your favourite places and dates don’t wait. From my observations the best time for you is spring (most popular) and autumn (second place in popularity). But this is very personal, if you plan a beach wedding then summer is the way to go. Otherwise be prepared that you will have the potential misfortune of having to battle 45C in your beautiful and heavy wedding gown. Grooms will have the comfort to take the jacket off, unfortunately you may not have many options. In some cases, your wedding date will be dictated by your chosen reception availability if you are not their early bird client. With this in mind, in Melbourne the busiest wedding months are March, October and November when June and July sits on opposite side of this calendar equation. And of course, the most popular day of the week is Saturday 😊

3

Budget smart – Whether we like it or not, the budget is an integral part of every wedding.
My advice – don’t blow your budget in the place you marry, but also consider that your wedding is once a life time event for those that deeply love each other. It’s your day to remember, day to be proud of, to show your children and grandchildren through the years to come. As the saying, goes “Go BIG or go home” hahaha. Keep in mind what the recent statistics shows and work around them. Statistically, most couples plan their wedding budget around 23K budget then after contacting many vendors their “supposed to be budget” oscillates around 27K to finally close at around 33K mark after the wedding day. The venue costs for an average sized wedding in Melbourne is half of this number, so be prepared to spend around 15K, this can translate to an average $150/head price tag. With these numbers, it will be much easier for you to plan smart, deal with venues and still be happy with your choice without landing in the factory style, boring reception – good for kids’ parties but not really for celebrating wedding day, expect you are couple with love to industrial style then also Melbourne have a lot of options in this range.

When you find a venue that has stolen your heart, but your piggy bank is crying, try to schedule your wedding day on an alternate to a popular day- not on Saturday or Sunday –try a weekday instead or shift your nuptials to a less busy time in the wedding season. I’m sure that a lot of wedding venues will be able to make a better deal for you. This should work much better with dedicated wedding venues, if the venue is a part of the hotel/club etc. will be much harder for you to negotiate as this is just part of their business operations and they don’t rely only on the weddings. One hint here - be kind and thoughtful when you ask to negotiate anything. A grateful heart will give back to you in many ways 😊

4

Count your guests.  Set up your wedding guest list first! This will determine what size of wedding venue will be available for you. Most of the venues can easy accommodate around 150-200 guests, but if your plan is to invite 300, 400 or even 500+ guests the conventional wedding reception options will shrink dramatically. From my experience, the best option is to find a venue in size that fits perfectly with your pre-planned amount of guests - especially when you want to dance. If the venue has their dance floor as a part of dining area, no one likes to dance between the tables when is not enough space on the dance floor. If your guests are shy, putting the reception in to large ballroom can make them feel lost and the result will be that most of them will be too intimidated to join you on the dance floor. Again, based on my pure observations, I have noticed two factors: DJ/Band song selections and the vibe of the venue can vastly improve the wedding celebration mood. Factor in all different spaces that will be needed during your wedding day - ceremony, cocktails, dinner, and dancing. If you're getting married on-site, you'll save yourselves multiple site fees, as well as transportation from one location to the other so this can make a huge difference in our lovely Melbournian traffic – especially during footy games and special events in the city!

5

Try the Food! So simple but very often overlooked. When choosing the venue ask to sample their food, preferable the same as your chosen for your wedding day. This will save you a lot of surprises during the wedding day. And again, I base on my wedding receptions experience from all around Melbourne. As a photographer shooting full day coverage weddings I have in my agreement polite request to feed me during the wedding reception hahaha – hungry photographer is a grumpy photographer 😉 Just kidding! But this request allows me to taste almost all kind of rib eye steaks, grilled ribs, the fish, the pork, you name it – and all of them around our lovely city.  The difference between places is huge, more fancy dishes and menus you can expect in inner city fringe – if you are a food lover, be cautious and try before you buy!

I hope that you like this material, part two is coming soon to our Blog so be tuned and in the meantime please leave a comment below. You can also check our other tips to plan your wedding day. If any questions I’m always happy to help so please don’t hesitate to ask - maybe your questions will help others :)