St Mary’s Cathedral Wedding – Darwin – Jane & David
I went up there for a few days camping and exploring the remote island where Jane and David live amongst the local Tiwi islander community. It also happens to be the location of the wedding featured in the recent blockbuster ‘Top end wedding‘, which was pretty neat!
Preparation
David was being prepared with his groomsmen in an apartment overlooking the Darwin waterfront precinct. The atmosphere was laid back and easygoing and it all went pretty smoothly until I apparently interrupted a crossfit competition when we were waling about for photos on the beachfront.. sorry about that! Diddn’t seem to interrupt much as I diddnt even notice until after when someone mentiuoned it to me.. haha.
Jane and her bridesmaids were being prepared in a rather lavish bed and breakfast overlooking the Darwin skyline. The house featured a 3 story long single stairway which I was super keen on utilising for photos! 🙂 Similar to the guys, the girls were super laid back and if there were any nerves, Jane was hiding it well 🙂
St Mary’s Cathedral Wedding Ceremony
St Mary’s Cathedral, or ‘Star of the Sea’ Cathedral is located fairly central to the darwin CBD and features a rather unique arch design right throughout it’s main chamber. The Cathedral is lined with local indigenous artwork which was quite important to Jane and David having strong connections with the local Tiwi islander community where they live and work. In the days leading up to the wedding day, jane was keen to point them out to me and tell me the meaning behind it all. It was facinating to learn about!
The Cathedral was built after the war in 1962, with it’s first tone taken from the first uranium mine built in the Northern Territory. As a result, it’s arather modern cathedral with ample natural lighting and wide open spaces in order to move about without getting in anyone’s way while taking photos 🙂
Jane and David’s wedding ceremony was a traditional Catholic affair, complete with readings and full mass service, and even the ex-bishop of Darwin was in attendance which was quite the surpise to Jane and David! The main thng that really made Jane and David’s service stand out though was the wonderful performance from the local Tiwi islanders who had made the trip out to Darwin to celebrate Jane and David’s wedding with them.
Glamour Photos
After family photos and more Tiwi islander dancing out the front of St Mary’s Cathedral, we head out for the glamour photos. We first made use of the wonderful trees out the front of the Darwin Botanical park, before heading over towards Lake Alexander and East Point for photos amongst the wonderful red rocks and cliffs along the beach. jane and david were keen on having photos done similar to what they would have had done in the Tiwi Islands so I suggested heading around here. We also made use of a small park nearby the Darwin Surf Club before heading in for their reception.
We head into the Darwin Surf Club for the beginning of their wedding reception only to leave about 20 minutes later to drive to the Nightcliff area for some sunset photos. I’m glad we did too as it was a spectacular sunset and I was about to angle myself in order to make the sun look larger than it actually is. It’s great when that’s possible with a sunset like this!
Darwin Surf Club Wedding Reception
As is usally the case in Darwin during the dry season, the temperature during the night was absolutely perfect for a night time reception out on the lawn, and the great thing about the Darwin Surf Club is that the sun sets right over the beautiful beach lining the venue. The entire guest list were certainly there to have a good time and I was so pleased to see so many people up on the dance floor! Even David serenaded jane during the night with his newly gained guitar skills! It was such a fun night to be a part of which even featured a gelato bar!
Thanks so much to Jane and David for having me not only at your wedding, but also in your home and town on the Tiwi islands!
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These photos are incredible!
I’m glad I took the time to stop by and look at your website, I find your work very inspirational 🙂