adelaide hills wedding

Emily and Sam's Romantic Adelaide Hills Wedding

Emily and Sam's Romantic Adelaide Hills Wedding

Sam and Emily make time to see their families, to share special moments together, and they love talk on the phone often. They wanted to bring this warmth and appreciation, that had always been shown towards them, into their wedding ceremony too.

With COVID border closures, the tyranny of distance and for those who'd passed away, some of their family were not able to be with us in person, so we incorporated them and their interests as much as we could through readings, a memorial and with a big smoochy kiss right down Alex's lens. 😅

Ada & Leigh - Longview Vineyard

Ada & Leigh - Longview Vineyard

When a couple has been together for around 5+ years, I call their wedding an "at last" celebration. There is definitely a more chilled atmosphere at the ceremonies of long-term couples and their guests are also especially buoyant and almost cheeky. 

For Leigh and Ada, who were married in February over 8 years into their relationship, there were all of these feelings and so much more. 

With family and friends who had travelled from London and all around Australia literally cheering them on, the Bride and Groom laughed and cried their way through their ceremony in the glorious sunshine on the Longview Vineyard lawn. 

Ada's dress was incredible, Lana and Hannah's white non-matching dresses were so classy, the flowers were gorgeous and I also loved that they both wrote their own vows and kept them a secret from each other until the day. 

These pics are by the ever delightful Kerry Rose Photography.

Enjoy!

Kelly & Tysen - Howard Vineyard

Kelly & Tysen - Howard Vineyard

Tysen and Kelly's ceremony is a great example of what can be achieved when there is trust and consistent and open communication. Right from our first meeting around 13 months before the big day, they knew what they wanted and better still, told me all about it.

The vision was a warm and intimate, pared-back, but still elegant celebration inclusive of their best friends and family. Kelly's skills as a graphic designer were going to be at the core of the fresh and romantic aesthetic. 

Maddie & Matt at Golding Wines

Maddie & Matt at Golding Wines

The weather was near perfect, the scene set with modern decor and lush floral arrangements and Maddie and Matt's nearest and dearest had travelled from far and wide and were in a party mood. When you plan your wedding, this is the dream. 

I felt so privileged to create and conduct Mr & Mrs Wigg's marriage ceremony and felt that their gracious and inclusive nature shone through in the many thanks, tributes and acknowledgements to their family, friends and bridal party. There were smiles and a fair few chuckles too, like when Matt promised to cheer on the Swans when they aren't playing the Crows 'to infinity and beyond'. 

But when Maddie's good friend, Jess came forward to read a traditional Irish Wedding Blessing, a favourite of Maddie's late Nana Joan, most guests were a little misty-eyed.

Matt and Maddie's incredible supplier list included some of my absolute favourite Adelaide wedding professionals including the incredible floral artistry of Sam Burnell from Fabulous Functions and Luke Simon Photography, who kindly supplied these divine photos.

Lauren and Max - Modern Romance

Lauren and Max - Modern Romance

Creating a ceremony where everyone is made to feel special sets the tone for the entire day.

Early on in the wedding planning process, I try to encourage my couples to think about who they would like to include in their ceremony; an inclusive ceremony is warm and memorable and honours the people that you care about the most.

Lauren and Max's ceremony was a testament to their love for each other, their family and their friends. They had their twin nieces as cheeky, smiling flower girls, invited their four sisters to do a couple of beautiful (and slightly teary) readings, asked both sets of their parents to give them to each other in marriage and even recited shared wedding vows; they each read one sentence at a time.

Nicole and Hung - rustic elegant winery wedding

Nicole and Hung - rustic elegant winery wedding

Nicole and Hung first met over 10 years ago when they worked as ushers at Greater Union Cinemas in Arndale.

They were grateful to be given the tedious task of cleaning out the cinema rubbish bins one night because it gave them the opportunity to talk and find out a little more about each other.

Their hopes for the future are quite simply to raise an army of sausage dogs and to grow old and wrinkly together.

Photos by Luke Simon Photography.

London calling - Leonie and Lee

London calling - Leonie and Lee

Lee and Leonie value their families and close friendships above everything else; in fact, this was one of the qualities that first attracted them to each other. With all of Lee's family in England and all of Leonie's family in Australia, they decided to chase this sunshine with an Adelaide hills winery wedding and timed it to maximise the number of friends and family who could make it from overseas.

It was imperative for them to be able to relax, laugh and truly enjoy their guests' company on their wedding day and Barrister's Block in Woodside was the perfect backdrop for their laidback celebration. So much love and warmth. 

I hope you enjoy their photos from Leonie's very talented brother, Pete Thornton and Karina from What Pete Shot.

Freaking cool boho - Sarah & Ricky

Freaking cool boho - Sarah & Ricky

Picking my favourite wedding couple is like picking my favourite child. Except I only have one child, so that's infinitely easier..

Suffice to say that Ricky and Sarah are definitely in the top 460.  :)

They first met over 14 years ago and are still madly in love, which in my job, is a beautiful thing to witness and as a (relatively new) newlywed myself, affirming. It seemed like their entire circle of family and friends were touched by them too as demonstrated by the substantial use of tissues throughout their ceremony.

Their photos are courtesy of the lovely Emme Jade Photography.

Short and sweet - Kailah & Ben

Short and sweet - Kailah & Ben

Ben and Kailah's wedding was held at the beautiful Glen Ewin Estate in the Adelaide hills. Like many of my couples when we first meet, they didn't have a clear idea what they were wanting for their ceremony. But as they were engaged in January 2013 and their wedding wasn't until late 2015, they had plenty of time to work it out.

Golden rules for a great winery wedding

Golden rules for a great winery wedding

In my job I hear both the glowing and the snide comments whispered by wedding guests. And although you don’t want your wedding day to be an anxious rollercoaster-ride-of-people-pleasing-pain, if you didn’t care about your family and friends, you would have had your ceremony at the registry office, yes?

There are 3 pesky details, the same annoying issues, that come up for my winery wedding couples time and time again. If you can plan ahead and follow the golden rules, it is much more likely that your guests will remember your wedding for all the right reasons.