Sam + Julie | A Winery Wedding in Kangaroo Country

Happy Monday de Lovelies....how about a little global wedding eye candy to get the week started right? Everyone loves a winery wedding, right? There's s something romantic and simple, old country and very warm about exchanging vows in the midst of beautiful green rolling fields, mother nature, and grape vines with a group of close knit friends and family. I just sort of almost swooned out of my chair when this splendid little wedding celebration came my way from Hilary Cam.

Welcome to Sam and Julie's Hunter Valley wedding in the heart of Kangaroo country, Australia. I love showing off global weddings and interesting destinations -- it is super dreamy to step outside our idea of a normal wedding setting and plant ourselves on a totally different continent. So without further yapping and in the Bride's own words, I give you Julie and Sam in all their wonderful wedded glory at the ever so gorgeous Willow Tree Estate.

 From the Bride: Sam and I moved from Brisbane to Sydney two years ago for Sam’s work. On Valentine’s Day 2011 whilst on holiday in Bora Bora, Sam asked me to marry him. I’m embarrassed to say I grabbed the gorgeous diamond ring and put it on my finger before I said yes, yes, yes. I was always interested in a destination wedding and with Sam’s family based in Canberra and my family based in Brisbane it made perfect sense. We wanted a relaxed, fun day with good food, good wine and great scenery to celebrate with family and friends.  We spent a couple of Saturdays driving around looking at different venues and immediately liked Willow Tree Estate. 


 

Before we knew it our wedding day had arrived and luckily the weather was perfect. Our photographer Hilary Cam has an option to photograph the groomsmen getting ready as well as the bridesmaids so your album looks more balanced. We are so glad we took him up on this option because he got some great pictures of the guys getting ready, playing bocce and drinking local beer Blue Tongue. The bridesmaids took over the Summerhouse suite and sipped champagne while curling hair, applying make up and enjoying lots of giggles. Raylee at Willow tree took care of everything including organising a lunch platter delivered to our room.

We chose to book the entire estate which sleeps up to twenty guests. We were able to have the bridal party and our brothers and sisters all stay at the venue for the two nights. The estate has seven large rooms and a Summerhouse suite for the bridal couple. The other wedding guests all stayed at surrounding hotels and bed and breakfasts. The night before we all enjoyed wine tasting at Keith Tulloch Estate and a really lovely dinner at The Muse Kitchen restaurant.

The outdoor ceremony was held in the gardens at Willow Tree Estate. My Dad walked me down the aisle towards a beaming Sam. The celebrant Robyn Baker was great and calmed our nerves almost immediately. The ceremony was really beautiful and we exchanged the vows we had written ourselves. When Robyn announced we were husband and wife the guests cheered and we shared a magical kiss.

 After lots of photos we joined the wedding guests celebrating on the large deck to enjoy the great food and wine the Hunter Valley has to offer. The reception was catered by staff from The Verandah Restaurant. The food was amazing. We had a great view across vineyards towards the mountains and the gardens were all in full bloom and beautiful. The speeches were witty and heartfelt before cake cutting and then we danced into the night.

I would definitely recommend a destination wedding as we were able to bring everyone together in a great setting where we could relax and celebrate together. We have amazing photos which we will cherish forever. And it feels absolutely wonderful to introduce the love of my life as my husband.  

Photography: Hilary Cam Photography Sydney / Venue: Willow Tree Estate, Pokolbin NSW Australia / Wedding Gown: The Bridal Centre, Brisbane  /Bridesmaids Gowns: Garfunkle, Broadway on the Mall, Brisbane / Groomsmen Outfits: Spurling Formal Hire / Hair & Makeup: Bride’s Sister / Catering: The Verandah Restaurant, Calais Estate Hunter Valley / Wedding Cake: Marakye Cake Designs / Flowers: Valley Fresh Flowers /Submitted via Two Bright Lights

Congratulations to Julie and Same; thanks for letting us share your special destination wedding dream come true. Thank you to Hilary Cam for sharing this goodness with us; looking for more to come our way!

Where do you dream of getting married? Can you name the most popular destination wedding location? Join us for this and more great wedding inspiration over on Facebook -- from DIY to real wedding ideas, discussion on tips and trends and fashion. We do it all!

Have a beautiful day,