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5 Tips for Travelling with Your Wedding Gown

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  • Santorini Wedding

 

Travelling with Your Wedding Gown to your Destination Wedding

A destination wedding is a fabulous way to start married life and is a great excuse to have a holiday. When you look back at your wedding photos, you will have a lovely time remembering how you spent time with the people closest to you and your fiancé in an amazing destination!

I realise that not many people are heading overseas at the moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I do know that many of your are still planning on having a destination wedding, and it may well be at a location you can still travel to! Like within Australia! I’ve covered many weddings in Darwin, Hobart, Canberra and Rural South Australia that beat many international destinations easily!

Before you jet off, though, you have to figure out one important thing—how to get your wedding dress to your destination.

5 Tips for Travelling with Your Wedding Gown

Avoid checking it in luggage

Whatever you do, avoid checking your wedding dress as luggage. It will get battered in transit, and there is always a risk of it getting lost. As much as possible, fly with your wedding dress as a carry-on item.

Check with your airline about their policies on carrying wedding dresses – as it may be an exempt item when it comes to the number of pieces of luggage you’re allowed. Also. label the bag containing it with your name, e-mail address, and the contact details of your destination.

Bride hanging her dress

Buy or recycle a garment bag

The bridal shop will likely use a garment bag when sending you your wedding dress. However, check if this is strong enough to stand up to travelling with your wedding gown. If you have your doubts, invest in a tougher garment bag. Ask your bridal shop to show you how to fold your wedding dress as well.

When you get to the gate, arrange for the attendant to hang your dress in a closet. Some airlines will preload your dress if you call ahead, so explore this option as well. Sometimes, though, there is no hanging space since surfboards and wheelchairs are the priority for closets.

In this case, you might lay your dress over bags in the overhead, but be considerate of the other passengers and ask permission. If you have the money to spare, you can resort to buying an extra seat just for your dress, or upgrade to business class – this allows you to have an additional carry-on bag!

Wedding dress

Invest in a vacuum bag

For brides with voluminous wedding gowns, a vacuum bag is almost mandatory when travelling with your wedding gown. Pack your dress while inside its garment bag into a similarly-sized vacuum bag and suck the air out, which will make the carry on much smaller – and if you’re lucky the checkin gate wont weigh it! Just dont try and fly with an airline known for being sticklers on weight.

You can then pack this into a tri-fold carry-on case, and store it in the luggage just like you would another bag. Remember to pack a garment steamer or request for one at your hotel or resort to iron out the creases. You do not want to memorialise the wrinkles in your wedding photos!

Putting on dress

Use a carry-on suitcase

A regulation-size carry-on suitcase is an excellent storage place for a wedding dress. For this to work, you need to pack your gown carefully. Use a hard shell suitcase; this protects your clothing from rain or other fluids. When packing, turn your dress inside out.

Turning your dress inside out will protect things like lace details, needlework, and other delicate embellishments. You can also put tissue paper in between the folds, to preserve the garment better.

Santorini destination wedding

Have your dress professionally packed

Your bridal shop can pack your dress to fit in your carry-on suitcase. You can specifically ask them to pack it for travel; this should be part of their services. You can also get a specially-designed box that meets carry-on size requirements for airlines or chartered planes. These boxes also have acid-free tissue paper which you can put in between folds.

Taking the wedding dress for a spin

 

You can pack a wedding dress for your destination wedding, but it will require a bit of planning from you. Travelling with your wedding gown can be tricky, but don’t let the hassles of travel prevent you from having a picture-perfect day!

Ensure that you have photos that will last a lifetime with Sven Studios. We are experienced destination wedding photographers super keen to travel and dedicated to perfectly capturing one of the most special days in a couple’s life. Browse our previous work or get in touch with us for more information!

 

 

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 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.

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

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

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.

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

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!

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

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!

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

Wharf One Wedding – Darwin – Amanda & Brian

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  • Amanda & Brian

    Warf One Wedding

    Out on pride rock

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
Makeup
Family on couch
Engagement ring
Tea set
Wedding rings
Wedding dress
Wedding dress
Grooms arrival
Smiling bride
Hugs
Tea ceramony
Tea ceramony
Jewellery gift
Little girl
Smiling guests
Entrance
Mobile photos
Drinking tea
Drinking tea
Offering tea
Tea cup
Tea ceremony
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
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
Smiles
Wedding ceremony
Smiling bride
Wharf One Wedding ceremony
Exchanging wedding rings
Holding hands
First kiss
Bridal exit
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
Bride and groom walking together
Under a tree
Amongst the scrub
Amongst the scrub
Romantic
Hugs
Walking together
Holding one another
Holding one another
Out on pride rock
Out on pride rock
Out on pride rock
Beautiful light on the rocks
Beautiful light on the rocks
Sunset
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!

Destination wedding photography Darwin

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As you’re reading this I’m on location in Darwin for a destination wedding, which I’ve been looking forward to for quite a while, ever since the bride and groom contacted me from Darwin to provide destination wedding photography Darwin for them. At first I was a bit surprised, as obviously, SvenStudios has always marketed ourselves as the premier choice for Adelaide wedding photography, but I was also overjoyed as the concept of destination wedding photography was intriguing for me. I’m an avid traveller and have made a name for myself in not just wedding photography, but also fine art landscape photography so being able to combine the two at this destination wedding in Darwin sounded awesome! Of course I accepted the invitation to cover their wedding!

One interesting thing about planning a destination wedding is the fact that local suppliers in places such as Darwin – or any niche location for that matter – may end up charging you the Earth when compared with a supplier closer to home. In this case I was chosen as their wedding photographer as my wedding photography prices, in addition to airfares and accommodation, were cheaper than any local photographer of similar skill set in Darwin! If you are planning a destination wedding, please do consider taking along a trusted supplier, such as myself to cover your wedding as having someone local cover your wedding may result in overpaying for a result you may not love as much as if someone you know and trust were to do it.

I would be more than willing to cover your destination wedding and would be keen to work out a deal to cover my travel expenses and your destination wedding photography package. As I’ve stated earlier, travelling is a huge passion of mine and I’d jump at any opportunity to travel with you to share your love anywhere in the world, and I promise to make it cost effective for you!

Destination wedding photography