Wedding Central Forum

Majeen wrote:

mrsWtobe wrote:

Majeen wrote:

Anyone know of a good cake shop in Newcastle for a wedding cake that will not cost the earth. Hoping to not spend too much over $300. Happy to even say it is for an engagement not wedding.

I am using i-do-wedding cakes in Medowie which is about an hour north of cessnock I think.

She is very reasonable with her cakes around the $400 mark.

Thanks she was already in my short list. Might go meet with her.

I am meeting with Penny next week to discuss design and flavours - I can let you know how it goes if you like?

k7781 wrote:

lelu87 wrote:

Any celebrant recommendations?

Hi Lelu87,

If in Newcastle, I'd definitely recommend the celebrant Katie Porritt. She did our wedding out at the Hunter Valley and was fantastic, definitely our top supplier for the day. She put together a ceremony for us that was perfect, and was very well spoken and personable. And it was nice to have someone who was a similar age to us. Give her a call, but beware she is very popular and books out very early.

Cheers

Thanks for the recommendation. We tried to book Katie, but she isnt taking any bookings for a few months due to family reasons. I dont want to wait and miss out, but we really like the look of her. We have heard great things about her too.

On another note, has anyone used Waterfield Photography? At the moment they are looking to be the best in our price range. Any feedback would be great.

Hi Ladies!

I've been a lurker but thought I would join in now because we got engaged on Valentines Day!

I love reading all the reccomendations from you all but have a few questions. Has anyone been to customs house or the newcastle club for a function/wedding? It's great reading about them on the websites BUT word of mouth is a big thing for me aswell.

We aren't getting married til 2014 but I would love to start getting things under way!

THanks

~*Romance*~ wrote:

Hi Ladies!

I've been a lurker but thought I would join in now because we got engaged on Valentines Day!

I love reading all the reccomendations from you all but have a few questions. Has anyone been to customs house or the newcastle club for a function/wedding? It's great reading about them on the websites BUT word of mouth is a big thing for me aswell.

We aren't getting married til 2014 but I would love to start getting things under way!

THanks

Hi and congrats on your enagement.

We looked at Newcastle club. I have to say that it is beautiful, but we didnt get a good vibe from there. We were going to be too restricted, like to use your mobile phone you have to go to a certain room, there was restrictions on photos, there would be other guests there, etc. They sort of made us feel like we would be in the way of the regulars. But you may like it. Ive heard from a friend that she enjoyed going to a wedding there, but we just didnt like the vibe and helpfulness we received.

Leah

Congrats on your engagement!

I have been to Customs a lot for functions, both sit down formal and cocktail. They used to be really good but my recent experience has been less than positive. Mainly due to the food quality. We looked at Newcastle Club but they told us that you had to have the dance floor on a different level to the tables. We did have over 100 guests though so this may have contributed... Good luck!

Hi all,
I'm in Qld (We moved from NSW 5 weeks ago) but my Groupon is still set to NSW. Well this morning their is a voucher for a wedding in the Hunter Valley. So if anyone hasn't booked a venue and is looking in the Pokolbin area you may want to have a look. I have never been to the Venue being advertised so this is not a recommendation just a point in the direction of what could be a great saving for someone. Happy planning ladies

Does anyone know of any good flower wholesalers around? Im thinking of doing my own flowers and ive seen a Rose farm lorn, and bellflora flower market. Has anyone used them?

Thanks

We are holding our wedding at the Newcastle Club in early 2013 and I have found them to be fantastic. We also attended a wedding there in late 2011, which was great fun. The staff were really nice and everyone I have spoken to was made to feel at home and enjoyed the day and this helped encourage us to book for our wedding. It is rather old world charm, but this is the theme we are having, so it suits us perfectly.

The service we have received from Carlee has been great, she is always happy to help us with any suggestions and gets back to us straight away. NicoleB81, I understand what you mean about the dancefloor, though we were told that it was only an option if we wanted to have a larger dancefloor, rather than cram everyone in. Personally I sort of like the idea of moving down to the downstairs area with the lawn, but obviously won't work for everyone.

Several suppliers I have spoken to have recommend the Newcastle Club, so I am hoping the experience I have had so far will be the same on the day!

hope your day is perfect for you!

really helpful. exciting

lelu87 wrote:

Does anyone know of any good flower wholesalers around? Im thinking of doing my own flowers and ive seen a Rose farm lorn, and bellflora flower market. Has anyone used them?

Thanks

I'd like to know the same... I'm having all of our bouquets etc done by a florist but wanted to do the Reception Flowers Myself. Was thinking of heading to the Sydney Flower Market as there are a few suppliers Listed on their suppliers list that are located between the central coast and Newcastle.... but thats only because I don't know where else is available to go to to look.

Just wondering if anyone has / is using Nathan Magoo for their reception...also, he does photobooths & lighting.
Just looking for some feedback re. services, professionalism etc....

Thanks in Advance

Hi Everyone. I need help. I'm after recommendations for a florist on West Lake Macquarie and also a celebrant. Any help would be appreciated.

hbm wrote:

Just wondering if anyone has / is using Nathan Magoo for their reception...also, he does photobooths & lighting.
Just looking for some feedback re. services, professionalism etc....

Thanks in Advance

I work with Nathan all the time, great guy and awesome dj

Hello Ladies,

Im new to this forum so hello!!!

I have finally read through all 83 pages and it is great to get a list of so many different names for flowers, cake, celebrant, make up and hair and especially the photography.

Little bit about my FH and I - We have been together 7 years, in Nov we emigrated over to Oz from the UK and have not regretted it at all. We have been engaged 1 year today and have finally secured our date (1st November 2013) at Peppers Guest House. The reason we chose Peppers GH was because the grounds are beautiful, the on site accommodation was a big hit with us purely because most of our wedding party will be coming from the UK so it made everyones life easier having the accommodation on site. The family of Kangaroos that live within the grounds was also a big hit with us as we wanted something the our family and friends wouldnt have seen before. Their wedding packages are also exactly what we were looking for and Sarah (the wedding coordinator) has been so helpful and her response time is very efficient which puts me at ease. We have viewed a number of venues but Peppers GH seemed to be one of the only ones that allowed us to make any slight adjustments e.g if we wanted to change the style of potatoes or something then it wasnt a problem. I know something like this is trivial but it is nice to know that when we look at the menus - we have the freedom to adjust it to our preference as well as the families.

We have recently sent out our 'Save the date' cards which we ordered from Vista print (we ordered the fridge magnets, designed them ourselves and were very impressed with the quality and price).

The only thing I seem to now be struggling a bit with is trying to track down a band. I am dead set on having a band because I feel as though this would add more atmosphere to the evening but having read the past 83 pages, it seems that there is only mobile DJ's . I have requested a sample CD from 'The Baker Boys' but as they are based in Sydney, they are a little over budget and I would rather spend more money on the photgrapher and videographer!

I have found this forum so helpful so as soon as I have secured anything further for the wedding, I will let you girls know.

So far:
Date is booked
Venue is booked
Wedding dress is on order

Just had an emal from Doubletake hair and makeup..... they are booked on my wedding day so unfortuantely I cant use them. My wedding isnt until 1st Nov 2013 and they are booked up already so if you are planning on using them, then I suggest you get in there quick!!!!

Hey Lisamarie!

Welcome to the forum! It is nice to have another Hunter bride on here!

Peppers is gorgeous - your so lucky!!

That is such a shame about Doubletake - I am using them for my wedding in 3 months.
Have you tried Chic artistry? They also do amazing work.
Zen/Sublime hairdressers salon at the Hunter Valley Gardens (they are not mobile) are also meant to be very good!

I do not know any bands that I can recommend unfortunately, as we have a DJ (XYDJ).

You are so right tho....suppliers to book out extremely quickly so best to get in early! We starting our planning with 18 months notice and we found some suppliers were booked out then too - crazy

Good luck!!

Hi mrswtobe

Yes it is a shame but I have managed to find a few other makeup artist so will hopefully book some trials with them over the next few weeks and see what they are like!
It seems bands are hard to come by so it maybe that we end up with a dj.... I'll definitely look at your recommendation for that!
Just trying to search photographers at the mo and just wondering if anyone can give me an idea of what you would class a reasonable pricing. 1 quote I have had is starting for $5000 and another is $4350 - I didn't think they were to unreasonable but my FH has gone crazy and said that its a ridiculous amount of money to spend! Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would like to pay as little as possible but don't want that standing in the way of getting decent pics that we won't regret paying for!

Lisamarie wrote:

Hi mrswtobe

Yes it is a shame but I have managed to find a few other makeup artist so will hopefully book some trials with them over the next few weeks and see what they are like!
It seems bands are hard to come by so it maybe that we end up with a dj.... I'll definitely look at your recommendation for that!
Just trying to search photographers at the mo and just wondering if anyone can give me an idea of what you would class a reasonable pricing. 1 quote I have had is starting for $5000 and another is $4350 - I didn't think they were to unreasonable but my FH has gone crazy and said that its a ridiculous amount of money to spend! Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would like to pay as little as possible but don't want that standing in the way of getting decent pics that we won't regret paying for!

Hey! Glad to hear you were able to find some hair and make up artists

As for photography..that is a tough one. We did not do much research on photographers because we knew who we wanted to use, so we didn't really research the market too much. But, in saying that I did still get a couple of quotes. I found (and don't quote me on this because this is just going off a few quotes), but the average was around the $3,500 - $4,000. I think you can get a great photographer for around that price. I have some seen some that are WAY more than that.....and I have some for less than that too. It is my view that you should find a photographer whose work you really love..I think its important that you connect with the style and creativity of the photographer and their images. But, obviously budget is really important too!! Good luck!!
P.S We are using a Sydney based photographer - but there are some really good ones from around the Hunter region..if you google hunter valley wedding photograher you should get a lot of links. Most Sydney photographers will travel to the Hunter too

Oh and one other thing - Often photographers will charge a lot less if you only have them for a shorter period of time. E.G If they just cover the ceremony and the first hour of reception then you do not get charged the full price. This would work out well if you were not overlly fussed on capturing the entire thing.

I only got married quite recently so these are current recommendations.

I know you may already have someone lined up for makeup but I'd like to recommend the amazing guy who did my make up! Neville Cooper http://nlchairandmakeup.com.au/Home.html he came highly recommended and didn't disappoint! He kicked the day off beautifully for us as he was so fun to be around and helped to calm any nerves.

Photography wise we used Justin Worboys, he was fantastic, great sense of humour which had us getting the relaxed, candid and natural pictures we were after. He's completely flexible and so easy to talk to and best of all he's incredibly reasonably priced! http://jwphoto.com.au/ he also has a facebook page if you do a search.

If you want any more recommendations I'm happy to help where I can!

Hi Purple_jelly

Congrats on your wedding. Hope all went according to plan and that you had the most amazing day ever.

Thank you for the recommendations. I have checked the photographer out and your right, he is very well priced. How did you hear about him? He is going to go on my short list without a doubt. Have you seen your pictures since your wedding? Also it says on his website that you get all your pics on a CD - is that right? If it is then is definately a good selling point as I would quite like our pictures so we can do what we want with them.

Thanks again for your help