Our wedding reception was held at the Oakey Cultural Centre. I chose this venue because not only was it recommended to me by everyone whom I asked, but it was great value. We were able to hire the whole hall, terrace bar and foyer for less than many of the function centres in Toowoomba or Brisbane, plus they didn’t mind me using my own caterer. It was actually a marriage made in heaven between my caterer and the venue, because she loves doing weddings there and the functions manager won’t recommended any other caterer!
My mother and her team of helpers had spent quite a lot of time the previous day preparing the hall. I had asked for flowers in bottles, like those I had seen on countless DIY wedding blogs. She had been collecting bottles ever since I got engaged I think! We hired linen from Event Illusions and the whole thing turned out amazingly lovely. It looked just like I imagined, native blooms everywhere with gum leaves and some sparkly scatters just for kicks.
We arrived exhausted after our photo shoot and fell upon the nibbles and drinks put out for us in the foyer. My new husband cracked open a bottle of expensive whiskey and shared a nip with his best man and father. After the first round my bridesmaid and I asked for one too – my goodness! It may be good stuff but it sure does burn on the way down! But we had forgotten to take drinks with us when doing our bridal party photos and were eager for a drink! After that I opted for a glass of Sauv Blanc.
All our guests we safely ensconced in the bar area, so we snuck into the main hall and took some mock First Dance and Cake Cutting photos. After that they let everyone in and we made a grand entrance to great applause. I hate being the centre of attention so I can tell you it was very uncomfortable for me sitting at the bridal table, with everyone looking at us! I think it was at that point I got sick of being the star of the day and wished everyone would stop fussing over us and concentrate on having a good time.
Our MC was a family friend, the father of C’s Best Man. He did the job well and the speeches weren’t too long or boring, a fact I was grateful for. My favorite was the Best Man’s, considering I knew he had been working on it for quite a while and was terrified!
The food was taken care of by Christine Buckley Catering. I have known Christine since I was born and she has built up a wonderful catering business that everyone in the district agrees is the best. We had an alternate drop of chicken and steak (I cannot remember what the dishes were called! But the chicken was AMAZING) and our wedding cake with berry coulis for dessert. Our beautiful cake was made by my brother’s girlfriend, topped by native flowers arranged by my mum. It was three tiers of mud – white, caramel and chocolate heaven!
I elected not to have a bouquet or garter toss. I didn’t want a bouquet toss because I myself have hated the way they’ve made me feel at weddings in the past. I have been to many, many weddings in my 26 years of singledom and from a young age, I was bullied into standing up there with the expected group of spinsters, all jokingly elbowing each other out of the way. As I got older I grew to abhor the ritual – it is meant to be fun but for me it was a cruel and public way of reminding me that I was alone, without a partner. I even remember hiding on a couple of occasions just so I wouldn’t have to stand with a tiny group of 3 single girls in front of everyone, and mime attempting to catch the toss. As I only had about 3 single girls at my wedding, I elected not to put them through this ceremonial pain and instead presented my bouquet to my mother. She was quite touched, and I was very glad that was what I had chosen to do. The garter toss, I think you can guess, was deleted due to its unbearable vulgarity. The thought of subjecting myself to that embarrassing faux-sexual goings on in front of my relatives and friends just made me feel ill. Thus, I didn’t even wear a garter, and spared my guests the whole uncomfortable affair.
Our first dance was to Brad Paisley’s “Little Moments”. It is a song we listened to a lot at the beginning of our relationship. To me it brings back memories of long weekend drives up into the mountains, and C likes the lyrics because he thinks they describe me.
After that the DJ (Veetone) played music all night long. Apparently our guests all grooved away until midnight, making the money spent on the DJ well worth it (and to think, C didn’t want to hire one!).
After such a huge day, the newly-minted husband and I we completely exhausted. We did a 'goodbye circle' then tootled off to our wedding night accomodation - the Toowoomba Central Plaza Hotel. Fairly generic name, but probably one of the best places to stay in Toowoomba (if you don't have the budget for Vacy Hall, which we didn't. It's on my bucket list though!).
All in all, we had the greatest of days. From the beginning, we wanted our wedding to be like a big party for our family and friends. And it was. I tell you what though - I could not have done it without the help of my mother. That lady is an organisational and styling maven!
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