Venue Spotlight: National Museum of Australia
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When Maggie and Jason wed earlier this year, they chose to honour their heritage with two components of the ceremony – a Chinese tea ceremony, and a traditional western wedding ceremony.
Their reception at the National Museum of Australia on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin was romantic and glamorous, with lashings of glitter and gold, touches of soft pink and personalised elements at every turn.
Broadbean Catering provided an unforgettable smorgasbord of sumptuous, seasonal food and the guests danced the night away to a live band. Maggie and Jason share with us how their magical day unfolded:
The Space
With a show stopping view of Lake Burley Griffin and plenty of space, the National Museum of Australia provided the perfect setting for Maggie and Jason’s 130 guests.
“We were looking for something a bit different to the option of having our reception in a hotel function room and when we went to visit the NMA, we immediately loved the spacious main hall and high ceilings” says Maggie.
The Food
Some say that the food is often the first thing forgotten by wedding guests, but Maggie says this certainly wasn’t the case.
“The food was definitely one of the highlights in the wedding. We still get comments now about how delicious the food was and people wished they had attended more weddings at the NMA.
Chargrilled asparagus with Persian fetta & honey roasted pear
“Anthony, Gabrielle and Ben from Broadbean Catering made everything so much easier. We had a million and one questions and they always replied so quickly, always offering to help. It was an absolutely amazing experience with how professional they were, and it certainly made something that can be quite stressful so much easier.
“Ben from Broadbean contacted us and set up a free tasting of our menu which was explained to us when he presented the dish. We were a bit undecided on a couple of options we had chosen and asked if we could possibly amend the menu. Ben was more than accommodating and we had a second tasting for the different options we chose.”
Gin & tonic tart, macadamia crumble, mascarpone sorbet
The Look
“Quite early I knew what the colour scheme of the wedding reception was going to be (pink and gold) and working with the girls at Show Pony. I am a part time florist so I did the floral arrangements as centrepieces by using real touch flowers elevated on tall gold stands.
“To match the golden theme, I hired the gold charging plates with matching table runners and gold Tiffany chairs. We made our table numbers by putting photos of us from childhood at the same age.
“Broadbean allowed us to come in and do test runs of a video we showed on the night and had several meetings with Anthony and Gabrielle to go through logistics and the floor plan where everything would go. We showed them mock ups of how I wanted the tables set and where the flower arrangements should be, and on the night everything was set up exactly how we wanted it.”
The Ceremony
“For the Chinese Tea Ceremony, my bridesmaids and I got ready at my mother’s apartment in the early hours on Saturday. My bridesmaids wore their dresses for the whole day whereas I was in a traditional red Chinese dress for the tea ceremony.”
The Western component of the ceremony was held at The Chapel at Gold Creek.
“I started getting nervous when I saw the car pull up and the doors close” says Jason. “As the minutes ticked by, I got more and more nervous, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘wow, this is really happening! I’m going to marry the love of my life!’ and trying not to cry.”
The Reception
“We had had a lot of friends comment on how beautiful the decorating was at the reception. Guests loved the food, the flower wall, the candy buffet and the slow motion photo booth. Many people also commented on our sand painting video we played in the beginning of the reception which showed Jason and my journey from dating, to boyfriend/girlfriend, being proposed to, and finally the big day at the Chapel.”
Jason says “the reception went by so ridiculously fast and all of a sudden it was time for our first dance! As I have two left feet, I was quite nervous being the lead. Quite a few guests were surprised when the music began and we started our tango!”
THE LITTLE DETAILS
PHOTOGRAPHER
VIDEOGRAPHER
CELEBRANT
Lesley Le from Moments to Celebrate
DRESS
Overseas designer
BRIDE’S SHOES
a.p.too by Alan Pinkus
BRIDE’S JEWELLERY
Swarovski
BRIDESMAIDS’ DRESSES
Overseas designer
GROOM AND GROOMSMEN’S SUITS
Hugo Boss (groom) and Peter Jackson
BRIDE AND BRIDESMAIDS’ HAIR & MAKEUP
Family and friends
FLOWERS
CARS
CAKE
BAND
FIRST DANCE SONG
‘Poruna Cabeza’
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