Frequently Asked Questions
The Venues Service is a 45-minute consultation where we learn about your budget, guest numbers, preferences, and practical requirements. Based on this, we introduce venues we believe are suitable and walk you through realistic photos, videos, layouts, inclusions, and key considerations that affect costs and logistics. The goal is to help you make an informed venue decision early and avoid issues later in planning.
You can find more details in the Venues section of our website.
Yes, we don't make any hidden commissions or markups on venues, so why do we do this for free?
Before we pioneered the Free Venues Service, we were like every wedding supplier. Suppliers don't take you seriously until you have found a wedding venue and have a wedding date. In one particular month, three couples came back telling us that they have now found their venue and whether we're ready to chat, and then we discovered that they didn't choose a suitable venue, they didn't request for certain things, and there were substantial additional costs they didn't factor in. This ended up causing these couples major problems in planning. Unfortunately they didn't know, because no one told them about it. This was when we decided that we are in the best position to help couples with finding wedding venues.
But we also get something in return:
1. THIS IS HOW WE LEARN ABOUT VENUES
Venue prices, packages and other information are regularly updated. As part of our venue service, we often help couples request for the official venue information files, which gives us an opportunity to keep up to speed with the latest.
2. YOU ARE OUR BEST RESEARCHER
Our couples are often our best researchers and tell us new things that we don't know about. We love that we can learn from each other in this process!
3. BUILDING GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH VENUES
The more couples we bring to venues, the more seriously venues take us. When we have good rapport from venues, we receive more care and support, which is ultimately benefits all our future couples. It is no secret that good relationships make a big difference and one of the best ways to build good relationships is to bring clients through the door!
4. LET US SHOW YOU WHAT WE DO!
We are confident in our experience and the service we deliver. But rather than letting us talk about what we do, let us show you what we do. The venues service is the best first step for us to get to know each other, for you to experience how we do things, and see whether what we do is suitable for you. Even if we are not suitable for you, we hope you find this service valuable that you would recommend it to your friends!
Pressure Free means that we do not pressure you to choose the venues that we recommend, you will not be asked to make payments to the venue, after the meeting you are free to book yourself, and you're free to go.
Obligation free means that there is zero obligation for both parties. You are not required to book any services with us, and we are not required to proceed further. No explanation is required if either party decides not to move forward.
Although we have a great relationship with venues, we do not work on a commission based arrangement. So recommendations that we make are not coloured by any financial arrangements. We are a client side business that is about helping couples plan weddings and provide wedding services based on each couple's personal needs.
To make the most of your Venues Chat, prepare the following:
(1) Estimated guest numbers, and minimum and maximum guests
(2) Rough budget for entire wedding spend
(3) Important priorities (budget, type of banquet (Chinese, western, lunch, dinner) location, convenience, length of event, guests requirements, other factors important to you)
Estimated time for meeting: 45 minutes
The venues chat is quick, simple and to the point. This can be done over Zoom or in person. A lot of screen sharing will be used in this meeting to show you photos, videos and other information. This is best done if you can conduct this meeting on a larger screen.
The Wedding Planning Trial is a 90β120 minute session where we map out your wedding day hour by hour, identify all services required based on your venue and plans, and highlight key considerations and potential risk areas. We also help you form a clear, realistic budget so you understand what is involved before committing to anything.
You can find out more about how this works in our Wedding Planning Trial page.
The contents of the Wedding Planning Trial is normally part of the paid service in a wedding planning structure. But we figured rather than sitting down and answering "interview questions", or us just telling you about what we do, we would save more time by showing you what we actually do.
In the service, you will feel our vibe, understand the way we do things and the way we think; and vice versa, we will learn a lot about you as well. This will give both of us some idea as to whether we are suitable for each other and like finding a partner, either side can veto the relationship guilt free.
The Wedding Planning Trial also lines up with all five of our Core Principles
(1) Competeness: You will see how we have thought about everything
(2) Cost Effectiveness: Would you buy coffee for a friend for wedding day advice? Here you're getting a free 2 hour consultation with seasoned wedding planners that have conducted over 1000 weddings, that's pretty cost effective!
(3) Efficiency: You will see how we can cover an enormous amount of ground in a relatively short time; and we'd rather do this once rather than have to do an interview with you first and then do this all over again
(4) Practicality: It is more practical to show you what we do than to just talk about it, and give you practical advice that can assist you in your event
(5) Transparency: We are transparency about who we are and what we do. The truth is, we don't know whether we are suitable for you and the Wedding Planning Trial is the best way to find out. It would be unfair for us to charge you a fee for you to see us, and then tell you that we're not right for you.
Pressure Free means that we do not pressure you to choose the services that we recommend, you will not be asked to make payments in this meeting, and we do not pressure clients by saying that if you don't book now things will be more expensive tomorrow.
Obligation free means that there is zero obligation for both parties. You are not required to book any services with us, and in turn we are also not required to proceed further. No explanation is required if either party decides not to move forward.
At the end of the meeting, you can decide how you would like to proceed and if this is not suitable for you, you will not be contacted anymore.
To get the most out of the Wedding Planning Trial, here are a few things that you need to prepare:
(1) Have a reception venue booked already: If you have not confirmed a venue yet, please book in a Free Venues Service.
(2) Have some idea about the things that you might want to do / not want to do for your wedding
(3) Have some idea of a rough budget, does not need to be itemised
(4) Be well-fed and comfortable: this is a meeting that goes for 90-120 minutes and can be quite intense because there is so much that we need to get through in a short time.
This meeting needs to be conducted in person unless it is impossible, such as if the couple is from overseas or interstate, or not possible in some other way. We try to make things as easy as possible and make both office hours and weeknights available; with locations in Parramatta and North Sydney. The reason why in person is so important is because we believe that finding the right wedding planner is like choosing the right partner. Just like how you can meet someone online and get to know them a bit, you can only feel the vibe in person. Wedding Planning is a relationship based partnership so the vibe is very important. You wouldn't want a wedding planner who couldn't see you in person, and it works the other way around too!
Also practically we are able to show you photos, videos, portfolios and physical items much easier in person, and two hour zoom meetings are very difficult to conduct, especially if there are connectivity issues.
The truth is: We don't know, and there's only one way to find out! Like all relationships we don't know whether this will work out so the best way to find out is to try before you make an important commitment. We give couples the opportunity to try this without any commitment in the best way possible through this free, obligation free and pressure free service where you can also get some good information in return.
We are a wedding services supplier, so we are all about supplying wedding services that you need for your wedding day - we are not a wedding venue. However, we are also venues experts, so we can help you pick from a large range of venues to suit your budget and your preferences from any location you want. So this is just like choosing a venue where all services are include, except that you can pick any venue you like to build your all in one package.
Yes. All packages are fully customisable. You can add services, remove services, or adjust individual components to suit your needs, preferences, and budget.
For example if a wedding package includes a marriage celebrant and you do not need a marriage celebrant, you can remove that item, and the corresponding itemised price of that item is removed. It also means that for example the package includes makeup and hair for the bride, you can add makeup and hair for bridesmaids and mothers. We expect you to change what is in the standard package to make it suitable for your needs.
We are a wedding one stop shop supplier and we are about helping couples create a convenient one-stop-shop package. However. we also know that we cannot be everything to everybody. Our packages are fully customisable, so for example if you prefer your own makeup artist and our package already includes makeup and hair, you can remove it from the package, and the corresponding amount for that service is also removed from the final amount.
We are a one-stop-shop wedding supplier that delivers in-house wedding services, we do not use "vendors" in that sense and make markups or commissions on third party services.
Minimum spending may apply, particularly on weekends and high seasons. Minimum spends may vary depending on the contents of your package, proximity to the wedding date and the date/time of the week. Minimum spendings are discussed after a consultation.
As wedding planners, a big part of our job is to help couples keep costs under control. As part of our venues service, we will also factor in other venue costs, and we will also help you in factor many costs that you may not have considered.
In terms of wedding services, we help you run a full service checklist of all services that you might need for your wedding and help you budget accordingly, considering various other additiaonl costs.
Additional costs may come in the form of staffing fees, standard industry meal allowances, reimbursements for items we are asked to purchase by clients and other such costs. As part of wedding service budgeting, we will clearly calculate costs and also provide a buffer for incidentals.
Generally standard wedding planning is expected to go for 9-12 months. For our wedding planning clients, we have a full 200 point checklist of everything that all couples need to do before the wedding day plus a services checklist on where each service should be up to by which stage. We meet with clients periodically and each to do list item has a due date. Generally, the more services couples do with us, the faster and easier those meetings are because no further decision has to be made with external parties. Clients can also contact us anytime for assistance and advice.
Generally, for a full sized wedding 50+ guests, we expect planning to be able to be conducted comfortably between 6-12 months without making any concessions. However, it is possible for these weddings to be planned in as little as 30-60 days. The main difference is that for full planning, we give time and space for couples to make decisions over months, but for expedited planning, there are some decisions that have to be made immediately, and other decisions are made quicker by putting a decision in place first with the option to change by a due date.
We are experts in expedited weddings within 31 days or less. As a one stop shop, we can produce events very quickly as many of our stock is already there and the service is already streamlined. Even for express weddings, we still go through the 200 point checklist and services checklist, but we will conduct a half day meeting where all decisions are made in this meeting, whether its flower colours, event order and all details. Some decisions have to be made immediately like the printing of invitations, but other decisions like what songs to have or what flower colours -- we will put something in place first, for the opportunity to make changes at the final meeting, where other items are due such as wedding ceremony script notes etc. Generally as a rule, the closer it is to the wedding day, the options to customise reduce.
The amount of commitment varies from couple to couple and ultimately depend on how customised you want your event to be. The more customisation is involved, the more involvement. We do expect couples to complete items required such as guest lists, event file details, and options for styling, music, event details etc. on time so that we can deliver our services properly. When couples do everything with us in one package, we expect couples to not have to spend more than 40 hours in wedding preparation, as opposed to the standard estimation of 200-500 hours.
When we first meet in the Wedding Planning Trial, one of our services is to help you put together a realistic budget that factors in your requirements, tastes, preferences, and other associated costs that you might not have considered. A big part of our job as a wedding planner is to keep you within the budget, that means that at the start we aim to give you a realistic budget, and as we begin wedding planning, we generally don't upsell additional items that we didn't mention before.
As wedding planners, a big part of our job is to help couples keep costs under control. As part of our venues service, we will also factor in other venue costs, and we will also help you in factor many costs that you may not have considered.
In terms of wedding services, we help you run a full service checklist of all services that you might need for your wedding and help you budget accordingly, considering various other additiaonl costs.
Additional costs may come in the form of staffing fees, standard industry meal allowances, reimbursements for items we are asked to purchase by clients and other such costs. As part of wedding service budgeting, we will clearly calculate costs and also provide a buffer for incidentals.
We are a one stop shop specialising in one stop wedding services. We may be able to do standalone services subject to availability, and minimum spending may apply.
See our blog article about what couples benefit the most and what couples do not benefit from having a wedding planner: Blog: Do I need a Wedding Planner?
The one stop package service such as our Ultimate All Inclusive package is designed as a all-in-one package that is standardised with a large range of options available. If any of our existing options is exactly what you want, then it's perfect.
Otherwise if you have a fixed vision that is different from our standard offerings, you will be best off with our Gold wedding planning service, where you will have us as a dedicated wedding planner without the one stop service.
Below are a list of our expertise
Wedding Type:
* Standard traditional western church/civil ceremonies and standard reception
* Microweddings (10-30 guests)
* Express / Expedited 31 days or less weddings
* Visa compliant marriage ceremonies
Cultural Expertise
* Standard Western / Australian
* Christian ceremonies / Catholic ceremonies
* Chinese weddings (Cantonese / Mandarin)
* Chinese weddings (Gaoyao, Zhaoqing)
* South East Asian weddings
* Chinese / South East Asian Tea Ceremonies
If you are hosting an event within a specialised culture or subculture, we may or may not be suitable for you.
If you're interested in what we do, an initial consultation allows us to assess whether our experience is appropriate, or whether or team is the best fit for your requirements.
A wedding is one of the most important days of your life, and if we're not confident that we can fulfill the role, we will not be comfortable to take the role. If we are unable to accept this work, we can help guide you toward someone more suitable.
As part of our procedure, we start with a Wedding Planning Trial, where we will create a custom proposal for you. After the proposal is made, you may accept or make changes before we make the contract.
After the contract is made standard contractual terms apply. There are 3 kinds of changes that you may make:
(1) Items that can be changed anytime: There are some items in the contract such as invitations, or bonbonieres that can be taken away anytime up to production. You can certainly change your mind.
(2) Items with a trial service: You may remove items on a package if you have done a trial and decided that you did not like it, for instance makeup and hair, photography, wedding cake. If you remove, there may be a fee for the trial applied if work was done depending on the arrangement,
(3) Services: If you have confirmed a service with us and you change your mind later, standard terms may require you to forfeit a deposit, which may increase as it gets closer to the wedding day.
Our advice to our couples is that if you are not certain about a service, do not book it in yet until you are sure. You can put services into an "Optional" category and add it back on later, provided that it is still available. Generally, the price offered initially stays the same. If you are not sure, do not put it into the package.
