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Wedding photographer
Newcastle & the Hunter

(02) 5550 7136

Glenworth Valley wedding photographer: Open valley, running horses

A Glenworth Valley wedding is one of the few in New South Wales where a herd of horses can be part of the afternoon. We drive down from Cooks Hill to the valley off Peats Ridge Road, where Popran Creek runs through bushland and the venue holds its ceremonies at The Lookout or in a private bush setting.

Check your date at Glenworth Valley(02) 5550 7136

A bride walks through low mist across open ground, a herd of horses moving behind her
From the studio
75 km south-west
Sunset, January
8:08pm
Sunset, June
4:54pm

Why a Glenworth Valley wedding is one of our favourites

Most venues give you a garden and a function room. Glenworth Valley gives you a horse property in open country, and that changes what the photographs can hold.

The Lookout puts the view of the valley behind your vows, so the ceremony reads as a place rather than an arch.

Later the venue can bring out its miniature Highland cows, and couples who book the Running of the Horses watch around 250 horses run free below the Valley Events Centre balcony.

Dust, movement and a crowd of guests leaning over to watch: that's a sequence of frames a garden venue can't give you, and the bush around the edges gives shade and texture for the quieter portraits in between.

Getting there

Glenworth Valley is about 100 km from Newcastle, most of it on the M1, then a few kilometres along Peats Ridge Road and Cooks Road to the venue at 69 Cooks Road.

Allow around an hour and a half from the city in normal traffic and more on a Friday afternoon.

The property is big: the venue puts its eco-cabins at less than ten minutes' drive from the Valley Events Centre, so if you stay on site and get ready in a cabin, that drive becomes part of the run sheet.

We'd mark the cabin, The Lookout and the Events Centre on one map with you so nobody is hunting for a turn-off on the day.

How the day runs

The venue runs the Running of the Horses every day from about 4.30pm, with the viewing area moved from day to day, and wedding couples can add it to their celebration.

If you do, it becomes the fixed point of the afternoon: we'd finish the ceremony and the family photos before it, then work the balcony so we catch the herd below and your guests' faces as it passes.

The venue doesn't publish a wet weather arrangement for its outdoor ceremony sites, so that's a question for its wedding team early on. For photos in rain, the Events Centre's fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows give soft, warm light indoors.

Before your day

Ahead of the wedding we'd walk the valley with you and the venue's wedding team at the time of day you've chosen for the vows, from The Lookout to the Events Centre, and agree with them when the horses run and where the cows will be.

Four places on the property for portraits

  1. The Lookout

    The ceremony site the venue names, set high with long views over the valley. It suits wide frames that show how much open country surrounds you, and close portraits with nothing but sky behind the two of you.

  2. The Valley Events Centre balcony

    An expansive balcony looking out over the wilderness, and the spot where guests gather to watch the horses run. From up here we can photograph the herd on the valley floor, then turn to your guests as they react.

  3. The Events Centre lawn

    Floor-to-ceiling windows open from the Events Centre straight onto a lawn. It's level, close to the reception and easy for grandparents to reach, which makes it the natural place for family groups late in the afternoon.

  4. The Highland cows

    The venue arranges photos with its miniature Scottish Highland cows, Hilda among them. Shaggy coats and short legs beside a wedding dress make a frame people remember, and we follow the venue staff's lead on how close is sensible.

Planning the photos for a Glenworth Valley wedding

Can the Running of the Horses be part of our wedding photos?

Yes. The venue offers it to wedding couples, and it's the moment we'd plan your afternoon around. The run starts at about 4.30pm on the property's daily schedule, so we'd confirm the exact time and viewing spot with the venue for your date and be in position before the first horses appear.

Where can we get married at Glenworth Valley?

The venue lists four ceremony sites, with The Lookout the one it names, along with private bushland settings. Each has different light at a given hour, so we'd visit the one you choose at your ceremony time before deciding where you stand and which way your guests face.

Can we have photos with the Highland cows?

The venue can arrange it, and ten minutes is plenty. Hand the bouquet to someone before you step in so your hands are free, and expect a little mud on the hem if the ground is damp. We'd follow the venue staff on where to stand.

What happens to our photos at Glenworth Valley if it rains?

The venue doesn't publish a wet weather plan for its outdoor ceremony sites, so ask its wedding team early where the ceremony moves. For portraits we'd use the Events Centre's tall windows and the fireplace, and a grey sky over the bush photographs as moody rather than flat.

Is Glenworth Valley too far for a Newcastle photographer?

About an hour and a half from Cooks Hill, nearly all of it on the M1. We leave early for an afternoon wedding so there's time to walk the ceremony site and the Events Centre before your guests start arriving.

Can we get ready on the property?

The venue offers eco-cabins and a glamping village to wedding guests, and a cabin with bush views through the windows makes a calm getting-ready room. The cabins are under ten minutes' drive from the Events Centre, so we'd build that drive, and the photos on the way, into the timeline.

Among the Highland cows.

Send us your date and whether you're booking the horses, and we'll plan the afternoon from The Lookout down to the valley floor.

Check your date(02) 5550 7136

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