We’re definitely obsessed with this stylish and exuberant celebration at The Hills Lodge in Castle Hill. So be prepared to get overwhelmed and floored by this incredible wedding day from start to finish ☺
Peppers The Hills Lodge is a well appointed 4 ½ star boutique hotel located in Castle Hill in the heart of the Hills region of Sydney, with a reputation built around quality and friendly, service. Our boutique hotel is well located within easy reach of all parts of Sydney via the M2 and Sydney Orbital M7, offering the finest accommodation in Sydney, elegant fine dining in Nobles Restaurant & Bar, extensive conference, event and wedding facilities or relaxation at the award winning Day Spa. Our accommodation offers tastefully decorated rooms and suites of various sizes and configurations to suit your needs, the choice is yours.
Despite opting for an intimate affair amongst the sandstone walls of Gunners Barracks, Stephanie & Andrew still pulled an enormous worldwide audience through a live stream. “To our surprise everyone tuned in and took lots of screenshot and shared how they felt about the night with us. It felt like they were there with us on the day. It was extra special!”
And special it was, with everyone witnessing Steph walk down in an incredible Pronovias dress she picked from Luv Bridal. “I first commented how ridiculous it looked before I tried it on and then as soon as I saw myself in it in front of the mirror, I fell in love with it and said yes to the dress on the day.” Then being able to listen in as Andrew got roasted, over and over, during the speeches, in some of the funniest moments of the day.
THE PROPOSAL
“We were supposed to go to NYC. Due to COVID, we had to cancel our US trip. Andrew ended up proposing at our apartment. When he proposed to me, he asked his sister to decorate the apartment with flowers and candles. When we opened the apartment door, he got down to his knee and asked me to married him, and I said ‘hold on, this isn’t our apartment’. We have chosen to go back to New York for our honeymoon, and he promised to re-propose to me.”
THE VENUE
“We locked in our venue before Andrew proposed to me. I planned a secretive bush hiking day around the venue and then asked him to come inside to take a look at my dream venue. Little did he know I had already booked in an appointment with the venue coordinator for a quick tour. I had a look at The Grounds but Gunners’ intimate and historical look stood out to me the most in the end.”
FAVOURITE MEMORIES
“My favourite moment is the ceremony. It was so emotional for both of us. It was the moment when I actually soaked myself fully into the experience and loved every second of it. Once the reception started it felt like everything went by in a few seconds.”
FUNNY STORIES
“It was three days before the wedding when I realised I had completely forgot to order the wedding cake. Luckily the place we wanted to order the cake from has a quick turnaround time. We were also on a mission to find clear umbrellas in Sydney. They were sold out everywhere and we ended up picking up a bunch from Wollongong. In the end, we were blessed with dry weather 😌”
MEANING OF MARRIAGE
“We kept saying the marriage thing was for our parents as they wanted to see their kids getting married. We even thought of just signing the paper or stayed as de facto if we wanted to save money and not bothered planning everything. The process of getting married actually triggered a lot of thoughts about why we wanted to get married and if the person in front us is the right person.”
I promised to blog a bit more this year, expecting to have plenty of free time, well in reality, that that’s been a difficult task to fulfil.
Honestly, I’ve spent alot of time lately catching up on long neglected, domestic duties and focusing on other parts of my business that lie behind the scenes.
The other difficulty with blogging is selecting a decent set of images, with most wedding galleries now easily exceeding 1000+ images, whittling them down to a web-friendly amount of 150ish images can be really painful, especially for a perfectionist like me.
Amanda & Ben’s wedding in late February was no different. There were just too many moments to chose from and every frame seemed to be filled with Amanda’s vibrant smile. This was the perfect harbour side, Sydney wedding and seeing all these unrestrained emotions really touches a nerve, especially knowing what was about to come.
These two blew me away with their Blue Mountains engagement session last October, so I knew Jade & Simon’s rustic & country themed wedding at Loxley on Bellbird Hill would be just as amazing. Following months of smoke and bushfires in the area, their big day was blessed with a refreshing and mild dose of rain. The clouds conveniently pausing just long enough for their outdoor ceremony to take place. Scroll down to see more…
THE VENUE
“Loxley was the first venue we looked at. We had a few other places to check out, but we both loved Loxley so much, we decided to cancel the others. It was an easy decision for us, the location was stunning, we loved the country [and] rustic appearance of the venue, and the staff were so wonderful and helpful.”
THE DRESS
“Finding my dress was pretty quick and easy. It was actually the 2nd dress I tried on – and I just knew it was the one. It also helped walking out and seeing my mum and a few of my bridesmaids in tears. I loved having my girls there to help with this big decision. The only negative was that I couldn’t have everyone with me as most shops set limits on the number of visitors.”
FAVOURITE MOMENT
“I had quite a few favourite moments. Firstly, walking down the aisle with my father and seeing Simon tearing up at the alter. Then listening to my husband’s beautiful vows. I also loved walking into the reception and seeing all our family and friends standing up and cheering us on, plus all the wonderful speeches.”
ADVICE FOR FUTURE COUPLES?
“Have a month-to-month schedule! It makes life super easy and that way you can also control budget/ how much you spend each month. We had absolutely no stress organising our wedding, it was such an easy and fun experience for the both of us.”
