Pete and Joanne

I had waited so long to be engaged (seven years and six days to be exact) and to actually be able to properly start planning my wedding (and not just dreaming about it), it was so exciting! I didn’t know where to start…

After setting a date that was meaningful to us and writing the guest list, we started the search across Tasmania to find the perfect place to tie the knot. If you have been to Tassie you will understand just how many beautiful places there are to choose from. Including Heritage buildings, lush vineyards, stunning beaches and breathtaking mountain tops that are dotted throughout this little ‘natural’ state.

So after racking our brains, trawling the internet, attending expos and flipping through magazines, my then fiancé and I came up with a short list of about six venues that we thought suited our ‘outdoorsy’, non-traditional nature, but would also have that ‘wow’ factor since 98% of our guests were travelling from interstate or overseas. We then contacted the venues individually to ask for their Wedding Compendium so that we could look into the finer details of cost, menu options, ceremony and reception locations and so forth. We were able to rule out a couple of places due to minimum spend requirements and music restrictions not being to our liking.

We then contacted the Wedding Coordinators of the short listed venues to arrange a meeting and viewing, and that’s when it got interesting…. One lady was just too busy to meet us on a weekend and told us to go and look around for ourselves, needless to say we didn’t bother. If they couldn’t be bothered to put in any effort at this early stage then what was the rest of the process going to be like? Another lady was telling us exactly how the day was going to happen, down to the number of steps I would take and when I was allowed to use the restroom – I thought it was supposed to be my day, not hers! The third venue was lovely, but was a bit plain and just didn’t have that ‘wow’ factor we were after. And then there was one…

We had explored the Cradle Mountain area many years ago when we first moved to Tasmania, and we fell in love with the place! In our hearts we had actually already chosen this area to get married but didn’t think it would work. We arranged a meeting with Cradle Mountain Chateau and travelled up. Well, how lovely it was to deal with a venue that would bend over backwards to meet any request that you had! We came away thinking immediately that yes, this is it, we have found our perfect place!

I had always dreamed of an outdoor ceremony in front of the beautiful mountain and lake view, but in Tassie, having four seasons in one day is not uncommon.

We hoped for this.

Photo by Peter Harrison

But we ended up getting this.

Photo by Steve Lovegrove

But that’s ok, the photos turned out great!

Photo by Steve Lovegrove

Over the many months of planning, Alarna and the rest of the team at Cradle Mountain Chateau were fantastic, from helping to arrange accommodation, menu tasting, setting up on the day and making sure we were pampered. It goes to show that no matter where you have your heart set to say ‘I Do’, you can make it work and there are people and wedding venues out there willing to make the day all about you!

Swirl divider Paper DIY Rosette Buttonhole

Ms Gingham says: It astounds me that people supposedly in customer service have no concept of what that means! Good on you Joanne for standing your ground!

Joanne says: “I’m Jo a 27 year old Radiation Therapist living in Hobart, Tasmania. I moved from England when I was 10 to Sydney, where I did High School and University and met the love of my life Pete in 2004.”