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Lifestyle

Planning the fairy tale wedding of your dreams

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The biggest decision, albeit after deciding whether to say yes to the proposal, is most certainly deciding upon a wedding venue. It can be the most difficult and challenging part of the wedding process, as this decision somewhat defines your whole wedding. Therefore, it is important to take time to consider what your fairy tale wedding will look like, as your wedding photos will be shown to generations after generations, paired with the story of how Mum and Dad, or Gran and Grandpa fell in love.

To help guide you with the planning of your once in a lifetime wedding, here are a few suggests to consider, which will allow you take a proactive approach to planning your wedding.

1. Should you have the wedding ceremony & reception at the same venue?

First and foremost the first question to discuss is whether you want to host the wedding and the reception in the same place, as this will help you to shortlist your venues, and instantly reduce the number of places you’ll want to visit.

A good question to ask is whether a wedding venue holds the relevant licenses to host and legally bind ceremonies, as it will set the precedent of what you can expect thereafter. If two separate locations are preferred, it is also important to work out the logistics of how your guests will get from the ceremony to the reception venue. With this being thought about in advance, it will reduce the chances of Grandma popping to the ladies to freshen up when the transportation is departing, and her wandering around the church dazed and confused, which is not pleasing to anyone.

2.  Have you discussed whether you want an indoor or outdoor wedding?

There are pros and cons to every decision, however when it comes to choosing either an indoor or outdoor wedding it can be hard to think of every eventuality.

Here are a couple of things it take into account when weighing up your options; holding the wedding indoors caters for any unpredictability when it comes to weather, however the space constraints for an indoor venue can prevent any additions over the venue’s maximum capacity. However, choosing to host your wedding outdoors though could include a little more worry in the run up regarding the weather report. Another thing to consider is that the atmosphere and beauty of outdoor weddings can’t be recreated indoors, no matter how luxurious the decor. The beauty seen in some of the waterfront venues in Melbourne really creates that magical feeling with its landscape, allowing the budget for decor to be reduced, as the location speaks for itself. A perfect compromise would be trying to find a venue that combines both nature and tradition. This is a great way to achieve the best of both worlds.

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3. How many guests do you want to attend?

Once you both have agreed on the above, you will have a good idea on venue capacities, and can start sitting down and planning who you want to be part of your special day. It is really important to spend time thinking about your wedding list and not leaving it until the last minute. As once you have this list, it also needs to be broken down into who will be invited to the ceremony, reception and evening reception, as this will be budget restrictive, and will also set the foundation for your seating plan.

4. Are you going to have a wedding theme?

There is so much wedding inspiration available on Pintrest, that it can sometimes be overwhelming when trying to decide upon a specific theme to develop for your wedding, therefore it can be helpful to make a mood board of the things you have seen and liked. It is also helpful to jot down separately a little hint as to why you liked each particular thing, as it can be easy to forget the details you wanted to take inspiration from.

Plus, it is good idea to have a glass of wine and review and curate your mood board with your partner as you go, as it can be overwhelming deciding and agreeing on every detail of the decor/theme in one go, therefore it’s best to think of it as a working progress from when you’ve agreed upon a venue.

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5. Remember if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

The last tip I want to leave you with, is the optimistic idea that if you ask, you might well receive. Therefore, I think this is a good thing to keep with you when you’re agreeing on the above key areas, as although not everyone likes to negotiate, it is the perfect time to try to ask for those few cheeky extras. At the end of the day, it is your wedding and little extra touches could really make a big difference!