It’s been just over six months since we got engaged, and we’re finally starting to look at venues for our upcoming wedding in 2016. If it’s in Melbourne, it will need to be sometime in the first half of 2016, and if it’s in Southern California, it will need to be between May-August of 2016. Most venues tend to book out one year in advance, so if we decide on Melbourne, we will need to lock down our venue fairly soon. The stressful part about this is that our days are severely numbered here, and if worse comes to worse, we will need to have a proxy (most likely in the form of one of Chris’s parents or aunt and uncle) to visit places for us and send us numerous photos at many angles so we can decide if a place is fitting for us. I’ve just started booking appointments for site inspections and to discuss ideas with wedding coordinators at venues in the Mornington Peninsula and Dandenongs.

What is interesting so far in this research phase is that not all of the venues I’ve looked at require that you use their internal food services; if you wanted to hire outside catering, a number of places are accommodating around this. The prices also seem a bit lower than what I have seen back home, especially when you factor in that these prices are inclusive of tax and gratuity, and even more so when we consider that the U.S. dollar is very strong in Australia now.

I’m not sure if this means we should be adding in more things that I’ve dreamed of for our wedding or just sticking with what is basic. Now I feel conflicted and need to think more about what I want for us thematically. An ice cream truck sounds amazing, but so does a large table with a decorated dessert buffet, and a chocolate fountain, and a themed and colorful candy table. Needless to say, our guests will not leave feeling like they didn’t get their fill of food and dessert.