Visa Wellington on a Plate - my picks

Unbelievably it's almost that time again... It seems that just when my waistline has forgiven me for my transgressions at last year's Wellington on a Plate events it's here again to taunt me with amazing food and fantastic but bank-account-draining events.

I thought I'd give you a rundown of my top picks for this year. My favourites are always the one-off events - out-of-the-ordinary and behind-the-scenes stuff you don't usually get the chance to do.

Pecha Kucha: Imbibe looks entertaining, and furthers my goal for this years festival of still being able to fit my wedding dress at the end of it. Talking about food = low calorie fun! ;-) At $10 per person it's also at the more affordable end of the scale.

The same can't be said for the Enchanted Cinderella Feast, which is definitely at the pricier end of the scale but hey, it sounds pretty good to me - especially if Ruth Pretty serves up any more of the incredible chocolate creme brulee she provided for the VWOAP launch event.

Chocoholics are well catered for with both the Chocolate Festival (loved it last year, will definitely be back!) and this most excellent tasting event at L'affaire au Chocolat. Mmm, chocolate...

The festival coincides with the opening of the Wellington Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, so they're hosting some interesting events - you can bet on seeing me at the Patisserie Introduction, and I'm also quite interested in the Reviewing the Reviewers discussion.

Also in the food blogging vein there's a food photography workshop which looks pretty promising, and a special festival viewing of the movie Julie & Julia, followed by a three-course meal inspired by Julia Childs. And last but not least I'm hoping to get to Finishing Touches, to glean some presentation skills that might assist both blogging and wedding planning.

What are your picks?