Mont du Soleil looks like someone carried a corner of Provence up a hill in Kallista and let the vines take over. Warm rendered walls, timber shutters, weathered carved doors, a rust-red spiral staircase and gravel courtyards, all sitting on forty acres in the Dandenong Ranges. We pulled up just after lunch, and before we had even unpacked we had found Samantha’s gown hanging from the ivy-covered cottage window, its veil lifting in the breeze. Not a bad way to start a wedding day.
Samantha got ready in the cottage, where the deep arched windows pour soft light across the floor. Her bouquet was a dream of peach and blush roses, dahlias and bunny tails, sitting beside a pair of pearl-strapped heels and an illustrated invitation that set the whole tone. We switched off the lamps and worked with the window light only: it wraps around a lace gown and keeps skin tones true. Samantha laughed her way into the dress, kicked a heel out from a vintage chair for us, and then her bridesmaids in sage satin burst out of the cottage door with their bouquets in the air.
Then came the surprise of the day. Samantha’s brother, a well-known DJ, had flown in from overseas for the wedding, broken foot in plaster and all. Seeing him there had her laughing and teary all at once, and we caught her beaming beside him in the cottage doorway. That grin did not leave her face for the rest of the day.
Over by the carved doors, Harrison was grinning in his cream three-piece suit, flanked by his groomsmen in braces and cream trousers. Matching neutrals like these are a gift on a site this colourful, because the ochre walls and green vines do the talking. Guests rolled in by minibus, a string player set the mood, and through the carved doors and an iron fanlight we could see Harrison waiting under the vines with the celebrant.
Then came the walk. Samantha came down the chandelier-lit hallway on her dad’s arm, out into the light and along the aisle to the arbour. The ceremony sits under a canopy of vines with a chandelier hanging in the middle and the hills rolling away behind, and the leaves throw an open shade that is pure gold for faces. Both of them read their own vows. Harrison had Samantha in fits of laughter, Samantha had her mum reaching for a tissue, and the first kiss came with a flower girl watching very closely. They signed the register with the hills behind them and walked back down the aisle under a shower of petals.
Portraits at Mont du Soleil are a treasure hunt. We moved fast between doorways: the bridal party under the arbour, a spin in the courtyard, a stride out of the old timber stables and a pile-up on vintage velvet sofas with Harrison stretched across everyone’s laps.
Samantha climbed the flower-wrapped spiral staircase, lifted her bouquet against the wrought iron doors and looked back from an arched doorway with her veil spread across the gravel. Our favourite trick here is to stand back and let the architecture frame the couple, the way you would at any heritage wedding venue. Then, as the sun dropped, we walked them along the stone wall above the hills and let the light do the rest.
The reception was back at Harrison’s family property in Mount Evelyn, and the getaway car was the best we have seen in a while: their own cream 1959 Holden FC ute. Samantha waved from the cab under the festoon lights, they ran across the lawn past the marquee, and guests mingled around the ute with drinks in hand while the gum trees went gold.
Inside the white marquee, under a crystal chandelier, Samantha and Harrison skipped the formal entrance and danced straight into their first dance, with Harrison throwing an arm in the air and the whole room cheering. There was a photo wall with heart-shaped sunglasses and a cheeky sign, a tall white petal cake in a candlelit hutch, and speeches later in the evening. When night fell we set up a couple of lights behind them and took them outside, where the marquee glowed like a lantern. A twirl, a dip and a lift later, we had our closing frames.
We filmed the day too, so watch Samantha and Harrison’s wedding film. These Mont du Soleil wedding photos are why we love a Dandenong Ranges wedding: old-world doors and courtyards on a hilltop, a party on the family property and a couple who never stopped smiling. See more of our Dandenong Ranges wedding photography, our mountain wedding photos or our heritage wedding photography.
