What do you do when you’re the groom and your fiancée leaves most of the wedding planning tasks to you? If you’re like me who has no clue about weddings, then you might do what I did – ask my sister to do the planning for me without letting my fiancée Rachelle know. Unfortunately, my sister was too busy with her family and work so all the preparations were still left to me.

“Let’s just go to Vegas, get drunk and get married!” Believe me. I’ve been tempted to say this several times over the months that I was planning our wedding. However, I love Rachelle so much and I wanted to give her the dream wedding that she deserved.

During the time of our engagement, Rachelle was completing her master’s degree in Asian studies. She was on a different continent, but it was clear for the both of us that we wanted our wedding to be held in the city where we grew – Perth. So, we agreed that I’d take care of the major aspects of the wedding that couldn’t be dealt with overseas.

Rachelle took care of the specific details (which are more tedious!), including the theme, colors, décor, dresses, and food, among many others. I, on the other hand, took care of some of the decisions such as booking the venue and the major suppliers. Our wedding was not perfect as there were some little setbacks, just like in any other event. However, I believe everything still fell into place, making the night fun and truly memorable. Below are some of the details that helped me choose some of our suppliers for the wedding.

Choosing the Wedding Venue
When Rachelle and I discussed how to choose the wedding venue, we agreed on considering six major factors: space, budget, theme, date, location and head count.

Location
One of the first decisions that Rachelle and I made was holding the wedding in our home city, Perth. So, choosing the venue was a lot easier for us. The location and the accessibility of the venue were important to us. We made sure that our guests can easily find it.

Budget
While we wanted to have a big wedding where we could invite everyone, Rachelle and I understood that a bigger venue would be more costly. That is why we considered venues that would be within our allocated budget. If the cost of the venue was way beyond our budget, we removed it from our list.

Date
Since Rachelle’s schedule was not very flexible, we had to make sure that our venue was available on our chosen date. As such, we considered three venues. Having options was good because our first choice was fully booked on our desired day.

Head Count
Even before choosing the venue, we already had a rough idea of the number of people we wanted present at our wedding. Since we wanted an intimate event, we didn’t really need a vast and grand area. So, we chose a venue that could accommodate our number of guests.

Theme
When I was evaluating the venues in person, Rachelle specifically told me that I should take note of the general vibe of the place. I made sure that the venue I chose spoke to me and to my fiancée. In this way, we would be able to properly execute the theme that Rachelle had in mind.

Space
One of the questions I asked myself when I visited the venues was, “Can this place hold all the activities and elements that Rachelle and I want?” I studied the layout of the venue carefully and made sure that we can fit all the tables and chairs as well as the dancing area, stage and cocktail bar.
In the end, Rachelle and I decided to have an intimate garden wedding. This decision gave us more funds for adding unique and personal touches to our night, making it a meaningful experience for us and our guests.

Lights and Sounds – Elements that Shouldn’t be Neglected!
Despite not having the knack for organising events, I knew clearly that lights and sounds were some of the most important elements of our wedding. Personally, I think not having sufficient lights and sounds in an event is like drinking a bland orange juice.

Even though we planned on an intimate wedding, we still wanted it to be vibrant and memorable. So, I made sure that I’d book audio visual hire services that are suitable for our wedding program and theme. Below are some of the factors I considered when I chose a sounds and lighting equipment hire service.

Sound Equipment
Rachelle and I spent hours and hours on video chat for choosing our wedding songs. My wife had a specific song in mind for her walk down the aisle as well as for our first dance as a married couple. I also prepared a surprise song number for her. Since our wedding was a garden event, we needed outdoor speakers as well as audio mixers and wireless microphones. I wanted to make sure that the audio company I would hire was able to provide the aforementioned.

Lighting Equipment
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I prepared a surprise song number for my wife. I wanted it to be an engaging experience so I recruited some of my mates as background dancers while I sung. I planned on singing Milli Vanili’s Girl You Know It’s True. With an upbeat song as such, I knew I needed enough lighting effects to properly execute the performance. My wife laughed until her stomach hurt when she watched me try to hit the notes while dancing like an idiot!

Visual Equipment
Rachelle and I also hired a very talented photo and video team. We requested for a same-day video edit which we could show to the guests before we wrap up the event. We also had a pre-wedding video shoot which we wanted to play while the guests were waiting for us. So, we considered hiring an audio visual hire service that’s comprehensive and complete.

We found a number of sounds and lighting equipment hire services in Perth. It was difficult to choose the right one for our specific needs. Thankfully, one of my mates recommended 3Monkeys Audiovisual. They offered us the perfect wedding lights and audio package. They even offer a projector and screen rental service so we didn’t have to find another supplier for that.

Planning some aspects of the wedding was quite overwhelming, especially since as the groom, I knew nothing about events like this. But whenever I look back at the wonderful night I spent with Rachelle and our loved ones, I immediately forget all the stress I went through during the preparations.

For grooms and brides who are planning their wedding, best of luck to you!

Images by Jose Enrile

Ms Zigzag says: Medel, you sure made Rachelle proud. What a great job you did in planning your dream wedding, and thank you for sharing your planning insight!