Jayne and Pete were super lucky to be able to host their Paxton Winery wedding towards the end of March as it was right at the beginning of the Coronavirus restrictions being in place for weddings. As Jayne and Pete had a number of guests and relatives from overseas in attendance it was a very tight situation! Despite all that, their day turned out to be absolutely awesome!
Preparation
When I arrvied at the bed and breakfast in Port Noarlunga, I was under the impression that no one was home! I had wandered over to the wrong door and was knocking on it for a good 10 minutes before I started to investigate whether there was another way in – turns out there was a large windowed area where Pete’s entourage were milling about in. However there was no Pete! Apparently he had forgotten about having his preparation photos done, and was still in the city!
So after having rushed back to Port Noarlunga, and worrying poor Jayne thinking Pete was going to miss out on his photos, we had a good 30 minutes of photos done where Pete and his groomsmen all got ready overlooking the lovely Port Noarlunga Jetty.
After having done Petes photos, I head off up the road a little to Jayne’s bed and breakfast where she was getting ready alongside 3 little flower girls. The atmosphere was a lot more laid back that Pete’s whirlwind photoshoot as we had much more time to get ready!
In fact we had so much time I had a lovely chat with Jaynes relatives and a bit of morning tea before they were starting to move on to Paxton Winery in a mini bus.
Jayne’s Mum wasn’t overly keen on being in front of the camera but I hope she likes the photos I took of her! it was also lovely to see the reaction of Jayne’s father as he saw her in her dress for the first time.
Paxton Winery Wedding Ceremony
Jayne and Pete’s Paxton winery wedding ceremony took place on the large grassy area right next to the main building of Paxton winery. The set up overlooks the wonderful rolling hills, topped with vineyards that the Mclaren Vale wine district is famous for.
It’s also a wonderful setup for weddings, as the bridal motorcade can be seen as it drives down the long driveway towards the Paxton Wines cellar door, and then it’s a straight walk over grass for the bridal party to the ceremony location.
The ceremony itself was a lovely laid back affair, with Jayne’s Father giving her away with a little procession at the beginning, and her little flower girls throwing flowers at the couple at the end.
The sun came out during the ceremony and everything was perfect! I only wish the PA system they had wasn’t so tinny – it was tought o edit it out for their highlight video!
Glamour Photos
After the appropriately socially distanced group photos, and drone shot of the entire winery we set out for our glamour phtoos around the Paxton Winery estate.
A wonderful part of hosting a Paxton Winery wedding is the variety of wedding photography you can capture on site. As it’s a winery there the usual rolling vineyards that are always a treat to photograph, but there is also something unique to this location that I was quite excited about.
Right near some beautiful pepper trees and grassy meadows, there is an old heritage homestead on site that made for a lovely backdrop to Jayne and Pete’s wedding photos!
We also managed to sneak out once it got dark to take some nighttime photos of the large lit up ‘LOVE’ sign Jayne and Pete had hired, while i also got out my ‘smoke in can’ to create some atmosphere within the vineyards at night.
Paxton Winery Wedding Reception
The highlight of Jayne and Pete’s wedding reception for me was the incredible bongo drum player they had to augment the DJ’s music! He was slamming and rocking out with the energy of 1000 suns all night! If I were to do what he was doing, I’d be sure to have very sore hands for the rest of the month!
The reception took place on the smaller of the two grassy areas nearby the Paxton winery cellar door, with the original plan being to hold it inside – however due to Coronavirus restrictions it had to be moved outside – which I actually think was the better choice as it was a lovely night and the lighting was beautiful!
The guests had lawn games to entertain themselves, and we were treated to some very good speeches that made everyone laugh over and over. It was a great night!
Thanks so much to Jayne and Pete for having me as your wedding phtoography at yoru paxton winery wedding! I had a blast and I look forward to getting out to wedding again very soon, once this virus shenanigans has past!
