Victoria Rose and Adam’s Old Woodhouse Manor Wedding was such an interesting wedding to be a part of! First up was a lovingly choreographed first look between this lovely, couple, followed by a classical music concert and then a delightful outside reception in the shadow of this delightful old manor in the Adelaide Hills.
Preparation
Both Victoria-Rose and Adam were being prepared in one of the many rooms in this delightful old Manor. Walking through the rooms was super nostalgic for me as the last time I had visited this Scout-run venue was over 20 years ago for a school camp.
This grand gothic sandstone house was built for one time Premier of South Australia and Chief Justice of South Australia Sr Richard Davies Hanson. Hanson built this large mansion in the 1860s, while the Australian Boy Scouts purchased the house and property in 1972 and to this day run the site as a training ground and popular camp site.
Victoria-Rose was keen on having a grand ‘first look’ with Adam next to the nearby stream so much of the time we were with Victoria-Rose as she got ready, Adam was with his groomsmen awaiting her arrival.
White suit jacket in tree
Groom having tie tied on verandah
Groom playing with cufflinks
Bride having makeup touched up
Engagement ring in red and pink bouquet
Groom pasing hallway
Engagement ring perched between shoes
Groom tie being adjusted in mirror
Wedding dress habging in window at manor
Bride smiling in small mirror
Groom talking to groomsmen
Grandma watching as girls get ready
Bridal party inbetween doorframe
Bridal bouquet closeup
Bride at Old Woodhouse Manor
Firstlook Photoshoot
Victoria-Rose and Adam held their first look at the bottom of the gardens surrounding the Manor, we made use of the nearby foliage for a bit of shade during the midday sun for a few glamour shots before heading to a nearby clearning for their ceremony.
Groom waiting patiently for first look
Bride arriving for first look
Bride approaching groom in first look
Smiles at first lok
Bride and groom hugs at first look
Bride leaning into her groom
Bridal party amongst the greens
Groom tickling his bride
Bride and groom on small bridge
Bride and groom close together through leaves
Bridal party silly photo
Bride and groom in the lush greens
Bride and groom embrace together
Bride and groom walking together
Bride and groom leaning in for kiss
Bridal portrait in the undergrowth
Old Woodhouse Manor Wedding Ceremony
Victoria-Rose and Adam’s Old Woodhouse Manor wedding ceremony took place under the shade of a large tree, nearby the car parking spaces reserved for people heading to the Manor.
Victoria-Rose arrived in a modern Mustang, with a rather brave driver, as they were completely off road and in heavy grass as they approached. I would have been worried aboult getting such a low car out of there!
Victoria-Rose walked along a small footbridge towards Adam and their congregation with Enya playing in the background and held a nice, simple ceremony topped off by having one of their grandmothers join in with a hand-fasting ceremony, which was a nice touch.
Groom looking out for his bride
Bride hitching dress up to walk in long grass
Old Woodhouse Manor wedding ceremony
Old Woodhouse Manor wedding holding hands
Groom looking at bride at ceremony
Bride looking at groom at ceremony
Placing wedding ring on her finger
Grandma joing in for hand fasting ceremony
First kiss at Old Woodhouse Manor wedding
Bride and groom exit on sunny day
Famiyl with wedding certificate
Old Woodhouse Manor Wedding Reception
Inbetween Victoria-Rose and Adam’s Ceremony and sit-down reception which was taking place in a large paved courtyard, shaded by the old manor, everyone was treated to a classical mucic concert as a surprise, put on by their parents.
Bride and groom walking up hill
Old Woodhouse Manor wedding reception setup
3 tiered white wedding cake with leaves
Bride and groom arriving at concert
Bride and groom cutting cake outside
Bride and groom enjoying concert
Mum and guest
Bride cork popping
Bride and groom leaning against large tree
Bride and groom under sunlight and trees
Fiurst dance at Old Woodhouse Manor wedding
Thankyou so much to Victoria-Rose and Adam for having my wife and I cover your wedding as both wedding photographer and Videographer! Was a lovely day!
It was such a joy to head back out for a big wedding after having South Australian COVID restrictions ease for weddings! I saw myself at The Manor Basket Range, a majestic wedding venue for Kate and Josh’s wedding on a stunningly sunny day; despite it still being winter!
it was a super fun day to be a part of, and I even met some long lost relatives as it turned out I was actually related to half of the guests somehow! Adelaide is such a small city, and it’s so much fun to meet people and head to weddings because of it!
Preparation
The day turned out to be a fairly long one for me, with Kate and her girls requesting I first meet them in Hahndorf while they were having their hair and makeup done early in the morning! Which was fine, it just emant I had to get up ealier 😛
I then head on over tot he bed and breakfast that John and his groomsmen were getting ready. I Unfortuately put my foot in it in the mornign and called John ‘Josh’ so much in the mornign that the boys just ran with it for the rest of the day as they found it pretty funny 😛 Sorry John!
The boys were all pretty laid back, having had a bit of a board game night the night before, and leasurely got ready – until it was time to put on their ties that is. Only one of them knew how to properly tie a tie so that took up most of the time I was there 🙂
The bed and breakfast boardered a farm with some llamas and featured a cubby house which we very much took advantage of.
Grooms watch on ties
Wedding rings on table
Grooms suit jacket
Belt and ties
Groom smiling while putting on cufflinks
Helping out with the ties
Smiling groomsman 3
Groom looking happy
Groom adjusting tie in window 2
Groomsmen joking about 2
Groom putting finishing touches on
Groom and groomsmen in cubby house 2
Once the girls had had their hair and makeup done in Hahndorf, they made their way to the Manor to put on their dresses and take a few shots helping Kate get into her wedding dress.
I made sure to make use of the amazing huge chandelier in the entrance lobby to the Manor to really put a bit of medieval flair to their preparation photos, as after all they were getting ready in a castle! Fun tidbit, the last time I was at a The Manor Basket range wedding was back when it was called Camelot castle.
The girsl got ready without much fuss, and made a point of having Kate’s Dad come in for a bit of a father daughter ‘first look’ as he had not seen his daugher in her wedding dress prior to the day. It’s always a lovely moment to share!
Wedding dress hanging illuminated by window
bride through doorway 2
Lacing up the wedding dress
Laughing bride in mirror
Medieval bride getting ready
bride overlooking chandelier
Bride standing in dark room
Close up of bride under veil 2
Bride being silly on shae lounge
Bride at The Manor Basket Range
Dad’s first look 3
Dad’s first look 4
The Manor Basket Range Wedding Ceremony
As a mentioned earlier, The Manor was once called ‘Camelot Castle’ due to the fact that it’s built in the image of a medieval castle, complete with a small stone chaple, snuggled amongst a garden and tall battlements along the top of the manor. In front of the chapel is usually where wedding ceremonies are held, and Kate and John’s was no exception.
One exceptional thing about Kate and John’s The Manor Basket Range wedding ceremony though was Kate’s surprise entrance flanked by 5 medieval knights in full battle armour! Apparently there were supposed to be 6, but one could not make it. They took up position behind the bridal party during the ceremony and formed a guard of hnour as it ended.
Another highlight of Kate and John’s ceremony was their hand fasting, which culminated quite cleverly in a ceremonial ‘tying of the knot‘ to mark their union.
bridal approach at The Manor Basket Range
Father and Bride walking together
bride during wedding ceremony 2
The Manor Basket range wedding Ceremony
Groom looking at his bride during the wedding ceremony
Hand Fasting ceremony 2
Best man with the rings
Exchanging wedding rings 5
The Manor Basket Range wedding ceremony in front of the chapel
Tieing the knot 2
The Manor Basket Range wedding ceremony 2
First kiss 5
Wedding ceremony in front of the chapel
bridal exit at The Manor Basket range
Medieval Tournament
Directly after the ceremony, the knights that formed an honour guard around Kate and John headed towards the grassy area in front of the Manor Basket range’s accomodation area to conduct a short tournament.
Kate was asked to select her ‘champion’ knight and attach her colours in the form of a handkerchief around the arm of her selected knight as what would have happened back in medieval times had a noble woman been watching. In this case it was the bride – the most important lady on the day!
It was a really neat spectical to witness, with the knights from Ironclad Academy really going at it and hitting each other wish some force! They were also really neat sporta about having photos with the bridal party and guests, and I even managed to get in for a shot!
As Kate and John had a bit of a Harry Potter theme going on in their reception, I also phtooshopped a bit of a cheesy Harry Potter photo where they were fending off the knights with magic. Bit silly 😛
Fighting Knights
Knight Fight
Knight tournament
Knight ready for a fight
Knight in front of bridal party
Fighting knights at The Manor Basket Range
Medieval Tournament at a wedding
Groomsmen with swords
Good looking guest
Grandma with sword
Grandma victorious
Bride and Groom standing over dead bodies
Harry Potter Wedding Photo
Glamour Photos
We then had some time to meander around the grounds and used the grounds to take some wonderful glamour phtoos of Kate, John and their bridal party.
The best time to take The Manor Bastket range wedding photos I found was certainly towards the end of the day, particularly as it was such a sunny day! The sun hides behind the nearby hills nicely to create quite a magical aura around the grounds to make some beautiful photos!
I also coerced Kate and John outside during their reception to make use fo the unique architecture the Manor offers!
Bridal party in the gardens
Kiss in front of the Manor Basket Range
In amongst the trees 2
Bridal party together in the trees
Having a bit of fun on their wedding day
Bride and groom in the castle gardens
Bride and groom in the castle gardens 2
Bride and groom in front of the manor basket range’s chapel
The Manor Basket range Wedding Photo
Birdal party acting out Charlies Angels
bride and groom in amongst the lights
Kiss under the lights
Bridal party on the foot bridge
Traditional wedding photo
Close up of engagement ring 2
The Manor Basket Range doorway photo
bride and Groom under the castle doorway
The Manor Basket Range Wedding Photo at night
The Manor Basket Range Wedding Reception
As the the COVID restirctions had eased before Kate and John’s wedding in South Australia, there were still plenty of rules to follow so that we minimised the risk of potentially spreading an infection. This included the banning of dancing on the dance floor, and drinking while standing throughout the night.
That being said though, I felt as though all of the guests respected these restrictions and really had a blast of a time anyway! The night really was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed my first large wedding back immensely!
At the end of January, I was down at Goolwa for Skye and Brandon’s Rivers End Retreat wedding in the shadow of the impressive Randell rd bridge, and withing a stone’s throw of the Goolwa warf and Cockle Train station!
The Rivers End Retreat is a large, well presented bed and breakfast that usually caters for large group tour bookings, and not weddings overly often – so it was a delight to head to a new, and rare venue like this one!
Preparation
Brandon and his groomsmen were being prepared nearby at a separate bed and breakfast – with the highlight being the box and scrap book that Skye had prepared for him as a morning gift. Tears were flowing and Brandon’s groomsmen certainly played it up nicely!
Wedding rings on wooden table
Grooms shoes on wooden table
Groom putting on shirt in window light
Groomsmen helping out getting dressed
Groom throwing on jacket
Buttoning on fower
Groom admiring himself in mirror
Groomsmen listening to bride’s letter
Groomsmen walking along road
Skye was being prepared with her bridal party at the main bed and breakfast on site, which allowed them to spread out quite a bit as the main living space is huge!
Skye also recieved a gift from Brandon, but could not open it before heading out for the cermeony, so we made sure we opened that a bit later.
Wedding dress hanging in Rivers End Retreat hallway
helping with flower girl’s shoes
Engagement ring perched in bouquet
Bridal makeup next to window
Flower girl looking at bride
Bridesmaids fussing over bride
Bridesmaids fussing over bride in sunlight
Bridal party cheers
Bride standing with long train
Bride holding yellow bouquet
bridesmaids admiring bride
Rivers End Retreat Wedding Ceremony
Skye and Brandon’s Rivers End retreat wedding ceremony took palce on a strip of grass, leading into the rustic brick wall that surrounds the property making for the Goolwa stretch of the end of the river Murray their backdrop.
Their ceremonyt was lovely and simple, with vows being exchanged defore the mandatory kiss and walk back down the aisle!
Brandon was an absolute trooper throughout the ceremony as apparently he was not feeling overly well throughout, and soon after the ceremony retreated to his room for a bit of a lay down before emorging again later in the day.
Groom waiting at Rivers End Retreat Wedding
Sunflowers on wedding arbour
Bridal approach at wedding ceremony
Holding hands unser sunflowers
Smling bride during wedding ceremony at Rivers End retreat
Rivers End Retreat Wedding Ceremony
Smiling groom during his ceremony
Bridal exit at rivers end retreat wedding ceremony
Rivers end reatreat wedding congregation with drone
Afternoon Glamour shoots
Directly after their ceremony and drone group photo in front of the homestead, the bridal party and I quickly head down to the nearby train tracks where we knew a scheduled Cockle Train was about to set off on it’s short trip to Victor Harbor.
It was quite exciting as Skye and Brandon’s Rivers End Retreat Wedding Ceremony took place right in front of the beginning of the railway, so we managed to get in front of the train just as it began it’s journey!
Poor Brandon wasn’t feeling the best just prior to this, so the shot we got of the train heading past was taken only moments after he had been a bit sick on the ground behind – hats off to Skye for putting up with it for a kiss!
I’d just like to draw attention here to their little flower girl – who just so happens to be my daughter, Chloe – she was such a good girl all day!
Fuzzy headed friend
Bride and groom under parasols
Cockle Train wedding photo
Flower girl holding parasol
Later in the day, as the light was fading, and Brandon was feeling for up to it, we head out along the Goolwa piers, on the other side of the Goolwa railway station for a few photos with the bridal party and the nice colours the sun was making on the clouds above!
Bride an dgroom under lit tree
Bride and groom on train line
Bridal party on train line
bride and groom inbetween trees
Bridal party on the Goolwa docks
Holding one another with flying train
bridal party reacting to kiss on docks
bride and groom under the last light
goolwa docks last light
Bride and groom under Goolwa bridge
bride and groopm on docks through tree
Goolwa train station photo
Bride and groom at night
Reception
Skye and Brandon’s Rivers End Retreat Wedding reception took place pretty much all afternoon, with lawn games, furry friends and delightful surrounds to keep their guests occupied and having a good time right through to the late hours of the evening.
The lawns surrounding the old homestead was the main area for mingling along side the rustic old stables which have been converted to a lovely space suited as a small undercover dance floor, or just a place to chill.
Rose and Simon chose to hold their wedding in the wonderful surrounds of the Adelaide Botanic Park – right next to the gates of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. The appeal of the Botanic park is that it’s wide and open, complete with magnificent Moreton Bay Fig trees that provide for marvellous backdrops to photos. It was a lovely sunny day, which unfortunately meant that plenty of other people had the same idea to head to the Botanic Park for picnics and family gatherings, but we worked around it as best we could 🙂
Preparation
Simon was being prepared in a room in the Holiday Inn Express Hotel, on Hindley street, which allowed us to go for a little walk once all the boys were dressed along Hindley and also the front of Parliament house for some photos. I think the walk was a little theraputic for Simon, to get over his nerves a little better, and loosen him up a bit for his big day 🙂
Wedding rings on shoes
Tieing tie
Tieing tie in front of window
Best man helping out
Putting on flowers
Groom and his groomsmen hanging out
Groom and groomsmen walking in Adelaide
Groom and groomsmen out the front of parliament house
Groom checking time in front of parliament house
Groom in front of Parliament house
Groom and groomsmen in doorway
Rose and her bridal party was being prepared at their house north of the city. When I arrived the first thing I saw was an enourmous cheese and finger food platter that I was amazed to hear that Rose had just ‘whipped up’ for the occasion. It was honestly very impressive! The atmosphere was fairly jovial, with not too many nerves showing, all the girls were in good spirits!
Engagement ring in bouquet
Wedding shoes
Wedding dress
Bride and bridesmaids in kimonos
Getting ready
bridesmaids
Bride getting ready
Bridesmaids helping out
Bridesmaids helping Bride out
Tieing up wedding dress
smiling bride
Bride almost ready
Bride looking pretty
Bride looking pretty walking out door
bride and bridesmaids together
Botanic Park Wedding Ceremony
Due to the fact that the Botanic Park had become a fairly popular spot on their day, unfortunately they had to make the snap decision to set up their ceremony in a different position so as to not get any picnicing families in the background of their photos. This also meant that the glaring sun was right in front of them for their whole ceremony, which wasnt ideal – but other than that their ceremony went off very well with Rose’s son walking her down the aisle and emotion showing on Simon’s face 🙂
Guests lining up for espresso martinis in Botanic Park
bridal motorcade
Bride arriving
Bridal approach
Groom looking on
Holding hands
Botanic Park wedding ceremony
Celebrant talking
Botanic Park wedding ceremony with trees in background
Botanic Park wedding
Vows
Listening to vows
Exchanging wedding rings
First kiss
Botanic Park Glamour Photos
Rose had unfortunately hurt her foot a few weeks prior to their wedding day so as it was encased in a moonboot under her dress, I was mindful of the fact that she wouldn’t want to walk too far for photos, so we made use of the Moreton Bay fig trees directly surrounding where they held their ceremony, and it also allowed Rose and Simon to maintain social contact with their guests while we were taking photos. The group family photos were also quite easy to organise because of this. We diddn’t spend too long walking about for photos – just enough time to grab a few nice shots before heading back to the expresso martini van they had set up for their guests! On the way back tot he Intercontinental Hotel for their wedding reception, we stopped off at the famed pillared walkway in the Adelaide University for a few photos there too.
bride and Groom in Botanic park
bouquet
Walking together near trees
Walking into the Botanic Park Trees
Adelaide Botanic Park tree
Surprise!
Together in a Botanic Park tree
Heads together
Bridal party in Botanic Park
Bride and bridesmaids in botanic Park tree
Groom and groomsmen in Botanic Park tree
Bridal party infront of motorcade
bride and groom at Adelaide University
bride and groom in Adelaide University
Holding one another
Intercontinental Hotel Wedding Reception
The main ballroom within the Adelaide Intercontinental Hotel was the setting for Rose and Simon’s opulent wedding reception, with an incredible vista set up for their huge wedding cake! Their head table was backdropped with a lovely white sheet sparkling with led lights, while their table settings were complete with a little bottle of port for each guest. With a live band playing, and a laid back atmosphere, the night was fun to be a part of and the jovial guests made my job easy 🙂
Intercontinental Hotel wedding table
Individual setup
Bride and groom standing in the Intercontinental Hotel
