elopement Archives - SvenStudios

Stockade Botanic Park Elopement – Sheridyn & Chris

November 17, 2020/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Sheridyn & Chris
Stockade Botanic Park Elopement

Sheridyn and Chris held a delightfully simple elopement at the Stockade Botanic park in Northern Adelaide on a beautiful, overcast day at the beginning of October!

Sheridyn and Chris opted to split their wedding day into two separate days due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with their ceremony at the Stockade Botanic Park, and their reception at the delightful Inglewood Inn mid next year! Hopefully they’ll be able to invite all their guests then!

Preparation

Both Sheridyn and Chris were being prepared together in a house nearby, while still observing the tradition of not seeing each other while fully dressed in their wedding best before their ceremony. This meant that Chris put on his suit, then helped their little one get ready before heading out to Stockade Botanic Park before everyone else.

Shortly after Chris left, Sheridyn put on her dress and had a bit of fun with the family geting their little one to smile 🙂

Bridal shoes 3

Little one shoes

Wedding dress in window 3

Engagement ring in flower

Wedding bands in box

Wedding rings on tie

Reading wedding cards

Bride looking in circle mirror

Bride using mirror

Helping the bride

Groom putting on tie in window

Smiling groom 3

Groom walking out door 2

Helping the little one get dressed

Groom and little one

Little one looking smart

Smiling grandad

Bride getting ready in the window 2

Brie looking pretty 6

Brie looking pretty 7

Stockade Botanic Park Elopement

The number of people present to witness Sheridyn and Chris was kept to the bare minimum, while having me also act as their wedding videographer making sure they have a record of their big day in order to show all the guests that could not attend.

The park was showcasing some delightful colours, with greens and yellows galor seeping through the overcast sky, and with the area almost deserted, we really had the run of the entire area for Sheridyn and Chris’ intimate ceremony.

Their ceremony was beautifully simple, with contributions from mother and father by providing a short reading and acting as ring bearer.

Stockade Botanic Wedding ceremony

Stockade Botanic Elopement

Groom smiling during ceremony 3

Bride smiling during ceremony 3

Stockade Botanic Elopement ceremony

Exchanging wedding bands 3

Stockade Botanical park elopement

Smiling bride while signing registry

Smiling groom while signing register

Bride and groom under petals

Glamour Photos

The glorious thing about the Stockade Botanic Park is the beautiful green foliage flowing from the trees located within the retaining walls at the center of the park, while enjoying the ambient sounds of the waterfall located in the corner of the park.

After taking a small amount of family photos, and trying to get the little one to smile, we utilised the park to take some beautiful glamour photos!

Bride looking pretty standing in the Stockade Botanic Park

Bride and groom in the Stockade Botanic Park

Bride and groom under the veil 2

Bride and groom against a tree at the Stockade Botanical park

Bride and groom under the leaves at the Stockade Botanic Park

Smiling bride and groom in the flowers

Bride and groom headbutt

Stockade Botanic Park Wedding photo

Bride and groom having fun under a tree

Bride and groom leaning on a tree at Stockade Botanic Park

Wedding bands on hands

I’m very much looking forward to covering Sheridyn and Chris’ reception at Inglewood Inn later next year!

Thorngrove Manor Wedding – Darren & Nahal

August 3, 2020/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Darren & Nahal
Thorngrove Manor Wedding

I was super excited to head back to the picturesque Thorngrove Manor for Darren and Nahal’s intimate wedding in mid July as I hadn’t been back this marvellous spot for several years! It’s quite a rare thing to shoot a Thorngrove Manor wedding as the owners tend to like to keep the number of people on their property to a minimum – which is fair enough considering how amazing this place is!

It was a magical time Darren, Nahal and I had walking around this gem of a spot for their small, intimate wedding/elopement!

Preparation

My time with Darren and Nahal began with Nahal in amongst the stone-hewn chambers of the bed and breakfast’s Queen chamber of the Manor where Nahal was completing her makeup. While nerves weren’t showing too much just yet, as time drew nearer to make the walk through the garden towards her fiance, it became a bit more of a thing.

Darren and Nahal certainly made their whole tiny wedding quite an easy wedding to photograph though! With two very good looking people and a stunning location like Thorngrove Manor, it’s certainly one to show off!

Hanging Thorngrove Manor wedding dress

Wedding dress hanging in Thorngrove Manor

Engagement ring in box

Bride looking out window at Thorngrove Manor

Bride playing with bouquet at Thorngrove Manor

Bridal approach at her Thorngrove Manor wedding

Thorngrove Manor Wedding Ceremony

Where else to hold a Thorngrove Manor wedding ceremony but right in front of the majestic view that is the driveway leading to the front door of this marvellous house? Nahal walked swiftly the the waiting arms of her finance and their intimate little wedding ceremony began.

Perhaps I should refer to their wedding as an ‘elopement’ as due to the unfortunate events unfolding in the world at the moment due to COVID-19, Darren and Nahal opted to have in attendance only their suppliers – Nahal’s makeup artist, their celebrant and myself, while having the owners of the Thorngrove Manor bed and breakfast act as their witnesses. It was only due to the fact that they were staying the night that they were allowed to use the grounds for their ceremony.

Darren and Nahal had me also produce a ceremony video for them, alongside my usual 360 degree virtual reality video I produce so that their friends and family can relive their precious moment.

Groom watching his bride approach

Smiling groom during his ceremony

Smiling bride on her wedding day

Exchanging wedding bands

Groom looking at his bride

Thorngrove Manor wedding ceremony

Standing together in the sunlight

First kiss at Thorngrove Manor wedding ceremony

Thorngrove Manor Wedding Photos

As their wedding ceremony took place at 4pm, we had around 1 hour to meander around the Thorngrove Manor grounds and make use of it’s manicured beauty for photos. As I had shot here in the past I knew what would and would not work so I devised a little itinerary of where we should go and when.

Despite having forecast to be overcast and rather dreary, the weather was absoutely delightful for Darren and Nahal’s photoshoot. The sun was shining and made for a lovely golden glow through the trees. We did however wait until the sun was a little lower before we took some ‘money shots’ of the Manor’s main keep in the background as it tends to really shine bright in the sun.

I can certainly spend hours using the manor as a backdrop for wedding photos, but unfortunately all good things have to come to an end!

Before I left, Darren and Nahl were sitting down for a lovely looking home-cooked meal, surrounded by the medieval splendor that only Thorngrove Manor can put on show! It looked to be a supurbly romantic evening!

bride and groom looking on as the registry is signed

Bride and groom looing at each other bathed in light

Engagement ring in red bouquet

Wedding rings on slab

bridal couple in amongst the gardens

Bridal couple just married in the garden

Bridal couple holding one another surrounded by greenery

Thorngrove Manor bed and breakfast wedding couple

having some fun at Thorngrove Manor together

in front of the interesting architecture at Thorngrove Manor

Thorngrove Manor wedding couple

Thorngrove Manor wedding couple in front of front door

Thorngrove Manor Portrait

Leaning in for a kiss at Thorngrove Manor

Stained glass windows at Thorngrove Manor

Through the harp at Thorngrove Manor

Thorngrove Manor

Thorngrove Manor wedding photography

bridal couple under the arch

Bridal couple holding one another

Bridal couple on the balcony together

Thorngrove Manor’s main tower

Bridal couple enjoying Thorngrove Manor

Thorngrove Manor wedding at sunset

Bride and groom in the Thorngrove Manor chambers

Congratulations to Darren and Nahl on their wonderful Thorngrove manor wedding / elopement! I’d like to thank you guys so much for having me as your wedding photographer as I had an absolute blast!

St Helens Park Wedding – Nikki & Toby

August 7, 2020/0 Comments/in Wedding preview, Wedding /by Steven Duncan

Nikki & Toby
St Helen’s Park Wedding

I was so happy to cover Nikki and Toby’s lovely St Helens Park wedding in Prospect, North Adelaide. Their original plan when they asked me to photograph their wedding was to hold a small, breakfast wedding later in the year, only to have it change to the beginning of the year, but then COVID hit. So their little St Helens Park wedding, or rather elopement at the end of July ended up being their big day, and I was super happy for them 🙂

St Helens Park Wedding Ceremony

The plan was to meet at the gazebo at the center of the St Helens Park and sort out where the hold the wedding ceremony. One option was the gazebo itself, while I actually suggested the rather neat old tree nearby to stand in front of. It was a pretty neat spot as the sun was shining through the foliage quite nicely while Nikki and Toby shared their vows.

Nikki and Toby’s congregation was as tiny as possible, consisting only of themselves, their celebrant and a family of friends who acted as their witnesses. They opted to hold their tiny wedding due to the complexity of holding a slightly larger wedding during the height of COVID-19 restirctions. I often think these tiny weddings are much more intimate anyway!

Wedding ceremony at St Helens park

Sun through the tree

Happy bride in Prospect

Smiling bride looking at her groom

Smiling groom looking at his bride

Wedding ceremony under the tree

Wedding ceremony bathed in sunlight

Exchanging wedding bands under the tree

St Helens Park wedding ceremony

First kiss under the tree at St Helens Park

Looking at her bouquet

St Helens Park Wedding Photoshoot

In the early days of Prospect city, the area was a private subdivision of Yatala, which intersected at the village centre, which is now st Helens Park. The center piece of this historic park is a very neat old tree which is perfect for climbing and using as a framing device for wedding photos!

After the wedding ceremony, we went for a little walk around the Park, starting at the awesome tree right behind where they held their ceremony, and did a big lap of the area. We made use of the nice trees and nearby playground before finishing up back on top of the tree where they were married next to the gazebo.