Château Élan, Hunter Valley

Megan & Rhys

“Could not have asked for a better person to shoot our day. Very laid back, yet professional, and cracked a fair few jokes which helped calm the nerves a hell of a lot.” Rhys

Megan and Rhys were married at Château Élan in the Hunter Valley on a warm, clear afternoon, and it is one of those days that stuck with me for how easy it felt.

They started with a private first look, kept deliberately simple and quiet. You could see the nerves in Rhys before it happened, then the shift to relief and pure joy the second he turned and saw Megan. Some moments do not need any direction from me. They just need room to happen.

The ceremony was in the chapel on the grounds, known as The Carriage House, built from convict carved sandstone and one of the larger chapels in the valley, which meant more of their family and friends could fit inside for it. It is fully climate controlled too, a genuine advantage on a hot Hunter Valley afternoon. Rose petals down the aisle, soft light through the windows, elegant but never staged. What actually stood out was how switched on they were to each other the whole way through.

Château Élan is one of the more central venues in the valley, which is part of why so many couples choose it. Onsite accommodation, nearby Airbnbs, cabins and hotels all within easy reach, and multiple reception spaces plus an outdoor rotunda if a couple wants their ceremony in the open rather than the chapel.

Their bridal party brought the energy, and the afternoon portraits felt loose rather than posed, full of laughter and movement and that particular ease you only get when nobody is tense anymore. We took a couple of golf buggies out toward Bimbadgen as the sun started dropping, the vines running out behind them, drinks in hand while we worked, and it is always the shot from the day that lands hardest.

As the sun dropped behind the valley, cocktail hour eased into long conversations and a slower pace, and the reception held that same balance right through the night. Refined, but still them. Well styled, but never precious about it.

What Megan and Rhys built was a day that felt true to who they are, start to finish, grounded, joyful and genuinely theirs.