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Belair National Park Wedding – Lexi & Matt

  • LEXI & MATT

    Belair National Park Wedding

    Bride and Groom under trees

Alexis and Matt were married nearby the Belair National Park at the (now closed) Belair Park Country Club with the original aim to use a grassy area to the front of the complex for their ceremony. This wasnt to be due to the weather, so instead they used the interior of one of the reception halls available on site. I was lucky enough to be chosen as their wedding photographer for the entire day, and despite the early weather, the day turned out brilliantly!

Preparation

I started the day with Matt and his grooms men who were being prepared at their parent’s place in Semaphore Park. One of the first things that Matt said to me was that we wasn’t a smiler 🙂 Nothing wrong with that though as his grooms men were more than keen on playing about, hanging on his nerves 🙂

Lexi was being prepared down the road in a room in the Lakes Hotel. The girls were waiting for me as they were sitting about casually having a bit to eat and joking about. More than happy to help me set up my photos 🙂 The only thing that was dampening the mood was the potential for rain, but if all turned out great in the end!

Belair Country Club Wedding Ceremony

The Belair National Park is one of the oldest National Parks in Australia and it boasts quite a bit of natural flora and fauna. The country Club built nearby in the 90s takes advantage of this incredible setting being surrounded by 835 hectares of the most beautiful scenery you could imagine.

It was a very warm period of the year when Alexis and Matt were wed amongst the Belair National Park, however the weather turned for the worse overnight and the original plan of using the grassy area in front of the Belair Country Club was cancelled due to fear of the ground being muddy. So the Ceremony was moved indoors which turned out to be a wonderful turn of events as it was stunning.

Belair National Park Glamour Photos

Directly after the ceremony and family photos, the bridal party first head out to where the ceremony was originally going to be held to mimic a shot I took at a wedding last time I was here – only to find the ground was fine. We then used the entry driveway of the country club to take photos of the cars before travelling to the Belair train station. We then went for a bit of a trek through the Belair National Park after having realised the ladies had left their flats at the Country Club – so it was pretty difficult going for them walking around in their heels, but we managed! 🙂 It was well worth it too, as we took some stunners!

Belair Country Club Wedding Reception

We head back to the Country Club for the reception, which took place in the upper reception room on site. The room is a lovely setting, complete with a private bar just outside, and room for a large number of guests. The area was decorated with long pieces of beautiful cloth which really completed the entire look of the room.

I;d very much like to thank Lexi and Matt for having me capture the wedding photography at their Belair National Park wedding, and I wish them all the best in the future!

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Auchendarroch House Wedding – Rebecca & Simon

  • REBECCA & SIMON

    Auchendarroch House Wedding

    Auchendarroch House wedding

Auchendarroch House in Mt Barker was the venue for Rebecca and Simon’s stunning wedding day under the sun. The day was complete with fireworks, courtesy of the nearby Christmas celebrations and absolutely sublime weather which all made for an incredible day! Rebecca and Simon opted to have be as their wedding photographer for most of their day, leading up to their reception, and then took advantage of the SvenStudios photobooth throughout their reception complete with one of my new hand-made  wooden guests books!

Preparation photos

I began my day at the house that Simon and his grooms men were being prepared in. Simon was in high spirits, joking about and being super helpful in getting all his gear ready for some photos. Soon after we started, more of his family arrived and I think the reality of the situation sunk in a little bit as some nerves were starting to show 🙂

Rebecca and her bride’s maids were being prepared at their home in Mt Barker, nearby Auchendarroch house. The atmosphere was very laid back with  Rebecca’s brother being on hand at all times to lighten the mood with silly jokes. The morning went very smoothly with everything happening as it should so there wasn’t really any need for any nerves 🙂

Auchendarroch House wedding ceremony

Auchendarroch House was originally opened in 1860 by a Scottish migrant named Lachlan MacFarlane to be used as a hotel – then known as the Oakfield Hotel. Soon after, in 1878, it became the Summer residence of local businessman and philanthropist, Robert Barr Smith. It then became a convalescent home and Air Force hospital before being restored by the Wallis family in 2002 into the magnificent function center it is today. The house is a popular location for weddings in Mt Barker due to it’s old-world charm, surrounded by some quite impeccable gardens and local parks. All while still being the the center of the town of Mt Barker, so still quite convenient.

Rebecca and Simon were wed under the heritage listed tree next to the house. I’m sure their guests were quite thankful for this due to the weather becoming very hot by this time of day. It made for a wonderful backdrop to their wedding photos, complete with some easy to manage shadows over the entire party. It was wonderful!

Glamour Photos

After getting my drone out to take some family photos, we utilised the grounds of Auchendarroch House to take some glamour shots, with a few silly shots sprinkled in. We then made use of the magnificent interior of the house before heading over to the old main street of Mt Barker.

The interior of Auchendarroch House is everything you’d expect from an 1800s hotel. Grand, opulent and full of beautiful wooden details complete with contrasting carpets and drapes. The whole setting makes for some of the best scenes for some intimate wedding photography.

In between these amazing glamour photos we also took a moment to take a photo where the bridal party was to look concerned about something I’ll photoshop in later. In this case Rebecca and Simon are big fans of Star Wars, so they requested a scene where they were running from some Star Wars war machines. They also happened to have Simon’s car in the background so I decided to blow it up!

Auchendarroch House wedding reception

Rebecca and Simon also opted to have my photo booth set up at their reception, so I was tasked to take a few photos of the reception while also man the photobooth. The great thing about this wedding reception though was the fact that the local Christmas party was happening right next door, so we got some killer fireworks shots from above the house also!

Rebecca and Simon’s Auchendarroch House Wedding was such an awesome wedding to be a part of! Everything went smoothly from my perspective, and some amazing images were produced! I hope Rebecca and Simon enjoy their photos as much as I enjoyed producing them and I hope to cover another Auchendarroch House Wedding soon!

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Royal SA Yacht Squadron Wedding – Tracy & Jordan

  • Tracy & Jordan

    Royal SA Yacht Squadron Wedding

    Weee!

What a gorgeous wedding this was! Tracy and Jorden were wed on the grassy hill next to the Royal SA Yacht Squadron club houses in Outer Harbour on a super sunny, but not too hot day in November. The day provided for some amazing scenes thanks to Tracy and Jordan’s eagerness to travel and get to the right places for the best shots. It also helped quite a bit they had planned to go to some amazing spots for their photos after their ceremony. As they opted to take advantage of my value-packed full day package as their wedding photographer, I was on hand to capture every single moment of their stunning day.

Preparation

As s often the case, I began the day with Jordan and his grooms men. When I arrived in the morning, the boys sprang into action getting ready while also putting finishing touches on the best man’s speech. Most of the photos were taken in Tracy and Jordan’s house, which a small amount of time taken to take the dogs for a walk to the local park.

Tracy and her bridal party were being prepared in a room overlooking the Largs Pier at the Largs Pier Hotel. This stunning old building has some incredible details throughout the building, with none more impressive than the grand staircase meandering up the floors. The bridal party were in high spirits and were actually prepared quite quickly so after a few photos, we had a bit of time for a bit of a breather before heading down to the pier and bar for a few shots outside.

Royal SA Yacht Squadron wedding ceremony

The Royal SA Yacht Squadron has has a presence in Outer Harbour since 1924 after having been founded at Birkenhead in 1881. The Royal SA Yacht Squadron is a stoic institution, originally founded amongst the tall ships of Port Adelaide as a social organisation, the club was forced to move to Outer Harbour due to the port becoming too congested.

Today the clubhouse of the yacht squadron has become a very popular location for weddings, and receptions, especially due to it’s newly renovated function room overlooking the marina. I myself journey to the Yacht Squadron a number of times a year for weddings and their receptions. The most recent of which would be Vanessa and Justin’s only a few weeks prior.

Tracy and Jordan’s wedding ceremony took place on the grassy hill overlooking the marina. The wind picked up just before the ceremony so there was a bit of that to contend with, but other than that the ceremony went off without a hitch.

Glamour Shots

The first location we headed to directly after the wedding ceremony was the Yacht Club’s quaint little original boat house that is located under the newly renovated function center. The area provides for a stunning backdrop with some very interesting lighting suitable for striking couple shots framed by glowing light.

We then headed down to the Semaphore beachfront to take advantage of the sun and surf. Before heading to the jetty though, we first went for a bit of a walk toward the rocks that line the inlet towards Outer Harbour. Tracy was looking forward to using the rocks as a bit of a prop, and I was more than keen to oblige!

Finally we navigated the crowds congregating for the Port Adelaide Christmas pageant to drive to the wonderfully popular wedding photo location that are the old Wool sheds for some inductional themed shots. These turned out incredibly considering the amount of redirected traffic we had to contend with while shooting. I’ve never seen this road that busy!

Royal SA Yacht Squadron wedding reception

After having taken these amazing shots around Port Adelaide, we headed back to the newly renovated Yacht Squadron for the wedding reception. The party was a boisterous affair with some characters keeping the night from becoming boring 😉 All in all the entire day was an absolute blast and I really enjoyed myself!

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