Bri & Alex’s Riverwood Downs Wedding - Hunter Valley

Bri & Alex married at Riverwood Downs weddings in the Upper Hunter Valley region. Their wedding was a unique mix of pagan, Scottish culture, super eclectic styling & dark, moody vibes. Bride Bri is Pagan, and her husband, Alex, is Scottish. So they wanted to create a day that incorporated this—a very mystical and whimsical style.

They wanted the wedding to be 100% them. Rather than influenced by what they'd seen in the past or the done thing. It was to include their heritages and the things that brought them together. A strong Viking influence was present, with braiding, kilts, crystals, & native florals bundled with Scottish thistle.

Their wedding venue Riverwood Downs was perfectly suited to what they'd envisioned for their day. The multi-award-winning Riverwood Downs is a stunning 750-acre property situated 2.5 hours North of Sydney, in the lower part of Barrington Tops. The onsite accommodation, multiple ceremony options and reception were an excellent choice for a couple with many guests travelling from the city for their wedding.

THE COUPLE - Their Story

Before finding Riverwood Downs, Bri & Alex viewed many wedding venues throughout the Hunter Valley. They wanted somewhere close to home but far enough away from the city to switch off and enjoy the special day. The option of onsite accommodation for the guests was also crucial. The multi-award-winning Riverwood Downs had all these things! A stunning riverside venue, rolling hills and an Australian native landscape full of golden earthy tones & rich greens.

How did you meet?

We met in Year 8, our last names both starting with G. We were sat together alphabetically for most of our classes and became close friends rather quickly. We joked, debated, and teased each other, but we connected with music. We both love old jazz music, which wasn't exactly the norm for teenagers in 2014; we would share headphones at the back of the class, show each other our favourite songs, and discuss why we loved them. As the years went on, we started sharing music in the car after school and talking for hours parked at this little park that eventually became 'our park'. We were friends for 6 years before deciding to be more than that, we moved in together that year, and on our anniversary, we went down to 'our park' for a picnic. It was a beautiful sunny day; we put out our picnic blanket and our food, lay in the sunshine and listened to music. Then when we poured a drink, Alex said that he had "been asking a few people a question lately, and they said yes, now there was only one more person to ask", and he got the ring out of his pocket and proposed. It was the most perfect days I ever had until our wedding day. We had planned our wedding for October 2020, and we ended up having, as many people did, to postpone the wedding due to Covid-19 to August 2022, which in the end, was better than it could've ever been.

Why the Hunter Valley? What drew you to the region?

We looked at many venues before finding Riverwood Downs. We wanted somewhere that required little to no travel on the day, away from the city, so you wouldn't have to even think about the world outside of our special day when you got there. We also wanted a place where everyone could stay and didn't have to travel too far after the reception. Riverwood Downs had all these things and the best value for everything that was offered and the things we wanted. Besides the fact it is stunning with the big river running through the property, rolling hills on your way in and the best of Australian native flora landscape.

Tell us more about the ceremony?

We had our ceremony in a shaded glade on the property. The weather had held out for us, and we were getting the gorgeous afternoon sun for us all to walk down the aisle. We started our ceremony by lighting a candle for our family member who was no longer with us. I am pagan, and my husband is Scottish, so we decided before our vows to incorporate the beautiful tradition of Handfasting, a practice from which the phrase 'tying the knot' originated.

We have a strand of cord for each of our selected family and friends to come and place over our held hands which are then tied together, giving their blessing and being able to have a small moment with us in our ceremony. A gorgeous, intimate moment, you would think, except for when our celebrant Francine announced, "Alex and Brianna have decided to incorporate the ritual of Handfasting into their wedding today." I realised I had completely forgotten to bring the cords. Panicked, I looked at my mum like a deer in headlights, and she stared back at me the same; both wide-eyed, I looked at my soon-to-be husband and said through my gritted teeth, "I forgot the cords". I was so disappointed in myself that I told the celebrant we could give it a miss as I had no solution and no idea where the cords were. Then the unexpected happened. Our guests started taking off their ties and bringing them to us so we could still do our special little ceremony!

It was the most overwhelming feeling of love and community, having all our family and friends devise a way for us to do what was important to us. Now it was even more special as the blessings we were given were with cord provided by those closest to us. Our ceremony continued and it was perfect; we laughed, cried, kissed, and became husband and wife.

Tell us more about the reception?

The reception kicked off in Riverwood's massive, gorgeously rustic Woolshed. We set out our setting 'Viking hall' style, with four long tables and just the two of us right up the front on our table. Each of our tables was individually themed based on a book or film Alex and I had shared in our time together, with small trinkets, books and decorative lights to fit each. I could not recommend sitting with just the two of you more for the reception. We finally got to sit together and enjoy our day, having quite a few glasses of wine and seeing all our amazing guests. We had a few beautiful speeches from family, the maid of honour and the best man before a super delicious dinner catered by the staff at Riverwood.

Our first dance was to 'Fair by The Amazing Devil', a song about the feeling of being so in love with every little annoying and amazing part of someone that it simply feels unfair. It was a magical night full of lots of drinking and dancing, and as the reception came to an end, the late-nighters got to continue the party with a bonfire down by the river.

Describe your styling.

My style was themed in the mystical, whimsical fairy tale with a colour palette of dark woody browns, dusty blue, navy, sage and deep forest greens. I wanted the style of our wedding to be a reflection of us, our heritages and the things that brought us together. Our styling had a heavy 'Viking' influence as it was a good combination of our heritage and affiliation; this involved lots of hair braiding, kilts for all the groomsmen and the groom, crystals in the bridesmaid's and brides' hair, and native florals mixed with Scottish thistle. The styling of our reception decor was the stories that brought us together; each of the tables had a different 'story' theme decor, all with moss table runners and candelabras to tie each of them in to match.

Where did you go for the wedding dress & attire?

The wedding dress was a strapless, champagne-coloured trumpet with a floral pattern lace overlay made by the beautiful women at Atelier Rose in Newcastle. When I asked about adding a billowed sleeve, they were more than happy to help me create gorgeous detachable sleeves that matched the dress perfectly.

My bridesmaids were given a colour palette of blues and could wear dresses that fit their style, body type and comfortability, which showed they all looked stunning. The groom wore his clan kilt, and instead of the more formal suit jacket, we went for a traditional Gillie shirt to give it a more relaxed look without losing the style. We put the groomsmen in a plain black formal kilt and monk collar shirts of different colours to suit the bridesmaids.

Which moment do you find most memorable?

At the reception, my little brothers gave a speech. In this, they spoke about how much our dad, who we had lost to a struggle with his mental health, would have loved to be there. And how he was planning with my brothers to sing on the day. The boys said at the end of their speech that "he obviously couldn't be there today, but it doesn't mean that he can't sing for you", and played a recording of my dad singing Parallel Lines by Keith Urban over the reception hall speaker. It meant so much to me to hear him on my wedding day as I just missed him so much and wanted him there that I sobbed when they did this for us. It was really special.

Any wedding tips for couples?

Believe that everything happens how and when it's supposed to; you can't predict things, no matter how big or small, like a global pandemic or forgetting some cords. So be flexible and control what you can. We were lucky that we had already planned most of our wedding when Covid hit, everything we had already organised would still be the same the day would be another 2 years later, but we wouldn't need to sort out all the things we already had.

When I forgot the cords, everyone came together and made the ceremony even more special than it could have been before. Our wedding day wouldn't have been the magical day it was without the bumps in the road that we managed together. Everything will work out exactly how it's supposed to.

PHOTOGRAPHER Bryce Noone Photography

GOWN Atelier Rose Bridal

VENUE Riverwood Downs

CELEBRANT Francine O'Brien

VIDEO Filmed by Andy

CATERING Riverwood Downs

CAKE Jade's Cake Co, Krispy Kremes

FLORALS Bride

HAIR Dani Griffith

MAKEUP Makeup by Chloe Jones

BRIDE'S SHAWL Tribal Witch Design

GROOM'S COAT Heavenly Spirit Art