Finding Space

We are joined by Chelsea Marr from the ⁠Redland Bay Golf Club ⁠and discuss finding a venue and reading the terms and conditions, white weddings in the sunshine and dinosaur themed nuggets...

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the bridal. Grief.
My name is Stephanie Fitzpatrickfrom Beautiful Illusions Event
Styling. And Ruth Ryan from Ruth Ryan
Photography. The purpose of The Bridal Grief
is to help you before, on and after your wedding day with our
advice. Plus bringing on a few friends
along the way. And here we are again, Ruth.
Hi, Steph. Hello.

(00:21):
Today we are super lucky becausewe're talking venues.
Yes, we we need to find a space.So we're talking finding space
today and we have a venue professional here.
Chelsea, MA from the Redland BayGolf Club.
Welcome. Thank you.
Good to be here. Thanks for coming.
It's very exciting. I'm very excited to talk about

(00:41):
venues. It's it's obviously it's the
biggest part of your budget mostof the time.
So, so on that note, what are wetalking about today, Ruth?
Well, we're going to talk about the venues that we had as our
for our weddings. We're going to talk about
whether or not you should have awedding venue professional.
Or whether or not you can do it DIY.
We're going to talk about some celebrity venues, some venue

(01:02):
packages, and also helpful questions and tips.
Perfect. That'll hopefully help some
people out. That's right.
So as as far as venues goes, what about your Steph?
What was your venue like? Well, I had it, as I mentioned
in the previous episode, I thinkI had it at Rancho Del Cielo.
So it was very DIY venue and it was definitely on the medium

(01:23):
size of the budget. I had to bring everything in
myself. I mentioned that, yeah, but I
was really lucky about just on that wedding venue professional.
I did bring in Chelsea from the Redland Bay Golf Club to help
run the day. I mean, they did have someone
there. Yep, but you.
Know Chelsea and I worked together a lot so it.
Was good to have her there. That's it does help to have

(01:45):
somebody on your side that's knows what they're doing.
Yeah. What about you, Ruth?
Tell me more about yours. My venue was probably the
complete opposite. It was at SeaWorld Nara, so it
was more of a ballroom type of situation.
It had all of these centrepiecesand the tables and the chairs
and the cutlery and everything like that was done.

(02:05):
Obviously we paid probably a little bit more to be able to
have that, but we also at the end of the night were able to
just leave and we didn't have toworry about cleaning anything
up, which is always nice. Yes, very nice.
So it's the benefit of having a venue.
That's right. And so, Chelsea, what about
yourself? What about your wedding here?
All about you. Because we talk about us all the

(02:27):
time. Yeah.
Yeah. So now it's your turn.
Tell us your wedding story. Yeah.
When did you get married and when?
So I'm going to go from maybe the start.
So me and my partner Mitchell met during school.
Schoolies is when he decided to ask the question.
So you knew each other at schooland then he asked you out.

(02:49):
So was he at your school? Yeah.
Same school, same school. Same school happened at.
School, No. He left school for an
apprenticeship. We never really spoke.
And then kind of year 12 and later on in the year, we started
talking again. And then, yes, school he's he
was at one hotel, I was at another.
Just ask me the question. And yeah.

(03:11):
That's really sweet. Yeah, Yeah.
OK. Since then, after six years, we
got engaged. On that episode, we spoke about
engagements. Mine was at the Marriott, Yeah.
Beautiful. Yeah, Marriott and then so we
planned our wedding for our nineyear anniversary.
Yeah, COVID hit, so we had to postpone.

(03:32):
COVID wedding Yeah, so. We had to postpone a year to
2021, which is ideally the year I wanted to get married because
it did fall on our 10 year wedding anniversary.
So it's what I wanted anyway. It's like.
A puzzle that's all just coming together.
It was meant. For a reason.
Yeah. So we planned our wedding for

(03:52):
Mantra Salt Casserina. Oh, that's.
Beautiful. Yes, that was the original
venue. Oh, that was the original.
Venue. So we're oh, so that was your
COVID venue and we're not allowed to leave the state.
Yeah, so we so we were allowed to get to NSW but we couldn't
get home. Oh, right, so because of
quarantine, right? Yeah, right.

(04:12):
Oh, that was a whole. Thing I forgot all about that
drama, yeah. So we we hoped that the.
Venue. Yeah, yeah, I'd hope that.
We'd be allowed to get married there, not so 4 weeks out.
We decided let's switch venues. Calling around.
I live just down the road from Sierra Mae made the call.
They said yeah, we've got your date available.

(04:33):
You could only have the Arbour and restaurant Lilene's and I've
gone. That is outstanding.
That's perfect. And Sierra Mae, for anybody who
doesn't know, is a beautiful winery studies.
That's very local too. And I think because it's so
local to us, a lot of people probably wouldn't think of going
there. But it's it's.
It's just breathtaking and they have multiple ceremony
locations, although you can't dohave that.

(04:55):
They do have the Laguna and likethey have a couple of reception
locations as well, like the barrel hole downstairs which has
beautiful wine barrels or upstairs which is just as
lovely. And the food is great.
Oh so good. I didn't eat much fried
dutchery, so my bridesmaids actually had to cut up my food

(05:15):
and feed it to me because I was too busy.
Towards a good bridesmaid and drinking Well done bridesmaid.
But yeah, because we did have a COVID wedding, all my my whole
side of the family is from NSW so none could attend.
So we had to live stream the whole wedding so I had to did.
That work well. It was great.
I can still watch back the video.
Yeah. So I created an event from that.
We just pressed play when wedding was about to start.

(05:37):
I allocated the best man to moveeverything around because it was
just me and Mitch standing up there.
We go to our bridal party to sitdown.
That I wouldn't change a thing from my day.
Maybe a few extra florals to theceremony, but I wanted to be me
and Mitch, the main the main attraction.
Yeah. You had a very This is what I

(05:59):
want my wedding to look like. Yeah, I I had, yes.
Yes, because you were you at your venue prior to this wedding
or were you at a different venue?
Like, were you working at Redland Bay?
Golf Club Yes, at the Golf Club for 14 years last Wednesday or
actually. Yes, Yeah.

(06:21):
So you had seen enough weddings to kind of know what you wanted.
I think my styles changed over the years.
I used to work for another, I used to work for a decorator
part partly, and I had a dream then of what I wanted to do.
And then when I got my job as a coordinator, I think it started
to change. And I think my style changed
with what the style the time wasmaybe doing.
Yeah, but maybe a few extras. I just wanted it to look

(06:44):
stylish, timeless, beautiful. And Steph was my decorator at
the time. Yeah.
And she made it happen, Yeah. Yeah, you had a step.
We did exactly what she wanted. She knew what she wanted.
We didn't have to lead her there.
No, Yeah, yeah. I walked in and said I want
that, that and that and you're gonna.
Do it. The most I would have done is

(07:04):
gone. And which gold Candlestick would
you like? Yeah, yeah, but she had a said
look and it did. It looked stunning.
Yeah, the only person that persuaded me to do something
they wanted was my cake lady. With the giant.
Or the no, the bow was me. It was more the peonies.
So my cake lady Cakes by Simone.Amazing cakes.

(07:28):
Yeah, amazing cakes. Outstanding.
She'll even admit to that one. She said to me, you're getting
married in November, you must have peonies.
If you don't have peonies, I'm not doing your wedding cake.
Oh, wow. And I've gone old, called my
florist. I said can I just get some
peonies in my all White Rose bouquet, please?
Yeah, yeah. I was able to get my drink cake,

(07:50):
my beautiful bouquet. And yeah, and you've got Chelsea
wanted a giant. Bow.
Oh, her cake. A giant bow.
A giant bow with big flowing bits coming off it.
Yeah, you just watch my wedding video.
Yeah, on my Instagram page. A bow is in ribbon or a bow is
in made of cake. Fabric, Fabric.

(08:12):
It was this fabric flowing. It flowed with the breeze.
But you know what's in trend now?
Bows. I'm a trend setup.
Yeah, there we go. They are very on trend now.
People want bows everywhere. They want them on the wine
glasses. They want them on the
candelabras. They want them everywhere.
There you go. That's an interesting little
tidbit, isn't it? It is.
So tell us about Redland Bay Golf Club.
So Redland Bay Golf Club. I'm gonna say we're a little

(08:35):
Bayside venue. Everyone gets us infused with
Red Cliff, totally different, totally different spaces, but
we're just a small club. We've got three ceremony
locations. I've got an ABA, a gazebo, Bay
view location that you can obviously Bay views of
Strawbrook Island, Bay Islands. I've also got three reception

(08:56):
locations. I've got an outdoor marquee for
a casual vibe, an inside reception space, which is you
can make it formal or I've got agarden space, which I'm just
starting to introduce now. When you could do wine barrels,
cocktail style, really beautiful.
Yeah. I think what sets me apart from
other venues is my flexibility. I.

(09:17):
Agree. Like, you tell me what you want
and I'm going to make it happen because that's what I wanted for
my wedding, you know? Yeah, that's right.
That's right. And I think people love that
about your venue. Yeah.
And people, people want a personthat they can actually say,
well, OK, I don't necessarily want the traditional.
I want to go a. Little bit differently so yeah.
Not someone who says no to. Everything Oh I hate.

(09:39):
No, people. There's nothing wrong with, you
know, if something is being, youknow, someone's being
ridiculous. Some wanting monster trucks to
go over the the green. Maybe I'm not mad.
But yeah, you do want somebody who's that's right, you know,
help to bring your dream to life, I guess.
I think so. And you offer an all inclusive
package down there. Do you think that that will sell

(10:02):
you over a venue that doesn't? No.
Maybe. I think my prices are a lot
lower than your typical larger venues as well, but I know my
demographic of who's booking with my my club.
But I know my couple and I thinkthat helps them as well.
Like someone who's looking at, for example, some beautiful

(10:23):
venue in the city, Custom House,they're not coming to me.
Yeah, I know that someone possibly looking at a smaller
venue in Cleveland or Brisbane Bayside, they are looking at me
as well. And that's where I can be
competitive. But yeah, OK, I'm not the same
as anyone else. No, that's right.
But saying that you've won lots of awards, I know just recently,

(10:43):
yes. And I think you should tell
people about your awards becauseit's not just recently like you
have been winning awards for years for them with that.
Venue. I did have a break.
It was the kids. The kids made me not win awards,
but but they told me I won the award of best mom, so I'll take
that one. Yeah.
So I have been winning but yeah,just first year into my job I

(11:05):
won best reception venue 2 yearsin a row, which is pretty cool.
And then just yeah, last year I won best Golf Club reception
venue, the regional so SE Queensland, so up again, slacks
of Victoria Park, Hillstone, St.Lucia, like which are huge
venues. Yeah, yeah, wow, yeah.

(11:25):
Like and I couldn't even fathom how the how did I do it like.
Yeah, I did. Truly.
Yes. Yeah, kind of.
Yeah. Yeah.
Because I I imagine that they don't have yes men as much.
I think they're. A bigger team, like I know my
couples, I know them by first name because it's just me
dealing with them. If I'm if I'm unable to, then
I've got someone that also will know them exactly.

(11:47):
So if you call up and you don't say your name, I already know
you by voice. Yeah.
So that's excellent. That's nice.
It is. You're not just a number with
you. Yeah, yeah.
Not saying. You are with those other venues?
Yeah, but they are bigger venues.
They have a lot of spaces. So yeah, might take them a
little. They might have multiple
weddings on on a day. Yeah, every.
I take Sunday, Fridays. Yeah.
So it's a lot. What do you love about your job?

(12:09):
I think it's the day itself. It's their best.
The hashtag best day ever is what I use sometimes in my thank
you emails because that's what it is in the back of my wedding
packages hashtag best day ever. And that's I get to see a couple
when they're the most happiest, surrounded by everybody that
they love. And how could you not love it?
No. That's exactly right.

(12:31):
That's exactly what I say about my job.
That's when I shoot weddings. That's no one.
Because ever. Sad.
No. No.
It's the best. I get that because we're gone
when they come, So we don't get that.
Yeah. Yeah.
No, I mean, I can imagine. Yeah, you can imagine.
We'll tell you about it. It's good.
You should stay one time. Right.

(12:52):
You've always assumed that we'regonna be like at at the place
while they're doing it. And I'm like, we're not there.
Then even a ceremony, you know, we're like, no, we leave half an
hour before you come and we'll come back.
I I've been asked before one of my couples were like, so do we
need to feed the the decorators at the wedding as well?
I said Oh no, they won't be hereguys, I.

(13:12):
Had the opportunity all for longto come to a Ransom Bay Golf
Club 1 and I've missed it. Thanks.
To Chelsea saying no, sorry Steph, what would you say is the
most common term and condition that people do not read that
they should? Read.
I'm going to go with, say, liability and damages.

(13:35):
Oh so small. Is this maybe if somebody's
damages a wall or? Yeah, like extremes.
Broken some glass. Not like drinking glass, but
like a glass window. Not that that's ever happened at
my venue. That's a very.
Big extreme, Yeah. But like they've hardcore
dancing, kick a hole in a wall or some they've used fake petals

(13:58):
instead of real petals like thatcould damage the grass and
everything like that. So it's just something to in
there because the couple's got to pay for it.
That's right. Do you have things like cleaning
up fees in your terms and conditions?
If if, for example, they use fake pedals instead of you just
want to go clean that up? Yeah.
And someone has to do that. So, yeah, so we've got to clean

(14:19):
up the. I haven't used it many times.
It's more if I've got a wedding down on the lawn or in my market
if they really smash it. I did have an event that did a
pipe the plate smash. They were, they were Greek.
And I'm like, yeah, you can do your plate smash.
Make sure you've got a big rug out that clean it all up.
They've kicked it to the side. Ching, Ching, Ching, Ching,

(14:39):
Ching, ching, Ching. All these plates smash.
No joke. Maybe 100 of them.
Glass everywhere. Oh.
No. That's a lot.
Yeah, that warrants a clean up fee, I think.
So you've got to send staff out there to clean it up, you know.
Yeah, that's right. And because you're you're a Golf
Club. So what about down on the actual
golf Tees and things like that, like on the green?

(15:01):
Is that much damage for that? No, not for that event.
No one really goes on to the golf course.
I'm going to say maybe. Six years ago we used to have a
Pelican over on our dam locationin a real one.
No it's fake. I was thinking there are a few
fake but I believe some group once headed over there and then

(15:21):
the the Pelican was in the dam. Poor Mr Pelican.
Yeah, but they had a good time, didn't.
They the Pelican's no longer there.
I don't have to fix it up. So it was kind of a bit of sweet
moment. Right, right.
Yeah, That's probably fair. Yeah.
I mean, there are some gorgeous venues around the place.
Yours is 1. Thanks.
But there's also, I mean, let's look at what celebrities.

(15:44):
Are doing because. Talking about, you know, they go
to some pretty extremes. We did talk about it in our last
episode, the budgets that some celebrities had and the biggest
one which were huge, it was 1.3 billion that someone had spent 3
billion billion one point. That wasn't really a celebrity
even. They were just like, as
celebrities of their own. Yeah.

(16:04):
I mean, celebrities do like to splash on their wedding day.
They. Do so let's talk about some of
the places that celebrities had their wedding venues.
Yes, Dublin, Victoria and David Beckham.
Beautiful. Danet.
I was a lot. Latrice Down Castle.
Castle. Yes.
Fancy. Beautiful.

(16:24):
A castle. Who doesn't want a wedding in
the castle? That's right.
I mean, yeah, that's very much aVictoria Beckham.
Kind of. I can imagine the Princess dress
in the castle. I know she would have.
Wanted it all or it would have been a really slinky I don't
even know what. Her what you did I haven't seen
the wedding. Yeah, because she's.
No, I need to know she does havea figure for it.

(16:46):
I guess she can pull off whatever she wants.
We might bring them back when wetalk about dresses.
And what about Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds?
So they got married at Boone Hall Historic Plantation in
South Carolina. Beautiful.
Yes. Wow, yeah.
Stunning. Yeah, amazing.
Amazing. That sounds amazing.
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake.

(17:07):
Morgo Agnacia resort in Italy. I mean there are Italy is the
place to go to get married if you can afford it.
I cannot but but. Maybe this podcast will blow up
and you can have a second. Wedding and we in Italy amazing
can. I come.
Something to aim for, right? We could all go, yeah.

(17:27):
I mean, that sounds beautiful, but maybe you live in Italy and
it's not that exciting for you. But yeah, everyone else, the
rest of the world, it is. So that's kind of the dream
location. Because Kim Kardashian and Kanye
West was also in Italy, wasn't it?
It was. It was in Forte de Belvedere in.
Florence. And Florence is beautiful.
I have been there. And that's beautiful, right?
OK. Yeah.

(17:48):
So anywhere there is going to benice.
I mean, the fact that they didn't work out doesn't matter.
It was still a beautiful location.
Jennifer. Garner and Ben.
Affleck Parrot Cay Resort in Turks and Caicos.
Now, that's a beautiful location, right.
Turks and Caicos, anyway. Yeah, that's right.
I mean, I could probably just walk along the street and hit a

(18:09):
hit. A couple of beautiful venues.
Yes. There's a lot of five star.
Seven star, I think. Yeah.
Yeah. Christian Bell and Dax Shepard,
There's. I love their story, $47 in total
they spent on their wedding. They did because they did it at
the courthouse. They did.
It at the Beverly Hills court, Imean Beverly Hills courthouse,

(18:30):
I'm sure it's. Probably nicer than a normal
courthouse. That's right.
But they actually waited until California legalised same sex
marriage. They were really strong and
though their convictions with government and they refused to
get married until that happened.And then when they did pass,
they were like, it's time. Yeah.
And we don't want to spend a lot.
Go to the courthouse. Yes.
And I believe that $147 wasn't that was everything, not

(18:55):
including like that wasn't just the court didn't even know where
you were to that. Address that would be.
I mean, I don't think she had a big fancy dress, you know, like
they just did it really subdued.We should have had them on our
budgeting episode. Because they did it.
They did it well. Right, they know how to do a
cheap wedding if you wanted. I mean, there's some beautiful

(19:16):
destinations around the world, you know, not just the ones that
celebrities are going to. I'm sure some celebrities have
headed to these locations. Como, Italy.
I have friends that got married there.
You do Two children. Yep.
Like we know people and their pictures are amazing.
Yeah, I think it's very some. Of those players.

(19:36):
You know, you can do the boat trip where with the guests you
can all like in the lead up to it, you know, go down onto the
lake. Yeah.
So I think there's a lot of activities for your guests to
do. OK.
But I mean, it is, you know, it is quite the distance from us
anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Bali in Indonesia. So I mean, I guess this could be

(20:01):
one of those cases where you could go and have something big
and elaborate at maybe a smallercost.
Yeah. And I think if you can have a
destination wedding and you wanta lot of guests of your guests
to come that you're going to invite, it's not that for us in
Australia. It's not that expensive to go to

(20:22):
Bali. No, that's right.
But I mean it, I guess it runs its own risks as well, you know,
not being out and drink the water and things like that.
Is it's one of those yeah, it's difficult and you know a lot of
people might have to get extra shots to be able to go so it
does open it up to a whole lot of ball game really, but

(20:43):
beautiful. I mean there's resorts that are
just spectacular. That's right.
And I mean the florals are a lotcheaper there.
Florals a lot cheaper Just get married yeah.
Anything to do with people in general?
I mean the the labour over thereis cheaper it.
Is the food is cheaper, there isa lot of things that are cheaper
and you probably like the photography.

(21:05):
Even cheaper would be a lot lower.
Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, it's, it's
beautiful though, Paris. One me.
What do you guys see of love? The city of love.
That's true. Yep.
What do you guys think? What do you think, Chelsea?
Would you have your wedding in Paris?
I've never been to Paris. OK Yep, I mean Paris is

(21:28):
beautiful, like scenic wise it is beautiful but I mean it's a
long way to go. Yep, language barriers might not
get what you want. It could be quite expensive I
would imagine. I think it's one of those
things, if you've got a big, elaborate budget and therefore
you might have somebody who's helping you plan your wedding
day, I probably wouldn't go to one of these big destination

(21:49):
weddings unless you've got a wedding planner.
Agreed. Yeah.
Santorini. I mean that has.
To be on a lot of people's wish lists of places to go, I would
love to see. For me, I feel like it would be
an intimate wedding location. Like not just necessarily just
the two of you, but maybe just immediate family, maybe 20 or so

(22:11):
people. I could see that working quite
well. Yeah, that'd be.
And you can stay around for yourhoneymoon.
True. Yeah, but, I mean, you've got to
look at budget as well. Can you afford to fly people
over there? Do they expect you to?
Can they pay for their own flights?
But then maybe you pay for accommodation.
That's true. You've got to look at the costs

(22:32):
involved, don't you? That's right.
What about Mexico? I have not been Harbour San
Lucas. I haven't been either.
But it looks amazing. Yes.
I mean, I'm a big fan of the Real Housewives and they're.
Always going to make yes. It's I think it's, yeah, it's
probably another place a little bit like Bali.
You could probably get a lot of bang for your buck over there

(22:54):
and you get a beautiful locationfor a smaller budget.
Yeah, that's true. And obviously the flights, the
accommodation, I think you're. Going to have that with any of
those locations on you like if you're here.
But yeah, I think maybe we focusa little bit more on venues that
are in your local area. Yeah, right.
Realistic. That's a realistic, yes.

(23:14):
Let's let's look at some realistic options and we're very
curious to get Chelsea's take onthis because obviously venues
offer cocktail or sit down like is there a huge price?
Difference there a little bit. I'm no not major like our
cocktail and sit down packages offer the same amount of food.

(23:35):
It's just whether or not you want to have a sport sit down or
a stand up reception. Yeah, sport sit down.
I feel like there's a lot more work involved.
I feel decorations could be a lot more cheaper.
Styling for a city, for a cocktail wedding.
Sorry. Less tablespoon?
Yeah. Less table.
No tables. Centrepieces.
Less chairs. Tags.
Less chairs. Yes, that's true.

(23:59):
And maybe less staff for a cocktail because you don't have
to. No, it's the same amount of
staff for both. Oh, you do?
Yeah, There you go. Yeah, same amount of staff,
depending on numbers. That's where my staff levels
grow. Do you risk, you said the same
amount of food whether you're risking like Uncle Tom likes to
eat a lot, Uncle Tom. Eat a lot.

(24:21):
Over his share, he eats over hisshare.
And then someone's like, I didn't get much.
Food and I mean I'm a fussy eater so I like it when it's
cocktail because then I don't feel like I get put a plate down
in front of me that I feel like I have to eat or try and palm
off to my husband. So I like the cocktail because
it often will have, you know, it's just some like deep fried

(24:44):
prawns and things like that. But you know, I'll eat tonnes of
them. Food is a bit more casual I'd
say, like if you were looking for a more casual style like
sliders. Yum, meat pies.
Yeah, if you want me passing. Your wedding, how do you work
with your the food that I mean, can people come in and suggest.

(25:04):
Things that they. Yeah, I'm open to suggestions.
I usually say to my my couples like you tell me what you want,
I'll put it on the piece of paper, give it to my chef and
they'll do whatever you want. Pretty much.
OK, that's kind of amazing. Yeah.
I've had a couple say we want pammies and pizzas.
Alternate drop. Yeah, let's do it.
Yeah, let's do that. I mean honestly, at the end of
the day. I'm sure you, the guests would.
Be really happy with that. They're not mad at all.

(25:26):
No, yeah, that's amazing. That's.
I mean, we were a little bit picky with our food at our
wedding because we they, I mean,they sent through a menu.
It just wasn't what we were after.
We really wanted a buffet. Yeah.
Yeah. And so and so we went back to
them and they accommodated that for us.
OK, which was so good because they weren't going to do that.
So really good as well. Yeah, it was good.

(25:47):
And you know, for the fussy eaters like myself, I mean, it
was, I could just grab what I want.
Yeah. And it was handy like the entire
thing, I think really, except the sauces was gluten free.
So I didn't even have to accommodate the gluten free
people because everything was made gluten free.
Yeah. OK.
Well, that's good. So that was great.
So Chelsea, tell us about your packages, basic or deluxe?

(26:10):
Do you sort of have a have different tiers?
Yeah, got different tiers. We've just released some new
packages actually. So all of them have our base
range, I guess, styling. But then from there, each
package you can go for cocktail style.
Sit down buffet style, and then you've got the option to add on
that deluxe, which I think more people are inclined to do these

(26:32):
days. I like people want a nicer
chair. I'm a fan of style over comfort,
so a Tiffany chair is the way togo every day.
They are beautiful. I'm a big fan of a Tiffany
chair. Yep, Yep.
Yeah, it's amazing how many venues even now are actually
bought. Like not even getting those
bought in by a styling company. Like they're actually just
buying the chairs in because so many people want.

(26:53):
That's what people. Want at the end of the.
Day, Yeah, Or the Bentwood. Wood chairs, Oh yeah, they're
also popular. I just had a wedding there that
are keen on those as well. That's right.
Like the Bentwood chair these days is really popular.
So yeah. And do they offer a ceremony
option as well? Do you have a ceremony option?
You have you said yeah, I've got3-3 locations so I.
Have a few couples that will getmarried at Rainforest Gardens.

(27:17):
I've had a couple get married. Is that at Mount Cotton?
Yeah, Mount Cotton. Beautiful, beautiful venue.
Yeah, I've had a couple get married at Daisy Hill at a
Chapel, then come to me Lagoon View Nursery, that's in the back
of Redland Bay. They're also a beautiful.
Venue. Because not all venues offer
ceremony options. No, it's like, I mean, you do
have three and which is great for people who want to have

(27:39):
ceremony in reception like that,but there are a lot of venues
like restaurants that do receptions in their restaurant,
but they just don't offer that ceremony option.
Yeah. Do you find that the majority of
your couples book their ceremonywith you?
I know you mentioned a few therethat didn't, but the majority of
them would. 95% of my couples are booking ceremony with me as

(28:01):
well. Because I feel like I often when
we do Expos or over dates, they're looking for for venues
that offer boys. I mean, we do do a restaurant
locally that doesn't have a ceremony option and we but we're
able to do ceremonies in the park across the road.
OK, So like that, that is kind of a trade off.

(28:22):
That's right. But there are people who I think
it it can be a turn off if if. If they don't offer the rest
that as well as the reception, yeah, that's true.
And I mean lots of venues you have to look as well.
Do they allow? Some DIY or all DIY depending on
what sort of venue you include it.
But does anyone still choose DIY?

(28:43):
Sometimes cocktail style I'll belike, do you want to go for DIY
style? Sometimes they've got a lot of
stuff at home because they've already bought all the stuff
before they've spoken to a venue.
OK planned their wedding when they were 10 years old.
Yep, there's some couples that do that.
I allow partly come in with the big.
Folder in scrapbook. Oh, that's my name and their
mom. Yeah, I allow partly part DIY,

(29:07):
so if it's something basic that I can just put on a table
because I can't style at all, yeah, I'll do that.
But I can't put together things but like place cards, favours,
special extra gifts for the guests, That kind of stuff I'll
put out on tables. You're happy to do all that?
Yeah, I I do. Some venues do charge you extra

(29:29):
depending on how much you want to bring in with the DIY.
OK, so they might say included in the price is US putting a
wedding saver and a place card out, but if you won't beyond
that, we charge you extra. Okay.
Because they just don't have thetime.
Yeah, it's the time they're going to pay their stuff.
That's right. And people need to appreciate

(29:50):
that that can be the case. I mean, some venues definitely
are more flexible with that. Yep.
But I think, you know, I mean, Ihave seen some horrendous DIY,
oh, not your venue. And really people bringing them
into the showroom saying I need help, this is what I've got and
me going, I can't help you. I don't say that I do my best to

(30:11):
help. But there are some that are just
like quiet. I mean, you know what, They love
them. That's the main thing.
They've done it because they it's kind of like personal to
them. We've had one that was they
loved fishing. I mad mad fisherman.
It was a fishbowl lol with waterbeads at the bottom blue and it

(30:32):
had a fish, a fishing rod hanging from it and with a fish
dangling down. Yeah the stick was a fake fish.
Yeah, I think it was like a paper fish, but that would say
centrepiece. I remember that one because we
did the check I was in session. Yeah, was it blue?
Yeah. It's very normal, cool kind of
fishing theme. I was on leave at the time but I

(30:54):
got the pictures sent through. Yeah, I mean, they were very
into fishing, so. OK, so it was important to them.
That's right. And I it's hard to judge.
It is hard. I mean, we don't want to say,
oh, you know, don't do that. That sounds horrible.
And. You don't want to really hurt
someone's feelings. Like if someone's really like,
you know, put a lot of, like, they put a lot of effort in,

(31:14):
yeah. Yeah, you know.
I think they've done a really good job.
Yeah. And it meant a lot to them.
So, you know, I'm not going to criticise that in any day.
Yeah. I'm glad that they were.
Able to do it at least. That's good.
That's right. So we've got a list here,
Chelsea, and we'd like your feedback of the best questions
to ask at a venue. You tell us if you think that

(31:35):
these are good questions. Yeah, cool.
Right. Because we feel like it's
important. And if you have any others that
they should ask, then you can also help here.
So they obviously need to ask what dates they have available.
Just in case they have a specific date that they want.
Oh so many people love us. There's a few good ones next
year, right? Because 26.

(31:55):
There's a lot of 26's that fall on a Saturday.
I just had a wedding on the weekend, a couple on the weekend
inquiring and they tentatively booked the 26th of September
2026. OK, it's a thing.
OK, it's usually because the bride wants the groom to
remember the anniversary date. Yeah, that's what I did.
That's probably fair. I just need myself to remember

(32:18):
it, yeah. But it's important to know, I
mean, they they might come to you and just completely forget
to ask if the date's available so that they won't before that.
I feel like they need to ask this straight away.
If they've got a special day in mind, if they don't mind and
they're just roughly in September sounds good, then
that's fine. But yeah, if they've got
something special in mind, yeah,probably.

(32:40):
How many people could they have?Yeah, that's obviously, yeah.
Most venues can't hold a lot of guests like we're Max 120 and
that's like it if I have more. Than is that cocktail?
Yeah, that's cocktail, Yeah. OK, so what's your Max?
Sit down. Max, sit down.
I'm gonna say 100. Yeah, comfortable.
And that's inside. Max, sit down.
Outside would be about 80. We've just opened that lawn

(33:04):
package on the grass. We could have up to 150.
Obviously if it rains, our contingency plan is you're
spaced over 2 inside spaces which join up.
But yeah, that's right, they just have to be prepared to go
ahead. And you just have to tell them.
Yeah, yeah. OK.
That's probably fair. Is there a room hire fee on top

(33:24):
of the per person fee? So how does your pricing
structure work? My room hire fee is included in
the price structure. The only thing that's not
including my price structure is your ceremony because like we
said before, some people have already got a ceremony location.
So that's how I did it. Yeah.
So that's you, right. But like I'm guessing there's a
lot of venues out there that do charge a room in.

(33:46):
So it's probably a good questionto ask.
Yeah, definitely ask. How many hours does it include
and can I get more? Hours.
So I'm guessing most places havea closing time.
Yeah, some are 10, some are 11, some are 12.
It really just depends on what their liquor licencing is I
guess as well. But like if someone has your
venue, do they do you say you get 4 hours to that because

(34:09):
obviously staffing is incorporated in the pricing here
somewhere? Yeah, so I take it I used to say
8 hours from ceremony. Yeah, from ceremony.
I, I took that off. So my couples, a lot of them,
I'll pitch for a three PM ceremony a day Wedding doesn't
really work with our venue. People still do it just because
we've got golfers. Like I'm also, I'm not just a

(34:29):
wedding venue. I'm a, I'm a golfing.
I'm a golf. Club, yeah, like so and you've
got to cater for you and. They need to play golf.
It doesn't matter what the weather is, they need to be on
the golf course so. It's bucketed down rain on the
weekend. Why can't I have carts?
Because you get regular grass. Yeah, yeah.
That's true. That's true.
So yeah, I mean, I guess that's an important one.

(34:50):
Isn't that like, can you, could you add more time if you needed
to? Is that something?
That yeah, checked with the venue, we say till 11 PMI guess
is noise restrictions have to lower outside and they've really
got to 12 midnight if they're inthe inside venue.
But no one's staying that light like you've 7:00 AM is when
you're getting makeup. Yeah, you're exhausted by ten.

(35:12):
Yeah, that's true. And you generally, once a couple
leaves, you know, you've probably got maybe an hour tops
where people are a lot on their way staying.
Till the end now though, and then I'll scoot off at around
that 1011 mark and everyone's gone as well.
Yeah, there's a supplier we use,Mr Entertainment, the DJ.
He is a legend. He is.
Good old Maddie. Ross, he's so good.

(35:34):
But he knows how. He knows how to dull down a
night. Yeah, like he knows how how to
ramp it up early. So they're bring it back down,
bring it back down. Because once there's two people
on the dance floor, like, everyone's pretty pooped.
Yeah, they didn't go home. That's fair.
Yeah. What about your deposit?
Is it refundable? And, and I mean this is probably

(35:56):
a question important to ask all.Venues.
I think so too, because you knowwhat happens if.
You change your mind. My deposits aren't refundable.
Fair, which is probably fair. I think it's fair.
However, I'm a little bit of a softy, so if there's more behind
it, like if you're just changingbecause you just don't, you

(36:17):
don't get married anymore, you're changing venues, there's
not much wriggle room. But like if something's happened
I'm happy to listen to and deposit back you money, but not
if it's a month before the wedding.
Yeah, that's fair. Yeah.
I think that's fair too, and it's got to give you a chance
maybe to have someone else book it.
Yeah. And with the deposit as well,
that deposit's factoring in the time that I've spent booking in

(36:40):
the inquiry meeting with you, all the pre planning around that
and depending on what time you have decided to cancel the
wedding will depend on what kindof portion you will get back as
well. Yeah.
That's fair. That's definitely fair.
And what about preferred suppliers?
So you obviously use stuff for quite a fair few of your
decorations. Yeah, and most venues would.
So I guess it is a good questionto ask.

(37:02):
Yeah, preferred suppliers are great.
It's great that I know that theyknow how I work and I know how
they work. So pretty much your wedding is
booked with every supply that I already have listed on my sheet.
Oh, great. I don't have to do anything.
I don't need to talk to that photographer.
They're going to turn up, do their thing.
I don't have to say hello, that's stylist.
That's right. Does it make you nervous when

(37:23):
they say to you, OK, but can we use a different stylist?
No one's ever asked the questionbecause my stylist said in my
package yeah. And I when I, I'm very open when
I talk, I'll tell them straight up these are my 2 stylists I
choose. I have had a couple ask me if
they could bring in their own stylist because I believe their
sister in law was a stylist. And I said unfortunately not,

(37:45):
these are in my packages. I remember before, before you
included it and I got a call andthey asked me if they we could
bring a carpet down. I don't know if you remember
this carpet down, a carpet down because they wanted a white
carpet and they didn't have one like bolt with their stylist
anyway. So I'll add a backdrop.

(38:06):
I think I did a backdrop. So at first I did, at first it
was just the backdrop. So I went down and did the
backdrop first thing in the morning.
And like we make it a rule that we're pretty much on site
anywhere from between an hour and a half to three hours,
depending on how much stuff people have.
But usually we're done in an hour and a half, two hours.
Yeah. So I went down and I did this
backdrop and there was another stylist there at that time, and

(38:28):
it wasn't a local 1 to us at all.
Yeah, they were from the Gold Coast.
I can't even, I don't know what their name was, but then later
that day was when we discovered this carpet problem.
I'd already set up the backdrop,but I said I'll drop it down.
But I can't drop it down until like right, kind of before the
guests arrive. Unfortunately, we just don't
have enough stuff. I went back and that stylus was

(38:50):
still there from early that morning styling.
And I think the staff was starting to worry because
because they hadn't like their stuff was all over where the
buffet needed to be set up. That's right.
And yeah, definitely something to be said for preferred
suppliers. That's right, because the venue
you know as. Them as a preferred.
Supplier, it's usually for a reason.

(39:11):
Yeah, that's right. And I mean, we have
relationships with our venues where, you know, if they want
something at the last minute, they can, we can generally try
to accommodate And like, you know, they sometimes like, I
mean, we have been into venues when no one's there, they've
gone. Here's the key, let yourself in
do it. Just look up when you leave.
Yeah right. Or yes, you can use our scissor

(39:31):
lift without any help around you.
Here you go. We got it out for you.
We've left it in the middle of the room.
Whereas like that's because we're their preferred supplier
and we work with them and they have a trust yeah thing there.
Yeah, so and it goes both ways, you know, so and we super
appreciate the relationship we have with the venues.
Yeah, yeah, that's true. Probably another good one to ask

(39:53):
is whether or not they have any open flame regulations.
Is this really a thing? I guess it.
Would be I mean people have candles at wedding I allow it
because I do candle there are some of these heritage listed
ones like these really old ones that don't allow it that's
probably a lot of wood yeah at the venue like there's an
alternative for people who can'thave candles the LEDs I mean

(40:15):
we've been doing LEDs even at venues that can't because we
have one on the weekend that's right because some at some
venues the air con and when theygo in and out of the door air
blows it out blow out taper candles and they'll and.
Pillar candles and like we have actually a couple of a couple of
venues that have these really strong air cons.
And so now we're kind of promoting the LED pillars

(40:37):
because it's just some of them look so real.
Yeah. And they, you know, and they
haven't really nice. The ones that have there's less
wax, yes, there's less wax everywhere because of the air
con or if they have a door to the outside that wind comes in.
Yep. Like it makes it easier.
Yeah, definitely. It makes sense.
Yeah. Yeah, that's true.
That's true. I guess in terms of actually

(41:00):
your your wedding day, it's probably important to define
what your vision and your budgetis.
So I guess we have different venues offer different looks.
You want to kind of try and figure out what your overall
vibe is for your wedding. Yeah.
You know, do you want a rustic? Yeah.

(41:20):
Do you want a modern? Do you want classic?
Do you want Bohemian? That's right, yeah.
And then what style of wedding are you envisioning?
The formal, the casual, intimategrand ballroom?
What do you what? What do you want?
Yeah, yeah, and and same thing as that's what sort of seating.
So this goes for whether or not it's a cocktail or a sit down.

(41:42):
Do you want it kind of, you know, do you want it band style?
So you're going to have hay bales around the place or bent
seats. Are you going to have, you know,
a big, elaborate seating in a ballroom?
Is it, you know, garden seating with those Tiffany chairs?
That's right. Because all of these are really
going to determine what venue you get.
Yeah. Yeah.
And that comes down to sometimesit comes down to budget,

(42:04):
unfortunately. Yeah.
So you need to set a realistic budget for the venue itself and
remember the factor in any potential costs.
Yeah. Yeah.
And also be aware that venue costs can vary significantly
depending on the day of the week.
Is that the same for you guys? Chelsea, have you got cheaper
packages for Tuesday's weddings or?
No, my packages are the same every day of the week because we

(42:26):
are a Golf Club. Saturdays are better days to
have a wedding. All my golfers on a Saturday
understand how I work. They don't get in the way, they
respect it. Whereas the other days of the
week, just because it's not often happening, it's just be
like your. Your Tuesday golfers might not
quite understand what's going onlike.
Tuesday golfers are ladies and they love to watch the

(42:46):
ceremonies, which means I have them in the background, right?
Which not. Be a good.
Or a bad thing, really. Yeah, that's your venue.
But yeah, there are venues that do that.
That is a real thing. They do vary because of the
popularity. So that's good.
A lot. Yeah, the venues will be cheaper
during the week. I do want to point out
something, and you'll probably agree with me here, Chelsea,

(43:07):
that when people say, as soon asyou say the word wedding, things
get more expensive. I just want to address this
right now, right? Because they, they'll say it
about me, they'll say it about you, they'll say it about a
photographer, right? The reason there is a reason why
they're more expensive for weddings.
Like they are going to make sureeverything runs absolutely

(43:29):
perfectly for your wedding. They're going to have more staff
on for a wedding than they wouldfor a 21st birthday party.
They are going to make sure yourguests are very looked after.
We are going to make sure that on our end all the sashes are
ironed and that everything looksreally pretty and that the
Glovases are polished and all ofthat stuff we would for

(43:50):
normally. But it doesn't change.
No, like weddings, There is a reason why.
If it's slightly more expensive for a wedding, then there is a
reason for it. It's not because they're trying
to RIP you off. No, even as far as photography
goes, you, I would come along toa 21st and I could be there for
four or five hours at a party, but it would probably just be

(44:11):
me. And I've probably just had you
tell me the time to show up and the time to leave and that's
kind of it. Whereas a wedding I've had
probably multiple meetings with you, I come along with myself
and multiple cameras and also probably an assistant as well
that will come along. It's it's much, it's much bigger

(44:33):
and you've also, it's a lot morepressure as well.
So I've got to be there, make sure I capture that first kiss
and capture the things going on.The editing is obviously huge as
well. Yes, it's a little bit more
bespoke. I guess, yes.
So I just wanted to address thatnow.
I'll probably bring Lil up many more times.
Because something Steph feels passionate about Steph Steep of

(44:53):
that. Yeah.
No, so we don't do it just to bemean.
We we do it because a lot more goes into perfecting a wedding
as opposed to, you know, that's right.
And I think the reason I broughtit up now is because venue
specific, like specifically theyneed to charge a bit more for
weddings. Yeah, yes.
Which is fine because there is alot more costs.

(45:14):
Yeah. But probably something that you
need to look at with your venue is having a rough cost estimate
for your guest list, ensuring that your venue can also
accommodate everybody, making sure that you don't have, you
know, 300 people in a venue that's really only for 50.
Yeah. Important.
That's right. Because Great Auntie Norma might

(45:35):
want to come. Yep.
And you might not be able to fitit.
Yep. Also.
Yeah. Considering both your ceremony
and reception capabilities, can you have both at the same venue?
Some people prefer that because it means that you don't have to
hire another car to take you from place to place.
It's also means that a lot of the time, say, the photographer

(45:55):
will be there for a shorter amount of time because.
They don't have to travel to different places.
Yeah. And so I guess the next thing is
that you want to choose a location that is convenient for
your guests. So if you're gonna have a small
amount of guests and they're allprepared to travel, sure.
But otherwise, like for me, I have friends that have small
children and they just don't have the capability to have

(46:16):
people have those overnight. So I needed them to be able to
go home afterwards. Yeah.
And I didn't want the drive to be huge for them.
Yep. But if you are happy for if you
want slight destination and you found a place an hour and a half
drive and people are willing to do that and you know.
It's probably, you know, you're looking at sort of maybe 2 hours
or something like that is one ofthose sort of distances where

(46:38):
people could go home, but they could also stay.
And they've got both options then, yeah.
Yeah. And maybe consider the time, the
travel time for them. Yeah, and the parking at the
venue, because there are like a few city ones that have.
No parking. Oh, I know.
I. Know, yeah, so that's difficult.
It's not great, especially if you're looking at.
Last trains if people are tryingto train at home because they

(47:00):
can't get parking near the venue, then.
That's right. And even for the vendors, like
if they've got nowhere to park, like if your photographer is
driving around trying to find parking, this.
Is why I bring an assistant weddings.
So also another one of those reasons why they are the parking
we are more expensive because, yeah, I often will say, you
know, can you drop me off so that I can get started and you

(47:20):
find a car park. Yeah.
And it's also like you might want something that has
accommodation close by if you have quite a few people coming
from out of town. Yeah, definitely, yeah, yeah.
So ensuring that your venue is accessible for everyone as well,
you know, if you've got elderly people, does it have ramps?
Do you I need a? Wheelchair access at ours.

(47:43):
So, yeah, yeah, that's good. That's right, wheelchair access.
And you know, especially these days, if there's anybody who
maybe has any kind of sensory issues, maybe look into that as
well. There might be some venues that
might be better for them or accommodating for that sort of
thing. Your layout, some people like

(48:03):
this done differently I guess. Some people like to have their
pre dinner drinks in a differentlocation to where their
reception is going to be and that sort of thing.
So you do that, don't you, Chelsea?
Yeah, my couples have the optionfor down on the lawn for pre
dinner drinks or in the marquee.Yeah.
That's good. Yeah.
So that's a lot of people like that.

(48:25):
Yeah, that's true. So also amenities as well.
Inquire about included amenitiessuch as tables, chairs, linens,
lighting, sound systems. It might be a good one for the
DIY venues, I feel because. Yeah, because there's normal way
tables and chairs, or there might be only a limited amount
of them and you need a lot. Yeah, and it's just tables and

(48:47):
chairs. I mean, you got to think some of
these venues don't have cutlery.They don't have cups for you to
drink out of. That's right, they don't.
Even multiple wine glasses and how are you going to transport
them there and clean them up andthat's.
Right. I mean, I even have a couple of
venues that don't have like, like you offer APA system, but I
have a few venues that don't. And so they have to hire APA,

(49:08):
like the couple have to hire thePA.
So the whole sound system to even if you just run it off you.
Yeah, or just a ceremony even. Oh, OK.
You know, like because not all celebrants have PA systems.
All right. I feel like that's something
every celebrant. Should have most.
Of those do I think? Now pastor or a minister is
marrying you. They won't have a speaker
system, but some celebrants won't let you use it for their

(49:31):
music. A lot will, but it's always a
question to ask you celebrate. Can I use your speaker?
There's everybody there. All.
Right. Because like it might just be a
basic PA that doesn't have all of these features.
It's just a microphone and the speaker.
It's not Bluetooth and AU like audio and all of that sort of
stuff. Yeah, yeah, that's fair.

(49:52):
What about your bridal suite forand your and your groom's suite
as well? Somewhere to get ready if you
want that, if that's something that you want.
A lot of people will have a hotel room that they're getting
ready at. Maybe sometimes the bride's in
one hotel and the groom's in thehotel next door, or maybe
they're in the same hotel. When you have 7 floors they do

(50:12):
that or they just kind of go straight in with you.
Yeah, not on venue. I had a bride on Saturday who
turned up without us knowing. She snuck in without any, the
coordinators knowing. The guest didn't see how she
stuck into our front boardroom space.
Yeah. And it was just so happened we
were in the fire area just looking at the cameras, and
we're like the rise out. She says she'll be here for

(50:34):
another 30 minutes. And, yeah, we're not in.
And yeah, she snuck in. Wow.
Yeah, yeah. It's not set up for, like, a
location for you to stay. But she already knew the space
because she was partly DIY. So she was there the day before,
just mucking around with a few things.
OK, so she just so she just snuck.
In there and just waited there and.
Touched her makeup in the boardroom.
Yeah, yeah. If it's important to you, it's a

(50:54):
question maybe to ask your venuewhen you go for those, the
consultation if it is important because if they don't have one,
they might. But I like have one venue that
has like a little green room. Yep, because they also do shows
there. So they had this little green
room that is the bride and groom's room for the night if
they need to put stuff in there and stuff.
So you never know. Yeah, I guess it's important to

(51:15):
also also talk about restrooms. So some venues, I guess, I mean,
most, most venues if they've, ifthey're serving food and drinks,
have bathrooms nearby. But you know, if you're going to
Uncle Pete's barn in his backyard.
You may need to bring it. In you may need to bring in a

(51:36):
portaloo. We have some, we have some
amazing ones like luxury loos here in Brisbane that just
they're nice. But yeah, that's right.
So you know, it's not as dodgy as they used to be.
That's right. But it is definitely something
to look at. You don't want to have to to.
You know, get a little bust to cut people up to the the house

(51:56):
if it's, you know, a distance away or something like that.
Yeah, yeah, Important, important.
And so you probably should ask the venue if they have in house
catering or if you can bring in your own.
This is a big one for multicultural weddings at a
venue like yours, tells Would you allow if you had a couple of
a certain culture who had to have their own chefs come in?

(52:19):
Would you allow that or that they're better off choosing
another venue? Better off choosing another
venue? We don't allow any food brought
into the venue. I have allowed a Gelato station
for a wedding coming up down on the lawn and there's a few
details I need off that supplierto be able to have it on site
but nothing else is allowed to be.
Brought in. That's fair.

(52:40):
But there are some venues that will allow that.
Yeah, yeah, I've been to some venues where they've had food
trucks. All out.
And that's the food that they'vehad.
You know, they've had multiple food trucks set up.
So I had one where they had to abide by such strict rules
because of, like, a food, yes, acultural 1.
And so they did allow a chef to come in and their team, and they

(53:03):
just took over the kitchen for that one.
Yeah. But if we go back to a question
I think we asked in a previous episode, what would I have at my
wedding if I could change it now?
It would be a Gelato cart. Yum.
We all would like a Gelato. That's right.
Yeah, that's fair. That's fair.

(53:23):
Like do you? So what about if they came to
you with a vendor that had worked with you previously that
you just didn't want there so for whatever reason?
Good question. That's a bit harsh.
Put her on the spot. What do I say to my couples is
to be honest. I'll talk to anybody no matter

(53:46):
the situation, just as you're happy.
So to be honest, if they have brought in a supplier
photographer that I've never metbefore, they've never known the
venue, I'm going to welcome themin and still talk to them
because that's what my couple would want.
And to be honest, I will just talk to anybody.
There are no blacklisted vendors.
Golf Club. No blacklisted.
That's good. What about weather?

(54:08):
I guess this is a this is a big one too because some venues just
don't have the space for a wet weather option.
If you know. That I think that's a really,
really important question to check with your venue.
I know you do have that option, Chelsea, you're really lucky
like that. But I mean, I did one on Friday
that and it was an awful day andthey insisted on still having it

(54:31):
in the park and we made it work for them.
We did make it work. And they were really, they had
their her own gazebo, huge fan. So it was lucky for her she had
a pink gazebo. So we did manage to make it work
for her and her guests had fun with it.
We saw them kicking puddles at each other.
They had fun with it. She had umbrellas.

(54:51):
But if if you, I mean they were a very easygoing couple.
They knew what they wanted and that was fine with them.
But if you are thinking that rain is going to ruin your
wedding day if it happens, then make sure you have a wet weather
contingency. That you're happy with because
if you don't want that, then youknow you don't want it to wreck

(55:13):
your day. No, that's right.
And I mean, even in places whereit doesn't rain often, sometimes
it's just Murphy's Law, but it will just rain on that one or
even to that one day or that onehour where you're you're getting
married out in the sunshine. Yeah, that's right.
And like, you know, don't let itwreck your day, but.
Deny it, I think it wet weather often, but maybe also look, you
know, even if it's whether it's a fully wet day or maybe it's

(55:36):
just a shower that happens to beat that time.
Have you got any kind of space in your timeline to shuffle
things around and maybe have a ceremony a little bit earlier?
Or a little bit later, dependingon where I was doing.
And I think people don't there are like some venues such as
like we have like a literal cellthat's close to Cleveland here

(55:57):
that, you know, maybe you can goand say, look, how much is it
for a room hire of your smaller room?
If, if, if rain is really coming?
Yeah. You know, and you might find a
venue that is willing to accommodate you for just the
ceremony. I mean, I did one at the
Stanford Plaza one time and theyjust hired.
They just played the room hire to have it as a backup for if

(56:20):
they needed it. Wow.
And they did need it on the day they were supposed to get
married in the Botanical gardens, and they ended up
having to have it in this room at Stanford Plaza.
But they just had it as a contingency plan and it made
everybody karma. Yeah, definitely.
Anyway, it's not a bad place to no, right?
Could be worse. So that kind of works out well.

(56:40):
What do we got? Schedule site visits to your
potential venues and say schedule them.
So don't just show up. Right, wreck my day, so just
show up, right? Make an appointment.
I'll if anybody turns up during the day, I'll meet with you
because I know that's a potential booking, but that's
you. But that's me.

(57:01):
I'm a little bit different. I would suggest making
appointments. You know my.
Couples do make their appointment.
That's great. They'll make it a week in
advance, maybe 2 days in advance.
Then you can make sure that you're there at times.
Oh yeah, I've had one. Yeah, no, no, no.

(57:21):
Sorry. That took me a while to answer.
They they'll visit me once. I'll make contact within two
weeks just to follow up. Most of the time I'm getting
them to book. Yeah.
And then I meet with them to do their planning and then they get
married. So it's quite a lot.
There's not a lot, but in those meetings I'm giving them a lot
of information and they're giving me a lot of information.
I schedule a bigger portion of time.

(57:43):
It's like 45 to an hour for an inquiry and wedding planning is
about the same as well. Which brings us to our next
point, which is take photos and notes to help you probably
compare venues. It is really important that you
write that information down because if she's given you all
that information and you haven'ttaken notes or it's not in the
paperwork and stuff, if you've asked specific questions, write

(58:06):
that down so that you're not having to.
So that when you are comparing the venues, you can you've got
some info to compare to and you've got photos and you're not
going, oh, what did they say at that one?
Yeah, that's right. No, because most people will
probably visit two or three maybe.
Yeah, I had a couple on the weekend.
They're visiting four more venues before they make their
decision. So they've gone to, they're

(58:28):
looking at Mulaney next week. They were Gold Coast based last
week and Redlands base this weekand they live in I think Red
Cliffs so they're. Looking at a lot of all over the
place. Yeah.
And like, how are you ever goingto remember the first one once
you've seen the others? Unless you hate.
You get a feeling for a place though, don't you?
And I think once you've gotten that feeling, it's hard to

(58:49):
forget it, right? They won't feel like if you
leave and. No they won't.
You know, I tell my staff all the time, so I've got these
shoes at work that I are, they're glitter that my, my
staff hate them because you can see through to my feet, right?
And my staff are like, why do you wear them?
It's like I need to be. They're remembered and you know
what if they visit a million venues, they're gonna remember
the girl with the see through shoes, right?

(59:10):
They can see her toes. Yes, and I'll be remembered.
That's. Great, I love it.
That's cool. I like that.
So I guess some key questions toask, what dates are available.
We went, we sort of went throughthat, the rental fee as well,
venues policies and restrictions, any hidden costs,

(59:30):
any noise restrictions. We didn't really speak about
that. Have you got noise restrictions
where you are just? Depending on where I put
entertainment outside, I need tohave them to a lower level
because I'm next across the roadfrom me, sorry, is residential.
Residential. But on the other side of me is
just full golf course. So if I have my entertainment
facing the golf course, it's nottoo bad, but if it's facing the

(59:52):
other way like it was on the weekend, I just had to get them
to lower it yeah. But most of them are fine with
that. They I understand it was also a
Sunday wedding so so it had to be loaded at 9:00.
We lowered it 10:00 it was stillpumping like they were having a
great time. It's a small.
Space. So it doesn't need to be super
loud. Yeah, but inside I've got full
soundproof walls. I've tested it to the Max for

(01:00:14):
the kids. Disco.
Those kids are ragers. Yeah, yes.
That's cool. I like that.
Yeah. And then obviously time
restrictions probably depend as well on nights that you can.
Yeah, different. Yeah, yeah.
All venues are going to be different with that, I think.
They are. That's right.
I don't see any that was sort ofgoing into the 1:00 or 2:00 in
the morning unless I guess you're paying massive fees for a

(01:00:37):
certain. So many fees if you're going
over there, liquor licencing times as well.
Yeah, Yeah, that's right. And so I guess we want to say
when choosing A venue that you should trust your instincts on
the venue. Ultimately, choose a venue that
feels right for you and your partner.
Yep. And it should be a place where
you can envision spending your special day.
You don't need to compromise. There are plenty of venues out

(01:01:00):
there. Meet your coordinator, make feel
comfortable. Love the venue.
Yep. Definitely love, love the venue
that you go to. Is it is it for you?
Is it the one for you? Because like say yes to the
dress, say yes to the venue, yesright.
And do you have anything else Chelsea like that?

(01:01:20):
You think that? Anyone should know or have we
covered it all today? Well, enough of it to be
somewhat helpful to our listeners.
I think we've, I think you've covered enough for starter pack,
I guess, yes, yeah. Right, sure.
That's all we need. Yeah, We don't want to overload.
No, no, no. Maybe we can come back on
another episode and do the nittygritty right.

(01:01:42):
Yeah, yeah, we'll get Chelsea back for that one.
Yeah, 5 fast questions, this awesome segment.
Yes, so we have one from Jennifer.
I want to put some personalised items and toiletries in a basket
left in the bathrooms. Do venues allow things like
that? This is a cute idea.
Actually, yeah, it's really cute.

(01:02:04):
Depends, is is your bathroom foryour venue in your private
space, or is it also attached tothe full venue itself?
Like are you sharing the bathroom with other customers in
the venue? Yeah, you unless.
Sure. Happy for them to use that stuff
as well. Probably avoid it.
But there are venues that do allow this.
Yeah. Yeah, I think that's, that's a
nice little idea really. You know, even if you had some

(01:02:25):
little Jennifer and Mark or some.
Yes, yeah. Just things in there that I have
seen, ones where people have putlike a couple of bottles of.
Perfume and things like that, you know, just all like
deodorant, like spray deodorant just because if they're dancing
up a storm, yeah, Oh yeah, yeah,yeah or something for.

(01:02:45):
The feet. The feet always gets sore at
weddings, yes. Yeah, but don't buy them from
team because I did that. It was a disastrous.
And they was really cute shoes though I tried them on they they
wore shoes to. Remember.
Did you buy shoes from Temo's? Their wedding shoes were not
from Temo. They were her machine.

(01:03:05):
Oh. Interesting.
They were fun. You took photos of them.
They were fun. Actually, they were fun.
I wanted them to be different because I didn't want heels.
Yeah. Was it Steve that didn't love
them? Steve did not love for that.
I don't know. He still doesn't love them.
Didn't he love them because they're very sparkly?
It's very sparkly. He's like, they look like clown
shoes. That's what he said to me.

(01:03:26):
They look like lounges. But you know what?
I broke my ankle like last year,like earlier in the year, and I
was not wearing keels out the way.
That's fair. I mean, people get sore feet so
right and. Like you?
Yeah. They were good, Yeah.
OK. Corey has asked what happens if
the guests get too rowdy. You know what happened at at my

(01:03:47):
wedding? This is after Matt and I had
left true story this one. So after Matt and I left my
sister hi Claire and as well as Matt a couple of his cousins
decided that they would go skinny dipping in SeaWorld stop.
So they went thank goodness. You know, Matt and I had and our

(01:04:11):
room. Yeah.
Heard all about all the shenanigans later on.
They had to get kicked out by the security guards, you know?
So what happens when things likethat happen then?
I mean, they're not damaging property, but what happens if
the guests just start getting quite rowdy and start, you know,
stripping in that case? I mean, you have a dam there.

(01:04:33):
Really. OK, so some so some people had
gone skinny dipping in the dam, what I guess would be a protocol
for something like that. No one's ever done that before.
You give me the trick questions here.
Maybe we should start it. Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, it's like, are they getting
too rowdy? Like, is Eagle Rock on?
Like, because that can get rowdy.

(01:04:53):
Like it can get a common song later on.
That's, I don't know if that's an Australian thing, but it that
that song, is it Australian? I don't wonder if it is.
So for those men, every wedding plays Eagle Rock and every every
wedding has the men with their pants at their ankles.
Yeah. Usually the groomsman.
As long as they're wearing some sort of underwear most of them

(01:05:14):
are wearing, that's OK. Underwear.
Yeah, especially. If they got funny boxes.
We had recent the other week andthey all had budgies, budgie
smugglers on right like the brand budget brand, so they're
all nice. Nice they did yeah, OK, got it.
It was like nice pair so but if they get too rowdy, he's
starting to drink too much. He just.

(01:05:35):
Have you ever had to call the police for any kind of?
I haven't. I haven't had to call the police
for a fight. I've had to call the police
because there was an argument between two groomsmen.
OK and fist done throwing. I love a bodyguard like I'm I'm

(01:05:55):
getting in that like. You.
Have a bodyguard. Call the police.
I've had to kick someone out of the I've had to kick someone out
of the wedding before because they swore and they were
drinking after I told them no and they swung right in the
middle of the first dance. That was a fun one.
And then Auntie's defending he can drink.
Well, no, he can't because I just said no.

(01:06:16):
Yeah, because because there are rules and regulations that you
have to go by for responsible service of alcohol.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. And you know, and nobody wants
their wedding day ruined by. By.
Drunk though yeah, a lot of times Cousin Peter catch them
before they start to get that point and you're playing I know
you can drink this glass of water the fastest like you get
to roll them up there it's more of a game but as.

(01:06:38):
Soon as it's a good idea. Yeah, that's how I do it,
because I'm trying to have a glass of water.
Yeah, so fine. But I've never really.
Yeah, nothing's never been too bad.
OK. Well, that's good.
That's all right. Yeah, Daniel asked what do I do
if the venue closes down? I guess this happened a fair bit
during COVID, didn't that? I do recall quite a few venues
had to close down and so those people that had.
Booked for after COVID, I guess.Yeah, that's devastating for

(01:07:02):
them. It is devastating.
I'm not sure that there is, to be honest.
I'm not sure if there is much they can do because a lot of
those venues are going to go into receivership probably and
unfortunately you're going to beon that list.
Because we have some waiting insurance.
Insurance, yes. Insurance, yeah, because we've
actually had a couple of venues burned down, like not this one,

(01:07:24):
but a couple we had this. Is that from the candles?
So what we're talking about Valley burnt down, Lush.
Yes, the Lush city. So we actually had a couple of
them burned down, which is a shame because they were actually
both really beautiful. Really.
I've done the venues, so that's a shame.
But yeah, unfortunately, I thinkthat's a really good case for
wedding insurance. Renee asked a funny question.

(01:07:48):
She said we are palaeontologists, can we ask the
venue to have dinosaur themed Nuggets for the kids?
And my answer is yes, you shoulddefinitely ask the vet.
Do that, yeah. Come on, if you can't.
I mean, it's for the kids. It's for the kids.
Everyone should have dinosaur themed Nuggets.
Yeah, I'll eat. I honestly don't think it should

(01:08:12):
just be for the kids. It should be the entree.
I should be the entree. I've had a bridal table request
Nuggets before, so they've all had their own chase.
They saw the kids meals come out.
They're like, can we Nuggets? I'm like, yeah, let's do it.
Yeah, definitely. That's great.
Because people just want some fried food when they're, that's
right, they've had a few to drink, it makes them happy.
Yeah, that's it. Yeah.

(01:08:33):
Rosie asked. What if my partner and I can't
decide on a venue? I think this happens a fair bit
because, you know, he might think, be thinking that he's
more than happy to go to the Golf Club where he spends all of
his time and she's got on her mind that she's going to the
castle in Italy, so. I think you need to sit down and
write the pros and cons, but youneed to do it together.

(01:08:54):
Yeah, Yep. Like, you need to really sit
down and look at both of those venues, their inclusions, your
budget and how much you want to spend and really make a decision
together because ultimately you don't pick one, you know, don't
give in if it's so strong. But you've got to prove your
case. Prove your case.

(01:09:15):
I mean, I would always win. I did win happy.
Yeah, I won two actually. Well done girls, I know you.
Did well, but I mean it's probably important if if you
both feel very strongly about itto maybe pick 1/3 option.
So true. I guess neither of you have won,

(01:09:36):
but neither have lost then. Yeah, and maybe you'll find a
venue that actually maybe look at what the things are that make
you want to be at that venue. Like, look at what exactly?
OK, well, why do you want that? This reason, this reason, this
reason? Why do you want this one, this
reason? And find a venue that has all of
those things. That's right.
I mean, he might be a big drinker and she might want her

(01:09:57):
castle in Italy. Well, what about a winery?
The wineries still have the sandstone look and they still
have the alcohol they do. So, you know, maybe you can find
some common ground. That's right.
Yeah. So there you go, Rosie.
That's what we have. Oh, I.
Think we've had a good episode. I think so.
But for coming in today, Chelsea, thanks for having me,

(01:10:19):
Chelsea. It's good to be here.
I do think we are going to have to go a little bit more in depth
in the future with your news. We might have to come back to
you. Yeah.
Cool. Yeah, let's do that.
Yeah, but I could do a filmed episode.
I could take you around. I don't know.
I have the face for radio. So, but definitely it's been

(01:10:39):
great and I think you've offeredsome really helpful information.
Yeah, definitely. I think, I think our listeners
will be very appreciative. I think so too.
So thank you Chelsea and we willcatch you on the next one next
episode. Screw it, let's elope now.
We have discussed budgets. We thought at the perfect time

(01:11:00):
to talk about what to do if you don't want to spend the big
bucks on a wedding. We will have Ramana from Elope
Brisbane in here to help us learn more about tying the knot
in elopement style. That's all for today.
Thank you for joining us for thebridal brief.
If you want to hear more, don't forget to click follow on our
podcast. Please send us any questions you
need answered or contact us directly at the

(01:11:20):
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