Ceremony Location and Flowers

We had our second meeting with Neil from Casa Blanca Function Centre, here we organised a rough idea of the room setup and even organised our centrepieces. They are absolutely gorgeous! We are allowed to have artificial plants in the room, so we are hoping to find some really beautiful ones to help bring some greenery to the night.

We have also organised our ceremony location, and confirmed our ceremony time. We started looking through the book Oriel has given us to assist with our ceremony wording last night, there are so many options to look through! Not to mention I still want to work in a personalised passage. Just got to keep remembering that there is still time, and there is no need to stress.

To top it all off we have booked Special Occasions to do our bouquets, with the below inspiration to make 2 beautiful flower arrangements.

Singapore Orchids Teardrop Bouquet
Source: QFlowers

Purple, magenta and plum hues bouquet
Source:  Karen Tran Florals

Blue orchids
Source: HDPaperWall

Next on the agenda: Catering, cake, wedding rings, and the groom's suit.

It Comes Together

After much time between getting planning stages and indecision, it is finally starting to come together.

On the 24th of August we booked the Casa Blanca Function Centre as our reception venue. We chose the intermediate wedding package offered, and due to the amount of people we are inviting the venue operators are throwing some extras from the higher end package into the setup.

In the last 6 months we have looked into many photographers, some that didn't fit in our price bracket, and some that didn't offer what we were looking for.
Recently, through some asking around, we found Kirsty-Anne Purcell Photography who is just starting out in the wedding scene. We have booked our engagement shoot with Kirsty-Anne, as with our wedding, and very much look forward to working with her to create captured memories of this important event in our lives.

Bride and Groom Portrait
Photographer: Kirsty-Anne Purcell Photography

To top it all off we will be visiting some bridal studios in the next couple of weeks, here we will have a look at bridal attire for myself (the bride), the bridesmaid, and different suit styles for the men.

Also, keep your eyes peeled on your email inbox and social network inbox in the next week, you may just find a little something for you within.

Choosing a Venue

Since the post in February, we have viewed two venues and looked at the possibility of getting married overseas. The overseas option we aren't too fond of, due to already having such a small amount of people on our guest list and not wanting to miss out the opportunity of having those people attend. Due to this we narrowed down the selections in town and booked some viewings, see the breakdown of the two venues below.

Geraldton Surf Life Saving Club Function Centre
Contact Ph: 08 9921 3403

The hire of the Surf Club includes full use of upstairs function room, upstairs kitchen, upstairs toilet facilities, outdoor balcony area, downstairs toilet facilities, lift and inventory items of the function centre. It is located off of Willcock Drive in Mahomets, Geraldton, has the beach just past the balcony and has a fantastic view in the evening.

The atmosphere of the venue is nice, and the kitchen facilities are great. All set up and set down are all up to the person hiring the venue, and all tablecloths, chair covers, and any other decoration assortments are not provided by the function centre. The cost for the function centre is reasonable, though the added cost of the hire and help for setting up makes up for the difference.

Casa Blanca Function Centre
Contact Ph: 08 9964 2472

The minimum wedding hire of the Casa Blanca Function Centre includes hall hire, wishing well, tablecloths, half chair covers & bows, ceiling decorations (not incl. fairy lights), use of kitchen - heating facilities, hall & table set-up, and basic inventory. It is located on Eighth Street in Wonthella, Geraldton, has a beautiful entrance and a bar facility available.

The atmosphere of the function centre is cozy, and the couple who runs the centre are pleasant and easy to get along with. Depending on which wedding package you choose, you can also have access to a D.J. and full pack down of the venue would be done by the venue operators. The cost for the function centre is reasonable, considering they do the hard work required on the day.

Conclusion

Ricky and I are both fond on the Casa Blanca Function Centre at this point in time, we will give it some thought, though I think it may be our choice of venue.

Now just to decide what we are going to do with our ceremony, and send out save the dates...

Midwest RFD Bridal Expo 2012: Vendors

On the weekend just past, Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th of May, the Midwest Royal Flying Doctors (RFD) Bridal Expo was held at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Geraldton. I was only available to go on the Saturday, having missed the fashion show due to the rain and lack of cash in the wallet for entry, one of my bridesmaids and I looked around at what stalls were there.

There were many stalls, and many vendors showing their work off in such a way that I don't think I will forget them easily. There were some stalls we didn't get to see due to lack of time and that we didn't realise they were positioned outside of the hall until closing time.

A list of vendors for the Geraldton and Midwest area that were advertised at the Midwest RFD Bridal Expo include the following, I have also added in vendors I have found during the last few months:

DJ
Sound Trax Mobile Music FB
Midwest Entertainments FB

Beauty
Hannah Clarke Make Up Artistry FB
Just You and Me Beauty Therapy FB
Geraldton Skin Technology FB
Hot Locs Hair Body and Soul FB
Sarah Battilana Makeup Service FB
Everlasting Splendour FB

Photography
T and A Lifestyle Photography FB
Geraldton OMG Photography - Robbie Merritt FB
Wheatbelt Photography FB
Angela Higgins FB
Dave and Charlotte Lifestyle Photographers
Lace Weddings FB
Shaun Rose Photography FB
Karl Monaghan Photography FB
Clare Day Photographic Design FB

Videography
Everafter Productions FB
Urban Light Films FB

Celebrant
Oriel Clarke Contact - (08) 9923 2725
Peta Shepherd FB

Catering
Smart Mart: Go! Fresh Cafe: Shell Wonthella - (08) 9921 1290
Oasis Deli
Dalgleish Catering FB

Small Catering (e.g. Hen's Night, Buck's Night, Rehearsal Dinner)
The Provincial FB

Transport
Victoria Grove Carriages - 0427 195 735
Limbusine

Dresses
Alternate Art Clothing & Design FB
Wedding Dress Express FB
Australian Designer Bridal and Formal FB
Lily Wedding

Jewellery
Flights of Fancy - Artistic Designs FB MadeIt Etsy
Leon Baker Jewellers FB

Bridal Alterations & Accessories
Jewel Designs (Perth)

Florist
Flowers in Love FB
Just Fake It Bouquets - Bridal Flowers FB

Cakes
Clares Cakes FB
Sarah Moon Cakes FB
The Cupcake Chick FB

Private Venues
Casa Blanca Function Centre - 9964 2472 or 9921 1346
Nukara Farm FB
Geraldton Golf Club FB
POSH Events and Functions
Towns Football Club
Geraldton Surf Lifesaving Club
Batavia Hall - Geraldton Grammar School

City of Geraldton Venues
Queen Elizabeth II Centre
Queens Park Theatre
Aquarena

Wedding Planners
Tinkerbell Weddings
Serendipity Weddings FB

Supplies
Geraldton Party Hire
Nancy Louise - Speciality Papers and Invitations FB
Lace Weddings FB

Websites
Modern Wedding FB
The Knot
Loverly FB
Bridal Discount Book FB
Wedding Concepts

If you have any vendors that operate and cater to the Midwest region, please post them in the comments for future brides and planners. I have many more vendors but they are based online and mostly design/make dresses. For a more in depth list of venues contact your celebrant, they have lists of ideas available.