Cass & Reece’s Winter Wonderland Wedding at Barrakee Ski Lodge

If there’s ever been a celebration that proves the benefits of leaning into the unexpected, it’s Cassie and Reece’s winter wonderland wedding! As part of our After Dark Issue, today’s feature takes us high into the snowy mountains of Perisher Valley, where a blizzard rolled in, guests wrapped themselves in blankets, and not one person let the wild weather dampen the mood.

Held at Barrakee Ski Lodge and beautifully captured by Acacia and Grace and Scout’s Honour Films, this wasn’t just a wedding surrounded by snow: it was a celebration that stayed true to exactly who Cassie and Reece are. Even at 8 months pregnant, Cassie found that slowing down and letting go of the original plan became one of the greatest gifts of the day.

Cassie and Reece’s mutual friends tried to set them up, but the plans were never actually made. Instead, the duo crossed paths a year later when Reece joined Cassie’s gym, and things fell into place.

If there were two things Reece was very sure of when it came to proposing to Cassie, it was this: she wanted to get engaged in the snow, and she wanted something other than a diamond ring. Sadly, the year he wanted to propose, there was hardly any snow. “So we went on a walk up this small hill that was covered in snow, and he proposed at the top, in amongst the trees. My family were all at the bottom, waiting to celebrate with us,” Cassie shared.

Opting for a beautiful pop of colour against the white snow, Reece picked out a black suit with a forest-green velvet jacket. Not only did it match the colour palette of their winter-wonderland wedding, but it was also the perfect addition to their mountain backdrop. Their 15-month-old son wore a matching black suit!

If there was one piece of advice Cassie would want to share above all else, it would be this: “Make your day represent both of you. Stick to keeping it as authentic as possible, and it will be a lot more relaxed and enjoyable.”

Cassie’s dream wedding dress was always something heavily beaded and glittery. And thankfully, being 35 weeks pregnant on the day wasn’t going to stop her! “The Christmas prior to the date, I found out I was going to be pregnant at the wedding. I met up with the dress designer, Sarah Joseph Couture, in Terrigal, and she created the most perfect dress for me! It incorporated everything I had dreamt of, whilst fitting me heavily pregnant. It was fitted, beaded lace with a soft pink lining and sleeves,” she shared.

“My mum lent me a special ring of hers that was borrowed and blue. It was a gold ring with a stunning blue stone in the centre and diamonds either side. The ring belonged to my grandmother, who passed before I was born. So it was incredibly special.”

Because their wedding was in peak snow season, Cass and Reece decided to skip fresh flowers and instead went with bold-toned dried florals from Havarni and Me Floristry! “They were absolutely stunning on the white snow and looked incredible. Not to mention, we got to keep them all!”

Held at the beautiful Barrakee Ski Lodge in Perisher Valley, New South Wales, this winter wonderland wedding was blanketed in snow! “It is a ski in/ski out lodge that can only be accessed via a snowcat. It was our dream to be married with snow under our feet, and the location was absolutely incredible. The ceremony was on the snow, and the reception was a cocktail party inside. All guests stayed at the venue, so it was a whole weekend celebration. On the weekend we got married, there was a massive snowstorm, so it truly was a winter wonderland. The venue team went above and beyond for Reece and me the entire weekend,” Cass shared.

Guests waited for the ceremony to start, wrapped in blankets as snow delicately fell. Following their son, Cassie walked down the aisle with her dad as Chris Stapleton’s “Joy of My Life” was performed by their musician from Divine Productions.

The cherry on top of their winter wedding was the blizzard that blew in, transforming the venue into the full wonderland they had dreamed of. Their ceremony itself was perfect, led by the talented Megan Schirk of Married By Megan. “From my room where I was getting ready, I couldn’t see how bad it actually was haha. So I committed to it being outside, and we went with it. Our guests were an absolute vibe. Many of them had it be their first time in the snow, and they just embraced it. Everyone was cheering, laughing and crying. It was perfect. Our son had a sign, and it read “Daddy, let’s give Mummy our last name”, and it was attached to his snowboard. We had been practising pushing him on his snowboard for days, and he loved it!! The day of the wedding, he was not into it and screamed the whole way down the aisle. Everyone was laughing, and it was just a toddler being real. So we loved it,” she explained.

Of course Cassie’s favourite detail from her and Reece’s wedding was the snowfall! “It is us, and it is what we love! I didn’t want the ground perfectly groomed; I wanted it to be rugged and authentic, and it was absolutely that.”

There was no better photographer to capture Reece and Cassie’s winter wonderland wedding than the amazing Stephanie from Acacia and Grace! “Steph was such a vibe!! The morning was pretty chaotic with a toddler; however, she just adapted and went with it all. It was a really unusual location, since it was on a mountainside and you had to take a snowcat to the venue. She was so excited and happy to be there, and it made it so much more comfortable and relaxed,” Cassie gushed.

The three things that made this winter wedding so special to Cassie included:

“1. The people. All our friends and family embracing our dream, knowing many of them aren’t regulars at the snow.

2. The location.

3. My dress. Being so pregnant, I still felt beautiful, and it was what I have always wanted!”

Cass wasn’t originally planning to be pregnant on their wedding day; but it definitely changed her outlook for the better and gave her time to slow down and soak everything in. “The day was so fun and full of love, and we couldn’t have asked for anything more. We had originally planned to have photos of us snowboarding; however, being 35 weeks pregnant didn’t really allow for that. We also had to move a lot of the photos inside. Although things changed, we had the vision of a giant party in the snow with all our loved ones, and it was exactly that!”

For Reece, every detail of their winter wonderland wedding was a puzzle piece that slowly came together to form the perfect celebration. “The day was so memorable because there was a blizzard, a screaming toddler, and people who hate the snow, but everyone was so happy to be there and embraced every second of it. There were people laughing and smiling everywhere you looked,” he explained.

While Cassie loved all of the photos in their gallery, these shots of the wedding outside at the end of the night take the cake. “It was soooooo cold, and we all went outside; my nephews had spent hours earlier in the day making snowballs for everyone to throw in the air. Well, give a whole bunch of people drinks, sparklers and snowballs, and it ended up having a massive snowball fight with sparklers!”

Please join us in congratulating Cass and Reece on this incredible celebration! And thanks to Acacia and Grace for capturing and sharing these moments with us.