So you’re planning on getting married and looking for amazing Bowral and Southern Highlands wedding venues? Well, you’ve come to the right place as I a tonne of knowledge about this vast and beautiful area and its venues!
This is a little wedding planner/guide to help you guys on your journey. The venues listed here are some of my favourite venues to photograph, due to scenery, food, and logistical ease for your guests. They are also not listed in order of preference.
Eight Amazing Southern Highlands Wedding Venues
Somerley House
“The Somerley enchanting Victorian home and established gardens, its privacy and exclusivity have been the setting for hundreds of garden parties, grand banquets, wedding celebrations and many magical dances under the stars”. This text perfectly encapsulates the meaning of what it’s like to get married at Somerley House.
It was originally built as a gracious country retreat and over the years its owners have entertained thousands of guests including state premiers, international ambassadors, the opera star Dame Nellie Melba, Prime Minister Billy Hughes and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh!
The staff and owners are incredible. The surroundings are absolutely perfect for a wedding. It has many places to photograph and a perfect getaway from the busy Sydney hustle and bustle. Your guests will thank you for it, trust me!
Here’s a beautiful Somerley House wedding of Jacqueline and Aaron.
Milton Park Guest House
Milton Park Guest House has a very English vibe to it. Imagine you are on the set of Pride and Prejudice, that’s the feel it’s going for, and boy it is stunning! Set apart in its own secluded hilltop woodland just east of Bowral in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Milton Park Country House Hotel & Spa is a five-star hotel offering luxurious accommodation, fine cuisine and impeccable yet discreet service in an atmosphere of relaxed sophistication.
Every time you go to visit, you’ll find something new to discover. If you love huge open gardens and mini walks, then this venue could be the one for you! The Orangerie room, in particular, is an amazing area to hold your reception. Here’s a full link to Suzie and Munraj’s amazing Milton Park wedding. It showcases the venue in its entirety.
Bendooley Estate | Book Barn
Bendooley Estate is a spectacular destination within the Southern Highlands. It is known for its iconic Berkelouw Book Barn. It’s great for a wedding weekend getaway with it’s dining and luxurious cottages within the beautifully 200-acre property.
There are plenty of places for photographs, such as the main homestead, the sunset licked hills, the vineyards and surrounding gardens! Oh, I forgot to mention the lovely lake which is perfect for dusk photos.
Bendooley Estate is a very popular venue, like the others, so best to book in quick if you love it.
Here are lovely and ever so elegant, Christina and Mario at their Bendooley Estate wedding!
Centennial Vineyards
Centennial Vineyards is another one of my favourite Southern Highlands wedding venues. The unique restaurant has a rustic charm to win over you and your guests. On top of that, the surroundings of the vineyards are stunning, plus the amazing custom menu’s by the chef will make your day just that much better!
The staff are lovely, I know them well and I also know that they bend over backwards to give the best they can on any given day. You are in good hands at Centennial Vineyards.
Take a look at the smitten Eruna and Josh on their magnificent Bowral, Centennial Vineyards wedding.
Mali Brae Farm
Mali Brae is one of those venues that has a lot of rustic charm and is perfect for weddings that are all at one venue as well as unpredictable weather. If it rains for your outdoor ceremony, they’ve got you covered!
Greg and the team will look after you all day, so you won’t have to worry about anything, period.
Mali has a number of ceremony spots to choose from as well as a great old rustic barn for the reception. Have a look around, you won’t be disappointed!
Here’s a look at one of the Mali Brae weddings I have recently photographed.
Peppers Manor House
Peppers Manor shouldn’t be taken lightly as “resort wedding”. This southern highlands venue is absolutely stunning! It’s situated in a small town outside of Bowral, called Penrose. Surrounded by open fields and typical Australiana bushland is a very old English style manor house.
Carrie and the team will definitly look after you, there’s no doubt about that. Itll definelty relieve you from any sort of stress.
The grounds at Peppers Manor House are immaculate and the ceremony spot is divine.
Take a look at one of my full Peppers Manor House weddings here.
Kangaroo Valley Bush Retreat
Nestled up in the Kangaroo Valley mountains is a beautiful venue, the Kangaroo Valley Bush Retreat.
Here’s a snippet from their website, which pretty much sums up this fantastic Southern Highlands venue!
“It offers you the use of all the facilities for your wedding celebration, exclusively for 48 hours. On-site accommodation, rock cathedral, sunset deck, reception hall, bar, dance floor, outdoor alfresco dining, pool and bonfire area are all within close proximity. We are a BYO venue which offers a great way to help keep costs down. Best of all, family and friends can stay up as late as they wish. If this sounds like your kind of wedding venue don’t hesitate to contact us to book a property inspection and see it for yourself”.
You can see why it’s a sort after southern highlands wedding venue! Here’s a link to a beautiful southern highlands Kangaroo Valley Bush Retreat wedding.
The Barn on Melross | Melross Farm
Melross Farm is great for the all in one venue. You can stay their the whole day at your wedding, that means prep, right up until the last person leaves at night.
They have two houses to get ready in on-site, so no need to find Airbnb’s for the morning preps. Both houses look great too! So no need to worry about what the photos are going to look like!
Melross Farm has magnificent views overlooking the gorgeous Kangaroo Valley. you won’t be disappointed with this DIY venue.
Take a look at this Barn on Melross Wedding in Kangaroo Valley, NSW.
My Favourite Venue?
Well, that is one tough question! I don’t think I have a favourite as they all are awesome! The scenery at all southern highlands venues is amazing. The catering from each of the venues is second to none. The staff and owners are excellent and know how to look after you!
The best advice I can give is to plan a weekend away and try and see as many of the above listed as possible. Some may suit your wedding budget than others. But, best to go with the heart. You only get married once!
I hope you enjoyed reading the above info. They are all fantastic venues on the Southern Highlands of NSW and you pretty much can’t go wrong with either. I love shooting at all these venues, so if you are getting married, shoot me an email here.
If you are looking at the South Coast for a wedding, you can see my venue guide here.
