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The 2019 wedding season is off to a great start, and we’ve seen quite a few noteworthy trends to watch. We find it interesting how each wedding season seems to carry its own unique styles and ways of doing things, and it appears 2019’s wedding trends will not disappoint.

Here are the top wedding trends we think are worth watching because of just how popular they seem to be.

1. First Look and First Private Photos

Traditionally it was considered taboo for the bride and groom to see each other before the ceremony. Today, however, many couples seem to think differently and are choosing to deliberately share a private moment before exchanging their ‘I do’s’. This first look trend is also a great opportunity to get some quick portrait snaps taken by your photographer.

2. Spruced Up Wedding Favours

Gone are the days of gifting your guests a boxed piece of cake as a wedding favour. Couples are getting creative and choosing rather interesting things to include inside their wedding favours. We’ve seen everything from natural soaps, to puzzles, and miniature alcoholic beverages handed out to guests. If you really want your guests to feel valued, there is nothing like personalized and unique wedding favour to do the trick. It’s not a bad idea to include a hand-written ‘Thank you’ note as well.

3. Eco-Friendly Weddings

Are you a big fan of the environment, or just worried about the environmental impact of your wedding? We’ve seen an increase over the years in couples who are big on making sure that their weddings have as little impact on the environment as possible, and for this reason are choosing ‘greener’ options for their big day. Practically this might mean using biodegradable plates and cutlery, wedding invitations made from recycled paper, and organic décor. Most wedding reception venues are stepping up to accommodate these admirable values.

4. Non-Traditional Food Stations

Not a fan of traditional sit-down wedding meals? Don’t worry you’re not alone. There’s been an upsurge in couples daring to choose non-traditional food options for their weddings. This is especially true for couples who aren’t interested in footing the enormous food bill that’s generally associated with traditional buffet-style or sit-down wedding meals.

5. Destination Weddings

When people hear ‘destination wedding’ they automatically think of an overseas affair. However, couples are re-defining the term and choosing local, exotic, out-of-the-way places for their big day. For this reason, we’ve seen couples who choose to travel out-of-state for their wedding and come host their weddings in our prestigious The Victorian in Sydney.

Discuss These Trends and More While You Tour Clarence House

Clarence House boasts two world-class wedding reception venues Sydney worth touring. If you’re in the hunt for a wedding venue, book an appointment with us today. You can call us and talk to one of our friendly staff members on (02) 9750 3555 or (02) 9789 1662 or send us an email at admin@clarencehouse.com.au

Booking a wedding venue sets it in stone that you’re finally going to walk down the aisle. It gets the ball rolling towards your big day, so it’s kind of a big deal. However, here are a few dos and don’ts of booking a wedding reception venue we think you need to know.

Do Read Everything in Your Contract

Do Visit and Tour as Many Places as You Can

Do Inquire About Off-Season and Weekday Pricing Structures

Don’t Take Too Long Before You Book Your Dream Venue

Don’t Try and Do Everything by Yourself

Don’t Settle for Less-Than-Perfect Venues Because They’re Cheap

Do Contact Us

Weddings cost a pretty penny, it’s no secret. And if you have several hundred guests, things can get quite expensive very fast. So how can you keep everyone on your guest list, while still throwing the wedding of your dreams? We’ve put together a list of cost-cutting tips which can help you save major cash. Thank us later!

1.    Have one venue for ceremony and reception

Thinking of having a church wedding and then going somewhere else for your reception? Keep costs down by having one venue for both your ceremony and reception. Many wedding reception venues are more than happy to accommodate you. Ask to see the rooms available for these events. You can have an indoor ceremony and then a garden reception – a win/win if you ask us.

2.    Get married during the week!

Looking to do something out-of-the-usual? Why not get married during the week? Yes, it might be inconvenient for several of your guests, but your pocket is going to thank you for it. Off-day weddings are generally much cheaper than traditional weekend weddings. Because nine out of ten people want a weekend wedding and there being only 52 Saturdays and Sundays in a year, that drives venue prices way up.

3.    Skip the traditional meal and go buffet style!

Your wedding is exactly that, your wedding. Therefore, just because everyone else has a traditional sit-down dinner doesn’t mean that you have to as well. You can do things your way. A buffet dinner can be just as exciting as any traditional sit-down.  What’s great about a buffet is that you get to serve so many different foods too. So you can ask your caterer to cook a few fancy dishes but stick mostly to what’s in the season to further cut down on costs.

4.    Drop the big cake and opt for fancy dessert

Who needs a massive cake anyway? A visit to your local patisserie will reveal a vast array of sweet treats that you can serve as dessert. Cakes can be quite costly too, so save several hundred dollars by opting for simpler cake options and leave out the big cake. This doesn’t mean you can’t have cake cutting pictures. What many people now do is they order one small cake and ask the baker to make dummy models for the rest of the other ‘cakes’ you see. So you get to cut the real small cake while serving dessert from the patisserie to your guests.

5.    Eliminate entrées and cocktail hour

A lot of couples think they have to serve entrées to their guests, as well as having a cocktail hour. However, these services are not a must. They are optional. If you really want to have something passed around, consider having waiters walk around with individual platters which allow those who are hungry to pick and eat as they like.

Talk to us

For all-inclusive wedding venues Sydney that’ll help you save major cash, talk to us at Clarence House and book a free no-obligation tour today. Call us on (02) 9750 3555 or (02) 9789 1662 or send us an email at admin@clarencehouse.com.au. We look forward to hearing from you

1. Sets the entire plan in motion

2. Takes off some of the wedding planning pressure

3. It helps you figure out what else you need (and can afford!)

4. Keeps you on time

Schedule your Clarence House tour today

1. Space to fit all your guests

2. Competitive fees that have inclusive options

3. Change rooms for the bride, groom and bridal party

4. Disability and senior-friendly facilities for elderly family members

5. Enough restrooms to accommodate the masses

6. Technical support for music and lighting

7. No double booking

Contact us

Have you narrowed down your wedding venues to two and can’t decide which one of the two to book for your wedding?

Having two world-class venues ourselves, we have seen couples struggle to choose between the two stunning options. Over the years, (35 to be precise!), we have advised over 3,000 couples on how they should proceed. So if you want to know how to choose between two wedding venues keep reading these tips.

1. Budget

Your budget for a wedding venue, how much you are prepared to pay, will determine the type of venue you get. If both of the venues are within a similar price range and you can’t separate them based on budget, then consider the following.

2. The packages on offer

You’ll want to ask as many questions as you can when you tour each venue. Find out if there are any price reductions for weekday weddings. Does the quote for the venue include décor? What of catering or will you have to outsource your own caterers for the big day? Do they throw in complementary bonbière or flowers? Also, what of guest parking, will it be enough for your guests and is it inclusive of the venue fee or that’s another expense you’ll have to factor in?

3. Type of Venue

Ask yourself what kind of wedding you’ve always dreamed about. Did you picture yourself getting married in a traditional setting, stone church and all? Or are you more of a contemporary and modern couple willing to marry in a wedding hall with more modern aesthetics? Knowing this will help you distinguish between two wedding venues. We know it has really helped our couples choose between our regal The Victorian reception venue which affords you the opportunity to throw a traditional wedding, and the chicer and modern The Lemnos wedding venue.

4. Destination Wedding or Not

Destination weddings seem to resonate with a fair number of couples. This might mean getting married out-of-state, or on an entirely different island, someone says Tasmanian wedding anyone? People may opt to do this for several reasons. An out-of-state wedding venue may appear to be cheaper than where one may currently reside. However, if you choose a destination wedding, just remember that not everyone might be able to make it witness your big day. If your ideal wedding is in a destination area you might want to reconsider that particular wedding venue if the majority of your guests can’t make it. This isn’t to say you can’t get married there – in the future. Plan for your 5^th or 10^th anniversary.

Talk Through Your Options

You don’t have to go through the anguish of trying to figure out how to choose between two wedding venues by yourself. Let our trusted and friendly wedding planners help you weigh in your options. Call us today or sign up free for a consultation.

Many soon-to-be-married couples always start the wedding planning journey with so much excitement and enthusiasm. However, for many that excitement often turns into gasps of horror at the sheer expense of things. Yes, weddings are an expensive affair and one that cost the average Australian couple at least $32,000. This is particularly true of the wedding venue which usually takes up at least half of your wedding budget. So why are wedding venues so expensive anyway?

You’re paying for an experience

You might not want to believe this, but yes, your wedding is the perfect commercial payoff. Who doesn’t love a wedding? Wedding venues charge you for exactly that. Being able to give you a nice place to celebrate this milestone in your life with all your loved ones in attendance. They are charging you for the intrinsic things you haven’t even thought of. In essence, you’re paying for experience – but a really good one.

You’re paying for venue overheads

You might not like the idea, but when you hire a wedding venue, you’re helping to pay for the venue’s overhead costs. Yes, we’re talking venue insurance, taxes, staff, utilities like water and electricity, and oh, wedding venues have to think of maintenance issues as well. So they do charge you quite handsomely in order to be able to keep the place in tip-top shape for excited couples about to get married like yourself.

You’re paying for service staff and set up equipment

If your venue offers catering and staff, then this will definitely be factored into the final price of the wedding hire fee you’ll get charged. Many people think that they can simply throw a backyard wedding and it’ll be ‘cheaper’. What they fail to realize is that you’re going to end up spending more or less the same (but putting in a whole lot more work) because – and this is at the top of our heads, you’ll have to hire a tent, bathroom trailer, chairs, dance floor, crockery, linens, lighting, microphone, and speakers, sort out insurance for your parent’s house, tent decorations and flowers.

The venue has to make a profit

So when all is said and done, after the venue has paid for insurance, building upkeep, cost of water and electricity, in some cases heating, and their staff, the venue also has to make a profit. So you see, when hiring a venue you have to look at the bigger picture. You aren’t just paying for a site fee; your wedding is a community affair.

You Should Pay for an Expensive Wedding Venue?

We need you to understand that expensive doesn’t mean quality. A venue might be expensive but have nothing to show for it. Look for wedding venues of repute, that offer you promotions and discounts, a venue that’s committed to excellence and making sure your wedding is everything and more than you dreamt it to be. Clarence House is one such venue that is in a league of its own when it comes to offering unmatched wedding reception venues. To talk to one of our trusted wedding agents call us today on (02) 9750 3555, or (02) 9789 1662.

Recently engaged and need to know what to look for in a wedding venue? You’re in the right place.

The wedding venue is arguably one of the most important aspects of your big day. A great wedding reception venue equals great wedding shots and happy, content guests. The right wedding venue will be a source of eternal joy as you flip through your wedding album. So what do you need to look out for in order to find that exceptional wedding venue?

1. Enough Room

Planning on inviting grandma and her entire retirement home mates to your wedding? Well, you’re going to need plenty of room. On a more serious note, if you’re planning on inviting your family, friends, workmates, church-mates and half the town, you’ll need a great wedding venue with enough room to not only fit everyone but fit in all the needed chairs, tables, and associated wedding hire.

2. Privacy and Security

This is a big one. You don’t want any uninvited guests popping up to your reception. With the average cost per head for your guests being $150 per person, five or six extra people can really set you way off-budget. As you tour your potential venue, inquire about their privacy policy. How do they screen guests who are coming in? This is also definitely something to think about if you’re planning on choosing a hotel as your wedding venue, where there might be a simultaneous event happening just down the hall.

3. Stunning Backdrop

There’s nothing like a destination wedding if you can afford it. But even if you can’t it doesn’t stop you from finding a local venue that boasts amazing scenery. We’re talking sea views, rolling plains and mountain ranges. Even if you can’t score such a fine location, ensure that the wedding reception hall you do opt for is well maintained and has something interesting for your guests to admire, be it artwork, architecture or even just your décor!

4. Lighting

This cannot be emphasized enough. Lighting will literally make or break your day. Photos require good lighting, so if you want to have great souvenirs to remember your wedding by, remember to take a good look at the lighting options provided by the venue. A great way to confirm if the lighting will be right is to visit your desired venue around the same time you hope to have your wedding. You don’t want any surprises on your big day after all.

5. Sufficient and Safe Room for Parking

You don’t want guests to constantly be running out to check if their cars are still safe to do you? If not, make sure the venue you opt for has a safe parking solution for your guests. The best would be to find a venue that has its own parking lot and parking is offered as a part of the wedding venue package.

Consult an Expert Today

You don’t have to figure things out alone. Clarence House is a family-owned business that offers you state-of-the-art wedding reception venues. Talk to one of our trusted experts for a hassle-free explanation on how to choose wedding venues today.

Are you looking for that dream-come-true wedding venue?

Wedding planning is a job in and of itself. That is why there are people paid to do this job. Now that you have your wedding coming up, you might have realized that planning the event isn’t as simple as people make it out to be. Firstly you have to find the venue, tour it, and then book it. Speaking of venues, we know how difficult it is to find the right one. That’s why we’ve put this article together to help you know how to search for a wedding venue.

How to find a wedding venue

With all the latest technology around us, finding a wedding venue has probably never been this easy, and yet still so difficult because of the multitude of new and upcoming places. So where do you start?

Create a list of venues to visit

In today’s modern world, you can start your search for wedding venues online. Create a list of the wedding venues in your locale, narrow the list down based on your budget, call them up to set appointments and go touring.

Ask for references from friends and family

If you have people who’ve recently gotten married within your circle of friends then they might probably be the best people to ask for references. This is because they’ve already gone through what you’re going through right now. This is especially true if you’re looking for a venue on a budget. Just sit down with a couple of them and ask them how to find a low-cost wedding venue and the steps they took to find their dream reception venue.

Talk to wedding planners and photographers in your area

Wedding planners in your area will be able to give you a more expert idea on the available venues. If they have a blog, it would be a good idea to browse through their blog to also get a feel of the past weddings they’ve hosted and or photographed. You’ll also get a chance to see what your preferred venue will look like in photos. Another plus to going this route is that you’ll be able to see what the wedding venue actually looks like in unstaged photos.

Do you need someone to chat to?

If you’re still unsure about how to find a wedding reception venue and would feel much better talking to someone, why not get in touch with our team of friendly Clarence House wedding planners. In fact, why not go ahead and book a non-binding free-of-charge tour of Clarence House? We’re certain that after you’ve spoken to one of our trusted agents you’ll know exactly what you’re looking for and how to look for wedding venues.

How much should you spend on a wedding venue?

In a recent study on weddings carried out by EasyWeddings.com, 4,100 couples in Australia were asked how much they were willing to spend for their entire wedding. The initial figure came to $22, 055. However, considering that the national average cost for a wedding venue is $14, 512, a lot of couples discovered that their initial amount didn’t leave a lot of room for much else. Thus, they increased the amount they were willing to shell out for their wedding to $32, 333.

How much are you prepared to spend on your venue?

How much should you spend on a wedding venue? This is one of the key questions you and your significant other have to sit down and talk about. Depending on which state you live in, this could be anywhere from $10,000 to $15, 580.

To get an idea about the cost of wedding reception venue according to the different Australian states, here are a few figures for you:

• In Victoria, the average wedding venue costs $15, 580.
• In New South Wales expect to pay $15, 503 for your wedding venue.
• In South Australia $14, 936 is right around the state average for a wedding venue.
• In Western Australia $14, 076 will allow you to hire a decent wedding venue.
• In Queensland, $10,472 should do the trick and secure you a neat venue.
• In Tasmania, $10,200 is all you need to say your ‘I Dos’ in a sweet venue.
• In the Australian Capital Territory, $10,000 is the base price for a wedding venue.

As you can see, how much to spend on a wedding venue will depend to a greater extent on which state you wish to have your wedding in.

How to pick a wedding venue on a budget?

If you’re working within a budget, but still want a gorgeous wedding venue there are ways around it. Knowing the following tips on how to pick a wedding reception venue on a budget will save you a few dollars. Here are our top five tips:

1. Talk to one of our friendly wedding planners.
2. Know how many people you want at your wedding.
3. Take advantage of offers and promotions offered by wedding venues in Sydney.
4. Plan ahead and book your venue early.
5. Re-think your décor e.g. flower quantity, and cut out extras such as wedding hire and Bomboniere

Need someone to talk to?

If you think you’re being taken for a ride or being charged too much for a venue and need a reference point or someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to call one of our trusted Clarence House agents. Our numbers are (02) 9750 3555, or (02) 9789 1662.