Botanic Gardens’ Sunken Garden Wedding – Anna & Isuru

February 3, 2021/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Anna & Isuru
Botanic Gardens’ Sunken Garden Wedding

It was a delightfully sunny day for Anna and Isuru’s wedding at the Adelaide Botanic Garden‘s Sunken garden wedding ceremony venue with a small group of close friends and family in person, and plenty watching a livestream! (When Isuru’s phone worked!)

The plan was to hold a small intimate ceremony here in Adelaide, and when COVID goes away hold another interstate with more guests.

Preparation

Anna was prepared in a room of the Mayfair hotel on King William St along with two of her friends. The atmosphere in the room was one of fun and excitement for the wedding ceremony and if Anna was feeling any nerves, she hid them well!

I made use of the Mayfair hotel lobby for a couple of shots on their spiral staircase while also heading out to the intersection for a few shots on the road, which the girls seemed to find amusing 😀

Hanging wedding dress

Having makeup done

Engagement ring in middle of bouquet

Having makeup done looking out window

Makeup artist doing her thing

Smiling bride in makeup chair

Girls watching makeup be done

bride holding bouquet black and white

bride holding bouquet smiling

bridal aprty ready to go

Bridal party on stairs

bridal party walking accross Hindley st

closeup of bouquet while bride looks out window

bridal party under green trees

bridal party under green tree

Sunken Garden Wedding Ceremony

The botanic Garden’s Sunken Garden Wedding venue provides for a lovely private spot to hold a ceremony in what is usually a rather busy place on a such a lovely day! The set up was lovely for me as a wedding phtoographer as the sun was right behind whre Anna and Isuru were standing which made for some lovely ethereal photos.

The heat of the day was quite powerful, as Iruru’s phone soon found out as unfortunately they had a bit of trouble keeping the livestream going – thankfully I was also recording the ceremony using 360 Virtual Reality technology as I always do so they made good use of that the next day!

Anna and Isuru’s wedding ceremony was full of personal insight into the couple’s relationship complete with in jokes and fun little things that had the entire congregation smiling and laughing along as they watched.

Grooms first look at the Sunken Garden

Botanic Gardens Sunken Garden Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Ceremony in the Sunken Garden

laughing groom during ceremony 2

Botanic Gardens Sunken Garden Wedding Ceremony 2

Smiling bride during ceremony 2

Holding hands during wedding ceremony

Holding hands during wedding ceremony under arch

Smiling groom looking at bride 2

Wedding ceremony at the SUnken Garden Botanic Gardens

Exchanging wedding bands closeup

Botanic Gardens Sunken Garden Wedding Ceremony through leaves

Ceremony at the Botanic Gardens Sunken Garden

Sunken garden First Kiss

Smiles all round with the bride and groom

Wedding bands on hands

Bride and groom exit from Sunken Garden Ceremony

Adelaide Botanic Gardens Glamour Photos

We had a short amount of time for some photos in amongst the Adelaide Boatnic Gardens after having family photos done at the Sunken Garden so we hopped right to it making a beeline to the friendship gates then walking slowly back towards the National Wine Center.

I wanted to use the lovely trees that you can find in the nearby Botanic Park for some photos before walking back through the gardens. We were lucky enough to be walking back through the gardens a little later than allowed due to having the reception at the National Wine Center as we got to capture the dying sun through some of the trees on display around the grounds.

bride and groom amongst the foliage

bride and groom amongst foliage

Walking in the trees together

Huge trees in the Botanic Park

Adelaide Botanic Park wedding photo

bride and groom leaning in some ivy

Ivy wedding photo

Adelaide Botanic Gardens wedding Photo

bride and groom togteher in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens

Adelaide Botanic Gardens Sunset wedding

Amongst the tall trees wedding photo

Sunlight wedding phtoo

Bride and groom walking in the sunlight

Bride and groom embrace

bride and groom looking at camera on their wedding day

Bride and groom against a large tree

National Wine Center Reception

Anna and Isuru’s National Wine Center reception took place in their ‘Gallery’ room which boasts a huge glass wall overlooking the rest of the wine center’s grounds.

As their guest list was on the smaller side, only one long table was set up to make the entire setting feel quite opulent and grand! It also allowed all their guests to sit together and not have to travel a million miles to see everyone!

Adelaide WIne Center bridal entrance

Bride talking to guests at reception

Adelaide Wine Center Gallery Room

Selfy

Little girl running about

having some fun with the kids

Adelaide Wine Center Sushi

Kiss at the table

Isuru Speech

bridal hugs

I’d like to thank Anna and Isuru for having me photograph their Botanic Gardens’ Sunken Garden wedding, and I hope they enjoy their photos! Super happy to travel interstate for your other celebrations too! 😉

Botanic Gardens Adelaide Wedding – Georgia & Nick

November 5, 2020/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Georgia & Nick
Botanic Gardens Adelaide Wedding

On what must have been the busiest wedding day in decades, October 10th was the date for Georgia and Nick’s wonderful wedding at the Botanic Gardens Adelaide. Based mainly on the repetition of the date and fun addition of the date and month numbers ot make the year, then combined with COVID-19 rescheduling, I must have had dozens of enquiries for 10/10/20! And what a wedding Georgia and Nick’s turned out to be! Beautiful weather, lovely people and possibly the best spot to take photos in the Adelaide CBD :).

Preparation

I began the day as I usually do with Nick and his groomsmen getting ready in a hotel room in the city. Their room overlooked the northern part of the Adelaide CBD in quite a striking fashion with a great view of the new royal hospital and even Adelaide Oval!

When I arrived the boys were sitting about watching some horse racing, so I began the day by getting them to get a bit hyped up by placing fake bets on a horse race – this allowed for everyone to let go of any nerves thay may be lingering around and loosened everyone up for their preparation photos which we took in and around their room.

Wedding rings box 2

Wedding rings perched on shoes

Groom watching TV 2

Adjusting his shirt

Adjusting shirt

Groomsmen looking fab

Groom leaning on wall

Groom basking in sunlight

Smiling groom in his suit

chilling groomsmen

Georgia and her bridal party were being prepared at the couple’s house in Hillcrest. The girls were getting ready along side their paresnts and some well wishers that arrived half way through. The atmosphere was very laid back with allowed for some beautiful natural smiles and showing of emotion. It was especially endearing when Dad first saw his daugher sporting her wedding dress!

Bridal bangle

Engagement ring in bouquet 3

Bride having hair done 2

Bride’s Mum having makeup done

Bride having makeup done

Bride silhouette

bride getting ready 4

Putting on bridal shoes

Bride looking at bouquet

Bride in hallway 2

Mum looking on 2

Father’s first look of his daughter

Botanic Gardens Adelaide Wedding Ceremony

Finding a park at the Botanic Gardens Adelaide at the best of times can be quite tricky, but on a wonderful warm day such as Georgia and Nick’s wedding day it was extremely hard which led to Georgia being a little later than she had planned to be on the day, leaving Nick to pace about at the front of their congregation showing that he was not aty all nervous.

Georgia and Nick’s wedding ceremony took place at the Araucaria Avenue ceremony spot which boasts a lovely row of New Caledonia Pines (or Araucaria columnaris) leading off into where the sun sits which makes for a lovely,m sunlit backdrop for any wedding ceremony.

As the weather on Georgia and Nick’s wedding day was perfectly sunny, the whole ceremony was delightfully backlit creating a nice halo effect over everyones’s heads all throughout. It does make it ricky though to take phtoos from the side as the light makes for some harsh shadows form that angle. Still beautiful none the less. 🙂

My favourite part of the ceremony was the level of coordination Georgia and Nick’s guests showed with the birdal sendoff, blowing ample bubbles into the aisle to create quite an impressive send off! It’s often the case that not many bubbles show up in photos, but in this case it worked very well!

Groom waiting 2

Groom waiting patiently 2

Groom’s first look of bride 2

Botanic Gardens Wedding ceremony 2

bride during wedding ceremony

Wedding ceremony botanic gardens

Wedding ceremony botanic gardens adelaide

Wedding ceremony botanic gardens adelaide 2

Groom looking at his bride during the ceremony

reciting vows

Exchanging wedding bands 2

Wedding cermeony at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 3

First kiss 2

Bridal exit under bubbles

Botanic Gardens Adelaide Glamour Photos

Directly after the group pho0tos and a bit of a rest to thankeveryone for coming, we hopped right into the glamour photos wandering about the botanic gardens. It was the plan to do this and then head out to North Terrace, or even the Adelaide Zoo to take photos with the animals as that’s where their reception was taking place, but on the day we opted to stay within the botanic gardens which made things easier.

As the sun was beating down rather harshly, I tried to stay in shaded areas for the most part, utilising the lens flares the sun was throwing up through the foliage and occasionally using the brightness as a backdrop to some of their photos.

All the plants at this time of year in the Botanic Gardens Adelaide are super green and lush which makes taking shots throguh the foliage that much easier and satisfying to see!

In between the Botanic Gardens and the Adelaide Zoo we also made use of some of the Morten Bay fig trees around the adjacent Botanic Park for some photos!

Bride and groom next to tree 2

Bride and groom under a hollow tree

Bridal party walking away form ceremony

Standing in amongst the foliage

Bride and groom amongst the bamboo 2

Sun shining on the bride and groom

Wedding party in the bamboo

Bride and groom closeup in bamboo

Wedding photo at the Adelaide botanic gardens

bride and groom in the bamboo at the Adelaide botanic gardens

Botanic Gardens Adelaide wedding photo

Bridal party together in the tree

Botanic Gardens wedding photo in the elms

Bride and groom holding one another in the undergrowth

Bride and groom together under the trees

Bride and groom looing at the camera

Sun shinging through the leaves on the bridal couple

Botanic Park wedding photo

Bridal party in the Adelaide Botanic Park

Adelaide Zoo Wedding Reception

Georgia and Nick’s wedding reception at the Adelaide Zoo took place within the Sir Thomas Elder Rotunda which is a huge, circular structure that was draped with weather proof plastic sheets to keep guests warm. When sitting inside this marvellous structure, the decorations that were set up really made this space feel like a pretty wedding space with ribbons hanging from it’s center and soft lighting illuminating the whole scene. It’s quite and impressive sight!

Georgia and Nick’s guests were quite happy to make the most of the recent change to COVID-19 regulations in South Australia and very much enjoyed ‘virtical consumption’ of alcohol and of course made the most of the newly allowed dancefloor!

3 tier Wedding cake

Bride and groom entrance

Cutting the wedding cake 2

First dance at Adelaide Zoo wedding reception

First dance at Adelaide Zoo wedding reception 2

Guests talking to bride at head table

Guests at a table

Adelaide Zoo wedding reception

Main course

Maid of Honour with stick

Maid of honour toast

Groom shaking hands

I’d like to thank Georgia and Nick for having me as their wedding photographer at their Botanic Gardens Adelaide wedding, and I hope they enjoy their photos! 😀

St Laurence’s Church Wedding – Sarah & Mal

March 6, 2019/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

SARAH & MAL
St Laurence’s Church Wedding

Sarah and Mal had me as their wedding photographer for 6 hours on their big day backdropped by the beautiful St Laurence’s Church in North Adelaide. The weather on the day was super hot and dry which made it a bit of a challenge to get everything done in time, and all the while Sarah was quite a way along in her pregnancy 🙂 That being said however we did get everything we wanted done, except perhaps some photos out the front of the Bonython Hall on north Terrace, but is was a small thing to skip in order to keep the day rolling 🙂

Preparation

I started the day with Mal and his groomsmen being prepared together at their house in the North of Adelaide. All the boys were sitting around having a chat when I arrived and jumped into action, putting on their shirts and outfits just after. It was a bit of a whirlwind as I only had around 30 minutes before heading over to the girls.

Putting on shirt

Walking the corridor

Putting on shirt

Shoes

Liquid courage

Waiting

The girls were being prepared in an apartment nearby the St Laurence’s Church in North Adelaide. The goal was to be ready within 30 minutes and head off to the university of Adelaide for ‘first look’ photos on the footbridge over the Torrens. Makeup was running a little late however.

Final touches

Engagement ring

Looking in mirror

Wedding rings

Getting ready

Wedding dress

First Look Photos

Once we got to Adelaide uni we first went about doing a little ‘first look’ on the Torrens footbridge where Sarah walked up to Mal and surprised him with her dress, we then moved as quickly as we could up through the uni campus and used the buildings behind the museum and along North Terrace for some photos.

Through the trees

Bride and bridesmaids

Walking together

Groom’s reaction

Walking together

Falling flowers

Bridal party

Bridal approach

All together

Shoving the groom around

Bridal party on the steps

Under an archway on North Terrace

Together at the top

St Laurence’s Church Wedding Ceremony

St Laurence’s Catholic Church in North Adelaide is a historic church built in North Adelaide in 1868 in a time when North Adelaide was still used as farmland. The period in which it was built is showcased by it’s architecture, complete with a dark wooden roof inside, it’s walls are covered with white paint and large stained glass windows with illuminates the interior quite well for such a historic church.

Sarah and Mal’s congregation filled a little over half of the available pews within the church who witnessed a shorter version of a traditional Catholic wedding where Sarah and Mal were sat up the front while the priest would direct proceedings.

Inside St Laurence’s Church

Kiss in the Pews

Together at the altar

Exit

Bridal approach

Smiling bride

Exchanging rings

Groom’s first look

Inside St Laurence’s Church

Talking priest

Signed certificate

Outside St Laurence’s Church

First Kiss

Sitting together

Together at the altar

East Terrace Continental Wedding Reception

Once the family photos were done – unfortunately in the beating sun out the front of the church – everyone retreated to the East Terrace Continental hotel to recuperate at their wedding reception. It was quite warm in the small space of the hotel upstairs, so once we cut the Marvel-themed cake and had a few drinks, we head out to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens for some more photos.

Signing the guest book

Talking bride

Talking groom

Cutting the cake

Guests enjoying themselves

Wedding Cake

Wedding Sign

Food

Botanic Gardens Glamour Photos

My aim was to keep to the shade for photos around the Botanic Gardens as we had already run about quite a bit during the day and I felt everyone was feeling the heat a bit. Thankfully we could take our time a bit at this time of day as there was nothing we had to get back to super quick. Once we were done, I head back to the reception with the bridal party for a few more group photos before heading home.

Under bamboo

Under a tree

Feeling the baby bump

Kisses

Bridal Party

Under bamboo

Under a tree

Thanks so much to Sarah and Mal for having me as your wedding photographer! 🙂

Adelaide Botanic Garden Wedding – Sophie & Robert

March 27, 2019/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

SOPHIE & ROBERT
Adelaide Botanic Garden Wedding

A beautiful, sunny day greeted Sophie and Robert on their gorgeous mid-February Summer wedding amongst the Adelaide Botanic Garden. The sun was shining, and so were the personalities of the bride and groom, amongst the smiling faces of their friends and family as they took the plunge and exchanged vows amongst the tall pine trees at the center of the gardens.

I was asked to be their wedding photographer for their entire day after having been recommended by one of Robert’s groomsmen who I had cover their wedding for back in 2016! It’s always nice to be recommended by previous brides and grooms like that as you know you’re doing something right!

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Preparation

When I arrived at Robert’s place of preparation, south of the city I was greeted by all the boys admiring Robert’s Mini, which was unfortunately so I gathered, sitting idle in the garage for quite some time – apparently it was one of those hobbies that Robert has , but not really done much with 🙂

The morning went smoothly with his groomsmen making sure no nerves were showing on Robert’s face and playful banter echoing throughout the house.

Mini

Putting on tie

Mum helping

Shoes

Wedding rings

Putting on flower

Getting ready

Putting on tie

Putting on shirt

Putting on tie

Getting ready

Sophie and her bridesmaids were being prepared quite a bit closer to the Adelaide Botanic Garden, in a room of the Mayfair hotel in the city. While the room was fairly cramped for around 10 people getting dressed and prepared for the wedding, we managed to all get ready in high spirits. Sophie, by her own admission later in the night was really feeling nervous throughout the morning so her bridal party did a great job in getting her looking fantastic for her big day!

I always love capturing the response of the parents, in this case Sophie’s father, in seeing the bride in her dress for the first time, so when Mum and Dad came into the room it was lovely to see the beaming smile light up Dad’s face as he saw her ready. The flower girls were flitting about being helpful in their own way but were not super keen on having photos done, except when asked and I think they turned out great 🙂

Putting flower on Dad

In the hotel hall way

Engagement ring

Smiling bridesmaid

Waiting for the limo

Hotel stairs

Wedding dress

Buttoning up the back

Putting on earrings

Flower girl

Smiling bridesmaid

Smiles

Buttoning up the back

Hugs with Dad

Adelaide Botanic Garden Wedding Ceremony

Sophie and Robert’s wedding ceremony in the Adelaide Botanic Garden took place in the spot known as ‘Araucaria Avenue‘, a delightful spot, lined by pine trees and on top of a hill which creates a sense of intimacy amongst the congregation. Later in the day, as Sophie and Robert’s ceremony was, the sun creates a delightful backdrop of light that filters directly through the trees behind where the arbour is usually setup. The trees surrounding the area also provides ample shade for the entire congregation on a sunny day, but the sun can cause annoyance for the bride trying to catch a glimpse of her groom as she walks on her approach to the altar 🙂

Sophie and Robert’s ceremony itself was sweet and to the point, punctuated by heartfelt and humorous vows to one another which made the otherwise formal occasion that much lighter, causing ripples of laughter from both the bride and groom, and their family and friends.

Adelaide Botanic Garden Wedding Ceremony

First kiss

Amongst the pines

Mobile phone photography

Adelaide Botanic Garden Wedding Ceremony

Exit

Bridal party

Wedding sign

Smiling bride

Groom’s first look

Holding hands

Smiling groom

Together at the altar

Bridal approach

Married couple

Sweeping veil

Glamour Photos

As the day was fairly warm – as you can expect from Summer weddings in Adelaide, I attempted to keep to shaded photo spots around the Adelaide Botanic Garden as possible, so once the ceremony and family photos were done, we set off south, directly towards North Terrace before working our way North through the gardens, taking our time, and enjoying the warm up sounds made by a nearby Adelaide Fringe concert that was also taking place within the gardens that night.

Just on a side note, I cannot write an overview of Sophie and Robert’s day without mentioning that I was super impressed by their organisational skills when it came to family photos! What they did was organise their friends and family into dozens of groups which were then given a number within their wedding program. When it was time to take the family photos, all I had to do was shout out the next number and that group came to the fore! Now of course those of you familiar with family photos at a wedding know that it never goes that smoothly, with family members wandering off, but I admired the effort!

Elm Walkway

Sun flare and tree

Carrying his bride

Under a tree together

Flower girls climbing a tree

Wedding ring!

Bridal party

Amongst the bamboo

Bridal Party

Under an arch

On a bench

Walking together

Under a tree

Adelaide Botanic Garden Restaurant Wedding Reception

While I’m at the Adelaide Botanic Garden quite often for weddings, its always delightful to know that the reception is right in the center of it all, at the Botanic Garden Restaurant. Not in the least because they serve great food, but because of it’s exclusive location within the gardens, which are usually closed off to the public during the later hours of the night. which allows for some nice night photography. That said however, there was Fringe concert also occurring at the same time as Sophie and Robert’s reception, so that exclusivity was non existent for their night.

The iconic restaurant boasts a delightfully vintage, round sitting area suitable for small to medium sized reception parties, while in Sophie and Robert’s case their dance floor was outside on the brick pavement.

First dance

First dance

Inside the Adelaide Botanic Garden Restaurant

Cutting the cake

Food

Wedding cake

Guests enjoying themselves

Under the archway exit

Bridal Party waiting to be announced

Last dance

Bouquet toss

Before the bouquet toss

Dad talking to guests

Organising a group shot

Goody bags

I’d like to thank Sophie and Robert for having me cover their wedding photography and I hope they enjoy their photos! 🙂

Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding – Emma & Daniel

April 15, 2019/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Emma & Daniel
Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding

Emma and Daniel were wed in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens under what’s known as the ‘Barbershop’ Gazebo, pretty much in the center of the gardens. I was asked to be their wedding photographer for a short stint of 3 hours before heading over to their early reception at the nearby Hackney Hotel.

The whole day was rather laid back affair, with Daniel showing some nerves, arriving very early to the gazebo to greet everyone and make final arrangements before Emma arrived. But after the ceremony, Daniel relaxed a little and hopefully enjoyed our walk around the gardens for photos 🙂

Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding Ceremony

The Barbershop gazebo is located at the end of the two famed wisteria arches in the center of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, and nearby the central cafe. It’s suitable for smaller weddings like Emma and Daniel’s and provides for some protection from any weather that might arise. In Emma and Daniel’s case it was nice to have as the clouds forming over head were always threatening, but thankfully never started raining.

Wedding sign

Holding hands

Celebrant

Exchanging wedding rings

Gazebo wedding

First kiss

Smiling groom

Approach

Gazebo wedding

Kiss on cheek

Smiling bride

Glamour Photos

After the ceremony, Emma, Daniel and I went for a little walk around the gardens, for our glamour photos. They did not have a bridal party, so the entire shoot was fairly laid back and informal and was complete in quite a quick time, allowing us to also use the wonderful moreton bay fig trees out in Botanic park before hopping in an uber to head to the Hackney Hotel.