It’s Time for the Two Toughest Decisions

Hunting for a venue can be a daunting task. It is at the top of the wedding planning list and if you are a list girl like me, it can make you feel as if nothing else can be done prior to this monumental task.

Having a strong vision of our day helped Lewie and I narrow down the many fantastic choices Sydney has to offer. Being Sydneysiders, we are spoiled for choice: there is such an incredible range of venues for every budget and guest list size. Without having any idea of what we were after, I can only imagine we would have been lost in a sea of beautiful venues.

Having attended a fair few weddings in recent years, we had a pretty good idea of the venues that interested us. Seeing them set up for an event helped us hugely in seeing whether they were right for us and helped us quickly and easily narrow down our list of potentials. If you can, narrow down your list to no more than five venues that you absolutely love and contact them for further information. Going to any more can become extremely confusing and you may end up losing sight of what you really love.

Many venues now have open days where they are set up as they would be on your big day – if you can, get along to these because they are so helpful in really getting an idea of the space along with seeing the specifics such as the standard chair, table shape, linen etc. It also allows you to suss out whether the venue meets your décor requirements or whether you will really need to dress it up yourself.

This leads me to my next confusing wedding planning matter: To bring in the professionals or go it alone?

This has been the most confusing part for me! When imagining our wedding day I always believed I would put it all together myself. With a strong vision of the aesthetic and plenty of suppliers in mind I never even considered the need for a coordinator. It was only when I began to think (post engagement party) of the logistics that I realised that it would NOT be ideal for me to be collecting jars, vases, candles etc throughout the planning process to then delegate on the wedding day to unsuspecting family members all the while wishing I was doing it myself (I can be, well, particular).

I discussed this with many different parties; my mum, my dad, Lewie, my girlfriends. All parties agreed that I could do it on my own due to my love of weddings, planning and organisation but everyone agreed that taking the stress out of the day really is key in ensuring the wedding day runs smoothly.

Will you hire a wedding coordinator or go it alone and delegate on the day?

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