I’m pleased to present the wedding of Jess and Jake which took place in the Port Elliot Memorial Gardens during a very busy weekend during October! I say very busy as SvenStudios managed to cover 3 weddings this weekend, with the wedding of Jess and Jake here photographed by Ross Daly, and editing done by yours truly.
Preparation
Jess and Jake were being prepared at McCracken Country club which boasts a magnificent view overlooking the golf fairway and a lovely intimate reception center. Ross was caught up with preparations on the day so saw himself walking in between rooms, taking photos of both Jess and Jake in turn.
Smiling bride
Makeup
Back of wedding dress
Wedding dress
Bride and maid of honour
Engagement ring
Wedding shoes
Bride
Watch
Groom and Best Man
Best Man
Best Man
Groom
Port Elliot Memorial Gardens wedding ceremony
During World War 1, Port Elliot was a place of recreation for soldiers on leave. The gardens were originally established as a community project for soldiers, and then officially dedicated as a Soldier’s memorial after the planting of the memorial trees lining the park. The trees were planted in a tribute to the local soldier’s contribution and includes a tree planted to fallen New Zealand soldiers. The Park also now includes trees planted in commemoration of Australian soldiers involved in other conflicts as well, with 24 bronze plaques dedicated in May 2012.
Port Elliot Memorial Gardens wedding
Groom looking nervous
Wedding Certificate kiss
Maid of Honour
Holding Hands
Holding wedding ring
Blushing Bride
Glamour Photos
After the wedding ceremony, Ross, along with Jess and Jake’s videographers led the couple around the Port Elliot Memorial Gardens for some glamour shots. The gardens provide for a wide range of different backdrops, including weaving paths through flowerbeds, huge lining trees and even a beach scene.
Walking in the garden
Sitting on a bench
Sitting on a bench
Looking out the trees
Going for a walk
All smiles
Kissing amongst the roses
Walking in the garden
McCracken Country Club wedding reception
The McCracken Country Club always puts on a good fare at a wedding. Their function room overlooks the country club’s fairway and is spacious enough to host a decent sized wedding party without feeling too cavernous. I hadn’t been back to McCracken since I was the wedding photographer at a wedding last new year’s eve, so I was a little envious of Ross!
Vanessa and Justin’s wedding took place at the historic St Andrew’s Church in Walkerville, north east of the city. The church provided some beautiful surrounds to what was obviously a love filled ceremony to celebrate two wonderful families coming together. I started the day at St Andrew’s Church for the ceremony, and saw us venture into Port Adelaide for some industrial-themed glamour shots and then to the Royal Australian Yacht Squadron for Vanessa & Justin’s reception. vanessa and Justin opted to take advantage of my flexible hourly package for 4 hours. The weather on the day was absolutely stunning which enabled some amazing photos to be taken. Enjoy!
St Andrew’s Church Wedding Ceremony
I arrived around an hour early to the wedding which enabled me to float about capturing Justin and his entourage putting the final touches on their suits and adjusting their hair. Justin was all smiles which just a touch of nervousness sneaking in, but he hid it well 🙂
Groom smiling
Groom smiling
St Andrew’s Church is a historic church being built in 1848 on land enthusiastically donated by a local brewer. It’s claim to fame are its magnificently preserved stained glass windows, the majority of which are from the British Company of James Powell and Sons of Whitefriars. The insides of the church provide a wonderfully dimly-lit atmosphere perfect for a sacred ceremony such as marriage, plus it’s cavernous ceilings give great opportunities for epic photographs.
St Andrew’s Church
Groom smiling at bride
Priest
Inside the church
First kiss
Bride walking down aisle
signing registry
Bride and groom
Lighting candle together
Bride and Groom at altar
Bride and Groom at altar
Inside the church
Glamour photos
In front of the church
Wedding rings
In front of the church
In front of the church
After the ceremony and group photos out the front of the church, we headed down to a very popular wedding photography spot in Port Adelaide. So popular in fact that we had no less than 3 different weddings there at one point! While we waited for the other weddings to leave at the Port Adelaide Wool Sheds, I suggested we head around the corner to a more quiet location with wonderfully industrial walls to use as a backdrop.
Port Adelaide Wool Sheds wedding
Brick walls
Wedding car
Bridal party with wedding car
Wedding car
Port Adelaide Wool Sheds wedding
After the other weddings had left, we had the roads in front of the famous Port Adelaide Wool Sheds all to ourselves, and the sun was fantastic! I used the sun’s flares to great effect behind Vanessa and Justin to create a beautifully lit, dreamy backdrop. I had loads of fun 🙂
Groomsmen
Bridal party
Wedding shadows
Flower girl eating berries
Sun backdrop
Port Adelaide wool sheds wedding
Bridal party on brick wall
Port Adelaide wool sheds wedding
Before the reception started at the Royal Yacht Squadron, we had a few minutes to utilise the stunning backdrop of the marina for a few more photos. This was mainly due to having tried Semaphore beach for some shots with the jetty, but not finding a park.
Lovey Dovey
Royal South Australian Yacht Club wedding
Royal South Australian Yacht Club wedding
Royal South Australian Yacht Club wedding
Groom and his Groomsmen
Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron Wedding Reception
I’ve been down to the Yacht Squadron quite a few times now for different weddings and receptions. It’s become quite a popular venue due to its neat backdrop of million dollar yachts and close proximity to beaches like Semaphore. The clubhouses have been upgraded to have a modern, clean feel overlooking the marina and the staff couldn’t be nicer.
Cutting the wedding cake
Gifts
Wedding cake
Kids being kids
Bride and Groom laughing with guests
Bride and Groom laughing with guests
Bridal entrance
I’d like to thank Vanessa and Justin for having me be their wedding photographer on their wedding day, and I hope they enjoy their photos!
Bethan and Alex were waiting with baited breath whether or not that recent bout of bad weather in Adelaide was to pass before their scheduled Kuitpo Forest couple shoot. Thankfully, despite the cold temperature, the weather cleared just in time to make use of the spectacular Kuitpo forest for their couple shoot. Bethan and Alex made use of my offer of a discount couple shoot made to all those who voted on my yearly wedding photo of the year contest, and I’m so glad they did.
The atmosphere given to the forest after such bad weather made for some fantastic scenes, and it was all done within an hour! My job was made easy of course by the fun loving attitude of Bethan and Alex who were keen to playfully run about in front of the camera to create some ‘loveydovey’ photos. Which was fantastic as I love doing things like this!
Kuitpo forest was the first of many forest plantations in the Mount Lofty Ranges, established in 1898 to ensure a sustainable timber supply for South Australia. Today it serves as both a stunning place to go for a walk, in in this case, a Kuitpo Forest couple shoot and a commercial logging area. The area also plays host to one of the most popular hiking trails throughout SA, being the Heysen Trail.
It was a wet and windy day for Tamika and Blake’s wedding at the Stamford Grand Glenelg, but it certainly didn’t dampen the celebrations! Due to the weather, the plan for the day had to be changed slightly. The original plan was to take advantage of the famous Glenelg foreshore for Tamika and Blake’s wedding ceremony, but due to the weather, their ceremony took place in one of the Grand’s Banquet halls. The weather was typical of the recent wild weather we’ve had in Adelaide over the last few weeks, as only the day before I was the wedding photographer at another Glenelg wedding and it was sunny. Despite the weather though, Tamika and Blake made the most of it and we took some neat photos in the rain.
Preparation
Blake was prepared at a house in Noarlunga Downs, the atmosphere was cool and relaxed with the boys simply waiting to be told to get dressed :). I was actually half expecting to be accosted by snakes and other reptiles, as Tamika and Blake own a reptile house in the south. One of the things they asked me at our meeting before the wedding was if I was ok around reptiles as they were going to integrate them into their ceremony. I think due to the weather they abandoned that idea though. Blake and his boys had a bit of fun posing in front of some mean looking machinery in the shed out back and they look great!
Putting on groom’s tie
Groom and groomsmen
Working on the boat
Groom not leaving the house
Groomsmen
best man getting prepared
Groom
Wedding Rings
Tamika was prepared in a hotel room within the Stamford Grand Glenelg, along with quite a few family members and well wishers. The small little room became quite cramped very quickly! Once the room cleared out though, the atmosphere was faily relaxed with only a little touch of nerves creeping in 🙂
Flower Girl
Putting on Wedding Dress
Putting on Wedding Dress
Bride smiling
Wedding Dress
Bridal Affects
Engagement ring
Putting on Wedding Dress
Stamford Grand Glenelg Wedding Ceremony
As I stated earlier, the Plan B for bad weather on the day was to hold the wedding ceremony within one of the Ballrooms of the Stamford Grand Glenelg. The room was large enough to accommodate all the guests with room left over, and the altar was backdropped by glorious arched windows overlooking the Glenelg foreshore. A unique aspect of Tamika and Blake’s wedding was the inclusion of a ‘lock’ ceremony where bother bride and groom lock together ceremonial padlocks and make the keys float away on balloons. While the balloons were a nice idea, they didn’t float away as expected so instead we threw away the keys from the Jetty.
The Stamford Grand Glenelg itself was originally built in 1856 and was a lot smaller than the building standing today. Tt was the first building built at Moseley Square, Glenelg and was originally named the ‘Pier Hotel’ to accommodate tourists attracted by the, what was then, grand pier complete with shops and amusements. It was then removed and replaced by a 3 storey building in 1912, and again in 1990 when the current Stamford Grand was built.
Registry signing
Bridal entrance
Bride and groom
Groom greeting guests
Stamford Grand Glenelg Wedding
Boys looking nervous
Celebrant speaking
Bride and groom holding locks
First kiss
Glamour Shots
As the weather wasn’t ideal we tried to keep the glamour shoot short and sweet. We walked around Glenelg’s Moseley Square and made use of the famous Glenelg Jetty for a bit of photoshop fun 🙂
Bride and Groom with Lightning
Bride and groom kiss
Wedding rings
Rainy wedding
Moseley Square wedding in the rain
Bride and Groom under Glenelg Pier in Rain
Stamford Grand Glenelg Stairwell
Bridal Party in rain
Stamford Grand Glenelg Wedding Reception
Tamika and Blake’s wedding reception took place only a few doors down from where their ceremony took place, within another of the Grand’s function rooms. Guests were well spread out around the room providing ample space for dancing and walking about. Their DJ made use of one of my most favourite props for a first dance as a wedding photographer, a dry ice smoke maker! It adds such a great atmosphere to first dance photos, love it.
Bride and flower girl dancing
Guests dancing
Signing guest book
Bride and Groom kiss
Cutting cake
First dance
Bride dancing
First dance
Speeches
Guests dancing
During the night, we also suck out to take advantage of the weather. Rain in wedding photos at night really adds something a little different to typical wedding photos and I feel as though we got some good shots with a little help from photoshop 😉
Wedding in the rain
Wedding in the rain
I really hope Tamika and Blake enjoy their wedding photos as much as I enjoyed being a part of their special, loved filled day. Beautiful family and I wish them the very best!
Having a Glenelg Wedding would have to be one of the things may South Australians would have in common with one another, however Joanne and Gregor travelled half way around the world to have theirs! The loving couple flew out from Scotland to celebrate their wedding on the famous beachfront with local family and friends. They were incredibly lucky with the weather as only the previous day Adelaide and it’s surrounds were thrashed with terrible weather causing erosion and a lot of damage. Joanne and Gregor’s wedding however was blessed with some stunning weather, complete with an amazing sunset which we took advantage of for some great shots.
Preparation
As Joanne and Gregor opted to have me with my flexible hourly rate, I was able to visit Joanne getting prepared in the Oaks Plaza hotel on the northern side of the Jetty. The whole styling was all wonderfully Scottish, complete with thistle in her bouquet and her mother wearing a beautiful tartan sash.
Bride looking pretty
Wedding dress
Bride and Mum smiling
Flower girl
Flower girl
Bridal preparation
Engagement ring in flowers
Bridal preparation
Glenelg Wedding Ceremony
As the weather was wonderfully suited for it, Joanne and Gregor held their Glenelg wedding on the beach, just in front of Joanne’s hotel room in the Oaks Plaza Hotel. One downside of having your wedding on such a famous beach is, even during times of inclement weather, you have to keep shooing tourists out of your carefully laid out altar! The men involved with the wedding were all clad in stunning kilts and Joanne as led out by a piper. It was all wonderfully Scottish 🙂
Beach wedding
Exchanging wedding rings
After wedding
Groom seeing bride for first time
First kiss
Beach wedding
Signing registry
Glenelg wedding
Glamour shots
It wouldn’t be a Glenelg wedding without taking some shots along the famed coastline using the Jetty, which was exactly what we did. We headed over first to the Jetty, then to the public square. We then walked along the beachfront back up to the Glenelg marina before enjoying the reception in the Oaks Plaza Hotel.
Bride and Groom in Glenelg
Bride and Groom in marina
Bride and groom on Glenelgs Jetty
Glenelg beach walk
Bouquet
Scottish salute
Bride and Groom
During the reception we popped out to take advantage of the stellar sunset, and I’m so glad we did!
Glenelg sunset
Glenelg sunset
Glenelg wedding sunset
I’d like to thank Joanne and Gregor for having me as their wedding photographer at their wedding in Glenelg and I hope they enjoy their photos as mucha s I enjoyed producing them!