Weddings About & Listen Gigs Testimonials Blog FAQs Get in touch The Southern Highlands is one of my favourite places to play—and one that's genuinely close to home. I grew up in Mittagong, spent most of my early years around Bowral and Moss Vale, and still know these towns like the back of my hand. That familiarity with the region makes a real difference when it comes to weddings here. I'm not just another musician who's driven up for the day. I know the roads, I know the venues, and I know how days in the Highlands tend to unfold.
More than that, the Southern Highlands just has a quality about it that's hard to describe until you've experienced it. The air is different. The light falls differently. And on a wedding day, when you're surrounded by rolling hills and old-growth trees, the music has a way of sinking in that doesn't happen everywhere.
The Highlands has a genuinely exceptional range of wedding venues, and I've been lucky enough to play at most of them over the years.
Bendooley Estate in Berrima is one of the most consistently beautiful. The Book Barn ceremony space is unlike anything else in NSW—stone walls, arched windows, afternoon light slanting in at just the right angle. It has a natural acoustic warmth that makes even a quiet guitar feel full and rich. I've played there many times and it never gets old.
Peppers Craigieburn in Bowral is another regular for me. It's a grand property with multiple spaces that work beautifully for different moments across the day—ceremony on the lawn, cocktail hour on the terrace, reception in the ballroom. The team there are excellent to work with, which always makes the day run smoother.
Mali Brae Farm in Moss Vale has a completely different feel—rustic, earthy, and unpretentious in the best way. Farm weddings have their own energy, and couples who choose Mali Brae tend to want something warm and real rather than polished and formal. That suits me perfectly.
Caoura Cliffs in Tallong is one of the more dramatic settings I've played—cliff-edge ceremonies with views across the valley that stop guests in their tracks. It's the kind of venue where the scenery does half the work, and the music just needs to be honest and present. I've also played The Argyle in Moss Vale, Centennial Vineyards, and a handful of private properties throughout the region.
Most couples planning a Highlands wedding will tell you autumn is the dream—and they're right. The golden light, the turning leaves, the crisp afternoons. Autumn weekends in March and April book out faster than any other time of year, so if that's what you're after, locking in your date early matters a lot.
Spring is equally popular for good reason—gardens are in bloom, the weather is unpredictable but mostly kind, and there's an energy in the air that feels celebratory. October and November are consistently busy for me up here.
Winter is the one that surprises people. It's cold—genuinely cold—but for a wedding, that's often an asset. Fireplaces lit, candles everywhere, guests pulled in close. The intimacy of a Highlands winter wedding is hard to match. I've played some of my favourite gigs on a crisp July afternoon in a stone barn with a fire going. The music just feels more necessary when it's like that.
The flow of a Highlands wedding tends to give music a lot of room to breathe. Outdoor ceremonies with natural acoustics, long cocktail hours on sweeping lawns, sit-down receptions with time for speeches and dancing—the pace here isn't rushed.
For ceremonies, I typically play a mix of acoustic covers and a couple of original pieces, chosen with the couple. There's something about an unamplified guitar in an outdoor stone ceremony space—or a lightly amplified one in the Book Barn—that feels completely right. Not too much gear, not too much production. Just the music doing what it's supposed to do.
By the time the reception comes around, the day has built into something. People are relaxed, happy, and ready to celebrate. That's when the DJ set comes into its own—familiar songs, the right energy, a dancefloor that tends to fill and stay full once it gets going.
The Highlands is one of the most consistently booked regions I play. Spring and autumn weekends in particular fill up fast—sometimes 18 months or more in advance. If you're planning a wedding here and you've found a date and venue, it's worth getting your musician locked in sooner rather than later.
If you want to read more about the process, the FAQs page covers most of the common questions. Or just get in touch directly—I'm always happy to have a chat about what you're looking for before anything is committed.
Check availability