 That's one thing I would have never have imagined or thought about this is new This is something that I've been thinking about for a long time. I have Jess Cacovia here. She is newly engaged Very newly congratulations. Thank you. And She reached out to me and asked me about weddings How did you discover me? Sorry, I've literally been seeing you everywhere all over my TikTok Even before I was engaged and I kind of just kept your profile there on the side I was like, oh he seems like a good guy to kind of get in contact with if I ever get engaged and Then here we are and yeah, I just reached out to you and you're super approachable. So here we are. Thank you Thank you. Now With my what's happening in the future I'm leaning away from weddings because of the fact that I did this so well you what you just described and I'm happy to help you along the way and Guide you and give you some strategy some consulting And answer any of your questions specifically today and beyond now. You're thinking about getting married 2024-2025. Yeah either end of 2024 start 2025 Haven't really started planning or anything yet because I'm completely new don't know how to start now When you going back to when you first discovered me and you Realized I was a wedding photographer. How did you know I was a wedding photographer? It was just mainly from your TikToks You kind of Advertising yourself as a wedding photographer And then just the comedy that you had in your TikToks and everything really stood out to me as like a really easy Approachable kind of guy fun kind of guy that you'd want at your wedding Yeah, it was there any other specific standouts from other wedding photographers or anything to do with weddings up until now Yeah, it was just more like your attitude towards everything Kind of made it all seem really easy and really relaxed Not so uptight than any other Like wedding coordinator or photographer or such. Yeah. Yeah, so you're definitely in that like vibe in that in that target audience that I would love Are there any other vendors that have? stuck out to you when Over the last like kind of few months before you got engaged even Not really. Yeah, not really like you were the only one that really kind of stood out So I planted the seed before you even knew pretty much. Yeah. Yeah It was like months before I got engaged and then my for you page just started blowing up obviously after I got engaged Yeah, it's just like everything to do with wedding, but yeah, you really stood out. Okay. Cool. Yeah, that's good and with with that now that you are engaged Are there any other vendors that you've like researched or have stood out now that the algorithm is pushing someone? Not overly There's been like a few I'd say like Venues and stuff like that, but not so much. Yeah wedding coordinators or vendors or Anything like that. I keep seeing your videos everywhere. That's what keeps like pushing Going all over. Yeah, my for you pages all of your videos even like not so much your wedding stuff either Yeah, yeah, that was my next question When you first discovered me it wasn't even wedding related. Was it? No. Yeah. Yeah Sorry, it was literally just your page and then I started seeing more and more of it and yeah, it was just really weird So you followed the brand before you even knew what I did. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, and then it was a natural fit afterwards because had I built that rapport built that kind of yeah trust sort of even before we met I Mean we hadn't got in contact. I kind of just got in contact with you via your Instagram I'd always liked your videos and stuff like that, but never got in contact with you directly Yeah, yeah, cool. That's what it's awesome to say. It's like it's really good like Proof of concept of what I've been doing for the last three years having someone say say that yeah first hand so How did you how did he how did your now Beyonce? Proposed to you So it's pretty special. It's very special. It's very very surprised But it was on our five-year anniversary We went down to Layton Beach and Layton Beach is already special because that's where we had our first few dates and things like that And then he had this like picnic set up and I was in a bit of a foul mood because it was like right after work It was midweek and I was just like I'm so tired. Let's just do something really chill So we're like, okay. Let's just do fish and chips on the beach and then yeah we were meant to go to Koogee because that's our local and then He took a wrong turn and I was like, where are you going? Like he was I'm going to Layton. It's really nice beach I was like, oh, can we just go to Koogee like why don't have to go all the way to Layton And then he's just like we're just going there. Okay. All right. All right, and then yeah when it got there There was like this whole picnic setup Like he had obviously got someone to set it up like from Instagram or something like that Because it was these two girls there and they're like oh like enjoy and they didn't say anything and I didn't think anything I just immediately thought he did it for our five-year anniversary. Yes. Oh, that's really cute. He covered it. Well. Yeah, he thought he thought well So I was like, oh, that's really cute But I was so hungry because I just come home from where I'll come back from work And I was just like, all right, let's eat. She's like wait wait wait just a second And I was just like, oh like come on. What now? Yeah, and then Yeah, he was just like, oh, can you take a photo of the set up for my mom? I was like, yeah, okay Oh sure and then got his phone and then I turned around and then that's when he was like on his knee and everything And I was just like whoa Hang on a minute what is going on? And then yeah, I thought I'd cry but tears welled up, but I was just so shocked So shocked amazing. Yeah, it was really good. So you hid that well throughout the time leading up to the day Yeah, very much like we'd always talked about it and things like that, but just never expected it Congratulations, get it. No hesitations. No, no, not at all. All right So now you have the burden of planning your wedding. Yes. Yeah, apart from contacting me. What else have you done? So, I mean we've kind of Looked at our engagement. Yeah, look to that. Yeah, so we've just booked a venue and like bartenders Because we booked it out like an empty kind of venue and then we have to do everything the DIY special. Yeah, that's always a good time Oh, it's stressful. It's so stressful. So anything to make it easier. Yeah But yeah, we've literally only just booked the venue for November and that's it. Oh, yeah Yeah, okay, so in terms of and now I'm just gonna flow some information for you in terms of engagement parties One of the questions that I kind of have have for over the last few years is Engagement party guests, are they gonna be the same as the ones that get invited to the wedding? Are they auto-invites? Yes, so I mean we've crunched the numbers and it's looking at around the 180 mark. Okay, which is huge So ideally we want to cut it back So our thought process was having a big engagement like a big party inviting absolutely everyone And then having a more smaller intimate personal wedding That's our kind of thought process at the moment. Yeah, that's it. That's that's quite popular these days Your last name. Where is that from Italy Italy? Yes Does that mean you have a lot of Italian family ready to come and actually no surprisingly Most of our relatives are here like most of our close relatives. That's good distant relatives that are over in Italy Most of them don't even speak English and I unfortunately don't speak Italian That cuts a lot of amount. Yes, exactly. Yes. Yeah He's actually got a bigger family than us. Oh, where's he from? So English and Scottish. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, big family. All right. So engagement party. You're looking at Less than 180. Yeah, and a lot less for your wedding. Yes. Okay, cool Ideally on average we tend to I tend to go with between 60 to 100 people. Yeah, the one's more than that It becomes a real formal real sort of official sort of thing And again, this is from my observation my experience. I don't speak on behalf of the entire wedding industry But you you came to me and talk to me about how how viably I am and You know all the things I come in and I look like I'm gonna have fun And I'm gonna be a fun person at a wedding and that's the sort of weddings that I go for And that's why I expressed myself like that because I attract that sort of client now with your wedding day Are you thinking about having more cocktail or more sit-down for reception? I Like the idea of sit-down. I really do Yeah, I Only kind of want it sit down For the meal part and I want everyone up and dancing after the meals and everything like that Yeah, so I still want that like kind of official sit-down, but not as formal. Yeah. Yeah, so still fun See that bit of fun. Yeah. Yeah, I love it So and that comes back to you know You can have your cocktail because they bring out the food and you can grab your plate You can have a sit. Yeah, and you can have couches furniture and things like that, but when it comes to Tables where your seats allocated it really also depends on your demographic of age Yeah, so if you have older people they tend to sit down more, but if they want a boogie Then they'll do it. Yeah You just don't want a whole bunch of people just sitting down the whole time because they don't know each other So there's a whole different bunch of strategies you can go for there and this is where a wedding planner really comes in now in terms of The guest list you've probably thought about it over and over Yeah for your wedding day Yeah, we're kind of basing our like engagement and our wedding day. We're just cutting out a few like friends as such. Yeah, um put the Put the marker down on definites for like family and things like that. Okay. It's more so cutting back friends All right, I'll help you with the rule rule of thumb. Yes. Have you spoken to these friends? inside of six months Yes, that's the problem and and and how many of how many times Have you spoken to them in the six months? Yeah, if it's once cut them out Mm-hmm, right and have you spoken to them versus have they spoken to you, right? This is your wedding day. Yeah, nobody else's if they don't get invited to it But they also didn't invite you to their wedding. Would you be a bit Do you be annoyed? For some of them and not for some fun some of them. There you go. You have a line Yeah So anyone that you're not sure about inviting ask yourself if they invited if they didn't invite you to your To their wedding Would you be upset? Yeah, would you be going? Hang on? What what what do you mean, right? That's a good way to put it. It's a good way to put it, right? And then obviously the ones you do invite are there a couple already Do you invite the plus one even though you haven't known the plus one for a while potentially? another rule of thumb you could go for there is has the person That you're inviting been with their plus one for longer than I don't know Six months twelve months, whatever you want. Yeah, if it's a fresh one Unless they're socially awkward and need someone to bring them and that's where you have to kind of decide Yeah, yeah I had a whole bunch of friends of mine my mates from sneaker group that I involved with my oldest like kind of group chat on Facebook Half of them. I didn't know who their girlfriends even their names were But I invited them and I'm saying hey guys. This is one of those we had about 80 people Yeah, this is one of those intimate weddings. Yeah, but we're having a party. However I'm sorry to say but these are the the following people. I don't know who your girlfriend even their name is no disrespect But we haven't hung out enough times But we've hung out enough like me and the guys enough times for me to go you guys are in because it's always been the boys The boys the boys, right? Yeah, and and especially if my wife didn't know who they were just like, you know Yeah Do you know what the skew is between you and your partner's invites? Is it 50 50? Is it more your guest than his? He's got a few more. Oh, he's definitely got a lot more friends. Okay. He's a lot more friendly than me And yeah, so because he's got more family as well and then a little bit more friends. Yeah more so work friends than anything But yeah, that's it's more harder like for him because Before we were together. He went to a lot of their weddings Yeah, the courtesy Yeah, you invite me I invite you. Yeah, for sure again, like you were saying he hasn't really spoken to them and Some of them I haven't even met. Yeah So I'm like we've been together for five years and I haven't even met them means you haven't hang hung out with them as much Yeah, so yeah, yeah another another hot take is it's your day. He's an accessory. Yeah So it's an interesting one and again it comes down to How you define an intimate wedding, right if you lay down the rules before you start the guest list It's a lot easier to go through it if you say and you have to both agree on the list because if you both agree and One rule disqualifies a guest Based on the rule that you both agree to doesn't matter whose guest it is Right. Yeah, and that should be easier to kind of get through that because once you say the word intimate wedding people should understand Yeah, right so When you start going through that process again come up with your three to five rules to go Should we invite the people that one of us have never met before? Yeah Is it going to be you know worth it because intimate means you kind of at least seen both of both like the their his side of friends but yeah, again, this is just my opinion and Some people will go don't listen to him, you know, his advice the shit But from my observation, it's better to know As many people as you can because if you're meeting them for the first time, you're like, oh, who's that, you know my wedding day I knew 95% of the people The other 5% I had no idea who they were. I didn't mind they were there but They were for my wife. Yeah, and But because the split was about 25 75 her way She knew my most of my people But yeah, so the invite stuffs we can continue. Do you have any other specific questions for the invites or guest list? Not really. It's more just like yeah, like where you draw the line kind of thing But no, I like your suggestion about Making a set of rules. Yeah, that would definitely help a lot. Yeah. Yeah And like you have your immediate family and you have the siblings and the plus ones of the you know in laws and And then also they're kind of plus ones as well Yeah, and then you have the cousins the brothers and you're already at 30 ish people Yeah, right give or take depending on how big your family is and then you have your close friends on each side and And most the time your close friends are in your bridal party already But then you have your extended friend group that you see occasionally every kind of month or so and Then you have your work friends If you started a new job. Oh well, whatever. Maybe your old work friends. Yeah But it really just comes down to how often you communicate, right? Yeah Honestly, the biggest stressor is the fear of someone calling you out going Hey, how come you didn't invite me to your wedding? Yeah Most likely they would not do that Yeah, they don't care. I think it but they may think it but yeah, so you know And that's that's how it is. Yeah, you know, but if you don't set the rules you It can carry away so quickly and then all of a sudden you're like, oh and then the awkwardness comes after the ceremony But we'll get there in a second. Oh, no, okay, so You've invited the people But you haven't picked a venue yet. No, what sort of venue are you thinking so far? That's the thing. There's so many options out there that it's so overwhelming We've really want to Get married like on the beach like have a ceremony on the beach We're looking like leaning towards down south. Yeah, great spot. Yeah now comes the question before you continue What time of year? He really wants to get married on the 4th of Jan when we got engaged great great day Gonna be potentially pretty hot. Yeah, and in the afternoon the wind factor Yeah, so first tip about planning where you're gonna get married is understanding the average time of Wet of a weather of that specific part of the day in that specific part of the year and how the sun behaved how the wind behaved during that time Because you're gonna have so many more consequences like your hair is gonna go everywhere the sand might pick up and It might be just really hot They're flyers generally in that area because you're gonna be doing this not good and police might come past And yeah, and the Sun goes down a lot later in January. Yeah Which means that your golden hour and we're skipping ahead a little bit. We'll come back to it Everything Evolves around a ceremony time Yeah in a wedding Everything beforehand is timed to the makeup artist and hair. You want the makeup artist and hair to be done reasonably With a bit of a an hour gap between it's finished and you're walking down the aisle. Yeah, right? You need an hour there. Why because I'm selfish photographer And I want that time with you to do a little bit of the dress, you know, put the dress on getting a dad reveal A few photos with the bridesmaids obviously with your mom, you know, things like that If the haircut if the hair and makeup is done with 15 minutes to spare. We don't have that time. Yeah So that's so that's why the the anchor point is the time you're walking down the aisle now, let's say you've picked a venue and you've done all the due diligence on time of year Consequence the pros and cons if the pros outweigh the cons booked out venue Okay, and make sure and we're gonna get into this a little bit more later You have contracts with every single person that you hire and the venue that hires Here are some nightmare stories quick ones venues some venues have booked weddings One two years in advance with couples and then they start renovations It's completely different. Yeah, you need to have them say in the contract that the venues not going to be dramatically changed and your Location is not going to change your reception spot. Isn't going to be different to what you agreed upon Mm-hmm, and if it does How are you compensated you need to talk to your vendor about that? Yes, right? So that's a big venues thing. That's one thing. I would have never have imagined or thought about right Yeah, right. So that's a big one. Yeah Then you got to go with okay, do they have an allocated Coordinator on the day some do some don't you have to do it all yourself if they don't and you don't have a coordinator Everyone's Figuring it out. You have to put signage up and People need to know where they're going where the cocktail hour is things like that, right? And it's still so so surreal talking about This as me four or five years ago. I would have not had a clue with enough practice, right? The reason why I say the anchor is the the ceremony walking down the aisle is because afterwards What happens is family photo time? yeah, and Can't be windy it can't be super hot There needs to be some shade because you don't want to be out in the sun Especially if your ceremony is at four o'clock Which is kind of when the ceremonies in in summertime are because the sun sets at about seven Yeah, yeah, okay, so let's go back from let's say your ceremony time is at four When you invite your guests do not tell them that the ceremony starts at four Tell them that the ceremony starts at three thirty because there's always going to be someone late At least five people never had a wedding where someone isn't like Shuffling like awkwardly behind the ceremony going on here now halfway through the ceremony And they've completely missed you're walking down the aisle or worse as you're walking down the aisle Yeah, they arrive my sister did that. Oh It's your wedding. Mm-hmm to my wedding Yeah What excuse is here for that? She was 19 at the time And I was I think it was her first wedding, but anyway, so that's That's a thing. Yeah, 330 start time half an hour because if they're late They're probably still gonna be early. Yeah, right This is another thing why you have The allocation and understanding if you want to get married on the beach and you set it at 330 start time The early birds will get there about three three fifteen Maybe three, you know, and they'll be there for an hour in the Sun. Yeah, right So that's the that's the con of not saying the exact start time But the the pro is people everybody will be there right But I guess that's also if it means something to you right if you don't not really phase about the tours Three people that are late then say it's for and if you're late then shit. I shouldn't have invited you Give some respect. Yeah, obviously don't mean that much. Yeah, but there's obviously like things Oh shit moments that people it's out of their control and they're not late on purpose. Yeah, right, but those accidents and mishaps Can happen earlier so that then they're on time Okay, so you've invited them and Everything's good. Let's say everything is sorted and we'll go back to everything you need to do. Yeah You wake up the morning of You've delegated all the stuff all your vendors know what they're doing It's time to you know do your morning routine Mm-hmm, and your hair and makeup artist generally how many bridesmaids are you thinking? The tough one probably like Three or four three or four. Yeah. Yeah, three or four is the the average amount. Yeah Any more than four gets to be a bit cramped. Yeah Especially with a time of the makeup in the hair so Generally from experience is about 45 to 60 minutes of makeup and hair per per bride Bridesmaid and you have the hair going simultaneously as well. Yeah, generally Production yeah, it's a production line. Yeah Some like I can never for the life of me remember which one's first The hair or the makeup some do one or the other and just whatever If they do the the hair they touch up the makeup later But you need to allocate that time and then making sure that you have enough time For for chilling out. Yeah, and if you get things done early great, right? The whole day is pretty much prep if you look at it Then you have your ceremony, which is the fastest part, but it's also technically the most important part The most stressful part for me isn't actually the ceremony. I know what I'm doing I know the shots I need to take and I know where I need to be in every single moment of the ceremony The stressful parts the the intimate photos after the bridal party fun photos. They scoot off you your new husband and myself and Second shooter perhaps and maybe a videographer We're going to all these different spots and we're making it memorable for you. All right That generally is allocated up to two hours I don't like to do it in two hours anymore because it's like too long of a time But really depends on what sort of photos that you're after if you're after artsy ones It may take a little bit more planning, but generally those feel feel a bit more posed if you're after more natural ones That's when we can just Pretty much a wing it. I mean for me. I never wing it I have us like an ideas and I know all the spots and you generally have a Pinterest board that you create That you can send to me and then I'll be like, okay. She wants this sort of vibe. Okay, yeah, but The better brides have made a mood board from my own photos Because they know I could take those photos Which I have looked at I've saved your Instagram exactly exactly. So there's an expectation that that is set But you cannot assume that I can take or any photo photographer can take a specific photo if it's out of their norm because a lot of photographers get into a rhythm and they may skip it But that's where planning comes in if you make a list I'll have a list and I'll check it and make sure it's done. Right. Okay. So bridal prep at the start Girls are in the pajamas You have your mom and whoever else is in the room hanging out the boys are across the hall or down the road or Wherever and everything's all happening simultaneously the boys take about 10 15 minutes to get ready as that's if they're sure it's a press The night before and everything's ready and no one's forgotten socks Every third wedding the boys forget their socks for some reason The boys are done, right? They can literally get ready at three o'clock if they wanted to and leave the whole morning and Early afternoon for golf if they wanted to For you girls it's a little bit more hectic you've got your mimosas flowing you get your straw for your mimosas So your lipstick doesn't get ruined And then you've also got you know things and other bits happening This is where we talk about wedding planners, right a wedding planner is your bride Zilla decoy She or he is there on the day Taking command with everything you don't have the stress about vendors I need that right now you have a timeline before the before the day to know when everyone bumps in when everyone's supposed to be there What time your florist gets there or time your limousine picks you up if you're having a limousine or you're just walking down Every time I think about down south. I think bunker Bay Yes, we're actually looking like one of my favorite venues Because everything's within walking distance, right? But the village down the road you still kind of want to drive there a little bit because otherwise It's a little bit too far to walk yeah in your dress in the summer in the hills with everybody else The makeup sweating off exactly exactly so there's that so what time the wet limousine or the cars rock up if you're having special cars Obviously the time the photographer or and or videographer comes in Mostly and all yeah, and then you've got I mean your makeup artist Gets there early the first vendor that you kind of talk to on the day and then after that it's the Celebrate celebrant generally comes in Within an hour depending on who they are and what their schedules like an hour before ceremony starts Maybe 90 minutes again. I'm not speaking on behalf of all celebrants. This is just my observation Then you have the afternoon party Where I mean also you have your your setup so your ceremony set up The person that has the arbor if you haven't an arbor all the chairs all the decorations on the chairs Get a bit overwhelming now almost if you think about it. There's so much Yeah, I haven't even thought of so if you go to my a to z section on my website of all the different ones that you can Think of it's all listed there in the blog So off the top of my head those are the big ones Then you have something that you need to think about for the guests You need a you need a bucket of water bottles For the ceremony say everybody will be first you need some sunscreen potentially. Yeah, you'll need all this other stuff and But yeah, all in all the most important people there are yourself your future husband and the celebrant worst-case scenario the PA system fails the furniture people don't rock up and The wedding coordinator wedding planner is sick that day The morning of cannot make it Worst worst worst nightmare case your guests rock up and you're doing stand-up style Like top gear and your celebrants all intimate and just going all right guys bunch in we're gonna do this Yeah, we're gonna do this regardless because these guys love each other It's their sixth or seventh anniversary of the day they they started dating let's get them married and Let's make the most of this day. That is the worst-case scenario. Yeah, and you still get married. Yeah success You still get that ring Yeah, yeah, so think about that as your worst-case scenario then everything else after that becomes so much easier Yeah, one little mishap shouldn't ruin your whole day because you Thought about the worst-case scenario. Yeah Okay, they've been weddings. I've done where the limousine broke down We got a uber van. Yeah, they've been cases where the florist was there five minutes Before they were meant to drive off to the ceremony We got it done. I went lapel mode and put all the little flowers on the boys Showed the bridesmaids had a walk down the aisle Made sure everything was dried under the flowers because if you're wearing a satin sequin stress It stains for a lot longer than other fabrics So you need to yes get the towel and Within half an hour of walking down the aisle. That's another tip. Yeah, so yeah I'm gonna just throw you random tips throughout the time. Yeah, and we can talk about this more. Yeah, okay so we still haven't walked down the aisle yet, but You have your makeup your hair done the girls are already ready and you also are Stoked that your florist is there your coordinators on point now if you don't have a wedding planner It's always good to have a decoy bride Zilla that isn't in the bridal party Maybe a close cousin who isn't fazed that you didn't put her in the bridal party But she's stoked to have the job of the day where if something happens, she's onto it Yeah, you do not want that problem. It's not it's not your problem. Yeah, it's meant to be your day Yeah, so think about that early Okay, and don't let someone who's over-controlling and wants to make it their day in charge I've had that before my mom My beautiful mom. Yeah, your mom's there to to cry at the ceremony and get drunk off the wine in reception One glass should be gone and make a funny speech. That's it. Okay Everything's ready dresses on jewelry zone hair and makeup looks amazing. Have you chosen to dress yet by the way? Absolutely not What do you think it I don't know I it's it's so hard. I've got a wedding book my friends They gifted me a wedding planner book and just flicking through it I'm like, wow, I haven't thought of that. I haven't thought of that. I haven't thought of that and it's got a page there that's dedicated to Wedding dresses and it's like what neckline you want what fabric you want what this what that like what what body shape like dress shave. I'm just like, whoa There's so many options there I do like they're kind of like Strapless, but it's got the sleeves that draped down. Yeah, that's really classy. Yeah But other than that absolutely no idea Okay, so just like in Harry Potter where the wand chooses the wizard. Yeah, the dress chooses the bride. Yeah, right. So I've heard Always good to grab the girls and maybe even the mum to go dress shopping If you're not phased about them seeing you in the dress before the wedding day, which is fine Yeah, because it's part of the journey. It's part of the experience Have a look at what it looks like on other people that are similar body type And if you like what you see put it on yourself and give it a go There are many bridal shops out there that have you literally on a pedestal Standing there in front of a thousand mirrors Most don't allow you to take photos because of comparison, but it's good to like, you know, yeah You'll remember you have the girls to remember and all of that. Yeah now Tips from me Late afternoon, you've been in that dress for about four or five hours I've gone around and taken some photos in it The bulk of the photos are done reception time If you get an over-the-top dress and I'm talking like real fancy long Trainers long you have to bustle it up to walk around and if you try and spin, you're probably gonna get tangled up Later on in reception, it's just gonna be all super heavy and you just can't wait to take the dress off at the end of the night I mean, neither will your husband, but nine out of ten Couples actually don't really get intimate on their night because they're too tired and they're too drunk and they just fall asleep Let the morning sort itself out But The brides I've seen that had an alternate dress a cocktail dress doesn't have to be a specific Second wedding dress you pay thousands of dollars for But just like something like cocktail lead that you can just easily dance around it I've seen play suits as well like white play suits. Yeah, I do actually I haven't seen any of them Yeah, I've asked I've asked every single bride what they feel like in their dress around dinner time and they're like This this dress was too big. I wish I had a I wish I chose either a smaller dress or an alternate dress to Change out of okay, so there's the pro tip there. Yes So when whatever whichever one you choose, yeah, I will love to hear that feedback after you get married You hit me up one day on Instagram ago Thank you. Yeah, it was a great piece of advice But every one of the girls that have changed out of the dress into something more comfortable At the best time. Yeah, you can see it on their face. Yeah Or drink more alcohol and really just go numb with it Okay Dress is chosen. It's on jewelry is on you've done all the bits and bobs the fun stuff Photographer comes in and catches all the extra intimate stuff. It's time to go down the aisle Your father walking you down. Yes, excellent. Yes, they're walking down guests are there. It's all good Now there's alternate ways you can do this you can do a reveal first beforehand now I've done a couple of these and Again, it's due to the person that wants to do it. They have been They have loved it. They've they've wanted to do it. Yeah, and it was beneficial for them. So Really is up to you whether you want that or not the benefits of doing a reveal first is You get it out the way some people take intimate photos first But again, it's probably in the middle of the day. So lighting isn't the best You can always take more photos later as well Some have walked down together down the aisle. So it's a little bit less traditional. Yeah, my wedding we we took on a Couple of traditional things. Everything else was just the way we wanted it. I wore a Button-up shirt untucked black pants like suit pants and my Jordans sneakheads, right? Yeah My wife wore a red dress Because by chance both of our mothers got married in red It was amazing she looks so good she looks so good and She had both the parents walk her down and then they kind of Said off you go and sat down. There was no handover of the bride or anything because she doesn't like that There's no ownership or anything. Yeah, and then yeah, we hung out and that was it Yeah, my my celebrant Daniel del Borello really funny dude the comedian. He roasted us. Yeah during the ceremony I love that. So highly recommend hitting him up It was a whole comedy routine about our lives Yeah, and he just made puns about it and made fun of my Russian made fun of her Dutch Made fun of all these other things. Yeah, and we approved it beforehand just in case. Yeah then after that We did the the ceremony rings done signing done and that was it After that we took photos and then we had a party. Yeah cocktail party for you guys might be a bit different Whatever however you want to do it in the ceremony Generally a ceremony is about 20 maximum 30 minutes Depending if you have someone doing a poem or singing a song or or coming up and doing and kind of taking the mic for a bit Generally in the summertime don't do that. Yeah, no, right. Yeah, and the celebrant They yeah, depending on who it is. Sometimes they have their own little speech. They put extra in but depends on how personal you want to get Then after that you sign the sign the papers and then you're introduced as husband and wife and You go from there now. We're on to after the ceremony the hectic times What I generally do is I get you to give me a photo list of all the family members That you want photos with then and there before it gets too dark or some of them may need to go home or for whatever reason You have a list of different combinations media parents immediate family like parents only grandparents only parents and grandparents parents grandparents and siblings Siblings only cousins one side of the family other side of the family the entire family Maybe a group photo as well. If you want a group photo, that's always a fun one to do Just make sure there's an area that is a good place for the photographer to have a higher vantage point Yeah, because if there's not it's really hard to do unless they have a drone. Yeah, which makes it easier the drone shots Yeah, yeah, so generally depending on the photographer for me because of my school teaching background I just tell people with I put my teacher voice on and go all right Parents bang bang bang and I've got the list of all their names. Yeah, that's something you can do and go That's one my side of the family Mom dad their names grandma grandpa their names siblings blah blah blah all their names So then I can just roll call them out and go all right guys the next people bang make it super easy Yeah, yeah, yeah now the one thing that I think is a bit overrated And I don't want to preach to you what to do and not to do this is just my observation Soon as you walk down the aisle a lot of the brides and grooms They turn around and then there's a line that forms of all the guests congratulating them you hug them You have a brief 20 to 30 minute chat most of the time it's small talk most of the time It's the same thing. Oh my god. Look at your dress. Look. Oh my god. You look beautiful. Oh my god about time all this stuff Nonna comes up and starts speaking in Italian and gives you too many kisses and just forgets anything's there and just starts a whole Conversation with you. Yeah, you don't want to push her on but it's generally what happens So this is where you communicate with your celebrant For them to go right immediately after the ceremony They're gonna go and take immediate family photos. The rest of you go have cocktail hour and start drinking Yeah, right start the party. So you got to communicate with your celebrant. Yeah, okay So far so good. So far so good. Have I drawn a picture? Oh, you have like painted it Okay, so if you skip that because it's hot, right? And if there's no shade especially Bunker Bay, if you're still on the beach, there's very little shade Yes in that spot They go up the the the walk the boardwalk into the cocktail out They're often racing and then the photographer takes you down the road to Eagle Bay to take some on the rocks photos Which is a magnificent spot like if I could have every wedding there, I would have it there because it's just undefeated Um Yes, if you have a veil by the way, yeah, make sure One of the girls knows how to put it back in in case it falls out Make sure the hairdresser knows how to they should know how to do it but put it even down. It's it's In and down not down. Otherwise, it'll fall out. It's in and down. It'll stay, okay The amount of times I've fixed vials painful. It is painful, but it's worth it because it stays stuck Yeah, yeah It looks amazing in photos and that's what matters, right? Yeah, okay Now with the photography stuff don't skip out on the photographer because there are two things you take away from the wedding your husband and the photos and Video if you if you decide to do video everything else is eaten drunk Sweated out cried out laughed out and forgotten Photos are your ticket back to your wedding So this is why the photographer is a lot of the time thought of first Yeah, and this is why weddings So like revolved around the photographer because they're the timekeeper. I want those photos The hair and makeup artist is slow. I'll let him know about it If the limo driver is not on time, I'll let him know about it I've blacklisted so many of them because they've let me down. They've let me down They've let you down, but they've let me down. Yeah, because I'm selfish. Yeah I want my photos. I want my photos to be on point Because they're gonna be your photos. Yeah, but they're my photos first So if I'm not doing something about it because you've never done something about it before it's your first wedding I need to come in and go no You are not that's not right. You are too slow There've been times do better. Yeah, there've been times where I had to do that and stepped in and the bride was like Think fuck because I was I didn't want to be rude. I'm like, it's your wedding day I'll be rude for you because I don't care. I'm not gonna work with this person again. So this is the one time Maybe they'll learn from it. Yeah, but again, I don't want to sound like I'm gatekeeping or anything if you plan all this and have and if you set Expectations for every vendor because you've researched and understood it. Hopefully this is a lot of help for you They will come to the table a lot more clear or you know You'll be able to choose the vendors that are a lot more clearer To come to the table because the industry isn't regulated. No, you have to know that it's not regulated You have to regulate it and you have to regulate it through contracts through meetings Through the right questions for each vendor. What happens if this what would you do? It's like a job interview, right? Yeah, literally it is because they're working for you on the day You're not you're not You know, you're not their client They're your Helper, you know, that's that's the relationship that you got to look at it like they're more experienced But they have to you have to make sure that they're in the right experience because there's so many cowboys out there They come in for a money grab and don't do the right thing. Okay. So celebrant Ask them to talk to you about it. If you want to rehearsal Definitely a good idea. Yeah, because then you know how to do it Where to go what the pace is and all of that the celebrant should take care of that Everything that can go wrong before the ceremony is literally up to the vendors if they're late or not You have to talk to them about it. Yeah, you have to set An expectation where if you're late, will I get compensated? Yeah, if they say no, would you choose them as a vendor? No, they shouldn't be late. Yeah, what else are they doing that day? Yeah, right. Okay after ceremony Photos of the family is taken. Great You're stoked. You're now a wife. How good is this? Then it's time for the intimate photos. Okay Now the intimate photos the first half hour generally is with the bridal party. You do those things Then the bridal party kind of sticks stays on their own probably near the ex eski full of booze that you've Allocated for them and a food platter as well because you will be hungry. Yeah and Thirsty then about up to 60 minutes ish. We're looking now at about 430 445 5 o'clock ish You're driving around to the different spots 6 o'clock reception. That's when you get invited back in You get introduced with your bridal party. They go in first you go in last and then how are you? Everybody's happy. Now with the reception time If it's in January Sunsets at seven so you have an hour to get acquainted with your guests But If it was me as a photographer, I would let you know. Hey just before seven I'm coming up to you tapping on the shoulder saying we're getting some gold now shots. Yes, right? Because that's when the lights most beautiful Again up to your discretion up to how the photographer is talking about it Now, let's say all the photos are done. Everything's done. It's all just reception. I'm very careful of what I say here because I've got specific Things that I think are getting slightly out of tradition. Yeah, but this is an observation from what I've asked the brides If you come in you're gonna see you're gonna see a beautiful setup You're gonna see the cake in one corner. That's been there for the whole day or maybe half the day or whatever The more interruptions the more stop and starts you have throughout the night The less party time you have at the end. Yeah, you got to make sure you have a time where you know What time you're getting kicked out generally is 12 o'clock. Yeah, if it's one of those venues that has noise restrictions It's 11 and that sucks ours was like 11 and that sucked. Yeah, so 12 is a good time One's better depending on how young the party is Now if you come in and get introduced to your dance and sit at the bridal table You have your appetizers coming in the first set of food generally, okay Then you have speeches then you have more food then you have more speeches Then you have the cake and then you have your first dance. If you want to have Father-daughter dance as well. You can do that first But I found that if you do everything Quicker towards the start of the reception You have more room to just hang out with your best friends your family and just dance and drink more Yeah, but if you come in and Sit down and then dance a little bit stop dance a little bit stop Could get a bit Annoying. Yeah, this is what I found a lot of brides don't like. Yeah The best method that I found That I have given to someone and they did it and they were super thankful for this method is come in introduce Hello, how you going? Cut the cakes straight away Cakes done because the cake literally takes one minute two minutes Yeah, the reason why is everyone's anticipating you to come in and they're all standing up and they're all attentive Later on in the night. They're not as attentive Attentive at the start. They'll watch you take out the cake. Yeah Cut the cake special. Yeah, cut the cake cakes done They can wheel the cake away cut it up for dessert later on ready to go. All right, put some ice cream on there whatever Once you cut the cake then you can sit down and do your thing Habitizers come out you eat during the appetizers you can have your speeches Depending on how many speeches you have and the allowed to time you have for the speeches Per person because generally the dad sometimes go over time. Yeah, yeah If you have about four to six people It's not bad to stagger stagger them. Yeah, have the parents talk first on each side and then You have the best man and made of honor talk second Right or best man generally speaks last and then it's you too. Oh gosh Now you anxiety now you both don't have to talk Yeah, if he can talk and you're standing next to him That's fine And if you have the muster up the courage to say something else during that time that generally is how it happens. Okay Then after that Now let's say let's say you do it like this appetizers speech. Yeah, sorry appetizers speech Dinner speech And it really depends if you want speeches during Dinner because all you're gonna hear as well is knives and forks tick-tick-tick. Yeah. Yeah but generally Towards the end of dinner when people are starting to you know You don't want to do speeches when they're carrying out the food because they get in the way and it's a bit annoying Yeah, that's happened before yeah, so That's up to you to decide how you want it Then after that or so like conversations with the vendors like with the venue about their timeframe as well Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It is also due to the vet the venue to so the other thing that I've remembered to give tips about is and This is gonna sound very like straightforward. So forgive me. Do you bloat easily? Yeah Now yeah, do you want to have your first dance after you've had all that food? Yeah, probably not First dance at the start. Yeah Introduce straight into the first dance Cut the cake. I wear a flowy dress. Yes. Yes, and hide it. Yeah. Yeah, but here's where all these elements come into play. Yeah, right cool so, yeah Only problem is about that is Traditionally first dances at the end and then the whole dance floor erupts and then it's time to party. Yeah, right? But if that's something that you may be concerned about first dance at the start get all the formalities out the way and Then at the end we start the party The reception is made or broken by the DJ. Oh We're gonna talk about the DJ now The DJ is someone that understands your audience. Yeah, they ask what you like But you also need to not restrict your playlist to what you like only. Yeah, because the DJ needs to be allowed to read the crowd Mm-hmm if it's just your songs, I know it's your wedding But reception is a little bit more for your guests. Yeah The whole day was yours. The night time is for your guests. It's still your day, but the night time You want to have the guests entertaining? Go back to my wedding. We had a party. It was like a nightclub. Yeah out in the open We got married at Rothwood estate great great event. Yeah, and To this day my friends, I'm not even lying They were like that was the best wedding. Yeah, it was just such a party. It was a vibe It was like you invited me to a giant dance party piss up with food. Yeah, and you made a wife. I was like, yep But the DJ exactly what it was doing. Yeah, read the crowd knew what we wanted and just wiped everyone had a good time You want it you want to impress the majority of the crowd if you have some oldies what annoyed that you're not playing some Old-school stuff Who cares? Yeah, they can they can have that time a little bit later or they can do it earlier just before the real party starts Mm-hmm, and then we're away So you need to know that the deep please don't get Spotify play this don't don't even think about that I know so yeah So that's pretty much the whole day. Yeah There's a few different elements in there that are up to you to decide on how you want to do them But how has that kind of? Pay into the picture. Yeah. Oh, yeah, it's opened up a can of worms really like it's all those little things that I Never would have even Thought I needed to consider Yeah, it's got me thinking it's got me thinking yeah lots of good ideas that yeah questions. Yeah I Have no idea It's more so just like The wedding coordinator look like getting a wedding coordinator seems like it's pretty much black or white like you should get one To make it way less stressful. Did you guys have one for your wedding? Yeah, I had her that was Lisa Yeah from Jim wedding planners. Yeah She I did a few things for her early on in my career with wedding photography Yeah, and She came in and helped coordinate the wedding on the day. She didn't help plan my wedding but she coordinated on the day and She actually originally volunteered to be the dog carer because I wanted my dogs at the wedding And then last minute we opted out but she was already assigned to the day. Yeah, and she just goes I'll just volunteer to coordinate. I'll help you out and it stood the test of time because It was a good investment on her end. Yeah, because every time someone asked about a coordinator I'm like, I'll just I'll just recommend mine. Yeah, and I had Absolutely like quality vendors at my like they just did their thing. I had a bar a DIY bar and I got some kegs And they were tapped in and then also had a wine bar But I needed Bar stuff that had RSAs Excuse me to distribute the wine. Yeah And I thought it'd be a good idea to bring some old students that I had when I was a high school teacher We're now 18 or 19 at the time. Yeah, I made them get their RSAs Before the day and they rocked up fully kitted out. Oh, I love that. But I had no idea what they were doing. Oh Fortunately before that Lisa had organized two more bar staff because she told me that wasn't two two kids is not enough You're gonna struggle. Yeah, and I had assumed that it was gonna be okay But then I realized who's gonna take care of them. I'm busy getting married having a good time. Yeah, right? So she came in clutch and she got two bartenders who hadn't bartended in like ten years come out of retirement from the other job and they had the Best time. Yeah, and they killed it. They they were they loved it Yeah, and they helped the kids out and and everything was amazing because of Lisa. Yeah, right and all the rest of the things that that happened that day and Yeah, coordinators definitely yeah coordinators definitely something on the day just Takes the edge off and it's one of those things that you're like, I don't know if I have the budget for it But afterwards you're like, oh my god. Yeah, thank God. Good idea. Yeah, but yeah It's the same with like like right now Yeah, wedding planners do consult as well and they give you a breakdown as well For me, that's where I end. I don't want to be a wedding planner. Yeah. I like to just talk about The day about the process the process. No, you've really yeah Open up a whole can of worms about things that I need to consider and things I should think about and all the rest of it I mean like I haven't even haven't even dove into the deep end looking and researching into it yet So I feel like when I start doing that, I'm gonna have a whole bunch more questions for you. Yeah, absolutely like I'm going to the wedding expo or the wedding open day this weekend and Hopefully I get a few more ideas But yeah, that should be really exciting. Yeah, really exciting approaching vendors slash suppliers or at wedding expos My pro tip would be if they come up to you and they feel pushy They're red flag. Yeah, right They're listen to you Do you align with their vibe? Is there past experiences that you've seen a line and You know things like that Is there any particular questions apart from what you suggested before like contracts and things like that? What I should be asking vendors when I first approach them. What makes you different to all the other vendors What's your unique point of view? See what they say. Yeah My unique point of view is I'm six foot ten. Yeah, you get no double chins from my my heart, you know Plus I'm very extroverted. I don't care. Yeah, I'll come in and pretend I'm a photo booth With your girls. I've never seen before and I'll just play photo booth time You're gonna change your pose every three seconds. Yeah. Okay. Change pose All right. Yeah, if they can describe to you how they would do it on the day Yeah, and they can really paint the picture for you. They're on the green list. They're on the yes list. Yeah Another question would be How can you make my day memorable and see what they say if it sounds robotic Then you have to kind of figure out whether or not they're just really experienced Or they're just saying it to get you as a client. Yeah, whether it's genuine. I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah two years ago, I Realized that I wanted less clients less couples per year than more and That's because there were so many people to remember my memories not the best, right so Do you want a supplier that's doing a shit ton of in Weddings a year or do you want someone that's a bit more like I just want to focus on this one for this one weekend? Or every two weeks, you know Obviously summer career vendors or summer part-time vendors. So that's something else that you can ask. Yeah, how long have you been in the industry for and How How do you help solve the problems that I that could come to you on my wedding day to assure that everything is going to Be fine. Yeah, something else that you can ask. Yeah. Yeah, so if I got remarried again, I'll just literally ask those questions Yeah, no, they're very good questions asked Anything else specifically I'm trying to think now what else there is okay whilst you think I'll give you the hierarchy of what you should book in Oh, yeah specific orders. Yeah, first thing is your venue. Yeah, once you have your venue and your lock date That's it. That's where you're going Then of that venue they have their preferred suppliers Yeah, start there. Okay. Ask the venue. Who are their preferred suppliers and Then they'll give you that list to start with Interrogate all of them call them up Email them. Do they reply quickly if they don't reply quickly Do you want that sort of correspondence leading up to your wedding day? Will that stress you out if they don't respond to 48 hours outside your wedding day because you want one specific problem You have one specific query that you need answered because realistically if they're There for your wedding day, they can't respond 48 hours before then Yeah, red flag, right you get early signs of that At the start when you're booking so you got your venue Then traditionally it's the photographer. Yeah, because they're they're the ones that you take Your tickets your memories of from with you Then you have your celebrant your third one is your celebrant because they're the ones that you need to get married And they need to marry you Then you have your DJ your music Whether it's during the ceremony as well and then obviously reception if you want them to MC as well That's a good question to ask the DJ. Can you MC? Generally, it's an extra cost. Yeah, or you can allocate an MC for you in your In your party or whoever. Yeah, right you can get a professional MC as well Sometimes a celebrant can also back up as a MC There are some amazing incredible Celebrants that are also amazing MCs Daniel Daniel DeBuello is one of them. Yeah the the ones the photo the The times I've done weddings with him as a photographer Receptions was just like that funny. Yeah, it was just so funny. Yeah So those are the Four so far venue photographer celebrant DJ Then you have the florist Okay, actually before you have the florist you have the makeup artist the makeup artist and the hair is Important. Oh, yeah So that's that's that's a big one florist and then you have your vehicles So how you're gonna get to the venue and how you're gonna get around your intimates cake Obviously your brought your dress and then your bridal dresses and then the suits So now we're getting a little bit more expansion wise furniture Does the venue Bring out the furniture for you. Do they have their own arbor? If not Who do you have as an arbor? Some smaller vendors include photo booths. Oh, yeah. Yeah Magicians bring a magician. I've had magicians And then live singers During ceremony or during their reception And those are the those are the major ones I can think of off the top of my head But there's a certain Time frame you would book certain things. Yeah So a good the better ones generally book out Within 12 like outside of 12 months within 12 months, you're gonna have a slimmer picking. Yeah, it's gonna be cheaper but you're risking only Trying to find the diamond in the rough. Yeah, right and I Feel like you know that the industry could be saturated with vendors But that's where you have to do your due diligence and really ask them questions because if you don't ask them questions then you could Risk getting someone that's just a good salesman. Yeah, you know and I've had weddings where I've done my absolute best and I've had a response straight after going you were amazing today I can't wait for the photos and when I send them the photos out. They were amazing and then months later They're like, oh, I wish they were like this, you know. Yeah, you know Nobody's perfect. Yeah, you know, it's like you go you go to the same restaurant Because you love the food and then they just had an off day. The food's not great I mean, obviously, it's not the best for your wedding day This is where you do your due diligence and ask them. How can you reassure me that they are gonna be? Yeah, you know It's gonna be the same for you. Yeah, so yeah, there's a lot of vendors There's a lot of things that you think about but don't overthink it. Don't overdo it either Simple sometimes is better. Yeah, the more people you have on board the more things can go wrong. Yeah, sorry But if you have a brilliant coordinator that has a good contingency plan backups and obviously years of experience Then that stress is relieved the more vendors you have the more likely you should get a coordinator Yeah, yeah, well the more stressed you think you'll be the more likely you should get a coordinator The more hectic your guests you think will be the more likely you should get a coordinator. Yeah Yeah Yeah, leaning towards that highly that's it. That's it. Yeah Have you thought of any new questions? No, it was more so yeah, like time frames with certain things and Yeah, like bookings certain things Questions and yeah within 12 to 24 months is a good time to book your vendors. Yeah. Yeah All right, because then you have the ones that are still available like genuine good ones. Yeah. Yeah You've covered so much basis like you literally covered every single question that I would have asked already. You're so thorough Definitely join the wedding Facebook groups. There's one called everything weddings Perth. Okay It's actually pretty well monitored or moderated. It doesn't even feel like it's moderated. Everyone there is just Yeah, like vendors and stuff posts on there. Yeah vendors and stuff Just be careful when you post on there asking a question. Yeah, because you're gonna get a lot of sales pitches true, right? Yeah, and that's fine as well But don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed with all the people because they're just trying to make a living Yeah, right People would have different opinions. Yeah a story about when I was in the wedding groups still am like still I've still observed but when I joined I saw a majority of the photographers They just put a website and a little bit of like a sentence about them. That was it Yeah, like 99% of them and then I came in and I would not put my wedding website down I'll put a photo down because you can reply with a comment. Yeah photo. I'm like, hey congratulations, I Took this photo just recently at a recent wedding Yeah, if this is something that you like and you can see yourself in the photo Hit me up on my Instagram for more and DM me on there. That was it. Yeah I had so many DMs So many and the comment comment question was thank you for not pitching to me and DMing me privately And yeah, and what I and then another one was Brides would go can some can you guys recommend me a vendor X vendor and when they say photography, obviously That's my wheelhouse, but they didn't ask for people to pitch them Then they're a business So I had a list of three photographers and I would just suggest to them Yeah, and I'd be like, hey These are the photographers that I've worked with that. I know do a good job as a photographer myself My blah blah and then go if you want more recommendations hit up my instagram And I'll and I'll tell you some more on my instagram. Yeah, they would go to my instagram DM me and go Thank you for not pitching and being salesy Your recommendations were amazing, but I just had a look at your instagram and I was like, oh my god And then they also said the fact that you weren't salesy got me to like you even more Yeah, you know, but that's where that approachable comes in. Right, but that's more advice for other vendors. Yeah So, you know Know what you want. Don't allow someone else to sell you something different Right. Okay. Yeah, um, but yeah, enjoy your Expo this weekend. Thank you. It's on the saturday or the sunday sunday. I believe. Yeah sunday sunday If sunday's weren't for my wife, I would I would do a road road docker with you We'll see how we go. Maybe I can Um, but yeah, definitely Get out there ask the questions. Enjoy it. Thank you. Are you gonna take are you gonna take him or your mom? Or I'm gonna take my girlfriend. Yeah. Yeah, gonna take one of one of the girlfriends. Yeah I won't I won't drag him through that pain I've taken him to a few like little like higher places. Um for our engagement and he was just like standing there No idea. I was like, what color scheme do you want? And he's just like, I don't know I don't care. It's fine. He was like, you choose it. It's your day It's like, whatever color you want you go for the color that you want. Good man If I was asked the color scheme the other day question the other day, um The other thing as well is if you are both deciding on the financial side of your budget And you need his green light for it Make sure that he is part of the conversation When you're onboarding a specific vendor, you know, like if if they seem like they're going to be a little bit higher cost And you don't want a risk of compromising for a not so good vendor Um, you know, there's a difference between good and great and that is the experience and and or the cost So if you are not bringing your partner into the conversation When you relay the information to your partner outside of the initial consultation He is just going to see What their product is what the cost is and that's it. Yeah So make sure they're part of the conversation So they understand the value and the emotional connection between you and the vendor that you're thinking about That was the lesson that I learned when I was um talking to brides for the first time because they they would be generally calling me straight after school or they'd be Like a school drop-off or they would be in the morning or they're on their lunch break because they're no sifting through instagram excited And they'd call me for a quick half hour on their lunch break And the husband or their husband to be is not around They relay that information to their husband later on and I wouldn't hear from him again And the reason was the cost. Yeah But the the the husband to be was on the phone call or in the zoom or in the person meeting. Yeah The girls got what they wanted. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the other thing. Um Cost wise. Yes, that's what he is really concerned about He has said he won't enjoy the big day if he knows it's going to be expensive Which I'm like, no when you get to the day, you're definitely going to enjoy. You're not going to be thinking about the money spent um, but reasonable price for particular vendors and things like that Is there any sort of budget or guideline or anything that you should be looking for? Yeah, so the industry kind of standards based off of the averages of the last few years You're generally looking lower budget of 20,000 Up to a higher budget of 40,000. Yeah, and then the extra budget of 50 50,000, right? Yeah And that's still considered Like that middle tier sort of range If you want to go all out And do all the little things and I'm talking let's start the list. I'm talking little gifts for your guests um sparklers and and and stages and smoke machines and and extra lights and and all these extra people coming in and and over the top florists Um, and and I'm saying over the top because they really pack a punch and they really decorate the room Not that it's really good for me for photos Right, but Bokehs are not cheap. No Wedding cakes are not cheap and there's shortcuts. I can give you as well like for me Um, if I had a wedding I actually had a cheesecake for my wedding cake, but not like a like a dessert cake Yeah, it was a cheese wheel. Yeah cheese wheel I love that. Yeah, and my favorite all time I'm gonna get in so much trouble for this but my favorite all-time wedding cake was actually a honey cake There's a four-tier honey honey cake. Oh my gosh, yum Yeah, I'm very lucky in the cake department because my beautiful auntie is a cake maker. Excellent. There you go saving money already I mean not there's your wedding gift. Yeah, there's your wedding. She um, she did it While she was pregnant. Yeah, and um, she had has three kids. Um, so she had lots of time To prepare and practice and yeah, she's a self-taught Off like youtube watching loads of videos and she creates the most amazing cakes. She Perfect literally created like a pepper pig one She literally made the pepper pig and then even like a fire truck Um, my dad has a boat and so for his 50th birthday. She made I made the boat of his oh, that's awesome It's so sick. It's so good and even like the sand of the the boat on the sand The sand was like all made out of like sugar and this and that like the whole thing's edible. Yeah, she's great She's great. Um to break down my wedding costs at the time Um, rothwood was just starting out. So I got them cheap. It was 6 000 just for the venue But we had Three nights accommodation. Yeah. Wow that included housing eight people. Yeah. Wow You know, that's that was already and we had a pool. Yeah, so we're there friday saturday sunday, you know um and Kevin the the caretaker the owner he he had a dance floor. He upsold us with that And you know, you could drive up the food trucks right up to the venue We had a we had a fire truck Uh decommissioned fire truck that turned into a a pizza oven. Oh my gosh. I've been quiet with him Yes engagement. Yes Oh, yes Yes So I think that was like two three grand. Yeah, you know to feed like 80 people. Yeah, that's that's fair enough Yeah, we bought a shit ton of wine from aldi Yes, and it's like six to ten dollars a bottle and it was decent wine. Yeah, you know um, and I mean you have the soft drinks and things like that. We did a lot of diy Coordinated helped us. We had the ice. We had the combi keg I don't recommend them because they're terrible communicators at the time They may be different now, but at the time they were terrible. Yeah, so it may be different and We had to go get our own kegs from the Beer University, which was also a thing. I think they do that for you now. I don't know But that was an extra time thing. Yeah, but it's for our wedding So I got a beer test and stuff which was called ciders as well And then afterwards any kegs that we had left over we had to bring them back But we we bottled up all our beers ourselves and that was a real fun experience. I felt like a brewer. Yeah Um, so what's that cost now? We're sitting at about 10 grand already just for venue food and drinks Right and some venues do all of that in one package. Generally, it's between 12 to 15 grand Ish Then you have the photographer the photographers like between two 2000 the lower end Up to six eight even 10 000 for the higher end But depending on their packages depending on how much they do and who they are and stuff like that Uh, normally they don't do hourly. They do like half daily or full full day. Yeah, um or unlimited Yeah, right my costs went up because of my demand. Yeah You know From a business point of view. I can't service. I don't want to do 50 weddings a year Yeah, I want to do 20 with the right couple and you know, I'm getting compensated for my For my skill set but also for my my person my persona Um, obviously the product has got to be good too. Um So let's say it's five grand for a photographer We're sitting at between 12 15 even up to 17 000 maybe looking at the 20 000 which is a lower end Still got to get those celebrant and they're between 750 to to 1500 depending on who it is Then you got the dj again 750 to 1500 depending on who it is. So that's another three grand So we're sitting at around fire 25 If your cake is a wedding gift from your aunt great Um, but then you've got a couple of other things that you have to think about like, uh The I mean the flower the hair and makeup Yes, I don't know exactly what the hair and makeup costs. So it's expensive. Yeah, usually it's a couple hundred each Yeah, so we're looking package deals and stuff bar. Yeah, so we're looking where we actually We actually are looking close to between the 30 to 35 000 mark Um, just for those but again if you want to start adding on the little things like photo booth and things like that You're getting close to the 40 grand mark. Yeah, right. Yeah Um Yeah, you can solve a lot of problems if the venue caters and provides the drinks and the bar The bar is included for a specific amount of time. Yeah, so yeah That's that's the biggest chunk that you'll spend Everything else is how quality you want it. Yeah, right? You can get a celebrant You can get what are your friends to be a celebrant if you really wanted to They just have to apply to they just have to register and do the thing and they can be a celebrant I've seen that so many times. They weren't the best celebrant For their first time But they still did it and and the couple was stoked because they saved lots of money. Yeah, but then also their friend married them Yeah, that's pretty cool. You know, that's pretty cool. Um The florist. I mean my florist was um, my future my father-in-law's girlfriend. Yeah, she's she's one of those uh, like, um Hippie freemantle girls that makes cool stuff out of anything That's awesome. And she made a bunch of flowers out of bush plants and stuff that she gathered. It was amazing. Yeah So that makes it even more special, you know, exactly. So there's shortcuts you can do there. Yeah, um, But again, it's it's how exuberant that you want it Yeah, you know like all out like people spend more money on flowers. Sometimes they do on the photographer Yeah, my brother and his fiance getting married at the moment right and Them talking about the cost. I'm like Yeah, that's it. Yeah. Yeah, and then obviously if it's a more intimate wedding You don't have to have all the extras you can just do the quick ceremony and you can have a You know small function room and just deck that out and just do your thing If if the most important thing is having your friends and family there and the food is is good and the drinks are good everything else Just the dj and the the photographer and obviously the celebrant has married you And you're good. Good. You know everything else, you know, like you can get cupcakes instead of a cake You get a whole tiered looking statue of cupcakes that looks like a cake Yeah, you know, yeah, or a cheesecake or a cheesecake made of cheese. Exactly. So Yeah, the cost is quite frightening and If I did it again, if I got married again, God forbid Because you know still married and don't want a divorce or anything ever um We would hire out a warehouse We would bring in We would bring in my I'd still have the same dj not gonna lie. He was an elite We would hire out the chairs and stuff and delegate someone to set it all up And we would get We would have the ceremony and the reception in the same spot. Yeah Would have it one side of the warehouse the ceremony all done up cool looking And then the other side is the party the dance floor the the seating and the the the couches and stuff higher some furniture or whatever And yeah do that and then And then have food trucks rock up. Yeah out the front Like five or six of them though And just have them go ham give them all the budget and just go here go Keep out keep our friends happy. Yeah, probably cost us max 15 grand. Yeah And the majority of the time people weren't waiting We would rock up We would be we would just have an absolute warehouse of a party. Yeah And I think that's actually where potentially the industry is going. Yeah is the younger generation They can't afford to buy houses. Yeah alone a $40,000 wedding. Yeah, you know traditionally like the parents help pay And you're going to get wedding gifts that is mostly always money that help subsidize a bit of it But I think that the kids are really just going to be the younger generations are just wanting to have parties Yeah, should have a party. Definitely. Yeah, yeah, but again Your wedding day if you have this dream of this of hey walking down the aisle and and I know the girls for A lot of girls they've been dreaming of this day for a while And I'm not here to tell them how you should do it now and what the industry is going for. It's just my prediction. Yeah Yeah, definitely. Yeah any other any other questions before you finish up Um with your down south weddings. Yes main thing I'm concerned about. Yep. I'm just checking the battery Um the main thing I'm concerned about with yeah having a down south wedding is Where you have the ceremony and where you have the reception that travel in between being down south, you know There's not as much way to get around via public transfer or the Transport and all the rest of it. And then it's like you don't want your guests having to drive Yeah, either. Okay, so My next wedding is down south. Um near yelling up. Um I can't remember the venue off the top of my head, but they have got accommodation on site. Yeah beautiful location Uh bunker bay accommodation there. Yeah, right. So you have to think about accommodation for your guests, which could be a cost Yeah, right or you can negotiate a discount For the guests that have to pay. Yeah Because you know, like if I get invited to a wedding in Italy that I did last year I still had to pay for the tickets, but accommodation was covered. Yeah and the food and all that stuff So, yeah, it really depends on the venue majority of the time the The venues that I Are the down south venues their ceremony and the reception was literally right next to each other. Yeah, like Yeah Just trying to think of something now. Yeah bunker bay Beach up the road up the boardwalk in you there Couple of margot river spots same thing. It's all in the same spot The only people that have to drive is us when we go out to the intimate spots. Yeah And and yeah, generally you can also allocate a bus that goes into town if it is out of town like there was a There was another wedding that I did and it really depends if you're a farm girl or not But um, there was one I did at uh saint Saint something it was like literally recently and um, sorry I forget But yeah, everyone rocked up Did the ceremony and then they all drove to the family's home, which is 15 minutes away And then but they're all locals as well. So if all your guests aren't locals Then you've got to make sure you've got somewhere within 10 15 minutes or the accommodations on site or You have a bus or something that is hired to come and pick them up and and take them back to their accommodation. Yeah Yeah, okay, but And this is where your guest invite list can thin out because you send them a list and they rsvp And if they don't rsvp great, you have less guests to talk to invite And the ones that will come They will have to you know, you have to book their accommodation and things like that If you negotiate a discount for them, then they won't feel a bit more pissy that you're forcing them to spend money Generally, they don't think about that. They just go. Oh my god. This is going to be fun. You know, it's like a forced holiday Yeah, exactly, you know, of course we'll come down But that really depends on the respect that your friends have for you the love they have for you. Yeah, they'll make it work and They should already know how much it's going to cost you to do this and they will um They will help out and and fit fit the bill for themselves. You know, we went to brisman last year for a wedding Yeah, uh to Langa luma tanga luma or something. It's an island stuff of brisman the dolphins and stuff. That was cool. Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah and Yeah, we paid for our accommodation The flyets and everything we were like absolutely will go. Yeah, so if if you have friends that are keen to You know Come to a local spot. That's three hours away. Yeah, you know They've they've like i'm i'm keen to go over east overseas. I went to italy for a wedding That's amazing. I'd love to do that I did I did a bit of a cheeky one with that though because because I took some photos for them as well Yeah, there's a bit of a business subsidy there. Yeah, because they asked me to take photos So which meant that I was actually there for a bit of work. Yeah, so that's helpful for tax time. Yeah Um But uh But yeah, don't worry about don't worry about that like They will come if they feel bothered. Yeah, they don't like you enough. Yeah They're not worthy of of seeing you on the wedding day But that's a good question. Yeah, it gets a bit awkward any other awkwardness that you're thinking about Um, it was mainly just that one. That was the big one. Um Because yeah, we've we've suggested a barley wedding But my dad is very very afraid of airplanes And yeah last holiday that we went to it was over east and that was when I was 16. So wow Yeah, like over 10 years ago, so Yeah, barley would be cheaper a lot cheaper. Oh so much cheaper so much cheaper, but hey Yeah, gotta do for the ones we love. Yeah But yeah in summary enjoy it. It's your day Make sure you talk about contracts with your vendors and Coordinators are a lifesaver. Yeah Yeah, definitely leaning towards coordinators now. Yeah, so cool. Yeah, how much better do you feel coming out of this than when you came in? A lot better like it's just opened up my mind to so many things that I Would have never considered Things I would have never thought of like yes, especially talking to vendors and asking those important questions and things like that I feel a lot more A's I guess Yeah, I feel a lot more confident and that's for sure. Yeah, thank you so much Excellent. I think this was a good all-round kind of a thing that'll help a lot of brides to be as well Yeah, amazing. Thank you so much. I hope you like the sound of your invoice Not so much. All right. Um, have any questions? Let me know and yeah, I hope you enjoyed. Thank you. Thanks