On the 20th of January I was asked to cover a short 1 hour wedding at the Adelaide wedding registry on Grenfell street. Sashini and George took advantage of my very flexible hourly rate to only cover the short Adelaide wedding registry ceremony and group family photos at the end. The Adelaide wedding registry on Grenfell street has a small, simple room set up with around 40 chairs for guests in order to conduct short, simple civil marriages. I understand that having your wedding at the Adelaide wedding registry may save you a bit of money that you can better spend at your reception or even on your honeymoon. Apparently there are also more than one single Adelaide wedding registry in Adelaide so one does not have to use the one on Grenfell street, but please correct me if I’m wrong in the comments below 🙂
As Sashini was of Indian heritage and George, Greek the ceremony and it’s guests had a very mixed cultural flavour, with bold opulent colours from the bride’s side and the typical fun-loving demeanor from the groom’s. The whole experience at the Adelaide wedding registry was a lot of fun and I hope to visit here again for more short, simple weddings.
It was quite an interesting experience actually, as a wedding photographer I am quite accustomed to having a bridal shoot after the ceremony, however as Sashini and George only opted for a single hour of my services, there was very little time to venture far from the Adelaide wedding registry offices.
I did capture some lovely moments however and I very much hope Sashini and George enjoy the images I’ve produced for them. During the hour coverage I managed to provide them with over 100 edited images, which is a bit more than usual, but when I’m having fun, the camera does its own thing. The images below are but a preview.
Clare and Craig’s Mount Torren’s Hotel wedding took place in lieu of a larger wedding they had planned right back before all this COVID stuff happened. Instead of having dozens of friends and family members in attendance, they opted to hold a tiny little ceremony at the delightful new Mount Torrens Hotel wedding venue in late August, with the plan of holding a large reception once everyone is able to travel again.
Mount Torrens Hotel Wedding Ceremony
The Mount Torrens Hotel wedding spot is an old, rustic little barn which according to Craig they had only just emptied of trash ready for their wedding ceremony! The Hotel boasts a delightful rustic vibe with old-world charm within and without the hotel itself, while also being surrounded by a beautiful little town, and a grassy area that would be suited for a large marquee – should the need arise.
Clare and Craig were drawn to this simple little corner of the world as they said they enjoy seeking out the simple beauty in smaller locations like this – which I felt made this wedding that much more intimate.
Around 10 witnesses were in attendance, those which could not attend made use of my 360 virtual reality recording I produce for all the weddings I cover, which makes the fact that not being able to attend that much more bareable.
Clare walked down the aisle to some very untraditional heavy metal, while the area was also decorated with fluffy dinosaurs and other things which made the space uniquely theirs.
Groom waiting patiently
Mount Torrens Hotel wedding decor
Bride arriving in gown
Bride arriving at Mount Torrens hotel wedding
Groom seeing his bride for the first time
bride arrival at Mount Torrens hotel wedding
Holding hands during ceremony at Mount Torrens hotel wedding
Groom looking at his bride
Wedding Ceremony at the Mt Torrens Hotel barn
Wedding Ceremony at the Mt Torrens Hotel
Smiling bride looking at her groom at the ceremony
Bride and groom holding hands during the ceremony
Mount Torrens Hotel wedding
Exchanging wedding rings during the wedding ceremony
Mount Torrens Hotel wedding ceremony
First kiss at Mount Torrens Hotel wedding ceremony
Groom thanking guests
Bride hugging guests
Glamour Photos
After the group photos which we took in front of the barn’s brick wall behind the Mount Torrens Hotel wedding venue, we head off to a nearby farm which Clare and Craig had found online after a bit of a shout out on social media, simply looking for someplace nice to take photos in.
The farmstead boasted a lovely curated garden, somplete with walkways and little wooden brides and huts which we made use of, before also making use of the natural Australian bush land in the dying sun of the day. I really enjoyed myself here as the sun was shining through the foliage in the most delightful way!
Clare and Craig told me that they had chosen me as their wedding photographer as they liked the way I managed to capture not only a bridal couple, but also the simple elegance of the landscape around them without drawing too much attention away from the subject of the image.
Getting comments like this is really what being a photographer was all about and it really made me smile! Not only because these lovely people enjoyed my work, but also the fact that I was with them on such a delightful day in which it was super easy to produce such wonderful work!
Bride and groom together at their Mount Torrens Hotel Wedding
Mount Torrens Hotel wedding photo
groomsmen
bride and groom under little hut
bride and groom under little hut traditional portrait
bride and groom through flowers
Bride and groom amongst the foliage
Bridal party together on the road
Together on the road surrounded by gum trees
Groomsmen cufflinks
bride ad groom in between two trees
bride ad groom in between two large trees
Bridal party amongst tree plantation
Bridal party amongst trees
Bride and groom backdropped by sunlight
Bride and groom with sun peeking through
Bride and groom in tree plantation
bride and groom amongst young trees
bride and groom together
I had an absolute blast photographing Clare and Craig’s wedding day, doubly so as I wanted to help them out as much as possible as Clare is a member of the CFS, who battled the huge fires at the beginning of 2019 – and are just lovely people all round. I wanted to do my part in putting some smiles on Clare and Craig’s faces and I hope they weren’t too dissapointed in not holding their large wedding, and having to postpone to a later date!
Katrina and Lucas timed their destination Mount Lofty House wedding incredibly well – considering the unfortunate events due to COVID that started to kick off only days after their big day, and the fact that the majority of their guests, and themselves had travelled from Victoria to make use of this amazing wedding venue.
Despite the weather not being perfect, and some guests not being able to make it, the day was certainly not short of fun filled love, family moments and beautiful people celebrating the coming together of this lovely couple!
Preparation
I arrived early in the morning to set up the photobooth so it was ready for their reception, and also to fly around the grounds a bit with the drone for some speccy footage for their highlight video from the air. As I arrived I met Lucas and his groomsmen enjoying their breakfast and they all seemd to be in very good spirits – despite having to make the call of holding the ceremony indoors rather than on the tiered lawns as originally planned.
Lucas and his entourage were prepared together in a room overlooking the pool, while Lucas was putting the finishing touches on his speech, which the boys were giving him greif about as it was supposed to have been done days, or weeks prior!
groomsman shoes
groomsman looking in mirror
Suit hanging on door frame
groom shoes with booze
Belt laying on shoes
Helping put on shirt
best man helping
Groom looking out window at Mount Lofty House
Groom helping with tie
Little dudes
Groom and entourage
Katrina and her bridal party were being prepared in the Pinot Cottage. One of the many small, cute cottage residences you can take advantage of when being prepared for a Mount Lofty House wedding.
It was super lucky to have had Katrina’s parents in attendance on the day due to the SA border being closed soon after they had corssed, so it was delightful to see them with Katrina as she was prepared!
The atmosphere was very laid back until the last 15 minues or so before we all had to leave for the cermeony – then it got a little chaotic!
bridal shoes on the ground
Engagement ring in white flowers
Wedding dress hanging through doorway
Bridal ear rings
bridal bouquets
Helping put on bridal gown
Bride having her gown put on
Flower girl looking on
Dad’s first look of dress
Close up of bride hands
Bride putting on ear rings
Smiling father
bridal party fussing over bride
Smiling bride as she prepares
pretty bride standing in windowed area
Mount Lofty House Wedding Ceremony
As mentioned before, Katrina and Lucas’ Mount Lofty House wedding ceremony took place using the back up indoor option, within what usually is used as the restaurant of the hotel, or the dancing area during wedding receptions. It’s a beautifully lit area, with wall to wall windows and a delightful live fireplace at it’s centre. The only issue with the space is that it makes it tricky to get shots of the groom looking at his bride during the ceremony.
The ceremony itself was a lovely, simple affair with readings from members of Katrina and Lucas’ family, and the odd interruption by the little ones getting comfortable at the front of the congregation. 🙂
Page boy and flowergirl
Flower girls
page boys
bride and father approaching the ceremony
Groom smiling at his bride at Mount Lofty House wedding
Indoor Mount Lofty House wedding ceremony
Mum watching
Bride looking at her groom
Celebrant talking during ceremony
Bride looking at her groom during the ceremony
Speech giver during ceremony
Exchanging wedding bands
Mount Lofty House wedding ceremony
Rings on hands
Bride and groom walks back down the aisle
Glamour Photos
The weather cleared long enough for us to take the group shots out on the lawns withe drone, then broke off for smaller group shots in the garden. The weather was quite chilly so most were very keen not to have to stay outside for longer than absolutely needed! This included the bridal party.
My plan was not to stay outside for too long, with Katrina keen to not make a mess of her bridal gown and to avoid any rain as much as possible. So directly after the group shots we made a quick lap around the gardens, making use of the grenery on site, before heading inside to make use of the grand architecture on display within the historic Mount Lofty House.
Bride and groom under the trees of Mount Lofty House
Bride and groom in the gardens of Mount Lofty House
Sharing a giggle
Flowing veil in the gardens
Bride with her veil
Bridal party with the bride and groom in the background
Smiling bride and groom next to wall
Embrace on the walkway through the gardens
Groom helping bride
Bridal party in front of Mount Lofty House
bride and groom on the steps of Mount Lofty House
On the steps of Mount Lofty House
Groom smiling at bride in Mount Lofty House
Wedding photo in the Mount Lofty House cellars
groom and groomsmen
Wedding party photo in the Mount Lofty House Library
Groom
Mount Lofty House Wedding Photo
Mount Lofty House Wedding Reception
Katrina and Lucas’ Mount Lofty House wedding reception was a fun affair, with my photobooth set up, and plenty of activities planned throughout the evening – from speeches to the shoe game, the fact that we could not use the dancefloor outside of the bridal party was barely missed!
Mount Lofty House Wedding Reception
Bridal party entrance
Wedding cake
Husband and wife cutting their wedding cake
Shoe game fun
Kids having their own little dance
First dance dip
First dance closeup
Thanks so much to Katrina and Lucas for having my wife and myself with you to celebrate and capture your big day!
It is perhaps the most iconic scene from any wedding day, the white wedding gown adorning the beaming bride. But why are wedding gowns white? There is a huge number reasons, not in the least the fact that white is the brightest of colours, further enhancing the bride’s visibility on her big day, but it’s a tradition that has evolved over hundreds of years for a variety of reasons.
Alru Farm wedding bride
Why are wedding gowns white?
To be perfectly pedantic, the traditional colour of a modern wedding gown isn’t actually white, it’s more “Candlelight,” “Ivory,” “Ecru” or “Frost” when putting my graphic designer hat on.. But to the common layman, they all look pretty white, right? Anyway, the answer to the question of why are wedding gowns white all has to do with the popularity of some people who happened to wear white on their wedding day, and as a species who like to copy our idols, the fashion caught on and became tradition.
Victoria Albert Wedding
Queen Victoria of England who reigned from 1837-1901 was the first to make white wedding gowns fashionable by wearing a pale gown trimmed in orange blossoms for her 1840 wedding to her first cousin, Prince Albert. Naturally, because she was the queen and the center of all things high society at the time, whatever she wore, everyone tried to copy. Kind of like how it is now with everything Kate Middleton, or any red carpet celebrity wears being reported on. As a bit of a side note here, Anne of Brittany also made white wedding gowns popular all the way back in 1499, believing that white was a symbol of virginity – despite being married once before.
Before modern wedding gowns were made to be white by Queen Victoria, it was quite common for wedding gowns to be any colour. In biblical times, blue (not white) represented purity, and the bride and groom would wear a blue band around the bottom of their wedding attire, contributing to the poem of ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something BLUE’.
Blue wedding dress
Generally though, before Queen Victoria made it a tradition to wear a white wedding gown as a bride, the most common item of clothing a bride would wear was simply what her favourite, or best garment she had available to her and could be any color, even black. To convince her groom that she came from a wealthy family, brides would also pile on layers of fur, silk and velvet. This was partly due to the fact that the more layers of clothing one wore meant the less body odor people were able to smell, being that bathing was not something people did often in those days.
Today though, the answer to the question of ‘why are wedding gowns white?’ seems to be primarily because in modern society the colour symbolises innocence, purity and certainly makes the bride stand out in a crowd, like the princess she’s made out to be on her wedding day. It may also be just ‘because’, as that’s what everyone else does right? It’s tradition! 🙂
Everything on a wedding day has some sort of roots in tradition, some going back thousands of years – others being quite a modern occurance. The fact is that the answer to the question ‘why are wedding gowns white?’ is simply because people today associate this with brides and this hasn’t changed since 1840. Perhaps in another 200 years, wedding dresses may be purple? Who knows?
I have never before seen such impeccable timing than Kate and Dylan’s wedding where they timed their big day the day before a major COVID lockdown in Darwin. The day itself was a typical stunnly sunny Darwin day that made their Jervois Park wedding – just south of the Darwin CBD such a wonderful experience!
Kate and Dylan’s big day was full of family fueled fun, joy and beautiful moments I was so glad to capture with both photography and videography!
Preparation
Both Kate and Dylan were prepared nearby their Jervois Park wedding venue, with Dylan in a bed and breakfast I had shot in before, and Kate in a hotel room within the CBD.
As per usual on a wedding day, small things often go wrong that just cannont be helped – in the case of Dylan’s preparation, unfortunately one of his groomsmen got on the wrong end of a chainsaw only days before the wedding was to take place! Thankfully the injury wasn’t as bad as it could have been, and he was certainly a champ powering through the rest of his mate’s big day!
The morning was fun filled, and the guys had the usual trouble tieing their ties before Mr. Youtube came along to help! A troup of male strippers also made an appearance! – More of Dylan’s mates trying to create some silly photos 🙂
Wedding rings resting on white tie
Wedding stubbie holder
Engagement ring in between grooms shoes
Groom tieing tie surrounded by windows
Father helping tie tie
Groomsman tieing tie
Groomsman putting on socks
Groomsmen gathered around groom
Groom putting on jacket
Smiling groom looking at camera
Groom at the top of the stairway
Groomsmen at top of staircase
groomsmen in front of pool
Kate and her bridal party had a slightly more straightforward preparation, with plenty of makeup and hair to sort out before the ceremony. The ladies were all in good spirits and were obviously having a great time!
A highlight of the morning with the bridal party for me was the arrival of Kate’s father where we set up a bit of a first look for him seeing Kate in her dress for the first time. Always a crowd pleasing moment!
Wedding dress hanging from roof
Bridal shoes with bouquet
bridal makeup
bridesmaids reaching for dresses
bride and bridesmaids in doorway
Bride sitting in makeup chair
Bride and bridesmaids with gowns
Bride and bridesmaids having fun under veil on bed
bride looking back
Bride being preparaed
bride looking at bridesmaid while being prepared
Bride standing alone in living area
bridesmaids looking at bride
Fathers first look
Bride and Dad
Bride and bridal party
Bridal party on balcony
Jervois Park Wedding Ceremony
Kate and Dylan’s Jervois Park Wedding Ceremony took place inbetween a few trees, providing shade to the majority of their congregation while looking out over Darwin Harbour as a backdrop. It’s a pretty nice spot to hold a wedding ceremony – with quite a bit of parking space for guests, reasonably isolated from passers by, and still being in the center of the city!
Kate and her bridal party arrived in huge all terrain vehicles, which spoke to their affinity for the outdoors, and the ceremony itself was a simple affair with Kate and Dylan sharing personal vows, before breaking off to celebrate with guests and have family photos done.
Jervois Park wedding sign
Arriving parent
Groom standing around
Guests mingling
Bride getting out of car
bride arriving with Father
Groom smiling at bride in jarvois Park
Smiling groom during Jervois Park Wedding
Jervois Park Wedding Ceremony
Holding hands during Jervois Park Wedding Ceremony
Smiling bride during her wedding ceremony in Darwin
Groom listening to his bride’s vows
Exchanging wedding rings under arbour
Closeup of wedding rings exchange
First Kiss at Darwins Jervois Park
bride and groom holding one another after the ceremony
Glamour Photos
For glamour photos, one of the main spots Kate wanted to head to were the marvellous trees located in Garden’s Park, just in front of the Darwin Botanic Gardens. The area in there provides for some stunning shots – particularly later in the day with the sun lowering and gleaming through the foliage, or the trunks of the huge trees growing here.
We then head to one of my favourite spots in Darwin for wedding photos – the East Point cliffs. Us along with 2 other wedding parties who also had the same idea! Thankfully we arrived just as one party was finishing up, so we managed to get the prime spot out on the ‘pride rock’ rock formation in time for the sunset. Unfortunately for the couple arriving after us they kind of missed out! Very popular spot!
Bride and groom in front of wedding 4WD
Bride and groom in green foliage
Bride and groom amongst the green trees
Bride and groom framed by the green foliage
bridal party in the large trees
bride and groom walking between the trees of Darwin’s Botanic Park
Wedding Photo in front of Darwin’s Botanic Gardens
Gardens Park wedding Photo
Gardens Park wedding party Photo
Bridal party at East Point
Bridal party at East Point together
bride and groom out on pride rock
East Point Wedding Photo
Darwins East Point Wedding Photo
East Point in Darwin wedding photography
East Point Bride and groom
Bride and groom Darwin sunset
bride and groom looking out at the sunset
wedding couple looking out at the sunset
Private Property Wedding Reception
Kate and Dylan then had a bit of a drive out to their wedding reception which was held on a pricate property out by Howard Springs. The front yard of a house was decorated with a beautiful display of fairy lights covering all the tables for guests which had also been set up.
What I found most striking from their reception setup was the beautiful tiki torches lining the entrance to the reception – really made the whole setting quite intimate and glamourous, despite the bobcat holding the drinks in it’s digger!
bride and groom arriving at reception
Bobcat holding drinks
Guests selecting drinks
Maid of honour speech
Hugs after speech
Wedding cake on display in circle
Cutting the wedding cake as husband and wife
Dad and daughter dance
Happy bride in first dance
Smiling groom during first dance
Bride sitting on grooms knee
Dancing guests at the reception
Guests on swing
Table setting
Shoe game under the lights
Bride and groom kissing on the dance floor
Dance floor
bride and groom between the tiki torches
Cooling off in the pool
Bride dancing on the dancefloor
Dancing guests
Kate and Dylan, I’m so glad you guys got to celebrate your big day before COVID decided to ruin anything! Thanks so much for having me as your wedding photographer at your Jervois Park wedding!
