Tag Archive for: winery

St Francis Winery Wedding – Chelsea & Nathan

September 28, 2019/in Wedding preview, Wedding

Chelsea & Nathan
St Francis Winery Wedding

It was a stunning day in amongst some rather ordinary weather for Chelsea and Nathan’s St Francis Winery Wedding at the beginning of September. It’s rather exciting to head to weddings like ths as I knew form the outset that Chelsea and Nathan were excellent dancers so I knew their reception was going to be a blast! I was lucky enough to be asked to be their wedding photographer all day and we managed to make most use of the time without the day seeming too rushed.

Preparation Photos

I was asked to begin the day with Chelsea’s preparation photos at the St Francis Winery room where she was being prepared, but I felt as though Nathan was missing out a bit so I head around to the nearby house he was getting ready at for about 10 minutes also – just to grab a shot of the rings and other small things lying about the place.

Wedding rings

Wedding dress

Engagement ring

Getting ready

Through the makeup light

First Look

The preparation phtos wasn’t a huge deal to Chelsea and Nathan, but what was exciting was they opted to have their main ‘glamour’ photo shoot done before their wedding ceremony in what’s known as a ‘first look’ where the groom and bride meet each other before the ceremony away from prying eyes and the nerves that would otherwise accompany the usual tradtional ‘first look’ as the bride walks down the aisle.

One of the Nathan’s groomsmen was a good sport here as Chelsea had secretly dressed him up in a stunning dress to play a bit of a prank on Nathan before she arrived for the real first look! 🙂

Groom walking about

Groom and groomsmen

The beautiful bride approaches

Surprise

Hugs

The actual bride approaches

Hugs

Glamour Photos

After the first look we had a good amount of time to use the St Francis Winery grounds and surrounds for some glamour photos. This time of year the weeping willows surrounding the pond on the grounds was just starting to turn green again which always makes for a lovely backdrop – particularly on sunny days where the sun flares through the foliage. We also head out for a bit to the nearby bike track which I knew – having lived in the area for quite a while – made for a lovely backdrop wth it’s arching tall trees either side. This made for a little diversity in their photos.

inside the St Francis winery wedding reception area

Wedding rings

On the bike path

Bridal party

Standing together

On the bike path

Walking amongst the forest

inside the St Francis winery wedding reception area

Together in front of the flowers

under the weeping willow

Near the cart

inside

Under a tree

Walking amongst the forest

Under the trees

In front of the cellar doors

Smiles under the trees

Walking together

Chilling on the cart

under the weeping willow

Under a tree

Holding bouquet

walking together

St Francis Winery Wedding Ceremony

Chelsea and Nathan’s actual wedding ceremony was a lovely simple affair which, after the music had been fixed at the begining went off quite well 🙂 Unfortunately their music had been set up with the bridal party walking down together holding flash cards as a bit of an inside joke, but diddnt work out so well 😛 Diddnt put a dampener on anyone’s mood though!

wedding sign

Groom waiting patiently

Bridal approach

Smiling groom

Smiling father of bride

St Francis winery wedding ceremony

Smiling bride

St Francis winery wedding ceremony

together out the front

Nerves

Vows

Listening

Smiles

Celebrant

Exchanging wedding rings

First kiss

Celebrate!

Checking out ring

Congregation

St Francis Winery Wedding Reception

As I mentioned before I knew Chalsea ad Nathan were pretty good dancers as their circle of friends happened to be the same as a wedding I covered several years ago where the bride and groom attended the same dance club. I also knew that many of the same dance club would be there than night, so the dance floor was always in action this night, and not just with people swaying and bopping, actual proper dancing! It was great to witness 🙂

First dance

Daddy daughter dance

under the trees at night

bonbonerie

talking

Main

Speech

reaction

Dancing

Thanks so much to Chelsea and Nathan for having me as your wedding photographer on your big day!

Coriole Vineyard Wedding – Beth & Trent

May 10, 2018/in Wedding preview, Wedding

Chateau Tanunda Wedding – Libby & Simon

June 21, 2018/in Wedding preview, Wedding

Chelsea & Nathan
St Francis Winery Wedding

Libby and Simon returned form their home in Texas, USA to celebrate their wedding day at the Chateau Tanunda with friends and family living in South Australia. Both their families were spread out around the globe, so it was wonderful to witness the coming together of these two lovely families 🙂 I was asked to be their wedding photographer for the majority of their day, seeing me at Libby’s place of preparation, through to the first dance at their reception.

Preparation

I was asked to start the day with Libby and her bridal party preparation at a nearby bed and breakfast in Tanunda. All morning there was the bustle of activity as each bridesmaid, flower girl and a few other family members all used the large, old cottage as a base of operations 🙂 The house featured a large, open lounge room, complete with a wonderful bay window, perfect for bridal preparation photos.

An interesting side not for the day was that I was contacted by Raw Cotton Collection, a clutch bag manufacturer based in Perth, through Instagram to give Libby and her flowergirls a free clutch and bags in exchange for some photos with the girls, was a fun little side note 🙂

Lacing up

Wedding Dress

Engagement ring

Having fun in the veil

Flower Girl in Window

Lacing up

Bride and flower girl

Bride at front door

Flower Girl helping out

Getting Ready

Flower Girl

Chateau Tanunda Wedding Ceremony

The Chateau Tanunda has been a feature of the Barossa Valley since the 1880s, being built near vineyards that were planted in 1840s, it’s a historic place that makes for a wonderful backdrop for a wedding! Libby and Simon’s wedding ceremony took place in a long, thin function hall/chapel on the far left of the Chateau which featured some wonderful wooden slat ceilings and large windows overlooking a grassy croquet field.

At the altar

Bored flower girl

First Kiss

Holding hands together

Bride walking down aisle

Hugs

Holding hands together

Chateau Tanunda Wedding

Groom’s First look

Flower girls

Bride in Mirror

Chateau Tanunda

Wedding Ceremony

Glamour Photos

Directly after the ceremony, Libby, Simon and I escaped in their MG getaway car and used the surrounding beauty that is the Chateau Tanunda grounds. First making use of the picturesque driveway through the vineyards towards the Chateau, then behind the building in a small park situated beyond a disused train line. The sun was setting beautifully for some nice sun flare coming through the trees. We were also lucky enough to utilise the wine barrels in the large tasting room for the winery.

Driving toward Chateau Tanunda

Flower girls running about

Walking on the disused train line

Walking together

Getaway car

Ivy

Chateau Tanunda

Wedding rings on railway

Bride and Groom together in front of Chateau Tanunda

Together in the sunset

Together in the trees

Doorway

Happy groom

Together in the wine barrels

Laughing couple

Together in the wine barrels

Running through the vines

Kiss in the vines

Walking through the trees

Together in the trees

Chateau Tanunda Wedding Reception

The venue boasts a huge reception hall, big enough for Libby and Simon’s wedding reception guests twice over, which made the dance floor quite large! As it was a chilly night, being the beginning of May, their were plenty of gas-fired heaters throughout the room to keep guests warm.

First Dance

Mingling

Speech

Cutting the cake

Speech

Wedding Cake

Chateau Tanunda Wedding Reception

Thank you so much Libby and Simon for having me be your wedding photographer, I hope you enjoy your photos! 😀

Golding Winery Wedding – Brooke & Cohen

January 7, 2019/in Wedding preview, Wedding

Chelsea & Nathan
St Francis Winery Wedding

It was a reasonably overcast day for Brooke and Cohen’s wedding at the Golding Winery in Lobethal, but luckily the rain held off just enough so that we got their ceremony and their glamour photos done before the end of their reception at the Stangate house in Stirling. really the planning that went into Brooke and Cohen’s day couldn’t be more perfect for the weather, having their ceremony reasonably early so that their lunch time reception was hardly affected due to the foresight of the shrewd purchase of a fleet of white awnings that covered the entire congregating for their reception.

Preparation

The day started as it usually does with the preparation photos at the couple’s house where Cohen and his boys were getting ready. The atmosphere was very relaxed with Cohen fussing over table lists, and the different novelty socks each other were wearing 🙂 The trickiest part was putting on their suspenders, which none of the boys had ever worn before 🙂

Getting ready

Walking off to the door

Suit jacket

Getting ready

Standing out the front

Getting ready

Boys walking down the road

Wedding rings

Brooke and her bridal party were being prepared at a delightful little bed and breakfast called Billy’s Cottage in Hahndorf, complete with a beautiful room with an open fireplace and lush green garden, which provided for a lovely backdrop for their preparation photos :). The girls preparation wasnt running as smoothly as the boys, having crept over their planned departure time by about 20 minutes before I head off to the Golding Winery, but it all worked out fine in the end!

Smiles

Kisses

Looking pretty

Putting on dress

Bridesmaid dresses

Mum smiles

Engagement ring

Putting on dress

Getting ready

Putting on tie

Golding Winery Wedding Ceremony

The Golding Winery is a beautifully situated winery in Lobethal, featuring sweeping vineyards along a sloping hill that can be backdropped with a wonderful sunset on non-cloudy days, it’s grounds also feature a beautiful curated garden and sweeping driveway lined with trees and a large pond. The wedding ceremony location is just off the front of the cellar door, which is a large grassed area, framed with foliage from hedges and other plants. There was a large plastic awning in place for Brooke and Cohen’s wedding due to the threat of rain, and the congregation was covered with umbrellas, but thankfully they weren’t needed. brooke and Cohen had organised two white doors to backdrop their ceremony which framed them as they were saying their vows with each other. It was a lovely spot and the emotions were certainly showing from within the congregation ranks! 🙂

Grooms first look

Exchanging wedding rings

Standing together

Bridal entrance

Golding Winery Wedding Ceremony

Holding hands

Smiling groom

out the front

Getting out of car

Glamour Photos

Once the group photo was taken care of, on the driveway in front of their ceremony location using my drone, and the mandatory family photos we first made use of the wonderful Golding Winery grounds, before heading down the road for a photo under the gum tree awning, before heading to the Stangate House gardens before their lunch-time reception was due to start.

Nearby the lake

Laughing

Bridal group

Stangate house bridge

Under the gumtrees

Under the tree

Walking along the vineyard

Shoot through the vines

Walking amongst the garden

In front of the vineyard

Dip amongst the vineyard

Bridal party under a tree

Under the gumtrees

Kiss under the trees

Bromance

Closeup of rings

Stangate House Wedding Reception

As I said before, everyone was thankful for the last-minute purchase of white awnings to cover the entire reception as towards the end of their reception, the heavens opened and did not stop for the rest of the night. That being said however, several very intense games of jenga were being had and the guests were treated to the stunning Stangate gardens for a good few hours before that happened. 🙂

Laughing

On the bench

Photo of ring

Entrance

Speech

First Dance

Chatting

Jenga

Shoe Game

Bride and groom entrance

Wedding Cake

Thanks so much to Brooke and Cohen for having me as their wedding photographer, I hope they enjoy their photos and much as I enjoyed being part of their day!

Willunga Peacock Farm Wedding – Aubrey & Darcy

July 6, 2017/in Wedding preview, Wedding

Chelsea & Nathan
St Francis Winery Wedding

I love heading to the Willunga Peacock Farm as a wedding photographer. The venue has a stunning variety of lovely backdrops to use in photographs, and this is precisely what I drew upon at Aubrey and Darcy’s wedding. They had me as their wedding photographer for 7 hours which saw me at their wedding ceremony through to after their first dance at their reception venue out at the One Paddock Winery at Currency Creek.

Willunga Peacock Farm Wedding Ceremony

As usual I arrived a little early to the Willunga Peacock Farm so I was able to wander about capturing some shots of Aubrey and Darcy’s guests as they arrived in the beautiful Autumnal sunshine. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the centerpiece of the venue – the pond – was full of water as last time I covered a wedding here it was unfortunately dry. Their wedding ceremony was set up on the grassy area next to the pond which allowed for a lovely backdrop to the entire scene.

The Willunga Peacock Farm is an all-in-one wedding venue that is built around an organic, completely self sustaining farm. The venue boasts a rustic reception hall set within a covered veranda connected to a heritage listed farmhouse built in the 1800s. Theres also a bed and breakfast and gardens on site suitable for wonderful wedding photography.

Bride arriving

Bride and groom getting married

Vows

Exchanging wedding rings

Wedding ceremony

Groom waiting for bride

Walking back down the aisle

Bridal party procession

Groom waiting for bride

Signing the registry

Wedding ceremony

Willunga Peacock Farm wedding ceremony

Hugs

Willunga Peacock Farm wedding ceremony

Groom waiting for bride

Sun flare

After the ceremony I gathered everyone together to take an aerial photo with my drone which has become one of the most popular aspects of my wedding photography service.

Drone group photo

Willunga Peacock Farm Glamour Photos

Walking about the Willunga Peacock Farm’s gardens and surrounding historic buildings is a wonderful experience, especially as a wedding photographer. The scenery lends itself well to the kind of natural wedding photography I’m known for. During May, the sun was setting quite early in the day which was fantastic as I managed to capture it in the most beautiful way in the backdrop of many of the photos.

Sun setting behind the bride and groom

Garden wedding photography

Bridal party ripping bride and groom apart

Holding one another in a tree

Smiles all round

Smiling at the camera

Willunga Peacock Farm Wedding photography

Walking across the bridge

Wedding photography in the gardens

Walking across the bridge

Bride and groom looking back at bridal party

Walking across the bridge

Wedding rings

Bridal party walking through the gardens

Walking together

One Paddock Winery Wedding Reception

The One Paddock Winery down in Currency Creek was a bit of a drive away from the Willunga Peacock Farm, so by the time we arrived for the wedding reception, it had already turned dark. Once I arrived the guests were enjoying themselves in the lobby having a wonderful time chatting and having a few drinks. The wedding reception itself took place in the large reception hall they have decorated with winery paraphernalia such as wine barrels and plenty of rustic metal and wooden decor. It’s a beautiful, homely venue which suited Aubrey and Darcy’s wonderfully personal and intimate wedding day.