The Perfect Wedding
At The Ellington Centre, we will help you plan the perfect Adelaide wedding to help ensure your celebration is as close to perfect as possible. After the thrill and excitement of a wedding proposal and subsequent engagement, setting a date and beginning wedding planning comes next.
Unfortunately, wedding planning can become overwhelming and stressful at times - you are, after all, planning for one of the most important days of your lives. You of course want that day to be perfect, special and memorable.
Getting married is a once-in-a-lifetime event and one that is performed in front of your family and friends. So how do you make your special day relaxed and stress-free? Here are some tips to ensure that you do not forget any detail - from the wedding ceremony to the perfect Adelaide venue for your reception.
We have also put together a list of the best, top-rated suppliers in Adelaide.
The Wedding Planner
One of the first decisions you'll need to make is deciding whether or not you'll hire a wedding planner. On the one hand, they can be expensive, but on the other hand, they are experts in wedding planning and therefore help remove much of the wedding planning stress.
The cost of an Adelaide wedding planner's service in 2021 is between AUD$ 1600 to $2500. If you want to be able to check on what you can save on, you can do the wedding planning yourself.
If you plan your wedding early on, like 6-12 months ahead, you have enough time to go through the details for the big day. Here is a list of what to do. To help you out, you can get support by getting parents, family or a couple of friends involved.
In this wedding checklist, we have also handpicked the best of the best suppliers, those with nothing less than perfect 5-star reviews. After all, a perfect venue deserves no less than the top providers for weddings.
Your Adelaide Wedding Checklist
1. Plan the Date Thoughtfully
Consider the weather in Adelaide and have alternative wedding dates (at least 2 other) just to make sure that the weather will not spoil your big day. Garden weddings are great but plan for bad weather just in case.
This is where you can opt for the perfect wedding venue in Adelaide such as Ellington Centre. Our covered venue can accommodate from 100 to 350 guests. We can even cater for your rehearsal dinner!
2. Decide on the Budget
Weddings in Adelaide cost less than most other states, so you are in luck. Nevertheless, you need to plan your funds wisely, considering you need to save for a lot more after the wedding.
Use our wedding budget calculator at the bottom of this page to guide you as it lists the standard wedding checklist of expenses such as the number of guests, to suppliers such as that for flowers and photo and video services. At this point, start listing the guests to better plan your expenses.
For other expenses not exactly listed like entertainment in the reception, you can list them in the Others section.
3. Start Booking
Book your Adelaide reception which almost always has ready menus for weddings, they can even provide the cake and extras such as wine as in Ellington Centre. Decide if you want the wedding ceremony in the same location. This is actually a better option for a seamless event, instead of having to book a different location for each.
Here are the reasons that a single location for both ceremony and reception is ideal:
- More cost-effective as you need to pay only for one location
- You will only need to decorate one instead of two places
- Less travel means more savings with the bridal car, the suppliers and service providers
- Consumes less time
Coordinate with the venue regarding all ideas that you have in mind, like the entertainment, photo booth, a dance party, and the like.
You should also book your favourite destination for a honeymoon accommodation at this time.
4. Book a Wedding Celebrant in Adelaide
It is best to book your wedding celebrant before anything else will be helpful because these wedding celebrants will not only assist you with the legal documents for your wedding but also help you with booking other possible suppliers like photographers or musicians.
A wedding celebrant can also advise you of a host of other details to have a beautiful and amazing ceremony. He or she can suggest ideas like how to involve family and friends in the actual ceremony. Your celebrant can address any questions you might have to have a special and awesome event.
Aside from the celebrant, you may want to think of the host of the reception. If you hired a wedding planner, they usually provide a host of the party. If this is out of the budget, a close family can also do an amazing job.
5. Wedding Dress/Suit/Entourage
Getting the gorgeous wedding dress and that of the entourage take a lot of time, so plan this several months ahead of the wedding day. One such source of beautiful bridal gowns is The Bridal Lab. Have a fitting a month or 2 prior and a final fitting 3 weeks before to allow time for any adjustments if ever.
6. Rings/Jewelry
An awesome moment must be marked with equally stunning rings so start looking for a reputable Adelaide jeweler. As it can be daunting because of the many choices, you might want to look for jewelers with great online reviews.
7. Photographer/Videographer
It is ideal these days to hire a reputable Adelaide wedding photographer/videographer early on to capture those special moments from prenup photoshoots to the actual wedding day.
8. Entertainment
Think of what type of activities you want on that special day, something that you both like to do together. Do you want a dance party after for your guests? Or just have music all throughout? You can start to talk to musicians or a band around Adelaide. Having a booth for photos is also a great idea for some fun.
9. Guests and Invitations
Now that you have come up with how the special day will go, you can start having your invitations prepared by a reputable supplier in Adelaide. Send them out about 2 months before the wedding to give your guests enough time to prepare as well, from clearing their schedule to preparing what to wear and shopping for their wedding gifts.
10. The Bridal Car
There are a lot of bridal limousine providers in Adelaide, but fair warning when you see this service provider - their Classic Jaguars can get you so nostalgic that it just might change your theme entirely once you see their bridal cars. Couples loved their service.
11. Wedding Flowers in Adelaide
With most of the wedding planning checked at this point, your flowers come next. What could be a better florist to contact in Adelaide than one that specializes in beautiful wedding flowers alone? Such is Flowers for Weddings. Couples have sworn by them as among the best based on their 5-star reviews!
12. Last Few Detail Checks
You want your wedding day to be the best moment, and at this point, most of the items in the checklist have been taken care of. Within the last 2 weeks:
- Final fitting
- Finalise the guest list and hand it to the caterer/reception
- Have a practice hair and makeup
- Break-in your wedding shoes
- Write wedding vows and give the readers their scripts
- Ensure that everything Delegate someone to be the contact person for any of the concerns from suppliers including payments to suppliers, and give your final checklist to her
- Get a manicure and pedicure the day before
- On the day itself, hand over the rings to the maid of honor or best man.
Couples should be free of any tasks and delegate all other tasks to the best man/maid of honor. Just enjoy a relaxed stress-free wedding day and have fun at your party as you enjoy a beautiful life together as a married couple!
We hope you find this list of the best service providers and other tips to make you have the perfect Adelaide wedding. At Ellington Centre, we have a team that will ensure that your special day will be memorable both for couples and guests. Contact us today!