S06, E10: Throwing the perfect pub wedding with Jules from Captain Melville

Aleks: Here we are, here we are! We’re back.

Eddy: We’re on location.

Aleks: Ooh! Do you know what? We’ve got Jules. Jules?

Eddy: We have Jules! Everybody look, it’s Jules.

Aleks: I was going to say Jules is joining us, but we’re actually joining you, because we’re at your workplace.

Jules: Yeah, welcome to the venue. Or welcome back to the venue, actually, because you guys have been here before already.

Aleks: We have, we have.

Eddy: And we are at Captain Melville. Is it true that it’s Melbourne’s oldest pub?

Jules: That’s what I’ve been told. It’s the only story I’ve ever been told. They like to say that there’s another pub, but the argument still stands that it’s us. We’ve the older date on our buildings, so I feel like we have to go with that. Screw the other guy.

Aleks: Yeah, don’t worry about them. I think it’s the oldest license or something.

Jules: Yeah, I think we’ve just continuously been grandfathered in on this license, and it’s just always been a pub. It’s always been serving alcohol in some way or another, so I think that kind of puts us ahead of the other guys anyways.

Eddy: Yeah, and I must say that we’re also in the heart of the city, so… these microphones are incredible, so let’s see how little of the world they soak in.

Aleks: That’s part of it, that’s the atmospheric vibe of being in the middle of the city.

Jules: Yeah, you’re not really at Loch & Key if you’re not hearing everything going on in the city.

Aleks: We should probably mention, so we’re at Loch & Key, which is the upstairs little cocktail bar.

Jules: The little late-night house bar cocktail bar thing upstairs.

Aleks: I was just saying it’s hard for us as wedding vendors, because we are kind of hospo people, but then kind of not.

Jules: It’s like hospo-adjacent.

Aleks: Yes! Hospo-adjacent, exactly.

Jules: I think that’s the best way to be in hospo, you know all of it, but you don’t got to deal with it.

Aleks: Well, sometimes! Depends on the crowd, depends on the crowd and who… what I was going to say is being on location like this kind of reminds me of – not that I watch them, but those morning shows. You know when you see them not in the studio, like on commercial TV, like The Today Show or Sunrise, and they’re like outside in some random location?

Eddy: And people walk behind trying to get their five minutes of fame.

Aleks: No, we’re in a private setting, so we’re okay. But we’re talking to Jules today. Jules is from the events team. What’s your official title?

Jules: Functions Manager.

Aleks: Functions Manager, there you go.

Jules: Upstairs, downstairs, anything you’re doing at 34 Franklin, it’s probably managed by me if it’s a function.

Eddy: Excellent. And there’s an ALDI nearby, which you know I love personally.

Aleks: We’ll eventually get into the episode, don’t worry! Look, I’m sure it came in handy. The other day when I was here for a wedding, there is also an IGA local.

Jules: There is also an IGA. I love the IGA, they know us well, we buy a lot of weird stuff for our cocktails there. It’s always funny when the staff go to buy their actual groceries instead of cocktail groceries and they’re like, “Ooh, is this for the venue?”

Aleks: I was going to say it comes in handy, I had to buy batteries. I ran out of batteries for the microphone for the wedding, so I popped to IGA, but I should have gone to ALDI, it would have been cheaper.

Eddy: Usually, we’re more organized for those who are listening at home.

Aleks: I actually think you took them out of my bag, but anyway, I probably did. Alright, so do you want to introduce Captain Melville or what we’re going to be talking about today?

Eddy: Yeah, so, well…

Aleks: Oh, I write the notes and he is like… it always looks like it’s the first time he’s ever seen these things.

Eddy: We have two very different roles, Aleks and I. So, I’m the technical guy, so I set everything up, and Aleks does the rest.

Aleks: Okay, that’s fair, yeah.

Eddy: Would that be right?

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: But I kind of just like doing the, you know, doing the newspaper man thing… news reader man. Okay, so we’ll do it justice. So, we’re joined today by Julia Shepherd –

Aleks: We’re going to call her Jules.

Eddy: Jules for short, of course. The Functions Manager at Captain Melville. Now, if you’ve spent any time in Melbourne, you know this spot is an absolute institution. To be honest, it’s my first time up here, so I’d like to get to know it. I’ve been downstairs, I’ve worked downstairs obviously, but I’ve never been up here where we are now, which is gorgeous. So, it’s one of the oldest pubs in the city, if not the oldest –

Aleks: In Melbourne, potentially.

Jules: I would argue it’s the oldest.

Eddy: Okay, let’s just say you heard it here! But it has an incredible modern energy, so it really does make it a go-to for couples who want a wedding that feels less like a formal event, more like an epic party. And we’ll discuss this, we’re seeing a trend this way, as I’m sure you are too. You can take the rest.

Aleks: Yeah, and it’s got… look, I love… I’m going to ignore my notes, I say this every episode, it’s really embarrassing I shouldn’t put the notes together. But what I love about it, I love a pub, right? Like a proper old pub, and there’s not that many in Melbourne.

Jules: Especially not in the city. Like if you go to the suburbs, so many great ones like Fitzroy, Brunswick – phenomenal pub scene. In the city, it’s like, there’s three of them.

Aleks: We’re not talking about the other ones, but yeah, it’s just us guys.

Aleks: Yeah, and I think what I love about this venue is when you go downstairs into the courtyard, which is where my wedding… majority of my wedding took place, we’ll get into how things flow on the day later on – is that it’s got… there’s lighting in there, like it’s not what you would expect, I think.

Jules: No, it’s like if a beer garden and a greenhouse had a baby, it would be the courtyard. You get all those gorgeous bluestones, there’s all these like fresh plants that we work very hard to keep alive, great mood lighting like we were talking about earlier, and it’s just still cozy though. Like you don’t feel exposed, it’s just a comfy spot to have a wedding.

Eddy: That’s a really good way of describing it. And there’s something huge to be said about real plants at venues as opposed to fake ones.

Aleks: Yeah, you can spot those from a mile.

Jules: Yeah, we have this one guy who’s worked here for, I’d say at least 10 years now, and he’s just the plant guy. Like, he comes in every day, he takes such great care of them. They’ve thrived so well down in that courtyard because he just has such a care for them, and it wouldn’t look gorgeous without him. Thankfully we have him, because it would not be me, I would probably kill them all.

Aleks: Yeah, totally. I’ve killed cacti before. I didn’t think it was possible. Shout out to plant guy at Captain Melville!

Eddy: Don’t let Aleks near your plants.

Aleks: So we’re going to talk about, you know, you mentioned that we are seeing this push, I mean, whether it’s cost of living, post-COVID, people are relaxed more generally. What were we talking about the other day? Athleisure wear since COVID, how everyone… it’s quite… there’s a point.

Jules: People just want to be comfy now.

Aleks: People want to be comfy, thank you. You spend so much time at home, why do you want to get all dressed up to go out? Just go have a nice time, doesn’t matter.

Aleks: Exactly. So, I think there is a little bit of a push, we’re certainly seeing a lot more inquiries for venues that wouldn’t traditionally even have weddings, and I think by people inquiring about them, a lot of the venues actually turn around and go, “Hey, we should do functions here.” How about that? So, there is a big push because people, yeah, want to be more comfortable, a bit more casual. Our clients in particular definitely aren’t of the formal, stuffy variety as it is, so why not have it in a pub?

Eddy: Why not?

Aleks: And that’s… that’s it for today, thank you for joining us! Okay, we’re all done.

Jules: But I think there’s something so nice about feeling like you’ve just gone to your local for a great night out with all your mates, all your family’s there, like you said, you’re just having a wild, good party. And it’s still just kind of at your local, so it’s just comfy, it’s familiar, it’s cozy. I think people just feel less stressed in a pub, and you don’t want to feel stressed when you’re getting married. Like, you already have so much going on already, that’s the last thing you want to deal with.

Aleks: Could not agree more. Do not stress during your wedding, please. Please.

Aleks: Um, so yeah, we talked… we talked a little bit about people kind of moving away from traditional wedding venues. When you have couples that inquire, what else do they say, like what attracts them to the venue?

Jules: More than anything, I do think it’s partly the location, but also like you guys said, the courtyard. It’s just… it’s good, it’s classic, it’s cozy. It’s beautiful on its own, a lot of couples don’t actually decorate all that much when they’re going for the courtyard because it’s such its own space, like you don’t need to add that much to it. But again, being dead smack in the middle of the CBD, your guests can stay anywhere and you’re so accessible, you can stay anywhere and it’s accessible. There’s a million bars to go out to afterwards if you want to go continue the party on and have kick-ons, but you can still just keep it easy.

Aleks: Yeah. I think my couples actually were in love with the food. That was a big selling point.

Jules: Yeah, that’s one thing I’ve consistently heard since I’ve started here is that people just always love the food. We put out so much of it that by the end of it they don’t even finish half of it because we don’t know how to not feed people well.

Eddy: That’s great. Usually… I often see the opposite. And look, RSA comes into it too, and you get people that are… [sound of a truck driving past] Shush, we’re recording a podcast! You know what’s funny, the listeners probably hear none of it. I know, they’re like, “What are they talking about?” What are they talking about? Yeah, and um, you can tell when there’s not enough food floating around, because people will get quite drunk quite quickly.

Jules: Quite quickly, yeah. Yeah.

Aleks: There’s drunk and then there’s drunk, like… like it depends, doesn’t it? Because there’s… there’s like happy drunk, and then there’s like…

Jules: There’s happy, fun, dancey, and then there’s just like, “Oh my god, this is suddenly very messy.” And we got to cut people off, and you never want to have to cut anyone off at a wedding ever, it just kind of ruins the mood for everyone and then they know it’s happened, and it’s not fun for them, it’s not fun for the couple. So, feed people well. That’s all we want to do.

Aleks: Absolutely. Yum. I had a schnitzel when I was here as my vendor meal.

Eddy: Schnitty!

Aleks: How good is that? Just a good, crunchy schnitzel.

Eddy: I actually want to take a couple of steps back, Jules, and talk about um, your background leading up to this role.

Jules: Yeah, so I just moved down here about a year and a half ago from Canada, and I’d worked in so many different venues back in Canada. I think I started out working in fine dining, it was like this old converted bank that had like huge 20-foot tall ceilings and giant windows and marble tables, the vault… the bank vault itself was still there and converted into a private dining room, and we would do like minimum $30k weddings, and this is back in like 2019 before weddings were even that crazy expensive. And then from there I went on to work in this little tiny cottage that was like the oldest wooden structure in all of North America in this sweet little tiny village, and we cooked things on a fireplace out back, and we did these really sweet like rustic little weddings there. And then I got to move down here and then switch to the pub vibe, and it’s this really nice mix of the two, where we can still do these really nice, fancy, gorgeous weddings, but we can keep it cozy, we can keep it warm. It feels like you’re at your grandmother’s house kind of thing, so it’s been really interesting to see the switch between the varieties of dining I’ve worked in, and still just host great weddings.

Eddy: Well, so what… now that, you know, you’ve given us your background, um, my ears are pricking up. Like, so what are the differ – the main sort of differences, maybe not so much food because obviously we’re a very foodie place in Melbourne, but just the general differences between weddings in your neck of the woods and here?

Aleks: I knew you would say that.

Jules: I come from a very interesting part of Canada, um… how do I describe it? Think bogan, but everywhere, even in the big city.

Eddy: What do they – what’s the word for bogan where you’re from?

Jules: Uh, I call them Bayman.

Eddy: Bayman?

Jules: Yeah, just everywhere, if you’re not from the main city, which everyone calls town, you’re from the Bay. Doesn’t matter if you’re from like the middle of the island and you can’t see the ocean, you’re from the Bay. So it’s just a lot of folk music and everyone’s like dancing and going crazy and getting really drunk and not eating a lot of food. Unless you go to those really fine dining restaurants I worked in, then you do this gorgeous like five-course chef’s tasting meal. But the rest of them, it’s just only a crazy party, nothing formal, nothing official about it. Some… someone’s grandpa is probably barbecuing something out back, and you’re just drinking a load of beer, and it’s not good beer. So it’s quite different to come here and it feels a bit more formal in Australia, and I really like that. Again, I think the rest of Canada is quite different from my part of Canada –

Aleks: Oh right, yeah, right. It’s a bit skewed.

Jules: But it’s nice to just come and like see it a bit more formal, a bit more structured to it. Uh, there’s a way people do things, and I like that there’s a way people do things. You know what to expect from weddings here, and it’s great, you know? And it’s just… it always feels like a big family function. And I think Australians and Canadians have that really similar attitude, doesn’t matter if we’ve met before, we’re now best friends. Your grandmother’s probably inviting me to her house, or at least I hope so, I want to go to someone’s nan’s house for dinner. And it’s just… it’s always just a good party anyways, though, and I think that’s where we kind of intersect as countries, we just want to have a good time.

Eddy: Yeah, because yeah, the culture there is… you know, all the Canadians I’ve met along the way have been a little bit different to the Americans that I’ve met, like in terms of like just – it might be the Commonwealth thing, the connection! But yeah, it’s been, yeah, it’s been interesting to meet them and they’re culturally quite similar in a lot of ways.

Jules: Yeah, yeah, and everyone jokes about Canadians being like super polite and nice and welcoming. It’s true though, like that’s just how it is, and I think Australians are very, very much the same way where it’s everyone’s your friend, everyone’s your mate.

Aleks: Well, in Melbourne, not so much Sydney.

Eddy: Ooh, burn!

Aleks: I’m just going to put it out there. She’s from Sydney originally, so she can say it. I can say it, who’s a Sydneysider?

Aleks: Yeah, yeah, no, no, no. He’s from Adelaide.

Eddy: Oh, yeah, don’t worry about me. I mean Adelaide’s nice, it’s a nice place to visit, good wineries, you know, in South Australia.

Jules: Well, you know, I do love South Australian wine. You guys have great wine in South Australia.

Aleks: Look, it’s worth… it’s definitely worth – it’s actually a really underrated part of Australia, I think, and particularly like, it’s not really… I don’t know if it’s like, you know, marketed to to international –

Eddy: Yeah, I think they are a bit of – bit of that going on. They put a lot of budget towards it, right? I don’t know how much budget they put towards it. But we got friends in, uh, we’ve DJ friends in Adelaide, so I don’t want to talk shit about Adelaide.

Aleks: No, we love… we love Adelaide. We actually go twice a year, so we can – we have family there and stuff, so, yeah.

Jules: Well, you know what, I’ll add it to my list now. It’s going to be added to my list, I’ll go for the wine, I already love the wine, it’s there, it’s added.

Eddy: All right, baby, they got it going on, but yeah, yeah, I don’t know if I could live – I could live there anymore. Um, I could retire there, maybe. Oh yeah? It’s a bit more – it’s a bit – it’s a small city. Have you been to Perth?

Jules: No, actually, I’ve done Brisbane and Sydney, both gorgeous, liked both, still prefer Melbourne.

Aleks: Yeah, yeah. I mean Brisbane city, Melbourne…

Jules: There’s something about it, Melbourne just gets its claws into you, and you can’t help but love it, I think, once you get here. Um, so I think if I tried somewhere else first, I probably would have liked one of the other cities better, but…

Eddy: They’re just quiet – quiet cities. Like Perth, you’ve done the big ones.

Jules: Perth, well, I’ll get there eventually, but I think if you do WA, you got to do a little road trip.

Eddy: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, you got to see it all, it’s not just Perth, you know.

Aleks: It’s big – it’s a big, uh, big place. It’s a big country. It’s a big country, yes! Not unlike Canada, you know, it’s a big country, too.

Eddy: Which we have to get to, we haven’t actually managed to get up there.

Aleks: We haven’t been yet, yeah. Anyway, moving on.

Aleks: No, but I was… I will quickly say something. I was watching the most terrible Netflix show, The Age of Attraction. Did you watch this? It’s really embarrassing and I can’t believe I’m saying it on the podcast, it’s a terrible reality show where a bunch of strangers get in, kind of like The Bachelor style thing, they get – they get into a like go to a retreat, they don’t know each other’s ages, and then people match up and then they only like film the ones that are look, it was in Whistler.

Jules: Oh my god, is that the one that like, I think, oh, it would – it would be in Whistler. I love Whistler, Whistler is gorgeous, but that’s just where all that kind of crazy stuff –

Aleks: Oh, does it? Yeah! Anyway, the scenery was beautiful and they like went to whatever was the nearest city, I don’t know, but it was stunning. It looked – I was like, I’d really like to go there someday. Anyway, terrible show, don’t watch it.

Jules: You will mostly find Australians in Whistler, so if you really like Australians, great place to go in Canada. Honestly, the one time I’ve been anywhere in Western Canada, up in the mountains, so gorgeous, so wonderful, phenomenal skiing. I don’t ski, I hate the cold.

Eddy: Mmhmm.

Jules: But a lot of people do and that’s where the Australians go when they move to Canada.

Aleks: Yeah, okay. And all the Kiwis, that’s where you’ll find them all.

Eddy: So you go all the way to the other side of the world and just hang out with a bunch of Aussies and Kiwis, yeah. Figures.

Aleks: Um, all right, going back to weddings at Captain Melville. So, let’s have a chat. So, the… now, Eddy’s worked here at a corporate function.

Eddy: I have. Yes, big party.

Aleks: Big party for one of our very, very fun regular corporate clients.

Eddy: Yes.

Aleks: Um, and I was here recently a couple of months ago for a wedding where I could see the whole thing happen, because I was celebrant/DJ for the day. Um, talk us through how it typically works from when guests arrive, what happened, where the ceremony takes place, how you flip the room around, and what spaces are kind of available for different things. Lots of questions there for you!

Jules: Yeah, it’s so dependent on whether people do a full buyout of the venue, because that totally changes. Like, the one you had been at, Aleks, was full buyout, so they luckily had the entire space to themselves.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: Um, so they come in, we already had the ceremony set up, they did this absolutely gorgeous ceremony out in the courtyard, uh, the couple looked absolutely stunning, they had all their guests sat, everyone got a drink, they had a nice big toast, it was wonderful. Um, all the staff hid away and were nice and quiet after I probably got mad at them at some point or another.

Aleks: Well, I’ve – I’ve gone out and got mad at staff before too.

Jules: Oh man, the amount of times I go into the kitchen and I’m like, “Guys, guys, stop chopping stuff, turn off the hood fan, enough is enough, we don’t need this right now.” For the ceremony. Can I – no, now just to backtrack quickly because you missed a very important part of the day, which was pre-ceremony.

Jules: Yeah, well, so the nice thing I like here is I’ve consistently seen couples, they’ll get their guests to show up at least half an hour before, ideally an hour, because it just gives them a bit of time. I like to always have a grazing table set up, just a little light snack for everyone to pick at, because especially a wedding, it’s going to be such a big day.

Aleks: Oh yeah.

Jules: Start people with a bit of food early because they’re going to get drunk real fast. Not that that’s a bad thing, but you want your tab to go far, you want your guests to be able to stay a long time.

Aleks: Of course.

Jules: Um, everyone gets in, we had – at least for that one, we had welcome drinks for everyone, we had just beers and bubbles, nice and simple and easy.

Aleks: Pints!

Jules: Do not underestimate pints.

Jules: No, we do do full pints, yeah. It’s only going to be a pint if it’s a welcome drink, it will be a delicious local lager, always a good, good, easy, approachable one. Um, yeah, so everyone got there, probably I’d say about 45 minutes early, had their nice little welcome drink, had lots of time to mingle. The couple was tucked away, hidden upstairs having their own little drink with their mates upstairs. Ceremony started, absolutely stunning. Uh, the bride looked insanely gorgeous, like her – I still think about that dress, she looked so good. Um, and after that, we brought out more drinks out, huge toast, huge little speeches. They did their speeches in the middle… no, that was a different one, that was another one, I had another one a week later –

Aleks: They blend in a little bit, yeah.

Jules: Yeah, they did – that one did speeches right in the middle of the ceremony, like they included it as part of their ceremony, they had their friends do speeches and it was a really nice way to do it because then once they did transition into their cocktail hour, all the formalities were done.

Eddy: Yeah, okay, that’s quite a – quite an interesting switch-up.

Aleks: That would have been quite a long ceremony then.

Jules: It was, yeah. I did the music for that one, but I got to watch it so I was kind of happy because it was a couple I’d known for quite a while, so…

Aleks: Oh, DJ Jules!

Eddy: DJ Jules in the house! So how often do you do the music?

Jules: It’s the first time I’ve done it for a wedding, usually otherwise they have one of their mates do it or they’ll have their playlist perfectly curated up, right?

Aleks: Or a DJ!

Jules: Or a DJ, who’s also maybe their celebrant!

Eddy: Or live music.

Jules: Oh, hello, thank you! Wayne with the shoutout. Um, no, we had live music, actually, for the ceremony and cocktail hour.

Aleks: Yeah, so I still looked after pre-ceremony, I just put a playlist on. Um, now going back, because I’m – because I’m obsessed with pre-ceremony, clearly, everyone having pints… I do have a funny snippet, because I recorded the ceremony, of old mate coming in late with a pint, and I think I called him out.

Eddy: Who’s old mate?

Aleks: Just a guest!

Jules: Being like, like…

Aleks: Just after everyone –

Jules: A couple of people stumble in late and they’re like, “Oh my god, has the ceremony started?” And my staff will just like be sitting and waiting being like, “Yeah, man.” And they tried to go the wrong direction, and they would have walked right into the middle of where the ceremony was happening and we were like shoeing them the other way being like, “Get out of here, like you’re not ruining this for them.” And then they still walked and I think they walked right in front of your camera, too.

Aleks: Yeah, like… it’s all right, it was right before things started. What was my point? So, going back… no, so um, oh, I just wanted to mention, so with the pre-ceremony, so obviously like the main bar area that sits on Franklin Street, that’s where people come in, had a drink, then in the back in the courtyard is where the ceremony took place.

Jules: We move them all out there, have the nice little two-piece band, they did a great job. Um, and then the two-piece band actually moved back up into the pub once the ceremony had finished, we moved all the guests back up in there, and then my team had to redo the entire courtyard, so we had broken down all of our tables, got rid of most of, not most of the chairs because they were actually used for the seating of the ceremony, but we have to reset all the tables and then set them up for a set menu and like a two-course dinner. Um, so pretty quick turnaround from my team, but luckily a lot of them had done it over functions seasons so they got pretty used to it.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: Um, Christmas gets pretty crazy around here, so…

Eddy: Mmhmm.

Jules: They’re used to me being like, “Guys, turn tables faster!”

Aleks: You guys did a great job, I there was no… it was a… i think at like an hour or an hour and a half, i think it was about an hour, hour and a half. One thing I really like that I always encourage couples to do here is, especially because we’re such a historically known building and we’re such a cute little pub in the middle of these giant tall buildings, we always tell people, take your full guests outside, go outside with everyone do a giant group photo in front of the building. A, it helps my team have time to set everything up again and make it gorgeous again, but also you’re guaranteed to have that one photo where everyone’s in it.

Aleks: It’s very hard to get the group photo, as we would know in our role as celebrants, it’s one of those things where the photographers are like, ugh, trying to get everyone. So it works quite well when the couple comes down the aisle and everyone just literally follows them straight to the pub.

Jules: We had extra pints ready to go, a couple extra glasses of sparkling ready to go, and we’re like, “Grab your drink on your way out, don’t order anything from me just get outside, get that photo,” because it takes a while to organize, especially like the bigger the wedding, the harder it is.

Aleks: Oh yeah, absolutely.

Jules: Just trying to fit that many people on the the sidewalk out front of us…

Aleks: Oh, it’s – it’s a nightmare for – for celebrants uh, to to – because as soon as the ceremony is finished, people just somehow disappear, they’re gone.

Jules: They just kind of wander, and I never quite know where they’ve gone.

Eddy: Disappear, it’s very weird.

Aleks: You always have to let – it’s one of our kind of gravies. As a celebrant, you have to let people know what’s happening straight after the ceremony, because if they don’t have instructions, they will just wander off.

Eddy: And only 75% of people will be listening to that, so there will still be that 25% that are just wondering around like, “You know, what’s going on?” So I think it’s great that you – you funnel them out to a specific location, get that photo done –

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: —yeah, absolutely.

Jules: Especially when it is the full buyout of the venue and there’s no regular patrons in here, it’s just you, it’s just your guests.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Jules: So easy just to be like, “Hey, guys, everyone’s going to head out onto the patio, everyone’s going to head out onto the sidewalk, grab your pint, do a little toast outside, get a gorgeous photo together,” and then we went right back into the pub to have their cocktail hour, and I think, yeah, the two-piece band just kept going.

Aleks: Mmm.

Jules: You help – you actually helped us a bunch reset and get your little DJ stand all set up and good, it was nice.

Eddy: Good work!

Aleks: Yeah, and – and I was just going to say about the, like from a sound perspective as well, um, obviously, no sound restrictions is one of the most exciting things we can ever hear from a venue ever, and you guys don’t have any –

Jules: At the time of recording.

Aleks: Don’t jinx us!

Eddy: No, I’ve only said that because you know, if someone listens to this in, you know, five years’ time they’re like, “Oh my god.”

Aleks: If it’s 2050…

Eddy: Five years’ time, yeah. It’s just –

Aleks: I bet the pub will still be around.

Jules: Honestly, I don’t think this pub will ever die. This pub will always be a pub of some kind.

Eddy: Mmm, mmm.

Jules: I have faith in that. It’s made it 150 years this far into it, it’s going to keep going.

Aleks: That’s another 25. Um, but yeah, no sound restrictions, which is great. And also a combination of you guys have your own sound system, which is very much, you know, um, I would say like for background levels, um, you know, okay for like dinner and, um, you know, what’s full enough for what we need it for.

Aleks: For what you need it for, yeah.

Jules: But you also allow ven – um, DJs and – and musicians to bring in their own PA, which is great. It makes my life easier when you do that, because I actually have no idea how to hook you up to our sound system.

Eddy: Yeah, pH.

Jules: The VM knows that, that’s a him job, that’s never going to be a me job. I don’t want to learn.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah.

Jules: Uh, he can do that.

Aleks: It’s helpful though, because it means that you’ve got sound throughout the entire venue. So we plug into your system as well as having our own speakers so the – it’s louder on the dance floor area.

Jules: And it’s – it’s one consistent vibe throughout the whole venue, it’s not like you feel like you’ve left the party entirely when you transition from the courtyard to the main bar to go get yourself another drink, you can still hear the party going.

Aleks: Yeah, very important.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: We don’t want any gaps in music, no, not at all.

Eddy: And did you bring your own microphone when you came in?

Aleks: I did.

Eddy: Yeah, cool.

Eddy: I think that’s another good thing. Like it’s… I even when a venue has the microphones, I always bring my own, generally, because I just…

Jules: It’s always better to have the backup because, I mean, we have two and the number of times one will randomly start like fritzing out and I’m like, “I’ve checked this a dozen times before the function even started and now it’s suddenly…”

Eddy: Mmm, mmm. Well, it’s – what’s a combination of things? Yeah, you’re in the city, so there’s so many like radio waves going around and then like a bunch of people come in with all their mobile phones, it’s just like, yeah, it can mess with it.

Jules: It’s just so much happening and you never want that random bit of static in the back, so it really does help when the DJ shows up or the celebrant shows up with their own set, because it’s like, you’re the fail-safe or I’m your fail-safe. Either way, between the two of us, we’re covered.

Aleks: Yeah, exactly. And good to have – and again, you know, the sound system is there in case anything happens, but we’ve also got our own so it works perfectly well. Um, you guys also have great lighting. The lighting in the courtyard –

Eddy: Yeah, it’s gorgeous.

Jules: Yeah, I don’t know who thought it through, but someone spent a lot of time thinking that through and it’s all on dimmable switches, so we can just change the mood of the room as the night goes on because there’s nothing worse than like, it’s dark out, it’s middle of dinner, and it’s still like blaring in your face lights.

Aleks: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, you want…

Jules: Because there’s just… there’s no atmosphere then, and especially a gorgeous area like that, like you want a good atmosphere and lighting’s such a huge piece of that. You brought a bunch of your own lighting, which helped so much when it was time to actually get everyone up and dancing.

Aleks: Mmm.

Jules: And they danced a lot, I had to kick people off tables at some point.

Aleks: Oh, i do remember that. So it was a – it was a rowdy one.

Aleks: It was a – it was an excitable crowd. Well, there were a lot of people, most of the – the guests had – were visiting from overseas.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah, they always party the hardest, yeah.

Aleks: Huge party, and it was a lovely mix of Irish and Māori –

Eddy: Mmm, nice.

Aleks: —and then Kiwi guests, so –

Eddy: Good mix.

Aleks: —very, very good mix. Pints of Guinness were consumed. They were flowing, I sold so much Guinness that night. Um, they love the Guinness. We actually normally don’t ever include Guinness on the tap, but for this wedding they were like, “Non-negotiable for us, Guinness has to be on.” We’re like, “Yep, cool, if that’s what you need, if that’s what’s going to make your wedding good for you, easy done.”

Aleks: Yeah, do it.

Aleks: How good to have pints of Guinness, eh?

Eddy: Oh my god, yeah, nice.

Eddy: And um, yeah, and it’s not – Guinness isn’t as alcoholic as other beers either, is it? It’s slightly under…

Jules: I think it’s like a 4.8 or something like that. It’s not crazy high like you’d expect it to be.

Eddy: Mmm.

Jules: Um, and I think where it is a bit of a heavier beer, you take an extra minute to drink it, in theory –

Eddy: Yeah.

Jules: —depends on who’s drinking it.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Eddy: Um, I got to say that I do love, um, what you’ve mentioned about lighting and like dimming it as the night goes on. I love when I see, you know, it might be 8:00 or something like that and people having – and the lights come down a little bit. I know the venue’s on to it, it’s really nice and it – it resets that mood. Um, there are a few venues that I still don’t understand the lighting situation in.

Aleks: No, I couldn’t explain it to you.

Eddy: You know, I was at a venue the other weekend and like the switches and I’m switch – like, no one knows what’s going on!

Aleks: No.

Eddy: So I’m trying to – does that look right? I’m like, oh, trying to switch this and – and it’s just – it’s just not good. But I just love that, it’s just, for us, for us DJs, particularly, it’s just one less thing we have to worry about, the lighting, if – if the venue’s handling that when it comes to dance floor time they’re dimming it completely so let our lights sort of shine through, you know, as it were. It’s just awesome, really, really good.

Aleks: Yeah, i agree, and it’s – and we’ve spoken about this before, but there’s like a funny… you want when it comes to like a vendor working with venue staff, you want the staff to be chill but also organized.

Jules: Mmm, mmm.

Aleks: It’s a really weird – it’s like you got to just strike that balance.

Jules: It’s like there has to be this perfect little balance where it’s like, “Yeah, if that’s what you need, whatever,” but also, “I know how to fix that issue for you.”

Aleks: And you know what’s going on and you’re on top of it. You know, you guys turned around that room like – like absolute pros, like everyone just knew what they were doing, it was done, it was so impressive to watch and every – you know, people were so impressed when they walked from cocktail hour, 10 – 10 pints in, and saw the courtyard transform from a ceremony into a really nice sit-down dinner.

Jules: Yeah, and it was good because as soon as they all went out to the courtyard to go have their sit-down dinner, we had our bar staff up front, they were lighting all the candles and then adjusting all the lighting at there, so then when ever guests went back out into the pub, it kept that nice soft, cozy lighting all night long.

Aleks: Yeah, lovely.

Aleks: And that’s actually a cool thing about it as well, is you do have that front bar area if you want a bit of a disco break, or obviously that’s where the bar is so you go grab a drink, there is that kind of like… we still have the music going on in there, but obviously it’s a lot louder and more hectic in the courtyard where the dance floor area is.

Jules: Yeah, it’s – you can definitely have a much more chill, calm conversation, and then we also have the patio out front, so if you want a bit of air, there’s a smoking area, you can take your drink.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: You still hear the same music from inside, so you still haven’t actually left the party completely, you haven’t left the venue.

Aleks: No.

Jules: But you can get a breath of fresh air when you need it.

Aleks: Yeah, yeah.

Eddy: Which is really important for the couples sometimes, too.

Jules: Yeah, yeah, and especially because we have a loft that that day we used as like kind of like a bridal suite, so whenever the couple did need a break, they’re like, “Cool, we’re just going to take our drinks, we’re going to pop up with one or two of our mates and just sit and have a calm, quiet moment to ourselves.”

Aleks: Oh, i love that.

Jules: Um, which always a good thing, like because we have these so many nice little nooks and crannies in the venue, there’s lots of places to hide if you need that minute.

Eddy: Yeah, it’s – to hide. I need to hide!

Aleks: Hide at your own wedding! That happens sometimes.

Eddy: Oh yeah.

Aleks: Um, now, correct me if I’m wrong. Did people at this wedding that we’re talking about, did they order their mains?

Jules: Yeah, yeah, so they we’re doing one of our set menus, uh, we have two, we have one where you get like shared entrées and then a choice of main, and then uh, they actually did our premium set menu where you get to choose both your entrée and your main.

Aleks: How crazy!

Jules: Um, and everyone was super excited. We have lots of good options on it, I saw a lot of lamb ribs go out that night, and honestly, that’s what I would have picked because the lamb ribs, we don’t, unfortunately, don’t have them anymore. We’re doing a lamb belly now, but –

Aleks: Mmm.

Jules: —delicious. Our chef’s phenomenal, he moved down here, I’d say about two years ago from Queensland and he was working up in Sunshine Coast, and he is just made such an insane menu for us. Uh, he does phenomenal canapes, and yeah, just having like choice of entrée, choice of main, really well-fed, and then we did, uh, we have a great baker as well.

Aleks: Mmm.

Jules: She did up pistachio tiramisus for them, and we just did that like self-serve in the bar. So when we went to go switch from dinner into the dance floor, we obviously had to break down all those tables again.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: So we sent everyone back up into the pub to do another round of drinks, and we’re like, “Hey, guys, we’re going to lay this tiramisu out on the tables, take as much or as little as you want, serve it up yourself,” which the couple actually requested to have it done that way. Uh, because again, they’re like, “We want to keep it a little less formal when we’re transitioning from this big fancy dinner into everyone just going crazy and dancing.”

Eddy: Nice.

Aleks: Yeah, we did have that – I almost forgot, because it was so seamless that we had that little break.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: So obviously to turn the room around again, but it wasn’t a drama, they had a drink, had the tiramisu, and we were here till 12:30 or something crazy.

Jules: Yeah, 1:00.

Aleks: Yeah, 1:00.

Eddy: It’s, uh, I got to say, tiramisus are just popping off at the moment at weddings.

Jules: Yeah, yeah.

Jules: I think, yeah, people are really going for that self-serve dessert style rather than having a big formal cake. Uh, and we’re like, “Yeah, do you want to do like a tiramisu is kind of cake cutting thing?” And they’re like, “No, we don’t care.”

Aleks: No.

Jules: They’re like, “We’re here, we’re – we’re a little drunk now, we’re having a good time, we’re well-fed, we’re going to go chat.”

Eddy: Yeah.

Jules: And they just ran off and had a great time.

Aleks: So good.

Aleks: And they did dance a lot. I almost forgot… because I saw the – where the couple was sitting uh, on the wedding party table, they had their parents, both sets of parents came from – from overseas and their siblings. Um, and everyone had steak. Steak and chips, and a pint.

Eddy: Oh!

Aleks: How good is that at a wedding?

Jules: Yeah, yeah.

Aleks: How good is that? That’s the ultimate.

Aleks: How many, um, entrées and main – like how many choices were there?

Jules: So, for entrées you get four choices, for mains you get five choices, so we give a nice variety. We make sure there’s, you know, gluten-free stuff in there, something vegan, something vegetarian.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: Not – there’s usually fish option or a chicken, beef, nice healthy mix of everything so that you can kind of meet most dietaries from that. Um, and we do keep it pretty easy, we have a nice mix of like classic Aussie pub food –

Eddy: Yeah.

Jules: —but also nice elevated proper dinners, and they actually did request, they’re like, “We really need a parma on this menu,” and I was like, “Yep, done.”

Aleks: No question.

Jules: No questions, steak, parma on there.

Eddy: Mmm, yum.

Jules: Who doesn’t love a steak or a parma, right?

Eddy: Yeah.

Jules: Wedding or not, it’s a good meal.

Aleks: I love that point as well, like, I was just looking at everyone, I’m like, everyone’s having the best time eating this food, because sometimes at a wedding, like, the fine dining experience is not what you want after a few drinks. No, I’m not saying it’s not like, you want a good, hearty meal, I feel like.

Eddy: Yeah, oh.

Aleks: Absolutely. You would more than me, I appreciate the fine dining.

Eddy: Also appreciate a good schnitzel, you don’t mind that point as well.

Eddy: With fine dining, I look – correct me if I’m wrong, and I’ll probably get in trouble for saying this, but like, it’s usually not enough food, either. Like, I’m still hungry.

Jules: I, what – places I worked at, I was quite lucky to work ones where, like, they did feed you really well, but it would be like these five-course menus, and it would take forever to get through, and it would be like three hours of dinner, which is fine, some people really enjoyed that, they really wanted that, and it was really fun to serve. Uh, we’d have great wine pairings with every single one and it took a lot of work, but they – we did it pretty seamlessly, I’ll give us credit for that restaurant. Um, but yeah, it’s not always what everyone wants. Like, it sometimes feels a little too formal, and I think a venue like this, it would feel far too formal to do like a five-course meal, like that feels a little crazy to think about. Uh, i think, yeah, keeping it a nice, easy two-course, good, healthy portions, and then knowing there’s dessert afterwards, i don’t think they even ate that much dessert because we fed them so well at dinner.

Aleks: That’s so good. Big grazing, I love a grazing board.

Jules: Yeah, and we left it out all night, so that at any point if someone got hungry an hour after dinner, there was still something, still something to snack on.

Aleks: There was a little snack, yeah.

Jules: Keep – keep people well-fed at weddings, always.

Aleks: How good is it being a wedding guest?

Eddy: Just in general, yes.

Eddy: That’s what I always say, it’s –

Aleks: Have you been to many weddings as a guest?

Jules: Not here in Australia. I have one I will go to at some point over the winter, uh, once they pick a date, which it will actually be here, which will be really fun. I’ll get to attend it as a guest, not just the planner, which will be super exciting for me. Um, but yeah, back in Canada, we – we love a good wedding. We do a lot of like brewery weddings.

Aleks: Oh yeah!

Jules: Yeah, there’s this one actually near the little cottage I worked in, and it’s just this like old like 50-year-old cottage just hung over the water.

Aleks: Mmm.

Jules: And my friend had her wedding there, and it was such a crazy, good spot for it.

Aleks: Yeah, nice. Yeah, we have a few like that, don’t we? But they tend to be out, like, regional.

Eddy: Mmm, yeah, they do.

Aleks: You had one in Port Melbourne though.

Eddy: Yes. Yeah, brewery.

Aleks: Yeah, brewery.

Eddy: CB – CB Co, CBCo whatever it is, yeah CBCo.

Aleks: CBCo, yeah.

Eddy: CBCo, yes! Yes, that was cool, you know, they’re –

Aleks: Well, I’m at Stingrays this weekend.

Eddy: Oh, you’re at Stingrays this weekend? Do you know Stingrays?

Jules: No, I haven’t heard of that one.

Aleks: Oh, it’s a bar, is it?

Eddy: Bodriggy.

Aleks: Bodriggy in on um, Johnston Street.

Eddy: Yes.

Eddy: Shout out to all these other venues!

Aleks: Yeah, that’s a 40th, it’s not a wedding actually, it’s a 40th –

Eddy: It’s a 40th, yeah.

Aleks: I don’t know, they might do weddings. We’ll get in there, we’ll get in there. Um, no, it’s, uh, yeah, breweries are good. I think that’s just not stuffy, I think.

Jules: Yeah, and I think that’s what, especially for back home, that’s what it is, it’s leaning more back into that like informal wedding vibe.

Aleks: Mmm.

Jules: Same, i think it’s the same as having it at a pub, like you can find these really gorgeous venues that are non-traditional wedding venues.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: Because not everyone wants the big hall or the big fancy function hall or restaurant or whatever it is, like –

Aleks: And you need a good dance floor space too, if you want to have a good time.

Jules: Got to have a good dance floor space.

Aleks: And no sound restrictions, and I’m not sure if I mentioned that, but when you’re inquiring at the venue…

Eddy: They’re the bane – the bane of our existence as – as wedding DJs, as you could probably tell. Um, sound restrictions really hurt. But uh, yeah, we don’t have to worry about it here.

Aleks: No, not at all.

Aleks: Is there a type of couple that you see, obviously like the more relaxed, like informal, but is there anything else that your couples like have in common, would you say, when booking the venue here?

Jules: I’ve seen a lot that are coming from out of town, like ones that aren’t from the city or they might live in the city but no one from their family does, because again, just being in the middle of the city, there’s a million different places they can all stay. They could go stay in Fitzroy if they wanted and still be here within 20 minutes –

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: —and it’s no stress at all to get here.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: Uh, so yeah, definitely a lot of people from out of city. Um, not as many out of state –

Aleks: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jules: —but yeah.

Jules: Just people who are new to the area, I think.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: Or maybe not new, but not from.

Aleks: Yeah, because it just makes it so easy. I think they went out after – they went out afterwards somewhere.

Eddy: Oh, no doubt.

Aleks: I did ask the next day, but I’m like, they’re probably – they’re probably lying in bed hungover, newly married. They’re probably still out.

Eddy: Who knows!

Jules: Our staff are so used to like, at the end of any function everyone coming over to them and being like, “Where do we go? What are your recommendations? What are – what pub’s open? What bar’s open? Where are we heading right now?” And we’re always like, “Well, there’s always the casino.”

Aleks: Well, yeah, Crown’s always there, Crown’s always open.

Aleks: What else do you recommend around here to go out at like after?

Jules: Uh, I think it definitely depends on the group and what their vibe is. Section 8 is usually a pretty good one, because open a bit later –

Aleks: If you can get in!

Jules: —if you can get in, yeah. It’s hard to get in during the day, let alone at night.

Jules: Oh, it’s so hard to get in. Section 8’s a great one though, it’s good for dancing, but again, you got to hope you can get in. Um… near here like, we usually – we have a good little list of stuff that’s about 10, 15-minute walk. Heartbreaker’s another great one.

Aleks: Oh yeah, Heartbreaker’s good.

Jules: Especially if you want something where you can still sit down and still have a great drink, Heartbreaker’s phenomenal for that.

Eddy: Mmm.

Jules: Um, Spleen is a little bit further of a walk, but they’re open quite late and they do really, really good jaffles.

Aleks: Oh, really?

Jules: So, if you want a nice late-night snack, Spleen’s got you covered. Um, Workshop is about a five-minute, not even a five-minute walk from here, it’s like a three-minute walk from here.

Aleks: Mmm, Workshop.

Jules: Um, our venues are quite good friends so we always recommend each other. They do great pizza as well. Um, they’re not open quite as late, so it depends on what time the function finishes with us, but super close, great drinks, super good prices.

Eddy: My god, we’re always working, so we don’t really know all these cool… I mean, Section 8 is our go-to.

Aleks: Section 8’s a classic recommendation, I think if you’re in the city, always a good recommendation. It’ll hit most crowds.

Eddy: Yeah, and it’s one of the most eclectic crowds you’ll ever see.

Eddy: We, um, we have our like, so we have a small group, core group of DJ friends and we catch up twice a year, um, in the off-seasons, and yeah, Section 8’s the place that we usually start at and go from there.

Jules: Nice. Workshop is definitely a good one to check out, because they have a really nice, big indoor space, uh, they have like, they’ll have DJs on the weekend sometimes, they’ll have like a projector going with cool, funky vibes on the ceiling all the time –

Eddy: Mmm.

Jules: —but they also have this really nice, similar to this balcony we’re on right now, actually, at Lock, uh, so like a semi-closed-in balcony. So if it rains, you can still sit out and enjoy the space, but you can smoke all night out there, which I don’t personally smoke, but all my mates do because they’re English and that’s just what they do.

Aleks: Shout out to all those Brits, they love a… what do you call it in…

Eddy: What? Punching a dart?

Aleks: Punching a dart!

Eddy: Punching a dart.

Aleks: And we say it in a nasal way like that.

Jules: Well, I call it a dart, too.

Aleks: Do you?

Jules: Yeah, that’s a dart. Smokin’ a dart.

Eddy: Pack a dart.

Aleks: In Canada, they say it?

Jules: Well, maybe not Canada, but –

Aleks: Oh, but now – now you’re a Melburnian.

Jules: No, I called it that before I moved down here, though, and none of my English mates knew what a dart was, it was like, “Oh yeah, I –” again, I don’t smoke, but I’d be like, “Oh yeah, do you want to stop at the dart shop?” and they’d be like, “What? Why would we go play darts right now?”

Aleks: They love to play dart, they also love darts.

Eddy: Yeah, I mean –

Eddy: They’re just getting confused, aren’t they?

Aleks: How funny is that? Yeah, no, that’s the same, same but different really, like.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: Yeah, absolutely. I don’t know what they call it. I’m racking my brain now.

Eddy: I don’t know what the Brits call it.

Eddy: But they, uh – look, there used to be a word that they used, obviously can’t use anymore –

Aleks: Yes, I was going to say, yeah.

Eddy: —so, I don’t know what – what their current word is.

Jules: I think it’s like Siggies, maybe? Siggies?

Eddy: Siggies, yeah.

Aleks: Siggies, pretty Aussie.

Eddy: Punching – punching a dart!

Aleks: And we say it in a nasal way like that, yeah.

Eddy: Oh dear. Yeah, absolutely. And um, I want to know, so… we’ve always talked about this, so since like COVID, um, it’s been really interesting in like the timeline of booking, uh, us or venues or what have you. How early are your couples coming to you to to lock in the venue, or to at least look at the venue, or is it completely sporadic?

Jules: It’s so random. Because especially where we do so many other different types of functions here, because we’ll have 21sts and we’ll have corporate functions and like board meeting dinners, uh, it’s such a weird variety of functions all the time. Um, that I have some people that will message me a week and a half to be like, “We want to lock you in as a venue,” and I’m like, “Cool, you’ve actually missed every deadline I would typically give to a function.” And then I have others that are messaging me a year and a half out and I’m like, “Well, I’m going to say yes, but talk to you in a little while because it’s almost too early.”

Aleks: Yeah, well that’s the thing.

Jules: I usually find within, they usually message about nine months and lock in about nine months prior to, I find that’s a pretty good range because it gives them lots of time to decide, it gives us as a venue time to make any changes to like menus that we might need, because we do make a lot of seasonal changes.

Aleks: Right, yeah, of course.

Jules: Um, so it kind of, yeah, it gives both of us time to work through what needs to be done prior to that function.

Eddy: Yeah, okay, that’s really interesting. So under a year. So a few years ago, maybe 10 years ago, it would – that would be unheard of, I reckon.

Jules: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I – when I worked back in Canada, that’s very much what it was, it’s like I would show up to a venue, they’d be like, “Cool, here’s seven weddings that are going to happen in the next six months that somebody else booked and are now your responsibility to take care of,” and I’d be like, “Yep, cool, great, we have a system so it’s fine.” Um, but yeah, now I find it’s a much – at least for me, it’s a much shorter timeframe.

Aleks: Yeah, we’re seeing that. I mean, I’m talking to a couple this week for a June wedding, just in two months.

Eddy: Well, I booked a wedding for our… because we’ve, obviously One More Song, we’ve got a collective called The Soundtrack where we have other DJs um, that aren’t us, because we can’t – we haven’t figured out how to clone ourselves just yet, and I booked a, I think it was a wedding, it was like four weeks or something –

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: —notice, so, yeah, it –

Aleks: Yeah, it can –

Eddy: —I don’t know what the story behind that one is, but I don’t know if it was a shotgun.

Aleks: Mine was 10 days. My shortest one was 10 days.

Eddy: Oh, okay, well that wins, obviously.

Aleks: Which I – I would hope that at that point it’s just the other DJ or other celebrant fell through, but no, they weren’t going to have a DJ. It wasn’t a celebrant, um, because they were getting married at a registry kind of style wedding, but um, they just decided they weren’t going to have a DJ, they were going to have a playlist, and then they were like, “Actually, we’re going to get you.” Then their friends who are getting married two weeks later also booked me off the back of that, so I had one 10 days out and then one two weeks out.

Eddy: When was this?

Aleks: Last year.

Eddy: I don’t remember this at all.

Aleks: Must have been very busy on my own weddings. It’s funny because like, we’ve got… we obviously use it like – we’ve got a booking system, but like, Ed looks after his own couples and I look after my own couples, so I’ll be like, “Where are you this week and who’s that?” But then I remember your past couples, I do remember your past couples, and I know their name, and almost the date, and where they got married at least.

Eddy: Yeah, there’s a bit of cross-pollination there, even though we’re working our own –

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: —weddings, you know, that’s – that’s crazy.

Aleks: Inbox, anyway, we’ve got like a million inboxes, so we won’t bore you with all that. As you know, that’s events, right? Like it’s – it’s crazy.

Jules: Yeah, it’s like because yeah, you have the mind timeline in your own mind of like, “Cool, this is my personal ideal one for this type of function or that kind of function,” um, but it never goes to what’s your timeline.

Eddy: No.

Jules: You know, whatever works within your timeframe, and I can tell people a million times, “Hey, I need X, Y, and Z information by this date, and if you tell me after that date, I’m going to have a really time – hard time helping you with it,” and then they’ll text you three days after that date.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah, it happens to us all the time.

Jules: And then you’re like, “Oh yeah, all right, I’ll figure it out, I’ll hustle, it’ll be fine.”

Aleks: Yeah, of course.

Jules: Yeah, yeah, you have to do it, you’re just making my life a little bit harder, but that’s fine.

Aleks: Yeah, exactly.

Jules: Now I’m going to go fight with a chef, but whatever!

Aleks: Yeah, you’re ruining my relationships now, that’s not nice. How funny is that? Yeah, no, that’s the same, it’s the same same but different really, like –

Eddy: Yeah.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: Big question, final question for you.

Eddy: Ooh!

Aleks: What is the one tip that you would give couples to – because we talked about, you know, not – you shouldn’t be stressed on your wedding day, which we absolutely 1 million percent agree with.

Eddy: All leading up to it, I think.

Aleks: Or leading up to it, yeah.

Jules: I would say, you know what, try to have everything settled at least two weeks out, because then you know, your venue has done it, your celebrant, your DJ, your whoever has figured out their shit, they’ve done their stuff. I don’t know if I’m allowed to curse on this –

Aleks: No, it’s all right.

Eddy: No, it’s fine. I swore before, like –

Eddy: —— I’ve said to million times on this podcast, but you have to tick a box just for Apple Podcasts if it’s explicit. So if someone drops an S-bomb, F-bomb, whatever, C-bomb…

Aleks: Everyone always says shit on this podcast.

Eddy: All I need to do is remember that and then just tick it uh, probably just by default just tick it, because someone will always say that word.

Jules: Probably.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah.

Jules: But yeah, i think just try to get your stuff handled at least two weeks out, because then you’re not stressing, have your date planned when you’re going to drop everything off.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: And just accept the fact that something’s going to go wrong.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: Could be big, could be small, something’s always, always going to go wrong.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: Hopefully your venue or your wedding coordinator or your celebrant or whoever knows you well enough that they can just kind of fix it in the background and you never really have to know.

Aleks: Yeah, of course.

Jules: Um, but something’s going to happen, food’s going to come out 15 minutes later than you want it or someone’s going to get hungry an hour later or earlier than you think they will.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: It’s going to happen, it’s fine, you’re still going to have a great day.

Aleks: Exactly. There’s ALDI guys, come on, go get a protein bar, go to IGA.

Eddy: ALDI do cakes? I don’t know, if – if a cake hasn’t shown up.

Jules: That’s true! Have you ever had a cake not show up?

Jules: I’ve never had a cake not show up, but we did, one of the first weddings I worked when we moved down here, I asked the couple about a dozen times, “Do you want to do a cake cutting?” and they’re like, “No, no, no, not at all, just have your kitchen cut it up.” and I said, “Yep, cool,” double-checked with them on the day was like, “You do not want this cut – you guys don’t want to do a cake cutting?” they’re like, “No, take it away.” So then we went and we portioned up the entire cake, and then they came to me and they’re like, “Hey, so where’s our cake for a cake cutting?”

Aleks: Oh!

Jules: So then one of their mates did actually go out to one of the bakeries that was open and buy them a cake so they could do the cake cutting, which was really, really sweet. Uh, I think that’s the worst thing I’ve – like the most stressful thing I as an events person has had to deal with where it’s like, “Oh my god, I’ve ruined this for you,” like –

Aleks: Even though it definitely wasn’t your fault, you asked them a lot of times!

Jules: —asked you a lot of times, oh no.

Aleks: That’s when you got to get everything right in like…

Eddy: What happened?

Aleks: I have to say one thing for you as celebrant is I always have two rings with me just in case. Oh, in case someone forgets one! Oh, that’s so smart. In case someone forgets one so they can pretend at least.

Jules: Oh, okay, so if someone forgets one…

Aleks: Because you can still get the… I mean you got bigger fingers than me. I got like, all my rings are like skulls and nautical, like –

Eddy: Yeah, you’d be wearing a… you can get a little pinky ring and then get a regular one.

Aleks: Yeah, no one can see it from back there. So always got two.

Jules: You’ll just look really cool maybe from Fitzroy.

Eddy: Mmm, true, true, true.

Aleks: You know what our couples are like, they wouldn’t even bat an eyelid. They’d be like, “Whatever.”

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: So how – what is the best way for people to inquire, what kind of information do you need from couples who are looking to book?

Jules: Uh, best thing I want to know is I want to know ideal date, because if you have two or three, that’s always even better. Give me your top date, give me one or two backup just in case, because we do do a lot of functions here, other venues obviously have lots of functions.

Aleks: Mmm, mmm.

Jules: Um, ideal number of people, ideal timeframe, and then whether you want to do seated or standing, because that really changes pricing and how I set up the function as a whole. Uh, because if you want to do seated, I have a limited number of people I can allow for a seated function while you’re also in the same room.

Aleks: Yeah.

Jules: I think we had about 80 for the one that you had done here, and I could squeeze more people in, but it would get real tight and not as fun.

Aleks: Yeah, i see.

Jules: And it would change the whole layout, we’d have to do like long beer-hall style tables rather than these nice, cute individual ones where it’s small groups. Um, honestly, the more information you can give the better, like –

Eddy: Yeah.

Jules: —anything I can have works for me. Do you want to have the full venue, do you want to have a part of the venue, when can you come meet so we can sit chat about it? I’d rather just chat with you as immediately as I can, because it just helps both of us figure out if it’s the right fit.

Eddy: Yeah, that’s really interesting. Lots of information, people, uh, I love an inquiry where it’s like a whole huge paragraph.

Jules: Yeah, and they’re just like, “Here’s everything I want to do here, here’s like my ideal timeframe, this is what I want.” I’m like, “Awesome!”

Eddy: Awesome, yeah, yeah. More details, yeah.

Aleks: And when they – and like when um, the couple inquiring are actually excited, like –

Eddy: Yeah, just –

Aleks: —yeah, you know, “I love it, I’ve been there many times…”

Jules: Yeah, I love when they come in and they’re like, “Oh my god, it’s gorgeous here, I love it here, I definitely want to have it here,” and I’m like, “Oh my god, I want you to have it here too, let’s make it happen!”

Aleks: Those are the emails you prioritize.

Eddy: Yeah, exactly, prioritised, yeah.

Aleks: Yeah, love it, “I’ve been there many times,” and you know, I like what you were saying about the couple that came in like seven or eight times, because it is a venue that you can just pop in and have a drink and, you know, you might pick up something new or have an idea of putting a, you know, photo booth or adding something extra because of the the space for it, whereas with, you know, more traditional like wedding venues that aren’t open to the public, you don’t have that opportunity to just pop in for a drink.

Jules: Yeah, and one time they did come with their photographer and they just, the three of them just sat and had dinner, and then they actually ended up changing the whole timeframe of their wedding, which was fine because it was like three or four months before the wedding actually happened, but their photographer got to see the space and be like, “Okay, from a lighting perspective, if you adjust these timeframes, you’re going to get such better photos.”

Aleks: Mmm, mmm.

Jules: Um, so I think it’s also, if you can, if it’s a venue like this, bring your vendors around, like let them come see the space too, because then you’d never been here before that one, um, you’ll be great for any future ones because you’re going to know exactly what you need and exactly how it works for you to set up as the vendor.

Aleks: We did pop in to do a site visit.

Jules: You did, yeah, you guys did come in a couple days before.

Aleks: But couples, if you want to shout us a nice dinner at your venue, I’m not going to complain!

Eddy: We can have – we can have a meeting, that’s fine.

Eddy: I do think it’s important for – and I’ve time and time again couples are like, “It’s great that you know certain venues, I feel comfortable.” I think, look, dare I say it, probably more important for the photographer to really know it, but then the DJ, DJs just set in one position, it doesn’t – lighting doesn’t really matter, in terms of lighting for photographers –

Jules: You’re going to go where the venue is able to let you go.

Eddy: —yeah, exactly, but it’s still, it’s one less thing we have to worry about, like does the DJ know where to load – because that’s our biggest thing, where do we load in? Like how do we do – am I – am I um, putting my hazards on and quickly running in and then moving my – what am I doing?

Jules: Yeah, I love when couples get me in contact with their vendors, like um, even a month early is so great because then it’s like I have plenty of time to work with them to discuss things like that, because like, we do have a place you can park but you still got to kind of load off pretty quick because it’s a – it’s a used by so many other businesses, I don’t want to get you blocked in.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jules: Um, and you get blocked in –

Eddy: That’s seriously my biggest – biggest anxiety for a new venue, like Stingrays this weekend, new venue, that’s my biggest fears, it’s like, shit, how am I going to – how am I going to load in?

Aleks: You probably should pop in this week.

Eddy: I might, yeah, I might do a site visit.

Aleks: Do a site visit, yeah. Why not?

Jules: Why not?

Aleks: Yeah, we try – we try and do a site visit in that situation, and it’s more like, you know, how does your system work, how do we plug in, is there power nearby? What extension –

Jules: Is there anything special you need to bring to make sure you can set up well.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: Like trolley, are there stairs? That’s the big one, are there stairs?

Jules: Oh, god, that would be hard, because you guys have quite a lot of equipment, too.

Aleks: It’s a lot of crap, isn’t it, Jules? Like, there’s so much. I don’t know how we do it, we try to – I don’t know how you can get it down inside.

Eddy: You can’t, you can’t get it inside.

Aleks: And you need back – we have backup stuff as well, like, you know, you need to have extra – you need a whole bag of cables. It’s easier than it was, because a lot of things are battery-powered, like for ceremony and we can now send signals wirelessly, um, so we can set up a speaker that’s battery-powered in the other end of the room and send a wireless signal rather than like plugging that speaker and then cabling the audio in, like so it’s gotten easier. Eventually, it’ll all be battery-powered and we – and no cables, hopefully, so that’ll be amazing.

Jules: A DJ can dream.

Eddy: I know, right? I’ll probably be retired by that point, but uh, yeah.

Aleks: Oh, yeah, you’ll be retired. Anyway, thank you so much for joining us.

Jules: Thank you for having me, this is great. Thanks for coming down to the venue.

Aleks: We love being on location.

Jules: And now you guys have a new bar to go to.

Aleks: Yeah, well we have to pop in. I actually want to, I actually, um, like the look of your roast, your Sunday roast, because I’m really fussy.

Jules: Do a good Sunday roast.

Eddy: Do you do Yorkshire pudding included in that?

Jules: Not at the minute, but we actually, but it’s going to be, we just had, uh, a new chef join us from actually, he worked with our head chef, uh, up in Sunny Coast and he just moved down, and apparently he makes a crazy good Yorkshire, so I am going to be on him about that because I want a Yorkshire with the roast, I want a Yorkie.

Eddy: Oh yeah, you need a Yorkie.

Aleks: I think you need it, I think you need it. Oh yeah, we’ll, um, we’ll definitely have to pop in for a nice Sunday sess. Um, well, thank you for joining us, and for couples who want to get in touch, just through the website, inquiry form.

Jules: Yeah, yeah, it’s right there on the website. Um, we are going to be doing a little reno in the next couple months –

Aleks: Oh!

Jules: —because we’re going back to the original name, Max.

Aleks: Max? Max Hotel, M-A-C-S apostrophe S.

Jules: Yeah, Max Hotel.

Jules: People actually still call it that because it’s what the building says. Uh, but it’s going to get even more classic, Aussie, cozy pub in here.

Eddy: Max Hotel, there you go.

Aleks: How cool is that? Yeah, so, yeah, I assume there’ll be some sort of URL redirect on the website so that people when they navigate it can take it there.

Jules: At that point in time, yes, yes. That’s not a me thing, it will be a someone thing.

Aleks: Yeah, okay, good. Someone else’s problem.

Eddy: Someone else’s problem, we don’t worry about that.

Jules: Someone else more technical.

Aleks: Thank you so much for joining us, we’ve had love chatting to you and hearing more about the venue. Um, do check it out if you are after a cozy, pub-style venue, then this is it.

Eddy: And if you like to smash a pint.

Aleks: Like to smash a pint or five!

Eddy: Do it responsibly, people. All right, till next time, see you! Bye!