Our first appointment was booked for 11am Monday morning. Unfortunately, ongoing Bridal Party invitations and ancillary celebrations continued into the most part of Sunday night. Monday morning consisted of some excitement, mostly counteracted by one and a half hangovers and a great deal of grumpiness. Not the ideal start to a three hour journey down south.
Fiance and I had previously indulged in discussions, albeit fanciful, on proposed wedding locations in our pre engaged state. Some of these discussions prompted by MOH (at home with the kids dreaming of exotic locations for her next holiday - and excuses for such holidays, our yet to be conceived wedding at the top of the list). MOH dreamt of the South West, Bali or perhaps Thailand. To be honest there weren't too many places that we fancied in Perth. Maybe all the Perth wedding venues are overdone and just didn't rate on the we-want-this-to-be-special-relaxed-and-not-keep-us-in-debt-until-we-are-60 meter. I had done some preliminary research into our options pre proposal, somehow though, when the actual proposal came, we already had our favourites.
The benefit of hindsight is a benefit that can neither be overlooked or ignored, but one thing that each and every one of my pre-Fiance friends attest to upon their first impressions of now Fiance is that he was 'so chillled out', a nice way of them saying that he was my perfect complement, what they were really saying was that he was like the alkali to my acid, a neutralisation of my neuroticism - they hoped. He has and continues to be.
This, in turn, led to our inherent investigation of a region which we knew we replicated what we stood for as a couple. Every time we took that trip down south, and it had not been often, we instantly felt at home.
And so, stubborn hangovers subsiding for the most part, we arrived into Dunsborough. Here is a map for those playing along at home who are unfamiliar with the South West WA.
We (me) had shortlisted 5 potential wedding venues, all wineries in between Dunsborough and Margaret River all vying for that top spot. No prize for second. First cab of the Rank was Wise Winery, an ammaaazing spot just out of Dunsborough heading to Eagle Bay. This place has the WOW factor as you drive along the narrow, windy, tree lined roads, turn into the driveway of Wise and the landscape opens up with views across Geographe Bay to the coast.
"Wow." Fiance and I said in unison as we drove towards the winery restaurant for our meeting with the function manager and a spot of lunch. There is NO point basing a decision on location alone. Food and wine is of the utmost importance. I would rather have the reception in a hole that had been carved into the ground as long as we were surrounded by people we loved, and we could serve those people really great food paired with the plying of equally great wine. As chance would have it, Wise happens to have both of these things as well as spectacular views and a certain ambience. Fiance called it early. And we hadn't even sampled the wines. Cellarrrrrr dooorrrrrrrr. I love Cellar Doors! From that awkward moment of approaching the bar, the fact that you start to feel tipsy after just one or two small tastes of wine, down to the amazing and interesting people you can sometimes meet. Add the 'W' bomb to this and the cellar door at Wise turned into an hour and a half long pow wow with the lovely lady behind the bar.
The 'W' bomb is something that most people can relate to and usually want to talk about and share their perspective and experience with you. If that person also happens to be standing behind a bar pouring wine, then that is my idea of a good, useful conversation. After twigging onto this, I opened many a conversation over the 2 days with "We're getting married/we're looking for wedding venues/we've just gotten engaged and....." I would recommend doing this even if you're not getting married/engaged/venue shopping just to see what kind of freebies you get offered. We eventually tore ourselves away from Wise, with a bag full of discounted goodies as well as some handy hints and tips from a seasoned local.
After checking into our accommodation at Smiths Beach, Yallingup, a quick survey of the facilities and the size of the restaurant, this was discounted as a venue (even though it hadn't originally been on the shortlist).
Onto the next venue, Clairault.
'W' bomb worked a treat here too. Couple of complimentary vino's later, we called it a day for venue shopping, with plenty to talk about over dinner. I had a captive audience in Fiance as we dined at the Cape Wine Bar in Dunsborough. Amazing Food. Check them out next time you're in town.
Day 2 Venue Hunting: first port of call was Vasse Felix. We dropped in early and without a pre-arranged appointment but the staff were more than willing to be of assistance and spend as much time with us as we needed. Really good coffee and a really enthusiastic chat were highights of this short visit as we departed for Margaret River for some brekkie. We had two more venues on the list, both just out of Margaret River. And both didn't come up to the mark, we didn't even bother with the cellar door! So, we quickly narrowed it down to two. Vasse Vs Wise. And decided to be fair and compare apples with apples, we had to go back to Vasse Felix and sample their wares.
Cellar door before lunch is always a cracking idea. Again, amazing service, super knowledgable and another perspective on the region and weddings in general! These guys really laid it on for us. Complimentary sparkling and some nibbles preceded our astounding main courses. This was going to be a touuuugggggh decision. Luckily we had a three hour trip back to Perth to mull over it. In the end it came down to a flight of stairs and a couple of km's really. By the time we were at the Canning Bridge, it was pretty much locked in. Wise has it by a whisker.
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