Wedding Venues in Brisbane

Have you ever tried to plan a wedding for 300 people in Brisbane? No? Yes?

Either way, I’m sure you realise it’s a heinously difficult task.  I am currently creating spreadsheets by the dozen…I have one for engagement party venues, one for wedding ceremony venues and one for reception venues.  A good way to cull these venues is just to check who can hold 300 people: the answer is not many, if any. A little Scribe to brighten your morning!

Anyways, we’ve decided on Lightspace for our engagement venue.  It costs $2100 to hire the venue, it’s in Fortitude Valley and you can BYO caterer and booze (huzzah!).  While it does end up being approximately the same cost as if you went to a catered venue, you will get a lot more bang for your buck!

Ceremony Venue is going to be the All Hallows Chapel – which is a beautiful church and luckily fits 300 people! I’m an old girl, so I get to have my wedding there (elitist and I’m loving it!).

My next battle is the reception venue.  The most difficult part I think! Here are the ones we’ve looked at so far:

• Victoria Park Golf Club
• Hillstone Golf Club
• Sofitel Brisbane
• Mercure Brisbane
• Sebel and Citigate
• Royal on the Park

We’re going to see Moda Events next week and trying to tee up Hilton Brisbane as well.

So, here’s what I think so far:

I was really disappointed with Vic Park, because I really thought it would be “the one”.  Beautiful marquee style venue (bit small) and the absolute worst part, no menu tastings!  I was like, “ummmm you want me to spend over 40k on food and beverage, but no tastings?”.  I think not.  Not even a little bit flexible either…it was just that’s it, no tastings, nothing.  We have photos of the menu, but not the part of the menu you’re interested in.  Wowwww, so helpful, thanks.

Like I said, disappointing.

Hillstone’s Open Day was amazing.  They had food everywhere! And if you know me (which you probably don’t) the way to my heart is through my stomach…especially when in the form of cupcakes. And did they have cupcakes!! They had a lolly buffet, they had awesome cupcakes (large and mini), they had wine by the bucket, the staff were super friendly and the canapes!! The duck pancake was to die for.  And thankfully, they do menu tastings and wine tastings as well! Hurrah!

Sofitel Brisbane: Unfortunately, we went to visit the hotel on the same day as Supafest, so it was crowded with half naked people and various American entourage/dancers/crew.  It made for some interesting people watching, I can tell you that!  Service is fantastic and if you’re looking for a hotel to stay in, I would definitely recommend the Sofitel.  As for the ballroom – well it was built up to be this amazing ballroom – huge ceilings, huge prices too, but that’s because it’s a 5 star hotel.  However, when we got up there….it was just this huge empty space.  It just looked like a ginormous conference room.  The “chandeliers” were modern lighting fixtures and not what we were looking for.  I mean, to drape the room in white would cost $4500.  I am not even kidding.  And you’d have to drape it in something, because the room is so bare.  They had it set up for a gala, and it just looked empty – even with seating for 200 people! I dunno, it just didn’t strike a chord with us.

Mercure Brisbane: Great venue, great location, great space and great service.  Was really impressed with Mercure!  I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting much from them, but I can admit when I’m wrong! The lady who showed us around was just fantastic.  Really made us feel welcome and showed us everything there was to see.  We really liked this one! I think it all hinges on the menu now!

Sebel and Citigate: By far one of my favourites!  Most beautiful ballroom – very old school.  They had mahogany panels, mirrors, old school chandeliers – everything! Centrally located and very open about price (yay!).  I really felt like they wanted our business and were going to be competitive about it too, which I loved.  The coordinator stays throughout the entire wedding, which is awesome.  They also have a complimentary stay for the bride and groom (which Sofitel didn’t offer).   Definitely in my top 3!

Royal on the Park:  Again, another disappointing venue.  Beautiful ballroom, but the lobby and the rest of the hotel was quite dated.  Even the food felt like it was from the 70s – beef on top of mash with peas? It was all very average, the food was eh, the service was eh, the room was great but that’s about it.  And for the prices they charge, you really want more bang for your buck!

I’ll let you (the internet at large) know about Moda once we’ve seen it!  I think you can probably tell which venues we’re speeding towards and which ones we’re avoiding like the plague.  Next up is the fun stuff – decorations, bridal gowns etc etc.  Cannot wait!

Love

Liz xx