Wedding Weekend in Hunter Valley

After months of planning, Bg and Louise's wedding was suddenly around the corner. The reality of how close the wedding was set in when overseas guests started arriving in Sydney. My parents arrived the week before the wedding and some of the family arrived the same day and the week leading up to the wedding day. My poor gran was really given the run around by the Australian Embassy, not saying whether her visa had been granted so we were all quite disappointed when she cancelled her ticket. Finally, 4 days before the wedding, the Embassy finally confirmed her visa; my gran had to re-book her ticket and then jump on the plane but thankfully she made it in time.

Bg and Louise's wedding was in Hunter Valley, the wine region of NSW. Most of the family travelled down on Thursday as the wedding was on Friday. As per Chinese tradition, the groom had to send representatives bearing gifts to the bride's family and they in turn would "test" the representatives to determine if the groom was good enough for their daughter. Thankfully, the representatives did an excellent job as the wedding went ahead ;)

The groom's representatives with the gifts

The wedding day started off bright and early for the bridal party, starting off with some photos at the venue, The Hunter Valley Gardens. Justin was the ring bearer and looked oh so dapper in his little outfit. It was a hot sunny day so thankfully Bg and Louise chose a casual and comfortable outfit for Justin. Overall, the whole wedding had a casual feel to it which was great. The ceremony started at 2:30pm and the as the bride walked down the aisle on her dad's arm, she took many people's breath away. Louise looked radiant and her dress was a good choice, she really looked stunning. The celebrant that the chose spoke about their relationship as well as about them individually; it was quite clear that he had spent some time with them and got to know them which gave the ceremony that intimate feeling and not merely a stranger doing his job. After the ceremony it was the tea serving ceremony where the bridal couple have to serve tea to their elders and receive gifts in return. This was a first for me because we didn't do this at out wedding and I was being served tea and sweets. After some drinks and snacks, the reception kicked off. Louise worked hard making sure the finer details were perfect and it came through when you walked into the reception. With the formalities and dinner out the way, it was time to party. Their first dance was a mash-up of different dances and songs; it was awesome and very unexpected and so much fun. We had such a brilliant time at the wedding.

Congratulations to my brother, Bg and my new sister, Louise! Wishing you a happy and loving marriage.

The ring bearer and flower girl 

Beautiful bride walking down the aisle 

The ceremony 

Being served tea

The celebrations continued the following day as most of the guests were staying in the area for the weekend. Louise's parents very kindly organised a BBQ for all the family and friends. It was very low key and chilled, I think everyone was a bit tired or jet lagged and just happy to relax. 

The happy couple

Chillaxing at the BBQ