DIY Wedding Favour Ideas

Wedding Favours or Bombonnieres are a great way to thank your guests for sharing in your special day. Lets take a moment and be honest with one another, not many of us enjoy taking home trinkets that will become dust collectors nor are there many of us that become excited over another bag of sugar coated almonds. 

We recommend you get creative and give your guests something practical that can be used in the kitchen or garden, something that represents you as a couple that leaves your guests raving about them long after the big day comes to an end. Here are some easy DIY ideas we love!

Miniature Seedling Trees  - “Watch us Grow” 

"The Perfect Pear"

Miniature Bottles of Limoncello

Personalised Fortune Teller

Baked cookie in a CD sleeve with a personalised message

Homemade Italian Biscotti - try crostoli and almond bread

Jar of Honey -  "Meant to Bee"

Jam Jar - "Spread the Love"

Rustic Bags of Coffee Beans

We would love to hear your great wedding favour ideas - leave us a comment below!

The Wedding Gurus xo

Different Catering Styles for Your Wedding

With all of the different things that are already on your mind, you don't want to deal with choosing a catering style for your wedding on top of everything else. Before you meet with your caterer company, you should think about the type of wedding that you want. This helps you determine the best type of catering for your event and which one you want to use. Once you pick a catering type, you'll have one less thing you need to worry about in the coming months.

Buffet

A buffet wedding reception is one of the more popular types because it is one of the cheapest options for caterers. Instead of paying for waiters to walk around or bring food directly to your guests, your guests walk to the buffet to get their food. The buffet typically has several types of dishes that workers serve from chaffing dishes, which keep the food hot or cold. Guests pick up plates and utensils at one end of the table, get their food as they walk down the table and exit at the opposite end.

Appetizer Reception

An appetizer reception, also known as a finger food reception, lets you save money by focusing on smaller dishes instead of full meals. Guests receive appetizers, finger foods and other small dishes that they can eat while standing around the room. These receptions often use waiters and waitresses, who pass the food around the room, ensuring that all guests get something to eat.

Seated Meals

A seated meal reception is one where all of your guests sit down to eat. This is often the most expensive option because you need to hire enough waiters and waitresses to cover all of the tables, and if you have a larger wedding, you might spend hundreds on the wait staff. The wait staff brings food directly to the table, clears the plates between courses and give your guests refills on drinks.

Serving Types

There are a few different types of servings available for weddings when you choose a seated meal. With Russian service, the wait staff brings the dishes to the table on a large platter and passes the dishes out to guests. Plated service is a little more expensive because each table has several waiters and waitresses who bring the plated food to the table. This ensures that every guest receives service at the same time. Another option is something referred to as French service. One waiter brings a platter of food to the table, while another waiter passes that food to those at the table.

Knowing which type of service you want before you meet with your caterer can help you cut down on the time you spend in the office, giving you more time to deal with your other wedding details. 

For more information on special events catering in Brisbane, Queensland, visit http://www.abfabcatering.com.au/. 

Guest Blogger,

Selina x 

Wedding Reception Options – Hilton Adelaide

Planning your wedding reception is probably going to be one of the single most stressful and costly decisions you will ever make. Finding the right venue that is the perfect expressions of your imagination and within budget constraints is not an easy task.

So we’ve made it our mission to get out and really have a look around at what’s out there and we are starting off with Hilton Adelaide.

Note: We can honestly tell you that we were not paid or persuaded in any way to write this post showing Hilton in a positive light, we were simply invited to come take a look and judge for ourselves.

When you hear the name Hilton, there are many images that spring to mind. The name is so well known the world over that most of us could probably say that at some point we have stayed or at least been to a Hilton hotel.

We were lucky enough o sit down recently with the lovely Laura, Marketing Communication Manager and Rachela, Events Manager of Hilton Adelaide to get a first hand look at their fabulous wedding and corporate events offerings.

While Hilton itself has been a well known brand, it has in the past been more traditionally linked with corporate style events and business class accommodation. But while this is still very much the case, Hilton have launched a brand new focus on ‘Weddings’ and along with this new approach comes a team dedicated to making weddings at Hilton something amazing.

Beginning with a tour of the main function rooms, followed by a look over the wide range of package and menu options and some detailed questions on specifics, we finished the visit with coffee in the stunning ground floor lobby.

So what did we find out?

Well……

Hilton in Adelaide is centrally located adjacent the gorgeous gardens of Victoria Square. With the Adelaide central Market next door it is a great place to spend the weekend of your wedding as you prepare for the big day.

With three fabulous room options for your reception, each absolutely stunning, but varying in style and taste, there is something to suit every concept idea.

Our tour began with the ‘Victoria’ room, a lavishly decorated, modern space which captures your breath on entrance. If you are looking to really wow your guests then this may be the location for you.

The ‘Victoria’ Room

The ‘Victoria’ room, located on the ground floor is a gorgeous modern space, lavishly decorated with a unique metallic mesh ceiling. The room gives off a very stylish attitude, perfect for the modern couple wanting to entertain their guests with a contemporary, spacious and upmarket reception.

With the addition of a dance floor, the ‘Victoria’ room has the capacity to hold 150 guests comfortably and if your considering a cocktail reception the capacity stretches to 250.

Next we moved onto the ‘Balcony Room’

 The 'Balcony' Room

With so many possibilities, the ‘Balcony’ room, located on level 1, offers the opportunity to really create your own feel. Beautifully decorated with a warm feel and overlooking the gardens of Victoria Square, you really need to see it to appreciate it fully. Ideal for an intimate sit-down or cocktail style reception, this room has the capacity to seat 120 with a dance floor or 250, cocktail style.

Set up with oval tables, pictured above and decorated to your own colour scheme, the magnificent lighting and open feel of the balcony rooms are unique to Hilton. To sit at the table amongst friends and family on a warm summer evening with the concertina doors fully extended is magnificent.

On the day we visited this room was set up somewhat differently with a long table running the entire length of the room, something we had never seen before. With guests all at one table and the bride and groom perfectly placed in the middle, we only wished that we were on the guest list to really experience this exquisite set up.

Moving on to the ‘Grand Ballroom’ was where we were truly awe inspired!

The 'Grand Ballroom'

Although the picture above, shows a beautifully decorated, modern space, it does not even come close to doing it justice. Entering this room there was an immediate sense of class, sophistication and style. The lighting above catches the eye immediately with its very unique look and the room itself is massive, 660m2 in fact, easily catering for 450 with a dance floor or 800 cocktail style.

Located on level 1, the ‘Grand Ballroom’ is where you want to be  if you are planning a large wedding and want to really give your guests something to talk about. Featuring a 5.8m-high wall-to-wall curtain of intricately woven metal it brings the room to life creating a shimmering veil.

Amazingly, the ‘Grand Ballroom’ is the ONLY pillar free hotel ballroom in the state.

On the day of our visit, this room was being prepared for a large wedding. The tables were elegantly prepared, the ceiling draped with panels of sheer material and the entire front of the room was being set up by light and sound engineers to create some added extras the couple had chosen to incorporate to wow their friends and family.

When asked about how far couples can go in personalising their receptions, the answer was clear….. Hilton staff were happy to work with them to create anything their heart desired as long as it was safe and attainable.

Leaving the ‘Grand Ballroom’ we headed down the main stairs that overlooked the ground floor to the ‘Lobby Lounge’. It’s hard not to be impressed by the glamour of Hilton and the efforts they have made in recent years in updating these areas to an open plan, inviting and contemporary space.

Lobby Lounge

Next on the agenda was the ‘details’, discussed over a delicious coffee and chocolate.

The Complete Package:

Laura began by eagerly telling us about how committed the team were at Hilton Adelaide to providing affordable, yet fabulous wedding packages for all sizes and budgets. She talked about how Hilton’s focus had really shifted to the wedding industry and how they could offer premium services attached to the well known Hilton brand to provide couples with new and exciting options.

Their main aim was to offer ‘Complete Packages’ which left the couple with nothing left to organise or worry about. Despite being very impressed we did have to wonder how much all of this was going to cost. Rachela smiled, telling us that this was the best part, the part that they really wanted to get across to couples – that their packages were affordable and competitive, starting with the base package at just $100, but with more inclusions than most of their competitors.

With world class kitchen staff, Hilton can also cater for any food choice. Having done weddings involving all Indian food, all Asian food and many others, their ability to adapt and meet clients needs is second to none.

With inclusions like Chair covers and audiovisual options which are usually ad-ons, Hilton have really created some enticing inclusions. So what WILL you get included in your package?

Well each package contains a range of items including menu choices, canape’s, room hire, stage and dance floor etc ( a full list of package options can be requested from their webpage at:

http://www3.hilton.com/en/events/weddings/receptions/index.html

But, believe it or not each package contains a 5 hour drinks package, including pre-dinner drinks and are you ready for this? An overnight stay, access to all facilities and with sparkling wine, chocolates and breakfast!

If that wasn’t enough in addition every couple receives:

Chair covers
Audiovisual options
A menu tasting
Printed, personalised menus
First anniversary gift vouchers – Choose from a $250 dinner voucher OR an overnight stay in a deluxe room with a bottle of sparkling, chocolates AND buffet breakfast
A gift box with $1000 of gift vouchers to spend at other suppliers including transport, photography, Make-up, flowers, bridal shoes and more
Accommodation is also provided for your guests at 25%off their best available rate.

(*inclusions as at Nov 2012, subject to change)

Overall we have to say that we were really impressed with Hilton given that in all honesty, they would not have been top of our list to consider as being a premier provider in the wedding industry, simply because we just didn’t know what they had to offer.

Deciding on a reception venue is a really big deal and not one that should be taken lightly, but in our experience, most couples prefer a situation where everything they need can be done under one roof to take away the thousands of little tid bits of organisation that often drive them completely mad by the time the big day arrives.

To be able to stay at the hotel the night before, wake up to a nice breakfast and a day of pampering which can all be organised within the hotel, be whisked off to your ceremony and return knowing that absolutely everything is on time and organised is worth it’s weight in gold. After all your only planning to do this once, so when it’s over you want to be able to look back at it fondly for the next however many years!

If you are interested in getting package prices or in discussing the possibility of having your reception at Hilton, then contact:

The Hilton Adelaide Event Sales Team
08 8237 0363 
catering.sales@hitlon.com

If you are planning a wedding at another Hilton, here is the link to their web page

http://www3.hilton.com/en/events/weddings/receptions/index.html

We had a great time researching this post, so we hope this helps you with thinking about your reception and we hope to bring you another Hotel/Reception venue review soon.

The Wedding Gurus
xxxx