Grace & Georgia's Wedding at Willow Tree Estate, Pokolbin
Grace and Georgia were married on a March afternoon at Willow Tree Estate, out among the vines at Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley. Grey had been forecast all week. The day quietly ignored it and turned out golden.
They got ready in different parts of the estate, which is one of the gentler luxuries of a property where everyone stays under the one roof — no cars, no clock-watching, just people drifting between rooms all morning. Before the ceremony they met for a first look. Both of them were nervous, in the best way possible. Twenty minutes on their own, and they walked into the rest of the day steady.
Almost everything about this wedding came back to family. Forty guests, and every one of them there for a reason. Their guests stood in a semi-circle around the arbour rather than in rows, close enough to see their faces. There was a seat kept for family who couldn't be there, quietly done, no announcement. Grace's sixteen-month-old niece was flower girl and stole the show entirely, in the way that only a sixteen-month-old can.
And then, from the far side of the dam, a mob of kangaroos wandered out and settled in to watch the whole thing. Nobody could have arranged that.
Afterwards we worked through the family photographs, and then the list Grace and Georgia had given me — the people they especially wanted photographed, and why. That's always my favourite part of the day. Everyone remembers the parents and the siblings. Not everyone gets the photo with the aunt you've always been closest to, and those ones only happen if somebody's keeping track.
Then out into the vines for a while, with the Brokenback Range sitting behind everything, and back to the grounds before anyone had a chance to miss them.
Grace's grandfather had built a cornhole set by hand for the wedding, so of course we played. Georgia won comprehensively. Grace took it well, mostly.
Dinner, and the speeches, and then Grace sang to Georgia. I won't try to describe that one. The room went completely quiet, and I've thought about it a few times since.
Later a full moon came up over the vineyards. I borrowed the two of them for five minutes, got one frame in the moonlight, and had them back before anyone noticed they were gone.
SUPPLIERS
Venue: Willow Tree Estate
Catering : Pokolbin Catering co
Platters: Sharp+Co Platters
Bartending: Eventful Bartending
Hair: Belinda Hairstylist
Makeup: Georgia’s sister
Dresses: Perfectday Bridal
Rings: Camilla Gough
Photography: Anetta Kirk
