Posts

Wharf One Wedding – Darwin – Amanda & Brian

August 28, 2019/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Amanda & Brian
Warf One Wedding

Amanda and Brian’s wedding was held right on the foreshore of Darwin under the verandah of the Wharf One restaurant with the picturesque backdrop of Darwin’s Kitchener Bay. The day’s weather was absolutely magnificent, as can be expected from Darwin at this time of year! I love heading up to the Northern Territory for this exact reason! Amanda and Brian had quite a few of their family and friends travel up to Darwin for their wedding day which included two separate tea ceremonies and a lovely laid back ceremony and reception at Wharf One.

Morning Tea Ceremonies

Amanda and Brian hosted two separate traditional tea ceremonies for their two travelling families. The first in a rather nice, large bed and breakfast propertry overlooking the Darwin shoreline. It’s also where Amanda and her bridal party had their makeup and hair done before greeting Brian who arrived brandishing flowers.

I rather like the idea of giving thanks to family members and seeking approval of the wedding through the exchanging of tea in the morning before wedding ceremonies as it brings together and includes family members who would otherwise not have as much to do on a wedding day. It formalises the idea of the coming together of two separate families in a lovely traditional way.

Makeup

Family on couch

Engagement ring

Tea set

Wedding rings

Wedding dress

Grooms arrival

Smiling bride

Hugs

Tea ceramony

Jewellery gift

Little girl

Smiling guests

Entrance

Mobile photos

Drinking tea

Offering tea

Tea cup

Tea ceremony

Preparation Photos

As is often the case after hosting a tea ceremony on a wedding day, it’s not uncommon for the bridal party to change clothing into their wedding ceremony attire. After heading back from the Darwin city center and back to the bed and breakfast for lunch, Amanda changed out of her red dress into her white bridal gown, while Brian suited up. They managed to hide the dress entirely from Brian despite being prepared at the same location by hiding it in an upstairs bedroom which Brian was forbidden to enter. That way the tradition of seeing the bride for the first time on the day was saved for when she walked down the aisle in her white dress, which Brian hadnt seen yet! 🙂

Shoes

Cufflinks

Crossing fingers

Putting on shirt

Sorting out ties

Pose

Putting on jacket

Helping out

Closeup of flower

Walking out door

Bridesmaid helping out

Putting on dress

Walking down the stairs

Bridesmaid putting in veil

Looking pretty

Bridesmaids

Wharf One Wedding Ceremony

The decking just outside the Wharf One restaurant was the setting for their wedding ceremony, with the entire congregation shaded from the hot sun, and yet still enjoying the beautiful weather while surrounded by the calm waters found in the Darwin artificial beach precinct. The ceremony itself was a lovely simple affair with a couple of friends and family sharing readings and laughter as their celebrant highlighted some of the funnier parts of their relationship.

Wedding sign

Groom waiting patiently

Bride getting ready to go

Bridal approach

Out the front together

Smiles

Wedding ceremony

Smiling bride

Wharf One Wedding ceremony

Exchanging wedding rings

Holding hands

First kiss

Bridal exit

Glamour Photos

After the family photos, the rest of the congregation enjoyed the precinct surrounding the Wharf One restaurant while Amanda, Brian, their bridal party and I went for a little drive to make use of some of the more picturesque spots scattered around Darwin. Our first stop was of course the decking surrounding Wharf One where we took a few bridal party shots. We then head over to the wonderful trees out the front of the Darwin Botanic Gardens. The trees here are wonderful to have photos done at that time of day as the sun peeks through the foliage in such a delightful manner! We then head around to the parklands surrounding Lake Alexander before heading up to Dudley point to make use of the delightful hanging cliffs for the sunset.

Bride and Groom walking together near Wharf One

Pushing the groom into the drink

Bridal Party

Bridal Party under a tree

Bridal Party under the trees

Bride and groom walking together

Under a tree

Amongst the scrub

Romantic

Hugs

Walking together

Holding one another

Out on pride rock

Beautiful light on the rocks

Sunset

Wharf One Wedding Reception

Amanda and Brian’s wedding reception was held back at the Wharf One restaurant a little late as we stayed out at Dudley Point for the sunset, but noone seemed to mind much. The atmosphere was jovial and everyone had a delightful meal backdropped by live music and the odd foray into the photobooth – who’s attendant happened to be the very same attendant at my first wedding in Darwin over 2 years ago! Very small world.

Bridal entrance

Speech

Schedule

Best Man speech

Bride

Maids of honour speech

Laughing bride

Hugs

Wedding cake

Speech

Cutting the cake

Inside Wharf One Restaurant

Boys hanging out

Thanks so much for Amand and Brian for having me as your wedding photographer! If anyone is looking for a photographer in Darwin, I’d be super keen to travel back up for your wedding! Check out my darwin website at https://darwinweddingphotography.com for more details!

Jervois Park Wedding – Darwin – Kate & Dylan

August 18, 2021/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Kate & Dylan
Darwin’s Jervois Park Wedding

I have never before seen such impeccable timing than Kate and Dylan’s wedding where they timed their big day the day before a major COVID lockdown in Darwin. The day itself was a typical stunnly sunny Darwin day that made their Jervois Park wedding – just south of the Darwin CBD such a wonderful experience!

Kate and Dylan’s big day was full of family fueled fun, joy and beautiful moments I was so glad to capture with both photography and videography!

Preparation

Both Kate and Dylan were prepared nearby their Jervois Park wedding venue, with Dylan in a bed and breakfast I had shot in before, and Kate in a hotel room within the CBD.

As per usual on a wedding day, small things often go wrong that just cannont be helped – in the case of Dylan’s preparation, unfortunately one of his groomsmen got on the wrong end of a chainsaw only days before the wedding was to take place! Thankfully the injury wasn’t as bad as it could have been, and he was certainly a champ powering through the rest of his mate’s big day!

The morning was fun filled, and the guys had the usual trouble tieing their ties before Mr. Youtube came along to help! A troup of male strippers also made an appearance! – More of Dylan’s mates trying to create some silly photos 🙂

Wedding rings resting on white tie

Wedding stubbie holder

Engagement ring in between grooms shoes

Groom tieing tie surrounded by windows

Father helping tie tie

Groomsman tieing tie

Groomsman putting on socks

Groomsmen gathered around groom

Groom putting on jacket

Smiling groom looking at camera

Groom at the top of the stairway

Groomsmen at top of staircase

groomsmen in front of pool

Kate and her bridal party had a slightly more straightforward preparation, with plenty of makeup and hair to sort out before the ceremony. The ladies were all in good spirits and were obviously having a great time!

A highlight of the morning with the bridal party for me was the arrival of Kate’s father where we set up a bit of a first look for him seeing Kate in her dress for the first time. Always a crowd pleasing moment!

Wedding dress hanging from roof

Bridal shoes with bouquet

bridal makeup

bridesmaids reaching for dresses

bride and bridesmaids in doorway

Bride sitting in makeup chair

Bride and bridesmaids with gowns

Bride and bridesmaids having fun under veil on bed

bride looking back

Bride being preparaed

bride looking at bridesmaid while being prepared

Bride standing alone in living area

bridesmaids looking at bride

Fathers first look

Bride and Dad

Bride and bridal party

Bridal party on balcony

Jervois Park Wedding Ceremony

Kate and Dylan’s Jervois Park Wedding Ceremony took place inbetween a few trees, providing shade to the majority of their congregation while looking out over Darwin Harbour as a backdrop. It’s a pretty nice spot to hold a wedding ceremony – with quite a bit of parking space for guests, reasonably isolated from passers by, and still being in the center of the city!

Kate and her bridal party arrived in huge all terrain vehicles, which spoke to their affinity for the outdoors, and the ceremony itself was a simple affair with Kate and Dylan sharing personal vows, before breaking off to celebrate with guests and have family photos done.

Jervois Park wedding sign

Arriving parent

Groom standing around

Guests mingling

Bride getting out of car

bride arriving with Father

Groom smiling at bride in jarvois Park

Smiling groom during Jervois Park Wedding

Jervois Park Wedding Ceremony

Holding hands during Jervois Park Wedding Ceremony

Smiling bride during her wedding ceremony in Darwin

Groom listening to his bride’s vows

Exchanging wedding rings under arbour

Closeup of wedding rings exchange

First Kiss at Darwins Jervois Park

bride and groom holding one another after the ceremony

Glamour Photos

For glamour photos, one of the main spots Kate wanted to head to were the marvellous trees located in Garden’s Park, just in front of the Darwin Botanic Gardens. The area in there provides for some stunning shots – particularly later in the day with the sun lowering and gleaming through the foliage, or the trunks of the huge trees growing here.

We then head to one of my favourite spots in Darwin for wedding photos – the East Point cliffs. Us along with 2 other wedding parties who also had the same idea! Thankfully we arrived just as one party was finishing up, so we managed to get the prime spot out on the ‘pride rock’ rock formation in time for the sunset. Unfortunately for the couple arriving after us they kind of missed out! Very popular spot!

Bride and groom in front of wedding 4WD

Bride and groom in green foliage

Bride and groom amongst the green trees

Bride and groom framed by the green foliage

bridal party in the large trees

bride and groom walking between the trees of Darwin’s Botanic Park

Wedding Photo in front of Darwin’s Botanic Gardens

Gardens Park wedding Photo

Gardens Park wedding party Photo

Bridal party at East Point

Bridal party at East Point together

bride and groom out on pride rock

East Point Wedding Photo

Darwins East Point Wedding Photo

East Point in Darwin wedding photography

East Point Bride and groom

Bride and groom Darwin sunset

bride and groom looking out at the sunset

wedding couple looking out at the sunset

Private Property Wedding Reception

Kate and Dylan then had a bit of a drive out to their wedding reception which was held on a pricate property out by Howard Springs. The front yard of a house was decorated with a beautiful display of fairy lights covering all the tables for guests which had also been set up.

What I found most striking from their reception setup was the beautiful tiki torches lining the entrance to the reception – really made the whole setting quite intimate and glamourous, despite the bobcat holding the drinks in it’s digger!

bride and groom arriving at reception

Bobcat holding drinks

Guests selecting drinks

Maid of honour speech

Hugs after speech

Wedding cake on display in circle

Cutting the wedding cake as husband and wife

Dad and daughter dance

Happy bride in first dance

Smiling groom during first dance

Bride sitting on grooms knee

Dancing guests at the reception

Guests on swing

Table setting

Shoe game under the lights

Bride and groom kissing on the dance floor

Dance floor

bride and groom between the tiki torches

Cooling off in the pool

Bride dancing on the dancefloor

Dancing guests

Kate and Dylan, I’m so glad you guys got to celebrate your big day before COVID decided to ruin anything! Thanks so much for having me as your wedding photographer at your Jervois Park wedding!

Doubletree by Hilton Darwin Wedding – Kelly & Ben

July 4, 2021/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Kelly & Ben
Doubletree by Hilton Darwin Wedding

I was right in the middle of the Darwin CBD for Kelly and ben’s Doubletree by Hilton Darwin wedding that took place on the lawns nearby the hotel’s pool, with glamour photos just across the round in Darwin’s Bicentennial park, and reception in the Doubletree by Hilton Darwin reception center a few doors down from the actual hotel!

The weather was absolutely fantactic, as you’d expect from this time of year in Darwin – while perhaps on the warmer side, but that was ok as Kelly and ben were keen to get back to their friends and family sooner rather than later for their reception, instead of spedning took long taking photos!

Doubletree by Hilton Darwin Wedding Ceremony

Kelly and Ben’s Doubletree by Hilton Darwin wedding ceremony took place on the lawned area alongside the hotel’s pool area. The grassy lot has ample room for small to medium sized wedding ceongregations and is a private little space, surrounded by tall buildings, fences and greenery.

The ceremony itself was a short, simple affair, with Kelly of course being a tad late – which is of course tradition – but once she was there, it was smiles all around as these two lovely people said their vows and tied the knot.

Groom waiting at his Doubletree by Hilton wedding ceremony

Bride arriving at Doubletree by Hilton

Smiling bride in the Doubletree by Hilton lobby

Bridal entrance at the Doubletree by Hilton

Grooms first look at doubletree by hilton wedding

Doubletree by hilton wedding ceremony

Holding hands at wedding ceremony

Bride and groom holding hands on the grass at doubletree

Wedding ceremony on the grass at Doubletree by hilton

Doubletree by Hilton Darwin wedding ceremony

Groom during his wedding ceremony

Page boy bringing the rings

Vows at a wedding ceremony

First kiss at Doubletree by Hilton Darwin wedding

bride and groom exit their Doubletree by Hilton wedding ceremony

Glamour Photos

After holding the family group shots over the water of the pool, using the small patch of greenery as the backdrop – we head over the road to Darwin’s Bicentennial park for glamour photos. It kelly and ben weren’t overly keen to travel too far away for their glamour photos, opting instead to have a few done close by, allowing them to spend more time with their family and friends back at their reception. It was also quite a warm day, so moving too far wasn’t on the top of most people’s lists of things to do 🙂

The sunny day meant that I was presented by quite a bit of sun glare shining through the foliage of trees, so I made good use of the light bathing the bridal party in it’s glow. We managed to walk around the park a bit, all the way down to the rocky shoreline and back before retiring to get ready for the reception.

bride and groom on the pool edge

Bridal party in Darwins Bicentenniel park

Bride and groom in Bicentennialpark

Ring in flowers

bridal party in Bicentennial Park Darwin

bride and groom amongst thin trees in Darwin

Bride and groom in thin trees in Bicentennial Park

bride and groom on the Darwin bay lookout

Bride and groom on the Darwin foreshore

bride and groom amongst the Darwin Foliage

Smiling bride and groom surrounded by green

Darwin Bicentennial Park Wedding Photo

Darwin Bicentennial Park Wedding Photography

Doubletree by Hilton Darwin Wedding Reception

It was the second time I had covered a wedding in this Doubletree by Hilton Darwin reception hall – as there are a number to choose from, but I think this hall is quite popular due to it’s size and ease of access from the road. The area boasts ample room for a medium sizes wedding party, with dance, while the kids were keen on using the spare space for games and running around.

The atmosphere was fun and laid back, with a number of speeches and plenty of dancing later in the evening. I;d like to thank Kelly and Ben for seating me at a table! I had a lovely chat with the people at the table who clued me on some places to visit for the next time I was in Darwin – which happened to be only last week. Unfortunately though my trip was cut short due to COVID 🙁

It was a lovely night to be a part of!

wedding sign in Hotel

Wedding favour jelly beans

Doubletree by Hilton Wedding Reception

bride and groom arriving at their reception

Wedding reception food

bride and groom outside the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Darwin

Groomsman announcing himself

Laughing groom during speeches

Wedding cake on display

Cutting the wedding cake together

Daddy daughter dance

On the dancefloor as a family

First dance at Doubletree by Hilton wedding

Guests dancing at Doubletree by Hilton Darwin

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

July 25, 2019/1 Comment/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Jane & David
St Mary’s Cathedral Wedding

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.

Getting ready

Close up of flower

Wedding rings

Getting ready

Socks

Walking along the beach

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 🙂

Engagement ring in shoes

Champaigne

Wedding dress

Everybody helping

Wedding dress

Engagement ring

Buttoning up dress

Smiles

Putting in earrings

Ready to leave

Sitting around

Girls together

Jane and Mum

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.