Ceremony & reception details

hi ladies- having a hell of a time finding a venue!! i have a small guest list of about 20-25 people and it’s such a headache finding a beautiful venue because most have min. numbers… Anyone have any ideas of a Melbourne venue that would be suitable for a small wedding? Also any NON catholic chapel/churches in the Melbourne area? Thanks !

I hear you!!!!!!!!!!!! (i’m in Sydney though)

I have less than 5 months to go and I can’t find my “oh my god… that’s it!!!” venue.

A work collegue who was engaged after me and is getting married in over a years time has already found, booked and paid for their wedding/reception venue.

It’s driving me nuts!

what about at the registry? i havent seen the rooms but i know one of them is big enough for that many people…. go to births, deaths & marriages online. 

what about outside? st kilda botantical gardens are lovely. so are treasury gardens in the city.or the botantical gardens in south yarra…

i think scotts church in the city doesnt mind what demonination (sic) you are….or one of the churches on collins street.

try your favourite restaurant, many of them have private dining rooms. donovans at st kilda is lovely and i know they have one! nice view too.

keep us updated and i hope that helps!!!

Futuremrscooper – keep looking and think of out of the box places!! you will find it. i dotn know sydney so i cant suggest anywhere for you, sorry

Thanks for all the suggestions Lydsy… Being new to the area, I really had no idea of where to even start.. And Google kept bringing up the same things (which either a) don’t cater to such a small group or b) cost an arm and a leg) .. I didn’t really think about looking into gardens or parks… Also, at the very beginning we were planning on eloping, and just getting married at the Registry… Then I found out about the NOIM and the 1 month, 1 day waiting period (because I had been planning on getting married ASAP) and then when I had time to think about it I had a big girly meltdown and cried and cried and said I wanted a ‘real’ wedding… I threw my first wedding dress in the closet and I guess I forgot about the whole registry idea… And I just googled it and I didn’t realize it was at Old Treasury Building but i LOVE that building! Whenever we drive by it, I make H2B drive a little slower because I just think it’s so romantic in that old 19th century way.. Definitely going to revisit that idea… And futuremrscooper I’m sure you’ll find something.. Do you have any friends or family with beautiful houses? If we were getting married in the US, I would have done the whole thing at my best friend’s parent’s house. It’s gorgeous and they have a massive backyard, very pretty.. That’s always a very nice option… best of luck, i have my fingers crossed that you’ll find something soon

no worries PB! Treasury is such a beautiful building. My FH used to work at the Windsor Hotel, and I used to sit and watch the brides at Parliment and Treasury on saturdays when I used to wait for him to finish work.such a gorgeous area of melbourne!

be mindful of Melbourne’s weather when it comes to the gardens though.

I am fully behind a proper wedding, its the only time in a girls life she can wear a poofy white dress and get away with it! Embrace the bride!

Urgh, we are meeting with the celebrant and I have to get my mum to find my birth certificate and since I wasnt born in Australia I have to find my citizenship AND my change of name certificate, why cant they just accept my passport! gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Thanks ladies,

I’m now stuck on deciding on whether to elope to greece (I’ve already picked the spot) or inviting close family and friends to Heron Island.. Obviously I don’t want a big one and we’ve decided we don’t want Sydney… he doesn’t mind where we go which makes it soooo easy!!

Princessbride did you look into the Treasury buiding? do they do weddings?

There are lots of beautiful venue options for those kinds of numbers  in Melbourne-  I agree you could look into private dining rooms depending on what your budget is or sometimes venues have terraces for smaller numbers that look out onto the water or beautiful views or they can also make a room smaller with wall partitions.  There is for example lots of different places: Circa, The Graham, Sails on the bay, The Willows, Bluestone, Cafe Italia, Harbour Room, Comme, Observatory Building (Royal Botanical Gardens) etc etc etc there are also lots of wineries that do beautiful dining rooms such as Montalto. The options really are endless and I could go on……….

Also, when you say NON catholic do you mean no church at all? Because there are lots of other chapel and churches in Melbourne that you could have your ceremony at.

Hope that’s helped ;o)

Firstly- futuremrscooper the old treasury building is home to the births,deaths&marriages in addition to city museum as well as one other entity i can’t remember. the registry has 2 rooms to hold ceremonies: one that seats 8 and one that seats 55. While the building is gorgeous I’m not exactly thrilled with the rooms, very period furniture and such.. I’m pretty sure that’s where we’re going to have our ceremony.. for $250 it includes the celebrant so that’s actually a pretty big savings considering the lowest quote we got for a celebrant was $550.. i can’t thank you enough Lydsy for suggesting it!!! Also Katie- I was referring to just non-catholic.. my FH was previously married and therefore we can’t get married in a catholic church. I did look up quite a few churches/chapels in and around Melbourne but nothing seemed to fit my taste or my budget lol

I’m pretty sure we’ve decided on holding the ceremony at the Registry and our reception at Bluestone on Flinders Lane in the city. They’ve been absolutely amazing in terms of service and we had dinner there in september as a ‘test’ and it was phenomenal. If you’re ever looking for just a nice place to have dinner I highly recommend. But thanks again ladies for the tips and suggestions..

oh and fmrsc- i say go for greece!!! spend all the money you would have spent on a wedding and just have a fabulous gorgeous romantic wedding/honeymoon!!! i would so love to do that if i didn’t fear the wrath of my mother! haha

i cant believe you can get married for $250!! thats so awesome!!

I’m so glad I could help! I had a moment like yours recently (freaking out about cars) and I read a random post on a random wedding postboard and it fixed my problem! we’re all in this together!

that sounds like a plan PB! Things are finally falling into place for you! thats so awesome!

How About the Royce Hotel, 379 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, ph: 9677 9900  http://www.roycehotels.com.au  this place is gorgeous!!! looks amazing, you could have your reception area here so elegant….  by having your reception here you can choose a local chapel within the area as this place in located in the heart of Melbourne pretty much   Good Luck with your decision