botanic gardens Archives

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! 😀

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Engagement Shoot – Olivia & Dimitri

May 31, 2020/0 Comments/in Engagement, PhotoShoot /by Steven Duncan

Olivia & Dimitri
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Engagement Shoot

It wasn’t the nicest day to go out and do a photo shoot out and about high in the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens, but I’m so glad Olivia and Dimitiri were keen to head out anyway as the colours you can get here are just incredible! Also the rising mist from early in the morning just made the feeling of their engagement photos that much more surreal!

Olivia and Dimitri were umming and ering over where to go for their photoshoot, thinking maybe a beach, or the Belair National Park but in the end were very keen on heading to the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens, mainly due to it was where Dimitri had originally proposed.

As this engagement shoot was happening only a few weeks after when they were supposed to be married, I thought this was quite appropriate! Olivia and Dimitri had had to postpone their wedding due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

Once a location was chosen, I really wanted to make use of the lovely light either in the late afternoon for the golden hour, or early morning.

We ended up getting up early on the freezing morning for the gates to open at 8:30 as the COVID-19 restrictions had just been lifted and we expected the Botanic Gardens to be packed with people trying to get out and about a bit! The early start, coupled with the drizzly weather meant we had the whole Gardens to ourselves.

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Engagement Shoot

We began our photoshoot walk at the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens lower carpark, nearby the dam wall. Our first reaction when arriving was that we were super lucky to still have some colours in the autumn leaves that made these botanic gardens so magical! I was kind of hoping to get a bit of fog into their photos, but it was fast rising.

We quickly hopped up the nearby hill to make use of some trees that were losing their leaves, then head down to the water’s edge as I wanted to use my favourite tree in all of the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens, but unfortunately it had already lost all it’s leaves 🙁

Walking along the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens dam

Holding one another at the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens

Laughing through the red leaves

Close up of engagement ring

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Autumn colours

Cuddles by the water

Walking together in the Autumn colours

Olivia and Dimitri certainly made it easy as their carefree attitude was present all throughout the photoshoot and they had plenty of smiles on their faces!

We then head across the dam, which I feel is always an awesome shot to get, making the couple feel as though they are out in the middle of nowhere on ther path way. It’s a very tricky shot to get though as usually the dam walkway is always full of dozens of other people walking across!

Walking along the Mt Lofty Botanic Dam

Couple on the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Dam

The big draw of the Botanic Gardens are the wonderfully vivid autumnal colours you can get at this time of year, and thankfully we were able to capture some before they all fell from the trees. The colours, coupled with the misty morning really made for some wonderful scenes!

I had a blast taking photos with Olivia and Dimitri during this weather, but it’s so rare to get a couple to get up this early and head out in bad weather like this! 🙂

Just have a ook at the types of unique scenes you can get in weather like this! from fog, to muted autumnal colours!@ It’s a great time to take photos! Just not so great if you want to stay snug and warm :/

Couple under the yellow leaves

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens Bridge

Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens in winter

Couple under the orange trees

Laughing and playing

Hugs under the yellow leaves

Walking together with the mist

Hugs under the maple leaves

Looking at the camera under the maple leaves

Looking at a flower

I’d like to thank Olivia’s sister in law Thalia whose engagement shoot had been given to them by her mother for giving Olivia and Dimitri their engagement shoot! It’s always nice to know that people appreciate their photos so much they have their family and friends also have their photos taken with me! 🙂

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!

\

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.

Getting ready

Putting on tie

Wedding rings

Putting on shirt

Shoes

Putting on tie

Putting on flower

Mini

Getting ready

Mum helping

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 on earrings

Waiting for the limo

Buttoning up the back

Hotel stairs

In the hotel hall way

Putting flower on Dad

Wedding dress

Hotel stairs

Smiling bridesmaid

Hugs with Dad

Smiles

Flower girl

Engagement ring

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.

Amongst the pines

Bridal approach

Smiling bride

Married couple

Smiling groom

First kiss

Wedding sign

Sweeping veil

Adelaide Botanic Garden Wedding Ceremony

Together at the altar

Groom’s first look

Exit

Holding hands

Adelaide Botanic Garden Wedding Ceremony

Mobile phone photography

Bridal party

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!

Wedding ring!

Under a tree together

Bridal party

Sun flare and tree

Carrying his bride

Flower girls climbing a tree

Bridal Party

Elm Walkway

Under an arch

On a bench

Amongst the bamboo

Under a tree

Walking together

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.

Bouquet toss

First dance

Goody bags

Organising a group shot

Last dance

Cutting the cake

Food

Bridal Party waiting to be announced

Guests enjoying themselves

Inside the Adelaide Botanic Garden Restaurant

Wedding cake

Dad talking to guests

First dance

Before the bouquet toss

Under the archway exit

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.

Exchanging wedding rings

First kiss

Holding hands

Gazebo wedding

Celebrant

Smiling groom

Smiling bride

Kiss on cheek

Approach

Gazebo wedding

Wedding sign

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.

Milton Bay figs

Under branches

Walking together

Walking under the arch

Big Tree

Lift

Adelaide Botanic Gardens money shot

In front of door

Under a tree

Smiles

Smiling

Adelaide Botanic Gardens money shot

Walking under the arch

Under the bamboo

Engagement ring

laughing

Dancing

Smiling

Hackney Hotel Wedding Reception

Emma and Daniel’s reception took place in the smaller of the two function halls at the Hackney Hotel, which is a cozy little room suited for smaller, more intimate parties. The air was casual and everyone involved looked to have a great time 🙂

Cutting the cake

Smiling groom

In the Hackney Hotel

Spread

Smiles

Wedding cake

Thanks so much to Emma and Daniel for having me as your wedding photographer! 🙂

Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding – Mai & Kevin

May 7, 2019/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Mai & Kevin
Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding

The shade and wonderful backdrop of the tall pine trees at the center of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens were the backdrop to Mai and Kevin’s wedding on a lovely late – April day. I was sourced by Kevin’s father as Mai and Kevin’s wedding photographer as he enjoyed the wedding photos I put together for Vivian and Rohan back in 2016! It’s always nice to hear that people enjoy my work and want the same for their weddings! 😀

Preparation

I started my short 3 hour coverage with Mai in her hotel room at the Stamford Plaza hotel, which had a magnificent view of the river torrens precinct with Adelaide oval in the background. The preparation was fairly cruisey with Mai and her friends, and mother flitting about getting everything ready. If Mai was feeling any nerves in the morning, she was hiding it well! I also got to practice some of my Japanese also as some of Mai’s friends were Japanese! 😛

Looking out window

Contemplating flowers

Wedding shoes

Shoes

Engagement ring – One of my favourite shots to get during wedding preparation

Little one

instagram!

Looking pretty

Getting ready

Smiles

Pampering

Putting on lipstick

Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wedding Ceremony

Mai and Kevin held their ceremony at the top of the hill with the pine trees the center of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens known as the Araucaria Avenue. It’s a wonderful spot where the sun is able to shine through the backdrop of the trees to create a wonderful golden glow at this time of year.

Grooms first look

Standing together

First kiss

Raising the veil

Phone photo

Smiling bride

Kisses

Together at the front

Wedding rings

Bridal approach

Smiles

Smiling groom

Together at the front

Signing the documents

Celebrate!

Standing together

Exchanging wedding rings

Bridal approach

Glamour Photos

After the ceremony and family photos we spent a short while walking about the Adelaide Botanic Gardens for some glamour photos, starting from the lake near North Terrace, through to the bamboo forest and finally the lovely trees in Botanic Park. The sun was fading quite quickly at this time of day allowing for some wonderful golden light shining through as a backdrop.