Woodstock Winery Wedding – Michelle & Ryan

Woodstock Winery Wedding Ceremony The main appeal of having a Woodstock winery wedding in my book would have to be the beautiful picturesque, but still private surrounds of the winery. There is a large, open grassy area out the back of the main restaurant, lined by gum trees, bushes and of course the Woodstock winery’s […]

St Laurences Church High Mass Wedding – Alison & Josh

I was privileged to photograph Alison and Josh’s St Laurence’s Church High Mass wedding in mid-November. Their traditional Latin High Mass was conducted by three priests and altar boys in the church’s striking setting. After the ceremony, I also photographed their wedding reception at Tatachilla Estate.

Preparation

I began the day as I usually do at the place where Josh and his groomsmen were being prepared. The morning was quite laid back with some funny moments where someone had given Josh some booklets titled ‘don’ts for weddings, and husbands‘ while also reminicing about other weddings the groomsmen had been a part of.

I arrived at the house were Alison was being prepared just as their make-up was being completed, which is great as I’m then able to flit about taking detail shots of the dress, shoes, etc. The bridal party all had matching kimonos on during the morning, and two little girls were running about causing havok – which was kind of a good thing as it distracted from any nerves Alison may have been feeling. 🙂

Dad's first look of bride — Dad’s first look of bride

St Laurences Church High Mass Wedding Ceremony

As some of you may know, I worked at a Catholic primary school for almost a decade as a Japanese teacher, so I was fairly knowledgeable of the procession of mass, and wedding masses. However, Alison and Josh’s High Mass wedding was something I had yet to witness. The entire procession was quite awe inspiring, with no less than 3 priests and several altar boys conducting the service, all while a 4-strong gregorian chior chanted in the background. The High Mass itself took around 90 minutes to complete, as it followed a strict procession, concluding whith all the guests joining in with communion. The stunning surrounds of St Laurences Church made for a stunning backdrop for the entire ceremony, and it was certainly a ceremony to remember!

sitting together catholic high mass wedding

Glamour Photos

For glamour photos, we first utilised the wonderful interior of St Laurences, after having the group photo done out the front of the church. We then went for a short drive to South Terrace to Veale Gardens where we made use of the lovely diversity available there. From Australian gum trees out the back, to highly manicured rose gardens, it’s a nice spot to capture a variety of wedding photos. We then head towards Mclaren Vale as a short stop off before heading to Tatachilla Estate for the reception. We usued the wonderful olive tree grove located right off the main street to get a few shots in amongst the trees. Our final spot for glamour photos was the vineyards located out the front of Tatachilla estate. We used the dying light as the sun went down for a few nice shots of just Alison and Josh together amongst the vines.

bridal couple inside st laurences church

bridal couple kissing in St Laurences church

bride and groom under gum trees in veale gardens

bride and groom above pool in veale gardens

walking along the bridge in veale gardens

bride and groom in Mclaren vale's olive trees — bride and groom in Mclaren vale’s olive trees

Tatachilla Estate Wedding Reception

I was told that Alison and Josh’s wedding reception was the first that has been held at the new venue at Tatachilla Estate. Apparently the venue had been recently purchased from the nearby Tatachilla Lutheran School in order to ransform it into a new, large wedding and event venue, and I must say it certainly has potential! It’s a huge space, suitable for gigantic functions, but as it is right now it’s fairly rustic as it had been used as a school camp space for decades.

Alison and Josh’s reception was punctuated by loving speeches, plenty of dancing and scores of people all having a great time!

I’d like to thank Alison and Josh for having me as their wedding photographer, it was a wonderful day and certainly a wedding I’ll not soon forget! 😀

December 24, 2019/by Steven Duncan

Wedding preview, Wedding

St Francis Winery Wedding – Jess & Chris

Jess & Chris
St Francis Winery Wedding

Jess and Chris held their lovely St Francis Winery wedding on a lovely day in early October. While the sun wasn’t out, the temperature was warm and everyone had a wonderful time. I was asked to be Jess and Chris’ wedding photographer after having covered Kate and Callan’s wedding at Peacock Farm a few years prior. Callan happened to be one of the groom’s men for Chris 🙂 It’s always nice to be recommended by previous bridal couples, makes me feel that I’m doing something right! haha

Preparation

I started the day at Jess and Chris’ house, south of Adelaide which was where Chris and his groomsmen were getting ready. I arrived just as an incredible breakfast was being served to each of the boys, a full stack of wonderful looking pancakes that make me want to sit down and join them! They looked pretty good… Callan then got onto the ironing, as was tradition, and the boys got dressed. It was nice that Chris’ mother came to join them just before I was to leave to visit Jess and her girls getting ready at St Francis winery.

The girls were getting ready in the usual room that is generally reserved for brides getting ready on wedding days at St Francis winery. The room is usually used as it has some nice natural light and large windows available for some nice shots. The girsl were fairly laid back while they were being prepared, and they even had enough time to wander through the reception area and view the ceremony spot on the St Francis winery lawn before putting on the wedding dress and heading out.

St Francis Winery Wedding - Jess & Chris 1

St Francis Winery Wedding Ceremony

St Francis winery has several different spots where a wedding ceremony can be set up. The majority of ceremonies I’ve covered here have overlooked the pond, however Jess was concerned with the possibility of it being a sunny day and the sun shing in their eyes while they stood there, she also diddn’t like the idea of having the nearby supermarket in the background of her photos. So to avoid these issues, Jess set up her ceremony facing the St Francis Winery buildings, which allowed for the lovely foliage from the trees and interesting architecture from the buildings to be in the backdrop. As the day was fairly overcast, the guests were pretty comfortable out on the grassy area and the ceremony worked out quite well.

Glamour photos

After the ceremony, I got out the drone and had a big group photo done on the grassy area in front of the lake, and had smaller group photos done in front of the weeping willows and love sign. Jess, Chris and their bridal party then went for a little walk around the St Francis winery lake to make use of the broken down carts, and wonderful weeping willow trees for photos. We then had a little break to grab a drink before going for a short drive to the nearby bike track which I knew had some awesome arching trees that I could use as a backdrop. The lack of sun really worked to my advantage, limiting the amount of harsh shadows and made for some awesome shots!

St Francis Winery Wedding Reception

Jess and Chris’ reception was a fun little party, punctuated by heading out for some photos under the lit up willow trees at night, and in front of the lit love sign which I believe Jess had won in a competition leading up to her big day. They had the reception hall decked out really nicely with floral arrangements and a beautiful abckdrop behind the bridal table, and their first dance was complete with smoke machine. It was all pretty neat!

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