Surfhouse Merewether Wedding

I love a Mindaribba House wedding! It would have to be one of my very favourite Hunter Valley wedding venues. I have been shooting at Mindaribba House for a long time. I photographed my first wedding there in 2013 when it only just started as a wedding venue. And during that time the wonderful owners have continued to upgrade and improve the property with new facilities and buildings. Making it one of the best wedding venues in the Hunter Valley.

There are so many wedding venues in the Hunter Valley so how do you know if Mindaribba weddings is the perfect venue for your wedding? Everyone’s style is different and different couples need different things from y

This is our ultimate guide and review of this awesome wedding venue, Mindaribba weddings in Tocal. It is to help newly engaged couples choose their perfect Hunter Valley wedding venue. And Mindaribba weddings just might be that venue.

The first time I photographed a wedding at Mindaribba House was in 2013. The Bride, Rebecca, used her aunt’s property, which was Mindaribba House. Rebecca also used her other aunt, Helen English to produce her beautiful wedding dress. And Rebecca’s sister had married at Mindaribba House just before her. These were some of the first weddings ever photographed there.

About Mindaribba Weddings

Mindaribba House is a big beautiful elegant country farm property located two and a bit hours north of Sydney in Tocal, near Maitland. It is situated on 100 acres of beautiful farmland, and this includes 5 acres of gardens and sits along the Paterson River. So it really is a perfect, private country and farm wedding venue.

What I love about Mindaribba Weddings is that the entire wedding from start to finish can happen onsite. There is accommodation onsite. The wedding couple can get ready on the same property in different houses and easily avoid seeing each other if they want. There are numerous ceremony locations available. It is a huge property, so there is no shortage of photo locations. And they also have two wedding reception options.

This is a huge plus for any wedding venue and it makes it so much easier for you and your wedding guests. As a couple, when you arrive at Mindaribba, you are there for the weekend. As a guest, when you arrive you can kick your heels off and enjoy the wedding, knowing that you don’t need to travel anywhere at all.

The property has changed quite a bit over the years. The owners are constantly adding things and refreshing the venue. The property consists of:

• The original cottage. Mindaribba House.
• A function room attached to the house.
• A guest house.
• An Indian Tent with polished concrete floors.
• A fire pit in winter which changes to a water feature in Summer.
• A pool in the middle of the complex.

Mindaribba Weddings Accommodation

Mindaribba offers enough accommodation on site for two groups of people with Mindaribba House and the Guest House. This means that as a wedding couple can get ready in either house on the property with your family or bridal party. The houses are far enough apart that you can avoid seeing each other if that’s what you want.

Because it is an exclusive private property, when you book a wedding at Mindaribba Weddings you need to book a minimum of two nights accommodation there as well. Which works perfectly for destination weddings.

Couples both easily get ready onsite which is absolutely awesome. It means there is no travelling involved for either of you and it also makes wedding preparation photos really easy for your photographer as they can just walk between both of you.

Mindaribba House is a beautiful cottage built back in 1872. It consists of four king-size rooms, a dressing room, two bathrooms, kitchen and lounge area. The entire house is styled with antiques and artworks from Morocco, France, India and Indonesia. Mindaribba House and the whole property has been immaculately styled and it looks amazing.

I love doing wedding preparation photos inside the main house because the interior is so well-styled and there is some really cool directional light. It really does feel like somewhere different and special. Not some generic hotel room.

The Guest House has been added onto the property in recent years and is an excellent addition to the facilities. It allows a wedding couple to get ready on-site in separation accommodation.

It has one large room with a large king-size bed one single bed and a lounge that converts to a bed. So it can sleep three or four people if needed. It also has a bathroom and kitchen. and an outdoor bath.

This guest house could also double as the actual wedding night accommodation. It is a smaller size and maybe a bit more private. Your family and friends could stay in the main house and the two of you can stay here.

Wedding Guest Accommodation. There is plenty of local accommodation and hotels near Mindaribba House for your wedding guests. The beauty of Mindaribba Weddings is that it is so private that you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. But in reality, you are less than ten minutes from the main town of Maitland where there is plenty of accommodation.

Most wedding couples organise a bus to pick up the majority of guests from town. That way your guests can drink at your wedding without worrying about driving back. At the end of the night the bus will also drive them back into town.

Wedding Ceremony Options

Mindaribba Weddings is on 100 acres of land, so there is no shortage of potential locations for your outdoor wedding ceremony.

Most couples have their ceremony in the gardens, close to Mindaribba House itself. Mainly because there are toilets nearby and it is easier for their older wedding guests.

There are only two garden locations I have shot in. Both are awesome and it really depends on your personal choice.

The first ceremony location is right next to the main house on the Paterson River side of the property. It is really close to all facilities so it is great for all your guests. And it’s a quick, easy walk to the ceremony for you.

Photographically speaking, it is a really good option for your wedding ceremony mainly because of the light. You have the ceremony between a couple of large trees and the wedding couple, most of the time, are in full shade. The shade is beautiful for photos. It creates even light on faces and it will be much cooler for you, particularly on those warmer days.

The guests will be in full sun but at least it will be on their backs so they won’t be squinting too much.

The second ceremony location option is right down near the river under a massive Pecan Tree. This is a pretty beautiful location for the ceremony because of the tree.

The Pecan Tree is a deciduous tree, so it will be lush a full of leaves in summer, providing good shade. But in winter it will lose all its leaves. But in winter the sun will be lower in the sky and it won’t be as hot. So it will be fine to have a ceremony there as well.

Logistically, it is a little bit further. It is a short walk down a small hill. Easy enough for most guests. For older guests, I would recommend you just drive them down.

My main bit of advice for having an outdoor wedding ceremony at Mindaribba House is to be conscious of how hot the Hunter Valley can get. Particularly in the warmer months. 35°C+ is not unusual for the Hunter Valley in Summer.

Unless you are doing the ceremony in the Indian tent, there is little to no shade for your guests. So I would recommend getting parasols to help shade your guests. They can also help if you get some light rain.

And if you are doing your ceremony down at the Pecan Tree, provide some nice cold drinks for your guests.

Wet Weather Ceremony Back up

The beautiful thing about Mindaribba Weddings is that they now have multiple spaces available to you as a wet weather back up for your wedding ceremony.

• The function room just off Mindaribba House itself.
• The new Indian Tent.

So either place can act as a wet weather back up for your ceremony. This is a huge plus in a wedding venue.

Here are a few photos from a ceremony that I photographed in the Indian Tent.

As you can see, as far as wet weather backup locations for a country farm wedding venue go, this one is pretty damn good! It is large, spacious and it has plenty of light. The sides of the tent even lift up, so if it is raining heavily you can still see the surrounding countryside and be undercover.

Mindaribba House Wedding Photos

There is no shortage of wedding photo locations at Mindaribba Weddings. The property has 100 acres of land to explore. So there are lots of beautiful rustic country locations for wedding photos and photography.

I love doing photos around the Pecan Tree and down near the Paterson River. The driveway looks lovely and it is often filled with cows and a couple of horses. And there are five acres of gardens.

One of my favourite wedding locations is just exploring some of the land around the back and to the side of the property. Because there are cows in the field, you just have to be careful where you walk, but it is totally worth it.

My advice for any Bride, in particular, is to bring along some flats or even boots to wear for the photo part. The ground can be uneven so high heels really don’t work. High heels on uneven ground will also make you nervous about walking anywhere and also really really slow. High heels will not add to your enjoyment of the day or make your wedding photos more fun. It will just restrict what you are willing to do.

At the very least, Brides to any country wedding venue should wear a thicker heel so they are able to walk on the grass easily.

Mindaribba Wedding Reception Venue

There are two locations available for your wedding reception at Mindaribba Weddings. You have the reception room that is attached to the house and there is the Indian Tent. So there is a lot of flexibility available to tailor the venue to suit your style of wedding.

The original reception room started life as a family open plan kitchen and living room. This was when it was a family home, before it became a wedding venue. If you look on one of the door frames in that room, you will still be able to see the high chart of the children that grew up there.

It seats up to 130 guests inside on three long tables.

The Indian Tent was built in 2019 and it really adds another dimension to the property and what it can do. It will seat up to 170 guests and can act as the reception venue, or the dancefloor or whatever you want.

Pet Friendly Wedding Venue

Mindaribba Wedding is a pet-friendly wedding venue!! I love this and I think more wedding venues should become pet friendly.

So you can bring your pet along to your wedding. You should do this especially if you consider your pet to be a part of your family like I do.

Weddings at Mindaribba House

A Mindaribba House wedding is without a doubt one of my favourite wedding venues in the Hunter Valley. It has everything that I love about country wedding venues.

You get the whole property for the weekend. The entire wedding day from start to finish happens at the one place. They have great locations for the ceremony and photos. The food is always amazing and the staff are also wonderful.

If you are not totally sure about Mindaribba House, you should also check out their sister property Wallalong House. It is located less than fifteen minutes away and is owned by the same people.

You really can’t go wrong with a Mindaribba House wedding. They have great facilities and it is a really popular wedding venue. They are booked out for a year or two in advance. So meet the owners, read the reviews, check out the venue and decide for yourself. But from a wedding photographers point of view, it is a wonderful venue that I highly recommend. You will get beautiful wedding photos and an awesome wedding experience.

Hey, I’m Adam. I’m all about capturing couples in a relaxed, unobtrusive way with a bit of awesome!!

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