"WE'RE bringing something different to Oberon."
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Leigh and Alex Cragg are nothing short of an inspiration when it comes to putting in the hard yards to make their dreams become a reality.
The land-loving couple own Burilda Park Equine and have a knack for all things involving horses and now, weddings.
"We run horsemanship clinics, catered toward nervous riders and have been doing that for the last six years," Mrs Cragg said.
"We used to travel around doing our clinics within four or five hours from here [Oberon] and then we decided to build our place and have clients come to us," Mr Cragg said.
Mr and Mrs Cragg bought a run down 140-acre property based at The Meadows in 2018.
"It was an old pea and potato farm with every fence fallen over and one horse," Mr Cragg said.
They saw it as an opportunity to build their home, run their clinics and start their lives. The couple were married on February 1, 2020 on their property and that's when the light bulb moment struck.
"Half a dozen people came up to us and said they've had the best time out here and would love to get married out here," Mr Cragg said.
"I planned everything, we had an outdoor cinema, a photo booth and a bucking bull," Mrs Cragg said.
Mr Cragg said that was the starting point to get something in the works.
"Even my dad said to me when we were setting it [their wedding] all up, that we should try hire it out so ding, ding, ding Alex said we needed to get something in writing or in the process," he said.
He said they went on to hire a planning consultant to understand the ins and outs of legalising their function centre.
"We figured we needed to legalise what we wanted to do because you can't just train your horses and have people getting married at your place, you need to make it like a commercial venture," he said.
The couple will be able to host weddings and horse clinics at different times during the year.
"We'll run on a seasonal schedule so we'll have the wedding season and then during the Winter months we've got use of the indoor arena were we can do horsemanship clinics, because we can't do both at the same time," Mrs Cragg said.
Transforming into a wedding venue
Originally Mr Cragg had a shed for all his tools, but it's now been transformed into a celebration venue for weddings.
"I always wanted my own shed for my tools and equipment, but now I've lost it," he laughed.
"We put big bi-folding windows and it's all hardwood timber lines and it's got lining boards on the roof, it looks pretty cool," he said.
Mrs Cragg said there were three different areas to get married at the property with horses acting as a backdrop.
"We'll have different areas that you can have your ceremony to make it a bit your own," she said.
"We'll have the Garden which is on the lawn where we got married, then we're digging out the dam and Leigh is going to build a jetty into the massive dam.
"The third area will be near a big gum tree with lots of white pebbles," she said.
Mrs Cragg has also completed a wedding accreditation course to assist couples in planning their big day.
"I want to be able to help brides out and make their day stress free, I'm itching to get things going," she said.
"I'd really like to have brides booking from early next year for the next wedding season so from September, that would be ideal."
Mr Cragg said an acoustic report had also been done on the property to verify noise wasn't going to be too much of an issue.
"We've planted a big tree lane leading up to the place to block out light and noise and there are plans to upgrade the road," Mr Cragg said.
To help minimise traffic for their neighbours, Mr and Mrs Cragg will encourage people to use the bus service included in their wedding packages.
"The bus will hopefully bring most of the people from Bathurst and Oberon and drop you where your ceremony is and that means less traffic for our neighbours," Mrs Cragg said.
Worth the hard work
Mr and Mrs Cragg said they had put a lot of hard work into their business but it was worth it at the end of the day.
"We've spent a lot of money. Sometimes you have a few sleepless nights trying to figure out how we're going to pay it back, but it's worth it," Mr Cragg said.
"She's chomping at the bit. We're really looking forward to it."
Mrs Cragg said she was excited to bring something different to the area.
"You can come here and get married or come to one of our clinics. It's nice to have horses as your backdrop while you're having a beer too. It's pretty peaceful," she said.
For their clinics only, Mr Cragg said clients will be able to camp at the property.
"Basically, you rock up in your float, unload your horse, have clinics during the day and we might do some demos on our own personal horses about what we're trying to achieve and then everyone will stay here and relax, enjoying the property," he said.
"Most of our clientele are nervous lady riders, and they all come to our clinics to learn and socialise with people who feel the same," Mrs Cragg said.
To get in contact email hello@burildapark.com.au