Natasha & Jono
Surprise Backyard Wedding

Natasha and Jono held their wedding in their backyard on what turned out to be a lovely day surrounded by intimate family and friends who had mostly travelled to Adelaide for their engagement party. Natasha and Jono decided, considering everyone had travelled to attend their party, they’ll turn their engagement party into their Surprise Backyard wedding instead. An alternative was going to be holding their wedding on a beach in New Zealand, but they figured it’d be easier for everyone if they held it here, in their backyard. 🙂

Preparation

Natasha and her bridal party were geting ready with a small selection of family and friends in a house nearby. I took photos of the girls getting ready, and together in their custom kimonos, before heading over to the boys before Natasha had put on her dress – as I was going to get that shot ust before the ceremony when she changes again.

Jono and his groomsmen were getting ready on site at the couple’s home in Woodville. In between putting on their shirts, and trying on their new fedoras, they were also running about putting some finishing touches on small parts of the wedding reception setup in the backyard.

Glamour photos

As their engagement party ruse was set up as an evening affair, with a marquee set up on the back lawn and food and drink available for dinner; Natasha and Jono decided to have their glamour photos done prior to their wedding ceremony. We head down to the Semaphore Beach to make use of the pristine sand and dunes available there for family photos, before heading just up the road a bit for the more photo friendly Largs Bay jetty.

Bride and groom celebrating their wedding on Semaphore Beach

Bride and groom under the Largs Bay Jetty

To add a little bit of variety to the photos, and also because the sky was looking a little grey, I suggested heading through Port Adelaide and using the famed Crozier Street for a bit of an industrial slant to Natasha and Jono’s photos.

Bridal Party playing rugby on Crozier st

Bride and her bridesmaids together in a doorway

Surprise Backyard Wedding Ceremony

Many of Natasha and Jono’s guests had travelled from around Australia and New Zealand in order to attend their engagement party that was set up in their backyard, and they continued this ruse riught up until the beginning of the wedding ceremony where Jono’s groomsmen carried out the arbour that was hidden in their shed. Natasha snuck off during a time where guests were mingling and settling in for a fun night of celebration to change into her wedding dress again before reemerging.

Waiting for the Surprise Backyard wedding to start

Bride and groom listening to the Welcome to country

Many of their guests were quite surprised about attending their wedding there and then, whichwas great to see! It’s often the case that the surprise is ruined well before by something, but their surprise wedding was quite successful! The ceremony itself was a nice affair with Aboriginal and Maori traditions coming together, complete with a ‘Welcome to country’, Maori songs, and even a didgeridoo procession. It was lovely to be a part of!

Groom seeing bride at the wedding ceremony

Surprise Backyard Wedding Reception

All the food was set up on a long table within their shed out the back, which guests were asked to serve themselves from, and drnks wer self served from a pretty neat rental bar with several different drinks on tap. During the night I took Natasha and Jono to a nearby spot to make use of the incredible sunset that had set in, and also made sure to get some of the spaklers within the photos during their first dance. It was a great night!