St Francis Winery Wedding – Molly & Ian

St Francis Winery Wedding – Molly & Ian

I had been looking forward to covering Molly and Ian’s wedding at the St Francis Winery ever since shooting their engagement photos in the city about a year prior. I was also asked to build them an RSVP website, which was a good way to keep in contact all throughout the wedding planning in between. The day was a super sunny, bright, beautiful day which translated into a love-filled celebration of the wedding of Molly and Ian 🙂

Preparation

One of the great things about most of the weddings I’ve covered at the St Francis Winery is that both the bride and groom are staying on site and are prepared in separate rooms, so I’m able to flit in between rooms to take photos of them both being prepared at the same time. Both Molly and Ian were fairly laiud back in their preparation, with fun events like Molly’s small gift to ian being an exploding card, and of course running after the less than co-operative kidlets 🙂

In front of window
Wedding sign
Groomsmen lounging about
Mum helping
pensive
Wedding rings
Looking out window
Looking out window
Smiling groom
getting ready
Smiles
Dad’s first look
Looking in mirror
Pensive
Hustle and bustle
Smiling bride
getting ready

St Francis Winery Wedding Ceremony

Molly and Ian wisely opted to move the location of their wedding ceremony into a small – shaded area closer to the buildings of the winery as standing out in the sun for the duration of their ceremony would not have been fun. The ceremony was short and sweet, and culminated in a barrage of confetti thrown by the guests.

St Francis Winery Wedding setup
Flower girls
Signing registry
St Francis Winery Wedding
Smiles
Bridal exit
At the altar
Wedding ceremony
Exchanging rings
Smiles
Blushing bride
First kiss
Smiles

Glamour Photos

As I usually do, I made use of the incredible weeping willow trees surrounding the duck lake within the winery’s grounds, and as the sun was beating down, tried to make the most of it’s rays shing through the foliage.

Smiles together
Under a weeping willow
Standing together
Under the sun
Standing together
hehe
Bouquet
Smiling girls
Next to the cart

St Francis Winery Reception

To finish up the day, Molly and Ian’s wedding reception took place on site within the St Francis Winery reception hall, with the end section used as the dancefloor. The end section is great for the first dance dry ice as the walled off area allows for a lovely carpet of mist – makes it quite beautiful.

St Francis Winery Wedding Reception
Wedding cake
First dance
Dancing boy
Decorations
Children’s activity book
Smiling bride
Smiling groom
Cutting the cake
Under the weeping willow at night
Shots
First dance
Talking
Lolly bar
Under the weeping willow at night

Thanks so much to Molly and Ian for having me as their wedding photographer and I hope you enjoy your photos! 🙂

/by

Boss the Bull Mastiff Photoshoot

  • BOSS THE BULL MASTIFF

    On top of the hill

Boss the Bull Mastiff Photoshoot

Recently I ran a little contest on instagram in order to celebrate reaching 10,000 followers on the platform. The idea being that people who would like to enter were to select their favourite image I had put up on my feed. Well Boss the Bull Mastiff (@bossthebullmastiff) was the winner and as a result we went out to the Grange beach for a bit of a run about and photoshoot! Was a fairly simple little shoot, we started by walking along the dunes, and then had Boss run up and down the beach for a bit before striking a pose under the famed Grange Jetty. Boss was fairly easy to work with, very well trained and was kept on a leachsh for the whole time – just had to photoshop it out for the photos!

Running about
On the beach
Kisses
Boss the Bull Mastiff
On top of the hill
Smiles
/by
,

Pepper Tree Cafe Wedding – Amanda & Daniel

  • Amanda & Daniel

    Pepper Tree Cafe Wedding

    Under the gate

I was super excited to be a part of Amanda and Daniel’s wedding at the Pepper Tree Café due in no small part to Daniel’s enthusiasm and endearing eagerness to hold the most perfect wedding possible for his bride to be. He was in constant contact, making sure I knew all the details including how well the dancing lessons I had got them at Dance Amor were doing, and how the Pepper Tree was going to be set up on the day.

Everything he had planned came to fruition on the day, with the slight unfortunate hiccup of a bit of rain directly after the ceremony. Fortunately it let up a bit for us to get out and about in the garden for a few photos J

Preparation

I started the day as I usually do at Daniel’s place of preparation. He and his boys were all getting ready and were in various stages of undress when I arrived. Daniel was keen on having everything set up and running smoothly – he was obviously excited!

Looking out window
Groomsmen getting ready
Putting on cufflinks
Smiling groom
Shoes
Dad helping out
Putting on shirt
In front of car
Putting on shirt
Wedding Rings
Cheers!
Groomsmen Gifts

I then head over to where Amanda and her bridal party were being prepared – the atmosphere was noticeably more laid back and fun filled with the ladies, with laughter and fun times being had. Emotions were high when gifts were handed out which made for some marvellously genuine photos!

makeup
Mum looking on
Wedding Dress
Smiles
Smiles
Love the new bub
Engagement ring
Smiling
Helping with the dress
Helping with the dress
Bridesmaids gift
Smiles
Smiles
Cork popping
Flower crown

Pepper Tree Cafe Wedding Ceremony

The Pepper Tree Café was a wedding venue I had not yet had the privilege of visiting, but it turned out to be a lovely little intimate space in Aldinga, featuring a large Pepper Tree (naturally) alongside a rustic live music and dining area surrounded by a nice mix of curated garden and wilder natural scenes. Quite a nice spot for photography.

Their wedding ceremony took place on the grassy area in the centre of the gardens, with all the guests standing either side of an aisle lined by small lanterns. The rain was threatening by this time, but thankfully held off until after I had my drone in the air and took a couple of group photos.

Cars arriving
Smiling Bride
Holding Hands
Groom’s first look
Wiping
Bridal Exit
nervous groom
Holding Hands
Bride arriving
Together
Putting on ring
Smiling Groom
Hugs
Family Hug
Together
First Kiss

Glamour Photos

Directly after the ceremony ended we had to rush into the Café area to avoid the rather heavy rain that was now falling. We made use of the time to take family photos on the stage and have a bit of a mingle with guests. Once it was evident that the rain had set in a bit, Amanda and Daniel decided we’d need to head out in the rain for a few photos, so that’s what we did. Thankfully soon after this decision, the rain stopped for long enough for some proper shots around the garden.

Walking together
Amongst the trees
Holding one another
Under the Gazebo
Under the Gazebo
Bridal Party
Under the trees
Standing in the Pepper Tree
Kissing amongst the Pepper Tree
Groomsmen
Under the trees
Wedding Rings
Under the Gazebo
Under the gate
Under the trees
Under the gate

Pepper Tree Wedding Reception

The reception area at the pepper Tree Café is an intimate, rustic little area, decorated with steel and wooden styling, akin to an old wool shed. The area boasts a nice live music stage and room enough for a modest congregation.

Amanda and Daniel’s reception was a lovely display of heartfelt speeches, impromptu bagpipe recitals and high running emotions, it was a ball to be a part of, and I thank Amanda and Daniel for having me be a part of it! 😀

Cutting the cake
Guests having fun
First Dance
Catching the garter
First Dance
Catching the bouquet
Dancing
Best Man speech
Thumbs up
First Dance
Speech
Smiles all round
Smiling Bride
Guests having fun
/by

Tiwi Islands Engagement shoot – Jane & David

Since expanding my operations to the Northern Territory, in particular Darwin through my website https://svenstudios.com/darwin-wedding-photography/, I’ve been super keen on heading up to the Northern End of Australia to shoot again. So when Jane contacted me via my instagram feed, I jumped at the chance on shooting in the most remote area of Australia I have yet visited.

Jane and David were awesome hosts for a 2 night stay on the islands, where they both work in the local community,  and in exchange for their wonderful hospitality I was to shoot a bit of an engagement shoot while galavanting around the island!

The first day

After having spent a few days in Darwin – taking photos of the lovely beaches and the amazing sunsets Darwin has to offer, I head out to the Tiwi Islands on a ferry to meet Jane and David whom were both working, so once I arrived I was picked up by David, then had a bit of time to explore the community before they both knocked off work. It was rather surreal witnessing the Liberal coup where former Prime Minister Turnbull was ousted for Scott Morrison in such a remote part of Australia, from within an Aboriginal community – it felt quite distant an unimportant.

It’s this remoteness I think appeals to both Jane and David who both hail from Sydney originally that makes them love this place. The culture and sense of community surrounding them where they live is obvious in that everyone knows one another, when driving about, everyone waved and one another and the entire town felt very laid back.

Once Jane and david had finished their work, we went on a shot expedition to a small wood with lovely tall trees, through which the sun was beating down in typical Northern Territory fashion, so I made use of it!

Hugs
On the road
In the forest
Dancing
On the road
Walking together in the forest
Dancing
Smiles
Walking through the bush
On the road
Engagement ring
laughing

We then head out of town for a bit to a lovely secluded beach beyond the so called ‘international Airport’ of Wurrumiyanga to make use of the fading sun. I found it quite funny that it was classified as a major airport when considering flight paths and ability to launch my drone as the airport consists of only an airstrip – that is apparently sinking into the ground – and a small shed. But anyway, the beach was stunning and out of range from flight limitations anyway.

Kung Fu!
Tiwi Islands Engagement
On the beach together
Walking along the beach
On the beach together
From above
From above

The next morning, the plan was to get up at sparrows to make use of the sun rising over the local bay – while avoiding the giant croc that apparently inhabits the water around the area 🙂

Smiling David
Smiling Jane
Sitting together
Tiwi Islands Sunrise

Shortly after breakfast we were on the road to a delightful little natural spring waterhole were we stopped to have lunch and go for a dip. I was assured there were no crocs around the place here, but the water was so incredibly clear that nothing would be able to sneak up on us anyway. 😛

Waterhole hugs
Waterhole hugs
Jumping in together
Amongst the wattle
Waterhole hugs

By the late afternoon we had reached our campsite for the night, a long white sand beach at the northern tip of the island. We spent some time fishing from the rocks, however caught more rocks than useful fish, then made use of the spectacular red cliffs and sunset for some more photos, all the while dodging the millions of hermit crabs scuttling along the beach, and keeping a wary eye out for crocs.

Sun set on the rocks
Sun set on the rocks
Twirling
Sun set
On a rock
Family portrait
Running together
Sun set on the rocks

On the final day, once we returned home to town, we spent the afternoon waiting for the Darwin-bound ferry fishing on Jane and David’s boat. It was the first time I had experienced fishing on a boat, and Jane managed to land a huge 90cm Barramundi! Which we released, but she also caught herself a smaller one which David filleted up and gave me a fillet for dinner that night 🙂 I also managed to catch quite a few other fish – including some good sized snapper! All in all, my weekend in the Tiwi islands was not one I will soon forget!

Thanks so much to Jane and David for having me photograph them on the Tiwi islands – It’s a place I would never have thought of visiting otherwise, but I’m so glad I had the opportunity!

/by