Tarureka Estate - Wairarapa wedding venue review and wedding photos!

Mr & Mrs Becker-Stewart! A true love story that dating apps can work their magic and these beautiful humans found each other! A laid-back guy from the Naki and a stunning registered nurse, an absolute perfect match these two ♥️ They are now living the dream together in Melbourne and came back to NZ to celebrate with friends and family on their wedding day at Tarureka Estate in Featherson!

Review of Tarureka Estate - Rustic Barn Wedding Venue Wairarapa, NZ

I wanted to share this wedding day as an opportunity to showcase Tarureka as a New Zealand wedding venue and why we enjoy photographing and filming weddings here! It’s located in Featherson at the bottom of the Remutaka Range hill, only a short drive from Wellington and Lower/Upper Hutt, so if you’re exploring venues in the Wairarapa or Wellington region this would be a great choice.

Get ready on site in the Historical Homestead

The homestead sleeps 18 people and has a bridal suite on the second floor. As photographers, we appreciate that everyone can get ready on-site for their wedding day. This makes it easy for us to go between rooms and spaces, if we have a groom getting ready at the same time a bride is having her hair or makeup done for example. The historic homestead has been recently renovated but holds its original charm and character. Once you’re ready for your ceremony and wedding day, it is only a 30-second walk to greet your guests.

Your wedding ceremony

Tarureka Estate offers an indoor and outdoor area for ceremonies which is great for all weather conditions. This is the outdoor area situated in a grove of trees. After your ceremony, guests are invited to the main lawn near the homestead for cocktails, canapes and games.

Wedding photos

The gardens at Tarureka provide backdrops for all your wedding photos however if you would like to go off-site with your bridesmaids/groomsmen/wedding party crew there are optional locations nearby! Most of the photos below are on-site (aside from the photos taken in the Olive Grove which are at a private property).

The Loft Barn

Voted as one of the top barn venues the loft was built in 1868 and is one of the oldest and largest barns in New Zealand. Since 2001 it has been running as a wedding venue. The top floor can be used for your ceremony and or reception, which seats up to 120 guests. The ground floor is where the bar and dance floor are located.

Brac and Bow Catering

At the time of writing this blog post Brac and Bow is the caterer for Tarureka and their food is delicious! The venue also offers BYO alcohol for no extra cost.

I also wanted to make a special mention to the wonderful Sarah McEvoy who joined me for part of this wedding day, she took some of the cocktail hour photos that I’ve shared in this blog. Two of my wedding packages include a second photographer so while I’m photographing in one area with the wedding couple, I have another person capturing some of the candid moments that couples often didn’t see on the day.

Our top Wairarapa Wedding Venues - Tarureka Estate, Brackenridge Retreat and Martinborough Tree Church

The Wairarapa has a range of stunning wedding venues for your ceremony and reception. This list showcases different venues with links to their websites where you can access more information!

TARUREKA ESTATE FEATHERSTON

Located in Featherston, Tarureka Estate has been voted as one of the world’s top 10 barn wedding venues. The 130 year old historic homestead can accommodate 18 guests, while the restored loft can seat 120 guests.

BRACKENRIDGE RETREAT

Brackenridge is a country-style wedding venue in Martinborough, Wairarapa. Their venue can host up to 130 guests for your reception and ceremony, and has a number of on-site cottages available for accommodation. We love photographing and filming here as everything is in one place and their team of staff and coordinators will have you covered in all areas making our job more enjoyable.

MARTINBOROUGH TREE CHURCH

Martinborough Tree Church is an outdoor ceremony space planted in 2015 which can seat 180 guests. They have recently expanded this venue to include a reception area called The Vue, a renovated 100-year-old historic woolshed. There are so many places on-site for photos after or before your ceremony.

LACEWOOD

Lacewood is a wedding venue located on Tuhitarata Estate, South Wairarapa. The 1860s homestead is surrounded by old English trees and formal gardens. There a number of cottages which can be used as accommodation for up to 22 guests and a barn for your reception which can seat up to 200 people.

ROSE & SMITH

Rose & Smith is a boutique venue at The Tauherenikau Racecourse, located 15 minutes from Greytown and Martinborough. Rose & Smith was named after the “Rose & Smith Builders” who built the newly renovated Racecourse Tea House in 1923. The Tea House can seat 200 guests and their onsite accommodate in The Ranch House can sleep up to 37 guests.

THE LANDING AT HOMEBUSH

The Landing at Homebush, located 5 minutes from Masterton, is an elegant country wedding venue with a number of outdoor spots for your ceremony and an indoor area for your reception of 140 guests. The main house is also available for hire with 4 bedrooms available.

Should you have a first look before your wedding ceremony? Pros and Cons! Tarureka Estate Wedding - Ruby and James

Couples sometimes ask me what my thoughts are and my preference is for having a ‘first look’ and all wedding/bridal party photos prior to the ceremony. Ruby and James had a first look before their ceremony so this is a perfect example of how the day can look doing things in this order!

I personally don’t have a preference because it’s completely up to each couple and their priorities for the day. For our own wedding, we hired a photographer for 4 hours and did the bulk of our photos before our ceremony so that afterwards we could relax and party (talk about some weird priorities considering photography is my job!)

PROS OF DOING A FIRST LOOK

There are some really sweet and intimate moments that can be captured when it’s just the two of you. You might feel nervous and worried you’ll lose your cool in front of all your guests (which is not a bad thing by the way, I love and respect vulnerability), but if this gives you anxiety then it can be a great way to keep the moment just between the two of you.

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll get more time to socialise with your guests after the ceremony. This was really important for our wedding since a lot of guests travelled from afar who I hadn’t seen in a while. Doing photos after your ceremony could mean being away from guests for 30 minutes - 1 hour (I even hear stories of this being longer if there is travel to a particular location).

CONS OF DOING A FIRST LOOK

The main downside for a photographer is the lighting conditions. It will mean doing photos earlier in the day which is often when the sun is at its brightest. BUT if you have a venue with some shaded areas with tree cover and a great photographer this should not be an issue. For Ruby and James’ wedding, we had some clouds in the sky which really helped defuse the bright light at 1pm and I used this driveway which was mainly covered by trees and in the shade.

Once we finished family photos after their ceremony, Ruby and James were able to spend 2 hours with their guests before heading into the reception. Lots of time to mingle, enjoy the canapes and drinks, play some tennis and get some photos with your friends!

Later in the evening Ruby and James were happy to head out for more photos of just the two of them while the light was really nice. They said they appreciated just having this short moment for the two of them after such a full on day.

Tarureka Estate Wairarapa Wedding - Amelia and Tom

Amelia and Tom first met at a Wellington Phoenix football match at Westpac Stadium. Amelia’s friends encouraged her to ask Tom, who was sitting in the row behind them, to take their picture as an excuse to talk to him. He took the photo and then took a sneaky selfie. For the rest of the game, they didn’t have much of a chance to talk. When Amelia got home that night she knew she needed to track him down on social media. She posted the photo of Tom on Facebook and by chance one mutual friend happened to recognise Tom and was able to tag him in the post. Tom added Amelia on Facebook and things grew from there. He moved from Palmerston North to Wellington, where Amelia was living, after one year of long-distance and they have been inseparable ever since!

Tom proposed to Amelia during an evening walk along Titahi Bay Beach. He stopped at the top of a hill that had views of the South Island and got down on one knee. The rest of the night was spent down on the beach with fish and chips and some champagne that Tom had smuggled into the car before they left home.

Tarureka Estate was picked as their wedding venue for it’s rustic but elegant charm, which many guests later commented on how well the venue suited their personalities. They wanted a location where their bridal party and immediate families could stay the entire weekend to hang out. Being able to hire the venue from Friday through to late Sunday was a bonus!

It was an absolute treat photographing their wedding. They were so organised by having their timeline broken down into 15-minute intervals which is extremely helpful as a vendor. I knew exactly what the day looked like and it meant that Amelia and Tom could just relax and trust that we would make things happen on the day. I adore the simplicity of their decor and the venue, it really did suit their personalities perfectly. I have so many photos from this day but these are some of my favourites from their preparations through to the first lot of the speeches. Thank you to Amy Schulz for second shooting alongside me on the day!

List of vendors

Venue:  Tarureka Estate 
Photographer:  Jaymee Photography 
Second Photographer: Amy Schulz
Florist:  Juliette Florist 
Makeup and Hair Stylist:   The Makeup Artist 
Brides Dress:   Hera Couture by Katie Yeung 
Bridesmaids Dress:  Ruby 
Groom and Groomsmen:   Barkers 
Cake:  Stiletto Studios