Set amongst the rolling hills of the Lockyer Valley, Spicers Hidden Vale is a gem ripe for discovery. This luxury wedding and honeymoon retreat, just an hour’s drive from Brisbane, is the perfect place to invite your guests to experience the best Australia can offer – stunning scenery, beautiful locally sourced food to indulge in, a working farm to entertain your guests, and above all, the perfect place to hold your wedding. With guest accommodation on site, Spicers Hidden Vale invites you to make a weekend of the wedding, to celebrate the best of days, to explore and to unwind. Glass of wine and a spectacular sunset anyone?
Where is Spicers Hidden Vale situated?
Spicers Hidden Vale is in Grandchester which is the Lockyer Valley, also known as ‘Queensland salad bowl’ where a lot of Queensland’s fresh produce is grown. The closest city is Ipswich, which is 30 minutes away however we are located 15 minutes from both Laidley and Rosewood – which are smaller country towns.
Image by Jess Marks Photography
How would you describe Spicers Hidden Vale?
Spicers Hidden Vale is a relaxed luxury retreat set amongst rolling hills and vast bushland. We have an onsite award winning restaurant, Homage Restaurant, luxurious accommodation, an onsite day spa and 12,000 acres of bushland to explore. We are a running cattle farm and we also grow a lot of our own fresh produce in our 89 bed market garden.
Do the bride and groom have exclusive use of the property during their wedding day?
They certainly can, having the property exclusively provides the couple with complete privacy and flexibility of being able to run the day the way the dream of! We however also have the option for non-exclusive venue hire if the couple are looking for a smaller affair. They do not have to hire the property completely and can just hire a private reception room.
How many guest cottages do you have on the property?
We have 31 guest rooms in total and can accommodation up to 76 guests onsite. Each of our guest rooms have a distinct character – from quaint cottages with communal lounge spaces with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and valley, to indulgent luxury suites.
Please describe your garden and some of your favourite places in it to hold a wedding ceremony?
Our gardens are varied from rolling hills and open paddocks to secret hideaways for intimate occasions. Some of my favorite places for holding a garden ceremony is by our large fig tree with a view of the mountains beyond and in the open field with the rustic fence line in the distance. I love the idea of a sunset wedding ceremony in the paddock, we get the most amazing sunsets here as the sun drops behinds the mountains it create the most wonderful colours in the sky.
The Barn – Image by Martin Vaughan Photography
Do you have multiple spaces to hold the reception? Are you able to offer us some peeks into these spaces?
We certainly do have a number of options for reception spaces. We have our ‘Barn’ – this is an original barn with exposed timber beams, a beautiful stone fire place and an attached forecourt perfect for pre-dinner drinks. The Barn looks beautiful lit up with fairy lights and the glow of candles, it is the perfect setting for a relaxed, rustic wedding.
The Laidley room – this is our private function room at the top of the property. It features wrap around verandas and has the most amazing views, especially at sunset. Next to the Laidley room is a large stretch of beautiful lawn, which is ideal for outdoor dance floors or pre dinner drinks watching the sun go down.
Homage Restaurant – our restaurant is within an original homestead built in the early 1900’s. It features beautiful character details and 4 open wood fire places. Along with a beautiful lounge area and plenty of veranda space Homage restaurant has a very warm and romantic atmosphere.
We also have plenty of open outdoor space with is ideal for a couple looking for an alfresco reception under the stars or a beautiful clear marquee with a canopy of fairy lights on the ceiling.
What is your role at Spicers Hidden Vale? What do you love about your profession, and in particular, working here?
I am the wedding coordinator here at Spicers Hidden Vale. What I love about my profession is the calm that I can bring to what is potentially a very stressful time of the couple’s life. My favorite comment is when a couple says to me “Thank you for making everything so easy and relaxing.” Couples are always so surprised at how stress-free holding their wedding with us can be. I think this comes from the fact that we are a luxury hotel and restaurant that happens to hold beautiful weddings, so we are very prepared for all situations and are on hand to help with anything. I love working at Spicers Hidden Vale because the surroundings are so beautiful and on a weekly basis I get to be reminded of the beauty, by the looks on the guests faces as they are arriving and seeing the property for the first time.
How do you assist the bride and groom achieve the wedding of their dreams?
I am the onsite wedding coordinator so help with all onsite details such as planning the menu, drinks selections, timing for the whole day, assisting with accommodation. I also help guide the couple with recommendations on wedding photographers, celebrants, stylist etc. I like to think I can help them with any questions they have whether it be directly related to the venue or not. I have built some great relationships with other wedding vendors so have some really fantastic people I can recommend.
Image by Quince and Mulberry Studios
What do you do that is special, that sets your venue and services apart?
I think our biggest difference is the fact that you can get that ‘destination wedding’ feeling within an hour’s drive from Brisbane. You feel like you are a world away from anything out here in the beautiful country air but in fact we are really only a short drive down the highway. All of the guests can stay overnight, together in the one place, come together for breakfast and even make a whole day of it either the day prior or the day after the wedding. We can really provide the exclusive ‘weekend wedding’ and often have wedding guests arriving a day early to enjoy a nice dinner together before the big day itself. I also think the dedication from myself and the whole team to make sure the day is perfectly smooth for the couple, is also a big difference. We pride ourselves on our professional, yet friendly and personal service and make sure we go above and beyond, nothing is too much trouble for any of the staff.
How would you describe the food you offer?
The name of our restaurant is Homage and this comes from the way we prepare the food – homage (respect) to the farmers that grew the produce, homage for the way the animals were cared for and raised, homage to the way the food is prepared and presented. This philosophy is carried through everything we do with our food.
Does the chef use locally sourced produce? What food treasures from your region inspire his menu?
Yes all of our food is either locally sourced or even grown on our property or in our market garden. We are extremely lucky to be situated in ‘Queensland salad bowl’ (the Lockyer Valley) so we are actually a stone’s throw from all the local farmers. Our chefs will actually drive to collect the fresh produce directly from the farmers who grew the products.
Does the chef have a favourite dish (or two) at present?
Our Head Chef, Ash Martin, really likes the idea of the Banquet menu for weddings. This menu best showcases the quality local produce we offer and a lot of this menu is prepared on outdoor coal roasters so is really a treat for the guests to see.
Image by Quince and Mulberry Studios
You have Spa Anise on site. What treatments do you offer to the bride and her guests?
We offer all types of massage and beauty treatments. With a focus on relaxing, we offer from full body massages and facials to simple hand or feet treatments. We also offer group pamper sessions, which can be enjoyed with a glass of bubbles and some chocolate dipped strawberries. Yum!
Do you offer pre wedding spa packages?
Not as such – there is not a specific package, however we like most things we do, we can tailor a package to suit what the bride is looking for.
Do you encourage making a weekend getaway of the wedding? What extras do you offer to guests?
We most certainly do. Our restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week so the guests can stay and dine as long as they like. We also offer picnic hampers which are wonderful to sit and enjoy the surrounding country side. Guests are encouraged to take a walk through our market garden, sit and relax with a cocktail by one of our two pools or in the winter months sit with a glass of wine by the open fire places. As mentioned above we have our onsite day spa which open by appointment 7 days a week. For the more adventurous types we have world class maintained biking tracks right at our door step with around 100km of bike and walking tracks. We also have tennis and lawn and it is always a wonderful idea to visit our cute animals down at the animal barn.
Are bridal couples able to book your accommodation as a honeymoon retreat? How do you make them feel pampered?
Yes, we often get couples staying for their honeymoon. Whether it is a couple that was married here or not, it is always a special place to relax and enjoy the first moments of being married. I have a lot of couples who get married here that stay on for a night or 2 after the wedding so they can really enjoy what the retreat has to offer. On their wedding day they are always so busy getting photos, talking with guests and just simply being the bride and groom, they don’t often get to do the small things like just relaxing, or sitting on the veranda watching the sunset with a glass of wine. We have set up private ‘sunset viewing’ spaces for newlyweds in the past so they can just sit, relax and enjoy each other’s company.
Image by Jess Marks Photography
Why do you live and work in this region of Queensland? What is so special about it?
I have lived in this region of Queensland all of my life and simply love it. I love the community feeling you have in this area, even though it is a large region everyone feels privileged to be a part of something quite spectacular – being that this area provides most of south east Queensland produce, it’s pretty special – and of course the views are amazing!
Apart from Spicers Hidden Vale, any recommendations for us, when we visit this lovely area of QLD?
Definitely! There is a number of cute and really quaint places to visit in the area, the Forest Hill post office cafe, the antique shop in Marburg is the absolute best, hot air ballooning with Floating Images or a helicopter flight with Mike from Pterodactyl – the views over the countryside of the Lockyer valley are simply amazing.
Thank you Kirsty for sharing your story. With such a beautiful venue, food to salivate over and every possible luxury at your fingertips what more could you ask for! To find out more about Spicers Hidden Vale visit the website.
Headshot by Jess Marks Photography
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