▶Gum Gully Farm · 9 Eleanor Dr, Silvan VIC 3795 · Melbourne
▶A spring country wedding on a 40 acre family farm at Silvan, in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne. The bride got ready upstairs in the mud brick barn, the couple married on the farm at three with their dog as part of the ceremony, took portraits across the property until the light softened, and brought 110 guests into the barn for pizza, speeches, a first dance and a live band by the open fires.
Lace in the barn loft · Vows under the gums · Deer in the paddock · Sunset on the hill · Speeches by the open fire
The bride dressed upstairs in the mud brick barn with her maid of honour, two bridesmaids and a brides man in matching robes around her. The groom's side arrived in black, and his mum pinned the buttonhole on him in the farmyard while his grandmother waited for a hug. At three the guests sat on timber benches in a garden under tall gums, bamboo and a post and rail fence behind the celebrant, and the bride came down the slope on her dad's arm. The dog had its place on a lead. Vows, rings, a signing on a timber bench and a big cheer sent everyone out into the paddock.
The whole crowd of 110 squeezed in for a group photo from above, and then the farm's deer wandered in to join the bridal party on the grass. We walked the couple through the paddocks, onto a huge fallen gum and up the hill as the sun dropped behind the ranges. Inside the barn the fires were lit and the polaroid wall filled up. Speeches came by the fireplace: her dad first, then the best man, then the couple with a toddler on the groom's hip. A first dance under the beams, a live band, and one last run out to the hill for a silhouette against the orange sky.
Ceremony spot · Moving between spaces · Light · How the day ran · Portrait spots · Our advice
At Gum Gully Farm the couple married in a garden clearing a short walk from the barn, guests on timber benches under tall gums with a stand of bamboo and an old post and rail fence behind the celebrant. The bride walked down a gentle slope to reach it, which gives a lovely long entrance with every face turning. It is a shaded, green spot at three in spring, so no squinting and no hard shadows on the dress. The ground is lawn and bark, so flat shoes for the bridal party and a steady arm for grandparents on the slope. Watch at 1:54 Watch at 2:26 Watch at 2:58
Everything is on the farm. The bride came down from the barn loft, the ceremony garden is a minute's walk away, the paddocks with the deer and the fallen gum are just past the fence, and the barn's verandah and fires are where guests waited with drinks. The groom's party drove in from a rented house twenty minutes away and were in the farmyard early for buttonholes and family hugs. With no transport after that, the couple could slip out of the reception and back twice for sunset without anyone noticing they had gone. Watch at 1:06 Watch at 3:18 Watch at 7:46
Spring in the foothills gave a bright day with soft shade in the ceremony garden and open sun in the paddocks. The paddock portraits at four were in clean, high light with the green grass glowing, and the deer did not mind. The hill above the farm catches the last sun long after the garden has gone soft, so we took the couple up twice: once around five for warm backlight on the veil, and once during the reception for a full silhouette against the orange sky. Inside, the barn is lit by fire and candles, moody and warm for speeches. Watch at 4:10 Watch at 4:38 Watch at 7:46
A three o'clock ceremony with a full hour allowed, the group photo straight after, then ninety minutes of portraits while guests had pizza and drinks on the verandah. The reception ran in the barn from four, so people were never waiting for a room to open. Speeches by the fireplace at seven, the first dance at eight and a live band from there. The couple's second trip up the hill happened between speeches and dancing, and it took ten minutes. A long, easy afternoon that rolled into the night without a single transfer. Watch at 3:18 Watch at 5:38 Watch at 7:14
You will not leave the farm. From the ceremony garden we walked straight into the paddock, where the deer came up to the bridal party, then along the fence lines and the farm buildings for the groomsmen and bridesmaids, onto the huge fallen gum for the couple, and up the hill for the view over the ranges. Ninety minutes from four covered it with time to spare. Keep the hill for last, when the sun sits on the ridge, and go back out from the barn for a few minutes once it is actually setting. Watch at 3:22 Watch at 4:26 Watch at 4:50
What our team noticed was how much the farm's own characters did the work: deer in the bridal party photos, a fallen gum for a seat, two open fires for the speeches. You do not need to style a place like Gum Gully Farm, you need to let it in. The second thing was the pizza truck and the four o'clock reception start: nobody stood around hungry while we shot portraits. And ask your MC for a sunset break. This couple's silhouette on the hill, an hour after the first dance, is the frame they will hang. Watch at 3:22 Watch at 5:42 Watch at 7:46
Gum Gully Farm sits on 40 acres at Silvan, at the foot of the Dandenong Ranges, about an hour east of Melbourne between the hills villages and the Yarra Valley vineyards. It is owned and run by the family who built it by hand, and it is known for a relaxed, welcoming way of hosting. The centrepiece is a rustic mud brick barn with red brick floors, two huge open fireplaces and a wide covered verandah lined with old wine barrel benches, a fire drum and a large open bar, all dressed with old farm artefacts, foliage and candlelight. The farm takes up to 110 guests for a seated dinner or 150 for a cocktail style wedding.
Ceremonies are held in the outdoor settings around the farm, with the paddocks and gum trees as the backdrop, and there is a rustic air conditioned chapel on the property for days when the weather in the hills turns, which it does without much notice in spring. The barn has a private room for the bridal party, with the option to stay overnight, so a bride can dress on site and walk straight out to the ceremony. Catering is by the couple's own choice of caterer, from pizza trucks to plated dinners, and a BYO arrangement lets couples buy their own drinks, deliver them to the farm and have the venue's staff serve them.
Spring on the eastern side of Melbourne means long grass, blossom and changeable skies, with the hills behind the farm catching the last light well after the paddocks have gone soft. A three o'clock ceremony leaves a ninety minute window for portraits that starts in bright sun and ends in the first warmth of the golden hour, which is when the verandah fires are lit and the barn glows from inside. The gum trees, the fence lines and the barn doors are the classic frames, and the dog, if there is one, belongs in them. Once dinner starts the barn is lit by fire and candles, so a band and a first dance here have a warm, low light that suits video and photographs alike.
Silvan is reached from the eastern suburbs on narrow hills roads that are slow after dark, so guests from the city should allow well over an hour and be warned that phone reception can drop in the gullies. Parking is on the farm as you drive in. Accommodation is scattered through the Dandenong Ranges and the Yarra Valley, from bed and breakfasts in the hill towns to motels along the Maroondah Highway, and a coach back towards the eastern suburbs is worth the cost for a reception that ends at ten. Music finishes at eleven at the latest, and the venue includes five hours of event time with extra hours available.