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This month our two brides take us through the adventure .jpg) that is finding the perfect wedding venue!
Sarah Edwards is the winner of our Diary of Bride competition - she's a Wellingtonian nzgirl who is planning on getting married next March. Our other bride is Lauren Andrews, co-creator and owner of the recently launched wedding planning website, theBIGstep.co.nz. With Lauren as an insider in the wedding industry and Sarah as the typical nzgirl, we thought it would be awesome to show you the two different sides behind wedding preparation!____________________________________________________________
 Sarah
We had now decided to get married. The main idea we had come up with was an outdoorsy casual wedding in March. The first place to start was the venue. There are heaps of amazing places to get married in Wellington. Most of the good ones I ruled out as I grew up in Wellington and went to a number of school balls at some of these wedding venues. The last place you want to have your wedding is the same place you (dare I say it), pashed your high school boyfriend. Next choice was in the Wairarapa.
My parents have a beach house on the coast of Wairarapa at a place called Tora. It is a beautiful spot on a good day, but on a bad day it is so windy that last year their water tank blew away. I have seen many of my friends coming up to their wedding day stressing about the weather but also worrying about hurricane winds could possibly tip me over the edge.
We asked some friends from the Wairarapa if they knew of any good places and they highly recommended Pounui Homestead. There is a sweeping driveway that is fully surrounded by trees and beautiful grounds where you could have your wedding ceremony. You hire the place for the whole weekend and get use of the grounds, a homestead that sleeps 15 and a barn where you have your reception. An extra bonus is that all your friends can camp in an orchard.
Even though it was raining we were sold. However when we left we drove 20 minutes in the wrong direction so then had to back track and by the time we had got home my father had decided it was too far out and people would never find the venue. But it was too late Dave and I loved the place. It was so casual and it would be a weekend wedding rather than just one day. So Dad was overruled. We had to decide on dates and as Dave’s birthday is on the March 17 and mine is on the 26, we went for the Saturday in the middle - March 21 and we booked the venue. It was the only venue we had visited; I think you can over think things so we just jumped in. Deposit paid and we now have a date! The major thing I would say is don’t solely rely on the internet. Ask around as some times really cool places don’t show up by using internet searches. So, the next round of things to organise is a caterer, a company to hire equipment from, photographer and of course the wedding dress. At the moment I feel really happy with how our planning is going and am hoping to stick to the “if you like it book it way of thinking”.
 Lauren
At first, Reece and I had somewhat different opinions on where we wanted to get married. I always imagined getting married outside of Wellington; while Reece made the point that it would be much easier for everyone if we got married in the city. Nevertheless, we both were pretty flexible and open to all sorts of places and settings.
We started our search on the Internet, scrolling through possible venues in Wellington, The Marlborough Sounds and Martinborough, Wairarapa. We couldn’t find anything in the Marlborough Sounds that would suit our numbers, nor could we find a venue in Martinborough that was what we wanted. Then, one night, I was speaking to my cousin, who is also one of my bridesmaids. She asked if we had looked at a place in Riversdale where one of our friends got married last year. Reece and I hadn’t even thought of it, but as soon as she mentioned it, we both just looked at each other and secretly knew it would be the perfect place! Riversdale is a small beach town in the Wairarapa, where Reece and I both spent time holidaying with our families as kids. Although Reece and I didn’t know each other back then, I’m sure we probably passed each other while sunning ourselves on the beach, running around wearing our hyper colour t-shirts or driving our friends’ quad bikes (with no helmets or shoes of course) trying to look cool. I know…it sounds like a tragic LMP ad! Reece and I booked the venue – Orui Homestead – for a Friday, so that everyone has the option to spend the weekend relaxing, playing golf, going to the beach, playing tennis or batch-hopping visiting friends. There are no hotels or motels in Riversdale, so guest accommodation is restricted to a selection of batches. It shouldn’t be a problem, as 90% of the houses in Riversdale are beach houses. Orui Homestead and Garden is the perfect venue and location for a marquee wedding. With a pretty little olive grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean, it's the perfect backdrop for our big day. It is a dry hire, so we have to organise everything from scratch…not everyone’s cup of tea, but we’re up for the challenge! Check it out: www.cobwebscottage.co.nz. I always thought we’d get married in a church, but because of our numbers, there is no place in the area big enough to fit all of our wedding guests. So we have decided to have both the ceremony and reception at Orui. The next big hurdle is our guest list, but that’s another Blog all together! Our families are happy with our choice of venue, and our friends are looking forward to a weekend away – a chance to take a mini holiday with everyone, from all over New Zealand and overseas, to celebrate our big day. I love having a big family and a large group of friends. The problem however is that we can’t invite everyone. Our parents also have long guest 'wish' lists. So if Reece and I have to make some tough calls, our parents will have to do the same. At the moment, we’re not ready to allocate our guests to tables. So instead, we are using the ‘Table’ function through theBIGstep.co.nz's Guestlist Manager Tool, to sort our guests into different groups, such as Reece’s Family, Lauren’s Family, Reece and Lauren’s Friends, Reece’s Family Friends, List B etc. It’s a very handy insider’s tip! (131).jpg) |
