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St Mary’s Cathedral Wedding – Darwin – Jane & David

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  • Jane & David

    St Mary’s Cathedral Wedding

    Darwin wedding sunset

There’s nothing better than travelling up to Darwin for a wedding during the winter months, getting away from the cold weather in Adelaide during this time of year! these past few months have been full of travel for me, having covered a wedding in Santorini, Greece just a few weeks prior to Jane and David’s wedding at the St Mary’s Cathedral in Darwin! It was so awesome to be a part of as I knew Jane and David were wonderful people last time I met up with them on the remote Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin for an engagement shoot.

I went up there for a few days camping and exploring the remote island where Jane and David live amongst the local Tiwi islander community. It also happens to be the location of the wedding featured in the recent blockbuster ‘Top end wedding‘, which was pretty neat!

Preparation

David was being prepared with his groomsmen in an apartment overlooking the Darwin waterfront precinct. The atmosphere was laid back and easygoing and it all went pretty smoothly until I apparently interrupted a crossfit competition when we were waling about for photos on the beachfront.. sorry about that! Diddn’t seem to interrupt much as I diddnt even notice until after when someone mentiuoned it to me.. haha.

Socks
Getting ready
Close up of flower
Getting ready
Getting ready
Wedding rings
Getting ready
Walking along the beach
Getting ready
Getting ready
Wedding rings

Jane and her bridesmaids were being prepared in a rather lavish bed and breakfast overlooking the Darwin skyline. The house featured a 3 story long single stairway which I was super keen on utilising for photos! 🙂 Similar to the guys, the girls were super laid back and if there were any nerves, Jane was hiding it well 🙂

Everybody helping
Putting in earrings
Wedding dress
Engagement ring
Buttoning up dress
Girls together
Engagement ring in shoes
Jane and Mum
Ready to leave
Champaigne
Smiles
Wedding dress
Sitting around
Putting on dress

St Mary’s Cathedral Wedding Ceremony

St Mary’s Cathedral, or ‘Star of the Sea’ Cathedral is located fairly central to the darwin CBD and features a rather unique arch design right throughout it’s main chamber. The Cathedral is lined with local indigenous artwork which was quite important to Jane and David having strong connections with the local Tiwi islander community where they live and work. In the days leading up to the wedding day, jane was keen to point them out to me and tell me the meaning behind it all. It was facinating to learn about!

The Cathedral was built after the war in 1962, with it’s first tone taken from the first uranium mine built in the Northern Territory. As a result, it’s  arather modern cathedral with ample natural lighting and wide open spaces in order to move about without getting in anyone’s way while taking photos 🙂

Jane and David’s wedding ceremony was a traditional Catholic affair, complete with readings and full mass service, and even the ex-bishop of Darwin was in attendance which was quite the surpise to Jane and David! The main thng that really made Jane and David’s service stand out though was the wonderful performance from the local Tiwi islanders who had made the trip out to Darwin to celebrate Jane and David’s wedding with them.

Wedding sign
Bridal entrance
Grooms first look
Smiling bride
Holding hands
Holding hands
Everyone out the front
Smiles
Groom
Inside St Mary’s Cathedral
Standing together
Holding hands
priest
Sitting together
under the arch
Ring bearer
First kiss
Celebrations!
Mass
Sitting together
Signing the registry
Smiling at one another
Dancers
Dancing bride and groom
Guitar player
Dancing back down the aisle

Glamour Photos

After family photos and more Tiwi islander dancing out the front of St Mary’s Cathedral, we head out for the glamour photos. We first made use of the wonderful trees out the front of the Darwin Botanical park, before heading over towards Lake Alexander and East Point for photos amongst the wonderful red rocks and cliffs along the beach. jane and david were keen on having photos done similar to what they would have had done in the Tiwi Islands so I suggested heading around here. We also made use of a small park nearby the Darwin Surf Club before heading in for their reception.

Pride rock
Under the veil
Pride rock
Pride rock
Pride rock
Amongst the trees
Out on the water
Under the sun
Walking along the beach
bridal party
Under the veil
Walking along the beach

We head into the Darwin Surf Club for the beginning of their wedding reception only to leave about 20 minutes later to drive to the Nightcliff area for some sunset photos. I’m glad we did too as it was a spectacular sunset and I was about to angle myself in order to make the sun look larger than it actually is. It’s great when that’s possible with a sunset like this!

Sillouette
Nightcliff wedding sunset
Watching the sunset
yay!
Darwin wedding sunset
Sunset photo

Darwin Surf Club Wedding Reception

As is usally the case in Darwin during the dry season, the temperature during the night was absolutely perfect for a night time reception out on the lawn, and the great thing about the Darwin Surf Club is that the sun sets right over the beautiful beach lining the venue. The entire guest list were certainly there to have a good time and I was so pleased to see so many people up on the dance floor! Even David serenaded jane during the night with his newly gained guitar skills! It was such a fun night to be a part of which even featured a gelato bar!

Wedding cake
Wedding art
Cutting the cake
Smiling groom
Centre piece
Speech
Exit
Conga line
Darwin Surf Club
Entrance dancing
First dance
Dancing
First dance
Entrance dancing
Having fun
Darwin Surf Club Wedding Reception
Gift box
Laughing at speeches
Entrance dancing
In the bar together
Entrance dancing
Selfies
First dance
Table settings
Dancing together
At the bar
On the dance floor
Musician

Thanks so much to Jane and David for having me not only at your wedding, but also in your home and town on the Tiwi islands!

Santorini Wedding – Greece – Kerri & Tony

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  • Kerri & Tony

    Santorini Wedding – Greece

    Santorini Wedding

Heading over to the Greek islands to cover Kerri and Tony’s Santorini wedding has got to be one of the highlights in my wedding photography career so far! The picturesque sights available in the town of Thera, nestled high amongst the cliffs surrounding the caldera of Santorini is an absolute dream to photograph, and it makes it so much easier when I have and amazing couple as Kerri and Tony as subjects! Both Kerri and Tony live in Adelaide, South Australia, but chose to hold a destination Santorini wedding in order to head around Europe on honeymoon. Another reason was that Kerri and Tony met in Canada, where Tony lived, so in order to make the wedding fair to both families they held it somewhere in between the two countries!

 

Preparation

While shooting a Santorini wedding is an absolute blast and pretty much a wedding photographer’s dream location to shoot at, walking inbetween locations in the height of the Greek summer was no easy task! Thera is a town located right at the top of the cliffs, so walking anywhere really takes it’s toll on your thighs! I mention this as Tony and Kerri were both prepared at different locations a good walk away form one another – good thing I’m fit! 😛

I started the day with Tony and his family, with his groomsmen who all travelled out from Canada for the big day. After getting in a bit of trouble splashing a bit of water out from the pool in order to get a shot of the boys jumping in, I took photos of them all getting ready. It was a fairly laid back affair with Tony showing little to no signs of nerves, and more keen on having a good time with his mates.

Jumping int he pool
Swimming
Bow Tie
Wedding Shoes
Putting on shirt
Putting on shirt
Doing up tie
Doing up tie
Groom and his groomsmen
Walking down the road

Kerri and her bridal party were the same, laughing and joking about whilst occasionally doing little dances all around the rooms and making funny faces in front of the camera. Perhaps the only difference was that everyone got ready inside so as to avoid the beating heat of the lovely sunny day. Kerri’s paresnts and flower girl dropped in for a visit just as she was about to leave which was nice as we got to have some family photos done before walking up to the ceremony at Dana Villas.

Wedding dress
Looking in mirror
Getting dressed
Getting dressed
Putting on bracelet
Engagement ring
Laughing in mirror
Standing in doorway
Getting ready
Dancing about
Dad looking on
Flower girl
Walking up stairs
Playing with flowers
Bridal crew

Dana Villas, Santorini Wedding Ceremony

The Dana Villas wedding ceremony location is a wonderul vantage point, overlooking the entirety of the Santorini caldera – caused by an ancient volcanic eruption. There is a purpose built wooden arbour that covers where the bride and groom stand while having a stunning viewpoint to the waters below. It’s conveniently located amongst some of the more upper scale hotel accomodations available on the island, and also withing short walking distance to the center of the town of Thera.

Kerri and Tony’s wedding ceremony was officiated by a friend of theirs using some personal injokes and personalised vows that made sure their congregation were chuckling throughout. They even went as far as incororate their mutal love of board games by having the rule book of ‘Settlers of Catan‘ as their marriage registry book. As everyopne had travelled, both from Canada and Australia the congregation was a rather intimate affair with no more than 40-50 people in attandance.

Groom looking for bride
Bridal arrival
Bridal arrival
Smiling bride
Smiling bride
Dana Villas Wedding Ceremony Location
Santorini Wedding Ceremony
Standing together
Reading vows
Smiling bride
Exchaning vows
Laughing
Smiling groom
Santorini wedding ceremony
Exchaning rings
First kiss
Smiles
Exit

Thera, Santorini Wedding Glamour Photos

As Kerri and Tony werent overly keen on the idea of spending too long having glamour photos taken, I had spent the previous few days I had in the island scouting out spots on the walk in between Dana Villas and the Apelos cafe – where their reception was taking place. The aim being that I could utilise the wonderous views of Thera on Santorini, without taking up too much time before entering their reception and starting the party 🙂 A goal of mine before heading out to Santorini was to find a spot to capture the iconic blue domed church and three bell arch that’s symbolic of the Greek isles – luckily I found a spot in Thera for just that purpose and it wasn’t too crowded with tourists for us to use. For other shots I simply used the stairways and wonderful vistas the island naturally provides.

Just a tip for anyone out there planning a Santorini Wedding – try to book your day during a period where there are few cruise ships in port, as the island tends to fill up with tourists in no time when there are 3-5 cruise ships in town and some of the best spots for photo taking just get swamped!

Looking over the caldera of Santorini
Walking through the streets of Thera
Putting on jacket
Skipping down the steps
Kisses
Sitting together
Bride and her girls
Kiss on the cheek
Bridal party
Santorini Wedding
Santorini Wedding
Under a lamp post
Silly faces
Lovey dovey
Bridal party walking together in Thera, Santorini
Bride and her bridal aprty
Bride and groom in front of blue domed church
Santorini wedding photography
infront of flowers
Walk ways of Thera, Santorini
Thera, Santorini Wedding

Apelos Wedding Reception

The Ampelos cafe in the middle of the city of Thera is a wonderful little cafe situated on the rooftop overlooking the caldera of Santorini. It’s located right on the main pedestrian strip of the city where at sunset it gets super crowded with tourists, so being above everyone in the rooftop space was great for uninterrupted views of the world-reknowned sunset.

On one side of the reception space theres a magnificent white domed church which made for a beautiful backdrop for Kerri and Tony’s head table, while the guests tables were situated under the roofing, surrounding the dance floor. It was a beautiful spot to end what was an absolutely stunning day!

Entry to Reception
Entry to Reception
Guests
Laughing groom
The last supper
Bride looking out over Santorini’s Caldera
Laughing bride
Speeches
Santorini Sunset
Santorini Sunset
Speech
Speech
Wedding cake
First dance
First dance
Flower girl cuddles
Bouquet toss

St Laurences Church High Mass Wedding – Alison & Josh

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  • Alison & Josh

    St Laurence’s Church High Mass Wedding

    bridal couple inside st laurences church

I was priviledged to witness the St Laurences Church High Mass Wedding of Alison and Josh in mid November as their wedding photographer. it was quite the spectical with no less than 3 priests and a multitude of altar boys conducting the very traditional latin high mass at the fore of the stunning church that is St Laurence’s. While the ceremony was wonderful, it was also fantastic to cover the first wedding reception that has been held at the new venue of Tatachilla estate!

Preparation

I began the day as I usually do at the place where Josh and his groomsmen were being prepared. The morning was quite laid back with some funny moments where someone had given Josh some booklets titled ‘don’ts for weddings, and husbands‘ while also reminicing about other weddings the groomsmen had been a part of.

groom affects
cufflinks detail shot
putting on shirt
helping out with tie
Putting on jacket
Groom Putting on jacket
smiles on the groom
Groom and groomsmen standing about
Groom and groomsmen standing under tree

I arrived at the house were Alison was being prepared just as their make-up was being completed, which is great as I’m then able to flit about taking detail shots of the dress, shoes, etc. The bridal party all had matching kimonos on during the morning, and two little girls were running about causing havok – which was kind of a good thing as it distracted from any nerves Alison may have been feeling. 🙂

engagement ring in bouquet
Bridal shoes
whispering flower girls
bride putting on makeup
girls looking up at wedding dress
bridesmaid smiles
looking in mirror while getting ready
bridesmaids in kimonos
Dad’s first look of bride
Bride with dress on
Bride standing with bouquet
bridesmaids looking on

St Laurences Church High Mass Wedding Ceremony

As some of you may know, I worked at a Catholic primary school for almost a decade as a Japanese teacher, so I was fairly knowledgeable of the procession of mass, and wedding masses. However, Alison and Josh’s High Mass wedding was something I had yet to witness. The entire procession was quite awe inspiring, with no less than 3 priests and several altar boys conducting the service, all while a 4-strong gregorian chior chanted in the background. The High Mass itself took around 90 minutes to complete, as it followed a strict procession, concluding whith all the guests joining in with communion. The stunning surrounds of St Laurences Church made for a stunning backdrop for the entire ceremony, and it was certainly a ceremony to remember!

St Laurences Church
priest getting ready
High Mass wedding procession
grooms first look
Bridal entrance
inside st laurences church
Together at the altar
exchanging wedding rings
wedding ceremony in st laurences church
inside st laurences church landscape
sitting together catholic high mass wedding
catholic high mass wedding
Priest holding the bible
catholic mass wedding
bridal party kneeling
crucifix at St Laurences church
Bridal exit

Glamour Photos

For glamour photos, we first utilised the wonderful interior of St Laurences, after having the group photo done out the front of the church. We then went for a short drive to South Terrace to Veale Gardens where we made use of the lovely diversity available there. From Australian gum trees out the back, to highly manicured rose gardens, it’s a nice spot to capture a variety of wedding photos. We then head towards Mclaren Vale as a short stop off before heading to Tatachilla Estate for the reception. We usued the wonderful olive tree grove located right off the main street to get a few shots in amongst the trees. Our final spot for glamour photos was the vineyards located out the front of Tatachilla estate. We used the dying light as the sun went down for a few nice shots of just Alison and Josh together amongst the vines.

bridal couple inside st laurences church
Wedding bands on hands
bridal couple kissing in St Laurences church
bride and groom in bridal car
bride and groom under gum trees
bride and groom under gum trees in veale gardens
bridal party in veale gardens
bride and groom above pool in veale gardens
Veale Gardens pool
walking along the bridge in veale gardens
bride and groom amongst roses
closeup of bridal bouquet
bride and groom under olive trees
Holding one another
bride and groom in Mclaren vale’s olive trees
smiles all round
bride and groom at Tatachilla estate
bride and groom amongst the vineyards
looking through the vineyards
behind the bride amongst vineyards
holding one another in vines

Tatachilla Estate Wedding Reception

I was told that Alison and Josh’s wedding reception was the first that has been held at the new venue at Tatachilla Estate. Apparently the venue had been recently purchased from the nearby Tatachilla Lutheran School in order to ransform it into a new, large wedding and event venue, and I must say it certainly has potential! It’s a huge space, suitable for gigantic functions, but as it is right now it’s fairly rustic as it had been used as a school camp space for decades.

Alison and Josh’s reception was punctuated by loving speeches, plenty of dancing and scores of people all having a great time!

wedding cake
bridal entrance at Tatachilla Estate
bridal party at head table
laughter
tatachilla estate wedding
Hold on to what is good
speech
children dancing
grooms speech
holding one another during first dance
first dance
first dance at tatachilla estate
guests having fun
guests
dancing nan
dancing together
wedding guests dancing the macarenea
bouquet toss at tatachilla estate
bride and groom exit arch

I’d like to thank Alison and Josh for having me as their wedding photographer, it was a wonderful day and certainly a wedding I’ll not soon forget! 😀

Sedan Lutheran Church Wedding – Kirsty & Andrew

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  • Kirsty & Andrew

    Sedan Lutheran Church Wedding

    Bride and groom amongst gum trees

It was a stunningly sunny day for Kirsty and Andrew’s Sedan Lutheran Church Wedding. The small town of Sedan, near Renmark in the South Australian Riverland was the setting for this fun wedding where everyone just seemed to want to have a good time! I was asked to be their wedding photographer for their preparation through to the beginning of their reception, so lets jump straight into it shall we?

Preparation

I began the day at Kirsty and Andrew’s new house nearby the town of Sedan. I was quite excited to see some awesome gum trees on the horizon and rolling golden hills that I was hoping to use later in the day for their wedding photos.

Kirsty and her bridal party were being prepared here, and the atmosphere was quite laid back, with Kirsty more worried about where her boots were than any nerves she might have been feeling due to her being married a bit later.

As they had just moved into their new home, it was quite a neat thing to have the entire front room quite free in order to use while putting on the wedding dress – made taking photos that much easier! 🙂

Bride hanging her dress
Engagement ring in bouquet
Hanging wedding dress
Putting on makeup
Girls together in kimonos
Laughing bridesmaids on couch
Wedding boots
OMG it’s an engagement ring