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Auchendarroch House Wedding – Rebecca & Simon

  • REBECCA & SIMON

    Auchendarroch House Wedding

    Auchendarroch House wedding

Auchendarroch House in Mt Barker was the venue for Rebecca and Simon’s stunning wedding day under the sun. The day was complete with fireworks, courtesy of the nearby Christmas celebrations and absolutely sublime weather which all made for an incredible day! Rebecca and Simon opted to have be as their wedding photographer for most of their day, leading up to their reception, and then took advantage of the SvenStudios photobooth throughout their reception complete with one of my new hand-made  wooden guests books!

Preparation photos

I began my day at the house that Simon and his grooms men were being prepared in. Simon was in high spirits, joking about and being super helpful in getting all his gear ready for some photos. Soon after we started, more of his family arrived and I think the reality of the situation sunk in a little bit as some nerves were starting to show 🙂

Groom’s watch
Groom smiling
Adjusting the tie
Dad looking on
Groom’s shoes
Groom walking the hallway
Groom smiling
Groom getting ready

Rebecca and her bride’s maids were being prepared at their home in Mt Barker, nearby Auchendarroch house. The atmosphere was very laid back with  Rebecca’s brother being on hand at all times to lighten the mood with silly jokes. The morning went very smoothly with everything happening as it should so there wasn’t really any need for any nerves 🙂

Putting on makeup
Bride looking pretty
Putting on wedding dress
Wedding dress
Engagement ring
Putting on wedding dress
Bridesmaids
Taking down wedding dress
Bridesmaids attending bride
Bride looking pretty

Auchendarroch House wedding ceremony

Auchendarroch House was originally opened in 1860 by a Scottish migrant named Lachlan MacFarlane to be used as a hotel – then known as the Oakfield Hotel. Soon after, in 1878, it became the Summer residence of local businessman and philanthropist, Robert Barr Smith. It then became a convalescent home and Air Force hospital before being restored by the Wallis family in 2002 into the magnificent function center it is today. The house is a popular location for weddings in Mt Barker due to it’s old-world charm, surrounded by some quite impeccable gardens and local parks. All while still being the the center of the town of Mt Barker, so still quite convenient.

Rebecca and Simon were wed under the heritage listed tree next to the house. I’m sure their guests were quite thankful for this due to the weather becoming very hot by this time of day. It made for a wonderful backdrop to their wedding photos, complete with some easy to manage shadows over the entire party. It was wonderful!

Bride arriving in front of Auchendarroch House
Groom smiling
Celebrations after being married
Groom seeing bride for first time
Bride and groom in front of guests
Exchanging wedding rings
Signing registry under tree
Bride and groom under the tree
Signing registry under tree
Girl in aisle
Sitting under the tree

Glamour Photos

After getting my drone out to take some family photos, we utilised the grounds of Auchendarroch House to take some glamour shots, with a few silly shots sprinkled in. We then made use of the magnificent interior of the house before heading over to the old main street of Mt Barker.

Bride and groom under sun
Bridal party through a kiss
Closeup of wedding rings
Bride and groom under tree
Bride and groom on bench
Bride and groom under tree
Bride walking the gardens
Silly shot 🙂
Bride and groom under tree

The interior of Auchendarroch House is everything you’d expect from an 1800s hotel. Grand, opulent and full of beautiful wooden details complete with contrasting carpets and drapes. The whole setting makes for some of the best scenes for some intimate wedding photography.

Kiss at the front door
Sitting chatting
Walking along the outside fo the house
Dancing in the window
Auchendarroch House wedding
Standing in windows

In between these amazing glamour photos we also took a moment to take a photo where the bridal party was to look concerned about something I’ll photoshop in later. In this case Rebecca and Simon are big fans of Star Wars, so they requested a scene where they were running from some Star Wars war machines. They also happened to have Simon’s car in the background so I decided to blow it up!

Star wars wedding at Auchendarroch House

Auchendarroch House wedding reception

Rebecca and Simon also opted to have my photo booth set up at their reception, so I was tasked to take a few photos of the reception while also man the photobooth. The great thing about this wedding reception though was the fact that the local Christmas party was happening right next door, so we got some killer fireworks shots from above the house also!

Fireworks wedding over Auchendarroch House
Catching the bouquet
Guests smiling
Adelaide photo booth SvenStudios
Bride smiling at groom
Cutting wedding cake
Wedding cake
First dance
Catching the garter
Head table

Rebecca and Simon’s Auchendarroch House Wedding was such an awesome wedding to be a part of! Everything went smoothly from my perspective, and some amazing images were produced! I hope Rebecca and Simon enjoy their photos as much as I enjoyed producing them and I hope to cover another Auchendarroch House Wedding soon!

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Nexus Arts Wedding – Genna & Adam

  • Genna & Adam

    Nexus Arts Wedding

    First dance at the Nexus Arts center

Genna and Adam celebrated their wedding at the Nexus Arts club space at the Nexus art hub nearby the UniSA campus on North Terrace. Their wedding was quite different in the way that they wanted absolutely no instruction from me as a photographer, rather only having me as a pure photojournalist. This was as interesting challenge as I generally lean towards the photojournalist angle when acting as a wedding photographer anyway so I quite enjoyed the freedom.

Adelaide Registry Office wedding ceremony

Before heading over to the Nexus Arts though, Genna and Adam’s actual ceremony took place at the Adelaide registry office. The building, and the registry office’s usual ‘chapel’ room where most weddings that take place there were under heavy renovation so their wedding ceremony took place in a smaller room elsewhere in the building. There was a large party in attendance so this smaller room made for a very cozy setting 🙂

Bride and Groom waiting for ceremony to start
Bride looking happy
Groom’s flowers
Bride looking through door

The ceremony itself was a short but sweet affair, with the resident celebrant being his usual jovial self making everyone laugh at his antics and really made things fun.

Holding hands
Adelaide registry office wedding
Bride and groom
First kiss through phone
Signing wedding registry
Cufflinks

Lunch at Thea

In between the wedding ceremony and their wedding celebration at the Nexus Arts, we headed over to the Thea restaurant for a bite to eat. The restaurant has a mixed asian theme with a menu consisting of a multitude of different flavoured teas and food from Japan, China, Vietnam and other East asian countries. I was taking photos of the group as they were dining, taking advantage of the tea shop vibe.

Walking around town
Group walking to Thea
Bridal affects
Group walking to Thea
Bride laughing
Sitting in Thea
Cheers!
Sitting in Thea
Engagement ring
Sitting in Thea

Nexus Arts wedding reception

The venue on offer at the Nexus Arts complex is a unique offering in Adelaide. Being the center of the Cabaret scene, the venue is an open air area consisting of a stage for performances, and bar at the back. It’s really quite perfect for hosting events that has a bit of a hipster vibe and needs to be a little bit different. Genna and Adam had a Simpsons DVD running on loop on the large projector on stage, and their music selection ranged from electro to heavy metal.

MC speech
Bride in the light
Huddle
Wedding Cake
Wedding Cake
Guests mingling
Scene inside Nexus Arts
First dance twirl
Dinosaur cake toppers
First dance at the Nexus Arts center
Hugging guests
Guest smiling
Paper Crane decorations
Selfie time!

All in all a super fun wedding to be a part of, and I relished the challenge to be a complete fly on the wall all throughout the day. I’d like to thank Genna and Adam for having me be a part of it all! 🙂

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Royal SA Yacht Squadron Wedding – Tracy & Jordan

  • Tracy & Jordan

    Royal SA Yacht Squadron Wedding

    Weee!

What a gorgeous wedding this was! Tracy and Jorden were wed on the grassy hill next to the Royal SA Yacht Squadron club houses in Outer Harbour on a super sunny, but not too hot day in November. The day provided for some amazing scenes thanks to Tracy and Jordan’s eagerness to travel and get to the right places for the best shots. It also helped quite a bit they had planned to go to some amazing spots for their photos after their ceremony. As they opted to take advantage of my value-packed full day package as their wedding photographer, I was on hand to capture every single moment of their stunning day.

Preparation

As s often the case, I began the day with Jordan and his grooms men. When I arrived in the morning, the boys sprang into action getting ready while also putting finishing touches on the best man’s speech. Most of the photos were taken in Tracy and Jordan’s house, which a small amount of time taken to take the dogs for a walk to the local park.

Wedding rings
Donning suspenders
Groom getting ready
Putting on ties
Groom through doorway
Groom getting ready
Playing fetch

Tracy and her bridal party were being prepared in a room overlooking the Largs Pier at the Largs Pier Hotel. This stunning old building has some incredible details throughout the building, with none more impressive than the grand staircase meandering up the floors. The bridal party were in high spirits and were actually prepared quite quickly so after a few photos, we had a bit of time for a bit of a breather before heading down to the pier and bar for a few shots outside.

Engagement ring
Bride looking into mirror
Wedding dress
Bride walking the balcony
Cinderella shot on the Largs Pier Hotel staircase
Bride getting prepared
Bridal Party walking the pier
Wedding dress
Bridal party having a drink at the Largs Pier Hotel front bar

Royal SA Yacht Squadron wedding ceremony

The Royal SA Yacht Squadron has has a presence in Outer Harbour since 1924 after having been founded at Birkenhead in 1881. The Royal SA Yacht Squadron is a stoic institution, originally founded amongst the tall ships of Port Adelaide as a social organisation, the club was forced to move to Outer Harbour due to the port becoming too congested.

Today the clubhouse of the yacht squadron has become a very popular location for weddings, and receptions, especially due to it’s newly renovated function room overlooking the marina. I myself journey to the Yacht Squadron a number of times a year for weddings and their receptions. The most recent of which would be Vanessa and Justin’s only a few weeks prior.

Tracy and Jordan’s wedding ceremony took place on the grassy hill overlooking the marina. The wind picked up just before the ceremony so there was a bit of that to contend with, but other than that the ceremony went off without a hitch.

Vows
Beaming groom
Exchanging wedding rings
Signing wedding registry
Wedding over marina
Bride and Groom hugs
Groom seeing bride for first time
Beaming bride
Royal SA Yacht Squadron wedding

Glamour Shots

The first location we headed to directly after the wedding ceremony was the Yacht Club’s quaint little original boat house that is located under the newly renovated function center. The area provides for a stunning backdrop with some very interesting lighting suitable for striking couple shots framed by glowing light.

Dancing in the Royal SA Yacht Squadron boathouse
Lovey dovey in the boat house
Boathouse door walk
Lovey dovey in the boat house
Dancing in the Royal SA Yacht Squadron boathouse
Bridal party lining the doors in the boathouse
Dancing in the boathouse

We then headed down to the Semaphore beachfront to take advantage of the sun and surf. Before heading to the jetty though, we first went for a bit of a walk toward the rocks that line the inlet towards Outer Harbour. Tracy was looking forward to using the rocks as a bit of a prop, and I was more than keen to oblige!

Groom picking up bride
Bride and groom on the rocks
Bride leading groom through sanddunes
Weee!
Bride and groom on the rocks
Bride on the rocks
Embrace on sandbar

Finally we navigated the crowds congregating for the Port Adelaide Christmas pageant to drive to the wonderfully popular wedding photo location that are the old Wool sheds for some inductional themed shots. These turned out incredibly considering the amount of redirected traffic we had to contend with while shooting. I’ve never seen this road that busy!

Bride and groom infront of woolsheds
Bride and groom in front of woolsheds
Bridal party standing about
Couple’s embrace
Bride and groom in front of woolsheds
Groom jumping for joy

Royal SA Yacht Squadron wedding reception

After having taken these amazing shots around Port Adelaide, we headed back to the newly renovated Yacht Squadron for the wedding reception. The party was a boisterous affair with some characters keeping the night from becoming boring 😉 All in all the entire day was an absolute blast and I really enjoyed myself!

Guests having fun
Wedding Cake
Guests having fun
Daddy daughter dance
Wedding reception
First dance
Cutting the cake
Nutbush
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Stockade Botanical Park Wedding – Xavier & Ryan

  • XAVIER & RYAN

    Stockade Botanical Park Wedding

    Xavier & Ryan

It was a warm, sunny day on the day of Xavier and Ryan’s wedding at the Stockade Botanical Park. Aside from a small hiccup where their celebrant didn’t arrive until the last second, and some killer mosquitoes, the entire day went really well. In fact judging the smiles on both Xavier and Ryan’s faces the entire day I doubt very much they even noticed. Xavier and Ryan opted to take advantage of my flexible hourly rates to commission me as their wedding photographer, so I was with them from the beginning of their ceremony until mid way through their reception at the Mawson Lakes hotel.

Stockade Botanical Park wedding ceremony

Xavier and Ryan were wed in front of the Stockade Botanical Park’s small rotunda after having Xavier walk up the wonderful rose-lined path leading to it. They were very lucky with the lack of random on lookers during the ceremony, despite the marvellous weather, as the park is open to the public, and what a wonderful little park it is!

Groom smiling
Bride and Groom after wedding ceremony
Putting on wedding ring
Groom seeing bride
Ring bearer dog
Groom looking for bride
Groom seeing bride
Bride laughing
Holding hands

Glamour Photos

The Stockade Botanical Park boasts a large man-made waterfall which cascades into a little pool at it’s bottom. It’s such a shame that such a beautiful waterfall is shut off behind a hideous fence though! It’s ok though as just in front of the falls are some stupendous small gardens perfectly suited to getting some bush-bashing photos that turned out absolutely stunning!

Named for the nearby small stockade which has fallen into disrepair, the parkland was created to fill what was a rather ugly unused rock quarry for the local residents. The park contains numerous public art installations and a wonderful green backdrop for weddings.

Bride and groomsmen having fun
Bride and groom together
Groom and groomsmen
Bride and groom in wilderness
Bride and groom in park
Bride sitting in sunlight
Bride and groom walking
Bride and Bridesmaids
Wedding rings on hands
Bride and groom at the Stockade botanical park
Bridal party
Bride and groom walking
Cinderella bridal shot

Mawson Lakes Hotel wedding reception

Xavier and Ryan’s wedding reception was held at the Mawson lakes Hotel nearby. Ther reception hall is wonderfully set up with a lit backdrop for the bridal table, along with ample sitting area for a large wedding, or a lounge area along with a dance floor. Xavier and Ryans guests were obviously full of love for them as the whole day was a beautifully happy affair with smiles everywhere one could see, it was a lot of fun and I’m so glad I was a part of it!

Wedding Cake
Guests
Boys
Group of guests
Cutting wedding cake
The Girls
Daddy daughter dance
Bride and groom talking
First dance at Mawson Lakes Hotel
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Why we give guests a gift for attending a wedding

Wedding favour in small plastic box

Why we give guests a gift for attending a wedding

Ever wonder why we give guests a gift for attending a wedding? Seems a bit odd doesn’t it? I mean you’ve just forked out a small fortune to host this spectacular wedding reception to celebrate your marriage, why should you spend any more on gifts? Surely the $100 per head 3 course dinner you’ve provided for them is enough, right? Well in my research of wedding traditions, the answer lies in what people believed to help with the vitality of the party.

bomboniere ideas

Ever wonder why we give guests a gift for attending a wedding?

The origin of the tradition dates back to the 1600s when French aristocrats used to give out jeweled boxes full of sugar coated almonds as a means to increase vitality in the party. A gift of a bonbonnière was a symbol of care extended to all guests. Sugared almonds carried additional significance at weddings, as the bitterness of the almonds and the sweetness of the sugar was thought to symbolise the bitter-sweetness of marriage. The practice spread across Europe where the Italians, Greeks and Spanish also thought the sugar on almonds gave health giving properties. As the price of sugar fell, more and more people were able to copy society’s elite much in the same way white wedding gowns became the norm in the 1800s. The shape and colour of the almonds also mimicked eggs, a symbol of fertility.

While the opulent, jeweled boxes have fallen to the wayside in favour of cheaper options, such as paper bags in modern times; those sugar coated almonds remain. Love them or hate them, they are a staple at weddings and you’ll find them in almost every wedding. They are cheap, small and easy to give out, but these days people often opt for more substantial gifts to compliment them. From photo frames to lego minifigs right through to bottles of liquor and pieces of jewellery, modern bomboniere can be very diverse.

Lego
bomboniere ideas

The reason why we give guests a gift for attending a wedding all stems from the tradition of the French of getting a sugar high from eating too much sugar. Who knew? 🙂