FIRST LOOK: Long-neglected dairy farm transformed into breathtaking Fleurieu wedding destination

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A former dairy farm in the Fleurieu has officially opened as one of the region’s most picturesque new wedding venues, with its first celebrations now complete and plenty more couples already locking in dates.

The Dairy Farm, created by husband-and-wife duo Sally and Chris Wotton, has now moved from dream project to fully operating venue, welcoming couples onto the epically restored countryside property for weddings, rehearsal dinners, micro celebrations and private viewings.

Set among rolling hills in Back Valley, towering pines, a creek, dam and wide-open valley views, the venue duly reflects the deeply personal nature of the events it hosts. And now, with new spaces completed and its first weddings behind it, the next chapter is well underway.

Part of what makes the experience here feel a little more magical is its newly conceptualised private viewing offering. Rather than rushing through a walkthrough, here you’re invited to stay a while, unwind over a picnic, and explore the property’s expanses at ease.

Book a time, take the tour, and ask Sally and Chris all the questions you like. But then collect a complimentary picnic basket and head off to explore the property with your future spouse, splitting a bottle of wine and fantasising about how your day might unfold.

“They’ll pull up and we’ll show them the way through and then they go off with a packed French picnic basket,” Sally said.

“Generally they’re here for about a few hours and we just let them go off and explore. They go and have a little row in our rowboat on the dam and go up on the hill and have their picnic.”

It’s a relaxed start to a process that Sally and Chris are determined to make feel personal, because more often than not, the venue tour can just feel like part of the planning process.

“We want to make the whole journey from start to finish a really personal, enjoyable experience,” Sally said. “Weddings don’t have to be stressful. It can be a lovely experience.”

Since first sharing their story, Sally and Chris have finished several key parts of the property, including a large celebration space known as the Silo Shed, a more intimate Milking Shed for micro celebrations and rehearsal dinners, plus a new indoor ceremony space and bridal room.

“Our silo shed is a beautiful space that works really well for large celebrations,” Sally said.

“We’ve made it so everything is moveable, from really beautiful bars to fridges, sinks, and all sorts of dance floors.”

“So every couple can create the space their own, we give them that free rein to build the space how they’d like to build it.”

That flexibility has become a major part of the venue’s appeal. Rather than locking couples into one fixed format, or a big, plain, white space, The Dairy Farm is versatile to say the least.

For smaller celebrations, the Milking Shed has quickly found its place too, especially for rehearsal dinners and micro weddings.

“We’ve just introduced a package where we do a rehearsal dinner the night before,” Sally said.

“We can accommodate about 18 to 20 guests for that dinner and they come and do their rehearsal, walk down the aisle and then sit down and we make them a really beautiful dinner.”

There’s also now an indoor ceremony option and bridal room, giving couples extra comfort and flexibility in hotter weather or if rain rolls in.

“A lot of our couples are actually choosing to get married in there,” Sally said.

The venue is now officially open and has already hosted its first few weddings, with Sally saying the response since launching bookings in January has been even stronger than expected.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the response, really,” she said.

The Dairy Farm is already booked out for March next year, with other months filling too, as more couples discover the property through private viewings and word of mouth.

For smaller weddings, Sally and Chris handle much of it themselves, with Sally taking care of florals, styling and coordination, and Chris leading the food.

“We don’t have a set menu as such, we create it with the couple,” Chris said. “We work with each one of them to be totally different.”

The menus are shaped around the season, each couple’s preferences, and local produce from surrounding suppliers, helping tie the property even more closely to the Fleurieu.

As for the setting itself, Sally says every couple seems to connect with something different, whether it’s the creek, the hilltop views or the dam.

“There’s not an ugly view,” she laughed. As in, ‘every corner is absolutely breathtaking.’

“And that’s the reaction that we get each time when they walk into our spaces.”

So after years of dreaming, months of restoring, and now a first wedding officially in the books, The Dairy Farm is open, it’s booked, and it’s surely already becoming one of the Fleurieu’s most magical wedding settings.