January is usually a quieter month for weddings in the southwest – it’s generally considered too hot, and it was a hot and horrible month for many across the southwest, with the Yarloop bushfires threatening lives just north of us and of course wiping out farms, homes and livelihoods. Our thoughts and sympathies continue to go out to those affected and we did what little we could to help by making donations to selected charities assisting those directly affected. However, the weddings for our clients all went ahead, and it was nice for us to be involved in doing something happy for others at the time. Incidentally – we did also get a fair few rainy days throughout January – so please please please – always have a Plan B for rainy weather.
For one client, their ceremony location in Harvey was directly under threat of fire, and was rescheduled at the last minute to go ahead at the reception venue, the Lighthouse Beach Resort in Bunbury, instead, where we had hired out our Tiffany chairs to create an elegant atmosphere for the large sit-down meal.
The same weekend we also had a ceremony and cocktail reception set up at Edwards Winery in Margaret River, in a bit of a California ranch/South American shindig style.
Only two days later, on Monday 11th January, we provided hire furniture for a stunning backyard wedding reception in Bunbury. I think these photos mostly speak for themselves! With a mix of rustic wooden furniture hired from us, a very crafty carpenter groom who made the bar, doors backdrop, love letters (amongst other furniture) and a hands-on bride who styled her own wedding, this cocktail style, casual backyard wedding was a real stunner. We ended up buying a lot of the furniture that the groom made and it is now available to hire out to you – a bar, large drinks stand for up to nine ice buckets, vintage door backdrop, and heaps more!
The following weekend saw us set lighting and cocktail style furniture for another casual style cocktail wedding at Evedon Park in the Ferguson Valley on their beautiful grassed area overlooking the lake. This client had quite a few family guests that needed seats so we set up two long tables as well as a bridal table and café tables to ensure that family on both sides had somewhere to base themselves for the night.
Always with cocktail style weddings we recommend that you provide seating for around half your guestlist, with a mix of couches, bar tables/stools, and café or trestle tables and dining chairs. This is because older guests will often much prefer to sit at a table rather than a bar or couch – for their comfort and convenience. You’ll find by having a mix of furniture for around half your guests, you don’t lose the casual/cocktail vibe but your guests will have a chance to sit and rest their feet at some point in the night.
We also had furniture heading down to Stonebarn near Pemberton for a beautiful wedding that went on to feature on JuneBug Weddings, with photos by Shannon Stent. For this wedding we provided reception tables and chairs, signing table, rustic driftwood arbour and more – and everything was set up by the clients themselves – and they did an amazing job! Follow this link for the full blog post on JuneBug but there are a few FVE-related photos below too for you.
Only a couple of days after heading to Pemberton we were out at Harvey, providing furniture for the “talent greenroom” for the Channel 9 Yarloop Bushfire Relief. It was great to be able to help out again, even in a small way, to bring those affected by the fires some hope and fun for the night.
Around the same time we hosted a networking breakfast in our warehouse for Bunbury Wedding Professionals with our warehouse buddies Lonsdale Party Hire. Even in a warehouse our wooden crossback chairs and wooden trestles shine!
Also happening throughout January – our giant white LOVE letters went down to Abbey Beach Resort in Busselton and we had three or four dry hire/furniture deliveries to Old Broadwater Farm in Busselton as well for various small props and decorations.
Last but not least, we had a stunning wedding at Aqua in Busselton on the last weekend of the month. The beautiful bride, Asha, left this comment for us … “Absolutely amazing, better than we could have imagined ourselves, thank you so much Charmaine, you guys went above and beyond”
