Botanic Gardens Adelaide Wedding – Jody & Simon

Certainly could not predict the weather here in Adelaide over the last few months – hosting a wedding in November should be a sure thing right? At least that’s what Jody and Simon thought when planning their Botanic Gardens Adelaide wedding ceremony! Only last week we had a freak mini cyclone, and this week was non stop rain!

Botanic Gardens Adelaide Wedding – The Summer House

My day started a little bumpy, arriving at what was going to be Jody and Simon’s first choice for a wedding location in the Botanic Gardens, only to be moved on to the Summer House, nearer to North Terrace due to the relentless rain that almost forced their string instrument performers to not be able to play due to possible damage of their wooden insturments.

Thankfully moving ceremony location wasn’t overly difficult, simply a matter of moving equipment one spot over – so then I waited at the National Wine Center for Jody to arrive in her motorcade – only for them to drop her off at the main gate, 300m up the road – so I had a bit of running to do 🙂

All worked out well though! Thankfully I had my lovely wife in attendance to help out with the ceremony videography back at the Summer House gazebo.

Other than all that, Jody and Simon’s Botanic Gardens Adelaide wedding ceremony was full of love, laughter and awesome vows that made everyone show their full gamut of emotions!

Bride arriving in convertable

Bride getting out of car on wet road

Flower girls together in a group

Bridal approach at the Summer House

Grooms first look of bride in the Summer House

Botanic Gardens Summer House wedding ceremony

Flower girls watching ceremony

Laughing bride during ceremony

Holding hands during ceremony

Celebrant talking during ceremony

Bride smiling at groom at ceremony

Smiling groom during ceremony

Botanic gardens Adelaide wedding ceremony

First kiss in the SUmmer House

Flower girls playing with bubble makers

Bride hugs with little boy

Bride sweeping back hair

Glamour Photos

The weather thankfully cleared just after Jody and Simon’s ceremony ended, allowing for a big group photo just behind the gazebo, and of course their glamour photos!

We began by doing a small lap of the gardens up to the historic Economic Building witht he bridal party, taking photos as we went, and then left the bridal party to head back to Ayres House while Jody, Simon, the best man and I walked p to the Friendship gates for more photos.

Some unique features of a Botanic Gardens Adelaide wedding on a very wet day is that there are some very nice water features that only occur on these types of days, so I was keen to make use of them – and the simple fact that we had the whole place to ourselves! Very peaceful!

Bridal party in the Botanic Gardens

Bride and groom under moreton bay fig

Moreton bay fig tree with flying veil

Bride and groom cuddles

bride and groom walking out of bridal party

Bridal party in a tree

Close up of wedding rings on hands

Adelaide Botanic Gardens wedding photo

Bride and groom under trees

Sun behind the bride and groom in trees

Portrait in trees

Bride and groom near water with sun

Walking through the botanic gardens

bride and groom small in the foliage

Engagement ring on holding hands

Danding bride and groom

Bridal party on the steps of the economic building

bride and groom on the steps

Closeup of bride and groom

Bride and groom between the pine trees

Bride and groom in a tree

Bride and groom in a tree looking at camera

Engagement ring in white rose

Botanic Gardens Adelaide wedding photo

Bride and groom near the friendship gate

Sitting together on a moreton bay fig

Pretty bride

Ring of fire

Bride and groom under the sun

Bride scooting away

Ayres House Wedding Reception

As someone who had a bit of a lego theme myself at my own wedding – I was super excited to see what Jody and Simon had as their table center pieces! Dozens of the incredible lego bouquet sets who had all apparently been made by a very dedicated small group of people – lego masters, obviously! HJody and Simon even gave me one as a parting gift that night – which is now taking pride of place next to my computer as I write this!

Their night was full of fun speeches, and games with the highlight definitely being the scavenger hunt game where some of the contenstants certainly got into the spirit of things!

Cup cakes wedding cake

Cutting their Cup cakes wedding cake

Cheers guests

Ayres house wedding reception

Lego bouquet

Speech giver 2

Laughing bride listening to speech

Bride turning to groom

Speech 2

Shoe game

Talking with guests

Daddy daughter dance

First dance at Ayres House wedding reception

First dance at Ayres House glasshouse wedding reception

Dancing the night away

Thanks so much Jody and Simon for having me as your Adelaide wedding photographer! Was an absolute blast!

December 16, 2022

Wedding preview, Wedding

Ekhidna Winery Wedding – Chami & Bryce

While I’m sure Chami and Bryce planned their Ekhidna Winery wedding to be memorable and something that their friends and family would talk about for a long time afterwards – whatever they planned to do paled in comparison to what mother nature had in store for their big day!

Despite the unfortunate weather that had Bryce and his groomsmen running all over Mclaren Vale looking for umbrellas in the morning, Chami and Bryce refused to let it hampen their day, and they were certainly rewarded for their optimism with a stunning afternoon and evening after the freak mini cyclone had hit!

Chami’s Preparation

Chami was being prepared with her family and bridesmaids in a bed and breakfast I had visited before for another Ekhidna Wines wedding – but this time unfortunately I could not make much use of it’s pretty gardens due to the weather, so we made dow ith the interior as best we could after having moved some furniture around! 🙂

Bridal flat shoes

Engagement ring in red rose in bouquet

Wedding dress in small window

Mum helping daughter get ready

Bride getting help get ready

Bridesmaid fiddling with hair

Close up of brides hands

Smiling bride holding bouquet in window

Bride with bridal party

Bryce’s Preparation

Bryce and his groomsmen were being prepared in an older bed and breakfast nearby with easy access to vineyards, some trees and some nice scenery we tried to make use of inbetween rain spells.

Bryce was nervous, but kept his spirits up thanks to the antics of his groomsmen complaining about the workmanship of some odd design details about the house.

Grooms affects laid out on table top

Wedding bands on shoes

Groom leaning on window sill

Groom tying tie

Groom putting on flower

Groom peering out window

First Look Photoshoot

Chami and Bryce’s plan was that before their cermeony they were to have a first look on the beach at Pt Willunga. Of course with the weather how it was, that would have been quite silly, so instead we made use of the verandah at the ebd and breakfast that Bryce and his groomsmen had been prepared at.

Wasn;t quite as scenic as the beach, but the moment was no less sweet between these two lovely people, which by the way the horrid weather still had not wiped either of their smiles off their faces or excitement in their eyes.

We even had a bit of fun running about in the rain amongst the olive grove on Mclaren vale’s main street before heading back to Ekhidna Winery before guests started arriving.

Grooms first look

Smiling bride during first look

Bride and groom cuddle at first look

Bride and groom head butt in corner

Bride and groom under umbrella

Bride and groom under umbrella in vineyard

Bride and groom under umbrella through vines

Bride and groom in the Mclaren Vale Olive Grove

Bridal party in the Olive Grove

Bride and groom walking throug the Olive grove

Smiling bride and groom through flowers

Bride and groom practising at the arbour

Bride and groom in front of fairy lights

Ekhidna Winery Wedding Ceremony

Just before Chami arrived to the ceremony – that had been set up inside the Ekhidna Wines retaurant area the brunt of the incredible weather system hit, causing sidewards rain – trees falling which waya dn that, and thousands of houses across Adelaide to lose power for multiple days!

Not to mention the reception area of Ekhidna winery flooded significantly – to the point that the head table needed to be re-positioned on the opposite end of the room. Credit goes to the staff though, as once the storm had passed, and the ceremony was over they were out there with brooms and a water pump to dry out the courtyard and towards the end of the night you wouldnt have known it was wet at all.

Chami and Bryce’s ceremony took place with the wide panoramic windows overlooking the vineyards as their background – not that we could see much through the rain, but it made for a nice airy backdrop for their photos none-the-less.

bridal approach inside ekhidna wines

Indoor Ehkidna Wines wedding ceremony

Indoor Ehkidna Wines wedding

Smiling bride under arbour

Groom reading vows

First kiss indoor Ekhidna wines wedding

Bridal exit Indoor Ekhidna Wines wedding

Glamour Shoot

Pretty much directly after the ceremony was over, the rain waned and we were able to venture outside to make use of the stunning surrounds that make up the reason why I love heading to Ekhidna Winery – not only for their stellar ginger beer!

We first made use of the road out front for some group shots with the bridal party, then walked down the road a little for the amazing grove of gum trees a short walk away. We then used the vineyard a bit while we were sure we could as we diddnt know what to expect later in the evening in regards to more rain.

Thanksfully that rain never came, and the weather actually cleared up completely, allowing for an amazing sunset and we even had Chami and Bryce’s guests outside to enjoy the nice weather!

I was so happy for them as one of the reasons whey they had chosen me as their wedding photographer was the nice sunset shots I usually take over the vineyards during sunset – so I was happy to capture that for them! I even tried some new shot too which I hope they enjoy 🙂

Reflections in flooded reception area

Bridal couple on wet road

Wedding party in wet long grass

Bride and groom in front of bridal party

Windswept hair on bride

Bride and groom holding hands in the wind

Groom lifting bride

Bride and groom in gum tree lane

Bride and groom in gum tree lane and sun

Bride and groom in long grass and vineyard

bride and groom walking toward sunset

Bridal head butt in vines

Bride and groom in Ekhidna wines vines

Ekhidna Winery wedding photograph

Bride and groom in vines from above

Side on vines

Bride and groom with smoke in vines

Ekhidna wines night wedding photo

Ekhidna Winery Wedding Reception

Chami and Bryce’s wedding reception was just like any other – with the unique location of their head table which I had never seen set up that way before at Ekhidna wines due to the earlier weather – but it was pretty enat as there they were able to make use of their arbour as a backdrop to their table!

My photobooth was running all night, and everyone had an absolute blast with their live band playing all night long! Was a fun night!

Centre pieces

Blue wedding cake

bride and groom entrance at Ekhidna wines

bridal kiss under arbour at reception

Close up fo lego wedding cake toppers

Bridal kiss through cheers

Guests having fun

Laughing bride and groom during speeches

Speech giver 2

Groom giving speech

Guests unsing photobooth

Cutting the wedding cake

First dance

Candles

On the dance floor

Elephant model

Thanks so much Chami and Bryce for having me!

December 13, 2022

Wedding preview, Wedding

The Manor Basket Range Wedding – Bianca & Josh Huggett

Just wow – Bianca and Josh’s Manor Basket Range wedding at the beginning of November was one to remember! The day went absolutely perfectly! The weather, people involved.. just everything came together for a perfect day!

This may be due in no small part that this was a wedding of wedding industry professionals – I certainly felt a bit self concious running about as the wedding photographer (and videographer) at a wedding photographer’s wedding! Not only that too, but there were several other high profile wedding photographers also in attendance as guests, along with several celebrants!

Preparation

I had known about this of course, Josh Huggett (of Joshua Huggett Media – you owe me one for the link btw) and I live very close by, south of the city and we tend to bounce ideas off one another all the time, along with Duncan (from Caity and Duncan based in Melbourne – you too). We even spent some time together in Canada earlier in the year shooting some styled wedding shoots together amongst the rockies.

We even convinced Duncan to come along from Melbourne and hold a camera along side my wife and I.

I’ve been very impressed – and to be honest slightly annoyed at how well Josh has gone with his own wedding photography, but qudos goes to him! Certainly didnt make my job any easier, but their day turned out awesomely!

Josh – to his credit knew that he wasn’t the photographer for his day so was very well behaved in this regard – turned into a groom, eager to do anything I asked, including jumping into the backyard pool.

getting the car ready

Subaru wedding car

Groom admiring gift

Groom being pushed into pool

Groom buttoning shirt

Mum watching as boys get ready

Dad helps out with tie

Closeup of tie pin

Mum in background

Smiling groom at camera

Boys doing a dance thing

Bianca was being prepared at their family home in Flagstaff Hill, during which their little girl was having a nap, so we all had to be quiet throughout the whole process. The bridal aprty were all in high spirits, having a chat and getting ready before they all relaised we had to get going soon as we were fast running out of time!

Wedding bands on big pink flower

Wedding dresses

Necklace on bouquet

Brides gift

Laughing bride in morning gear

Bridal party popping cork

Bridal party helping with dress

Smiling bride looking into light

Bride leaning on door frame

The Manor Basket Range Wedding Ceremony

Bianca and Josh’s wedding ceremony took place in the usual spot in front of the Manor Basket Range’s little chapel, and surrounded by friends and family. The weather was slightly cloudy, which meant the sunlight was filtering through the trees off and on throughout.

I’m pretty sure I have never heard such heartfelt vows, made everyone tear up with both Bianca and Josh’s personal efforts, and their little star of a flower girl was icing on the cake throughout.

Then of course there was ‘that’ kiss!

Manor Basket range wedding location

Groom doing his thing

Little flower girl arriving

Guests waiting patiently

Flower girl walking alone

Bride being escorted

Manor Basket Range wedding ceremony

Groom and bride looking behind

Groom speaking into microphone

Kisses for flower girl

First kiss at Manor Basket Range

Exit by bride and groom

Glamour Photos

For the glamour photos, we got off to a bit of a rough start with the group photos after the cermeony taking a little longer than expected, so we had to change our plans of heading down to the Deep Creek Bridge for some different shots off site – but that’s ok, you can certainly spend a lot of time just on the Manor Basket Range grounds!

As before, the sun was shinging through the trees intermittantly which sometimes made for some delightful glow in the background of some of their scenes, and I was quite happy to make the most of it!

Towards the end of the night I busted out my smoke in a can and some lights to create some magic within the castle-like exterior of this stunning venue!

Mum and Dad kissing

Good Boi

Kissing the little one

Skipping groomsmen

Bridesmaids looking elegant

Bride looking pretty

Groom keeping an eye on his bride

Head butt under the sun

Hugs in the trees

Bride and groom with sun behind

Bride and groom through the leaves

Manor basket range wedding phtoto

Bride and groom in the castle grounds

Bride and groom in the castle graden

Bride looking over shoulder

Bridal party walking together on driveway

Bride and groom at manor gates

Bride and groom on manor balcony

Manor basket range balcony

Butt bump

Walking together in the orchard

Walking together in the orchard across road

Adelaide Hills wedding photography

Bride and groom walking on road

Bride and groom together in gateway

Little one running

Family unit

Bride and groom in door

Bride and groom in door with leaves

Bride and groom in door with lens flare

Manor Basket range wedding photography

Kiss portrait

The Manor Basket Range Wedding Reception

As was the theme earlier in the day with very well written vows, the speeches throughout the night were certainly well rehearsed! The night was full of laughter, tears and hugs and the whole event was just full of love. Beautiful!

Shark wedding cake

Manor Basket range inside

Bridal entrance to reception

Speech

Speech giver

Speech giver again

Grooms speech

bride dance

Kiss on the dance floor

First dance ceiling

First dance funky magic

First dance at Manor Basket range wedding

Dancing together

tear jerking

Thanks so much to Bianca and Josh for having me as your wedding photographer! And I mean it when I say you owe me for the link!

December 6, 2022

Wedding preview, Wedding

Glen Ewin Pulpshed Wedding – Carol & Ash

Oh wow, Carol and Ash’s Glen Ewin Pulpshed wedding was just incredible – beautiful weather, stunning people in an amazing location, just made the entire process of taking stunning wedding photos that much easier and fun!

I had been to the Pulpshed in the past to cover a wedding, but I had been looking forward to Carol and Ash’s for quite a while as it had been about 10 years since I was last down here. Plenty of times up at the gatehouse – but not the Pulpshed!

Ash’s Preparation

Ash and his groomsmen were preparaed at a nearby friend’s house. The first thing anyone would have noticed was the pristine red porche parked out the front of the house! Certainly drew the eye!

I arrived and was surprised to see that everyone had already put all their suits on! Pretty much ready to get going, which was ok as we diddnt have much time anyway, but was certainly a little different to most weddings where I’m often meeting the boys just rolling out of bed from a big night out. 🙂

For preparation photos we put the finishing touches on, like throwing on the suit jackets, helped each other with ties, and then of course played pool and took a few shots with the Porches out front.

Groom cheeky grin at camera

Groom getting help getting ready

Groomsman putting on tie

Scottie dog

Groom putting on suit

Groom helping page boy with tie

Groom walking out doorway

Groomsmen playing pool

Groomsmen with cars

Carol’s Preparation

Carol and her bridal party were getting ready at the family house, closer to Glen Ewin. Ash had warned me about how awesome their garden was, and it was certainly pretty awesome! There was a creek running through the garden, full of running water due to the recent rains, complete with a little footbrdge that connected one half of the garden with another.

Made for a pretty neat spot for bridal party shots and a first look with Dad, who hammed it up nicely!

round wedding ring box

Engagement ring in white fluffy flower

Bride and wedding dress through doorBride and wedding dress through door

Wedding dress hanging in vines

Bride and bridal party with champagne

Bride putting flower on Dad

Bridal party reacting to wedding dress

Bride and bridal party getting ready

Dad’s first look

Bridal party group shot

Bride walking out front door

Glen Ewin Pulpshed Wedding Ceremony

I had been looking forward to covering Carol and Ash’s Glen Ewin Pulpshed wedding ceremony for a while as there is this amazing pond and stone jetty leading out to a huge weeping willow tree that is usually used as a backdrop for ceremonies – however unfortunately due to the recent weather it was deemed too muddy for the congregation to use, so the ceremony was set up under the Pulpshed’s veranda.

The veranda space is adorned by vines and decorated with wooden features like wine barrels, and also of course allowed all their guests to be undercover in case of rain – which wasn’t likely on their day. It’s a nice space, but the only issue I have with it is that it’s impossible to get around the left hand side of the congregation in order to get a grinning photo of the groom looking at his bride.

Carol and her bridesmaids arrived in style riding in two volkswagon kombis, which suited the theme and aethetic of the wedding beautifully, and the ceremony took place with lots of laughter, tears and heartfelt tributes to the children who were now a part of a new family unit. It was lovely.

Wedding arbour

Flower petals

Welcome sign

Kombis arriving

Bridal party getting out of Kombi

Page boy standing out front

Bride arriving with Dad

Grooms look at bride

Birde and groom at ceremony

Smiling bride looking at the groom

Wedding under the verandah

First kiss at Glen Ewin Pulpshed wedding

New family

Bride and groom exit from Glen Ewin Pulpshed wedding

Glamour Photos

After the group shots and the drone big group shot, we walked about the stunning gardens a bit to make use of the awesome pond and stone jetty which I mentioned before. The greens in the trees were super lush due to the recent weather and just made evrything such a delight to walk through!

We also made sure .to use the Kombis in a few group shots with Carol and Ash’s bridal party before they left.

The main downside was unfortunately Ash managed to draw the ire of an angry bee while out and about taking photos, got a bit of a bee stong – but all seemed well!

Love heart at Glen Ewin Estate

Bride and groom walking on path

Glen Ewin Estate wedding photo

Bride and groom next to treeBride and groom next to tree

Bridal portrait

Bride and groom inbetween foliage

Bridal photo above water

Bride and groom walking away

Bride and groom smiling at camera

Bride and groom at gate

Bride and groom in front of barn door

Bridal party with Kombis

bride and groom in between sunny trees

Bride and groom running across wall

Bride and groom in front of pretty wall

Glen Ewin Pulpshed Wedding Reception

The wedding reception took place in the Pulpshed, complete with my photobooth running in the corner, and everyone having a great time in this stunning setting!

I was only asked to take photos for 6 hours, but as I was thewre with the photobooth anyway, I had to take some shot of the first dance and the other events, 🙂

Inside Glen Ewin Pulpshed wedding

Glen Ewin Pulpshed wedding shot

Wedding cake with wooden backdrop

Bride and groom entrance

Mini Michael jackson

Head table

First Dance in the Glen Ewin Pulpshed

First dance in the Pulpshed

Thanks so much Ash and Carol for having me!

November 25, 2022

Wedding preview, Wedding

Norwood’s St Ignatius Catholic Church Wedding – Alison & Matthew

Alison and Matthew’s St Ignatius Catholic Church Wedding in Norwood took place on a day which weather diddn’t really know what was going on – we managed to avoid the rain though so huge success there!

Their day was full of fun, romance and family and friends there to watch this lovely couple get married!

Preparation

Matthew and his groomsmen got prepared in a nice house overlooking the beach near Hallett Cove. The house featured high ceilings with very minimal wall coverings which made for a delightful spot for groom preparation,m especially since their shirt and suit choices suited the house nicely.

Matthew was running a little late in the morning, after having running about with some last minute details, but we still managed to get some shots of the boys helping him get ready ad walk down to the cliff side for some shots with the water in the background.

Gooms shoes in window light

Groomsman helping put on grooms tie

Groomsmen helping dress groom

groom putting on vest

Groom standing in white hallway

Groom with his groomsmen

Groom with his groomsmen in grass

Alison was being prepared with her bridal party and family at a bed and breakfast in Mile End. It was a delightful little cottage-style house with a beautiful hallway which I used to good effect!

After the bridal party had finished fussing about with Alison’s dress, we did a quick ‘first look’ with Alison’s family when whisked away quickly to the church in Norwood.

Engagement ring in white roses

Engagement ring between bride’s shoes

Wedding dress hanging at front window of cottage

Bridal party with champaigne

helping put on page boy’s tie

Bridesmaids helping bride get ready in bedroom

Bridesmaids helping bride get ready in room

Bride looking pretty in hallway

Children involved in wedding

Dad first look

St Ignatius Catholic Church Wedding Ceremony

A St Ignatius Catholic Church wedding is something to behold! The church, nestled away in the backstreets of Norwood boasts an impressive front door, and a three-pronged interior which allows for some pretty impressive wide shots from the upper level.

Alison arrived in her white car motorcade, and was escorted down the long aisle by her father. A fun thing about Alison and Matthew’s bridal entrance was that the groomsmen walked down the aisle halfway to meet the bridesmaids as they entered – which I thought was nice.

Another delightful little piece of family history was that this was the 4th St Ignatius Catholic Church wedding in Alison’s family going back generations!

Classic cars at church

Grooms first look at his bride

Inside St Ignatius Church Norwood

Catholic wedding ceremony

Bride and groom sitting during wedding ceremony

St Ignatius Church wedding ceremony

bride and grom exit from church

Glamour Photos

Unfortunately the Catholic church ceremony took a little longer than Alison and Matthew had expected, so we had to rush through the family photos a bit out the front of the church before heading out for glamour photos.

We had to make a quick stop at the Torrens Arms Hotel in Kingwood in order to have a quick champagne as this was where Alison and Mtthew had first met and celebrate their anniversary at each year, and then the original plan was to head to the Himeji Gardens first, and then Veale Gardens for glamour photos, but as time was getting away from us we simply head straight to Veale Gardens.

Bride and groom at the Torrens Arm Hotel

Kiss at the Torrens Arm Hotel

Bride and groom in between their wedding cars

Groomsmen together

Bridal party together

Bride and groom walking through veale gardens

Bride and groom together in Veale Gardens

Bride and groom near tree with flying veil

Flower girls under veil

Bride and groom amongst the gum trees

Bridal party on veale Gardens bridge

Bride and groom on veale gardens bridge

Bride and groom sitting on bench in veale gardens

Bride and groom near pool in Veale Gardens

Bride and groom on top of rocks in veale Gardens

Next Gen Wedding Reception

Alison and Matthew’s wedding reception took place right next to the Adelaide Oval in the Next Gen Health and Lifestyle clubs, where they also have a delightful function room overlooking the Torrens river.

That night there was also a sporting event on next door, and the Oz Asia festival set up on the grass out front, so it all felt very exclusive having the whole road blocked off for what seemed like the guests of this very exclusive wedding reception!

Alisona dn Matthew had my photobooth set up and running all night, and heartfelt speeches flowed beautifully. The whole night was very wholesome and delightful to be a part of!