THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL
By Jacqueline Foy
While every decision you make plays a part in shaping your big day, some make a bigger impact than others.
Choosing your venue wisely is imperative to the end-result aesthetic and overall feel of your wedding day. Here, Melbourne Wedding & Bride’s Jacqueline Foy sits down with Jemma Hind, Event Scientist at The Trawool Estate, to explore how choosing an all-encompassing venue can help you create a beautiful, personal narrative for your day while taking the stress out of the planning process.
PICTURE PERFECT
As a place to host your entire wedding, The Trawool Estate caters for everything, from accommodation for the night before, to the after party and first night of your honeymoon. “Everything is on-site, once your guests arrive, they don’t need to move about the countryside to other locations for the wedding day,” Hind explains. At The Trawool Estate, each area offers a different aesthetic. This means there is something for everyone. It also means that a couple can create a unique storyline for their wedding as guests traverse between different areas on the estate – it can feel like a journey without ever having to leave the property!
Each location has its own ‘wow’ factor; the Terrace outdoor amphitheatre is nestled in the native bush where you’ll often hear kookaburras or magpies during ceremonies and occasionally see some kangaroos. The Herb Garden Pizzeria sits alongside the Great Victorian Rail Trail. It’s a relaxed space for your guests to mingle and have pre-dinner drinks whilst you have your photos taken, and “[it] is a great next-day recovery lunch location,” Hind adds. You and your guests can then move through the spaces to the Wild Water restaurant, overlooking the stunning Trawool Valley with its mountains and turbines in the distance. The different locations, all uniquely gorgeous, provide a way to curate your special day in the way you’ve always imagined it. “It takes a lot of stress out of the planning process if everything is in one location,” Hind says. “Once the guests are on-site, they don’t need to leave until checkout the next day,” she adds.
STAY A WHILE
Alongside adding a touch of luxury and extending your celebration, having accommodation at your wedding venue for you and all your guests can further ease the stress of the day. “The last thing you want to do is travel great distances in the morning,” Hind says, explaining that being able to take it slowly on the morning of or share breakfast with guests or your wedding party prior to the ceremony, can make the day a bit more relaxed.
Staying the night to continue the festivities into the next day is also great fun for you and your guests alike. It takes care of guests’ worries about getting home after the day’s revelries as they travel the short distance to the on-site accommodation. “You can party until all hours with your family and friends or catch up in the morning for a breakfast or recovery brunch, tell stories about what happened the night before, start sharing photos,” Hind says. Many couples struggle to greet everyone on the wedding day, so a morning-after debriefing offers a relaxed opportunity to chat with those you might have missed.
GIVE UP CONTROL
With in-house coordinators, venues like The Trawool Estate have the unique advantage of having an intimate knowledge of the intricacies and inner workings of their venue. Having existing relationships with the kitchen and front-of-house departments, alongside trusted vendors, Hind, and her team can take the stress out of planning and focus on building connections with couples to bring their dreams to life.
“We create a relationship with our couples and build a level of trust as we bring their wedding together,” Hind says. “On average, we spend twelve to eighteen months getting to know the couple and guiding them through the planning process,” she adds. The coordinator is available to help guide the couple in the lead-up to their wedding day, taking all the time they need to create the schedule and collate all the important information to make the day run smoothly. “We are there on the day to get [the couple] down the aisle, coordinate their movements and the movements of the other guests, liaise with vendors and oversee the set-up,” she says. The trust couples put into their coordinator is immense, but they can rest easy knowing they are acutely familiar with the ins and outs of the venue.
NOW TO BEGIN
Hind has a few words of advice for couples starting their wedding planning journey on where to begin. It may seem obvious, but it pays to do your research carefully before you visit venues. Think about what is included in the venue’s pricing, and what restrictions they may have. “Every venue will have some,” Hind says. For example, some Wedding venues are strict with what vendors you can use, which may be tough if you already have your heart set on another aspect of the day.
Before you start, Hind suggests thinking of your numbers and the style of wedding you’re after. Narrow down your favourites, then visit those places, but avoid looking at too many venues. “It starts to get very confusing trying to compare too many options,” she says. Nothing beats seeing a venue in person. “Try to picture the wedding there,” Hind says, and if you have the option to dine on-site, do it! Try the food, chat with staff, and start to build a relationship with the venue and the rest will fall into place.
Image courtesy of Mel Panteli Photography