A little excited, viewing our first venue this Saturday

[Deelight]

So far wedding planning has been a little up and down for me, but after a few misunderstandings and upsets with family things seem to be all cleared up and I am on the road to excitement - I think I have the worlds best most supportive FI ever - I love him.

I am reserving judgment until I see it but so far the venue has been the most professional and actually responsive to emails and calls so I take that as a good sign.


Now I guess I officially feel like a BIW LOL

venues website: http://www.sirromet.com/

 

[bee*]

It looks great! Enjoy viewing it on Saturday!!

 

[girlie-girl]

It looks lovely. I hope everything works out for you!

 

[Deelight]

Thanks guys

It is not exactly what I am after but I have come to the conclusion it just doesn''t exist here and I must move on, Oz land has a lack of castles and plantation manors .

Hopefully it has some promise.

 

[katebar]

Deelight Sirromet is a lovely venue and the food is divine. I''m sure your wedding will be spectacular there. Well done!

 

[emeraldlover1]

looks awesome.

 

[Deelight]

Thanks kate we haven't booked it yet we are still looking but I have heard the food is good, which is really important to the both of us amongst other things, I don't think it is perfect but I am not sure my idea of perfect exists here.

emeraldlover1 Thanks it is one of the nicer venues I have found and I have heard good things about it so here goes nothing LOL.

 

[DMBsGirl]

so pretty! good luck!!

 

[honey22]

YAY!!! Super exciting Dee! It will all feel real now! Keep us updated, can''t wait to see what you decide!!!

What happened to the other venue you liked, the one you thought was out of your price range? Did you check it out?

What are you thinking for honeymoon? Staying in OZ, or going OS? We were thinking of going OS, but our crappy dollar, we are thinking of going back to Hayman for 7 nights - poor me

 

[Deelight]

DMBsGirl Thanks

Honey The other venue when you add all the things and take out all the things I want (listed below) it is stupidly out of budget.

[*]no chair covers, hire chairs instead looking at $15+ per chair to about $30 a chair
[*]no alternate drop but a pre-planned menu sent out with invites where guests order what they like from 3 choices = extra $5 PP, and I didn't like how she was thinking of handling that, my idea was much better and more subdued.
[*]Add spirits to the beverage option spirits +$15 PP.
[*] They are upping prices $10PP due to popularity in 2010 *bleugh*
[*]NO DISCOUNTS, for a winter wedding - not a deal breaker but still considering everyone else does, I think this should be negotiable.
[*] I would be paying for stuff in their packages I don't want

Adds up to about $200+ PP which is WAY out of budget

.

Also when I called them they offered to email updated packages 2wks ago no contact as of yet, having worked in sales myself emails to customers went straight away at the very latest that same day.

I have come to the conclusion I am a picky bride, but when looking at the kind of money these events cost and how they charge over inflated prices ($40 for a kids happy meal type of meal

) I feel like I have somewhat a right to be (does that sound terrible).

Sorry for the monologue, FI and I are also possibly looking at hiring out a space and getting catering, and BYO options so we get what we want but I can't see a lot of places like that either.

ETA: for the honeymoon I am thinking 1 wk in the Whitsundays, a week in Phuket (your dollar goes fairly far I loved Bangkok but we didn't go down that way) and a week somewhere else at this stage.

Haymans would be amazing, the beaches

if you do decide to go OS though check flights here we saved so much on flights when we looked up prices there on our last trip.

 

[honey22]

Sheesh! How do they get bookings with restrictions and charges like that?! It was already getting up there in price, but that''s just crazy talk.

Where abouts are you planning on staying in the Whitsundays? I have only been to Hayman before, about 5 years ago. Wow, that place is just stunning. I don''t really have room to move though now, I am worried if we go somewhere else I will be disappointed. Phuket sounds amazing. Ultimately I would love to spend 7 nights in an Overwater bungalow in Bora Bora, but it would be about 10k for the 7 nights - yeah right, I happen to have 10k stuffed into my bra NOT!!

I will check out those flights but, just in case I win Powerball

 

[Deelight]

they just got voted best reception venue by ABIA so I guess they are getting greedy and cashing in, I agree their prices are already excey for what you get and that just popped it over the edge.

LOL aim for normal gold lotto 30mil jackpot on Jan 3rd if I win I am going on a long shopping spree holiday in NY . I have to agree 10k for 7days is insane, our RTW trip didn't cost much more then that and we were gone 7wks, granted we didn't stay in luxury accommodations.

I have never been anywhere up that way so I have no idea somewhere along the reef LOL, I do plan to get my scuba license though so I can go diving while we are there .

I have never been to Phuket but friends honeymooned there and they thought it was fantastic and loved it and I did talk to other couples while in Bangkok on their honeymoon who went to Phuket and loved it as well. In saying all that though Hayman would be AMAZING and really hard to beat I think for something like your honeymoon you definitely can't go wrong with Hayman.

I really just want to go on the honeymoon now and have proposed that we do a practice run to FI I just want to travel again LOL.

 

[Deelight]

A little update :

Went and viewed the venue today, and got some more information I have to say for a wedding venue the prices are reasonable - they are not cheap cheap but they aren''t OTT either which is a nice change. I think if we went with them we would go with a buffet (which I was totally against) due to insane amount of variety and the amount of seafood that is offered.

We had a chance to watch the on-goings of the restaurant upstairs before the coordinator came and from what I saw it looked like a well run ship, lots of staff all very attentive which probally easily sums up our limited experience with so far, they also seem very nice which is good as well.

We didn''t get to inspect the cellar room venue (which was a shame) as there was a wedding going on there at the time but we did get to peak through the glass and it looks to have a nice ambiance to it - a little bit of soul so to speak. But we did get a look at the ceremony sites (should we not opt for a church wedding) and one of the sites is really lovely, there are wallaby''s jumping around the grasses and it overlooks the water, both FI and I had the strands of Pachelbel''s canon running through our head as we walked down (which is what we would be playing for the bridal march) so that was kind of sweet.

Overall, so far considering we have only seen on venue LOL it is looking good, this the second venue so far that has informed me all of 2009 is booked up and people are starting to book for 2010

, feel like it is a time to get a move on.

I like a dill forgot my camera, I wish I remembered to take it D''OH

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Have a good time today!!

 

[bee*]

Sounds like it''s great!! When are you looking to book for?

 

[Deelight]

Thanks Sarah

Bee We are looking sometime in winter 2010 which is off-peak season for some strange reason QLD is beautiful in winter, I figured we had LOADS of time apparently not in the next couple of weeks we will look at some more venues in and around and see whats on offer.

 

[bee*]

Our venue was the same-we couldn''t get a Saturday unless we waited four years, a Friday would have been three years and we only got out Thursday as a cancellation! It''s crazy how quickly they book up!
Stupid question-is your winter our summer or is it actually November, December time?

 

[Deelight]

Four years for a Saturday night that''s crazy but having seeing pictures of the castle I can understand why it is beautiful.


Yup our winter is your summer (June, July, August), right now it is summer here and it is stinking hot - why people want to get married in 30 C++ heat is beyond me the humidity is a killer.

To give you an idea of the weather winter in Queensland is kind of like a European spring, possibly autumn I very rarely wear more then a light cardigan and can wear sandals all year long, it is a lovely time and the best time to visit.

 

[bee*]

Yeah that''s what I thought! Just had to check! Wow that would be perfect weather if it''s like spring over here (although probably not Ireland as it rains so much!). It was nice weather when we were in Perth in May and June. All of D''s family were saying how cold it was and we were out in our t-shirts!

 

[Deelight]

LOL sounds about right we all freak out at the first little sign of cold , this is why I tell people from the other side of the world to come then it is cheaper and still lovely weather, autumn and spring here is quite nice as well but summers are killers.

We do want a fairly formal affair so winter is still cold enough to dress up but warm enough that you can feel warm without a million layers and it is unlikely to rain as we get most of our storms in summer .

 

[bee*]

lol we''re well used to the cold over here! It''s freezing at the moment. It sounds like it would be perfect weather for a formal affair.

 

[Deelight]

You would have to be, I have done one European winter once and it was apparently a warmer one and it was still OMG cold.

Funnily enough talking to people tonight they were surprised we wanted a winter wedding as they think it will be too cold, silly funny people LOL.

 

[bee*]

Tell them to come over here and they''ll know what cold is

I have the heat on full power and am under the duvet studying and I''m still cold!

 

[Deelight]

Date: 12/14/2008 10:56:53 AM
Author: bee*
Tell them to come over here and they''ll know what cold is

I have the heat on full power and am under the duvet studying and I''m still cold!

Right now I am sitting barefoot on my concrete floor downstairs in a sleeveless shirt and jeans, during the day I wear shorts and a singlet.


LOL I should, we QLD''ers really don''t tolerate cold well in winter I usually chuck on another blanket over my wool doona but then again I am a nanna when it comes to the cold.

 

[bee*]

I hate you

I would kill to have some nice sun now!!! I have two jumpers and a cardigan thing on me now and a blanket covering me while I''m studying. Do you guys get a Christmas tree over there? All the random questions I think of when I''m studying!

 

[Deelight]

LOL thanks

Yup we do have Christmas trees but most people go with fake ones and decorate those. Christmas lunch/dinner is usually a little different to a traditional European fare (due to the heat) and tends to feature more cold dishes like seafood, ham, chicken, the odd turkey, BBQ''s, salads and fruit - loads of fruit like mangoes, cherries, peaches, nectarines tis the stone fruit season

.

A lot of Aussies also do a Christmas in July (25th of July

) so that they can have a traditional hot dinner with friends and family because our Chrissie''s are just way to hot.

 

[honey22]

Date: 12/14/2008 7:45:47 PM
Author: Deelight
LOL thanks

Yup we do have Christmas trees but most people go with fake ones and decorate those. Christmas lunch/dinner is usually a little different to a traditional European fare (due to the heat) and tends to feature more cold dishes like seafood, ham, chicken, the odd turkey, BBQ's, salads and fruit - loads of fruit like mangoes, cherries, peaches, nectarines tis the stone fruit season

.

A lot of Aussies also do a Christmas in July (25th of July

) so that they can have a traditional hot dinner with friends and family because our Chrissie's are just way to hot.

Or there are some stoopid Aussies (take a bow Honey) who do the full traditional christmas dinner in 40oc heat with the aircon blazing - imagine sweat running down your face in the kitchen making gravy kind of stuff. After lunch we all usually get out and play backyard cricket, get sunburt and drunk in the sun, then have to spend the afternoon sleeping. Only to wake up later and either do it all again at someone else's house, and munch on cold leftovers and drink more beer.

It's crazy, but we do like our turkey too! It's probably more common where I live, in the southern part of the country compared to Dee, who is much further north and therefore has a hotter climate.

We will be having a turkey this year - with an Aussie twist. I will be cooking it under the roasting hood of our new barbie and serving it with potatoes and lots of yummy cold salads. And instead of pudding, I will be making a summer cheesecake - yummy!!!!

ETA - forgot to add, there will definately be drinking too much in the sunshine and a Nanna Nap is a compulsory part of my christmas

 

[Deelight]

Date: 12/15/2008 1:26:47 AM
Author: honey22

Date: 12/14/2008 7:45:47 PM

Author: Deelight

LOL thanks

Yup we do have Christmas trees but most people go with fake ones and decorate those. Christmas lunch/dinner is usually a little different to a traditional European fare (due to the heat) and tends to feature more cold dishes like seafood, ham, chicken, the odd turkey, BBQ''s, salads and fruit - loads of fruit like mangoes, cherries, peaches, nectarines tis the stone fruit season

.


A lot of Aussies also do a Christmas in July (25th of July

) so that they can have a traditional hot dinner with friends and family because our Chrissie''s are just way to hot.

Or there are some stoopid Aussies (take a bow Honey) who do the full traditional christmas dinner in 40oc heat with the aircon blazing - imagine sweat running down your face in the kitchen making gravy kind of stuff. After lunch we all usually get out and play backyard cricket, get sunburt and drunk in the sun, then have to spend the afternoon sleeping. Only to wake up later and either do it all again at someone else''s house, and munch on cold leftovers and drink more beer.

It''s crazy, but we do like our turkey too! It''s probably more common where I live, in the southern part of the country compared to Dee, who is much further north and therefore has a hotter climate.


We will be having a turkey this year - with an Aussie twist. I will be cooking it under the roasting hood of our new barbie and serving it with potatoes and lots of yummy cold salads. And instead of pudding, I will be making a summer cheesecake - yummy!!!!


ETA - forgot to add, there will definately be drinking too much in the sunshine and a Nanna Nap is a compulsory part of my christmas

Honey I am coming to visit :0

Yes I forgot to add he afternoon nanna nap is definitely compulsory - I love a good nanna nap