Bethan and Alex were waiting with baited breath whether or not that recent bout of bad weather in Adelaide was to pass before their scheduled Kuitpo Forest couple shoot. Thankfully, despite the cold temperature, the weather cleared just in time to make use of the spectacular Kuitpo forest for their couple shoot. Bethan and Alex made use of my offer of a discount couple shoot made to all those who voted on my yearly wedding photo of the year contest, and I’m so glad they did.
The atmosphere given to the forest after such bad weather made for some fantastic scenes, and it was all done within an hour! My job was made easy of course by the fun loving attitude of Bethan and Alex who were keen to playfully run about in front of the camera to create some ‘loveydovey’ photos. Which was fantastic as I love doing things like this!
Kuitpo forest was the first of many forest plantations in the Mount Lofty Ranges, established in 1898 to ensure a sustainable timber supply for South Australia. Today it serves as both a stunning place to go for a walk, in in this case, a Kuitpo Forest couple shoot and a commercial logging area. The area also plays host to one of the most popular hiking trails throughout SA, being the Heysen Trail.
It was a wet and windy day for Tamika and Blake’s wedding at the Stamford Grand Glenelg, but it certainly didn’t dampen the celebrations! Due to the weather, the plan for the day had to be changed slightly. The original plan was to take advantage of the famous Glenelg foreshore for Tamika and Blake’s wedding ceremony, but due to the weather, their ceremony took place in one of the Grand’s Banquet halls. The weather was typical of the recent wild weather we’ve had in Adelaide over the last few weeks, as only the day before I was the wedding photographer at another Glenelg wedding and it was sunny. Despite the weather though, Tamika and Blake made the most of it and we took some neat photos in the rain.
Preparation
Blake was prepared at a house in Noarlunga Downs, the atmosphere was cool and relaxed with the boys simply waiting to be told to get dressed :). I was actually half expecting to be accosted by snakes and other reptiles, as Tamika and Blake own a reptile house in the south. One of the things they asked me at our meeting before the wedding was if I was ok around reptiles as they were going to integrate them into their ceremony. I think due to the weather they abandoned that idea though. Blake and his boys had a bit of fun posing in front of some mean looking machinery in the shed out back and they look great!
Groom
Groom and groomsmen
best man getting prepared
Wedding Rings
Groom not leaving the house
Putting on groom’s tie
Working on the boat
Groomsmen
Tamika was prepared in a hotel room within the Stamford Grand Glenelg, along with quite a few family members and well wishers. The small little room became quite cramped very quickly! Once the room cleared out though, the atmosphere was faily relaxed with only a little touch of nerves creeping in 🙂
Putting on Wedding Dress
Putting on Wedding Dress
Engagement ring
Putting on Wedding Dress
Flower Girl
Bride smiling
Wedding Dress
Bridal Affects
Stamford Grand Glenelg Wedding Ceremony
As I stated earlier, the Plan B for bad weather on the day was to hold the wedding ceremony within one of the Ballrooms of the Stamford Grand Glenelg. The room was large enough to accommodate all the guests with room left over, and the altar was backdropped by glorious arched windows overlooking the Glenelg foreshore. A unique aspect of Tamika and Blake’s wedding was the inclusion of a ‘lock’ ceremony where bother bride and groom lock together ceremonial padlocks and make the keys float away on balloons. While the balloons were a nice idea, they didn’t float away as expected so instead we threw away the keys from the Jetty.
The Stamford Grand Glenelg itself was originally built in 1856 and was a lot smaller than the building standing today. Tt was the first building built at Moseley Square, Glenelg and was originally named the ‘Pier Hotel’ to accommodate tourists attracted by the, what was then, grand pier complete with shops and amusements. It was then removed and replaced by a 3 storey building in 1912, and again in 1990 when the current Stamford Grand was built.
Stamford Grand Glenelg Wedding
Bridal entrance
Celebrant speaking
Bride and groom
Registry signing
First kiss
Bride and groom holding locks
Boys looking nervous
Groom greeting guests
Glamour Shots
As the weather wasn’t ideal we tried to keep the glamour shoot short and sweet. We walked around Glenelg’s Moseley Square and made use of the famous Glenelg Jetty for a bit of photoshop fun 🙂
Bridal Party in rain
Bride and groom kiss
Bride and Groom under Glenelg Pier in Rain
Rainy wedding
Bride and Groom with Lightning
Wedding rings
Moseley Square wedding in the rain
Stamford Grand Glenelg Stairwell
Stamford Grand Glenelg Wedding Reception
Tamika and Blake’s wedding reception took place only a few doors down from where their ceremony took place, within another of the Grand’s function rooms. Guests were well spread out around the room providing ample space for dancing and walking about. Their DJ made use of one of my most favourite props for a first dance as a wedding photographer, a dry ice smoke maker! It adds such a great atmosphere to first dance photos, love it.
First dance
Speeches
Cutting cake
Bride and flower girl dancing
Guests dancing
Bride and Groom kiss
Bride dancing
Guests dancing
Signing guest book
First dance
During the night, we also suck out to take advantage of the weather. Rain in wedding photos at night really adds something a little different to typical wedding photos and I feel as though we got some good shots with a little help from photoshop 😉
Wedding in the rain
Wedding in the rain
I really hope Tamika and Blake enjoy their wedding photos as much as I enjoyed being a part of their special, loved filled day. Beautiful family and I wish them the very best!
Having a Glenelg Wedding would have to be one of the things may South Australians would have in common with one another, however Joanne and Gregor travelled half way around the world to have theirs! The loving couple flew out from Scotland to celebrate their wedding on the famous beachfront with local family and friends. They were incredibly lucky with the weather as only the previous day Adelaide and it’s surrounds were thrashed with terrible weather causing erosion and a lot of damage. Joanne and Gregor’s wedding however was blessed with some stunning weather, complete with an amazing sunset which we took advantage of for some great shots.
Preparation
As Joanne and Gregor opted to have me with my flexible hourly rate, I was able to visit Joanne getting prepared in the Oaks Plaza hotel on the northern side of the Jetty. The whole styling was all wonderfully Scottish, complete with thistle in her bouquet and her mother wearing a beautiful tartan sash.
Wedding dress
Engagement ring in flowers
Bride and Mum smiling
Flower girl
Bridal preparation
Flower girl
Bridal preparation
Bride looking pretty
Glenelg Wedding Ceremony
As the weather was wonderfully suited for it, Joanne and Gregor held their Glenelg wedding on the beach, just in front of Joanne’s hotel room in the Oaks Plaza Hotel. One downside of having your wedding on such a famous beach is, even during times of inclement weather, you have to keep shooing tourists out of your carefully laid out altar! The men involved with the wedding were all clad in stunning kilts and Joanne as led out by a piper. It was all wonderfully Scottish 🙂
First kiss
Signing registry
Beach wedding
After wedding
Beach wedding
Exchanging wedding rings
Glenelg wedding
Groom seeing bride for first time
Glamour shots
It wouldn’t be a Glenelg wedding without taking some shots along the famed coastline using the Jetty, which was exactly what we did. We headed over first to the Jetty, then to the public square. We then walked along the beachfront back up to the Glenelg marina before enjoying the reception in the Oaks Plaza Hotel.
Bride and Groom
Glenelg beach walk
Scottish salute
Bride and groom on Glenelgs Jetty
Bouquet
Bride and Groom in marina
Bride and Groom in Glenelg
During the reception we popped out to take advantage of the stellar sunset, and I’m so glad we did!
Glenelg sunset
Glenelg wedding sunset
Glenelg sunset
I’d like to thank Joanne and Gregor for having me as their wedding photographer at their wedding in Glenelg and I hope they enjoy their photos as mucha s I enjoyed producing them!
Tea and Michael’s intimate wedding took place in the beautiful setting of Brooklyn Farm in Myponga, south of the city. The setting was one such place that I had been to before – in this case for another wedding as their photo booth, and had always wished to come back as the short coverage options to have me cover their wedding for 3 hours. This allowed me to take a few shots of their preparation, their ceremony under the magnificent Brooklyn Farm tree, and finally some glamour shots on site. I also stayed for a few minutes of their reception, which took place in the old barn next to the farmhouse.
Preparation
Both Tea and Michael were prepared in the on-site bed and breakfast house which was built for the film The Boys are Back and was referred to in the film as Joe’s House. The property itself had been first settled in approximately 1870 for general farming and grazing, but when approached by Sarah Abbey from Locations SA to use the property for filming, they were quite pleased to have the vintage-style house built. tea and Michael seemed quite laid back and tried to keep the whole wedding a secret to their guests up until the last minute, although I’m pretty sure many of the guests guessed it to be a wedding beforehand 🙂
Bride looking out window
Love
Engagement ring
Groom affects
Groom getting ready
Wedding dress at Brooklyn farm
Bride standing out front
Bride getting ready
Makeup
Brooklyn Farm Ceremony
The setting is incredibly picturesque and private which allows for some typically Australian wedding scenes. The ceremony took place under a gigantic gum tree across a small creek that flows through the property. As their wedding took place in August, the weather had not been very good leading up to the ceremony, but that allowed for some refreshing greenery and colours to show through in the background.
Wedding ring exchange
Bride and groom
Groom
Brooklyn Farm Tree
Wedding Speech
Mum hugging bride
Wedding
Signing documents
Wedding under tree
First Kiss
Glamour Shots
One thing that Brooklyn Farm is famous for as a wedding venue is what was their wonderful tree house that was built large and sturdy enough to hold a bridal party climbing up and down it. Unfortunately that bad weather I mentioned had destroyed it only weeks before Tea and Michael’s wedding. Regardless, the surrounding natural Australian landscape and the farmhouse provided ample locations for some stunning scenes.
Bride and groom lightpainting
Bride and groom smiling
Leaning against a tree
Bride and groom walking through grass
Bride and groom through cherry blossoms
Wedding rings
Kissing under the Brooklyn Farm tree
Bride and groom smiling
Bride and groom in Australian bush
I’d like to thank Tea and Michael for having me at their wonderfully intimate wedding at Brooklyn Farm, and I hope they like their photos as much as I liked taking them!
Kathryn and Mark’s Darwin PeeWees at the Point Wedding in Darwin was an absolute treat to cover. I was flown up to the Northern Territory and treated to an amazing 2 weeks of stunning weather perfectly suited to taking wedding sunset shots. Usually to get that sort of service from the sun you’d have to have to travel across the world, people spend tens of thousands to have a wedding in Hawaii for this one scene. I cannot stress how amazing the weather was on the day. Kathryn and Mark’s Darwin wedding was the first destination wedding I’ve and I very much hope there will be more! Apparently I was cheaper to fly me up and accommodate me, along with my usual wedding rates than hire a local wedding photographer in Darwin, which is great as I’d love to head back up there!
Preparation
Mark and his groomsmen were all prepared at a rental house in Coconut Grove, just north of the city. The atmosphere was laidback and fun to be a part of. All involved had known each other since high school. The camaraderie and mateship on display made this obvious.
Doing up tie
Groom and groomsmen
Groom
Groom in doorway
Guitar man
Groomsmen shoes
Groom’s affects
After an hour or so, I headed out to where Kathryn and her bridal party were getting prepared; an apartment in the Darwin CBD. Nerves were high as unfortunately a few small things were going wrong for them as they were getting prepared. From a local makeup shop being flooded to a rather unfortunate fire alarm going off and requiring us to evacuate the building while putting on makeup! It all made for an interesting time, but fortunately the girls were all keen to see it all through with a smile!
Bridal party
Engagement ring in flowers
Bride on balcony
Bride getting ready
Bridal party selfie
Bridal shoes
Dress reveal
Bridesmaids
PeeWees at the Point wedding ceremony
Kathryn and Mark’s Darwin wedding took place at the picturesque Pee Wee’s at the point function center. The location boasts a large grassy area overlooking the bay where their wedding ceremony took place, while it also played host to the reception later in the night. If a plan B is needed due to bad weather, Pee Wee’s also has a large dining area. The Location is surrounded by lush parklands and nature reserve, so the entire setting is wonderfully private and intimate.
Bride and Father walking down ailse
Flowers decoration
Groom seeing bride
Groom waiting for his bride
Bride reading
Bride arriving
Groom looking happy
After the wedding ceremony
Darwin wedding at PeeWee’s
Ball and chain
Bridal party
Exchanging wedding rings
Glamour photos
As I said earlier, the weather on Kathryn and Mark’s wedding day was phenomenal, and with the amazing Darwin sun beating down on us, it made for an amazing opportunity to make use of it’s wonderful golden glow. We first head down to an area sandwiched between the George Brown Darwin botanic park and the Garden’s Park golf links to use some wonderfully gnarly trees. Then headed back up to Fannie Bay to make sue of the sunsetting over the bay. If we were shooting a similar scene in a place like Hawaii you’d have to compete with dozens of other newlyweds and their photographer trying to get the same shot. In Darwin, the scene is next to deserted, was amazing.
Bride and Groom under trees
Groom fishing
Bride and groom
Album cover
Darwin wedding trees
Bride and Groom under trees
Bride and Groom under trees
Bridal party having fun
Groomsmen playing marksup
Bride and groom on beach
Bride and Groom under trees
PeeWees at the Point wedding reception
As darkness was approaching we head back up to Pee Wee’s for the reception. Despite it being in the middle of winter, the night was still and warm, perfect for a reception that took place on the open grass. The whole setting was beautiful.
Bouquet toss
Dancefloor
First dance
Bride and groom speech
Dancefloor
Bridal entrance
Speech
Feeding each other cake
The entire night was a joy to e a part of, and I’d very might like to thank Mark and Kathryn for having me shoot their Darwin wedding, despite being an wedding photographer. If there are any other Darwinites out there looking for a photographer up there though, I’d jump at the opportunity! 😉