Barbecue! Potato Salad! My plate

And we did quite a few good lunches out with the family. As you can see, we usually go for hearty German fare. (And chanterelle mushrooms were in season too, and I enjoyed a gorgeous crunchy schnitzel with chanterelle sauce and Spätzle one day).

Top row R-L: Schnitzel with Pfifferlinge and Spätzle at Landgasthof Waldschaänke; Cordon bleu schnitzel with Bratkartoffeln; Grillpfanne with Spätzle, both from Zum Tahlblick Bottom row R-L: Matjesfilet; Pretzel beer and dried sausage, both from Hagenbräu; Farmer's plate of Bratwurst, Blutwurst, Leberknödel etc. at Kreuzhofbauer

Other lunches were of the junk food variety, which I also love. CHIPS!

Clockwise from top left: Chicken and chips, Döner kebab from the local Rewe Centre; KFC; Currywurst at the Kurpfalz Tierpark

Dinners were primarily at home - simple things like cold cuts with cheese and bread, smoked sausages with carbs, and sometimes takeaway like a great Halbes Hänchen (half chicken and chips). We also had an awesome Gulaschsuppe at Sandra's uncle's house!

Aufschnitt dinner

Clockwise from top left: Frankfurter & chips; potato salad & frankfurters; creamy tortellini and frankfurter & chips; Fleischwurst sausage with pasta and scrambled eggs

Gulaschsuppe with bread

Halbes Hänchen, heck yes

Looking back over my photos, I'm surprised to see we only did two dinners out - one at a super cheap and atmospheric schnitzel place, Gasthaus zur Traube in the Odenwald, and the other at the local Greek and family favourite, Paradies.

At the schnitzel place, I had a Schnitzel topped with Kochkäs, (centre top row), which is a spreadable cheese from the Odenwald. It's mild tasting and really gloopy, and is lovely spread on a crispy crispy schnitzel. The schnitzels here were nice but not spectacular, but they were extremely well priced (max €8.90 for a small, max €11.90 for a large) and the atmosphere was really cozy and bustling.

Schnitzel at Gasthaus Zur Traube

I routinely avoid seafood in landlocked Lampertheim, and was surprised to see beautiful seafood being grilled in the open kitchen as we walked into Paradies. Well, I had to try the seafood mixed grill. ZOMG it was amazing! So fresh and cooked perfectly, not chewy at all, and so tasty. I was so impressed! 100% that is going to be my dish at Paradies moving forward.

Seafood Mixed Grill, Paradies

It was warm while we were in Germany, and we ate a LOT of ice-cream. I love German ice-cream parlours - such generous servings, so much whipped cream, all the sundaes, the Spaghetti-eis!

Top row (L-R): Blueberry ice-cream & Spaghetti-Eis at Limonciello; Mango & cream cheese salted coconut at Coccola in Heppenheim Middle row (L-R): Yogurt/strawberry/honey-quark & mixed scoops at Vannini; Kid's scoop at Oberfeld Bottom row (L-R): Schwarzwaldbecher & Iced Coffee, Hazelnußbecher, Mixed ice-creams at Oberfeld

I go through phases with regards to German cake - on previous trips I've either been eating them ALL THE TIME or avoiding them totally, overwhelmed by the portion sizes and the aggressive percentage of whipped cream. This time it was definitely a total cake fest! Loads of afternoon Kaffeeklatches! Here are some of them. Most of these were from local bakeries Schmerker or Schmidt's, and the cherry crumble cake in the top row was made by my sister-in-law. They're all good, but my absolute favourites are the Bienenstich (top row left, bottom row second from the left), and of course Black Forest cake (top row second from the left).

Cake!

Kerwe was on while we were in Germany, which is the big Lampertheim festival. (Lots of cities have their own Kerwe). It's like a big street party or fair, with rides and food and drink stalls. Kerwe festivals go back to the middle ages and I believe they used to be organised by the church, but these days are organised by the local council and town clubs. It was really fun! And I love fair food!

Pork knuckle, bread and beer at Kerwe

Kerwe! Clockwise from top left: Local wine and Schmalzbrot (lard on bread); Thüringer sausage; Chimney cake; WAFFLE; Kerwe

On this trip we drank a lot of Neuer Wein ("new wine"), which is wine that hasn't yet undergone fermentation. They're only available at a particular time every year, and over the trip we picked up a few from the local farms to try. They come in bottles with ventilated lids (store them upright!) because they keep fermenting and producing gas, and you don't want the bottles to explode. The flavour changes significantly over time, so you can taste the difference if you have a little bit each day. I can't say that I loved them - they ranged from super sweet to super acidic and generally tasted quite thin - but I was happy to try, and it was nice to connect with wine as a locally made, seasonal item, rather than a random product that you pick up at the bottle o without thinking about it.

Neuer Wein / Federweißer

But speaking of wine as a commodified product... I inexplicably developed a taste for Weinschorle (wine spritzers) on this trip. I just found them really light and refreshing, and nice to have on a warm afternoon out in the garden. Cheapish white wine or rose wine with soda water or lemonade. Yes, I am an 80s housewife.

Weinschorle Rosé one litre. And what are you drinking today?

Slightly random thing to share - I found this Tête de Moine cheese at the supermarket and had to buy it. I remember eating it as the cheese course at an extremely fancy degustation meal in Melbourne, where it was served with great fanfare using a special little spiral slicer contraption. In Germany it was a regular supermarket cheese! (Kaufland, from memory).

Tête de Moine cheese

One afternoon, Sandra's parents took us to Kirchberghäusel in the town of Bensheim - it's a cute little cafe high on a hill (with a lonely goat), with great views of the town. Cakes were lovely too!

Cake! Pflaumenstreuselkuchen, Apfelstreuselkuchen, Kaäsekuchen

View from Kirschberghäusl

One evening we went for drinks and snacks with Sandra's mum at this bar/pub on the Rhein river, which had lovely views at sunset. Sandra's mum had Schmalzbrot (bread topped with lard with crunchy bits inside); Sandra had a Frikadellen bread roll, and I tried a Zwiebelkuchen with a rose wine spritzer (of course I did). Zwiebelkuchen was really yum - it's a thick savoury yeasted dough, topped with sautéed onions. I definitely feel this is something I should learn to make at home.

Cafe on the Rhein - Schmalzbrot, Zwiebelkuchen; Frikadellen Brötchen

Wutzel the mascot

My parents-in-law went on the sleds, but that was far too energetic and dangerous for me (hah) - I much preferred taking a swan-shaped paddle boat around the lake and watching the ducks. (Wow, I really am an old woman).

Swan boats

Another day we drove out to Heppenheim to see the old city, get ice-cream and do a bit of shopping. It was really pretty! (I also LOVED the salted coconut cream cheese ice-cream at Cocola).

Heppenheim

Ok, last thing to tell you about! One of the local bakeries, Schmitt's, sells bread slices by weight, so you can just buy one or two slices of each type of bread and not be stuck with a whole loaf. Genius! I love this idea so much and wish they'd do it here! (Schmitt's also does excellent cakes - I particularly like their crunchy-topped custard-filled Bienenstich).

Bread by the slice at Schmitt's

Ok, that's it! What a fantastic trip. I always love going back to spend time with family and eat all the food!


Previous Germany posts:

• Germany 2006 - My first trip to Germany! Backpacking in Berlin with my friend Clarice during the World Cup. 
• Germany 2007 - My first trip to Germany with Sandra! It was winter, it was cold, it was Christmas!
• Germany 2011 - A summer trip: Ice-Creams, Gulaschsuppe, Pig on a Spit, Mushroom Picking in the Lorsch Forest, Oma Resel's Potato Sauce and more 
• Germany 2013 - Another fab summer trip: Supermarkets & Snack Foods; Bread, Bakeries, Breakfasts & Bacony Goods; BBQs & Parties, and more 
• Germany 2015 - Late summer, comprehensive posts: Breakfasts; Lunches at Home; Snacks; Restaurants; Trier & Bernkastel-Kues 
• Germany 2016 - Early summer! One big round-up post full of German deliciousness
• Germany 2016/2017 - Surprise Christmas trip!
• Germany 2018 - Christmas, Christmas Markets, Wrap-Up

Bonjour! Welcome to my Food Guide to Paris! I've travelled to Paris many times (seven times in the last eight years, for anyone playing along at home), and duly blogged each trip, but it never occurred to me to actually write up my recommendations in the one spot. However, a few weeks ago, a good friend of mine told me she was off to Paris and asked for my food recommendations. I was going to just send her some links to my old blogposts, but I quickly realised there were WAY TOO MANY and I ended up writing this massive email with all of my very enthusiastic (or aggressive?) suggestions and recommendations gleaned from my previous travels. She found it useful, and I loved having all my recommendations in the one spot. So now I share this list with you!
Also full disclosure, I have basically zero interest in art, or history, or designer shopping, so this list is all about the food. I also do not have any accommodation suggestions, sorry - when I do go to Paris, it isn't simply "to go to Paris", but rather, to visit my friend Clarice. I stay with her and hang out, and we fit in food destinations around the trip. (Extremely rarely, tourist destinations have made an appearance, but much less frequently as time has gone on).

Most of these recommendations came to me via Clarice (who has lived in Paris for over a decade and is also a foodie like me), but apart from that I primarily discover new places from David Lebovitz' blog and from Instagram. When planning my trips, I always follow the Insta accounts of the restaurants / cafes / patisseries I plan to visit, and then the Instagram algorithm sucks you in and starts suggesting different Parisian food accounts to follow.

Please note, none of this is sponsored, and these are all just places I've visited, paid for, and enjoyed. (Side note: if someone out there wants to sponsor me on a trip to Paris, feel free, hah).  I'm not even sorry for how long and aggressively detailed this is! Amusez-vous bien!

Rue Denoyez

Getting Around

I find Paris very walkable, as the main city is reasonably compact and isn't super hilly (although there are many cobblestone streets, and many/most Metro stations have stairs, so note this may be trickier for those with mobility issues). I am terrible at directions and can get lost very easily, but as long as I have GPS and GoogleMaps on my phone I am usually fine. I like walking and I like seeing the city, so if a destination is only a couple of metro stops away, I usually choose to walk.

The Metro is also great, fast, and services run really often. On my last trip, I discovered the City Mapper app, and it was THE BEST for planning my journeys on the Metro, determining the best routes, and navigating my way around generally. Buses are also nice if you want to see the city while you get around, but are a bit slower. There are Uber and taxis too, but in my personal experience the metro is usually faster.

Clamato, 80 Rue de Charonne, 75011, 11th Arrondissement

11th Arrondissement

So, the 11th has gotten quite gentrified lately, but in a nice way. It's interesting and cute and not bland. I did a lot of walking around here on my last trip - lots of cute organic grocers, restaurants, cafes, and knick-knack shops.

Clamato (80 Rue de Charonne, 75011) - Young casual restaurant, amazing seafood! No bookings, line up at midday when they open. The seafood platter had THREE types of clam! Also excellent were the hardboiled eggs with caviar, and the maple syrup tart. They're owned by the same people who own Septime (just down the road). I haven't tried Septime but I imagine it would be great as well.

Le Servan (32 Rue Saint-Maur, 75011) - Bright and airy bistro, owned by two French / Filipina sisters (hooray for women). They recently started offering breakfast and we ate breakfast here in September, was very good. (Comté brioche with sage butter!) On the foodie grapevine I hear that it's very good for lunches and dinners as well. You will need to book.

10 Belles Bread (17-19 Rue Breguet, 75011) - F*cking awesome bread, they started as a coffee shop near Canal Saint Martin (see "Coffee" section below), but opened a proper bread bakery in the last few years. They supply bread to Clamato and other great restaurants. The sesame cookies are *drool* and they do great coffee.

Bistrot Paul Bert (18 Rue Paul Bert, 75011) - Famously good bistro, does classics like steak frites. Popular with tourists, particularly American tourists, who I know get a bad rap, but I mean cool foodie American tourists. Like I imagine Ina Garten would eat here. Last time, Clarice and I saw a wealthy young American couple smashing a ludicrously expensive bottle of red at the table next to us. The bistrot is famous for the grand marnier soufflé and île flotantes, but I think their Paris Brest is THE BEST. (Actually better than Pierre Hermé and Jacques Genin, IMHO - see "The Famous High-End Pastry Houses" section below).

Cyril Lignac is a famous celebrity chef, and he has a "golden triangle" in the 11th of chocolaterie / patisserie / restaurant. I haven't been to these myself (we just walked past and Clarice pointed them out and I had a peek in the windows), but I reckon they'd be good. My friend Alaina (for whom I originally wrote this list) has since tried a Kouign Amann there and a savoury roll with cheese and sesame seeds, both fantastic.

The bar at Astair, 19 Passage des Panoramas, 75002

Restaurants

Ok, these are restaurants not in the 11th.

Verjus (52 Rue De Richelieu, 75001) - five-course seasonal menu, they can do matching wines too. Lovely for a blowout meal! Food is great, it's super cozy, they have an atmospheric wine bar downstairs too. (Option for a sexy date if this is something that floats your boat). They did corn macarons as the petit four, too cute! (The chef also gifted me chocolate-covered muscatels because I follow him on Instagram and I unsubtly commented on his post saying "I hope these are there tonight", heh. But for realsies, I'm famous). Definitely ok to go here on your own, when we went for our 10pm dinner (zomg, European hours!), there was an American girl sitting next to us who'd just flown in and was doing the five courses and matching wines all to herself. (What a champion!) Waitstaff are super nice, speak many languages. (We heard French / English / Spanish while there).

Astair (19 Passage des Panoramas, 75002) - Lovely restaurant in the Passage des Panoramas (like Melbourne's Royal Arcade but nicer), with a nice bar, very pretty. They do a good value prix fixe lunch menu. I suggest going off menu for dessert and getting the madeleines with chocolate pot. SO GOOD.

Le Bon Georges (45 Rue Saint-Georges, 75009) - Traditional French bistro. Had very good steak tartare and regular steak here too. Feels old school - when we went for lunch there was a massive older French dude sitting by himself at the next table smashing a three course meal with bottle of wine followed by petit fours and espresso. (Again, what a champion).

Le Garde Robe (41 Rue de l'Arbre Sec, 75001) - Cute dingy wine bar. Obviously, lots of different wines you can try, but cheese platters and open toasties are great.

L'As Du Falafel (32-34 Rue des Rosiers, 75004) - Translates to "Ace Falafel", not "Falafel Ass" as I originally thought. It's recommended by Lenny Kravitz' according to the sign outside. Food is really good and a nice break from French French food.

Pecan Kouign Amann, Le Petit Grain (78 Rue Denoyez)

Bakeries / Cafes

Of course there are hundreds of bakeries / boulangeries in Paris and usually at a high standard. (Certainly at higher standard than an equivalent place in Melbourne). I personally don't think it'd be worth it going nuts trying to find THE BEST croissant in Paris, as most of the neighbourhood bakeries do very good croissants that are super enjoyable. However, these are my special favourites.

Le Petit Grain (7 Rue Denoyez, 75020) - really nice bakery (takeaway only), who use natural leavenings only, not commercial yeast. I had a pecan kouign amann here which was transcendent. Not too sweet. Clarice has also had a pistachio honey one which she loved, and I've seen a sesame one on their Insta recently. They've just opened a second branch at 1 Rue des Deux Ponts, 75004, on the Île-Saint-Louis!

Rose Bakery (46 Rue des Martyrs, 75009) - This one's more of a cafe. Actually an English cafe, which was quite popular and trendy like twelve years ago. I've been meaning to buy their cookbook but never got around to it. Nice to sit down and have a square quiche, the pistachio loaf cake is also great. I sat down in the cafe to eat, but I believe next door is a takeaway / deli-type section that has salads / quiches / cakes on display that looks more impressive.

Compagnie Générale de Biscuiterie (1 Rue Constance, 75018) - a fantastic biscuit shop, so buttery, and all the biscuits are small crisp and nice and just divine. You'll be able to smell it walking up the street. Buy a big tin of assorted biscuits! Happens to be in Pigalle (the red light district), but I felt it was fine during the day as it was super crowded. (I get anxious walking alone in dodgy areas). If you come here you may walk past a sex store called "Pussy's" with a neon sign, and it's also near the Moulin Rouge, so you may come across annoying tourists doing stupid loved-up selfies.

Berthillon - So Berthillon is the most famous ice-cream maker in Paris, and you probably already know about them. They're supposed to be sold ONLY on the Île St Louis. Often the shops have super long lines and you have to eat while walking, so hot tip, go to the Berthillon Salon de Thé (29-31 Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île), and sit down. You can have the ice-creams, but I'd also suggest ordering the apple tart tatin and having it with a scoop of salted butter caramel ice-cream. I've tried the marron glacé (candied chestnut) ice-cream too and it's FAB.

Piccolo and carrot cake, KB Coffee Shop (53 Avenue Trudaine, 75009)

Coffee

I know, nothing more clichéd than a Melbournian leaving Melbourne and heading straight out to search for the best new-wave Melbourne-style coffee, but here we are. Also usually when I get to Paris I've been in Germany for at least a week prior, so I've been drinking plain filter coffee at home or not-so-great cafe coffees and will have developed a craving. Don't judge me.

KB Coffee Shop (53 Avenue Trudaine, 75009) - Australian owned (I think) coffee shop. Bonus: free wifi. Coffee is awesome and they sell yummy cakes too.

10 Belles (10 Rue de la Grange aux Belles, 75010) - 10 Belles Bread (mentioned above, see "11th Arrondissement" section) obviously do coffee, but the original branch on the Rue de Grange Belles (near Canal Saint Martin) is more atmospheric. Super cute little coffee shop, nice cookies, yum.

Dreamin Man (140 rue Amelot 75011) - Japanese owned tiny little coffee shop, has a Melbourne vibe. Coffee is great. On Saturdays they sell this hectic flan (Japanese pudding/creme caramel) which I haven't tried but Clarice has and said it was *heart eyes emoji*.

La Fontaine de Belleville (31-33 Rue Juliette Dodu, 75010) - New wave coffee roastery housed in an old-school French bistro. So you get the good coffee but the old Parisian vibe. Totes honestly I didn't LOVE the food, but the coffee was very good.

La Caféotheque (52 Rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville 75004) - I haven't been since 2013 but was one of the original fancy coffee places in Paris. Very good coffee. The place has an old-school Melbourne 90's vibe like Quist's, smells of roasty coffee and lots of coffee bean sacks all over the place.

Dose Dealer de Cafe (73 Rue Mouffetard, 75005) - randomly stumbled across this one while walking on the Rue Mouffetard, it's good.

Jacques Genin Paris Brest

Matcha croissant, Sadaharu Aoki

The Famous High-End Pastry Houses

Most of these pastry houses below have a few branches, some are just for takeaway and others are a salon de thé where you can sit down and eat. I'd suggest double-checking online before making your way to one. Not all the branches always sell all the items, so if there's something specific that you're dying to try (the Jacques Genin Paris Brest, for example, or Sadaharu Aoki's matcha croissant), I'd suggest giving them a call first to double check.

Pierre Hermé - the best! Macarons are incredible and I always buy them, my fave is the Mogador (passionfruit shell chocolate ganache filling) but they're all good. The entremets (i.e. individual desserts / cakes) are amazing. Of the entremets, I can recommend the Ispahan (Pierre's signature flavour of rose / raspberry / lychee), the Tarte Infinement Vanille, and the Paris Brest. I personally wouldn't bother with any of the packaged stuff they make and sell (e.g. waffle biscuits, chocolate bars, chocolate pralines etc.), as I've found they're not quite as good and honestly I think they're just there to make extra money off his brand.

Sadaharu Aoki - Their matcha croissants are one of my top ten dessert island foods! The branch on 56 Boulevard de Port-Royal has seating and is nice for breakfast. Of the entremets, the vanilla chou bun is INSANE. Sadaharu the man also uses a lot of enthusiastic exclamation marks in his Instagram posts and I enjoy the middle-aged-Asian-mum vibe.

Jacques Genin - Chocolatier and patissier. Famous for chocolates (hot choc and bonbons, both of which I love), and their pate de fruits and caramels. I'm not into pate de fruits or caramels but you might be. His pastries are also ridiculous. Some branches just sell the chocs/caramels to take away, but there's a salon de thé on the Rue de Turenne where you can sit, and enjoy a hot chocolate and his amazing pastries (mille feuille and chou creme are AMAZING). He's famous for his Paris Brest as well, but I prefer the ones from Pierre Hermé and Bistrot Paul Bert.

Angelina - The classic! They're famous for their Africaine hot chocolate, and their Mont Blancs. The Mont Blanc is one of the most exquisite things I have ever put in my mouth. You can also buy tubes or jars of their chestnut paste - yum. The branch near the Louvre on the Rue de Rivoli is a salon de thé and is super pretty, so is a good spot to relax and hang out.

Cedric Grolet - voted world's best pastry chef, is also hot and has a six pack. (Refer his Instagram). Famous for amazing entremets that look like fruit. He does the high end afternoon tea at Le Meurice hotel, and also has a patisserie there where you can get takeaway. I indulged in the Le Meurice afternoon tea last year around Christmas, and it was divine, but since then there have been some terrible laws passed by the international owner, and this hotel is no longer somewhere where I'd choose to spend my money. However, Cedric is launching his own standalone Cedric Grolet Patisserie though, near Opera, set to open late November-2019! The croissants on the Instagram account look incred!

Le Chocolat Alain Ducasse - chocolatier. Alain Ducasse is a famous 3-Michelin star chef, and he's opened an intense bean-to-bar chocolate shop where they produce everything from scratch. I've only been to the branch in Galleries Lafayette Gourmet, but the chocolate bonbons are AMAZE. Super dark and roasty flavours, especially the "Pralinés à l'ancienne". Expensive and excellent.

L'Éclair de Genie by Christophe Adam- probably more modern than the others, they do excellent eclairs. Passionfruit raspberry is the shiz.

Yann Couvreur - another famous pastry house. His rum baba is wonderful, as was his mirabelle tart. They seem to do seasonal tarts, so I would recommend picking up any small baked tart with fruit on top (e.g. apricots etc.)

One more thing: I would recommend visiting Lafayette Gourmet (35 Boulevard Haussmann, 75009), the food section of the famous department store Galeries Lafayette. The ground level is a food hall with individual pastry shops and delis, and the basement is like a supermarket/market where you can get fresh vegetables, cheeses, meats, fancy groceries etc. The food hall has Le Chocolat Alain Ducasse, Yann Couvreur, L'Éclair de Genie, Sadaharu Aoki and Pierre Hermé. (There's also a sit-down Angelina at Galeries Lafayette, but it's in the fashion/luxury building under the dome, I think). I habitually visit at least once on each trip to do a sweep and buy all my favourites - Pierre Hermé macarons, Kusmi Tea, Reflets de France butter biscuits and so on. My main callout for Lafayette Gourmet, though, is the Cinco Jotas counter (they sell *insane* Spanish hams). The ciabattas with pure Bellota jamon ibérico, Manchego, and crushed tomatoes are out of this world! Excellent for lunch on the run, or the train or whatever.

My latest shopping haul from Lafayette Gourmet

Wish list / Next time

A couple here that are on my list for next time that I have yet to visit.

Le Dechenaud (32 Rue Robert Giraudineau, 94300) - Chocolaterie in Vincennes that does these amazing-looking cookies. Drool-worthy Instagram account!

Marsan or Jòia by Hélène Darroze - As you can tell from my list, I haven't visited any of the super-high end Michelin starred restaurants (mainly due to lack of interest, but also due to lack of funds), but Hélène Darroze's restaurants are definitely on my wish list! She's a high-end well respected chef with restaurants in London and Paris, all while raising two daughters on her own. Total idol! I understand that Marsan is the fancy one on the Rive Gauche with epic multi-course degustation menus, and Jòia is a more casual venue and I am keen on both!

The Hood (80 Rue Jean Pierre Timbaud, 75011) - A newly re-launched coffeeshop and Asian canteen, serving KAYA TOAST (on baguette, lol) and other Vietnamese and Singaporean deliciousness like congee, Hainan chicken rice, achar etc., as well as coffee. Honestly it's nothing I can't get here in Melbourne (or obviously in Malaysia), but I think the idea is super cute, the coffee looks great, and usually when I'm in Europe I'm missing Malaysian food so I'm sure I'll have a craving next time.

Mokonuts (5 Rue Saint-Bernard, 75011) - Bakery cafe and restaurant. Apparently they've got these incredible tahini and rye chocolate chip cookies. I WANT.

FIN.

Our Wedding Day

We chose the wedding day to be on our twelfth anniversary of being a couple. I self-deprecatingly joke that it's so I didn't have to remember a new date, but really it was that the date was already special for us and that was the date I've been wanting to make official for years. It had to be that date!

We kept the day very small and as low key as possible. I'd think we succeeded in keeping it relaxed - well as relaxed as a wedding day can be when you are both two type-A planners who hate attention on ourselves and have a tendency towards anxiousness.

We decided to have a small ceremony at the Victorian Marriage Registry with my family and our best men in the afternoon, followed by cake and champagne. In the evening we had a slightly larger dinner (for fourteen people) in a private room at our favourite restaurant, Spice Temple. To keep things easy (and for a touch of luxury), we booked ourselves a room at the Park Hyatt for the night before and the night of the wedding. It's walking distance from the Victorian Marriage Registry, the foyer and rooms are lovely and luxurious, and the rooms are significantly larger than average hotel rooms in the CBD, so it was spacious enough to have ten people in there for cake and champagne after the ceremony.

We're both the type of people that have a small group of really good friends, rather than a large circle of acquaintances, so this was exactly the type of celebration we wanted. (And honestly, organising this wedding was stressful enough as it was; I have no idea how people cope with larger weddings with hundreds of invitees, marquees, seat plans, caterers, function centres, the whole works!)

Here are some photos.

Wedding Invitations! Because we had such a small guest list, we hand wrote the invitations and decorated them with photos of us and the guests. (The cards are Kikki-K "Always and Forever" photo cards)

Wedding Favours! We made a little gift bag for each guest.

Wedding Favours! The gift bags were to help our guests continue the celebrations the next day. Homemade wedding granola (recipe here), honey, and a mini Moët! (Inspired by the Vue de Monde gift bags)

Park Hyatt "King with Club Access" Room. Super spacious (60 sq metre) with big bathroom, huge bathtub, walk in closet and large sitting area. Perfect for all the prep we needed and the post-wedding champagne and cake!

We spent the night before the wedding chilling at the hotel, eating room service and watching (of all things) Bride and Prejudice

Yes, I bought us matching "Bride" robes and monogrammed PJs to wear while getting ready, and I'm not sorry. They're from Le Rose.

We went to get our hair done in the morning, then came back to the hotel to get our make-up done by make-up artist extraordinaire Stephanie D'Aquino. She is THE BEST! My bro was taking photos, and my best man Jimbo delivered us iced coffees and sandwiches to the make-up chair.

Wedding Bouquet! I'd asked around, and the average price for wedding bouquets was $200 each. NO THANKS! I got my best man to buy two flower jars from The Road Stall and bring them to our room while we were getting ready. Only $30 and so beautiful! They've since gone up to $40, but still way better value than a wedding bouquet.

On our way to the ceremony. Literally the only time I've ever walked faster than Sandra when there wasn't some kind of free canapé involved.

Photos from the ceremony, at the Victorian Marriage Registry. Yessss making it official! You'll also see our joint best man An holding both bouquets. I don't believe in the "tossing the bouquet" tradition, but he was the only single one there so we just directly handed him the bouquets after the ceremony, hehe.

Wedding day walk #2, on our way back to the hotel

The Happy Couple! Instagrammable wall is in the driveway of Park Hyatt Hair: Eunji at Tony and Guy Georges Makeup: Stephanie D'Aquino Sarah's Dress: Oxford Lane Dress from Review (I bought it 2 days before, and it was only $200, yay!) Sandra's Dress: Lillian West Sarah's Shoes: Wittner; Sandra's Shoes: Nine West Flowers: $30 flower jars from The Road Stall

Yes! We did it!

Champagne! Time to bring out the good stuff

Always. Be. Influencing.

Wedding Cake and Champagne. The cake was Beatrix's Red Velvet Cake, we pre-ordered it and my best man went to pick it up while we were getting ready. I'd bought the pointy-boobed bride cake topper from Cake Deco Supplies a few weeks before. Champagne from the brides' own collection.

The Nu Wa Room at Spice Temple. We loved the dinner! The booking process was so easy - we liaised with the functions team over email, making a custom banquet menu, pre-ordering wine and advising them of dietary requirements. They printed place cards for us, and we were assigned a waitress who took great care of us, paced out the meals to fit in our toasts, and kept our drinks floooooowing.

Wedding Banquet Menu! We basically picked all our favourites from our many previous visits to Spice Temple, following the format of their existing banquet menus. This one was $89 per head (and they also swapped in some different dishes for our different dietary requirements - vegetarian, coeliac, pescetarian, no beef, no seafood).

Dinner! So delicious! Yes, I'm aware lots of these are out of focus. They were the best ones I took - it was dark and I was tipsy and overwhelmed with fun times and love from my wife (WIFE!), family, and friends.

The Spice Temple team even surprised us with a round of complimentary cocktails! One key requirement we had for the wedding was ABSOLUTELY NO SPEECHES, as Sandra and I are incredibly uncomfortable with big displays of emotion. However, our chief best man An crafted a fun "story" (technically not a speech) about our friendship which was lovely. This was followed by very nice non-emotional toasts from my father and my best man, and a succinct but heartfelt "thank-you all" speech from me.

Peeps at the wedding dinner! So much fun! So much love! Please also note the fur stole and ballerina wrap that Sandra and I are wearing, both from Review. We sent my best man out to get them during the day when we realised we didn't have coats to match our dresses! He even got the staff member to allocate the purchase to my customer account so I could get points. "Wow, you're well trained", they said. (Yeah, we worked him very hard that day, sorry Jimbo).

Mr Walker, the Park Hyatt's canine ambassador, perfectly summing up how we felt the next day

And that was our wedding! We were totally exhausted by the end of the day but also so happy! We managed to do it exactly how we wanted, and were floored by the amount of effort and love from our friends and family. My dad couldn't sleep the night before; my mum was awake and dressed before anyone else in the house was; my bro flew in from Japan with two tuxes; my best man Jimbo and his fiancée Jenni flew in from Malaysia hand-carrying a heavy and fragile gift (and he spent the whole morning zooming around town doing errands for us); Sandra's best man Suryadi came even though he had a one-month old at home (and of course the thanks go to him and his lovely wife Jean for enabling him to come out on the day); our joint best man An had literally flown in from Europe the morning of the wedding and still got everywhere on time because he is an organisation machine. People dressed up, brought thoughtful gifts, joined in the celebrations and were generally awesome! It was the best day ever! Yaaaaay!

More wedding-related posts:

• Engagement Party
• Bachelorette Weekend
• Wedding Granola
• Wedding Tea in Germany