Tatra Receptions Wedding Photos
Ten acres of old garden under the blue gums, a timber chapel, and the forest right at the window
Tatra Receptions sits on Mount Dandenong Tourist Road at Mount Dandenong, on a property that dates to the late 1800s and has been run as a family-owned wedding venue for more than twenty years. The ten acres of gardens hold a rustic amphitheatre, waterfalls, a wrought iron bridge, and tall blue gums, with hydrangeas, rhododendrons and magnolias through the seasons. Ceremonies run in the timber chapel, at the garden gazebo, or under the iron cupola; the chandelier-lit ballroom seats up to 270.
Veri has photographed three weddings at Tatra, including Courtney and Justin’s, each with ceremony, portraits and reception on the property. The garden does the work: after the ceremony we walk the bridal party down through the terraces and the bridge, then leave the couple alone at the top for the last quiet frames before they go in to the pre-dinner room and its wood fires.
Photographing a wedding at Tatra Receptions
The forest canopy keeps the light soft here even at midday, so a mid-afternoon ceremony is fine. Mist is common on the mountain in the cooler months and photographs beautifully against the gums, but bring a wrap for the bride. The chapel has floor-to-ceiling forest views behind the couple, so we expose for the windows. Wet weather moves the ceremony inside without changing the look much. The galleries above are three Tatra weddings from the chapel through to the dance floor.