The one year countdown to our Wedding!

Today is exactly 1 year (or 12 months or 365 days) to our wedding! And the countdown begins!

Our wedding blog launch today is to commemorate this special countdown. This blog took months of preparation and up till now, I still have not finished all the posts! There are still a few posts in draft mode which I need to get my hands round to finishing them up soon! Posts all updated now! Very happy! :)

But meantime, please enjoy having a read of all the completed posts so far. Start from the very first post at the bottom - the unofficial day start day of our plans on Sat, 3 Apr: Little John Memorial Chapel: A Sneak Peak. Keep going up by clicking on the post titles from the Blog Archive on the right.

Also check out the pages: About this blog, The Proposal and Wedding Details. I'll add photo albums as well soon on the wedding gown try-outs, reception venues, cakes, cars, expos etc. just for the visual people who can't be bother reading! :p Thank you for visiting our blog!

Brighton Savoy Bridal Expo

When we visited Brighton Savoy about a week ago, the sales rep. reminded us that they were having a Bridal Expo the following week. The expo, held on Sunday 17 July was at the hotel itself and was of a smaller scale. Of course it wasn't as big as the ones at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Though it was small, it also meant that we got to see other smaller scale wedding suppliers apart from the usual ones at the large expos. The expo was held at the Seaview room itself and spanned out to the open area leading to the Gala Room and Wellington Room.

Kat's Cakes and Formal Hire - the first few booths we saw	Tables were elegantly set up in a nice wedding theme
Beautiful table centre pieces were on display	A large diamond ring table centre piece
Bridal Diva - wedding gowns in plus size for the slightly more rounded figure	One of my favourites - Fancy a Macaroon Tower for a wedding cake?
Another beautiful table centre piece in a lovely decorated Wellington Room	Vintage bridal rental cars if you're into the old stuff for your wedding
View of the Wellington Room set up for a wedding - more for smaller number of guests like less than 80 or something

I also received a goodie bag with heaps of free brochures and two thick bridal magazines inside. A couple of them were more for brides in the Mornington Peninsula and so weren't too useful. But there was no harm in getting ideas from other regions.

We chatted to the guy about the Macaroon Tower and found out it was about $700 for that. Bought some home to try and they were really tasty - but not sure about spending that much for a "wedding cake". Brighton Savoy sales execs. were also around to give advice and help. I think the expo made it an inch closer to us making a decision on our reception venue.

Reception Viewing: Brighton Savoy

We started the beautiful Sunday with lunch at the Brighton Baths Cafe / Bar. James, our tennis mate/friend and pre-shoot wedding photographer first introduced us to the restaurant around March.

There was a set meal offer going on at that time with a 3-course meal for around $30 or $40, I can't quite remember. The restaurant was upstairs while the cafe / bar was downstairs with stunning views overlooking Brighton Beach.

The plan that day was just a relaxing lunch and to look at a reception venue - The Brighton Savoy, along the Esplanade, facing Brighton Beach. Prior to that I had already view photos of the venue online and was really blown away by the photos along the beach as well as the function room that was facing the beach.

Venue Name: The Brighton Savoy
Website: http://www.brightonsavoy.com.au/weddings/index.htm
Prices (2011): Sit-down dinner 5 hours from $106 pp
Package includes: Canapés, 3-course meal, table centre pieces and chair covers, cake-cutting and serving, 1-night accommodation and personal M.C or Hostess included.

View from the bar and coffee/tea room waiting area for guests.	Along the corridor from the reception area to the other function rooms.
The Seaview room - the function room that they recommended to us.	Darling was discussing something with the sales exec. I can't quite remember what it was.
Facing the beach - not so obvious now because of the sunlight.	From the Seaview room looking into the recption / lobby area.
The Seaview room opens up to a back garden and apparently they told us that it will hopefully be renovated in time for a more modern look and added gazebo.

After viewing Brighton Savoy, we pretty much had our minds set on it although we didn't quite like the min. requirement of 80 guests for that function room. Then again after some calculations, we realised we could probably make up that 80 guests if not more. :p But since we still have time, we just asked them to hold on the date for us for the time being.

Reception Viewing: The Westin, Hotel Windsor, Stamford Plaza, Elizabethan Lodge and Gown Try-outs: The Red Carpet

We started our second off day with another list of hotels to visit. These hotels were mostly in the city, except one that was in the suburbs of Blackburn. In total, we visited 4 reception venues and 1 bridal shop! Talk about jam packing a day's itinerary! But it was a fruitful one afterall since it helped us with the decision-making and I've got a pair of wedding shoes. :)

Venue Name: The Westin Melbourne
Website: http://www.westin.com.au/melbourne/wedding-venues-receptions.html
Prices (2011): Sit-down dinner - 1 hour canapés from $30 pp + 5 hours main course from $80 pp + 4 hours drinks from $38 pp or a packaged deal of $185 pp.
Package includes: Canapés, 3-course meal, table centre pieces and chair covers and 1-night accommodation.

The entrance / car porch area to the Westin	Inside of the Westin - Lobby / lounge area
View of the Westin Room III facing Melbourne's Swanston Street	View of the Westin Room III looking from the side of Swanston Street

Venue Name: Hotel Windsor
Website: http://www.thehotelwindsor.com.au/index.php?&GMPM_PAGES_PAGE_ID=wedding_planning
Prices (2011): Sit-down dinner 5 hours from $135 pp. Min. spend $10k in Grand Ballroom.
Package includes: Canapés, 3-course meal, personalised menu cards, chair covers and sash, red carpet entry, tea, coffee and chocolates and 1-night accommodation.

Entrance to Hotel Windsor	Hotel Windsor - lobby / lounge area
Entrance to the Grand Ballroom	Inside of the Grand Ballroom
Beautiful dom glass with chandeliers	Another view of the Grand Ballroom
The Bourke Room (before the Sep renovations)	Another view of The Bourke Room (Before renovations)

Venue Name: Stamford Plaza Hotel
Website: http://www.stamford.com.au/spm/page.asp?e_page=406895
Prices (2011): Sit-down dinner 5 hours from $128 pp
Package includes: Canapés, 3-course meal, table centre pieces, chair covers and sash and 1-night accommodation.

Stanford Plaza Hotel from across the street	Lobby area and view of the very high elevator
The function room (view 1)	The function room (view 2)

Venue Name: Elizabethan Lodge
Website: http://www.elizabethanlodge.com.au/weddings.htm
Prices (2011): Sit down dinner 5 hours from $121 pp
Package includes: Canapés, 3-course meal, table centre pieces, table place cards, chair covers and sash, 1-night accommodation and use if the Chapel if needed.

Entrance to Grand Heritage Room. Min 100 or more guests	Inside of the Grand Heritage Room all nicely decorated for a wedding
Grand Heritage Room (View 2)	The Windsor Room (Smaller guest size)
Beautiful garden at the back of the Windsor room	There's also a bridge and waterfall in the back garden
The Windsor room - another view. Usually used for conference and meetings as well.

The Red Carpet bridal also coincidentally had a sale going on that day. We didn't plan to visit the shop unless we had time after viewing all the reception venues. But lucky for us the reception viewing at Elizabethan Lodge wasn't until later in the afternoon and so we had time to head to Ashburton for awhile to check out the sale.

Bridal shop name: The Red Carpet
Branch: Ashburon
Website: http://www.theredcarpet.com.au/g/7040/home.html

2-piece peacock like gown. It was pretty obvious why I didn't take a liking to it :p

I did however score a bargain on wedding shoes. $85 down from around $139 I think

And that was it, the end to another long day of wedding preps. ;) Sucks having to go back to work again tomorrow but ah well, at least the week will be shorter.

Reception Viewings: Rydges @ Swanston, Vibe Savoy and Photography: Suede Imagery

Darling and I took 2 days off again this time to go around viewing reception venues. We had decided that we wanted it to be in a hotel, or at least a place that provides accommodation since we'll both probably be drinking that night and so will all our bridemaids and groomsmen. And we certainly don't want to get caught for drink driving that night. :p And so I made a few enquiries and after selecting some of the hotels and we visited two of them today.

Venue name: Rydges on Swanston
Website: http://www.rydges.com/hotel/RVCARL/Rydges-On-Swanston-Melbourne/location.htm
Prices (2011): Sit down dinner - 4 hours $79 p/h or 5 hours $99 p/h.

Package includes: Canapés, 3-course meal, coffee and tea, chair and table covers and a 1-night accommodation in a spa suite for the couple.

View from the outside.	The restaurant area.
Lamb & rosemary sauce.	Seafood Paella.
The function room they recommended which can spread out for morre space.	Other side of the function room which is L-shaped.
The upper deck where the swimming pool is and where canapés will be served to guests on arrival. Couples can also hold their ceremony at the far top right where the waterfall is if they want to.

Venue name: Vibe Savoy Melbourne

Website: http://www.vibehotels.com.au/default.asp?page=/weddings-events/weddings-at-vibe/vibe-savoy-hotel-melbourne
Prices (2011): Cocktail - from $42 p/h, Sit down dinner - from $65 p/h, 3-hour drinks from $38 p/h.

Package includes: Complimentary menu tasting, Canapés, 3-Course meal, floral arrangement for bridal table, scatter petals, table centre pieces and candles and 1-night accommodation.

Vibe Savoy Hotel from across the road.	Smaller banquet room more for cocktails.
The upper landing area leading to the ballroom and function room - also where guests will be served Canapés.	Bright lobby area with a touch of modern and futuristic feel. Also had a big banner advertising wedding packages.
The ballroom the Sales Rep. showed to us with beautiful Chandeliers hanging from above and large mirror doors from ceiling down. She was explaining that the doors at the far end can be opened for a slightly larger space.

We also had an appointment with another photography studio called Suede Imagery. Though we sort of already made a decision on LePortrait Studio, we thought there was no harm in just paying a visit to another studio just to gather more ideas and pricing. The photographer Tim Marcus had just returned from overseas and showed us his latest portfolio from Bali.

For some reason, darling and I both didn't feel comfortable with him and though his photos were somewhat artistic and beautiful, they didn't really capture our eyes. Then there was the pricing as well. Whatever quote he had was almost double the price(as compared to LePortrait) if we wanted to have an album made as well. And thus it was pretty much a strike-off from our list.

All in all, it was a pretty fruitful day and we were kinda edging towards Vibe Savoy as compared to Rydges @ Swanston for the reception. But those were only the first few reception places we had visited and so we weren't gonna make a choice so quickly yet. More still to come tomorrow.