The Plantation and The Little White Wedding Company’s Luxury Wedding Soiree

As one of the first special guest writers for Polka Dot Bride, I felt a lot of pressure on this post. So much so, it got the best of me at times and this is now horribly, horribly late. I’ll portion some of the blame on work and my own wedding planning, but a large part of it has to do with writer’s block. How can I, in fewer than 750 words, accurately describe the Luxury Wedding Soiree? …

The Soiree was designed to be an alternative to standard wedding expos. The Plantation was set up to represent what it could actually look like if you (or I) had your wedding there. You could taste the food, drink the champagne, hear the live music, sit under the marquees and walk down the path to a possible ceremony site.

And what a great idea!

Under the marquee

First of all, The Plantation is a stunning venue. It’s reminiscent of English country estates with the driveway leading to a beautiful building, perfectly manicured courtyard (including a pool and fountain!!) before a sloping hill takes you down to rows of cherry trees next to a forest. Interestingly, I overheard one guest point out that her heels weren’t sinking into the grass in the courtyard – good to know. It offers a striking alternative to a beach wedding for anyone near South East Queensland.

The Plantation

The Plantation gardens

My “points to consider”:

  • Cooroy is seriously far away… from Brisbane anyway. It took me 1hr40  from Brisbane City and that was with good traffic, so consider transport and the distance your guests might have to travel;
  • The hill down to the cherry trees was quite steep and I didn’t see stairs or anywhere for the elderly/disabled to get down;
  • Well… that’s all I could come up with really.

The second thing that made this event truly fabulous was Victoria and The Little White Wedding Company (LWWC). Victoria says her service is all about personalisation and the little touches, and that definitely came through. From the high quality selection of vendors invited, to the attention to detail (most evident in the goody bags – gorgeous perfume and cupcakes made by Victoria herself anyone?), the goal of “luxury” was definitely achieved.

I had the opportunity to catch her for five minutes and pick her brain. This proved to be more difficult than I had imagined – she was all over the place, in a good way though, the way I envision a highly efficient and experienced Wedding Planner to be.

Victoria* offered some advice for Brides-to-be:

  • Research. And compare vendors. She has at least 3-4 different vendors for each aspect of wedding planning, to try and cover varying budgets and personalities.
  • On the day – make time for yourselves. Before the ceremony, schedule in a massage**. After the ceremony, set aside time for you and your new husband to have some “alone time and soak in the moment”.

Overall, I’d give this event a 9/10. The idea is inspired, and I would highly recommend repeats – although I’m not sure Victoria would be so keen with all the highly-stressed/sleepless hours I’m sure she and the rest of the team went through. This was not an expo where you were bombarded by photographer after photographer after florist after celebrant all either shoving a flyer into your hand (and quickly moving on to the next) or trying to force you to sign then and there***. No, this was intimate, calm, organised, elegant – some of the characteristics I think that make for a good wedding. And did I mention there was punch! Including a kiwifruit punch!**** But truly, I’ve been to similar events at hotels in Brisbane where the general feeling was still one similar to mega-commercial expos. Both Kellie (from The Plantation) and Victoria took the time to talk to almost every group of guests that day; if that doesn’t describe dedication, you tell what does!

My favourite vendors of the day:

  • Offenbach Trio – hearing the strings as you arrive set the tone. Relaxing, inviting, elegant…
  • Studio Impressions – some of the best photos I’ve seen in the last 10 months of being engaged. And I’ve seen a loooooottttttt……
  • Cake Designs – the wonder that is croquembouche. And a lovely guy.
  • Bill Scurry. Celebrant. He was warm, funny, easy to talk to and felt really honest.

Offenbach trio

Croquembouche (Cake Designs)

You can find professional photos on The Plantation’s website and LWWC’s blog.

*You should know that Victoria and LWWC offer all sorts of packages – from full service planning to ‘On the Day’ coordination. And she’s super nice. Honest.

**Give yourself enough time to wake back up though!

***Can you tell I’m not a big fan of expos? Sure you can. You’re Polka Dot Bride readers. You’re smart. ‘Nuff said.

****Maybe it’s just me and my kiwi-ness, but the idea of green kiwifruit punch made me bubble with smiles 🙂

Kahiwa was our first ever Polka Dot Bride reporter and visited the luxury wedding soiree on behalf of Polka Dot Bride. A little about Kahiwa…..

“My name is Kahiwa and I’m a hard-core All Black-supporting Kiwi living in Brisbane with my equally AB-nuts Kiwi fiance. We’re planning a wedding back in our hometown of Wellington, New Zealand. In the meantime, I’m addicted to Twitter, Facebook, ukulele, baking, the colour yellow, blogs and the internet in general. I feed my narcissism by sharing my own wedding-related thoughts on http://grant-and-kahiwa.blogspot.com. Mostly, I’m just trying my best not to turn into a Bridezilla before May 2011 :)”